[Switchblade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

It’s always weird to me, when we see the actor’s face under a Rider’s helmet. I never think it’s the same guy in there, after the Henshin. I think of the suit and its inhabitant as being a separate lifeform, something that’s replacing the person who Henshined. Like, I don’t think of it as a suit of armor surrounding Kenzaki, I think of Blade appearing where Kenzaki was.

In fairness, it usually isn't. Way back when the first Kamen Rider aired in 1971, actor Hiroshi Fujioka played both Kamen Rider 1's civilian form and donned the suit for the action scenes. And then he was seriously injured while performing a motorcycle stunt. The producers had to scramble to find a way to keep the showing going without its main star. That ultimately led to the creation of Kamen Rider 2 and the rule that character actors weren't allowed to do the suit acting, just in case there was another major injury. Yes, they let Hiroshi Miyauchi climb around on top of a cable car elevated high above a bay, but he never once got to where the V3 suit.

That said, you're going on to Hibiki next where there's going to be a lot of helmet-less Rider scenes.

Quote:

Next time on Kamen Rider Blade: Leangle on the warpath! Shima I Guess Maybe under fire! And probably two episode write-ups on Saturday because I’m busy all day Sunday!

This storyline with Shima is the final arc written by the show's original head writer, Shoji Imai. After this is a glorious two-episode fever dream by Toshiki Inoue, then we're into the Sho Aikawa era.

One thing to note, too: the run-up to the Blade movie, Missing Ace, started around this point. This consisted of four mini-episodes that aired at the end of episodes 28-31 called Kamen Rider Blade: New Generation. They aren't included with the home video releases that the Excite subs are using, but you can get them from the Blade batch torrents at TV-Nihon. They're short, weird, and mostly throwaway, but I know you'll want to watch them since you're going completist (a habit I will desperately and fruitlessly try to break you of in the next Kamen Rider Die Watches thread).