I really think a lot of viewers overestimate the importance of the belt to women and characters in general.
Firstly, there are now more rider characters than civilian ones, so the belt is not of particular value.
Secondly: the fate of the tertiary rider, starting with Gills, is a series of suffering, and most often even without much reward in the final. In principle, Kento is a vivid example of this (if I don?t spoil the Saber finale).
Thirdly: the best female characters in the franchise were either not riders (Akari, Ozawa, Sawatari, Hirose, Akiko, the entire Fourze Rider Club), or they were loved for things not related to being a rider (I don?t think many here can name a favorite fight Poppy, right?)
And fourthly, no matter how ridiculous it may sound, for the first time we got a woman of a tertiary rider back in Faiz. In fact, it seems to me that at the beginning of the 2000s, the situation developed quite well for female riders, slowly, but in the right direction. And then something stalled on Kabuto.

I made Sokichi Shotaro’s dad for my adaptation, thus making Akiko Shotaro’s sister. XD

I think the main difference between them is that Ryouga is loyal to the letter of SOL, while Rintarou is loyal to the spirit of SOL. Ryouga follows orders without question, as he believes that Master Logos' will is inherently just and doubt is weakness. Rintarou was also conditioned by his upbringing to believe that, but as brought up in Surprise Future, it's a contradiction to think that having no doubt is the same as believing more. That's merely subservience. Rintarou's doubt gives meaning to his belief, since he cares about SOL for the principles it stands for and that makes his actions more honest.

I agree that some fault lies with the viewers who infer however they want through their own biases. We're probably all guilty of that, to varying extents. However, the work also has a responsibility to depict characters and morals carefully, to prevent spreading misconceptions about things that could be potentially harmful IRL (which I think Kinoshita is especially problematic for this). Of course, yeah, when it comes to deviant shippers, they're probably going to do it regardless, if they already have the bias for it. Nevertheless, the work inadvertently validating that behavior doesn't help though.

Yeah, my experience with the Neko episodes is kind of similar to what you're describing here. Like, what you said before about the Yeti episodes, where the best MOTW plots are those that impose a choice on their hosts, I think that's even more noticable here now that it's one of the main characters and one who is otherwise very proactive in how she forces herself in to SOL's business and proves to be an invaluable asset to the team. Honestly, how did Zooous even get in to the Northern Base infirmary to throw a book at her?!

Considering the prominent knight motif of Kamen Rider Saber, I guess it's not surprising that the stereotypical Save Princess From Castle trope would come up eventually, with Neko being the figurative castle. While it's definitely doing some smart things with Rintarou, like how he's approaching the task of saving Mei with the same obsession that Kento approached defeating Kamijo and how he's ignorant to how much Mei values his life that he considers so expendable. The downside is that Mei doesn't have much autonomy here. Not a totally bad episode, but yeah, could've been handled a little better.

Weirdly, the Nekomata episodes of Ninninjer were some of the worst in that show as well. I love cats, but damn, Tokusatsu's really trying to make me hate them sometimes. :p

I mean, would I like Mei to be a Rider? Sure, I was always hoping for MeiEspada to be a thing. But before being a Rider, I agree that it's more important to be a good character. Which is why, despite being the exception to the Reiwa Rider heroines, she's still my favorite. Being a Rider is more like a bonus, but what she contributes to SOL as the brave and resourceful Sudo Mei, that's what I care about the most.

There's always a risk of decanonization when it comes to writing fanfic for ongoing works, but you know, I think it's a risk worth taking!

A lot of it is that Mei's actor is just incredibly clever, though. There're times with the show where Mei's contribution to an episode is Asking The Doctor To Explain The Plot (to put it in terms of another franchise), rather than anything that highlights her skillset or perspective, but the actor manages to give it enough fun angles that you don't really notice how unnecessary the character's inclusion is. Like, she's got this great way of cheerfully asking for clarification, when she really wants to be yelling at some of these dopes for their unhelpful rules and lack of cohesion. She's an actor that's consistently finding fun stuff to do to plus up her scenes, and it's a shame that this episode sort of left her out to dry for a big stretch.

Terrific pun!

