[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER BLADE EPISODE 35

This time on Kamen Rider Blade: Kenzaki gets extorted into a date! Hajime goes Full Joker! And two different ladies help us understand our Riders better, because that is the point of ladies on this show and that's not problematic at all!



Honestly, I don't think it's that problematic. The point of every supporting and guest character on this show is to get us to understand our Riders better, so it's not a huge deal if that's all Umi and Twomi contribute. It's just a little funny, to have two new women show up and immediately their story is What Does This Tell Us About The Men. On the one hand, that's the genre, but on the other hand... sort-of not a great look!

You know what is a great look, though? King Form. (How about that segue! Straight from highlighting the difficult gender politics and iffy portrayals of women to the fancy new suit! I am a man talking about women in media and I am killing it!) I think it's pretty great. I usually don't love the whole A Bunch Of Pictures take on suit upgrades (not a fan of Ghost Grateful), but I think the engraved look works pretty well for it. The gold is typically gorgeous, with that bright blue center giving perfect visual balance. I like the heft of it, too. It's a suit that looks imposing without being really ornate or cumbersome. It just looks beefy, powerful. I really like it. Maybe my favorite of the three Blade suits?

I liked Joker's look, as well. It's one I'd seen in the Blade movie, but hadn't talked about that one, either. (I don't know that I talked about any of the suits and... that's what the movies are for! New suits! And I just skipped talking about all of them! Why am I allowed to post on this site?!) It looks properly creepy, with the rictus grin and transparent visor and dangling hooks (little Js!) and asymmetry and inhuman screaming. It's a lot! I like it, though. It feels like a monster that monsters would be scared of!

Getting back to the ladies of the episode, though, I dug them both. They're both doing slightly similar things, interrogating a Rider about their motivations, but they're doing it in vastly different ways.

Umi's the main character for this episode, and she's... I feel like I'll have a better take on her after next episode. In this one, she's a very antagonistic character. She saves Kenzaki, sort-of, but mostly holds him hostage while needling his supposed heroism. It's actually a neat deconstruction of Kenzaki's usual I'm Just Doing My Job attitude, as we get to see what it'd actually look like if he was punching a clock to protect people. He's grumpy and bored in this one, which, yeah, probably what most people look like at some point in their jobs. Kenzaki's not that guy normally, though, and the more he stops resenting Umi's tactics and starts trying to figure out her viewpoint, the more he looks like the very sweet boy we're used to.

They've got some good chemistry, Umi and Kenzaki. It's obviously very charming and funny to see her bossing him around, a superhero who doesn't know how to outwit a teenage girl. (Although, teenage girls are no joke! I'd probably give them the edge over any superhero you can name!) The bit at the end, though, where she tells her origin story and it's basically Kenzaki's origin story, that's where I felt like Umi would come into focus better next time. Here, she's an agent of chaos. But that story she tells, it's Kenzaki's origin, it's just that the lesson she learned was that no one cares. Kenzaki learned empathy, a need to keep anyone from suffering the way he did. Umi learned anger, selfishness, distrust. It's going to be real interesting to see how Kenzaki tries to help her in the next episode.

Also, hey, there's another lady telling a Kamen Rider that his motivations are bullshit! It's Twomi, and I apologize in advance for not having a better name for her. Some of it is that she's the other lady in this episode doing Umi's interrogation schtick, some of it is that I just completely drew a blank on how to shorthand describe her. I like her character! It's just, there's not really a quick hook to her yet.

She's great, though, in her scenes with Mutsuki. He's so full of himself now, gloriously overconfident. In the same way Hajime is using every ounce of his strength to keep his Joker form at bay and failing, it's like that with Mutsuki and smirking. He can't stop luxuriating in his power, his cool card collection (why they aren't in Deck Protectors is beyond me), his henchmen... and then here comes Twomi, kicking his ass and telling him that he's got nowhere near enough resolve to actually be a threat to Joker. She's someone who (apparently) worked incredibly hard to get to the level she's at, and next to her Mutsuki looks like the clueless teenager he'll always be. It's a brief scene, but I liked how she dealt with Mutsuki. Very fun new energy for that kid to deal with.

Speaking of energy, the directing in this one was... some ups, some downs. Overall, I thought it was really impressive for the ways it was regularly finding fun ways to shoot scenes. There's that Henshin Vision shot, where we start from Mutsuki's POV and then run through the Henshin into Leangle punching an Undead. That shot... amazing. So clever. There's a dialogue scene from near the beginning of the episode that had a swell sideways dolly that starts a beat before Hirose gets up and walks to the computer, like she's following the camera. There's that shot through the U.N.D.E.A.D. chamber window on Hirose's dad, then a pan to Tachibana through the other window, literally and figuratively boxed-in. But then there's a half-dozen shaky camera shots, or extreme close ups, or swinging camera moves. It's like, not every shot needs to be a bravura one! It can be too much! Just look at the old opening credits!

