Yes yes, exactly! And putting aside Sword of Logos obviously evil bug ladies and Sophia kidnapping and cursed tome scheming, its probably my most effective indictment of how SoL functions as an organization as a whole. Bringing an orphan kid into this environment was questionable to begin with, even if it was out of a genuine want to help on Rintaro's master's part, but how he apparently was just... lost in the muddle after his master died? Attached to the organization, but without strong bonds within it? Oof. For all the honestly well intentioned members within SoL, to me that speaks of major structural problems for him to have just been... left to turn out that way.

Rintaro's just the worst recipient of Bring Your Kid To Work And Let Them Be Raised By Sword Cultists Day imaginable.

I'm glad other people seem to be elabrating on Kento's new story arc here, because I don't think it ever properly landed with me. I think, in retrospect, it's because it was all framed in some nebulous apocalypic terms - the world is literally going to end, and we're fighting against that ultimate thing. I guess it's the reverse of the Saber dream from last time - that was horrifying because it felt tangible, real - all the other swordsmen struck down, with the final one to go being cheery optimistic Mei. Scaling that all up to the end of the world, idk, I guess I struggled to connect that as much? I agree, his characterisation here follows straight through from his earlier set, just with even more nihilism, but it was something I never quite clicked with.

In fairness, Ogami was clos to being his dad, but said dad has since defected to working at a bookshop.

I think it's helpful to remember two things from this show, when attempting to "enjoy" Kento's return to the series:

1) It's a lot like Yuri's initial storyline, and something the show keeps looping back to -- Saving The World doesn't mean anything if you forget that there are people in the world. Kento's very focused on averting some nebulous apocalypse, but he's giving that more value than the many people he's hurting in pursuit of his goal.

2) Kento's a guy who would've come back and bravely shouldered the weight of his friends' anger even if the Realm of Shadows had shown him reruns of early Simpsons seasons for two months. He's a dude that's always looking for an apocalypse to give his martyrdom meaning.

"Working" and "bookshop" are being used pretty liberally here. I think Ogami mostly just wanders through the Sword of Logos Northern Base book-themed gift shop/foyer, which has been closed to walk-in traffic due to These Unprecedented Times.

I get what you're saying, and I don't disagree, I just found it hard to get invest with Kento's matyr complex. Especially with Touma + Primitive Dragon, the SOL stuff, and Rintarou deciding whether permanently cutting himself off from his family is worth striking out on for his fiends, all of those I was more interested in than Kento's murmurings about an inevitable apocalypse that felt like set-up for the next plot along? It's still good drama in a great arc, but idk, it's not what I have the stand-out memories of from this bit? Or maybe we'll hit on something in the next couple of episodes to help me elaborate a little.

I think this was brought up, but I really love the scene where Mei gives Rintaro his books back. This isn't my analysis, but a friends. As long as Rintaro doesn't have the books he doesn't have to fight Touma, or fight for SoL. He's in a safe spot, but when he accepts the books back he's forced to make a choice again. It's neat.

This is one of my favorite episodes, too. What I love, beyond the character moments or plot developments, is just how un-Kamen Ridery the show's handling of this stuff is. Touma confronts Kento about the whole Calibur thing and demands to know what's happening. In pretty much any other Rider show, Kento's response would have been some kind of deflection: "You don't need to know," "You wouldn't understand," "A guy like you can't stop me," etc. Instead, Kento just explains exactly what's going on, what his end goal is, and why he's doing all of this. Regardless of the fact that it all makes perfect sense from his perspective, it is so refreshing to see this kind of open communication on a Kamen Rider series.

For some context, this episode originally aired about midway through the "Kamen Rider Die watches Kamen Rider Den-O" thread and we were somewhere in the part of the show after Zeronos had shown up. You could really see the contrast with how Saber was playing this out when compared to Sakurai "Do not answer any questions about the plot under any circumstances" Yuuto.

Interesting! I want to say Rintaro still had King Lion Daisenki (he'd just lost his Combo books), but that's a neat view of the situation. I feel like it's more that Rintaro's already made his choice by that point in the story, and he's avoiding facing the consequences. Him talking about traitors during the SoL's all-hands church session was probably the moment he lost Reika's support.

Please get along with Yuuto!

It honestly makes perfect sense that each show would go a different way with it. Yuuto's whole thing is carrying this burden he never asked for, and resenting the pity of others. He hates the appearance of weakness; his catchphrase is reminding you that he's actually very strong. Explaining his situation would be like eliciting sympathy. You saw what he did to Deneb when Deneb tried to be nice to him!

For Kento, I like how his explanation reinforces that he's still the same to friend to Touma he's always been, not some New Terrible Villain. The show is smart to spell out to the kids in the audience that Kento isn't after power, or trying to hurt his friends. If the benefit of that continuity is me getting to have context for a character's motivations in the moment, instead of a month later? I'm happy to accept it.

You know, I'd want this to be the case, and I feel like the show itself realizes that should be the case as it goes on, but Oogami's introduction arc always rubbed me in the wrong way in that regard. He's pretty dismissive of Rintaro there, and there's even a part where Rintaro tries to express sympathy for Sora's kidnapping only to Immediately flinch at Oogami getting angry over it. It's a stressful situation, yeah, but it just doesn't read great between them, especially as compared to Kento actually getting very obvious positive surrogate dad scenes with Oogami. It's probably just Early Installment Weirdness, and they just weren't considering Rintaro's backstory in writing that part yet, but it does bug me.

