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01-10-2023, 08:11 PM | #131 |
Warrior of Delusions!
Join Date: Jun 2012
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Kento... Man, even a year after finishing Saber, I'm still not sure of my feelings about Kento. Even Espada's suit design, I'm not sure if I like. I do appreciate how him and Touma are able to closer friends with each other here, but imo it's marred by the lurking amnesia plot, because you know it's eventually going to be a big thing.
Calibur though! Great looking suit for our main villain, and the idea of someone defecting from the SOL to work with the villains is a good hook when you're setting up the organisation.
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01-10-2023, 09:22 PM | #132 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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But -- and this is crucial -- I would prefer good Monster of the Week stuff most of all. I don't think it's a big ask, and excluding it because they can't execute it well just feels like an admission of defeat. I don't love that! Quote:
Kento... Man, even a year after finishing Saber, I'm still not sure of my feelings about Kento. Even Espada's suit design, I'm not sure if I like. I do appreciate how him and Touma are able to closer friends with each other here, but imo it's marred by the lurking amnesia plot, because you know it's eventually going to be a big thing.
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01-11-2023, 11:23 AM | #133 |
Filthy SU/FE Trash
Join Date: Jul 2016
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honestly my biggest problem with early Saber is a lot of it is built around mysteries that AREN'T HARD TO FIGURE OUT or guess
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01-11-2023, 04:16 PM | #134 |
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I don't disagree! One of my main points about this last episode was that it should stick to what what's working (the interpersonal relationships, Desast) rather than shove in every type of traditional story element. I would definitely prefer no Monster of the Week stuff to underwhelming Monster of the Week stuff.
But -- and this is crucial -- I would prefer good Monster of the Week stuff most of all. I don't think it's a big ask, and excluding it because they can't execute it well just feels like an admission of defeat. I don't love that! Quote:
The biggest sour note for me in this episode was when Kento punted on explaining himself until Touma got his memories back. Like, why not just tell Touma what he doesn't remember? Why wait until it's tragic and sudden? It's like a doctor opting not to remove a giant metal spike in your arm, just in case the arm gets gangrenous and falls off on its own. These are bad, borderline inhumane solutions! You are not being a good friend, Kento!
To be fair, that's pretty much Kento's biggest Challenge that is addressed pretty much from the start: Wanting to take responsibility for matters rather than share the burden. I feel that he is a lot like Taiga (in Ex-Aid) in that both were involved in a past event that caused the main situation we see in the show, and both make poor decisions while attempting to take that burden upon themselves. Also interesting is that Kento is slightly reminiscent of Aladdin (from the original story). He tends to make poor decisions that end up making things harder for himself and gets called out for it. Also pretty significant that he is introduced with Needle Hedgehog as his secondary book, representing his good-intentioned but prickly stance when it comes to directly helping others. Something fun to share is that while I haven't seen notes in any of the Saber media after the show, there is a correlation between each Rider's books and their personality, as well as the events happening in the show during each book's debut. It's really cool! Last edited by PortalTron; 01-11-2023 at 04:22 PM.. |
01-11-2023, 06:06 PM | #135 |
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But I do see your point, and I don't think you're wrong about Kento's inability to stop flagellating himself for Calibur's villainy. Kento is probably going to continue to cause problems for the Sword of Logos, so long as he keeps treating Calibur like his own personal nemesis.
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01-11-2023, 06:24 PM | #136 |
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Zi-O gave the MOTWs their own powers and motivations in lots of cases, tbh, but yeah, it's been a while since the monsters had any plans of their own.
