[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

Genius barb... you mean Hirose? Also if you describe as "character-driven-plot-oriented"..... would that mean it's absolute best for every party? Where other than learning about the characters with the reactions, you get to also learn the nature of BOARD. Also yeah I'm not the one who prefers either plot or character as long as it's not formulaic, but probably the character overstuffing in previous episode actually makes it easy to get on them here (though Riders aren't highlighted here).

I don't know her name! I don't think they said it in this one. (They probably said it one time in the first episode, but, like... I'm supposed to remember her name? In that episode?) So, yeah, Genius Barb.

I think the way I'd describe what about the plotting worked for me is... it's like a thing happened, and then the story was about how everyone felt about that thing. The emphasis of the narrative isn't the thing, it's the reaction to the thing. It leverages plot and incident to illuminate character.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

I do think that I no longer have anything to say regarding Kenzaki's dilemma, where it's detailed by others with him having self-depreciation in his acts. Other than heroism, there's also something regarding him and people where he gets betrayed, many times according to him, and by that, personal issues Kenzaki have is that he's colder and more aloof than the standard Rider protagonists, not having friends, and it's also hard for him to comprehend that someone actually actually cares about him too as evident by his confusion when meeting Kotaro or Hirose's concern.... So yeah, probably it's more of his inner issues for him brushing off Kotaro, though still Kotaro wasn't exactly introducing himself in a comforting manner before, but they get along quickly here (but Kotaro still treats Kenzaki as subject!). Also, for him easily getting attached to other people and wanting to protect, you haven't gotten into what makes him that yet.

But, like, that's what's so neat about him: he's not aloof or cold, at least not in these episodes. He's a little withdrawn due to Tachibana's betrayal, but he's very warm and open with Kotaro. I like that his flaw, according to him, is that he can't stop trusting people, can't stop letting people in. I think that's a very unique attitude for him to have as a Rider.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

With I'm also adopting the hot take Switchblade described above, yeah, I also love Chalice's suit. Easily my favorite among Blade's... though I have to say in an unpopular opinion, I'm not into Blade's design that much. But Chalice is my favorite not only from being different but also in general of Rider designs.

I'm with you! I much prefer Chalice's costume to Blade's.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

I'm glad the show started clicking with you so quickly, Die. You're already starting to see why I think the choices the premiere made were so worth it. Blade essentially starts with the rug already pulled out from under all the characters. They're immediately put in a way more emotionally intense situation than usual for the start of a story, and that means development starts happening fast.

I mean, I really loved this episode, but it didn't exactly fix the problems I had with the premiere. I think basically all of the discussion about Tachibana would've been elevated if we'd seen more of what Tachibana and BOARD meant to our remaining heroes. Like, Barb doesn't spend any time articulating what she's lost personally, and I think the Kenzaki stuff would've been even better if Tachibana felt less like a plot point and more like a presence in the story.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

You're also seeing one of my favorite things about our lead character already:

Kenzaki kinda sucks.

I love him, Fish. I love how barely-functional he is as both a man and a Rider. I love that he will almost always do the wrong thing before doing the right thing. I love how he doesn't believe in himself but will fight to save others.

He's pretty great, for being pretty crap.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Plus, and you're never going to mention this, so I will, it's where the show first uses its initial insert theme, Kakusei (which translates to "Awakening"), and that's one of my favorite Rider songs ever. I'd honestly put it right up there with good ol' BELIEVE YOURSELF. It's so hard not to get pumped listening to it, and the lyrics are astonishingly fine-tuned to the themes of this stretch of the show, being all about pushing past doubts and confusion to realize your greater potential. Heck, just think about what Kenzaki's arc in this episode was, and then think about how the first two lines of the second verse are something like "If you believe betrayal is waiting around every corner, you'll never be able to move forward". It's great stuff.

Of course, before I knew a lick of Japanese, I mostly just liked it for how it goes "You Keep It Real~" at the end of so many awesome fight scenes. It's like... punctuation, or something? I guess there's no deep reason behind that. It's just cool, okay?!

I definitely wasn't going to mention it! I don't think I even remember it? I remember thinking Chalice's fight song was cool. Was it that one?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Also, are you watching the previews now? Is this another character arc I have to keep track of?

So, yeah, here's the thing.

I noticed that, occasionally, folks were having a tough time figuring out where we were in a series in these threads. I mean, I don't really do a review-style post. There's not much of an episode synopsis, and I'll frequently spend a bunch of time digging into character motivations and theories rather than talking about What Actually Happened. To keep things a little more accessible, I thought I could add a tiny This Time On Kamen Rider Blade to the top of each episode post. Hopefully it'll help people understand which episode we're on? I don't know. If nothing else, it's fun to try and describe each episode in as few words as possible.

Along those lines, I thought I could toss a Next Time On Kamen Rider Blade thing at the bottom, for symmetry. (And maybe build excitement?) That means watching the previews for the next episode, and... it's not the end of the world? I haven't seen anything yet that's felt like I'm cheating myself. It's not a big deal, as it turns out?