This was a fun episode. The new women are compelling, if a little too designed around their male counterparts. (I totally get if this seems like a ridiculous criticism. They're good characters, and they're here to expand our view of the stars of the show. That is what every guest star should do! There's just this little itch in my brain that makes me a little sad that that's pretty much all they are in this episode? That two new women show up and they only seem to exist to comment on the men. I don't know. Probably a non-problem, but it's one I couldn't feel great about.) Tachibana is getting more ridiculous as the episodes go by. It's nice to see that he's also always been secretly seething with jealousy at Kenzaki this whole time, because Tachibana needed one more emotional problem. Things are getting a little more tense, a little less reset to status quo at the end of a story. Good storytelling, fun episodes.



Next time on Kamen Rider Blade: Joker versus Chalice! Amane in danger! And Battle Fight has begun! No jokes! That all looks awesome!

[FreshToku]

Let's not kid ourselves, women in this franchise have pretty consistently only ever served that role you just described. It's just that sometimes it's even more egregious than others...

I remember this episode pretty well if only because it comes directly after the giant hype-fest that was 34. I get that we need to relax a bit after that big double climax, but it was still a bit surreal for me to go straight from Kenzaki blowing up the monster in his shiny new form, to Kenzaki being bossed around by this completely new person who I had no reason to believe wasn't just a one-off. It's definitely cute, but I think I spent most of the episode asking myself 'okay but why. wasnt blade in the middle of something'.

The other character new character is a more intriguing, and maybe part of that is just that it's kinda fun to see Mutsuki at this point get beaten up. I'd say he's due to learn some humility at this point, and he probably wasn't going to learn it from any of our familiar cast (certainly not Tachibana!).

This is a complete aside but thinking back, I don't like just how often the episodes in Blade end in cliffhangers?! That's mainly because when I want to go back and catch some of the highlights I remember, I gotta go switch between two episodes. This very mild inconvenience that the show has no reason to account for is unacceptable!! zero out of spade ten.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FreshToku

Let's not kid ourselves, women in this franchise have pretty consistently only ever served that role you just described. It's just that sometimes it's even more egregious than others...

And the fact that it's both of the new women is what made it stick out to me.

Actually, I'm maybe a little frustrated at finding it frustrating? It's really difficult for me to articulate exactly why this situation bothers me. It's two new characters that are thematically integrated into the narrative in compelling ways! That is basically a home run for a writer! And, like, Umi is, in almost every way that matters, exactly the same as Tachibana's old frenemy Kiryu. They're both people who show up as dark reflections of a Rider, someone who went a different way from the hero. And I don't remember giving Kiryu any shit for being a dude who comes in and only comments on the hero!

I don't know. There's a thing about Umi and Twomi that... is it just the dearth of well-rounded female characters? I don't know. I don't know why I keep thinking about this!

Quote:

Originally Posted by FreshToku

This is a complete aside but thinking back, I don't like just how often the episodes in Blade end in cliffhangers?! That's mainly because when I want to go back and catch some of the highlights I remember, I gotta go switch between two episodes. This very mild inconvenience that the show has no reason to account for is unacceptable!! zero out of spade ten.

At least we've mostly moved away from the Faiz convention of using the previous episode's final minutes as the pre-credit sequence of the next episode. Now it's the previous episode's final minutes and maybe twenty seconds of new footage. Progress!

[FreshToku]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

I don't know. There's a thing about Umi and Twomi that... is it just the dearth of well-rounded female characters? I don't know. I don't know why I keep thinking about this!

If it helps, not a day goes by where I'm not bemoaning that dearth as well! I guess until then, I'll have to just project a lot on Poppy and the like. (watch out for when i travel back in time and rewrite the show so that she becomes the new president of genmcorp.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

At least we've mostly moved away from the Faiz convention of using the previous episode's final minutes as the pre-credit sequence of the next episode. Now it's the previous episode's final minutes and maybe twenty seconds of new footage. Progress!

The show expects you to love Blade so much that you won't mind watching the same scene multiple times! (I mean I guess that's not completely untrue.)