Yeah, I think it depends on how much of the benefit of the doubt you want to give the producers. I choose to think the writers are hanging a lantern on how much Rintaro makes this dilemma about his own need to improve, but I can understand if others just see it as the episode falling prey to some disappointing stories about women as prizes/goals/objects.

Ha ha, I love it! Akiko works way better as Shotaro's sister.

The last time we see her in this episode before she's a Megid is when she's at the bookshop, which isn't covered (I believe?) by Sophia's shield. I assume that Zooous just nabbed her there.

I just verified it and yeah, you're right. I must've got those two rooms mixed up, as I don't recall seeing Fantastic Kamiyama from that angle before, so it kind of looked similar to the infirmary at first glance.

Fish Sandwich also watched Kamen Rider Saber Episode 30

Rintarou is like, the absolute least Rintarou he's ever been in this episode, and that made it a pretty interesting chapter as the thing right after he's finally joined back up with everyone. There are a lot of really clever things this episode does with how much it deliberately calls back to earlier versions of the status quo, only to emphasize how things are still very different right now anyway. Yuri bails on the story early on, seemingly making way for a classic Saber/Blades team-up that just is not happening today, and of course the whole Megid plot is right out of that period early in the second quarter. Which, you know, was the formula they started busting out when they wanted to slow things down and really take their time making it clear where everyone stands at a given moment, which I think was well warranted here. I appreciated how Rintarou reintegrating himself into the dynamic doesn't just happen overnight, and the very inward-focused drama combined with Ishida being the director meant this episode about an agitated, screaming Blades ended up being shockingly enjoyable for me.

When Rintaro rejoined the cast, actually I'd hope that the cast forgives Rintaro by explaining that they want Rintaro to see the light but they're glad now he listens to it, as they try to explain the truth of SoL for his own well-being, not to win arguments or something. Ren continues to display his terrible trait here by attacking Ogami who convinces him to join them, and his rejection shows that he doesn't really care about SoL's spirit, only about Kento. The Megid plot has a chance for the remaining 2 for getting better story treatments, unlike Legeiel who already died. But well, there's a new incoming villain in Master Logos.

Yeah, this kind of story mei have toxic implications, but sometimes, the view to counteract that is a woman being portrayed as anythlng less than the impossible image of "strong" where they can't ever show any kind of weakness or vulnerability (Reika pre-Ryoga, and many other female Riders tbh) is the only way of portrayal that acknowledges their worth as equal. Thus I'd think that, any kind of character should be permitted in story, including the ones who are more normal thus can't contribute more (outside of this too, there are handful who deem Mei as useless).

The idea that a female character (or any character period) that aren't physically strong and does not physically fight means they're treated like shit should stop. The notion that women should never need saving, even in war and crime fiction is ludicrous, it swings the pendulum too far in the other direction and creates the problem of only showcasing women who are physically fit, or butch, or masculine.

The “damsel in distress” trope is only harmful when that aspect of the character is all there is to the character. If the writers take into account for their backstory, feelings, struggles, and development, that doesn't mean she’s a faceless prop just being used for male empowerment. she’s still a person who happens to not fight. People come in all shapes, sizes, temperaments, and ideologies.

Actually, this is what's contradictory about Rintaro in previous part, where he chastises Kento for getting too emotional and thus he's not worthy to be an SoL member. You think that Rintaro's current state is conditional, but as Rintaro's someone who can't socialize well, Rintaro's also someone who can't handle or express his emotions well. Though at the very least, Rintaro doesn't buy on Mei-gido, a.k.a Neko Megid's gaslighting on him by playing Mei as someone who won't acknowledge the worth except for those who are perfect, I mean in his view of Mei, but it does make him view himself as a failure. Obviously for Mei herself, she doesn't like the fact that she's the one directly hurting people, and her not being ok is not due to her current situation, but what the situation makes her do something she's unwilling to do.

Yeah, it's a disservice about Reika being reduced to only Ryoga worshipper. But though, it seems that female Riders at this point are mostly only made up by the ones who exhibit stereotypical "tough" personalities like being cold, aggressive, aloof, ruthless, etc. Straight-up good females like Poppy and Tsukuyomi aren't significant Riders even if they're significant characters.