I dunno. I feel like there might be an aspect of... when Kento was orphaned, it was obvious he was dealing with it in a way that he needed Handling, so SoL adapted around keeping an eye out and being there for him. But when the same thing happened to Rintaro at the same time... well, he's always been Nice, and Polite, and Followed The Rules, so there wasn't anything to worry about, right?

So, this episode. In which Tassel is banished to hell.

But in more serious stuff, I have some interesting facts.

We get our first look at the tenth and final of the swords (again, discounting Kyomu) https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...8/IMG_6159.JPG

According to the show’s production log, Kamijo knew that Kento would suffer endless visions if he was exposed to Kurayami through touch or being trapped in its dimension for two long (if you go back, you’ll notice he always carried it with a gloved hand). The reason he gave it to Touma was so that Kento could be freed relatively quickly and without going insane. (Though how he expected him to do so, I’m not sure).

Next: It’s time to mashimashi

Oh yes, episode 26! You know, Saber is considered the least dark season of Reiwa, but replaying these episodes, you realize that this is a very superficial look. The show really torments the souls of its characters very much. And don't forget about the body. So, Kento, as Calibur, makes sacrifices. I was actually very impressed with how his visions of endless apocalypses are shown. I really like how the reveal of Kurayami's properties explains the past (and future) of the show. So having Calibur standing at the Book Club base in armor made sense within the show itself. Also in this episode there is a Primitive Dragon's cry. And poor Daishinji!
In general, this is a great example of how to show the suffering of your favorite characters so that the viewer likes it and does not seem like a pointless "drama for the sake of drama."

...

Kamijo cursing Kento to be tortured with maddening visions in a dimension of shadows, but also feeling bad about it and hoping someone else will correct his poor decision-making through means that he did not bother to explain, and then it all going sideways because he was just like You Get The Gist and no one could follow-up because he died... that is maybe the most Kamijo thing I've ever heard. I'm not sure if I hate it or love it.

It's really great. For a show still suffering under COVID restrictions, they really went out there to give the audience little snippets of the hero's failing to stop different apocalypses. I don't know if anyone else read House of X/Powers of X, but it reminded me a little bit of Moira's lives, and how in each one she tried a slightly different path (different allegiances, mostly) while still ending up in the same doomed fate. Very haunting!

Uhhhh, this episode!

Yes, I was so in love with it. It feels so hopeless in a way; everything that can go wrong goes wrong as more and more forces amass against our heroes just when things were looking on the up for once.

It is everything I love in a show!

Also, I don't exactly how deep we went into the visions this episode, and I don't wanna accidently spoil something only because I wanted to talk about one of my favorite little details in Saber, so I'll hold that off till I know for sure that was revealed yet ^^

That said, I agree very much with the "you realize that this is a very superficial look" statement. It also heavily reminds me of the theme song of the show, which, while sounding rather hopeful is very melancholic.

Lines like: "Masking the hidden tears" and "The wisdom written with a surplus of loneliness" really sell that and I think it is perfect for Saber.

It's about suffering, shouldering responsibility and trauma, while simultaneously never giving up on your friends, yourself and the world. It delivers a lot of cruel gut punches, but always with a conviction that even through you will suffer in live, the final chapter of your story will be written by you, even if others may set the scene.

Yeah, I'm gushing about this show again. And don't expect this to change, there is a lot I adore this show for and we haven't nearly run out of it yet ^^

Well said! This is very much a show built around how much your attitude defines your fate. I'm glad you're enjoying it!

KAMEN RIDER SABER EPISODE 27 - “I’LL CHANGE YOUR SORROW, INTO A SMILE”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/saber/saber27a.png

I mean, of course this show resolves its Berserk Form storyline by having Touma write a happier ending for his uncontrollable collectible. Of course.

It’s an incredibly sweet ending. Primitive Dragon is revealed to be a scared child, lashing out from sorrow and loneliness. It’s there on the costume, and on the book: a grasping hand, looking for someone to call a friend. Touma’s solution is to let Primitive Dragon know that, even in the times when all of its friends had vanished, it was never really alone. It had the wind, the seas, the earth to be there for it. It’s a lovely way of showing how depression can be just a way of feeling cut off from the world, not feeling cut off from people. Touma’s intervention is a reminder that Primitive Dragon is still a part of the world, so it can still make new friends, find new happiness.

Elemental Dragon continues that really lovely trend of smart suit designs, with a pair of shaking hands as its armor, and a big ol’ THANK YOU when Touma de-Henshins. It’s all about harnessing this group of friends – the elements of nature and a gigantic skeleton dragon and a sword-fighting novelist – into an unstoppable force for justice. I don’t know if I love the All Colors scheme of it, but I like how much it’s about the end of this particular story.

And the story’s a great Saber-specific story, about how much perspective and intention matter when we’re processing events. What to a small child might look like abandonment and an ending, to an adult might look like a new chapter. It’s a nice parallel to Kento’s story, where he’s unable to see past his fears and find hope in Touma’s ability to change someone’s fate. This is a series about not accepting terrible outcomes and trying to create a better future, so it stands to reason that Kento lifelong pessimism is the biggest obstacle this show can have right now.

