Kamen Rider Blade?
| My favorite Kamen Rider series to date! You can't miss it! The last of the dark Heisei KR series. Please post any major plot spoilers behind a spoiler tag! |
SusanOct 12, 2009 2:56 PM
| <---made of awesome! |
| Kamen Rider Blade was a good show, although I did have a few qualms with it. Too few characters actually do anything. In fact, I never got the feeling that Kenzaki was the lead until his heroic act in the final episode. On that note, I will agree that Blade has arguably the most complete and satisfying ending to a Heisei KR show. The final 10 episodes are exciting and do not let the viewer down in terms of excitement. Plus, I actually got the feeling the power-ups actually were integral to the plot and not mindless toy ads. O.o |
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| Hmmm. Well, maybe I agree with you about Kenzaki not having that leading-role kind of feel to him, but I think the other 3 riders made up for it. The four of them together took turns being the lead, as opposed to it just being Blade. I liked that because the 4 of them contrasted and complimented each other nicely. The only rider that didn't sit well with me was Tachibana, because he was a complete idiot and his stupid catch phrase that was something like "Please leave it to me." And for some reason they always did despite his incompetence. >_< Bleh. But I loved the series so much. It was awesome! Fun, great story and characters (except Kotarou and Shiori, who were do-nothing characters, basically), and a fantastic conclusion, which seems to be rare for a KR series. XD |
| <---made of awesome! |
| I'll debate Mutsuki ever feeling like a lead. Throughout half of the show, he just pulls some "ooh, I'm so emo and dark" garbage by just looking menacing in his hideout and popping up occasionally to fight Riders or Undead. I would actually debate that Hajime is the lead, considering how much of the show does center around Chalice and his true identity. The story, I felt, was awfully weak for about the first 10 episodes. It never seemed that interesting and came off as rather angsty. Once Tachibana takes on the Peacock Undead to avenge someone who shall not be named in fear of spoiling, that was when the show really started to get me. Other Rider shows tend to interest me immediately, but this one did require a lot of patience for me. |
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CCZilla said: Kamen Rider Blade was a good show, although I did have a few qualms with it. Too few characters actually do anything. In fact, I never got the feeling that Kenzaki was the lead until his heroic act in the final episode. WTF, really? It plotted his growth, so it wasn't like he could be the guy owning all the time. (Especially given the ending, where he becomes the most powerful character in that universe.) Still, I never felt like he wasn't the main character except for a few Chalice-centric episodes. I liked that because the 4 of them contrasted and complimented each other nicely. The only rider that didn't sit well with me was Tachibana, because he was a complete idiot and his stupid catch phrase that was something like "Please leave it to me." And for some reason they always did despite his incompetence. >_< Bleh. I disagree that Tachibana was so much incompetent as easily lead around. When he wanted to be, he was very bright, and a talented fighter despite obviously being the weakest Rider in the series. The story, I felt, was awfully weak for about the first 10 episodes. It never seemed that interesting and came off as rather angsty. Once Tachibana takes on the Peacock Undead to avenge someone who shall not be named in fear of spoiling, that was when the show really started to get me. Other Rider shows tend to interest me immediately, but this one did require a lot of patience for me. I agree. Well, not entirely. Normally the first episode of a Rider series is pretty boring, while Blade's was crazy interesting. Then after that the coolness of it all really dropped off for some reason and I had to trudge through the next nine episodes until Tachibana beat the Peacock Undead. THEN it all picked back up and from then on the show was great. Even better, because I was so interested in the characters (except for Mutsuki, who was a complete puss), when I went back and watched the series over, even those episodes that were boring to me were interesting again. Also: I guess the ending was dramatic or whatever, but I feel like a hero as amazing as Kenzaki deserved so much better. |
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SageShinigami said: WTF, really? It plotted his growth, so it wasn't like he could be the guy owning all the time. (Especially given the ending, where he becomes the most powerful character in that universe.) Still, I never felt like he wasn't the main character except for a few Chalice-centric episodes. Thing is, until he got King Form, NONE of the series really seemed to revolve around him. It was all about the other three Riders until that point. To me, I had the impression Kenzaki was just there to be the obligatory nice guy who fights for justice. He came into his own in the end, but for most of the series, I felt he was severely underused and underdeveloped. |