Not dismissing her charms, but well dunno about if this'd seem as if that everything be very wild, wacky, overtop, larger than life, exaggerated, laugh out loud, in your face wide-angle lenses. Like, characters being more normal and grounded are also ok.

I genuinely was not expecting that to work. I could have details on the next series In the OOO adaptation, the Izumi siblings (Shingo survives the first episode, and is changed to female for reasons) both get Rider forms, using two Medals each, and sharing the same belt design. (Ankh also has his full Greeed body from the start, and can take human form like the other Greeed can, without needing a host [I don’t know how the other Greeed take human forms that suit them tho])

The sisters both use a predatory animal for the top half, and a prey animal for the bottom half.

Fem!Shingo’s default is a fox and a rabbit, and is blue on a black bodysuit (With the addition of white, it would match the Rabbit Miraculous watch, amusingly enough)

Hina’s default is pink on white, but I have no idea which pair would be used for that one.

My clue is "Violent Predators and Violent Preys for Hina, Rational Predators and Rational Preys for Shingo"

Tsukuyomi is a Rider from the start of the Zi-O adaptation as well (I also introduced another female Rider for contrast, lol)

It's an episode where the entire cast is like PHEW and Rintaro's like UMM, which is bound to generate some compelling drama. Rintaro's warmth and stability is a thing the entire cast sort of takes for granted here, and the only one who'd normally pick up on Rintaro's emotional deterioration -- Mei -- is taken off of the board. This show really doesn't like shortcuts in its emotional developments, which is nice!

Yeah, it'll be interesting to find out what the show wants to say about Ren. Lot of different directions that kid could go in!

Sounds very fun! Thanks for sharing!

KAMEN RIDER SABER EPISODE 31 - “THE STRENGTH TO BELIEVE, AND THE STRENGTH TO BE BELIEVED IN”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/saber/saber31a.png

Secondaries, am I right?

It’s the toughest gig in Kamen Ridering, probably. You have power, and goals, and sometimes a touch of ambition, but the entire narrative is oriented to diminish what you accomplish. You’re a sidekick at best, a late-stage adversary at worst. The story is only about you to the extent that you complement the main character’s journey. It can never really be your story.

But, like, that’s life? We all feel like the main characters of our stories, but this is a world with billions of main characters. Sometimes our story is about helping other people, letting them attain their true potential, and giving the support necessary to excel. It’s okay to be the person in the background sometimes. Not everything has to be about us.

It’s a nice lesson, in this concluding chapter of what would otherwise be Rintaro’s heroic self-actualization. He’s a happier, healthier version of himself for acknowledging the strength of the other two characters in this story: Touma and Mei.

From Touma, he learns to never give up on himself, even when it seems like he’s pretty much there to eat shit while someone else gets the win. Setbacks don’t mean you’re weak; giving up after a setback means you’re weak. As long as you’re willing to put in the effort, there’s still a chance for victory.

From Mei, he learned that having a good attitude is a multiplier for any group. Everyone does their best work when they’re in the trenches with friends, so providing a friendly atmosphere is a strength that even a non-swordsmen member of the Sword of Logos can provide. Mei’s just as strong as the rest of the team, because she helps them all stay positive and happy. There’s strength in that kind of positivity.

It’s a very sweet little story about positive thinking, and accepting the support of people around us, which is a neat recurring topic for this series. This thing could’ve easily been a story where Rintaro gets strong and Finds His Conviction and single-handedly saves Mei while Touma cheers him on from the sidelines… but it just refused to take the easy way out. Instead, we get this fun three-hander about how the effectiveness of any team is down to how much they can lift each other up, rather than how strong each member is. Such a great twist on this sort of traditional Secondary story.

—

KICK JUMP TWIST

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/saber/saber31b.png

This stupid guy. Of all the villains that she could’ve been abducted by, it had to be the worst one.

Legeiel was a smug jerk, but at least he was sort of cool about it. Handsome, too. Sure, he was weirdly obsessed with Touma; and sure, he got turned into an immolating version of himself thanks to forbidden magics; but there was at least a professionalism about him in the early days. 3 out of 5 stars.

Storious… okay, the long strand of hair is not great. It’s super distracting, and it’s… it’s just sort of there? He could braid it, or put some jewelry in it. Just, something, instead of hanging there limply. Otherwise, he was fairly innocuous as apocalyptic villains went. Goal-oriented, which was easier to deal with mentally.