Mostly because it’s sure not going to be Legeiel! He gets an interesting little coda, where it becomes clear that he (and probably Zooooooous) wasn’t aware of his past, and therefore maybe was rewritten to be a blundering villain. I still don’t really care about the Book Club – and this episode was them as yet another forgettable speed-bump along a much more interesting road – but at least the show is trying to provide some additional depth to them.

Overall, a very sweet conclusion to the Primitive Dragon arc. It’s an ending that I literally can’t think of another Kamen Rider show attempting, and it landed the surface-level absurdity with grace and beauty. High marks for this one.

—

CAN’T DO MUCH

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/saber/saber27b.png

Rintaro had arrived in time to see his friends fighting Legeiel. It was already going poorly.

Legeiel was more gold then Rintaro remembered. With the way he was keeping Ogami and the Sword of Light at bay, he was likely empowered by some Megid scheme. It was always some Megid scheme.

Touma was there. Rintaro wasn’t surprised. Even if Legeiel hadn’t been screaming for Touma to fight him, Touma couldn’t stay away from people in danger. And, at this point, Touma also couldn’t keep from putting people in danger.

It was why Rintaro had come, after all.

He’d known the destructive power of Primitive Dragon, and how it was commandeering Touma’s body during battle. Touma swore he could learn to control it, but Rintaro knew better. Touma’s faith in his ability to save people was going to get people hurt, and Rintaro was going to have to hurt Touma, in turn. Touma had asked Rintaro to make sure that Primitive Dragon didn’t harm any innocents, and Rintaro was going to keep his promise.

Soon, it looked like.

Primitive Dragon was tearing away at the Sword of Light, while Legeiel attacked Ogami. Soon, Rintaro would have to intercede, and stop the rampaging–

Wait.

Primitive Dragon, the whirlwind of ferocious destruction, had stopped. It stood there, deaf and blind to the world. It was the only time Rintaro had ever seen it when it wasn’t attacking friend and foe alike, and it looked… peaceful? There was a melancholy to its color and shape that Rintaro felt vaguely protective of.

“Touma is doing his best to find a solution right now!” the Sword of Light shouted.

Ogami responded, “We gotta hold Legeiel back until then!”

As Legeiel battered his friends, Rintaro could see the truth of it. Touma wasn’t about to fall to the rage of a mystical story, or lose himself in bottomless rage. Touma was going to win. He was going to do the impossible, and convince an immortal weapon of destruction to be his friend. It was so clear to Rintaro now. Touma’s belief in himself was a power Rintaro wished he possessed, and a power that couldn’t be denied. Touma was going to find a way to fix this. He just needed time.

Rintaro gripped the King Lion Daisenki Ride Book tightly, and prepared to give Touma that time.

Twice in one day? (As far as I’m concerned, due to time zones) Well, I might as well dish.

As you surmised, and as I hinted at when you were at Primitive’s debut, there is a second part to his power up (still don’t own it myself. Maybe one day)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=NwqSxl8Rb-k

…And becomes a heroic God-Beast by uniting hands with the ancient powers!

Take your hand when meeting the ancient dragon!

Now is the time, use the twin powers!

It’s time to mashimashi!

And surprisingly, despite there being everything in place for a Legiel book to be made as, at least, a P-Bandai, there is no released version of Legiel’s ARB. But then again, there aren’t any Alter Books post the first P-Bandai release (more on that in the future), but given how liberal they started getting with previously unreleased items shortly afterwards…

Anyway, I like how Kento not having predicted this doesn’t automatically change his mind, even if I know of a few people who didn’t.

Next time: I partially borrow En-chan’s schtick and a new character appears who lets me Take A Chance to go Halfway to Forever with an unintentional name similarity.

Yeah, I assume some folks didn't love Kento not completely rewriting his sense of martyrdom and fatalism because one (1) good, unexpected thing happened, but I'm pretty okay with it? It's just Kento to a T: if he's provided with one good outcome and one bad outcome, he's going to believe in the bad outcome 101 times out of a hundred. While he's surprised at Touma's success, he's still not going to see it as proof of anything other than a minor, irrelevant variable.

So yeah, with this little story taken care of, yeah I'd say Primitive Dragon is definitely like one of my favorites in terms of berserk forms. It takes what I think Saber excels strongly at, relating things to storytelling, and basically makes that the solution to the whole arc.

And we see Touma's love for stories shine through again as he uses that to comfort someone who was hurting greatly. We get Elemental Dragon, which is honestly pretty cool in that it very much combines most of the elements of our original grouping of Sword of Logos swordsmen (sorry Daishinji, Touma couldn't think of anything poetic about sound). So in a sense we get our all combined form of sorts if you want to think of it like that. I don't, I mostly think it's just a really cool form with a bunch of different elements to it.

Speaking of the form itself though. I know people don't exactly like it, and wish it was more of a singular color but... I feel like that'd defeat the symbolism behind it? Like if you say covered up the remaining parts that are Primitive Dragon with a complimentary color scheme for Elemental... you'd be hiding Primitive Dragon, which is what you don't want to do.

Likewise if you made Elemental's parts complimentary to Primitive's... that also doesn't work because you lose the idea of Elemental being this warm comforting friend that's reaching out towards the lonely Primitive Dragon. It's a very interesting form in which Elemental and Primitive co-exist, and while it looks awkward at some parts of it, having Elemental basically wrap itself around Primitive but not cover it up? I think that works beautifully.

