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02-28-2021, 10:26 AM | #11 |
Veteran Member
Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 2,551
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Off, this series has just massively offset the cosplay potential spectrum of my current book collection. Now only my Kenzan gear is accurate.
Anyway, yeah, joke aside another fairly good episode. I like Primitive Dragon Lion’s finisher a lot. |
02-28-2021, 11:44 AM | #12 |
Yodonna oshi
Join Date: Jan 2021
Posts: 748
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I look forward to reading the comments here when Tassel is revealed to be the new Calibur.
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02-28-2021, 01:26 PM | #13 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
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Man, at this point I might as well just come in here each week, make like Yuri and say "最高だな!" and be done with it. This show is totally overflowing with things I'm enjoying like crazy and I struggle to even point all of them out. I guess a big thing to focus on with this one is just how much all the characters continue to impress as individuals with appropriately personal motivations?
- First off, I don't think I've ever really talked about Reika yet, and I should really fix that right now, because she's been a fantastic part of the show ever since the new year! A lot of it is in the incredibly strong performance Angela Mei lends to her, I think. Reika's words are often hard to take at face value, so it's her face that's really doing the talking. The way she can look devoid of all emotion while paradoxically seething with contempt for her disloyal subordinates is something else. The sort of Red Scare style of how she manipulates the swordsmen is fascinating to me, as is the way the show is building the mystery of her true motives and loyalties. You can tell a lot from just small touches in this episode like how different her tone towards Master Logos is, or how she hesitates to directly lie about her order to take Primitive Dragon back originating from him. You get all these hints waiting to be pieced together, and given the genuine payoff of details like Calibur constantly ignoring Kento really early on, I have some faith in Saber to make that wait worth it. - Ogami really shines here, continuing a trend of Buster and Slash being two of the coolest characters in the show. That conversation he has with Sora isn't any more deep or complex than his stuff usually is, but it makes that into a strength by emphasizing how being a straightforward dude is how Ogami lives his life to the fullest. It should feel redundant to have another Rider decide to follow Touma after a couple duels to test his resolve or whatever, but I thought it differentiated itself enough from how Daishinji went about it to work all over again. Things like Ogami explicitly asking Touma to use his Books too (also meaning all of Saber's main forms showed up yet again, which you know I liked!), or just that very tough guy "well, someone's gotta look out for you" when he announces his intent to leave the organization went a long way. - Rintarou continues to be in a super interesting position, and while it looks like he'll truly be in focus next time, even here, the scene of Ogami telling him and Ren about his decision really got to me. Him saying he can't betray his family is one little line, but it had a ton of weight behind it. Again, ever since this second big arc started, the whole idea of the Riders having to question what they truly value the most has drawn so much more personality out of everybody, and for Rintarou in particular, you can just tell how much all of this is genuinely painful for him. It's pretty upsetting to see Rintarou suffering this much, and that's how I know the story is gripping me. - Oh, and speaking of characters I know I like because of the constant trauma they're subjected to, Touma sure is having his usual time here, huh? Granted, overall, things are starting to look up a bit, with Buster now openly on his side and all, but we're also shown here that he's currently completely incapable of escaping the very angry book making him flip out and attack everything around him, so he's not exactly having a great day, either. I'm continuing to enjoy Primitive Dragon's weird animalistic behavior, and the lore revelations about why the book is the way it is are definitely quite promising. I always love when new forms tie their designs thematically to the narrative, and knowing what I've learned here and from magazine images, yes, I'm quite excited by the idea Primitive Dragon's hand is secretly reaching out to be held. I think that's about the gist of what I wanted to cover. The only other thing to really mention is how hilarious I find it they pulled a Faiz episode preview trick by casually showing us Calibur's cameo here ahead of time, which was the kind of moment that would've worked nicer as a surprise, for sure. That's not a complaint with the episode itself, though, which was as stellar as Saber seems to reliably be at this point. As always, looking forward to more!
