Pretty much.

I appreciated Kento's death scene (mostly the fake-out one from Episode 12), but Desast's is a different type for how there's a feeling of inevitability and acceptance. Ren and Desast both know what's coming and they're both trying to get the most out of the situation. Desast wants a climactic fight worthy of closing his exciting life, while Ren wants to understand what makes him so strong yet so different from the other Swordsmen, which Desast also wants to help him see before leaving him. Honestly, I just love honorable fights to the death, so this fight scene in the ominous dimly lit warehouse with the simultaneously melancholic and glorious Will Save Us by Kawazu Asuka definitely sold this episode for me.

(shiver)

Wow, I didn't need Reika to be more creepy in this episode. If that was your intention, then you nailed it.

Unfortunately for Fukuda, a lot of his critics were out of loop about the actually sensible reason for his absence, so they jumped to the conclusion that he had forsaken the show and started talking even more trash about him. Makes me feel bad for that guy always getting scapegoated for circumstances beyond his control.

Nicely said, that his lack of backstory is his tragedy. Desast wasn't a man who cowered from danger or difficulty. He embraced the full spectrum of life, all its pleasures and pains. He didn't waste time dwelling on things he can't control or change. He didn't complain about how hard his situation was and met every challenge he faced with bravery. He lived in the present and turned his dying moments in to the most exciting moments he's ever lived. He wasn't a good guy, but he was a good mentor and more important than that, he was always true to himself and let his life burn bright until the end.

Reika is totally at her most toxic and obnoxious here. If some people thought the infamous Sophia slap wasn't severe enough to call her out, then I'd like to hear their defense for trying to cut Mei, or harassing Touma mid-fight for using Kaiji, even though he literally just saved her beloved big bro! She demands gratitude, while refusing to earn it or give it back. All her behavior here was infuriating for me to watch, as she's a serious liability and could've potentially caused so much more harm for such deranged petty reasons.

Once they realized they could make Ryoga and Reika fun, they just got drunk with power.

It wasn't not my intention, so... thanks!

To quote one of the people behind the show after this episode aired, ?Desast is too popular?.

Notably, Ultraman Trigger, the Ultra Series instalment around the time this episode aired, ended up having a similar outpouring of love towards their secondary villain Darrgon after his own tragic death. Though in that case, he had readily available merchandise for people to buy to show their support, plus they made a call for his resurrection in a later instalment.

The culmination of Ren and Desast's arc which is a beautiful end.

Both were people who like to fight strong opponents just to show off how strong they were. The abandoned their allies in order to prove that, and in the end, one of them had to overcome the other.

At this point, I was pretty much in favor of Saber over Zero-One. Just the theming and story found its footing after the first quarter that just worked for me. Sure, it's not perfect, but I still think it made the best out of what it was going for.

The fights like this one, were just magnificently done (other examples I can pick off the top of my head are Touma's Hinokami moment against Daishijni, or Xross Saber's debut. There are others, but these were some that stood out to me) from the music to the choreography and the imagery, just all worked to make this one of the best moments in Saber and maybe the best in Reiwa so far.

Now to talk a bit about Storius for a bit, I thought he was a pretty simple Villain in the early stages. Not someone I'd be surprised to see as the main big bad, but not someone I'd be disappointed in seeing go out early. But when he reaches this point, I was still making fun of him like his newfound Batman impression voice, but I do think he's a fitting villain for Touma, which I'll talk about more later, since I don't want to get too far into him, but I can say, that I actually think he's a good villain for this show, while Isaac was kind of just a meme and Calibur #1 was an unsurprising obstacle.

Also, RIP Tassel. The man who worked as a narrator and character within the show honestly quite well. Just from how empty it feels without him appearing at the start of every episode to greet us is a detail I think is quite nice, and like Zi-O where Woz recapped alongside the cast in the action, it shows how it's no longer someone telling us a story, but that the story is already in motion and it's up to the heroes to bring us to the ending.

KAMEN RIDER SABER EPISODE 44 - “OPEN THE BOOK, TO THE LAST PAGE”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/saber/saber44a.png

There once was a group of friends.

Touma’s story of a childhood shattered by the loss of Luna, memories diverted and regained, has haunted him as much as it empowered him. His drive to find her was the guiding light in his darkest days, but it’s also an original sin that can never be expunged. Finding Luna was its own penalty, because every visit with this unchanged girl was a reminder that he’d broken a promise. There’s no Getting Her Back, because Touma isn’t that little boy anymore. He’s an adult, just like Kento. The group of friends that existed as children can’t ever be returned to how they were, because that story’s over – no matter how much Touma would rather write it differently.

