Kamen Rider Blade

This article is about a/an series entry (the 15th) in the Kamen Rider Series.

Kamen Rider Blade

Kamen Rider Blade
Number	15
Number of episodes:	49 + 1 Movie
First episode:	The Indigo Warrior
Last episode:	The Eternal Trump
Intro:	Round ZERO~BLADE BRAVE ELEMENTS
Original airing:	January 25, 2004-January 23, 2005
Producer:	Toei Company
Production Order
previous Kamen Rider 555	next Kamen Rider Hibiki

For the series' main character, Blade, see Kazuma Kenzaki.

Kamen Rider Blade (仮面ライダー剣（ブレイド）, Kamen Raidā Bureido^?, Masked Rider ♠ (Blade)), is a Japanese tokusatsu superhero television series. It is the fourteenth installment in the Kamen Rider Series. It aired on TV Asahi from January 25, 2004 to January 23, 2005. It aired alongside Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger for Super Hero Time 2004. It is a joint collaboration between Ishimori Productions and Toei. Along with the standard insect motif of the Kamen Rider series, Kamen Rider Blade also uses a playing card motif. Each Rider is assigned one of the suits from a deck of cards. The series catchphrases are "Now your power is at its peak." (今、その力が展開する, Ima, sono chikara ga tenkai suru^?) and "Take the trump card of fate!" (運命の切札をつかみ取れ!, Unmei no kirifuda o tsukamitore!^?). It aired along side Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger for Super Hero Time 2004.

Blade was later released on DVD by Toei. There were twelve volumes released with the first eleven having four episodes per DVD and the twelfth volume with five episodes.

Story

Ten thousand years ago, a massive battle known as the Battle Royal was fought by fifty-two demons known as the Undead, each representing a species fighting for dominance over all others. The winner was the Human Undead, known as Category Two of Hearts, giving dominion of the Earth to humanity. In the present day, archaeologists discover the sealed Undead, and accidentally set them free. Thus, a new Battle Royal begins.

Having developed the Rider System, based on the Joker's ability to copy sealed Undead, the organization BOARD (Board Of Archaeological Research Department) equips two young men, who become Kamen Riders: Kazuma Kenzaki and Sakuya Tachibana fight together as Kamen Rider Blade and Kamen Rider Garren to protect humans from Undead and seal them. Also fighting Undead is the mysterious Chalice, a Kamen Rider whose purpose is unknown. In addition, a young man struggles to free himself from the control of the sealed Undead powering his own Undead-made Rider System, fighting as Kamen Rider Leangle.

Characters

All the Riders in the Blade Series, From Left To Right Clockwise : Glaive, Larc, Lance, Leangle, Garren, Chalice, & Blade King Form

Kamen Riders

Kamen Rider Blade		Kazuma Kenzaki
Kamen Rider Garren		Sakuya Tachibana
Kamen Rider Chalice		Hajime Aikawa
Kamen Rider Leangle		Mutsuki Kamijo ► Go Kiryu ► Mutsuki Kamijo

Movie Exclusive

Kamen Rider Glaive	Junichi Shimura
Kamen Rider Larc	Natsumi Miwa
Kamen Rider Lance	Shin Magaki

Shirai Residences

• Shiori Hirose
• Kotaro Shirai

Jacaranda Cafe

• Haruka Kurihara
• Amane Kurihara

BOARD

• Kei Karasuma
• Yoshito Hirose
• Hiroshi Tennoji

The Undead

Main article: Undead

The Undead (アンデッド, Andeddo^?) are the series monsters in Kamen Rider Blade. There are 52 Undead organized into four suits with the Joker, making a common card deck.

The Undead are also divided by Category, with the "Royal" Undead being of a much higher power level than the rest. The Categories Jack, Queen and King are all capable of disguising themselves as humans, and are capable of much higher forms of thought than other Undead, forming plans of depth rather than just blindly attacking everything nearby. The Category Ace Undead, whose cards power the Rider Systems, are also very powerful, but lack the form-shifting abilities of the high-class Undead, but are among the greatest warriors of the Undead. Finally, the Joker can assume the form of any sealed Undead it possesses. More Jokers can be created if a human abuses the Rider System. In the movie Missing Ace, an additional Albino Joker is also present.

