Kamen Rider Blade


 * This article is about the television series. For the series' main character, Blade, see Kazuma Kenzaki.

Kamen Rider Blade (仮面ライダー剣（ブレイド）), 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 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, expand that power." (今、その力が展開する) and "Take the trump card of fate!" (運命の切札をつかみ取れ!). 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.

The Undead
The Undead (アンデッド) 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.

Missing Ace
Kamen Rider Blade The Movie: Missing Ace (劇場版　仮面ライダー剣　MISSING ACE) is the theatrical release, first in theaters on September 11, 2004.

Four years after an alternate ending to the series, in which Blade seals the Joker, the characters have moved on with their lives: Kenzaki is a garbage man, Mutsuki has graduated high school, and Kotarō has published a book about the Kamen Riders to great success, but on Amane's upcoming birthday, it was revealed that she has become a delinquent without the emotional support of Hajime. The Undead have been re-released, and a new trio of Kamen Riders&mdash;Glaive, Larc and Lance&mdash;have emerged from BOARD, now led by Tachibana. After recapturing two of the Category Aces, Kenzaki and Mutsuki join with the new Riders. When all the Undead are sealed once more, Glaive reveals himself to be the Albino Joker, a white version of the original Joker, and captures Kotarō's niece to obtain the ultimate power, sealing her in the Vanity Card. In order to free Amane from the card, Hajime is unsealed from the Joker Card and the four Riders are again united, intent on saving Amane and stopping the Albino Joker.

Specials
Kamen Rider Blade: Blade vs. Blade (仮面ライダー剣（ブレイド） ブレイドVSブレイド) is a Hyper Battle Video, wherein a Trial-series cyborg pretends to be Kenzaki, who quickly discovers the fraud and fights him. During their battle, the other Riders bicker humorously about which Blade is the fake, which constantly results in their attacking the real Kenzaki. As with all Hyper Battle Videos, this serves as a device to exposit the Rider's various powers and abilities.

Kamen Rider Blade: New Generation is a television special made of a collection of vignettes which aired following certain episodes of Blade, following the history of Kamen Riders Glaive, L'arc, and Lance. This is a direct tie-in to the movie Missing Ace.

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-) 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.）). 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) 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). 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)
 * 2) The Howl of Hajime Aikawa (相川始の咆哮)
 * 3) The Blunder of Sakuya Tachibana (橘朔也の失策)
 * 4) The Mentality of Kazuma Kenzaki (剣崎一真の心情)

Cast

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

Suit actors

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

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


 * Ending themes
 * "Kakusei" (覚醒)
 * 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: 23-30, 47
 * "Take it a Try"
 * Lyrics: Shoko Fujibayashi
 * Composition & Arrangement: Cher Watanabe
 * Artist: Hajime Aikawa (Ryoji Morimoto)
 * Episodes: 31-49 Neppu Rider by Rider Chips, Off the Kamen Rider Blade: The Last Card album (it wasn't used in the actual series)
 * Episodes: 31-49 Neppu Rider by Rider Chips, Off the Kamen Rider Blade: The Last Card album (it wasn't used in the actual series)

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.