There will always be a group of friends.

The benefit of a story being over is the chance to start a brand new story. The old one was tragic, and its resolution bittersweet. An eternal child was keeping Touma lost in his past, endlessly suffering for his error. But that’s Touma’s story. Luna can write a new one: a story about a young woman who brings light to her friends’ dark days, and allows the mistakes of the past to become just a tale shared between old companions. This story is one of clean slates, and better endings.

Everything in this episode’s post-Kamen Rider Storious fight was as emotional and beautiful as you’d assume, with a cast this exceptional. We’re in the last good day before a climactic battle, and we get to see all of our heroes at their best, their most vulnerable. It’s all them connecting with the world, and the people within it, since everything’s at stake. Daishinji works on swords. Rintaro and Mei share a sweet moment on the Brooding Roof. Ren declines Kento’s offer to rejoin the team, but agrees to show up to the fight for his own sense of justice. The Shindai Siblings train together. Ogami spends time with his wife (!!!) and son. And Kento meets Touma at Promise Park, because there’s no other location these two would spend their last moments at.

There’s a fight at the beginning of the episode, and a brand-new(-ish) suit for Storious, but I don’t really care about that. The Divine Sages and Kamen Rider Storious are what’s next for our heroes, unavoidably, and I don’t want to taint their last chance for emotional closure with something as tawdry as supervillainy. There are battles to come, but I don’t want to think about that right now. I want to remember them all in their happiness, and in their bond with each other. I want to remember them walking together at dawn, towards the last battle, as a group.

A group of friends, perhaps. That'd be a nice story.

—

THE TIME BEFORE THE LAST TIME

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/saber/saber44b.png

She’d miss this roof. God, how she’d miss it.

Everything was ending soon. There was no avoiding it. Storious was practically a god now, and he didn’t seem to be a particularly forgiving or kind one. The guild was readying for a final strike against him, and no matter the outcome, this time in her life would be over.

It was strange to think about it, as a time that could be past tense. The insanity had never become routine, but it had ceased feeling new and unusual some months back. There was a rhythm to it all, the sword stuff, that allowed for some slight complacency. Touma and his friends would find a monster, or a book, and within a couple of weeks, it’d all be wrapped up. Every new challenge was assessed and dispatched, with a commitment and expedience that Mei wished Touma could apply to his writing.

(That was a little mean. He’d certainly been distracted this past year, but… it had been a year! No new book! He’d said he was writing it six months ago, and she hadn’t seen even the hint of a first draft! Her job was maybe at stake!)

This all felt different, though. The tension was palpable; the finality as unmistakable as the red skies that hung over the city. She’d assumed the end of this adventure would come in a rush, or by surprise. Instead, she felt herself lurching towards it, slowly pulled along with her friends into an ending that felt impossibly distant just a few days earlier. She couldn’t believe she had this one last day before the ending arrived.

She came to this roof, surprising herself. She thought she’d go to her favorite cafe, or spend time at her office. None of that felt right, though. Her world had grown so much as a part of the Sword of Logos, and yet it felt like it had shrunk down to nothing. The Northern Base. Touma’s bookshop. This roof. That was her world these days.

She gripped the railing tightly. It was her world. It was worth protecting. She’d have today to remember it all, before the finale was inescapable. She was happy to be on this roof, one last time. To remember this year, and take that with her into the ending.

Kamen Rider Storious is a cool suit, and is very much the Solomon suit with Storious' monstrous head and a new mask with a fresh coat of paint. I think my favorite detail that I believe only the Detail of Heroes ever points out is that Storious' eyes can glow behind the book mask he has and it makes for a really cool demonstration.

The Four Sages are also a neat concept, bringing back the Augustia Base Guards from Senki but elevating their role to that of a proper mini-boss squad. Especially when it comes to the fact that 9 Kamen Riders are about to march onto their doorstep.

That being said. The real meat of this episode, the real fun stuff is our calm before the storm. Everyone readying and preparing themselves for what's to come as they spend what could be their last peaceful day doing whatever they want to. There's a lot of nice little moments, and we get some fun stuff, like Adult Luna's actress getting to reprise her role in the series now, Ogami's wife being shown onscreen in the show itself and not just in the prequel Manga... just a lot of nice little touches.

There's a real big weight to this finale that's being set up here. The fact that we don't get the credits like usual being one of those. Instead of dancing we get another beautiful song being sung where we see everyone spending their final hours doing whatever they need to before they all slowly but surely meet up. It gives me such chills whenever I hear it, and it's a scene I like to replay a lot... both physically and mentally.

