[LeviathanBlossom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

The stuff with Hajime and Mutsuki, it’s fine, it’s whatever. Tense scenes that are mostly about incremental movement, pushing the characters a little closer to collapse. It’s entertaining, and it’s all getting somewhere, but holy shit that Kenzaki speech. Holy shit. ... Here, it’s Kenzaki saying that those people fight through him because they’re heroes, too. Heroism isn’t just the province of masked riders with magical trading cards. It’s a decision every one of us can make at any time. It’s nothing innate or ordained; it’s a choice, and we all get to make it.

I really love that idea.

Kenzaki's classification of heroism as a choice and the act of making that choice is one of the traits I love most about him. His emotional journey hasn't always been front and center of this series, but damn. It's so good.

I also really enjoy the screws tightening around Hajime and Mutsuki, which would have been the highlight of almost any other episode we've been through so far.

What kills me about the current Tachibana thing, incidentally, is that he's not wrong about Joker winning the battle royale being a bad thing; we the audience know that it would be the end of Life On Earth through Hajime's nightmare. That Tachibana does not have access to this information and is still absolutely convinced that Hirose Sr. is telling the truth didn't ping for me initially and then I thought about it and was so pissed off at him

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Androzani84

Given the name "Chalice the Legendary", the Mantis Undead (マンティスアンデッド Mantisu Andeddo) is the best fighter of all the Undead. As such, Hajime Aikawa uses the Undead's form and assumes the identity of "Kamen Rider Chalice" while suppressing his Joker nature.

OH SHIT Hajime pulled a Legendary?!

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

King's Form still had the same usual Blade face, though it's true that for others, many likes King Form's look.

They actually raised up the sides of the helmet a bit, to give it a crowned look. He's so much more regal now!

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

I've said this before, but I'm afraid that Kenzaki's way of being morally upright; confiding and caring about other people will be looked down here by people with how Kenzaki is taken advantage by Umi.

Yeah, Umi. Across both episodes, I think she becomes a three-dimensional character, where her struggle is given some definition and her arc has weight to it. In the first part, though, she's very rough on Kenzaki, and he's very frustrated. It's largely played for laughs, and it's all there for easons the next episode will make clear (she does not think much of people who'd call themselves heroes!), but I get it if she's too abrasive in the first part.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

Undead is never an acronym btw, it's the name of the monsters but the organization has no correlation with it.

Look, if someone makes a robot Undead, its name is going to have to be U.N.D.E.A.D., that's just how superhero fiction works. The writer forgot about this, and I am here to remind him.

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeviathanBlossom

Kenzaki's classification of heroism as a choice and the act of making that choice is one of the traits I love most about him. His emotional journey hasn't always been front and center of this series, but damn. It's so good.

It's so good! It even gets at Kenzaki's inability to think of himself as special! If he can be a hero, he thinks, anyone can be a hero. There's something very sweet and sad about that!

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeviathanBlossom

I also really enjoy the screws tightening around Hajime and Mutsuki, which would have been the highlight of almost any other episode we've been through so far.

Yeah, boy, felt a little bad blowing off the Hajime and Mutsuki scenes for that episode, 'cause they were good! The shot of Hajime seeing the restaurant in the distance, seeing his home, and realizing he can't get any closer than that... heartbreaking! All the stuff with Mutsuki and Twomi, with her saying that she finds the Riders' interference in her culture insulting... really interesting idea and motivation! Definitely stuff that'd be intriguing in any other episode, but that Kenzaki arc just expanded in my brain, pushing out all the other story beats.

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeviathanBlossom

What kills me about the current Tachibana thing, incidentally, is that he's not wrong about Joker winning the battle royale being a bad thing; we the audience know that it would be the end of Life On Earth through Hajime's nightmare. That Tachibana does not have access to this information and is still absolutely convinced that Hirose Sr. is telling the truth didn't ping for me initially and then I thought about it and was so pissed off at him

True! Another thing about it, and I can't remember if I talked about this, is how quickly Tachibana is effectively giving up on Kenzaki. Like, Kenzaki fought for so long to help Tachibana redeem himself, and now (for reasons, but still!) Tachibana is working with a secretive asshole and a jealousy-powered murder robot to keep Kenzaki from being a Kamen Rider. It's incredibly Tachibana for him to end up having zero faith in his friends while telling himself that he's trying to help, but it makes for character turn that's a bit of a slog to get through.