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02-28-2021, 04:37 PM | #14 |
Fangirl-Type Humagear
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: Massachusetts, USA
Posts: 703
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Quote:
- First off, I don't think I've ever really talked about Reika yet, and I should really fix that right now, because she's been a fantastic part of the show ever since the new year! A lot of it is in the incredibly strong performance Angela Mei lends to her, I think. Reika's words are often hard to take at face value, so it's her face that's really doing the talking. The way she can look devoid of all emotion while paradoxically seething with contempt for her disloyal subordinates is something else. The sort of Red Scare style of how she manipulates the swordsmen is fascinating to me, as is the way the show is building the mystery of her true motives and loyalties. You can tell a lot from just small touches in this episode like how different her tone towards Master Logos is, or how she hesitates to directly lie about her order to take Primitive Dragon back originating from him. You get all these hints waiting to be pieced together, and given the genuine payoff of details like Calibur constantly ignoring Kento really early on, I have some faith in Saber to make that wait worth it.
I mean, a book powered by the soul of a sorrowful child that drives swordsmen berserk and makes them destroy all in their path seems like something SOL should keep locked away, and they were... but Master Logos says it will bring them great glory, wants it left with Touma, and is heavily implied to have just handed it over to Storius. Even if he plans on Touma getting through the child's loneliness and unlocking Elemental Dragon as a force for good, this is still a very untrustworthy way to go about it. And I wouldn't be surprised if his true plan was to use Touma for some evil scheme to seize more power for himself. It's still too early to really tell, but I have a theory that Reika isn't the traitor, she genuinely thinks she's doing the right thing but has given her loyalty to a treacherous leader. Basically, she's further along the path Rintaro is starting down. Or if she is the traitor, it could be because she knows SOL has become corrupt. In either case, when we look back at this, it might turn out that lying about the Master's order and trying to get Primitive Dragon away from Touma was the least treacherous thing she's done so far...
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The mask you wear by choice shows more about you than the face you were given by chance. |
02-28-2021, 04:43 PM | #15 |
Fangirl-Type Humagear
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: Massachusetts, USA
Posts: 703
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Also, that moment when berserk!Touma started coming towards Mei? I got chills. Attacking monsters or your fellow riders while berserk is one thing, but attacking an unarmed civilian, especially one who's been your ally the whole time, makes it way scarier.
It also shows that when they say Primitive Dragon will destroy anyone in its path, that does mean anyone, even people who don't threaten it or get in its way at all. Anyone unlucky enough to catch its attention is a target!
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The mask you wear by choice shows more about you than the face you were given by chance. |
02-28-2021, 05:01 PM | #16 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
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I don't look around enough to know if someone has already decoded it, but I'd also like to note that the website gives a clear look at the "tale of sorrow" that Touma shows to Mei, which is pretty fascinating. The two pages tell a story evidently about a "dragon of the beginning" (less literally, a Primitive Dragon) who loved humanity and lived in peace with them in ancient times, only to awake after a long slumber to find humanity had long since forgotten the bond they once shared, and had hunted all the other dragons down as monsters. The dragon of the beginning then wandered the world for countless years in search of friends, so consumed with sorrow and loneliness that not even death itself could stop it from continuing its search, even as its body was reduced to nothing but bone.
...Which, is uh, yeah... pretty sorrowful alright! I really do love when the production staff puts this sort of extra effort in, though. It adds weight to the show saying there's all this deep lore if someone actually bothers to write up some of that lore, you know? Makes the show's world feel considerably more lived-in than if all these books were just gibberish.
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02-28-2021, 05:35 PM | #17 |
Reiei
Join Date: Sep 2018
Posts: 3,691
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Quote:
It's still too early to really tell, but I have a theory that Reika isn't the traitor, she genuinely thinks she's doing the right thing but has given her loyalty to a treacherous leader. Basically, she's further along the path Rintaro is starting down. Or if she is the traitor, it could be because she knows SOL has become corrupt. In either case, when we look back at this, it might turn out that lying about the Master's order and trying to get Primitive Dragon away from Touma was the least treacherous thing she's done so far...
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02-28-2021, 06:54 PM | #18 |
Junior Member
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 169
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...can anyone point me to the direction of active fansubbing of this show?
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02-28-2021, 07:16 PM | #19 |
Member
Join Date: Dec 2019
Location: World of Ataru
Posts: 857
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Both Flamesubs and Izusubs are currently doing it.
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02-28-2021, 09:19 PM | #20 |
Rising above Dreams!
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: In the back of your mind
Posts: 1,059
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I really liked the moment where Touma in Primitive Dragon actually uses the sword on his head to attack Legeiel.
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