[LeviathanBlossom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

I guess, for me, the problem is that the things Tachibana is saying aren't really motivations drawn from the character over the last dozen episodes, they're motivations that allow for a face turn at that point in the story.

Like, Tachibana's thing about how being a Rider is a weight no one should have to bear... that's a very Kamen Rider thing to say! It's just, it's a Kamen Rider Ryuki thing to say, and this is Blade. There really hasn't been any time spent on this show dramatizing the weight of service inherent in being a Kamen Rider.

In a metatextual sense, sometimes I get the feeling the writer(s) forgot about this and just sort of went, Well it's thematically appropriate. Which is not great writing. I don't feel like you're wrong about any of this.

Tho as far as Blade and the Burden Of A Rider bit goes - did Kenzaki complain about how low his salary was in the pilot? I forget. It's a very uniquely Blade complaint with regard to Why It's Hard To Be A Kamen Rider. (Also it doesn't apply to Isaka's potential new Rider, does it, not if all the Board employees were murdered and we have seen them do Nothing ever since; even if Isaka is more humane than most villains, I still don't get the sense that he would be planning on paying his new Rider. ...would that be the best or the worst unpaid internship ever.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

The other weird thing about all of this, if Tachibana's doing any of this to protect future Riders... what? Tachibana has spent the majority of this series kicking the shit out of Blade, and last episode he Burning Divided Chalice right into a goddamn ravine. I'm not sure being a Rider is really the greatest threat to Riders, Tachibana! Pretty sure it's Garren!

If I argue that this just loops around to Tachibana not wanting to hand another axe-crazy Rider over to Isaka on the grounds that he's bad enough on his own and there doesn't need to be another one of him, does that hold any water? Or that he's protecting poor innocent civilians from the ass-kicking he will have to do to them if they put on a suit of armor? (I'm pretty sure it does not ) But I do want you to know that when I read this paragraph I laughed loud enough that the dog gave me a Very Concerned Look and ran across the room to leap right onto my chest. (She's a v small dog. It was only slightly painful )