This guy, though. God.

Zooous was her least favorite, by a mile. Putting aside all the crap he’d pulled with Rintaro – which was a major mark against him, don’t get her wrong – he was just a complete tool. The stupid sleeveless vest, even in the dead of winter. The goofy hair. And the parkour.

God, the parkour.

He’d never take two steps forward if he could take two flips backwards and three flips forward instead. It was bad enough that she was being slowly devoured by a magic book, forced to live in eternal suffering as a link between the real world and an alternate dimension of storybook magic… but this guy was just making it torture.

He flipped through the alley again, after his most recent nonsensical threat (oh, he was also an idiot, she forgot to mention that), and she watched him cackle like a doofus at his own theatricality. It was a nightmare, hanging around this guy. He’d already destroyed her sense of optimism at being saved by Touma and Rintaro; now, he was destroying her will to live.

She hoped that she could be saved, but she was praying to be put out of her misery.

Zooous saw her pain, and did another backflip.

And so we end this two-parter with a lot of fun stuff... and a complaint on my end. A very, very minor complaint that kind of stretches far back in general but like...

I get Elemental Dragon is the new toy, stronger, etc, but like... I wish Touma went for aesthetics and went Dragonic Knight? Like, for one, it would've matched King Lion Perfectly and I don't recall Touma getting too fancy with his attacks in the final fight... and second... despite both forms complementing each other in terms of placement and gimmick, they literally do not appear on screen to fight together at all.

The closest we get is a Junction.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEWZxvJuHCU

Speaking of Kamen Rider Junctions, I do enjoy them a lot. Especially cause we get some real fun interactions/shots in them. To the point where I wish there was just a collection of them without any of the text they have, they'd make good MV Fodder.

Rant uh... aside...

I think one of my favorite parts is where Touma and Rintaro just start powering up like super saiyans with their auras bursting out before going for their Rider Kicks. Really cool.

Also cool to find out that Zooous is seemingly an unstoppable madman who will not only parkour at any moments notice, but seemingly become even more of a hellhound after such a devastating defeat like that.

Speaking of Parkour dear lord that story! It had me grinning the entire time as you ripped Zooous and his silly ass flips apart.

As a storywriter myself, I realize that I must also make Zooous flip an insane amount of times, so I may end up grabbing from this viewpoint story at one point whenever I get around to the Neko Megid Arc in my story. Very inspiring!

No Desast Walk this time, we're at the point where they're now more sporadic.

God, that would've been great! TOUMA IS A TERRIBLE FRIEND.

No, I'm just teasing. I think Touma was too caught up in the battle to acknowledge the symbolism of two knights fighting side-by-side to save a princess. If only he'd had the assistance of a talented editor to catch this kind of mistake!

Ha ha, thanks. I sort of regret not having more sequences of Zooous flipping with a weird adverb ("He flipped inquisitively", "He laughed and flipped maniacally", "He flipped frustradedly"), but I only thought of it by the end of the short. I'm glad it could help you make Zooous look dumb in your own work!

Flipping intensifies.

That’s not a stunt double. Koji Sakawa was actually pulling those flips off on-set. I can only imagine being able to rotate your body so extremely was a way of intimidating victims back in whatever era the Megid, Yuri, Tassel and the OG Logos (who I’ll mention here is the grandfather of the current one) discovered the Wonder World.

Next time: a new writer, plus a little twist on my regular feature.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BvfVM0sBfI

Oh yeah, I love Zoooooooooooooous, he really is my favourite Meggido general. I'm not even being that sarcastic, he's just got that dumb jock charisma, and has screen prescence from flipping everywhere. What a guy.

Zoous' flips are the most hilarious thing in this whole show (... well, close second; the first is coming pretty soon). NO reason for him to do that, makes absolutely zero sense for the scene, he's just. Flipping. Love it

Zooous flips are OP!

