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05-25-2021, 09:09 PM | #691 |
Reiei
Join Date: Sep 2018
Posts: 3,691
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Quote:
Then again, he's still holding the bladed part with his thumb, so yeah he still crazy. |
05-25-2021, 09:19 PM | #692 |
WONDER RIDER
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Australia
Posts: 2,722
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To be fair though, all the Seiken's are dull so that the actors don't hurt themselves in the shoot. In the world of Saber itself though, who knows how 'sharp' those things are?
Or maybe they made up another ridiculous method that allows them to cut through stuff.
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05-25-2021, 09:47 PM | #693 |
Banned
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 667
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Quote:
So you're probably right that the in-lore reason is that there's some ridiculous method that allows them to "cut" through stuff. |
05-25-2021, 11:25 PM | #694 |
Suprise Gamma Future
Join Date: Feb 2020
Location: USA
Posts: 2,852
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I agree, I think the swords are just conduits for magic, and not really sharp for traditional cutting.
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05-26-2021, 12:06 AM | #695 |
WONDER RIDER
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Australia
Posts: 2,722
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Does Saber even have 'magic' in that sense? Or are we just gonna lump 'powers' with 'magic'? (That'd make someone like Evolt 'magical') Wizard definitely had magic, but I'm not so sure with Saber.
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05-26-2021, 12:21 AM | #696 |
take me to space
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 1,406
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There are ancient swords and books that spit fire, summon fairies and grow beanstalks. It's as fantasy magic as it gets.
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05-26-2021, 03:53 AM | #697 |
Banned
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 667
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You've joking lol there are moments and ideas in Saber that make Wizard look technological by comparison
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05-26-2021, 04:47 AM | #698 |
WONDER RIDER
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Australia
Posts: 2,722
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Quote:
In my defense, the phone-trike thing and the Onjuuken Suzune didn't help my thinking process.
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05-31-2021, 03:20 AM | #699 |
TokuKnight89
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Central Louisiana (Cenla)
Posts: 2,555
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Well, after (mostly) finishing the brunt of Black and Black RX, my head is racing with all kinds of thoughts!
I'll try to be mindful regarding spoilers for those who haven't seen either of them, but there will be more than a few! First of all, Black! It feels almost like an artform in a sense. A "Back To Basics" reimagining of what made Rider so interesting in the first place while adding the element of whether Kotaro will fight Nobuhiko or not. The audience knows it's going to happen regardless of what Kotaro wants or not, and the longer it takes to get there, the more you know that there is no going home for Nobuhiko. Brainwashed or not, Nobuhiko commits to Golgom as Shadow Moon and only rarely wavers. The Kaijin of Black are straight-up B-Movie horror shows at times! I'm not saying that they're the scariest monsters on screen, but they have an impact that definitely takes them right past anything Rider '71 released! To use a werewolf analogy, I would say the Golgom Kaijin are more in the sense of The Howling as opposed to An American Werewolf in London! The idea of seeing the Creation King as a dark and giant heart portrays the leader of Golgom as enigmatic, but it feels almost underwhelming that he doesn't have a legitimate final form. Kotaro's friends leave Japan, but don't return when Golgom is defeated. This is a noteworthy gap and doesn't do any favors when the series ends. It's clearly done to leave Kotaro alone in the world without his old life, but an explanation would've done wonders. The jump to RX feels rather rushed, which describes the series as a shadow of its predecessor. In many ways, RX doesn't feel like Showa Rider even though it debuted in the Showa Era. The Crisis Empire feels more at home in Sentai or Metal Heroes rather than Kamen Rider. I like their designs, but that's one of the most generous descriptions I can give to them. The switch between various types of Kaijin doesn't lend a cohesive feel to the series. Black had relatively cohesive and easily distinguishable Kaijin by comparison. RX is just one random jump to another. I'm also a little disturbed by some of the contradictory background behind Crisis. Seriously, this to me does not feel well thought out at all! When Kotaro meets the "Demon World" rebels on what appears to be a desert world, he learns that the Emperor instituted a heavy industry policy and a class system. This makes it feel as though the five billion Crisis people that the crew of General Jark are trying to port over are merely part of the Imperial Upper Class and not an entire race. The final episode would