[Fish Sandwich]

Tachibana throwing in with Hirose's da... actually, first, can I just take a second to mention how frustrating it is both of these characters are referred to largely by their family name? Like I'm pretty sure the first time around I didn't even remember Hirose's name was Shiori by this point. It's like, imagine if Kenzaki's brother showed up, and everyone just also called him Kenzaki. Total madness!

Anyway, I think Tachibana throwing in so readily with Hirose's dad is really just a testament to both how deeply he secretly craves an authority figure to work under, and how fear is the easiest way to motivate him to do anything. Despite the unfortunate tendency to assault his bosses (the one time Karasuma refused to immediately leave a room!), it's pretty obvious to me he kind of can't help but be tempted by the idea of having someone to do all that pesky decision-making for him. His whole life is basically one big quest for a sense of normalcy and structure, and Hirose's dad dangled two pretty big carrots in front of him (Kenzaki is in danger/the literal end of the world) to take advantage of that. Uncertain futures are scary! The status quo is good! Tachibana needs to protect the status quo from the scary future! He's basically the original Ryugen, I'm realizing as I write this! (!)

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Tachibana throwing in with Hirose's da... actually, first, can I just take a second to mention how frustrating it is both of these characters are referred to largely by their family name? Like I'm pretty sure the first time around I didn't even remember Hirose's name was Shiori by this point. It's like, imagine if Kenzaki's brother showed up, and everyone just also called him Kenzaki. Total madness!

What's that? I should just start calling him Undad? Good idea! Thanks!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Anyway, I think Tachibana throwing in so readily with Hirose's dad is really just a testament to both how deeply he secretly craves an authority figure to work under, and how fear is the easiest way to motivate him to do anything. Despite the unfortunate tendency to assault his bosses (the one time Karasuma refused to immediately leave a room!), it's pretty obvious to me he kind of can't help but be tempted by the idea of having someone to do all that pesky decision-making for him. His whole life is basically one big quest for a sense of normalcy and structure, and Hirose's dad dangled two pretty big carrots in front of him (Kenzaki is in danger/the literal end of the world) to take advantage of that. Uncertain futures are scary! The status quo is good! Tachibana needs to protect the status quo from the scary future! He's basically the original Ryugen, I'm realizing as I write this! (!)

Yet another thing about Tachibana that's pitiable is that he craves structure, and then inherently chafes under and destroys that structure. He'll work for, clearly, anyone with a plan, no matter how sketchy they act and clearly are. (I joke about no one vetting Tachibana before they offer him a job, but will someone please show Tachibana how to set up an account on Glassdoor!) But, like, Tachibana is only anywhere between one and five episodes from getting so massively disillusioned with the hierarchy and goals of an organization that he commits numerous felonies. For a dude who wants to be told what to do, he sure doesn't like being told what to do!

[AkibaSilver]

Well at least Tachibana never became an incel, so he's doing better than other gunslinging secon/tertiary riders.

[Kurona]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AkibaSilver

Well at least Tachibana never became an incel, so he's doing better than other gunslinging secon/tertiary riders.

My head was going between "are they talking about Kusaka or Michi" for a bit before realising the answer is yes

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AkibaSilver

Well at least Tachibana never became an incel, so he's doing better than other gunslinging secon/tertiary riders.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kurona

My head was going between "are they talking about Kusaka or Michi" for a bit before realising the answer is yes

Hey! Rude! I would not call Kusaka a gunslinger!

[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER BLADE EPISODE 37

This time on Kamen Rider Blade: Kenzaki risks it all to save Hajime! Mutsuki executes the world’s most tense card trade! And Tachibana steals from his employer because Tachibana!



