This was... an episode.

I'll forgive the Medusa growing giant stuff because I'm pretty sure Fate did this at some point with their like weird history stuff. It makes sense, it'd be more weird if it was the Pirahna growing large and stuff.

Anyway King of Arthur is... a thing. Again the most I like about this episode was Touma writing his way out of the situation, alongside such charming moments of like "And then Ren uses his secret weapon!" in which Ren's secret weapon is the 3 Little Pigs book. lol

But there's not really much to it? Oh well there was everyone somehow getting scared that Ogami wasn't going to make it and that they'd age up Sora through book magic to make him the new Buster. Yes that was a theory flying around, an amusing one at that.

But other than that? Eh? I didn't really care about the "Touma's too scared of King of Arthur's power" plot that much. Especially since it gets solved fairly easily in this episode. Granted again, this is basically them running on Bandai's toy schedule and realizing even at the breakneck speed they're running, they are still too slow.

Also your remark about Episode 8 not Episode 38 is uh... I mean I feel like if you accepted this was Episode 38 then I feel like that'd be good! As it stands, you could very much fill out at least a first half a Rider Season with the amount of characters and toys that Saber Q1 has. As someone on twitter once said...

"Kamen Rider Saber is a 200 episodes shonen anime crammed into a 50 episode Tokusatsu series"

And I feel like where we're at right now definitely backs up that statement.

As for the story... I was admittedly not expecting that bait and switch. Again, you seem to be really good at the swerve endings in these stories which I appreciate. That being said yep, say hello to Oren and Junouchi, they're promoting their TTFC Special.

Wow Gridon and Bravo is pretty old now... feels like it was just yesterday tbh.

That was certainly a strange episode, the power of friendship being needed, them bringing back two Gaim actors for the apparent reason of promoting a 2-episode TTFC special, the King of Arthur book having a mecha thing for some reason, and finally Touma's headsword thing that I've complained about was used to cut through a meteor? I can't say whether I dislike or like this episode, because I just cannot wrap my head around this episode. I guess I enjoyed it more than the previous episode, but it's honestly hard to say.

(Also, I'm pretty sure cutting a meteor isn't going to prevent it from hitting the Earth, but expecting Kamen Rider to emulate real-world physics is a lost cause.)

It's weird because, in a normal show, you'd do a couple episode breaking up the team -- Touma has a secret that's distancing him from Rintaro, Ogami won't talk to Kento, everyone suddenly realizes that Ren is awful -- before you'd have Touma draw everyone back together to avert disaster. Here, it's a story where the previous episode was everyone working together to help Touma overcome his Henshin Dysfunction, including Kento putting himself in danger to give Touma a chance at success. It... we weren't at all in a story where Touma needed to learn the power of friendship? It's like he just forgot so he could be reminded of it?

Well, it's a fantasy meteor in a fantasy dimension, so I'll allow it.

Oh man, I completely forgot that Touma getting a mech was a thing this show did.

I remember having this feeling. For awhile, I was honestly curious to see if Saber was going to wrap up after the first 13 episodes because it really felt like the show was burning through its entire plot and building to its intended climax.

So yeah, The King Arthur Robo. A lot of people misinterpreted how important it would be from this one episode. I’m not quite sure why, especially since it has at least two basic purposes on its own, and two involving other toys (aside from the guy in the Shroud giving Touma the prototype for his first upgrade, there’s another thing next episode which is where its importance ends).

And while I did get the toy (turns out, it’s scaled to be the same size as your average Super Sentai’s Ultimate Formation), it was less of my own volition and more because a friend tended to rely on my YouTube videos of Saber’s toys for references for fanfic writing, and I am never one to disappoint a lady. And because it had a part meant for RKF Saber, I decided to get that two.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=gzc8P3iGHcM

https://youtube.com/watch?v=WvoD7EhtSRo

Next time, we debut my personal favourite of Saber’s forms and a moment that someone on Twitter (half-jokingly) declared made this series better than Zero-One.

King Arthur still sat at the Round Table and was "first among equals", so to some extent this corresponds to Toma's status as the main character. And this is, if not too deep, that the historical Arthur lived at a time when there were no kings or feudalism yet.

