[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FreshToku

Goodbye(?!) Shima, you were a very pleasant plot-device of a man. ...It only just now occurred to me that you are already half-way finished with Blade as a series! It feels like just yesterday when you were discovering new memes about Tachibana everyday.

I kinda remember that around this point of Ryuki and Faiz, you had mostly solidly formed a sort of opinion and expectation of the cast and stories, whereas here in Blade, so much of it and it's characters feels like it is still up in the air. Not necessarily saying the show is worst for that, it's just interesting to me how different Blade has been as a journey in comparison.

You are not wrong! It doesn't help that the show can be pretty feast-or-famine as far as which characters get stories, compared to Ryuki or Faiz. Like, both had big casts, but they almost always managed at least some space for the title character to get some attention. Here, it frequently feels like Blade just goes missing for episodes at a time, or just doesn't have a storyline to progress. It makes it harder to get a sense of what these characters are about when they're not guaranteed to have anything to do.

Thematically, I think that's where I'm having a tougher time with this show? Themes make it easier to see how all of these pieces fight together. Why is this story being told in this way with these characters? The more hidden or obscured those themes are, the easier it is to feel like the show doesn't have as much to say.

Looking back, I can sort-of put together a framework for what I think the show has been talking about. The first quarter, the one that really locked in for me, was about grief and mortality. It looked at grief as a prison, grief as a motivation, mortality as something to accept, etc. All three Riders had storylines that in some way tied into those themes, which made all of its weird, frequently-isolated plots still feel like they belonged on this show. (Even the destruction of BOARD in the first episode supports these themes, because it's an absence in the remaining characters' lives.) The second quarter... if I squint, I can say that I think they're trying to talk about how you live your life after the grief runs out. Do you fall in love? Do you become stronger? Do you try and give back? Do you take care of yourself, or others? The problem is, for me, it's not strong thematic work. It's just as likely that I'm trying to organize some random stories into order. The second quarter has thematic work that is almost imperceptible, rather than the clarity that it felt like the first quarter had.

I don't know. It's very strange to have watched this many episodes of a story and not be clear on what it's trying to tell me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

It's super interesting to me that Shouji Imai's last episode as writer ends on such an ambiguous yet downbeat note, with Leangle just stumbling off to parts unknown. Completely open-ended. It's a very memorable set of episodes to me, and that's about all I can say. I mean, I love Shima, but I think FreshToku really just hit the nail on the head with "you were a very pleasant plot-device". I like these episodes a lot, but not enough to have some big argument prepared about why you aren't giving this one enough credit.

The good news here is you're getting reunited with your beloved Inoue on Monday, so... yay!

Yay!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Androzani84

The RIC is once more open for business, under our new name.

Rapid Pecker

An Undead with a high rate of fire.

* Suit: Diamond
* Category: 4
* Effect Name: RAPID
* Card Name: Rapid Pecker (ラピッド・ペッカー Rapiddo Pekkā)
* Consumption Points: FP 800

no really what is its name

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunred

Shima's actor is toku alumni Kazunari Aizawa, a tokusatsu alumni who played Katsuhiko Hayami, a ZAIDOC agent and the secondary hero of Changerion named The Blader. Changerion is the show that had Takashi Hagino(who played Asakura/Ouja in Ryuki) play the protagonist, Akira Suzumura, a playboy detective. It is also the same show where Atsushi Ogawa, the REAL TSUGAMI, played the villain Darkness Knight Gauzer.

Everyone's in everything! I love it!