[Matrixbeast]

I really enjoyed this group of episodes. It gave Tachibana the resolve to resume his place as Garren, it further expanded Mutsuki (His brooding was getting annoying. Seeing him actually do more than either brood or apologize is nice), and now the high ranking Undead are starting to show up more.

Unlike the others, I actually liked Kiryuu. He was an interesting character. Strong enough to be a Rider, but ultimately wasn't chosen. Yeah, once he touched the Leangle Belt, he was basically the Spider Undead's puppet, but I still liked the character. I do understand why it makes sense to axe him off so quickly (It was kind of just a more harsh version of Tachibana's story 10 episodes ago), but I did enjoy him for the whopping 3 episodes we had him

[Powerman293]

Kiryu was an okay villain. He was more of an excuse to get Tachibana back in the action and show the true power of Leangle if he went completely evil.

Tachibana training Mutski is an interesting concept. We can he that Mutski's power comes from the dumb luck of the Spider Undead being really powerful rather then training. However, what's all that training going to do if Mutski's being controlled anyway, what? Beat up the other riders better?

And Hajime hates Leangle..... great now more loner Chalice moments...

The villians in episodes 20 and 21 were jokes. Capricorn Undead was your standard two parter villain with a hold Koutaro hostage scheme to stop Blade. (Also, a male Queen Undead? Toei, you've gotta be fucking kidding me if you couldn't find one more Japanese female actress that's in her 20's to play the part) And the Orchid Undead was generic female villain material. They were queens but the went down easily. Seriously, WTF? The last royal Undead, Peacock, was a bitch to defeat and took someone's death in order to provide the will for Tachibana to overcome him. Now, Capricorn went down in 2 episodes like a monster of the week.

But coming off of Peacock Undead to this huge drop off in story quality is really disappointing. The Peacock Undead manipulated the sides everyone was on in order to win, hell he even created a new belt ready to have a new Rider work for him once he got Blade, Garren and Chalice out of the picture. Along with all of that rage Tachibana had towards the Peacock Undead when he killed his girlfriend created a great story arc.

Hell, even the introduction of Mutski arc I loved due to Mutski being bonded to this belt and having conflicting desires to use it or not. All of this growth under the fact that the Spider Undead is his puppet and his eventual decision to use his powers for good and further them despite his situation.

I know it seems a bit odd to bash these 2 arcs over the past few episodes and be reviewing what has happened so far, but we're nearly halfway through Blade. If the actual villains can't support the show over the middle section after such a great story so far, my opinion of Blade will greatly diminish.

[Dr Kain]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Powerman293

(Also, a male Queen Undead? Toei, you've gotta be fucking kidding me if you couldn't find one more Japanese female actress that's in her 20's to play the part)

Because you didn't expect him to be a queen until it happened. Does the gender really matter though?

Quote:

If the actual villains can't support the show over the middle section after such a great story so far, my opinion of Blade will greatly diminish.

Except we don't know who the main villain of the show is at this point yet.

[losondro]

I liked these episodes. Kiryu would have made a great villian but we all know how that turned out for him, I love how Mutsuki is learning how to control the Leangle belt and overcome the Spider Undead's control, and lastly Blade gets the Absorb Queen card which means we are only one card away each from Jack-Form and King-Form.

[Switchblade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Powerman293

I know it seems a bit odd to bash these 2 arcs over the past few episodes and be reviewing what has happened so far, but we're nearly halfway through Blade. If the actual villains can't support the show over the middle section after such a great story so far, my opinion of Blade will greatly diminish.

Trust me, you're about nine episodes from the moment where everything starts going crazy and the show really skyrockets into greatness.

[RiderSkyward]

It's really hard to talk about this show when you know what comes next...

So, err, add me to the camp of didn't like Kiryu. I sort of remember him appearing but I don't recall why or what he really did. Or even how he left...

Hajime and Tachibana's training/partnership thing is also pretty cool. I really liked it at the time, and it's one of my favourite Tachibana moments. It just shows how much he has trained and how much of a badass he could be.

[uchihabro77]

So Leangle once again gets tossed around, has there ever been a Belt that gets used more by different people?

only on 19 at the moment, watching 20 now.

[uchihabro77]

20-

Garren is becoming a mentor to Mutsuki, and he is still consumed by Leangles power. This ought to be interesting. I wonder how in the heck Kotaro will take to being played by a cute undead

[GoseiWonder]

Quote:

Originally Posted by uchihabro77

20-

Garren is becoming a mentor to Mutsuki, and he is still consumed by Leangles power. This ought to be interesting. I wonder how in the heck Kotaro will take to being played by a cute undead

I'm wondering what that Undead was.
I didn't know non-Kingdom Animalia lifeforms could be Undead.

It's nice to see Tachibana is getting back into the Rider business.

[Switchblade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoseiWonder

I'm wondering what that Undead was.
I didn't know non-Kingdom Animalia lifeforms could be Undead.

She's an orchid.