HE'S SO GOOD. I love how much he's okay with being an asshole in this story. He's genre-savvy, but in the exact opposite way Touma is. That's perfect.

Thanks! This one was... not my favorite. Needed a better idea of the ending going into it, but this was what got done. Glad you enjoyed parts of it!

Yet another good episode, I'm glad that there's an actual villain now that interacts with the Riders, rather than just cutaways to a group of villains that we don't know and that don't seem to do much affecting the cast. Buster/Ryo still remains a pretty good character, and even if I don't resonate with the story very much, I am liking the cast, even if I do think that Touma's motivations are still a bit vague, though presumably that's due to his amnesia, and that he'll get a stronger sense of character as the plot progresses.

We also get to see the Rider that was in Touma's flashback thing in Episode 1, which has a pretty nice design, even if it still has that strange headsword thing that I wish the show stopped adding to the suits.

This was actually a pretty solid episode, and I'm glad that there's now an actual villain that interacts with the Riders, and I hope there's some more character development, since this show rushes through a lot of character introductions and we don't really get a feel for them. But still, all in all this episode was pretty solid.

I actually... I think Touma's motivation (beyond a general sense of duty/empathy/humanity) is just The Demands Of The Narrative. He's in a superhero story, and the story wants him to be a superhero, so here we are. There's some other stuff rattling around in Touma's head and heart, but I think he's fundamentally a guy who wants to fit into a genre.

So, now that Desast has shown up, I think I’d better explain what he is.

As you may or may not have noticed, the books have three categories to them: mythical beasts (Shinjuu), animals (Seibutsu) and real world stories (Monogatari). This extends to the Riders and the previous Megid (Saber, Calibur, Buster and the Golem are Shinjuu, Blades and the Salamander are Seibutsu and the Ant/Grasshopper duo and new guy Espada are the Monogatari guys) Well Desast is classified as a Chimera Megid, meaning that he’s all three at once. He’s a hybrid of Fenrir, a silkworm and The Singing Bone. Though for toyline purposes, he gets classed as a Seibutsu.

Anyway, boxing Tinkerbell. That is all. Next time, I might talk about the episode.

Saber Dragon Hedgehog Peter is a hell of a mouthful of a name and that's about what can be said about the suit itself! Naturally, I LOVE that about it! Just a wild combo of random, disparate parts and stories with its own unique power coming from it. Pretty perfect for the kind of character Touma is and exactly the kind of crazy I love to see in Tokusatsu!

And hey, while we're here; Dezast is on the complete opposite end as a super sleek super sexy bad guy! Awesome combination of traits melded together well with a simple black-and-red colour scheme, and you gotta love the cape and skullhead. Really good!

Thanks for the info!

It's a fun-looking suit. I kind of don't love how this is the second time in four episodes we got It's Very Difficult For Even Experienced Swordsmen To Use More Than One Book Oh Wait You're Doing It, but there are clearly Kamen Rider conventions that this show is barely capable of acknowledging, let alone indulging in, so whatever. I like the power-ups to have more risk involved in utilizing them, at least for a new Rider, but that's just not this show.

But! Red Yellow Blue Saber! Fun design, for sure.

Yeaaah I very distinctly remember that one. One of the very few times in recent memory that one of these shows has actually brought up a reason to not use a more powerful form in favour of a base/earlier form - something I'd like to see them do a lot more! - and then it's just, sort of, swept aside and doesn't matter. Okay!

Fair enough. I don't mind if people dislike Tendo for being an a**hole or unhelpful to men in a domestic setting, but yeah, I'll always encourage people to look at him as a flawed person with a traumatic past as well.

For sure, like Touma, I can appreciate Ogami's narrative potential, in both his qualities and flaws. However, I think the story goes a little too one-sided on depicting him as being this stubborn old guy (even though he's only in his 30s) who won't acknowledge the wisdom in youths and how he's inadvertently inhibiting his son's development, to the point where he's pretty much a strawman with no strong argument in this 2-parter. Of course, I'm glad he gets character development early, so he can be more likable and chill now, which is important for his teamwork with the other Swordsmen.

Yeah, Desast is a totally awesome villain. He's like the Alain of Saber, even people who dislike the show are fans of Desast. Like that intimidating sword gesture before his Calamity Strike! He has an established notoriety to SOL as a bloodthirsty killer of previous Swordsmen and an active threat during the incident from 15 years ago, which makes his debut fight against Buster more intense than your average Megids.

