 This article is about an episode in Kamen Rider Blade.
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WARNING: This episode contains scenes of blood and graphic violence. Viewer discretion is advised! |
The Eternal Trump (永遠の切り札, Eien no Kirifuda) is the forty-ninth and final episode of Kamen Rider Blade.
Synopsis
Kazuma Kenzaki and Hajime Aikawa enter into a decisive battle that will determine the fate of the human race. Will it be Blade who finds a way to save the world, or will the Joker's plan avoid the Battle Fight's endgame?
Plot
High above the city streets, Kazuma, in his Rider Form, engages the Darkroach horde. While fully capable of dispatching this level of opponent in his Ace Form, Kazuma resorts to using his King Form and clears out the Undead swarm.
After the exhaustive battle, Shiori approaches a resting Kazuma and asks if he has made his decision. Rising from off the ground, he replies that he has and departs.
Kazuma arrives at an undisclosed location, a forest, and meets Hajime among the thicket of trees. After a brief interlude, the two warriors spring into battle using their most powerful forms, with Kazuma using his King Form and Hajime using his Wild Chalice form. Both warriors battle one another with equal strength and tactic, but ultimately Kazuma prevails over Hajime, who reverts to his original Joker form. The woeful Undead pleads with his friend to seal him as to spare him, and those he has come to care for, further misery. Kazuma responds by cancelling his Rider transformation. Hajime is stunned in disbelief as the gravity of the situation sets in; that through repeated and frequent use of his King Form, Kazuma has become an Undead like him. The Chalice Rouzer in his hand and green Undead blood trickling from his wounds are irrefutable proof. When questioned, Kazuma states that he wanted Hajime to be able to live in peace with humanity and was willing to become an Undead to do so. In that moment, with Kazuma's Undead transformation complete, the Stone of Sealing descends upon the battlefield with the legions of Darkroaches disintegrate in its wake. With an ominous radiance, the monolith makes a deliberation. Hajime explains that with the emergence of another Undead (Kazuma), the Battle Fight will resume. Enraged, Kazuma lashes out and destroys the monolith in one stroke, only for it to reconstitute itself. Hajime asks Kazuma's next course of action to which Kazuma resolves that he will fight his fate. Adding to those remarks, Kazuma cautions that he and Hajime should avoid each other at all costs or risk their Undead instincts compelling them to fight. With those remarks, he leaves the battlefield.
Some time has passed and life has transitioned from the chaos of recent events to a peaceful calm. Shiori and Mr. Karasuma have gathered their belongings and equipment as they prepare to leave Kotaro's home; Sakuya's activities are unknown, but he is reminded of his partner Kazuma upon finding a photo; Mutsuki mends with relationship with his girlfriend, Nozomi; and Hajime returns to a peaceful life at the Jacaranda Cafe with Amane and her family. In a moment of reflection, Hajime reminiscences of Kazuma, who has departed to parts unknown, aboard his bike.
Cast
- Kazuma Kenzaki (剣崎 一真, Kenzaki Kazuma): Takayuki Tsubaki (椿 隆之, Tsubaki Takayuki)
- Hajime Aikawa (相川 始, Aikawa Hajime): Ryōji Morimoto (森本 亮治, Morimoto Ryōji)
- Sakuya Tachibana (橘 朔也 , Tachibana Sakuya): Kousei (Hironari) Amano (天野 浩成, Amano Kousei (Hironari))
- 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)
- Nozomi Yamanaka (山中 望美, Yamanaka Nozomi): Arisa Miyazawa (宮澤 亜理沙, Miyazawa Arisa)
- Haruka Kurihara (栗原 遙香, Kurihara Haruka): Kaori Yamaguchi (山口 香緒里, Yamaguchi Kaori)
- Amane Kurihara (栗原 天音, Kurihara Amane): Hikari Kajiwara (梶原 ひかり, Kajiwara Hikari)
- Kei Karasuma (烏丸 啓, Karasuma Kei): Kazuhiro Yamaji (山路 和弘, Yamaji Kazuhiro)
Guest Cast
- Darkroaches (Voice): Katsumi Shiono (塩野 勝美, Shiono Katsumi), Toru Omura (大村 亨, Ōmura Tōru), Hiroyuki Fukuyama (福山 弘幸, Fukuyama Hiroyuki), Osamu Ryutani (龍谷 修武, Ryutani Osamu)
Notes
Back of Rouze Card
- As part of Super Hero Time, this episode aired alongside Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger
episode 48, Episode. 48: Fireball Succession. - Viewership: 9.1%
- Closing Screen Rouze Card: Unknown
- Blade's battle with Joker was seen in Kamen Rider Battride War.
- This is the last time the entire cast of Blade are seen together.
- Takayuki Tsubaki (Kazuma Kenzaki) will reprise his role four years later in the two-part finale of Kamen Rider Decade, and then provides the voice for Blade in Super Hero Taisen GP: Kamen Rider 3. Two years later, Tsubaki would reprise his role of Kazuma Kenzaki in Kamen Sentai Gorider
- Hironari Amano (Sakuya Tachibana) would later go on to play Kouhei Hayami (Libra Zodiarts) in Kamen Rider Fourze, with his name officially changed into Kousei Amano since 2008, while maintaining the kanji in his name. Amano eventually reprises his role as Sakuya Tachibana in Super Hero Taisen GP: Kamen Rider 3 in the flesh.
- Ryoji Morimoto (Hajime Aikawa) and Takahiro Hojo (Mutsuki Kamijo) also voiced their roles' Rider forms in Super Hero Taisen GP, ten years after Kamen Rider Blade's run.
- Takayuki Tsubaki (Kazuma Kenzaki), Ryoji Morimoto (Hajime Aikawa) and Hikari Kajiwara (Amane Kurihara) reprised their roles in the 29th and 30th episodes of Kamen Rider Zi-O, fourteen years after Kamen Rider Blade's run.
- Takayuki Tsubaki (Kazuma Kenzaki) will reprise his role four years later in the two-part finale of Kamen Rider Decade, and then provides the voice for Blade in Super Hero Taisen GP: Kamen Rider 3
- Kazuma would recall his transformation into an Undead in Maze 1 of Kamen Sentai Gorider, regarding it as equivalent to death (though the validity of that statement is questionable since that wasn't really Kazuma, but an impostor).
episode 48, 
DVD releases
Kamen Rider Blade Volume 12, DVD cover
Kamen Rider Blade Volume 12 features episodes 45-49: The New Card, The Ruler's Seal, Garren Eliminated, Prologue to Destruction and The Eternal Trump. It was released on DVD on July 21st 2004, with a total run time of 116 minutes.
Kamen Rider Blade Box 3, Blu-ray cover
Blu-ray Box 3 comes with 17 episodes.