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CCZilla said: SageShinigami said: WTF, really? It plotted his growth, so it wasn't like he could be the guy owning all the time. (Especially given the ending, where he becomes the most powerful character in that universe.) Still, I never felt like he wasn't the main character except for a few Chalice-centric episodes. Thing is, until he got King Form, NONE of the series really seemed to revolve around him. It was all about the other three Riders until that point. To me, I had the impression Kenzaki was just there to be the obligatory nice guy who fights for justice. He came into his own in the end, but for most of the series, I felt he was severely underused and underdeveloped. That's not true. The series focused on him from the very beginning. The other guys would get spotlight, but everytime you saw them they were always fucking up. Tachibana with his power problems, Hajime being the emo kid, Mutsuki being...a complete moron... Again, you can't make the entire series center wholly around Kenzaki, especially considering that once he GOT King+ Form, the other Riders were just window dressing. You have to develop those other characters early on if you know one guy is going to come to the forefront in a BIG way later on and never really leave it. If the other Riders hadn't gotten development and spotlight early on, people would've referred to Kenzaki as the original Tendou, except he wouldn't have even had the flaw of arrogance to point out, given his selflessness. |
SageShinigamiJul 30, 2009 5:45 AM
| Jumping in Headfirst - I hear reading it causes immortality. Warning. Reading may not actually cause immortality. |
SageShinigami said: CCZilla said: SageShinigami said: WTF, really? It plotted his growth, so it wasn't like he could be the guy owning all the time. (Especially given the ending, where he becomes the most powerful character in that universe.) Still, I never felt like he wasn't the main character except for a few Chalice-centric episodes. Thing is, until he got King Form, NONE of the series really seemed to revolve around him. It was all about the other three Riders until that point. To me, I had the impression Kenzaki was just there to be the obligatory nice guy who fights for justice. He came into his own in the end, but for most of the series, I felt he was severely underused and underdeveloped. That's not true. The series focused on him from the very beginning. The other guys would get spotlight, but everytime you saw them they were always fucking up. Tachibana with his power problems, Hajime being the emo kid, Mutsuki being...a complete moron... Again, you can't make the entire series center wholly around Kenzaki, especially considering that once he GOT King+ Form, the other Riders were just window dressing. You have to develop those other characters early on if you know one guy is going to come to the forefront in a BIG way later on and never really leave it. If the other Riders hadn't gotten development and spotlight early on, people would've referred to Kenzaki as the original Tendou, except he wouldn't have even had the flaw of arrogance to point out, given his selflessness. Now, I don't mind when a show focuses on the other Riders. But Kenzaki, to me at least, rarely stuck out as a main character despite being the lead and the show's namesake. He did for the first few episodes after he survived the BOARD attack and tried to find Tachibana, but after Tachibana came back to his senses, the show spent more time on Tachibana and Hajime rather than Kenzaki. It's great that the other Riders were given stellar character development, but Kenzaki logically needed to be focused on more since he IS the lead. |
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CCZilla said: Now, I don't mind when a show focuses on the other Riders. But Kenzaki, to me at least, rarely stuck out as a main character despite being the lead and the show's namesake. He did for the first few episodes after he survived the BOARD attack and tried to find Tachibana, but after Tachibana came back to his senses, the show spent more time on Tachibana and Hajime rather than Kenzaki. It's great that the other Riders were given stellar character development, but Kenzaki logically needed to be focused on more since he IS the lead. ...Isn't the show, after he gains King+ Form (I call it that because, technically, there's no such thing as King Form), pretty much *entirely* about him and his condition? If Hajime was focused on as well (true, he was), its because basically...he was Decade before there was a Decade. |
| Jumping in Headfirst - I hear reading it causes immortality. Warning. Reading may not actually cause immortality. |
SageShinigami said: CCZilla said: Now, I don't mind when a show focuses on the other Riders. But Kenzaki, to me at least, rarely stuck out as a main character despite being the lead and the show's namesake. He did for the first few episodes after he survived the BOARD attack and tried to find Tachibana, but after Tachibana came back to his senses, the show spent more time on Tachibana and Hajime rather than Kenzaki. It's great that the other Riders were given stellar character development, but Kenzaki logically needed to be focused on more since he IS the lead. ...Isn't the show, after he gains King+ Form (I call it that because, technically, there's no such thing as King Form), pretty much *entirely* about him and his condition? If Hajime was focused on as well (true, he was), its because basically...he was Decade before there was a Decade. Well, it was a MAJOR plot point, and he was the focal point of interest again at that point. But when did he get King Form, around episode 35 or 36? Tachibana regained his senses around episode 9 or 10, and that's where the series started to focus more on the other Riders in my opinion. So that's over 25 episodes where Kenzaki was virtually a background character. |