Picking up on a reference and trying to remember where you recognize it from can even be a gratifying moment for anybody who's a fan of various media! It's a cool way to show off Touma's knowledge of books, which is fitting with the episode's moral that books aren't a waste of time and besides entertainment, they can actually be educational for future reference. Salamander talking about the king's awakening only made me think of Time Jackers, so it's good that someone in the show could figure out what he really meant.

Tinkerbuff!

I'm not sure what argument he's supposed to have in this two-parter? His point-of-view is mostly that Touma's not taking this seriously enough, and that he lost his goddamn kid. If Ogami had forbid Sora from, like, reading, I think there'd be plenty to criticize. As it is, I think it's more just Ogami needing to see that Touma's dedication might look different than his own, but it's definitely there.

I do like that nearly every victory in this show is down to Touma reading a lot. Super simple way to keep the show's focus on its main attribute!

Desast's name is a play on the French word "D?sastre" (デザストル, Dezasutoru). Otherwise, yeah it seems that Desast is the Saber character that reaches franchise-wide success, even though he's a secondary villain, though it's for the reasons you haven't known yet (while you already enjoyed him). He's the one who actually purposely lets the heroes get advantages due to his blood knight approach of wanting good fight. The cliffhanger part of Calibur's attack also'd involve Kento which you questioned before.

I mean honestly, I'd think this'd land better if you acknowledged Ogami's faults better before in his treatments to the younger ones, though in this episode Ogami had a good reason to be livid and it's hard not to considering what happened to the child, he also needs to not quickly jump into conclusions, especially regarding people he looked down into. Though I'd wish that Ogami had a chance to look or hear Touma figuring the problem out, other than just being convinced by Kento, tbh, as he'd witness Touma's main potential in front of his eyes, other than just going side by side to battle and dividing tasks. Other than that, here Mei seems to have stepped up her game, in her support role being vital here to locate the kidnapped Sora using the same Wonder Book he opened, then informing others of their location by using fireworks.

Yeah, this is another part where Touma's knowledges book seller job is really important to save the day. So now it's about scientific knowledge he got from books other than just fairy tales, like deducing that the Megid regenerates which is why Sora is still trapped, as they haven't beaten him yet. I guess what I'd say is actually, previously fairy tale knowledge can be as important as actual scientific knowledge from books, at least in this series, as the former is usually deemed as useless stuff and reading those kind of fiction books are still 'not proper reading'. I wonder if I'd see more of Touma's appeal than many other people, but this is still early on. Once again, Touma also makes use of unconventional fighting style by summoning Fighting Fairy, portrayed by wrestler Reika Saiki, and to prevent the Megid's regen by using an area denial AoE attack.

Oh, you explained it better than me (and represented it) about the problem of Ogami's attitude. Not that his character is bad or something, just, yeah, these are the reasons why I don't think of him as that wholesome like said here. Or perhaps I just don't wanna give him free pass just because of his love to his son. But yeah the next episode addressed this, albeit IMO, wasted potential due to what I said below.

Oh, I guess ep. 4 touched upon the consequences of breaking promises. Seems that even Touma too, can only respond in continuing to talk about keeping it, when his promise apparently failed and got confronted by Ogami. I guess that is meant to build up tension and drama regarding Sora, but Touma, I'd wish for Touma to give a more convincing answer if he can solve it later.... People who purposely give false promises to deceive/manipulate situations are terrible, but deeming them as the worst ones as if no one else is would be subjective... as the worst kind for people would vary... even for petty ones like just someone being "whiny" (as in, having standard emotional outburst while not being a badass...). And as bigger picture is also important, I'd not view those who give a false promise due to being forced by outer circumstances to break it while making an effort for it in the same light.

Perhaps not as much due to from what I seen, less varied...

(probably similar to early Ogami above...) It's clear that Tendou has a soft spot towards his sisters, and is actually one of the only few people he's always gentle with. What I wouldn't want is tbh, to have Tendou be viewed as a saint (similar to most other main Riders) due to his treatment of his sisters alone (using it as "proof"), while blaming all the other people (instead of Tendou) for his more abrasive treatment towards them. Even outright villains can have their evil overlooked when they're shown to be nice to certain one person (,,or... have no qualms screwing over everyone for that person). He's a good person overall, but to Kagami he can be overly harsh like how he is to any others, so wouldn't think he had special treatment to him..