Oh yeah, great ending to Rintaro's return/reconciliation arc. He, Toma, Mei all contributed. Now the fourth participant in their promise on the roof is in turn, with whom it is never easy.
But I do not agree with the statement about the secondary rider. The worst fate is still with the tertiary. I still believe that if Agito had lasted one episode longer, the puppy Gills found would have been hit by a truck in front of him. However, this may be a topic for future episodes. The secondary, on the other hand, tends to end the show happier than it did when it started, unless it turns out to be too much of an asshole.
Fanfiction is fun. And these somersaults are not even a feature of a character, but of an actor, because he shows it in other roles too.

Yeah, uh, not surprised! There really wouldn't be a way to switch out actors that precisely, and I also can't imagine Zooous Flips All The Time So We Need More Stunt Doubles was an idea that would make it out of a production meeting.

You're all sickos, and I applaud your dedication to Zooous's tonally-inappropriate flips.

Ha ha, it's never easy with Kento! That's, like, his main attribute!

Fish Sandwich also watched Kamen Rider Saber Episode 31

This is another one of those episodes that always sticks out really quick in my mind whenever I start thinking about what makes me adore Saber so much. There are a ton of things to love about it, so, in no particular order, and without even touching on every last thing, I love:

- The title, which is one of my favorites in the series. I adore Saber's shtick of always having a comma, and while I also love all the dramatic pauses, I'm quite fond of ones like this that make each side one part of a pair, working together for greater effect. Kinda fits the teamwork theme, even!

- How sweet Zooous' sick flips are, even if I do think Legeiel's piano playing skills were even cooler.

- How the story picks a way, way more interesting direction than just "Blades gets stronger and beats up the monster, maybe with a new power-up form". The story they did instead not only excellently reestablishes this show's main two Riders as a duo, but it forces Rintarou to grow past his current limits in a way that is altogether far more true to what Saber cares about than anything else could be.

- How much it also just reinforces how cool Touma is by now? I mention this in my old post about 30 as well, but the whole dilemma Rintarou has here is massively exacerbated by how inferior being around a post Q2 Touma makes him feel, which really gives you cause to think about the way he grew through that stretch of the show. Beyond obvious merch priorities, I think it's easy to spin that as a good thematic reason why Elemental Primitive is the only form Saber uses in the entire two-parter. It's the ultimate symbol of how Touma managed to climb back from the low point he hit at the end of the first arc, and come back all the stronger for it. But it's like, Rintarou wasn't there for that, so of course he doesn't realize Touma had to suffer through the pain to get to that point, exactly the way Rintarou needs to, right up until they have their duel, and he gets to feel everything Touma's carrying through the weight of his blade.

- How the episode makes it a point to emphasize what a crucial part of the dynamic Mei is. "She's our sun" is the kind of line that would be unbearably cheesy if A) it didn't sound *exactly* like something Rintarou would say about her, and B) if it wasn't so dang *correct*. Like, she's obviously great, and I especially don't need to tell Die that, because one of the great joys of this thread is how much Mei immediately became his favorite.

- How (spinning off that last bit) that quick flashback to Mei meeting Touma gives you quite a bit to read into with how much she means to him in particular. You can see he's basically totally disinterested in his new editor, an uncharacteristic lack of enthusiasm from the guy that suggests he's maybe not had the best experiences with editors for whatever reason (especially if he's not great with deadlines!), but Mei quickly wins him over, not because she matches his love of books or anything, but simply because her positive attitude is that infectious, and just like that, a fruitful partnership was born. Like, really fruitful! A lot of editors probably wouldn't dive headfirst into all this Rider stuff the way she does, you know!

- How awesome it was when Zooous did all those flips.

- The way Mei like, uppercuts her way out of the Cat Megid, and does this goofy comedy landing right after, immediately turning all that dour misery she's just been through right on its head as soon as she possibly can. That's the kind of thing I could imagine being written in the script simply as "Mei is seperated from the Megid", so I'm going to go ahead and chalk that up to Ishida's influence, because again, I think Mei was probably his favorite part of this show too.

- Rintarou at the end finally dropping the kun in Touma-kun after all this time, a perfect little way to underscore that he's no longer here as a coworker, but as part of the family.

- Also Zooous' flips were pretty rad.