Last time I ignored everything in the episode to talk about one thread that I loved. This time, let’s see how many random things I can address!

---

Right away, there’s something where I was like I Don’t Know How I’ll Fit This Into A Larger Discussion, which is almost entirely the reason for this format. Tachibana and Undad are watching footage of Kenzaki powering up into King Form… but the footage they’re watching is from, like, an episode of Kamen Rider Blade. Are they… is this Spaceballs? Are they watching this week’s episode to try and glean clues from it? If not, what camera team do they have at the site of the battle that’s capable of these very quick and accomplished edits? Honestly, it’s a little thing, but it’s so uninterested in anything approaching verisimilitude (for a value of verisimilitude that is appropriate for a crazy man who voluntarily works with Tachibana to defeat monsters from eternity) that I needed to talk about it.

---

Also, hey, Undad is here to tell us that Kenzaki’s numbers are going up! FINALLY someone on this show has their head on straight. Sure, Kenzaki has a glorious new suit, and sure, he can now obliterate foes with awe-inspiring displays of force, and sure, Hajime has indicated that this is a fearsome new power Kenzaki wields, and sure, Undad has told us the same… but that was all horsehit and conjecture because WHAT ABOUT HIS NUMBERS, SHOW?! ARE THEY GOING UP?! I need hard data in my superhero program about handsome men who use magical trading cards to do battle with monsters from eternity!

---

That Blade/Joker fight is a blast, though. I love that Kenzaki lets loose his most powerful form just so that he can withstand Hajime’s animalistic rage. It’s all defense from Blade, with him just trying to tire Joker out enough to reach the man inside. It’s not the Power vs Power blowout that another show would do, since Kenzaki really doesn’t think Hajime’s gone for good. He wants to give him every chance to come back. That’s such a fun idea.

---

Oh, man, how great is that golden-hued flashback Kenzaki has when he’s deciding whether or not to seal Hajime? I like that it’s one mean thing (backhanding Kenzaki), one nice thing (letting Kenzaki care for him?), and then Kenzaki telling Tachibana he’ll put Hajime down if he goes rabid. It, uh, it definitely paints a picture of their “friendship”! The music is very sweet, though, and it sells the weight of Kenzaki’s indecision.

---

I just… I find Undad impossibly dull. Every plan is just Here’s A New U.N.D.E.A.D. Every interaction with Tachibana is Tachibana trying to make a case for calm discussion and Undad being detached and horrible. It’s… there’s no way in to Undad, as a viewer. There’s no part of his character that I can relate to or understand. He’s all smooth surfaces, with no purchase. He’s just a void where an antagonist should be, and I don’t find him intriguing or mysterious like I’m probably supposed to. He’s bland, and he’s completely not working for me.

---

On the one hand, I really like that it’s Kenzaki who figures out that Hajime just needs more cards to get his shit together. I like when that sort of solution can generate from within the core cast, through discussion and problem-solving. It’s not a given! But, man, an email from Karasuma is maybe not great writing to kick off that discussion. He’s only really giving them info that exists in the story that they weren’t privy to (Kenzaki fusing with 13 Undead is not supposed to be possible, even for very sweet boys), but it’s still so dumb that I did an out-loud Oh Come On when Hirose mentioned it. Karasuma’s narratively-variable usefulness is not something that got better with a new writer!

---

I absolutely love how the show pushes the idea of destroying the rampaging monster, the one that could end the world, as moral weakness. Tachibana and Mutsuki are both quick to disregard any plan other than defeating the Joker, while Kenzaki would risk anything to help him. Kenzaki has the strength of his convictions, while Tachibana and Mutsuki resign themselves to cowardice and easy outs. It’s that core concept of the franchise, that empathy is a Kamen Rider’s greatest power, and I’m always a fan of it.