If there's two particular scenes I'm always thinking about in the back of my head for my Saber crossover with Symphogear, it's Episode 43's Desast Fight and Episode 44's ending credit scenes. It's very much running those two scenes through my head as I hope that whenever I do get to them, I manage to sort of match what the show was able to do in my writing.

Very solid final lead up to our finale set of episodes if I'm being honest.

Also a nice solid introspection from Mei for our story this time, and our potentially last time seeing the Brooding Roof in one of these stories. I'm going to miss it.

The whole book motif on the face was surprisingly good. :rock:

And after two random throwaway lines introducing and killing off the Lords of Wise, here they are as an unbeatable mini boss squad. (To tell them apart, Spartan has the sword and axe from a Fangire and a Ganma respectively, Highlander has a scythe from a Sentai V-Cinema villain, Diago has the rapiers from the Fourze/Wizard movie’s villains and Kuon has Asmodeus’ weapons from the movie)

Also, Luna is now an adult. There is a reason, but I don’t remember it and when I shared it with someone, her response was that, in much more polite terms than I’m putting it (probably), was “bullcrap”.

And finally, we get to the last book to feature two separate announcements, and by extension, I get to show off Omni Force, since they’re joined at the release.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=hYe4zPZXVCo

When the Legendary Swords and the chosen books intersect, unleash the power!

The ten swords and 19 Wonder Rider Books’ power comes here!

And since Grimoire’s announcements are in English, I’m gonna put them here in Japanese as well, as a joking inversion (though translations are provided)

聖剣と本が交差するとき、世界を書き換えてください。- When the holy sword and the book intersect, rewrite the world!

すべてを破壊する禁断の物語! - A forbidden story that destroys everything!

It's more literal way for Luna here of Luna isn't that little girl anymore (due to being stuck on Wonder World), she's an adult, just like Kentouma. Adult Luna has appeared in Superhero Senki, but for Sophia being revealed as a Luna clone, likely indicating how Luna can look like as an adult, yet actual adult Luna is portrayed by different (younger) actress Mayuu Yokota, instead of Rina Chinnen. Other than her early angst, adult Luna's personality is surprisingly to me, not that different from her child self, being a cheerful carefree types to the point of being open to physical affection from her friends, not the dignified type like Sophia. If you're considering this as a better ending, it's not that you'd rather for Touma-Luna stuff in earlier series (e.g. the flashbacks) to not exist but just executed better?

Do you think that, Rintaro kinda fridged Mei here? To tell her just to stay and wait, as she's not a fighter who can contribute much. It's explained that Rintaro wanted to say something, and obviously Mei won't survive going directly through this one of battlefield, but still. Desast may be a bad guy (and wouldn't say he's redeemed only because he "helps" a good guy), but good influences can come from various things (as well as bad influences from someone good), like Ren turning into a better, less uncaring person due to their time. The Shindai siblings wouldn't say are at most vulnerable here, as they're still on training rather than tender moments, other than coldly rebuffing Rintaro.

As a lighthearted show, the Northern Base of Saber bonded more quickly, but even Saber still has, the actual full cast of those swordsmen, finally coming through together after this long. But for Divine Sages though, they're an important part of the SoL and the cast, but it'd be wasted (first-time watcher) if they're only used as some muscles for the final villain. It's actually nice when the cast can get their relaxing moments, but I wonder how long it is taking when there's a greater danger at the beginning in them being unable to intervene.

Actually there isn't many fan of Ryoga simp, but for these kind of moments it can be dismissed as just a gag stuff and not a serious stuff. This is the reason why I talked about how comedy isn't always lighthearted, it can be about schadenfreude too. Some shows also feel this way to have even nice characters partake in domestic abuse for comedy, but got these ignored narrative-wise and still treated like a saint (and audience buying it). In fiction it seems that it'd be also easier to overlook bad behaviors if it doesn't cause bad consequences, attempted maiming or murder can be ignored entirely if it ends with no harm at all to the would-be victim.

Yes, this is exactly the calm before the storm and preparation for the final battle. However, I must note one point from the unfortunate skirmish with the quartet of sages. This is when Saber, in order to teleport the losing riders, does not just press the button on the sword, but hits it with his fist. A trifle, but how enlivens the battle.
It was also great to see an adult Luna and a trio of childhood friends reunite.
And of course the end credits. The best moment like this for me even outside of tokusatsu. The perfect combination of heroic epic and human emotions. We know these characters, we know the path they came from, and we understand how important and serious this battle is for them. And the end of the episode at dawn in front of the enemy tower is just great.
Your fanfiction, by the way, conveyed this atmosphere very well.