Episodes

Main article: Kamen Rider Blade Episodes

Kamen Rider Blade Episodes

S.I.C. Hero Saga

The S.I.C. Hero Saga side story for Blade is titled Kamen Rider Blade: Day After Tomorrow (仮面ライダー剣 -DAY AFTER TOMORROW-, Kamen Raidā Bureido: DAY AFTER TOMORROW^?) follows the story of the series after the finale and features characters from Missing Ace. The new character introduced in the story is Joker (Kazuma Kenzaki ver.) (ジョーカー（剣崎一真ver.）, Jōkā (Kenzaki Kazuma ver.)^?). Two other special editions of the Hero Saga stories also feature Blade characters: Hero Saga Special Edition: King featuring Kamen Rider Garren King Form (仮面ライダーギャレン・キングフォーム, Kamen Raidā Gyaren Kingu Fōmu^?) and Hero Saga Special Edition: Clover featuring Kamen Rider Leangle Jack Form (仮面ライダーレンゲル・ジャックフォーム, Kamen Raidā Rengeru Jakku Fōmu^?). Day After Tomorrow ran in the February through May 2007 issues of Monthly Hobby Japan magazine. King was featured in the May 2008 issue and Clover was featured in the June 2008 issue.

Chapter titles

1. The Melancholy of Mutsuki Kamijō (上城睦月の憂鬱, Kamijō Mutsuki no Yūutsu^?)
2. The Howl of Hajime Aikawa (相川始の咆哮, Aikawa Hajime no Hōkō^?)
3. The Blunder of Sakuya Tachibana (橘朔也の失策, Tachibana Sakuya no Shissaku^?)
4. The Mentality of Kazuma Kenzaki (剣崎一真の心情, Kenzaki Kazuma no Shinjō^?)

Tasogare

Kamen Rider Blade ended years ago but to those who don't know, series head writer Sho Aikawa wrote a short story called "Tasogare" that ties up loose ends of the show's finale.

The story is about a dying old woman (Amane) who tells her grandson the story of the 4 Kamen Riders. The story covered what happened to the 4 after Kenzaki went missing after his fight with Hajime.

Hajime lurks around Amane, and stayed by her side during her last moment. He looked exactly the same as they first met. Mutsuki Kamijo, Shiori Hirose, and Kotaro Shirai died due to old age. Kotaro's book about Kamen Rider was so popular that it later became a TV drama and merchandise, which made a lot of money for the Kurihara family.

Tachibana became the head of the BOARD. He kept on researching on the Undeads and did experiments on himself. He gained long longevity from his research and kept an eye on the 2 Jokers. He is also Amane's health insurance.

Tachibana found information about an unknown beast attacking armed insurgency in Africa. The beast was trying to keep homeless kids safe from the war zone. That beast is likely to be Kenzaki in his Joker form.

In addition, outside the short story, Kamen Rider 555 was supposed to have an extra episode where Kenzaki meets Takumi. Sadly, this was never released in public and the whole story was only brought up the Kamen Rider BLADE DVD round table discussion.

Cast

• Kazuma Kenzaki (剣崎 一真, Kenzaki Kazuma^?): Takayuki Tsubaki (椿 隆之, Tsubaki Takayuki^?)
• Sakuya Tachibana (橘 朔也, Tachibana Sakuya^?): Kousei (Hironari) Amano (天野 浩成, Amano Kousei (Hironari)^?)
• Hajime Aikawa (相川 始, Aikawa Hajime^?), Ryō Mikami (三上 了, Mikami Ryō^?): Ryōji Morimoto (森本 亮治, Morimoto Ryōji^?)
• Mutsuki Kamijo (上城 睦月, Kamijō Mutsuki^?): Takahiro Hōjō (北条 隆博, Hōjō Takahiro^?)
• Shiori Hirose (広瀬 栞, Hirose Shiori^?): Yumi Egawa (江川 有未, Egawa Yumi^?)
• Kotarō Shirai (白井 虎太郎, Shirai Kotarō^?): Terunosuke Takezai (竹財 輝之助, Takezai Terunosuke^?)
• Haruka Kurihara: Kaori Yamaguchi (山口 香緒里, Yamaguchi Kaori^?)
• Amane Kurihara: Hikari Kajiwara (梶原 ひかり, Kajiwara Hikari^?)
• Nozomi Yamanaka: Arisa Miyazawa (宮澤 亜理沙, Miyazawa Arisa^?)
• Kei Karasuma: Kazuhiro Yamaji (山路 和弘, Yamaji Kazuhiro^?)
• Sayoko Fukasawa: Urara Awata (粟田 麗, Awata Urara^?)
• Go Kiryu: Nozomu Masuzawa (増沢 望, Masuzawa Nozomu^?)
• Yoshito Hirose: Junichi Haruta (春田 純一, Haruta Jun'ichi^?)
• Hiroshi Tennōji: Kohji Moritsugu (森次 晃嗣, Moritsugu Kōji^?)
• Isaka: Yasukaze Motomiya (本宮 泰風, Motomiya Yasukaze^?)
• Miyuki Yoshinaga: Mika Hijii (肘井 美佳, Hijii Mika^?)
• Yazawa: Atsushi Korechika (是近 敦之, Korechika Atsushi^?)
• Takahara: Yasufumi Hayashi (林 泰文, Hayashi Yasufumi^?)
• Daichi: Kairi Narita (成田 浬, Narita Kairi^?)
• Noboru Shima: Kazunari Aizawa (相澤 一成, Aizawa Kazunari^?)
• Shinmei: Masashi Kagami (加々美 正史, Kagami Masashi^?)
• Azumi: Mio Fukuzumi (福澄 美緒, Fukuzumi Mio^?)
• King: Makoto Kamijo (上條 誠, Kamijō Makoto^?)
• Hikaru Jō: Akane Hamasaki (浜崎 茜, Hamasaki Akane^?)
• Kanai: Akira Kubodera (窪寺 昭, Kubodera Akira^?)
• Voice of Rouzer: Takeshi Sasaki (佐々木 健, Sasaki Takeshi^?)
• Voice of King Rouzer: Fumihiko Tachiki (立木 文彦, Tachiki Fumihiko^?)
• Narrator: Jūrōta Kosugi (小杉 十郎太, Kosugi Jūrōta^?)