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| King+ Form is obtained in episode 34. Tachibana was afraid of fighting until episode 10, when the first Jack Undead gives him a boost. Tachibana's "arc" lasts until episode 15 when he defeats the Jack. Following that, the focus switches from Tachibana to Tachibana and Kenzaki while they try to take down Leangle, which lasts from episode 16 to episode 20. At that point, Tachibana tries to help Mutsuki learn to control his Rider form, and there really isn't a focus on anyone for about five episodes. By episode 26 Kenzaki gains Jack Form but by this time Mutsuki's beginning to be taken over by the Spider Undead again, and 27-28 is the story of Shima letting Mutsuki seal him. 29 and 30 are the requisite "joke" episodes present in most New Gen KR series starting with Ryuki. 31 is the first mention of "Joker", and from that point on the story is pretty much Kenzaki's again, as even the episodes leading up to him gaining King+ Form are about how he should quit being a Rider and how the Trials are coming after him and all that. Essentially, 1-9 and 31-50 are Kenzaki's, and the episodes in the middle basically develop the other characters. Which is nice--not like Kiva where |
m4rc0Sep 30, 2009 1:10 AM
| Jumping in Headfirst - I hear reading it causes immortality. Warning. Reading may not actually cause immortality. |
| FInally, my toughts on the show. The enemies: Quite poor. The Undead have a clear origin and goals, which is good, but the problem is that most of them just seem to be rampaging. I mean, their goal was to fight one another, but we didn't see them doing that. In fact, many high level undead just didn't want to fight. Also, there was no great evil. It was like the riders were doing pest control. Go there and kill the monsters. There was no plan behind their actions. Ok, the first Jack had a plan but he didn't last too much. There was another plan going on, but not only ti came out of nowhere, but it came up too late and we couldn't care abou the enemies being defeated. Also, many of them hardly used their powers. The fights: Ok. A lot of bike action which was good. But the riders fought in an ugly way. They got hit a lot, were always grabing the enemies and such. Not a very inspired coreography direction. Another problem is that the riders didn't use their cards and skills enough. I mean Kenzaki got a time stopping card and NEVER used it. He coudl use ZA WARUDO whenever he wanted, but he didn't stop time... A good thing is that there was almost no plot power ups or "power downs". I can only remember one case. The plot: Ok. Not an exciting plot, but there were no plot holes and the ending was good. The characters: The extras did their jobs. None of them was exceptional. And Amane was just a pain. If I was Kotarou I'd just tell her to ... off. There was a common problem in toku and anime that is: people don't explain things to each other. Tachibana was all: kenzaki, you can't henshin anymore, but how did he expect kenzaki to if he didn't explain why? Just an example. The riders: Hajime was a good character. His actor played him well. I liked the things he did with the arms to look menacing. Hajime was the rival that becomes a friend, but keeps acting cold and rude. A shounen cliché, but well executed. Kenzaki was also a good character and an excellent rider. He was too naive, but he was always strong and his heart was always in the right place. He didn't think twice before sacrificing himself. Worthy of being called a Kamen Rider. Failchibana wasn't a good character. Too insecure, wanted to act alone and be a lone wolf, but if you are going to be a lone wolf you must be strong and competent. He was neither. And he also kept secrets that he had no reason to keep. He also let a cute girl die. Emotsuki wasn't a good character. I was born in the darkness... Pff. Ridiculous. He was a weak and emo boy. Then he turned into a stupid card game nerd that wanted cards to be stronger. And all that tough guy in the club with cards and stuff was just ridiculous. That guy could look like a badass. Two of the coolest characters of the show had to die so that he could come to his senses... In the end, Blade was a good show. It never got me really excited, but it kept my interest and was very well executed, lacking the common flaws riders tend to have. |
| Failchibana and Emotsuki FTW. XD Glad you enjoyed it! Despite my extreme enthusiasm about the series, I don't anything you said is wrong. |
| <---made of awesome! |
| Iforgot to add that the weakest riders treat the girls very badly. Both treat the girls that like them like a dog. And the girls seem to like them even more after that... edit: another thing that bothered me were the fake deaths at the end. That was cheap. They did everyting to make us believe some charcters died, and in the end they were mysteriously alive... |
m4rc0Oct 22, 2009 10:38 AM
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