Honestly, I know it can be tough for people who gets overshadowed by others, but yeah, the very wrong thing for this (and honestly, many audience who complains about character's existence being useless when there's someone who seemingly can solve anything) is that, being weaker than someone else doesn't mean their existence is useless as they can provide extra support somewhere. Though obviously they can't rely on their supports forever and the problem is that when you're on your own you'd want to be able to accomplish things as well.

Honestly other than Mei's boundless optimism, Mei being a normal person who can't fight and contribute nearly as much but still tries should've been brought up here as an example (though it's not successful to some audiences who'd view Mei as useless), when Rintaro has much less setbacks as an actual Kamen Rider. Otherwise, in their duel, it's kinda a reverse scenario compared to Touma's duel with Daishinji, where it's now Rintaro fully feeling the burden Touma carries for all the victims. But I wonder how was Rintaro's skills compared to Daishinji and Ogami, is his actually also significantly less compared to those where the more novice Touma can equal him, or that Touma catches up really fast where he's now on Daishinji and Ogami's level, or closer to them, but represented with Rintaro.

From Mei, he learned that having a good attitude is a multiplier for any group. Everyone does their best work when they’re in I didn't talk about this before when Touma tells others that he wants to be left alone due to Kamijo's words in ep. 18 (fair enough), but here when Touma first met Mei, he was kinda standoffish, when Touma's portrayed as an ultimate nice guy. And it seems as if the past displays their relationship more akin to their current relationship, as Mei was friendly and smiley when meeting Touma that time, where I thought Mei was the one having problems with Touma (I get it, it can be also about watching his work progress later), with her being bossy and kinda putting him down for it, compared to her swooning over Rintaro and Kento. That past scene feels more similar to their relationship since Kamijo died.

Usually, having more people is useful as they can split up and handle different stuff, but here... it seems that Saber and Blades manage to triumph when they gang up, on the Neko Megid, then on Zooous, instead of them fighting both individually. I guess that'd also mean that sacrificing yourself shouldn't be main solution for heroism, as Saber saves Blades after Blades decide to sacrifice himself instead for feeling useless. It seems that the Book Club's trait, where it's porrayed as a small detail, is that, after they're killed, their humanity returns where they assume kinder approach compared to their usual personality, like how Legeiel dies with a smile, and Zooous actually compliments Blades' current strength and is looking forward for his further growth. Still kinda wasted trait of them that is only used as a small detail.

I also love that title. It's so smart in the way it tells you right up front that there's strength in accepting the support of others; that part of Rintaro's struggle in the past few episodes has been letting himself be cared for by others. It's there from the very first scene of the story, where you can tell that Rintaro's processing all of the warm wishes and joy of his friends and family as both You Are A Child and You Are A Fraud. To point out in the title that believing in yourself or others is only half of the battle for a guy like Rintaro? Yeah, I love that.

It's not my favorite part, no. I guess it's nice that it's there, give them a little bit of depth, but I don't think it really adds any poignancy or anything.

KAMEN RIDER SABER EPISODE 32 - “MY HEART AND SOUL, CRYSTALIZED IN ICE”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/saber/saber32a.png

If you’re going to conclude Rintaro’s emotional growth, it’s sort of necessary to do it in a Base Under Siege story.

Rintaro’s whole thing is seeing his coworkers and friends as a surrogate family, so the most effective visualization of an attack on Rintaro’s value system that he can dramatically overcome is, basically, a home invasion story set at his work. If we need to create a situation where Rintaro feels most connected to the peril, and we’ve just done a story where Mei’s in danger, the only other option is for Master Logos and Storious to mount a two-pronged (well, three prongs: Durendal's trident) assault on Rintaro’s family home.

It’s a fun callback to the season’s earlier assault on the Southern Base, with a whole bunch of moving parts, some hallway chases, and a dazzling fight in what’s clearly a ballroom – this time with square columns instead of cones. (The Northern Base is too kind-hearted for your sinister cones!) We’re doing similar matchups, as well, with Yuri and Touma taking a second run at Durendal, while Rintaro gets his own storyline to address.

And it’s, really, a Rintaro episode. We get some slight movement on plot stuff – Sophia’s key finally gets used, Reika’s suspicious of the Megid involvement – but this is definitely the climax of Rintaro’s character arc. We’ve seen him deal with his inferiority complex alongside his friends; now it’s time to see him deal with it alongside his dad's memory.