Yeah, I'm not talking about this thread (I mean obviously Saber or other Kamen Rider talk isn't only centered around this thread). I agree with all you said here about Touma's abilities, which is why I can feel as if, perhaps the abilities of many main Riders can be underappreciated, probably except Tendou, Tsukasa, Shotaro/Philip, Sento, or Ace. And true that he hasn't been tricked or manipulated, it likely just comes from how Touma is openly kind-hearted, and that there's a view that equates kindness with naivety, thus Touma is assumed as naive because he's kind, and him asking why magical warriors going to war over superpowered books likely indicated to those that he's unaware of how cruel world can be (e.g. evil people exist).

I wonder if Rintaro being established as experienced enough makes this work better, compared to stories where the 'chosen one' undergoes that and surpasses the established professional without good reason (Touma so far, gets through because of different mindset and view compared to Rintaro), where here he needs to improve certain aspect of his with already having the tools (his sword fighting), which is him being consumed by rage to Zooous. About Mei being saved here, wonder what'd you think of this other "female lead totally crushing on the secondary" compared to Akiko against Terui. Now Mei has clear romantic feelings for Rintaro based on her being lovestruck like making heart-shaped hand in his fight.

This is a part where again, Touma displays his knowledge of the books to solve problems. Unfortunately, it seems that plot part is the part where character's usefulness can be displayed? As there are many complaints regarding characters being "useless" (such as Mei, yeah outside here), while the plot part has the characters actually doing something that matters such as achieving big goals instead of 'fucking' around... other than the SoL cast here, this was also what villains like Lucky Clover in Faiz did compared to the 2 main trios living their life. As plot part is regarded as boring, Sophia seems to be a character mainly revolving around that, I wonder what'd be the opinions of those who really love Saber regarding her. She's a character that is similar to Princess Shayla in Power Rangers T̶i̶m̶e̶ Wild Force... and that can be used as a mockery.

True that Geats is so far seems to be the most well-constructed (subjective ofc) Reiwa series. I half-expected this as it comes from Ex-Aid writer thus it'd share its vibe, but I also half didn't expect this as Geats seems to also have Gaim vibes, comparatively more serious with reduced slapstick/goofy humor (doesn't mean it has no comedy), and focuses on mystery. I may be a mood-ruiner here but as another Geats enjoyer, I still gotta say the possibility of the series falling off can be real despite strong beginning (dunno how far you've gotten though), which happened in the previous one for Revice, which had promising beginning, but fell off hard midway, so still have some caution while enjoying. I̶ ̶a̶l̶s̶o̶ ̶d̶o̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶k̶n̶o̶w̶ ̶i̶f̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶'̶d̶ ̶p̶u̶t̶ ̶T̶a̶k̶a̶h̶a̶s̶h̶i̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶p̶e̶d̶e̶s̶t̶a̶l̶ ̶l̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶I̶n̶o̶u̶e̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶,̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶b̶o̶t̶h̶ ̶E̶x̶-̶A̶i̶d̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶G̶e̶a̶t̶s̶ ̶e̶n̶j̶o̶y̶e̶r̶,̶ ̶I̶'̶d̶ ̶s̶t̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶n̶k̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶T̶a̶k̶a̶h̶a̶s̶h̶i̶ ̶(̶o̶r̶ ̶a̶n̶y̶o̶n̶e̶'̶s̶)̶ ̶p̶r̶e̶s̶e̶n̶c̶e̶ ̶i̶s̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶g̶u̶a̶r̶a̶n̶t̶e̶e̶d̶ ̶h̶y̶p̶e̶/̶g̶o̶o̶d̶ ̶q̶u̶a̶l̶i̶t̶y̶,̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶r̶e̶a̶l̶ ̶s̶h̶o̶r̶t̶c̶o̶m̶i̶n̶g̶s̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶a̶l̶s̶o̶ ̶g̶o̶t̶ ̶t̶o̶o̶ ̶w̶h̶i̶c̶h̶ ̶s̶h̶o̶u̶l̶d̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶o̶v̶e̶r̶l̶o̶o̶k̶e̶d̶ ̶l̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶h̶i̶m̶ ̶b̶e̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶v̶i̶e̶w̶e̶d̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶s̶o̶m̶e̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶t̶e̶n̶d̶s̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶b̶e̶n̶d̶ ̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶o̶w̶n̶ ̶s̶h̶o̶w̶'̶s̶ ̶r̶u̶l̶e̶s̶ ̶(̶t̶h̶o̶u̶g̶h̶ ̶h̶o̶w̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶h̶a̶n̶d̶l̶e̶d̶ ̶Y̶u̶a̶ ̶p̶a̶r̶t̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶o̶v̶e̶r̶b̶l̶o̶w̶n̶)̶.̶

