[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER BLADE EPISODE 25

This time on Kamen Rider Blade: Yeah, no thanks.



There's a lot I love about the Kamen Rider franchise. There's a hidden depth to its world of colorful heroes and monstrous villains. There's a fascinating nuance to its world of monstrous heroes and colorful villains. There's thematic weight, emotional honesty, beauty and grace and sadness and poignancy and so much wonder.

And then there's an episode where it's two superheroes on bikes chasing a monster on a bike and I could not care less.

Right up front, I'm not saying it's a bad episode. (It might be, but that's not my point.) There's nothing in this one that betrayed the ideals of what Kamen Rider should be. (It's maybe an archetypal episode for a franchise about masked riders!) It doesn't cross any lines, it isn't some abomination. But holy shit did I 100% not care about the Blade/Garren story in this. Just, absolute disinterest. If someone else wants to take a run at it, be my guest.

The superheroes on bikes chasing a monster on a bike, the pro racer drafting to stay alive, not for me. It's the type of thing I was afraid Kamen Rider would be before I started watching it. If this'd been my first or second episode, I'd've checked out of the franchise. Completely and utterly not for me.

I... sincerely, if this part of the episode means a lot to someone, if they've got strong feelings about it, feel free to post them. I can't. I can't find anything in this motorcycle plot to talk about. Sorry. It defeated me.

Hey, so how about the Kotaro story!

It was good! I liked seeing something devoted to Kotaro, and it had some fun angles on it. It's a little bit about Kotaro and Miyuki, but mostly it's about Kotaro trying to feel better about Hajime being around.

It doesn't go great! Kotaro tries to see Miyuki as more than just an Undead, because Hajime has proven to be more than just an Undead. There's a point where he's delighted by the beauty of the lake they're at, and it's a nice parallel to what he's hoping for from saving Miyuki. He's in this world of fighting and danger and death, but he wants to help people. He wants to save lives, not destroy monsters. Finding some way to forgive Miyuki, to give her a chance to live a peaceful life, it's about more than just her. It's his hope that the Undead can be more than the monsters they are on the outside, that they can have layers and dreams and good qualities. He wants that to be true for Miyuki, because then he can see it in Hajime.

So of course Hajime seals her right in front of Kotaro.

It's a sad twist on a happy story, which I appreciated. Kotaro was projecting too much on Miyuki (who maybe could've been what he was hoping for, but it was a stretch), and she didn't give Hajime a lot of options. But it takes this little spark of acceptance that Kotaro had going, and it snuffs it right out.

I like that it's not that easy for Kotaro and Hajime. It's a longer road than just You Saved Me And We're Friends for Kotaro. He can't stop seeing the killer in Hajime, and that's not something he wants around his sister and niece. Meanwhile, Hajime can't believe that Kotaro could forgive Miyuki. He sees a resolve in Kotaro that he wasn't expecting, a type of forgiveness that's awe-inspiring. There's some nice variations in where their relationship is at. Hajime's respecting Kotaro more, just as Kotaro is closing a door on Hajime. That stuff, the character drama, that's what I need from a Kamen Rider show.



Next time on Kamen Rider Blade: Sloth Style declares war on the Riders! Karasuma sends an old friend to help the team! And a NEW SUIT FOR BLADE!