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01-12-2023, 12:36 AM | #137 |
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KAMEN RIDER SABER EPISODE 6 - “LIKE THE WIND, HE ARRIVES”
Finally! MORE RIDERS! Absolutely bizarre episode, even recalibrating for Saber’s baseline of WTF Was That. The Zooooous cliffhanger from last time continues into a barely-addressed B-plot that still manages to land some intriguing emotional punches; a brand-new Rider is introduced who makes a pretty terrible first impression, character- and acting-wise, before having a pretty thrilling battle against Desast; and the rest of the cast does a whole bunch of research to find Avalon, without it being especially illuminating, or even coherent. It’s easily the Saberest episode to date. Let’s start with Kenzan, because he’s the biggest deal in this weird-ass episode. He’s a member of the Sword of Logos, but he’s mostly a gigantic, disrespectful pain in the ass. Nominally here to demonstrate the wrong way of being a superhero in the Kamen Rider multiverse – thinking might makes right, laughing at the idea of empathy, and relishing the opportunity to detonate monsters – the episode mostly just has Ren be an immature prick to Touma, and then absolutely prove that might makes right by single-handedly defeating Desast. In an episode of multiple fights, the only clear victory comes from the worst character on the show. I’m sure we’re going somewhere with this. I’m sure we’re going to be getting an arc where Kenzan either gets humbled or killed. But to have his introduction be that not happening, when there’s so much horribleness to his debut… it doesn’t sit well? It’s annoying to watch, and then there’s no real catharsis to it. It’s just Ren Is A Goofy Dickhead, the end. And worse, it doesn’t even really connect to the other plots? We’re still in an incredibly messy layout, where there doesn’t seem to be much of an overall theme to the episode, and several plotlines exist in isolation. It’s just a bunch of stuff happening, all to various degrees of success, with nothing unifying to elevate the material. Individual scenes sink or swim, and that’s all the episode can be measured by. Kenzan’s an irritating brat, but then the Desast fight is awesome. I don’t know what to do with that? It’s the same way for Touma’s plot this episode. One of the Book Club guys locks his sword in its scabbard, so Touma… has to find a magical land no one’s ever been to in order to unlock it? And it’s the same magical land Calibur’s looking for, which is why the trap was set? Sure, okay, whatever. It’s nothing that makes a ton of sense (what does any of this have to do with the Zoooous stuff? Or with Desast?), but it at least gives us the Daishinji/Touma stuff, which is fairly appealing. It’s the right kind of physical comedy, where Daishinji’s poor social skills are leveraged by Touma to get access to the secrets of the Sword of Logos. The thing they’re after is worthless to me, and the supposed Eureka moment Touma has makes me worried (oh god he needs to collect thirteen eyecons oh god noooooo), but the chemistry between the two actors carries lousy material, the same way this show has dodged up to five bullets so far. It is… man, I don’t know how much longer I can keep giving this show the benefit of the doubt? This was almost unforgivably messy, with what feels like four different episodes worth of subplots tossed in haphazardly and stitched together recklessly. It never feels like it’s saying anything about its world, to me. There’s no guiding hand that feels like it’s got something it wants to communicate, and that super sucks. Desast fight was cool, though. Show still knows how to make that shit work. — YOU STOLE SOMETHING Rintaro was a good boy. That was what he was told his whole life, from his earliest days, up to the previous day at the 7-11. (He’d helped an elderly woman with her bags. It was the proper thing to do.) He acted in accordance with his training, and with his sense of duty. He supported his friends. He protected the innocent. He served the Sword of Logos. He was honest, and forthright, and polite, and caring. He was a good boy. “Now go home and have a good ol’ cry to mommy, okay?” He had never felt this kind of rage in his life. He’d lost duels, and been bested by adversaries. He could handle defeat. This wasn’t that. This was failure. He’d never needed to tamp down his emotions. He had the strength of his convictions, and his role as a swordsman in the Sword of Logos preached a higher level of self-control that homo sapiens couldn’t understand. The anger that less-disciplined fighters – he didn’t want to think of Ogami, but he did anyway – would use to occasionally-detrimental effect, it just passed through him. He didn’t need to calm down, or manage his anger, because his anger didn’t exist. Now, though, the anger was all that existed. His failure in battle with Zooous was like a fire that destroyed every version of himself that he held in his mind. Whatever “Rintaro” was or meant to others was immolated, reduced to ash, and that ash was scorched into nothing. He’d been weak, been clumsy, been worthless. He’d never liked that word, “worthless”. It