[Switchblade]

I've probably seen the first episode of Decade more times than any other episode of Kamen Rider, and that's not even counting this time since I'm still downloading a new version for this watch-through. As I've said many times now on these boards, this was the first episode of Kamen Rider I ever watched and it's still one of my favorites. It's a really gripping premiere that establishes several important aspects of Decade: the mutiverse premise, Tsukasa and the way his powers work, and stuff that kinda feels like random bullshit (hey there, spirit guide Wataru).

I will probably talk more about the show's plot and characters as we get into it. For now, I have two things I want to start with.

First of all, I goddamn love the Decade suit. Eleven years later and it is still one of my favorite Rider suits of all time. Part of that may be anchoring bias, but honestly I just love the basic concept with the asymmetrical chest and the clean black, white, and pink sections. Love the green eyes and the black bars on the helmet. Love the simple and straightforward Decadriver with its awesome voice. Just a topnotch design all around and it is all downhill from here for Decade-original suits.

Second, I want to acknowledge one of the most enduring legacies of Kamen Rider Decade, something that we're still feeling the effects of through Saber and into Revice. There are two major pillars that Phase 2 of the Heisei era was built on. One of them came from Den-O: the monster/victim two-parter format that shifted the show's focus away from serialized elements and more onto episodic adventures. The second pillar first appears here in Decade with the introduction of the Ganbaride cards.

For newer fans, Ganbaride was (is?) a Japanese Kamen Rider arcade game that I do not even remotely understand how to play. What I do know is that it involved inserting Ganbaride cards into a scanner to unlock abilities in the game. I assume you could also win cards from doing well, but that's just an educated guess. Ganbaride cards are modeled after the cards that Tsukasa uses on the show and fans were encouraged to buy these cards not only to play the arcade game, but also to unlock more voice clips in the Decadriver. There were a bunch of different ways to get cards, including pack-ins with most (all?) Decade merch and in gashapon machines. This was the birth of the collectible belt gimmick. Gaia Memories, Core Medals, Eyecons, Rider Watches, Wonder Ride Books, they all started here (and many of them were also usable on upgraded Ganbaride cabinets - not sure how long that lasted, but I know it was at least up through Astro Switches).