|
Community Links |
Members List |
Search Forums |
Advanced Search |
Go to Page... |
|
Thread Tools |
02-06-2021, 03:57 PM | #41 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
|
Honestly not the best conclusion to a two-parter, but I've also resigned myself at this point to just being a hardcore Saber apologist, so even as I say that, it's not like I'm disappointed or didn't enjoy myself watching it or anything.
The overall problem with this two-parter is that it has a real holding pattern feel to it. Any progress for the story or the characters is in these microscopic little bits of connective tissue that will only hold meaning in later episodes, while the meat of the plot is essentially a rehash of the two-parter right before it. I can't complain that this is something unique to Saber, however, since I distinctly remember having this exact problem with the second post New Years two-parter of both Zi-O (the Quiz arc) and Zero-One (the one about houses), which is maybe why I feel inclined to take it easy on this show. There's a weird general trend going on here and I suppose I'm simply used to it by now. One problem that's a little more specific to Saber is having callbacks to dialogue from the Retsuden shorts, which are dropped in such a manner as to imply we'll all be familiar with them, which is not an assumption I like the show making. There's a way to loop that miniseries into the main show and make it feel important without treating it like mandatory viewing, and this is distinctly not that. It's a not some catastrophic issue (at least at the moment), but it was a bit of a bummer, all the same. Outside of that all that though, I mean, I had a lot of fun? Yuri being weird, Mei being adorable, Touma doing more HEROIC SHOUTING, I thought all of it was great, even if Touma's epic speeches feel too good for the plots they're a part of, sometimes. There's not ~quite~ as much as heft behind that spiel about understanding pain as I might wish, but again, I still supremely appreciate the continued emphasis the show is placing on what exactly Touma's priorities as a hero are. Like, just the raw visual of Dragonic Knight doing the heroic back turned to the exploding monster thing, except he's beaten to heck and barely standing, that's wonderful imagery. This is maybe ironic praise to give the show about books, but sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words. Plus, it's a good showing of how much I love Kousuke Asai's very expressive suit acting as Saber, which I need to remember to bring up more. There are always so many awesome little touches he does in any given episode. Note how he consistent he is about pretending his left arm is broken throughout that scene, for example. So yeah, this ended up being merely a very decentish two-parter, overall, but the delivery did a ton to keep it entertaining. Special shout out to Mei getting involved in the transformations in a comedic manner, which is apparently a staple of Ishida-directed episodes now, and I am so not complaining. If Blades gets another upgrade and she isn't in the background making goofy onomatopoeia, I might actually be disappointed!
__________________
|
02-07-2021, 01:52 PM | #42 |
Veteran Member
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 1,472
|
The last several episodes have taken me from "kinda enjoying Saber" to "you know, there's all this other TV I could watch instead..." I didn't buy the speed and ease with which Reika Shindai turned the rest of the swordsmen against Touma, and since every episode since has hinged on that easily-resolved misunderstanding... yeah, I don't buy any of it. The show pulled a finishing attack on my suspension of disbelief.
Nobody seems to find Shindai having replaced Sophia, and reversing course on Sophia's belief in Touma, at all surprising or concerning. The show could fix this is a short scene just by showing us that Reika Shindai has mind-control powers, but it doesn't seem the showrunners care enough to put in the effort. I've always had a problem with the toy line: I find the WonderRideBooks ridiculous, the sounds more absurd than cool, and the sheer number of upgrades, suits, and TOYS are choking the show. I'm wondering in retrospect how Zero-One managed to handle its out-of-control toyline so much more deftly than Saber is managing. And I just... kind of don't care. The villains haven't done anything interesting since Calibur died. The Luna plot has dragged on forever without appreciably moving forward. Mei rarely gets to be a character since she keeps being written as overly-broad comic relief. At this point, I think I'm enjoying this even less than Ghost, and I didn't think that was possible. I'm curious to see whether the show can recover from its current dead-end creative choices. At this rate, I may actually fully give up on Super Hero Time until Zenkaiger debuts. |
02-07-2021, 02:02 PM | #43 |
Yodonna oshi
Join Date: Jan 2021
Posts: 748
|
I related deeply to your post. I do, however, think that the recent episode, #21, went some way towards showing development in the ongoing story, and I was pleasantly surprised at this—although this also be a case of me taking a deep breath and a step back from it.
My thoughts, however, probably don't help how you are feeling at all though, I'm sorry. tl;dr I hope you find something better to watch. |
02-07-2021, 02:18 PM | #44 |
Veteran Member
Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 2,547
|
[QUOTE=Tokumonkey;789691]
Nobody seems to find Shindai having replaced Sophia, and reversing course on Sophia's belief in Touma, at all surprising or concerning. [QUOTE] The first thing she told them was that Touma couldn’t be trusted anymore. And pretty much everything he’s said and done in his defence isn’t exactly the best thing to say when trying to convince people you haven’t turned on them. Quote:
And I just... kind of don't care. The villains haven't done anything interesting since Calibur died..
|
02-07-2021, 08:23 PM | #45 |
Banned
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: A Cave
Posts: 2,115
|
|
|
TokuNation News & Rumors |
Figuarts/Seihou GRIDMAN |
SH Figuarts BoonBoomger Red |
Hasbro Licenses Power Rangers Toys to Playmates Toys |
Discotek Media Licenses Mobile Cop Jiban |
What's going on with CSM? |
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 03:39 AM.
|