Now let's get a few footnotes out of the way. I do like how we brought back the Hyperbolic Time Chamber to do something interesting with it. Make it an isolation room as Touma flails around trying to reach out to Primitive Dragon as much as he can while everything else is going down. And speaking of everything else going down... Legeiel. There's a hint of tragedy in that he's gone so far with power he's basically forgotten his roots in a sense. At least that's how I see it being presented. It strikes enough pity with me to feel something at his death, though he is very much the least interesting of the trio of Book Club members at the end of their run.

Zooous is still on top for me if I'm being honest and Storious has always been second for me. I feel as though Legeiel's obsession with Touma stemmed from his humiliating defeat from the Yeti Megid case, and then just subsequent losses piling on further with the Phantom Beast Megid never really getting the payback he wanted. If there's one vibe I always got with Legeiel... it was pride, for as little that showed.

As for the last of it. There's a nice difference of reactions here. With Rintaro seeming to get some kind of peace/clarity from Touma's actions while Kento is still not budging in the slightest.

Which leads into our story. I do like how we see Rintaro and Kento both roll up to this fight, neither entering it. And I do feel like you managed to get Rintaro's mindset down with this, his fear and doubts in Touma turning into hope when he realizes the situation has clearly changed.

===Zero Presents: Desast Walk===

Desast Walk #8:

"Hello, humans.

I'm Dessert.

Do you ever have those moments when you just don't care about anything?

You're in a place where there's no smell, and you're just staring at the clouds drifting in the wind.

Thinking about stupid things and then forgetting about them.

I wonder how he's doing?

Let's get going."

What should be stopped is actually the view of pessimism as smarter, more mature, and more objective. Some people can be too extreme either way, but only optimism can be viewed as blind or being sheep. Like how people can make negative statements that is blatantly wrong or misinformed, or just outright make up lies based on bias for the sake of criticism,, and there can be still people who blindly buys it (yeah, it's being a sheep for negative side) because of the perceived notion that pessimism is smart. Right or wrong is based on facts, not negative feelings. To represent the optimism in someone like Touma however, a handful of the audience will not buy it, and just accuse the story as giving favoritism to the MC, thus they win and their worldview is favored by default, not acknowledging optimism as important.

In general, yeah, actually to succeed, optimism and idealism is needed to be an incentive for them to try, as those pessimism to believe that our actions don't matter, it can lead into someone being too lazy to try doing anything (any of their actions won't matter anyway), creating a self-fulfilling prophecy that they really can't make the situation better. Other than that, cynicism can be bad for other's well-being as well, as it can be the driving force behind cruelty, like assuming that everyone was out to screw them and thus opting to screw over and exploit everyone else first, which makes them being the ones who directly make the situation worse.

His father's actions? Really dunno to jump into conclusions for that. He must've gotten his foresight of the future somewhere, something plot related, like in Realm of Shadows. Otherwise, Kento undergoes similar thing as Izu when creating Zero-Two, having to observe many unpleasant events and outcomes in the simulation... of which that one ends with Izu getting mad at Aruto. And yeah, as you said, Kento is in character with how he was before, as normally he gets along with Touma especially and wants to perform SoL's job but he's also a brooding wreck who carries many burdens, and at one point is consumed by vengeance against Calibur. Now his inner darkness takes over him to the point that as a pessimist, he has good intentions, but opts for the 'easy' way out to solve things. At this point Kento turns into an anti-villain. Kento being the next Calibur is also expected by the fanbase as, Calibur's new suit actor is the same as Espada's.

Touma was someone who tries to approach the kid in Primitive Dragon for being depressed, but now, Touma has been so depressed against Kento's situation to the point that the situation's turned around with the kid sympathizing with him instead. The one that is equally devastating was what Kento did to Slash, as Daishinji mourns over his collectible. It's something ironic that Kento as Calibur is the 3rd one who has 'betrayed' the SoL, even though Kento's a milder case that he doesn't only have good intentions like Kamijo, but also tries to do only what he thinks is necessary, but the others didn't take notice of this irony, like, realizing it's not Touma as them (mainly Reika has suspected) who goes off the deep end (not about gaining power though).

Speaking of SoL, the Master Logos here gives the very vibe of extremely despicable villain, and more of Tassel is revealed where his real name is Victor, and he's the protector of Wonder World, which is why he didn't intervene on the events on the main cast. The backstory of the premise explained by Yuri is a bit simple but it's all connected together as they all go on different paths including Tassel.

I've brought this up several times before too, i̶n̶c̶l̶u̶d̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶p̶e̶r̶h̶a̶p̶s̶ ̶f̶e̶m̶a̶l̶e̶ ̶R̶i̶d̶e̶r̶s̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶'̶d̶ ̶l̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶s̶u̶c̶h̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶A̶s̶o̶ ̶f̶a̶m̶i̶l̶y̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶K̶i̶v̶a̶ (not as terrible people, but as something fitting the stereotype). Sophia here is a damsel in distress (which is a hated type), so yeah, she'd receive no sympathy for perhaps being viewed as only a burden for others here. In general, it seems that some people’s scoring for “good well written female characters” is focusing if they're not "useless" (which Mei can get viewed as) and/or "damsel in distress".

