Kamen Rider Blade (2004)

i love blade.

As of this review, Blade is 20 days away from it's 20th anniversary! What better way to spend it than to watch the series...? :D

From start to finish, Blade features a cast that feels genuine, compelling world-building, cool card-based suits, a main character you sympathize and want to root for, emotionally devastating scenes, and it's pretty funny! Also, Blade has 2 banger openings.

Blade had multiple writers until the latter half of the series, so some minor concepts end up getting discarded / never mentioned again, but I don't think this takes away from the overwall cohesiveness of the plot. Some people may tell you that Blade has some strange pacing in the first half of the series, but I really enjoyed the whimsy, mystery and conflicts of the 1st half. The first half tends to focus on plots that usually last 2 episodes, while the latter half has plots that span multiple episodes to the end. Though the first half of the series does a good job of building up the characters and setting the scene, the latter half has a tone shift that's bit more serious and showcases a clear goal in mind.

Despite this, I think Blade's biggest charm is that sometimes, it tends to take itself too seriously to the point that it's unserious, (onduru memes.) as well as the flawed yet genuine cast. Though I don't agree with some of the actions taken, the characters are given limited knowledge that leads them to act the way they do, VS. us viewers who are omniscient. They feel real to me and I really love the cast!

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and here's my butchered descriptions of the reoccuring blade cast.

Kenzaki is a beautiful, lovely, golden retriever boyfriend protagonist, whose kindness and love for humanity brings me to tears whenever I think of him. This is Kenzaki Kazuma, he's a kamen rider and he's your next BOYFRIEND!!
Tachibana's disparity of being a well-respected senior to the blade characters, but being a pathetic sopping wet cardboard box of a man who has some of the worst months of his life to us viewers, is pretty funny.
Hajime's development throughout the series as he opens his heart to the Kuriharas (and Kenzaki) is heartwarming, yet heartwrenching. To be loved is to be changed. I love this guy so much.
Mutsuki is a teenager. He is definitely a teenager going through stuff in emo teen ways.
The trio of Kenzaki, Shiori and Koutarou are so enjoyable and I love seeing how much they balance each other out and how each character plays into each other... Friendship trio!!
(Koutarou is the true heroine of Blade and Shiori is the best friend that acts as an anchor. I believe this with all my heart.)
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Come for Kamen Rider and stay for blossoming relationship between Kenzaki and Hajime across 49 episodes with some 20-something episodes of slow-burn.

♠️(OWO)♠️ ♦️(OMO)♦️ ♥️(<::V::>)♥️ ♣️(OHO) ♣️
if you saw me write this review a 2nd time no you didn't.

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Wasted Potential

I am going to be very blunt in this review. If you are not a Kamen Rider superfan, I recommend skipping this show. If you want to start watching Kamen Rider shows, there are much better stories out there. Here's why I think that:

This show has issues with it's pacing. It would be so much better if it was 25 episodes or so instead of 49. There are so many times where I felt that story is not moving, or felt like story is pulling the same tricks again and again.
Main character, Kenzaki, is a boring protagonist. One of the main themes of this show is "what it means to be a human" and "having compassion for all beings". But since Kenzaki is such a boring protagonist and pacing is bad, it fails to deliver this message.

There are some good about this show as well. Visuals are cool. Some of the suit designs are cool. I like the other riders and it has somewhat of a decent ending. But I don't think these are enough to commit watching 49 episodes. This show could've been great, but it is not...

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