Which: this is completely a story about Rintaro trying to come out from under the shadow of his dad. In the incredibly weird way Rintaro has reshaped a family dynamic around the workplace he was adopted/indoctrinated into, he had just finished seeing his value to an organization when his coworkers are better at their jobs than he is, through being a great team-player. Now, he has to find a way to make his boss proud, and honor the hard work of the people who built the company.

It’s a fun conclusion, where Rintaro literally embodies the institutional history of the Northern Base and uses it to defend his home and family. It’s as perfect a Gets A New Power-Up finale to this type of story as I can think of for Rintaro. He acknowledges that his mission is to protect his family – not just a guild or a code – and has the entire history of the sword of Logos go You Finally Figured It Out, through the bestowal of a slick new Wonder Ride Book that allows him to obliterate Zooous, the Megid who killed his boss/dad. It’s Rintaro’s whole story, wrapped up with a bow.

It’s so focused on Rintaro that it kind of doesn’t leave much else to discuss! The Saber/Durendal fight was fun, with Touma’s, like, sonar being able to track Durendal’s time-dilation and negate his advantage. (I love the little PINGs on the soundtrack!) There’s also the requisite fun moments of characterization, like Ogami geeking out over his new pin, and every weird thing Daishinji does in the background. It’s just, none of that even comes to the level of a B-plot in this one. It’s Rintaro’s story this time out, from front to back.

Which is okay by me! I don’t know that I felt like Rintaro needed more after last episode’s thrilling battle for his place in the group, but this is a neat little coda for that accomplishment, at the very least. (I just… I’ve never really cared about his relationship with a boss/dad who died fifteen years before the show started? It’s way less vital to my understanding of Rintaro than any of his current relationships.) We’re in that pre-endgame part of a show where non-Primary Riders need to wrap up whatever character arc stuff they’ve got outstanding, because once we hit Episode 40, there probably won’t be room left. Typically courteous of Rintaro to get his character work done so promptly! He’s a good boy.

—

A SONG FOR OUR FATHERS

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/saber/saber32b.png

Daishinji thought of himself as an expert on swords, not swordsmen – but over the years he felt that he’d grown to appraise both well. He understood swords in a way that he’d never understood a person, but a swordsman was an extension of their sword, so there was a bit of overlap between the two. Not enough to call himself a good judge of character, as evidenced by the ways Master Logos had plotted unseen, but enough to speak with authority on the qualities of swordsmen of the guild.

Rintaro was the best swordsman the guild had ever produced.

Daishinji followed Touma because of his ability to fulfill prophecy, and because of the strength of his convictions, but he wasn’t the swordsman that Rintaro was. Ogami could swing a sword in a way that the earth itself respected, Ren was powerful beyond his age, Kento had mastered a sword as old as the guild itself, the Southern Base produced unstoppable killers, Yuri literally was a sword man; none of them held a candle to Rintaro.

Rintaro’s greatness as a swordsman wasn’t his technique, which was practiced and focused. It wasn’t the strength of his swing, which was powerful. It wasn’t even his dedication to his craft, which was all-consuming. It wasn’t that he needed the guild, or respected the guild, or feared the guild.

It was that he loved the guild like family.

Daishinji had worried about it some, over the years. Rintaro was just a child when he was rescued by the guild. He’d been raised with all the care the guild could offer, but it wasn’t what Daishinji would have considered the most loving upbringing. They were warriors on a sacred mission, and they each had their own battles to fight. They did their best, though, and Rintaro had seemed to develop into a stalwart, happy young man. It was still something that nagged at Daishinji: Did they do a good job, as guardians?

The answer stood before him in a freezing, glorious form.

Rintaro had received the blessing of the history of the guild. While Touma may have been ordained by the Sacred Swords, Rintaro had been honored by generations of swordsmen. He loved the guild, and was loved by the guild in return. He was a child of the guild, and he’d made his parents proud.

Daishinji felt that pride as well. Now he just needed Rintaro to turn the cold down some.

So fun fact, the past four episodes you watched aired during the same month. Which the production blog joked as "This month we are airing Kamen Rider Blades" I believe. So yeah, Rintaro really got a whole month to himself, his struggles, and his triumphs after being on the bench for the most part after Q2 started up.