And it seems that to reinforce how 'strong' they're to 'break' the mold, they're given terrible traits (including toxic masculinity, as feminity is viewed as inherent weakness), as this post notes. It also appllies in KR franchise where at this point, mostly the females who become Riders are the ones with those stereotypical 'tough' personality (which means many are asshole ones), while females like Poppy or (sorry, yeah she temporarily going off deep end but otherwise she's all-loving one too) Tsukuyomi aren't prominent Riders, even if they're prominent characters. U̶n̶p̶o̶p̶u̶l̶a̶r̶,̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶w̶h̶y̶ ̶I̶ ̶l̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶Z̶i̶-̶O̶,̶ ̶e̶v̶e̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶o̶u̶g̶h̶ ̶b̶o̶t̶h̶ ̶c̶a̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶d̶o̶ ̶a̶n̶y̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶,̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶b̶e̶n̶e̶v̶o̶l̶e̶n̶t̶ ̶T̶s̶u̶k̶u̶y̶o̶m̶i̶ ̶m̶a̶k̶e̶s̶ ̶m̶o̶r̶e̶ ̶d̶e̶n̶t̶ ̶a̶g̶a̶i̶n̶s̶t̶ ̶S̶w̶a̶r̶t̶z̶ ̶c̶o̶m̶a̶p̶r̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶c̶o̶l̶d̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶r̶u̶t̶h̶l̶e̶s̶s̶ ̶O̶r̶a̶,̶ ̶e̶v̶e̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶o̶u̶g̶h̶ ̶T̶s̶u̶k̶u̶y̶o̶m̶i̶ ̶d̶o̶e̶s̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶m̶o̶r̶e̶ ̶a̶d̶v̶a̶n̶t̶a̶g̶e̶s̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶f̶i̶r̶s̶t̶ ̶p̶l̶a̶c̶e̶.̶

I'm someone who'd speak highly of Tycoon and Na-Go's abilities compared to Buffa too (not Geats obviously), but some people can cling to status quo from the character's first impressions, and it seems that some people won't view Na-Go as a strong one (she's also an exceptionally feminine one), especially for her self-doubt in ep. 14-15, calling her (and Tycoon) as only being carried by Geats (or even Buffa, like ignoring that she also doubts Buffa's abilities along with herself and Tycoon's against the final boss, not viewing him as the crutch like Geats) all this time until now.

Context is really important in anything. Other than just viewing the actions alone as the same. Also, it's better to not measure how terrible an action is only by how much injury they inflict on someone. Reika slapping Sophia shows that she feels that she's entitled to do anything she wants in the name and sees everyone as beneath her except Master Logos, she also has regularly gaslit others for example and that has no physical injury, but gaslighting is something nasty.

Actually what should be stopped is degrading anyone who doesn't contribute in 'useful' way such as fighting or science as being totally useless (or paint them as mere whiners), or painting them as using badass fighters for survival and/or 'deliberately putting others in danger'. There's a fucking difference between "can't do the job" or "won't do the job", typically the former happens to more normal characters. S̶i̶c̶k̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶v̶i̶l̶l̶a̶i̶n̶s̶ ̶(̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶R̶e̶i̶k̶a̶,̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶s̶)̶ ̶b̶e̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶v̶i̶e̶w̶e̶d̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶b̶e̶t̶t̶e̶r̶ ̶p̶e̶r̶s̶o̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶s̶e̶ ̶t̶y̶p̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶c̶h̶a̶r̶a̶c̶t̶e̶r̶s̶ ̶(̶d̶e̶e̶m̶e̶d̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶u̶s̶e̶l̶e̶s̶s̶,̶ ̶b̶o̶r̶i̶n̶g̶,̶ ̶e̶t̶c̶.̶)̶ ̶d̶u̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶'̶a̶c̶t̶i̶o̶n̶'̶ ̶v̶i̶e̶w̶, t̶h̶o̶u̶g̶h̶ ̶I̶'̶m̶ ̶a̶l̶s̶o̶ ̶s̶i̶c̶k̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶G̶a̶i̶'̶s̶ ̶p̶r̶e̶v̶i̶o̶u̶s̶ ̶a̶c̶t̶i̶o̶n̶s̶ ̶b̶e̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶d̶o̶w̶n̶p̶l̶a̶y̶e̶d̶ ̶d̶u̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶h̶i̶m̶ ̶a̶p̶o̶l̶o̶g̶i̶z̶i̶n̶g̶,̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶i̶t̶'̶s̶ ̶a̶l̶s̶o̶ ̶s̶o̶m̶e̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶r̶e̶a̶l̶l̶y̶ ̶a̶p̶p̶r̶o̶v̶e̶d̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶D̶i̶e̶'̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶r̶e̶a̶d̶s̶.̶

There are many other ways to contribute, like raising morale, tactics and strategy, effective commanding and leading, analysing and figuring out the opponent’s weakness, acting as the tank to absorb damage yourself while your teammates find a way to win, tactical diversion, delaying your opponents (buying time), etc.

Oh, for sure. You need all them colors to sell the unity of what Touma's accomplished... but I still don't like looking at it. Like, I wouldn't change it, but it's not a suit I enjoy looking at.

In this instance, I was referring to his father's betrayal of the Sword of Logos.

The most shocking moment was when Touma tried to convince Kento that they could change the future by working together as friends, only for Kento to finish his sentence, implying that he's already seen that option through to its hopeless conclusion. It's tragic that Kento was forced to see so many futures leading to the same end of the world and the only one where he can succeed, where he can save all his friends, is the one where he has to seal their Seiken Swords and sacrifice himself all alone as the last Swordsman. He may have been cursed by Kurayami, but he's choosing to stay cursed, by giving in to the darkness that consumed him.

