...I loved it. that's all I can really start with, because I did and it's going up there on my list of favorites.

(the other favorites being faiz, den-o, W, and OOO. there is no possible way I can narrow it down further.)

as I've said before, it had a rough start, but once it gets past the first 10-15 episodes it really starts to excel

and it works its way up to one of the most powerful endings I've seen.

I have Thoughts on the ending (mostly wibbly keysmashing because oh maaaan) but I won't spoil it because that would ruin the experience

kenzaki was an interesting lead, because he's very much a messiah archetype even though you can't really tell that at first

but he is and he always was. any development comes from 1) his changing opinion toward hajime, which goes from plain irrational hatred to outright sacrificing himself solely for hajime's sake

and 2) the fact that as time goes on it's a lot easier to get a read on his personality.

the messiah type isn't a bad thing, by the way. see: tropes are not bad. it's a good change from the arrogant types we often get in KR.

and he's entertaining to watch because he constantly wears his heart on his sleeve, though that's one reason why he's hard to get a read on at first

I'm still not 100% sure I fully APPROVE of what he did at the end, but that's just on principle, and it was either that or seal hajime (not technically killing him but the outcome is basically the same).

and given that he was the only one who thought of a way that DIDN'T involve killing anyone, and that it was essentially him giving the middle finger to fate, well

the effect of it was rather powerful and it really was the best possible way it could have ended.

I've said before that the atmosphere of it is similar to faiz, and I think that's because both shows are totally unafraid to embrace their own darkness and maturity

the other riders besides kenzaki were enjoyable, too. tachibana, once he got over the "thinks he's dying" thing and the "addicted to power" thing, settled into a refreshingly calm personality

interesting thing is that he's passionate, too. but it's a very controlled, calm sort of passion.

and even though he's only a few years older than everyone else he provides a great "wise mentor" sort of role due to his experience and personality

mutsuki kind of... spends a good 2/3 of his screen time possessed, so it's a split between the badass smug snake mutsuki and the cute derpfail yet heroic mutsuki.

both are enjoyable and interesting characters but they're so different that I really have to list them separately.

and then there's hajime. hajime was wonderful. the non-human teammate who slowly but surely becomes very human

I might have made comparisons to ankh in the past, but that's only because of the non-human who becomes human mentally bit

personality-wise they're extremely different

and hajime, once he realizes that he does have human feelings, totally embraces his own humanity

I also like how the show explored the royal undead's various personalities and motivations instead of giving them all the same generic motivation

(I'm looking at you, kabuto)

there were schemers and manipulators, there were outright evil ones

there were honorable ones and there were even those who didn't want to fight

my favorite was shima-san the tarantula undead, a wonderfully eccentric pacifist who loved humanity

I'm actually quite sad that he didn't stick around longer, though I understand the plot reasons behind it

...and while watching I made some comparisons between kenzaki and eiji, but after seeing the ending I'm not sure how accurate that comparison is anymore

both of them have the thing about turning into a kaijin going on, but the way it's handled in each series is wildly different

eiji has a total lack of regard for his own well-being and when he starts turning into a greeed he doesn't really CARE that much even when it can be avoided

whereas kenzaki... welp here we enter spoiler territory

[BLADE ENDING SPOILERS COMMENCE]

in kenzaki's case, I think he didn't WANT to turn into an undead given how he spent a long time trying to prevent that very thing from happening

but his options were either "turn self into an undead and suspend the game" or "seal hajime and effectively kill a very good friend"

and for him, the second option was not even an option at all.

I have a hard time seeing the alternate universe movie even happening, honestly, because there's no way he would've actually DONE it

he would've found another way. and, actually, he DID find another way and it just happened to involve sacrificing his own humanity.

with eiji, there was no specific REASON as to why he would need to turn into a greeed other than the fact that he wanted more power than he already had

end result being that it's not a sacrifice but more just throwing his own life away

in kenzaki's case, someone was going to be sacrificed either way. this is a cold, hard fact.

there NEEDED to be a sacrifice to prevent the end of the world.

the choice was between himself and hajime, and when given that choice, kenzaki will always choose to sacrifice himself rather than someone else.

so his decision to sacrifice himself at the end was basically him saying "SCREW fate I'm gonna find another way"

basically, the big, huge, massive difference is... eiji had a choice. kenzaki really... didn't. technically it was a choice but for him that was the only option he would ever willingly take.

[BLADE ENDING SPOILERS OVER]

SO BASICALLY I liked it a lot and it is solidly in my top 5.

it started out weak but for the most part it was a strong, solid series, and quite powerful and well-done.

definitely recommend it if you like kamen rider.

...and damn but I really want to read that book koutarou wrote about them.