[Sh Ranger]

Kamen Rider Blade Q3

The staff change is here. Imai's short but dramatic run as head writer has finally reached its conclusion. A typically crazy Inoue story later and now the remainder of the show is in Aikawa's hands. Surprisingly, that wasn't the only change. Blade Brave has been replaced! So how do I feel about that? I like ELEMENTS as a song, but I think it'd work better as an insert or ending, which is pretty much the same opinion I've had for Hibiki's and Gobusters' second OPs. Good songs, just not OP material.

I will complain about the visuals though. What's with the Riders acting like a group here? That's like the opposite of how they work in the show. What's with Mutsuki getting credited before Hirose and Kotarou now? Like how Beast Morphers Season 2 had the nerve to credit Zoey before Ravi! Sure, Mutsuki is a Rider, but I don't like how they screw with the credit order here. What's with all the pretentious edginess with Blade punching the camera and the anguished screaming? The Blade Brave Rave was much more appropriate and unique. I will miss it. At least now I know where that one particular Ryukiroll came from though.

The Jack Forms are here! Actually, I noticed that out of all the Primary Heisei Riders, Blade takes the longest to get a new form, debuting at Episode 25, one episode later than Hibiki Kurenai. Maybe they thought with all those cards to sell, they didn't need to rush? The reason why it took so long in story was explained that instead of using the Category Jacks normally, they had to be used in conjunction with the corresponding Queens in the Rouse Absorber. For Blade and Garren, they both involve flight. That wouldn't work for Chalice and Leangle, whose Jacks are a wolf and an elephant respectively. I like both aesthetically, but I prefer Garren's red and gold combo, even though the way he gets it is anticlimactic.

Uh, King Form is also here! I wasn't expecting that so soon. The Caucasus Undead either doesn't have a name or doesn't want to reveal it, only calling himself and other Undead by rank. King Form seems to be the inspiration for Grand Zi-O. I prefer Jack Form, but what's curious about King Form is that according to Yoshito, Blade's is unique in that Kenzaki has the innate ability to fuse with all 13 cards of his suit simultaneously.

That's nothing compared to Hajime's potential though, as he's revealed to be the Joker, the 53rd card in the Undead deck. If he fused with all the cards, he would win the Battle Royale and all life on the planet would end, including Amane and Haruka. Hajime definitely doesn't want that, so he's been trying very hard not to become the Joker ever again. Unfortunately, Blade's new power and the multiple Undead released by Mutsuki triggers the Joker impulse, meaning he has to run away again. Maybe that's why Yoshito considers capturing Kenzaki a higher priority, he's an easier target and it would mean Hajime could keep the Joker suppressed. The Joker's green and black combo reminds me of Kamen Rider 1.

The show is lacking Imai's lovable weirdness, but something I think Aikawa is doing right is putting Hirose in the foreground more. I can finally start to talk about her again. Kenzaki was being hunted by Trial D and he believed that made him a liability to people around him. But Hirose called him out for being an idiot and gave him a really honest speech to remind him that his strength comes from his love of humanity, like how Kenzaki told Hajime that he can't protect Amane and Haruka if he's not around (although that doesn't apply right now due to the Joker problem). Team Blade needs a Blade. Of course, Hirose's immortality-obsessed father, Hirose Yoshito, is now in the picture and I'm sure that's going to be a big turning point for Hirose's arc when she finds out, since she wants to atone for his sin. I'm so glad she gets to do other useful stuff!

Kotarou's got some development regarding his prejudice towards Undead, even though it goes in circles a lot. He hoped to meet a good Undead so he could believe Hajime was good (by Undead standards anyway), which in his heart he wanted to. But even when Shima shows up with his cute canary Natural, proof of the love between an Undead and another lifeform, his apprehension towards Hajime doesn't immediately go away. I guess it's not like Hajime is suddenly not an a**hole anymore, so maybe Kotarou just needed a little time for his emotions to adjust. At least he has come to accept him being important to his family, even encouraging Kenzaki to rescue him. I hope someday Amane will learn to respect her uncle.

Team Blade were sharing a paragraph in my previous reviews so it's cool that I can actually find more to talk about them now. I haven't even mentioned Tachibana yet, since he's just Yoshito's lackey now. Sigh.... This show always needs more Tachibana!

I could talk a little about Mutsuki though, who's apparently merged with Spider Undead to become Bully Mutsuki (not sure if anybody else came up with that clever nickname). But I don't buy it. He claims not to care about Nozomi anymore after Caucasus Undead abducted her, but he just seems so tsundere about it. My prediction is that Shima actually did win and this is just Mutsuki being Mutsuki, like he has something to prove that he can be the strongest Rider without relying on others. Like I compared before, Masumi from Boukenger sometimes acts this way, due to his jealousy towards Akashi. Furthermore, Masumi and Mutsuki are the youngest of their respective groups and they don't want to be perceived as just the token teen.