This reveal explains Kamijo's line to Touma from before, "What would you do if you knew the world was destined to end, no matter what you do." Kamijo was chosen by Rekka for his strong will, so he found renewed hope in Touma's determination. But Kento basically has the worst mental state for dealing with Kurayami's visions, although I do think Calibur looks good on him. Make Might A Just No Matter Dark Joke. There's something in that Engrish line from Jaou Dragon's jingle that nicely summarizes the various Calibur-users' means of saving the world, at the expense of so much that's important to them.

It's high praise for you to call it one of your favorite episodes ever, but I can't blame you. This is a serious turning point for the show that manages to keep the uncomfortable status quo of Touma having to fight against his friends even after integrating most of his friends in to Team Saber. Kento is obsessed with following the cold logic in those visions, but Touma will continue to believe in the power of emotions, his promises and the ideal that he can create a future where everybody can be happy together. There's a lot of stuff to look forward to in the third arc!

Oh Rei, I was wondering when you'd show up here. Always good to have another person to give Saber the praise it deserves. It's my favorite Reiwa Rider show for sure and when I compare it to Heisei, I think it's going to be hard to top for this era.

Thanks! It's convenient to have them all in one place like that.

Time to Mashimashi and Shake Hands!

Yeah, I was definitely sitting on a time bomb. There was no way I could talk about Episode 25, without talking about that crazy scene. It's weird, I thought maybe it would be easier on a rewatch knowing what comes after, but nope, still grinds my gears. Feels like shock value that's just there to make me dislike a character I already dislike. It's not a completely bad episode though, I did enjoy the argument-to-love-confession between Touma and Rintarou that Mei helped to facilitate.

Interesting opinion you have about Mai anyway, I don't think I've ever heard anybody call her terrible before. It's true that she doesn't do much, other than boosting morale for the dance groups and generally being one of the few characters who isn't corrupt. Just another example after Zack that the most benevolent characters in Gaim are also the weakest. Even as Space Goddess, she doesn't do anything.

Yeah, I think for Kento... I think it's less him having been consumed by darkness, and more him not pretending he wasn't consumed by darkness years ago. This is his natural state, and I think we're in a mode of the characters coming to grips with that. He can still be reached, but this isn't some rough patch he's going through or whatever.

And you know what, I respect that. I still gel with Elemental Dragon, colors and all, but I can get why it isn't exactly pleasing for some. Though I am glad that you understand why it looks that way.

Wait… both of the Zexal OPs? Yes, this is when Ryoga/ Durendal shows up

I know, my question was about why that is depicted as the driving motivation behind Kento's actions as Calibur.

I think you somewhat misunderstood my attitude towards the characters. I have no complaints about characters who do not make a material contribution to the victory of the heroes. Even the lack of emotional input does not bother me. By inaction, I mean the lack of desire, not the ability to intervene. In Gaim's finale, Mai had the power to change the world in her hands. She couldn't use it, but she could choose who to give it to. And I don't even blame her for having doubts between Kota and Kaito. But she is terrible because she never chose, because of which Kota had to kill another friend, and this time it was conscious. I hope I have made my position clear enough.

It wasn't specifically about Calibur, and more how it's a pattern in Kento's decision-making for the entirety of his life. He's a guy who's always finding a reason to take on a burden.

And this is the reason. Well, unless my memory and translation fail me.

Fish Sandwich also watched Kamen Rider Saber Episode 27

https://i.imgur.com/mY2REMn.jpg

...Man, I genuinely don't even know where to start. Like, I've kind of dodged really digging into how much I love all the episodes in this arc, in part because it's like, thankfully I wrote most of it down around 2 years ago, but looking back at my post for this one, I feel like it's underselling how much this one means to me, even with all the praise I gave it?

It's like:

Yeah, I think that sorta starts to get at it. It's like I said earlier -- what makes so many of these berserk form stories so memorable, and what keeps it from feeling as repetitive as it ought to when Zero-One did it literally the prior year, is how they're all saying something very deeply unique and specific to their particular series. Build's always gonna be the one to top, right? It's not just that Hazard Form was legit scary in that debut, it's that the process of us getting from that to RabbitRabbit, seeing Takumi Katsuragi's weapon become the hero only Sento Kiryuu could create, it's a perfect microcosm of so much of what Build was exploring, and that one-two punch of form debuts easily stands as one of the all-time greats in the entire franchise.

And Elemental Primitive Dragon is easily at least on that same level for me. I mentioned how I misunderstood the design of Primitive Dragon at first, and considering Die made similar comments, I suspect that might just have been yet more deliberate intent on the part of the designers. The easy assumption when you first see it is that the hand is this primal force, clutching its unwilling prisoners within its cold grasp, but the reality is completely different. That claw on the book, it's actually a torn up page, because Primitive Dragon's whole gimmick is that its story is missing. The illustrations on the book even bring to mind a black hole, because the truth is that it's a wounded creature, desperately reaching out for something to fill the void where its heart once was.

So of course, inevitably, the thing it finds to fill that void once and for all is another hand, reaching back to help.

It's like the simplest, corniest thing ever, and so perfectly, beautifully Saber in every aspect. We were presented with this uncontrollable raging beast, and through Touma, we grow to understand its motives, empathize with its pain, until eventually, that unknowable creature becomes a friend, and that bond becomes the strength and hope needed to save the day.

