[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER BLADE - THREAD WRAPUP



And that's it for Kamen Rider Die watches Kamen Rider Blade! Don't believe me? Well, feast your eyes on this Sweetest Rider:



Yep, it's my Rider Kicks SHF Blade, a figure that probably desperately needs a Seihou revamp, but works just fine for my Trophy needs. I'm happy to place him next to my Faiz figure and boxed Rider Kicks SHF Den-O, who'll be opened some time in 2021, fingers crossed.

As always, thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread. Special thanks to Androzani84 and Fish Sandwich for the lessons on cards and memes, and general thanks to literally anyone who took the time to share their thoughts about Blade. I really love getting to experience these series while talking to you all, and it's a blast when people want to have a conversation.

Along those lines...

Sometimes, when I finish these threads, I'm pleased with the outcome. (Faiz, Build.) Sometimes I feel like I left too much meat on the bone. (Kuuga, Ryuki.) This one... I feel like I got everything I could out of Blade. I don't have any regrets about conveying my feelings or thoughts. It's just, was this something people wanted to talk about? It seemed like there was a lot of chatter in the beginning, but then it sort-of dropped off around the middle. I truly appreciate everyone who volunteered their thoughts, but it didn't seem like there was a lot of interest in digging into Blade. Was it the show? Was it my approach? Was it something else entirely? I'm not saying I've got a lot of different ways of doing these threads (it's pretty much all first-draft, no-filter), but... like, if this is a conversation, I don't think I'm helping things if I just shout a bunch of stuff at you that no one cares about. That would make for a pretty awkward and unsatisfying conversation, wouldn't it? So, if there's something I could do (or not do!) that'd make it more welcoming or enjoyable, I'd love to hear it. Feel free to PM me if you don't want to post it here. I welcome the feedback!

(Again, and I can't stress this enough, I am so grateful for anyone who showed up to this thread and posted. I don't want this to sound like I don't value you! I do! There were just more than a few days where the discourse was a little lighter than usual, and I want to do whatever I can to make the conversation more engaging.)

This thread will stay open, so anything you've got to say about Blade, I'm still around to hear it. Hibiki will be coming up next for me, but I don't know exactly when it'll start. Doing an episode a day on this one... I like the routine, but two hours each day watching Blade and writing about Blade to generate one post, it was getting a little harder to find the time near the end. I'm going to take a couple weeks off from Kamen Rider, minimum, and then come back to do Hibiki when I'm both recharged and dealing with a slightly lighter workload. (A couple projects at work could use more of my attention than I've been giving them.) The hope is to be back for Hibiki before September's over, but I'm going to be lenient with myself. I'll get to it when I get to it!

(I will definitely be back! Just so you know how dedicated I am to doing these threads, I've already got an idea I want to do for Decade, a thread I won't get to for another nine or ten months.)

That's all I've got to say, I think. This was really lovely. I feel like I got to watch a fun Kamen Rider series with a whole bunch of friends, and I can't imagine experiencing these shows any other way. Like Kenzaki at the end of this series, you may never see me, but know that I'm smiling somewhere because of you. Thanks so much for being a part of this thread!