---

I give Tachibana a lot shit (deservedly!), but I love seeing him back with Team Blade, even if it’s just a cameo. Kotaro puts his dukes up to defend Kenzaki from him, and Tachibana just very gently pushes them down to say You Are Adorable But I Would Murder You. Hirose passive-aggressively calls him out for his lack of faith in other people, and you can tell her judgment gets to him. But he still tries to make a case for why he’s doing these things, and it becomes sort-of easy to see why he’s not been cancelled by them. Some of it is that he is a disaster, and they’re all pretty used to that by now, but some of it is that he is sort-of desperate to prove himself right in a way that is very, very sad. He’s once again put all of his chips in on just the worst person, and you can see how much he wants to salvage things. Every new bad decision is just him trying to get the old bad decisions to finally pay off. If the Sunk Cost Fallacy were a person, it’d be Tachibana.

---

Great conclusion, with Kenzaki giving up his powerful upgrades and Rider Belt to be able to give Hajime a chance at regaining his humanity. I just love that it’s him as a man, going to his friend. We saw the Blade Versus Joker version at the start of the episode, and now we get to Kenzaki Plus Hajime. It’s not conflict, it’s cooperation. Very into that.

---

Not as into the new Chalice King Form, though. It’s got a lot of the same problems that Garren’s Jack Form has, where the red/gold/green palette is too much, visually. I like it better than Garren Jack Form, but not as much as Chalice’s base suit or any of Blade’s suits.

---

Huh! I think that write-up went okay! Was not sure how it was going to work out (I wrote it as I watched, instead of waiting until afterwards), but I didn’t hate doing it this way.



Next time on Kamen Rider Blade: Mutsuki needs a Queen! Undad is having problems with his body! And Chalice is probably going to have something to say about Garren’s recruitment strategy!

[DreadBringer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Yeah, Umi. Across both episodes, I think she becomes a three-dimensional character, where her struggle is given some definition and her arc has weight to it. In the first part, though, she's very rough on Kenzaki, and he's very frustrated. It's largely played for laughs, and it's all there for easons the next episode will make clear (she does not think much of people who'd call themselves heroes!), but I get it if she's too abrasive in the first part.

I know, her backstory or struggle gives an explanation on how it turned that way, but explanation =/= justification of the actions; if it's bad actions, it's still bad actions. Neither does it being played for laugh is, like deciding that the other people's feelings don't matter as much as the comedic or entertainment value in those behaviours. And again, admitting that she's too abrasive doesn't mean bashing her character, real fans are the one that would admit that, so feel free (and this should be encouraged) to label those as being abrasive, unlike those who defend aimlessly, and cutting off any of their bad traits. And I mainly said that, refering to you saying "Although, teenage girls are no joke! I’d probably give them the edge over any superhero you can name!" as if the abrasiveness is something that should be normalized and given a free pass. I don't want any meanness to be given leeway.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

The stuff with Hajime and Mutsuki, it’s fine, it’s whatever. Tense scenes that are mostly about incremental movement, pushing the characters a little closer to collapse. It’s entertaining, and it’s all getting somewhere, but holy shit that Kenzaki speech. Holy shit.

Well, Hajime preventing himself from turning himself to Joker, so the real reasons are revealed here. Joker isn't only scary in looks, but it also sends him into an uncontrollable state to destroy anything, as Joker makes no distinction of destroying Undeads or humans. And also it's the mechanic of his body; when there are more Undeads gathering around, it accelerates his Joker's control, regardless of him using Chalice or that human Undead. And as Chalice can be summoned by Mutsuki like other Undeads... somehow that Undead is the only one recognized as... Kamen Rider? There's also Tachibana pleading for Yoshito not to involve any innocent people, he didn't know yet about Yoshito's methods of saving Kenzaki until he saw it in action with Trial D causing havoc, and thus, the next Trial man-made Undeads.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

It’s such a perfect sentiment for Kenzaki. It bundles together his sense of duty, his guilt, his compassion, his tenacity, his stubbornness, and it distills it all into a beautiful idea: heroism isn’t a state, it’s a decision.