Ghost was always extremely good about these things too, you know. To this day, I am immensely fond of Mugen Damashii for how it made Takeru's own empathy for the people around him into rainbow-colored superpowers, and much the same way I have an infinite fondness for that form, it should probably say something that Elemental is now handily my preferred version of Primitive Dragon, even though the original one should clearly be cooler. This episode's emotional climax is just too perfect for me to not end up feeling that way. It perfectly incorporates Touma being a writer, it fits excellently into the overall themes of the series, and is frankly just the kind of heroism I like to see in a story. Heroes and villains alike can destroy obstacles in their path, but only a hero will choose to heal something.

I don't know if this is exactly one of my all-time favorite Rider episodes, viewed as a standalone thing, but it is an unimpeachably crucial episode when it comes to why Saber is a series that means as much to me as it does.

This is the end of the Primitive Dragon arc. What makes this berserker story also unique is that Touma does not defeat or subdue the Dragon. He becomes his friend and uses his talent as a writer to come up with a happy ending for him . After that, everything else fades into the background, but it's still worth saying goodbye to Legiel and noting that the Megid trio has turned into a duet.
P.S. The idea to focus fanfic on Rintaro is very unexpected.

That's relatable!

Which, hilariously, gets to what might be the one bum note in the episode. (And I'm sorry to pivot off of your very eloquent and compelling description of this episode to do it! You're right! In a lot of ways! And I like hearing praise for Build at all times!)

We're in this story about healing damaged creatures, and trying to avoid just destroying violent things that really just need to be understood... and then Yuri's like Oh There's No Saving Legeiel And It's Humane To Detonate Him. Zero evidence other than a hastily spoken line from Yuri, and zero hesitation on the part of Touma.

Like, I know that we need to have a dramatic explosion at the end of this story, and Legeiel wasn't exactly some huge loss to either the narrative or the audience, and whatever... but, like, Touma just pointed out to the audience that Legeiel wasn't making decisions in the right frame of mind. The show literally decided to say What If right before Touma detonates the guy. In the episode all about looking past violent exteriors to try and salvage something real.

It's a minor thing, but it sort of felt like the show trying to have its cake and detonate it, too.

Thanks! I find that dude super interesting to think about!

It is, which is maybe not great.

Oh no, for sure; Legeiel blowing up was even my one complaint from my old post about the episode in large part because of that, even though it isn't the reason I bring up there. It's one of those things now, where I have the context of the full series, and I better get why they did it the way they did, but it was absolutely a narrative beat that stuck out like a sore thumb with what the rest of the episode was about.

Yeah, the Primitive Dragon arc is just so good, and also so Saber with how it manages to come to its conclusion. As Fish already beat me to because he's got that speed, while 3 series in the last 4 years have done Beserk forms (Sougo doesn't get one because, lets be honest, that kid is too much of a dork to be angry for more than five minutes), all of them resolve in different manners that none of the other heroes could manage.

Sento is trapped into seeing Blood Stalk's own manipulations as truth, that the Build system (and, in turn, his very person) exist in their purest forms as weapons best for killing others, until he's able to use his technical genius skill and the power of his allies who believe in him to be a saviour without destruction (and he, of course believes in them, because he keeps TankTank in the wings for Sawa to rescue the family I love that episode so much), and surpasses it. Of course, the Hazard Forms are still dangerous, a sign technology can still go wrong if used unrestainedly, but Sento himself is proof it can be better.

Metal Cluster Hopper is the full wailing rage and despair and malice of the Ark, lashing out at humanity (and especially Gai) for what it sees as unforgivable crimes. And Aruto doesn't overcome it alone, because one man can't. The respite comes from the Humagears, all the people Aruto has touched and helped and been a one-man supportive arm for, come to his aid. One man cannot alone overcome that hate, but with the wishes of an entire people behind him? He can.

And then there's Primitive Dragon. A scared, lonely child - and I think the fact it's a child matters all the more when this is like the 3rd child Touma has saved, and his bookstore is made for them, we know Touma has that empathy for a child in need - and Touma literally writes them a new end. I'm not a huge fan of power ups in Kamen Rider that characters create out of nowhere, through sheer anime will, but this isn't that. It's only through the bond Touma makes with this one kid, understanding them, and showing them a way out of their tragedy, their loneliness, can the rage be quelled. Even if Touma isn't physically there, his story will resonate. Because stories matter. They change how we look at things. And, having made that emotional connection, they can work in harmony.

None of these three, despite the superficialities, are the same, and none of the protagonists would solve it in the same way. It's not that Aruto or Sento are unempathic or anything, but their empathy is different. Aruto would tell a corny joke, show the kid that even in the darkest time there's smiles to be had. Sento would probably assume the dragon was Ryuga being sad and offer to make him a noodle pot. But that's the beauty of a series like this, in that we can see our hero's strength shine through. (And I also love that Kento isn't moved by this! That would both be too easy, and Kento knows Touma is the king of this kind of empathy for his own show! That doesn't change how Touma can't empathy away the unspecified apocalypse he's real worried about!)

I love the Primitive Dragon arc. Not just because of the ending, but the ending is just the cap on it, you know? A fumbled ending can turn a story-arc sour, but here, it works great.