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FreshToku

If it helps, not a day goes by where I'm not bemoaning that dearth as well! I guess until then, I'll have to just project a lot on Poppy and the like. (watch out for when i travel back in time and rewrite the show so that she becomes the new president of genmcorp.)

Poppy's amazing, and I'd watch that version of the show. I just hope Burgermon is okay!

I feel like, with Umi and Twomi... it's this weird thing where the very attribute that make them valuable to the narrative (thematically related to the leads) is also weirdly a bummer. They're really interesting characters, but then that interest is refocused on the male leads. It's like I got tricked somehow, where I thought I was getting a story about Umi, but I'm really getting a story about Kenzaki.

Except, that's a good thing! I like Kenzaki! I like stories about Kenzaki! This is a show about Kenzaki! I definitely should not be getting a story about Umi!

Am I projecting too much? Are these good, strong characters that I'm reacting negatively to for reasons that aren't their fault? Am I holding them to too high of a standard specifically because the show has so few female characters of narrative value? (I mean, who's the last woman to be introduced on this show before them, Nozomi? Meet-Cute? It's been a minute!) Should I just shut the hell up and give the show a little breathing room to define the characters better before flagellating it for its shortcomings?

I would very much like to be able to define this feeling better so I can stop feeling it!

[FreshToku]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Poppy's amazing, and I'd watch that version of the show. I just hope Burgermon is okay!

All the Bugsters come together as happy mascots for the company to bring smiles to children everywhere (except Graphite because can you even imagine).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

I would very much like to be able to define this feeling better so I can stop feeling it!

The characters can certainly still be well-executed for their purposes, but I also think it's fair for you to be disappointed because it is such a consistent issue, so your feelings on the matter will bubble up again every now and then. Nothing wrong with expressing how you feel with each plot point as they come up! Even if you end up changing your mind later on, I think it's neat to see how your thoughts on the matter vary in real-time.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FreshToku

All the Bugsters come together as happy mascots for the company to bring smiles to children everywhere (except Graphite because can you even imagine).

I don't know, some kids are very happy to destroy monsters through brutal, time-consuming combat. I think Graphite could feel good about that. I mean, you show Graphite a game like Monster Hunter? That is basically his dream, right?

[Fish Sandwich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Speaking of energy, the directing in this one was… some ups, some downs. Overall, I thought it was really impressive for the ways it was regularly finding fun ways to shoot scenes. There’s that Henshin Vision shot, where we start from Mutsuki’s POV and then run through the Henshin into Leangle punching an Undead. That shot… amazing. So clever. There’s a dialogue scene from near the beginning of the episode that had a swell sideways dolly that starts a beat before Hirose gets up and walks to the computer, like she’s following the camera. There’s that shot through the U.N.D.E.A.D. chamber window on Hirose’s dad, then a pan to Tachibana through the other window, literally and figuratively boxed-in. But then there’s a half-dozen shaky camera shots, or extreme close ups, or swinging camera moves. It’s like, not every shot needs to be a bravura one! It can be too much! Just look at the old opening credits!

This is another episode by Satoshi Morota, and, yeah, even just briefly skimming through the episode, it's apparent how overly creative this one maybe gets in spots!

I definitely remember finding this one a weird change of gears after King Form's debut, but since I'd just be repeating FreshToku, I'll instead point out to everyone that this is the episode where Leangle declares "This is how the Strongest Rider fights" like the ultimate cool guy after using Chalice's cards to do a Spinning Dance, blissfully unaware that just makes it sound like Chalice is the strongest Rider. 高校生のくせに見事な中二病だね。

They also don't actually show him scanning the cards, which is apparently a nod to the DX Leangle Rouzer's inability to actually make those sounds. It's pretty hilarious to think the show's desire to keep consistent with the merch it was shilling led to yet more embarrassment for Mukki, as he awkwardly has to announce his finishing move by himself here.

[Kurona]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

(not a fan of Ghost Grateful)

Oh, man, dude; if it wasn't for your absolutely correct opinions on King Form and Joker I would be even more mad with your suit opinions now than I ever was

[Androzani84]

I can’t believe FS pointed out an example of “Leangle being a loser” that I missed. I’m still calling dibs on the ultimate example though.

Anyway, on with the Rouse Card Information Kiosk.

Gel Jellyfish

An Undead who can turn into water.

* Suit: Club
* Category: 7
* Ability Name: GEL
* Card Name: Gel Jellyfish (ゲル・ジェリーフィッシュ Geru Jerīfisshu)
* Consumption Points: FP 1400

I actually wrote out two for this episode, but then I read your review and realised one hasn’t shown up yet. It’s still on hold though.