suggested a state of no return, where improvement was impossible and effort was redundant. Effort could always yield better results, with the right attitude. Improvement was inevitable, with the right direction. His failure put the lie to that belief. He’d worked hard, been resolute in his focus, and been humbled. Been embarrassed. Been made a laughing-stock by the very monster that had murdered his master, a crime for which Rintaro had trained himself to avenge. The shame of it was unbearably; the rage was unbelievable. “RINTARO!” Someone was shouting his name, he thought. A woman’s voice. A million miles away. It was difficult to focus on it, over the noise of a scream. An animal was screaming, probably wounded. It sounded impossibly guttural. Its pain was horrifying. He’d hoped the woman might put it out of its misery, so that he could find some way to focus himself back from the white-hot emptiness of his own pain. He hated the Rintaro that lost to Zooous, that much he knew. He might not have been killed – as much as he wished he had been, there’d’ve been honor in that – but the nice boy that dishonored anyone and everyone he’d ever cared about was surely gone forever, burned at the stake of worthlessness. The animal was screaming again. Rintaro grasped at the ground, hoping to distract himself from whatever could be in that much pain but still live. He’d force himself up soon, he vowed. He’d get to his feet, and this new version of himself would succeed where the nice boy – the good boy, the honest boy, the kind boy – had failed. Zooous had robbed him of his better self, but perhaps his enraged self could prove its worth.
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01-12-2023, 12:50 AM | #138 |
Alias: ZeroEnchiladas
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 2,608
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Ah yes, Ren... as my friend affectionately (and probably derogatorily) referred to him as Green Bean for the entirety of Saber's run...
Ren makes a terrible first impression, Kenzan looks really cool though and I appreciate that our next non Swordriver Sword has a separate function to make it look cool. The fact that you can do two blades, one blade, or even shuriken? Pretty cool for a wind themed Ninja Rider. Anyway yeah, with Ren you either love him or hate him in his first outing. And then you'll either continue to hate him or actually warm up to him eventually. Just the mileage will vary and I'm curious as to where it ends up with you! I personally think the highlight for this episode (aside from Desast, because obviously) was the Rintaro vs. Zooous fight. It's an interesting sort of opposite to everything. Touma and Daishinji get somewhere in finding clues to Avalon, Kenzan beats Desast, Espada deals with a Piranha Megid... and then you've got Rintaro as the odd one out who just completely flops entirely. Like, the single most stunning scene I recall in the first 6 episodes of Saber is the one where you see Zooous just pick up the sword, hand it to a dazed Blades and pat him on the cheek while telling him to cry to mommy. Just... the damn disrespect in that scene is phenomenal. It makes the post credits scene where everyone's gathered with their findings/victories hit harder when you just see a defeated Rintaro lumber in. Speaking of Rintaro further! That short story... I was not expecting you to do an internal thought sort of story with his just... rage at that singular moment. But it was very nice to see how you interpreted Rintaro's emotional state in that moment, very nice. |
01-12-2023, 12:57 AM | #139 |
New Member
Join Date: Mar 2022
Posts: 89
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I don't really care for this episode, Slash is cool and all and I like his and Touma's chemistry together, but the "forbidden books" thing just seemed so contrived, and I didn't particularly care about Zooous having killed Rintaro's master and the resulting fight. I do somewhat like Ren acting prideful and going on about how strong he is and then actually living up to it, though I do think it's kind of annoying to just have that be his only character trait, and I hope it eventually fades. Besides that, This episode just did not work for me, and I can't say I really enjoyed any particular aspect of it all that much.
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01-12-2023, 12:58 AM | #140 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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Ren makes a terrible first impression, Kenzan looks really cool though and I appreciate that our next non Swordriver Sword has a separate function to make it look cool. The fact that you can do two blades, one blade, or even shuriken? Pretty cool for a wind themed Ninja Rider. Anyway yeah, with Ren you either love him or hate him in his first outing.
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How... how long have they been doing these? I don't have the patience to sit through the dance number at the end of each episode, and I never want to watch the teasers for the next episode. How many of these have I missed?!
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