Yes to everything, but extra Yes to this. It is this episode sticking the landing to have Rintaro see Touma's resolve/hope and decide to be a better man, and for Kento to see the same thing and go THAT WON'T SAVE YOU. The duality of man!

This cast of characters, amirite? So goddamn good.

I don't have much to add apart from another round of appreciation for how this story played out. Definitely a good way to evolve Primitive Dragon into its next form in a way that plays to Touma's strengths as a character.

As I've stated, those berserk forms have the user, mainly the main protagonist, not being culpable in their dangerous nature of attacking others as it's under outside influence, and Touma is no exception. It's ok that Touma is not made culpable as it can be deemed as trying to make the heroes look better and rejecting the "complexity"? Otherwise, this one's another power of friendship type of solution Touma comes up with, like Arthur book (of which it's one of the complaints for Touma), and here, it's befriending the boy in Primitive Dragon, even when he had to endure multiple de-henshins in the Avalon and thus, greater stress than Rintaro did in ep. 7, thus this displays his determination further. The boy feeling out of place in the world thus leading for it to go rampage seems to be similar to some of the kaiju's attacks in for example Ultraman (where they can get happier ending)?

Outside of the new upgrade, when Touma's allies hold off Legeiel, there's a scene of them keep fighting in human form, but of course... the extremely skilled swordsmen in Ogami, Daishinji, and Yuri who should fit the bill too, they won't do much when fighting actual threat where even as Riders they won't necessarily defeat them, unlike against fodders or MOTW the main three Riders did in ep. 9. And so we won't actually see the berserk form fighting with complete control, but it's just a bridge to a further upgrade. I'd say actually Elemental Dragon is the one I like less among Saber's designs, though obviously its battle capabilities are more important. As Touma convinces the boy that his story doesn't end, Elemental Dragon is created as a sequel for Primitive Dragon, displaying the destiny screwing in comparison to the Primitive Dragon ending up lonely like how it's set in stone.

About Touma changing fates, dunno if this is a legitimate moral to be followed, or if this is just MC favoritism like some can complain (not exclusively Touma). Though often heroes' abilities are never acknowledged especially main ones, just being viewed as plot armor and favoritism. And after perhaps a clear proof that Touma both can change fates as well as not being drunk with power, Kento still isn't convinced. Rintaro though makes an effort to defend Touma when he tries to reason with the boy in Primitive Dragon, but at the end of the episode he also claims he has find his resolve, but leaves the group.

The trait they added for Legeiel is that he starts to view Touma as his arch-enemy, specifically only seeking him to fight instead of anyone else and take revenge for his continued loss. And other than that, it's shown that he hates his human heritage and denies Saber claiming he was one before, despite the flashback showing the Book Club trio being happy to view the connected worlds as human. It's too short to flesh him out as it only starts 1 episode before his demise.

Right... it was actually Metal Cluster Hopper that qualifies here. But otherwise, obviously they aren't unempathetic, as they aren't culpable for the rampages the berserk form caused, which is also typically how the berserk form arc is made, though Sento was the one who directly activated his Hazard form, but the rest of the action is the form's doing as he won't want to kill Aoba which he deeply regrets.

Oh, and one other random thing I want to point out from this episode, because I'm pretty sure I'm literally the only who cares, but I love how Touma quotes Kamijou's catchphrase about hope again when he shows up to the battle with Legeiel. It's not like that's something he's repeating constantly, but between here and the second episode, and the way, if I'm remembering right, he consistently calls him Kamijou-san, with the honorific, in spite of all the villainy, I find it cute how much that one moment from 15 years ago clearly left an impression on Touma. Most of what he remembers about that day is entirely traumatic, but there's like this one little thing in there -- someone giving their all to protect him -- that, even now, helps push Touma forward when he needs it. I could probably wring some deeper point out of this if I tried hard enough, but I don't know, I mostly wanted to bring it up because I think it's nice.

I always imagined this would be similar to how Gentarou would befriend his berserk form if he had one, but considering how the magic of friendship is also an important theme in Fukuda's shows, it's totally appropriate for Touma's character as a writer who uses stories as a way to connect with people.

Of course the highlight is Elemental Dragon, but what did you think of Legeiel Forbidden? I think it's pretty intimidating that the Megid Trio have access to these Final Forms by throwing a bunch of books at them, which also marks a point of no return for their humanity, as Yuri implied. It shows how serious Legeiel is about his rivalry with Saber that he's willing to gamble everything on defeating him.

Yeah, it's an easy hack to make a shallow strong character by making them resistant to showing any kind of weakness or vulnerability. Some writers are so obsessed with this impossible image of "strong", like stereotypical Mary Sues, that they neglect to make them sympathetic, or have the other characters react as strongly against them as they should. Otherwise that would show their flaws, which breaks that impossible image. But they should have some flaws and those flaws should be rightfully pointed out and criticized to show their humanity. A character should be more than just strong.

The collective symbolism between Primitive and Elemental Dragon is cool for sure. I love how Touma solved the problem of Primitive Dragon's incomplete story of sorrow by basically writing his own fanfiction where he gets the happy ending he deserves. It's the most literal way yet that Touma has used books to make people happy, turning in to a power that allows him to write the next chapter of his own story as well.

Congrats on your 10000th post! I hope Mesnick doesn't mind if I borrow his format for this one.

https://i.redd.it/1vs1lakhqwa51.png

Thanks. It crept up on me. I didn't realize it was coming until it was just about three away.