Do you feel more generous towards the Seiken Sword headpieces, now that they're shown to have practical application?

Golem literally did it in the first episode though.

I guess Ogami's absence from the team fight is actually convenient for the Touma-calling scene, otherwise he'd break the pattern by calling him "Novelist" like he usually does. Pretty ironic that the Swordsman of Rocks gets turned in to a rock. I get what you're saying about the dreamlikeness, it has the same kind of feeling as Ryuki's HBV, with everybody suddenly having amazing friendship and co-ordination out of nowhere. Honestly though, (Akamichi) Ren saying anything can be creepy, so this is totally in-character for him.

Sounds like you should go watch Ryusoulger Dinosaur Panic, if you haven't already.

I will gladly defend Sophia from anybody who accuses of her being boring. Her role as a mystic to SOL may not be as spectacular as the Swordsmen's battles, but she's still invaluable for maintaining the security of Northern Base against the Megids and she clearly cares for the Swordsmen's emotional welfare. I was also surprised to find out her actress was 39-40, despite looking much younger than that.

BTW, Princess Shayla is actually from Wild Force, one of my favorite PR seasons. I don't mind her, but I prefer her Sentai counterpart Tetomu.

Fish Sandwich also watched Kamen Rider Saber Episode 8

While 5 was definitely still the bar to clear for me early on, this was the next episode I recall particularly liking at the time, and I like it even more now, having seen the whole show, because doing this story at this point in time just feels so quintessentially Saber? Like, I don't know, a lot of times I'd be right there criticizing pacing decisions and stuff with the rest of you. As someone who fell in love with this franchise thanks to shows like Kuuga and Faiz, I've long wished some of these newer series would just slow the heck down already, but when it comes to Saber? I'm telling you, it's gotta be this way, man -- or at least, I'd never ask it to be any other way. I have an immense soft spot for Dragon Arthur as a form, which no doubt helps, but the whole narrative here with the swordsmen truly coordinating on a more active level than they had to this point really did it for me. Saber is the kind of bizarre Rider show where the characters can reach this point this early on, and I don't want to understate how major a part of the appeal that is to me. Stuff like this is what makes Saber weird, and what makes Saber weird is what makes it special.

It's definitely got that From The Team That Brought You Kamen Rider Ghost thing of feeling like we're going to get a very different tone/arc for the post-movie batch of episodes, yeah. This last episode, for better or worse, has such a feeling of closure that you almost have to start fresh afterwards.

I never care about giant robots, but I thought King of Arthur was okay as a robot that wields Kamen Riders like swords. That's a fun gimmick.

Ha ha, I'm not sure this show is striving for intense historical accuracy with its growing pile of myths and fables and legends, but I will allow for this interpretation of a sliver of Arthurian lore.

I'm all for it! Mei's right to be swooning over the dutiful and humble Rintaro, while Rintaro could do worse than Mei's exuberance and forthrightness. I ship them!

I forgot that! Thanks for the reminder!

They just look Touma dead in the eye and say "Touma" so wistfully! It was so awkward to watch!

Fish coming in and going All Of Your Criticisms Are Both Valid And Irrelevant is absolutely what I needed in 2023. Thank you, sincerely.

The thing that most makes it not work for me is that it's treated as some groundbreaking revelation by Touma -- we all achieve more together -- when it's sort of the template for this show? Nearly every episode features multiple Riders working together, without really anything in the way of disruptive personal drama. Ending this episode with Teamwork YEAH is like ending a Faiz episode with the shocking twist of everyone not working together well and trying to murder each other; you can't make the key element of the show the twist!