Suit actors

• Kamen Rider Blade: Seiji Takaiwa (高岩 成二, Takaiwa Seiji^?)
• Kamen Rider Garren: Yoshifumi Oshikawa (押川 善文, Oshikawa Yoshifumi^?)
• Kamen Rider Chalice: Makoto Ito (伊藤 慎, Itō Makoto^?)
• Kamen Rider Leangle: Jiro Okamoto (岡元 次郎, Okamoto Jirō^?), Jun Watanabe (渡辺 淳, Watanabe Jun^?)

Songs

Opening themes

• "Round ZERO~BLADE BRAVE "
  • Lyrics: Shoko Fujibayashi
  • Composition: Katsuya Yoshida
  • Arrangement: Akio Kondō
  • Artist: Nanase Aikawa
  • Episodes: 1-30

• "ELEMENTS"
  • Lyrics: Shoko Fujibayashi
  • Composition: Miki Fushisue
  • Arrangement: RIDER CHIPS & Cher Watanabe
  • Artist: RIDER CHIPS featuring Ricky
  • Episodes: 31-49

After his performance in "ELEMENTS," Ricky was made into RIDER CHIPS' permanent vocalist.

Ending themes

• "Kakusei" (覚醒, "Kakusei"^? "Awakening")
  • Lyrics: Shoko Fujibayashi
  • Composition: Cher Watanabe
  • Arrangement: Akio Kondō
  • Artist: Ricky
  • Episodes: 2-23
• "Rebirth"
  • Lyrics: Shoko Fujibayashi
  • Composition: Yukari Aono
  • Arrangement: Cher Watanabe
  • Artist: Sakuya Tachibana (Kousei Amano)
  • Episodes: 23-28, 30, 47
• "Take it A Try"
  • Lyrics: Shoko Fujibayashi
  • Composition & Arrangement: Cher Watanabe
  • Artist: Hajime Aikawa (Ryoji Morimoto)
  • Episodes: 31-32, 34, 36-37, 40, 44

Video game

A video game based on the series was produced by Bandai for the PlayStation 2. It is a fighting game that featured many of the characters from the TV series. It was released only in Japan near the end of the TV series on December 9, 2004.

International broadcasts

Continuing the Heisei Kamen Rider Series in order, after the success of Ryuki and 555 in the Philippines, Blade was shown on local TV station in GMA 7 and also on Cartoon Network Philippines, as well as reruns on TV5. It also aired in South Korea as Masked Rider Blade (가면라이더 블레이드 Gamyeon Raideo Bureideu) in 2006 and run at NTV 7 in Malaysia in 2007 after the last episode of Kamen Rider 555.

External links

• Official TV Asahi Kamen Rider Blade website
• Official Toei Kamen Rider Blade website
• Kamen Rider Blade on DVD
• Kamen Rider Blade for the PlayStation 2