contradict this in all the worst ways by suggesting that the "Demon World" is a shadow of Earth with oceans and islands in the same places that's been ruined by Earth pollution and not by Imperial stupidity as originally stated! With the (apparent) final episode retcon, the "Demon World" and the five billion Crisis people (and theoretically the rebels from earlier) are wiped out completely, making Kotaro a genocidal ass no matter how you slice it! This isn't to say that Crisis is in the right, but the way the story is structured (if you can call it that) doesn't do Kotaro any favors! I question what the writers and producers were thinking when they thought of this show and what Ishinomori was thinking about where his creation had gone! The introduction of Robo Rider and Bio Rider are grand, but that feeling doesn't last as they aren't used to defeat villains as often as the Revolcane is. I don't have confirmation at the moment, but it almost feels as though there were supposed to be multiple Riders in this one, only for that plan to be nixed at the last second! The end of Black and the beginning of RX do leave you with a nagging question: What the hell happened to Road Sector!? It couldn't break through the Creation King's barrier in Black, but it was still usable. It's never brought up once, though that's partly the "Old Toy Doesn't Get Referenced In New Show" trope! The Sahara couple who house Kotaro are played as both comedic and worrisome. The care deeply for their kids, but their marital arguments are played more for laughs than for the sake of drama. Still, you feel for them and genuinely believe that this family will be alright in the end...and then you get to the end! I know that this was meant to imply the severity of the Crisis threat, but when Jark kills the parents, you're honestly taken aback inside cause you were literally thinking that this wouldn't happen! All the times Kotaro saved the day, the world has to relegate him to "Man Without A Family" status! The Ten Riders making an appearance is just surreal. There isn't any other way to say it. It's just surreal seeing them in this show, but I feel as though they were underused. Not one of them defeats a Kaijin or grunt with a Rider Kick, which is a great disservice to Showa Riders! No clue why the show said they were training in the Arizona desert. Going back to Crisis, the use of Colonel Dasmader is probably meant to be evocative of Birugenia from Black, even if the overall use and effect is different. Dasmader is arrogant and self-absorbed, flaunting his authority more than he brandishes a sword. The implications of the finale are another series retcon to me cause it seems to reinvent the relationship between Dasmader and the Emperor. Dasmader was previously shown thinking independently of the Emperor and concerned with saving his own neck, only for the finale to suggest that the two are one and the same! The Emperor is another contradictory element towards the end cause you're never certain where he's at. When Jark is turned into Jark Midora, it's almost like the giant head which performs the mutation is just a medium for the Emperor's voice and Dasmader is physically present. In the finale, Dasmader fights RX and mutates into the giant head seen independent of Dasmader previously. Another interesting element about the Emperor is the voice. It's the actor who voiced the Great Leader throughout the Showa Era! Some have speculated whether this means that Grand Lord Crisis and the Great Leader are connected, but no direct relation is ever implied and none of the Great Leader's appearances in the Heisei Era have ever given the vibe that the two are connected. It's possible it's just Toei reusing a Showa Era actor cause they weren't planning another new series immediately after RX and thought this would serve as a bookend, or perhaps a connection was intended in the conception stage and then scrubbed. I can only guess. Joe The Haze, introduced during the introduction of Robo Rider and Bio Rider, is another enigmatic element which feels underused and mismanaged cause he appears and disappears with no real weight other than to add Kotaro another ally who both helps and needs to be saved. He's injured during the series, is absent for a prolonged period with no mention of his health, and then suddenly appears in the field with only a passing remark about his healing time. His mysterious past is never properly explained! Shadow Moon is another element that is thrown into the mix to add some kind of weight to the show, but he only appears in two-three episodes! There is no real story compared to Black, leaving you with nothing but the battles. Sure, Shadow Moon "dies" doing something good, but all events which come after RX are all the confirmation needed to remind you that Nobuhiko can't go home again! I'll admit, I didn't watch every episode of either series, glossing over some of them. That said, I think I got enough of a gist to understand the brunt of them. The one's which were skipped probably wouldn't add or subtract anything that hasn't already been said. Conclusion: Black is an artform, and RX is it's weird little shadow! Last edited by TokuKnight89; 05-31-2021 at 03:27 AM.. |
05-31-2021, 07:31 AM | #700 |
Suprise Gamma Future
Join Date: Feb 2020
Location: USA
Posts: 2,852
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Yeah, as much as I liked RX, I can definitely see why Black is getting rebooted.
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