True, heroes aren't, well, omnipotent, their powers are limited to solve the world's disaster. Kenzaki, obviously, won't explain the definition of hero because that takes off the points of his heroism to shape the definition of the hero, but that should be made clear on Umi, heroes can't be everywhere at once. By default, saving any number of people at any given time means even more people aren't being saved. Heroes can't save everybody because reality forbids it. And yes as Rider series also made it clear, heroism is your act, your personality, what you do in your actions, but how you can contribute depends on your powers: A heroic normal human would accomplish, well, way less than any Kamen Rider should, they don't have ability to quickly travel somewhere, fend off powerful threats, etc, but it doesn't diminish your acts, heroism is about that. Rider protagonists having a chance to be a Rider is a golden chance to contribute more ("with great power comes great responsibility", after all) with increased power to save others, but they're still not omnipotent.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Umi’s flaw in the story is her cynicism, her defeatism. She thinks of the world as a terrible place, and she tries to drag Kenzaki down to her level. Heroes have never saved her, so anyone claiming to be a hero is deluding themselves and lying to her. Heroes don’t exist.

But Kenzaki’s point is, if you don’t think heroes exist, if you don’t see heroes in the world, then be that hero. If heroism is required, it can come from you. There’s nothing stopping Umi from being the hero, from saving herself. It’s a message that feels like the second part of Hirose’s speech to Kenzaki from a couple episodes back, where she was telling Kenzaki that he's fighting for all the people who can’t. Here, it’s Kenzaki saying that those people fight through him because they’re heroes, too. Heroism isn’t just the province of masked riders with magical trading cards. It’s a decision every one of us can make at any time. It’s nothing innate or ordained; it’s a choice, and we all get to make it.

If a hero isn't one just because of them not focusing on themselves only (like Umi where a hero should contribute solely to her), frankly, it means that they're textbook definition of being self-centered, and has no place on talking or preaching about morality; they should learn to improve themselves first before having a talk about morality; they have to know which is objectively right or wrong first. And from Hirose's speech to Kenzaki, people like Umi are also those that only look at the result, not the fact on how heroes are about the act regardless of the results (especially if those comes from normal humans who can't do anything!). Though well, in the internet such as Google, those general sites can define heroes as "a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities", which would likely take results into account by that... And heroism being "the province of masked riders with magical trading cards", that's also the wrong definition people, likely youngsters take from watching action-hero shows like Kamen Riders. Hero is about the people, having rider form and magical trading cards just make you a superhero. Sure, the true heroes may feel guilty of not being able to save those, but the fact is, there are other humans or <insert living being here> other than them, and they also, need saving. Priority and compromise have to be made.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

And I mainly said that, refering to you saying "Although, teenage girls are no joke! I’d probably give them the edge over any superhero you can name!" as if the abrasiveness is something that should be normalized and given a free pass. I don't want any meanness to be given leeway.

I mostly meant that teenage girls generally have an inner strength that makes them formidable, to a degree that may be daunting for most superheroes. Sometimes it's used for good, sometimes for evil. I'm just noting their inherent qualities, not ascribing a value to them. I don't think being a Mean Girl is something to emulate! One cutting remark from a snotty teenager can and will stay with you for decades! Decades!

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

Kenzaki, obviously, won't explain the definition of hero because that takes off the points of his heroism to shape the definition of the hero, but that should be made clear on Umi, heroes can't be everywhere at once. By default, saving any number of people at any given time means even more people aren't being saved. Heroes can't save everybody because reality forbids it.

I think Umi gets that intellectually, but it's hard for her to accept emotionally. From a detached viewpoint, we know that sometimes tragedies happen. It's sad, but there was nothing anyone could've done to save her family. But, emotionally, it's impossible for her to accept. If her family couldn't be saved, then there's no such thing as heroes, otherwise her family would've been saved. Kenzaki does the smart thing here by not just telling her to grow up, or make her peace with a bad situation. Her tells that, okay, maybe there aren't heroes, so maybe you should be one. It allows her to feel her grief, to treat her sense of loss as valid, while asking her to do something productive with it. It's that early-Blade thematic stuff getting reexamined, and I love it.