Anyway Tategami Blades is a fun design. I feel sorry for it as a suit though due to it being pure white as well as that fur! That fur will not last!

But yeah, real nice that we just evolve Rintaro's water move-set into something relating to ice, because of course that's a good natural escalation. It's also a fun debut in the setpieces it gets.

Zooous definitely left more of an impression than Legeiel, his rivalry with Rintaro, while they could've kept it up a bit more prominently, is definitely what sealed the deal in him being stronger than Legeiel to me in terms of character. He also gets a nice little one-liner at the end when he realizes, "Oh hey, I'm beat. Maybe next time" before dying.

I also like how Zooous didn't even get this new form out of some forbidden magic technique either. He just got seriously angry that Touma and Rintaro beat him so thoroughly that he uses his anger to bypass what should've been his first death and shaped it into a monstrous form that tore through a lot of things. It's pretty cool, and the scar on the chest from where Touma and Rintaro clearly cross-slashed last episode is a really good detail to have.

Other points of note, I know it was already confirmed about how Durendal's powers worked in the thread. But here we get to basically see it in full force... and he is just King Crimson. Like I said, you know the Futurama episode with the Harlem Globetrotters? That's basically how it works.

Not much else to say other than a fun siege episode and a good cap for Rintaro as we start progressing deeper into the story. Since, well, despite winning, the heroes still lost quite a lot of stuff as a result of the siege. Very much a give and take situation.

Also very nice story. It's nice to see you write for Daishinji again and I do love that you delve into him figuring how to read Swordsmen because of how they're extensions of their blades. Real fun insight and I agree with Daishinji's observation about Rintaro being the best of the guild! Also I'm glad you added that little touch of how Daishinji was absolutely cold while in awe at the end there.

Desast Walk #11:

"Hello, humans.

I'm Dessert.

I've been looking around the world for a while now, but I don't see a place for me.

I find it most interesting and fun to fight against strong guys.

You think so too, don't you?"

It's a fun design! I'm never really that into fur/hair on Rider suits, but I like how it sells that this is a Northern Base upgrade. (Plus, it just feels like Rintaro is wearing his home into battle, which is a very neat touch.)

That's in there because I was laughing pretty hard at Daishinji's actor doing a little Brr It's Cold Now bit when Rintaro's new suit debuted. He's a funny actor!

So. Fun fact(?). Up until now, Saber has had 3 writers, who rotated just about every two episodes. (Takuro Fukuda, Keiichi Hasegawa, and Nobuhiro Mouri). I probably got a little too into assessing Who Had The Reins Each Week as Saber was airing but... well, there were definitely times it felt illuminating to Saber's sometimes weird swerves.

Anyways! Welcome to Saber's 4th (not counting side content) writer, Hiroki Uchida! He's joining the rotation with the rest, so there'll be longer gaps between every writer's turn now :P. (I did think Uchida did a good job joining the show in progress though, I did actually mostly like his episodes. Not bad, since he's a younger writer and this was his first work for Toei.)

That was a fun fact, thanks! I'm terrible about knowing the behind-the-scenes stuff for these shows (can't read the credits, won't check the Wiki until I finish a series), so I honestly had no idea how many folks were writing on this show, or who wrote which episodes.

Here's a fun article about Hiroki Uchida & him joining the Saber writing team

https://tokusatsunetwork.com/2021/05...-writing-team/

Well someone beat me to it on the writer thing, so I’ll once again mention what he didn’t. While he doesn’t get a writer’s credit, most of Rintaro’s big speech was devised by his actor, Takuya Yamaguchi on the set.

And bizarrely, the big piece of the broken Mcguffin every collectible is a fragment of goes to the Secondary this time (as opposed to Build, where you may not remember that Katsuragi and Sento had a Pandora panel cannibalised to create the Genius Fullbottle). Tategami is the first Rider thing that I bought after moving house around this time (the first thing in general was the Zenkaiger belt with the Gears for Gaon, Magine and Vroon). So, instead of the videos by people who forget how the gimmick works after 3 videos, you get two videos from me.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=TW2AeZ6kf8o

Leading 100 beasts through a blizzard is the hundred battle-scarred silver mane.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=3Zzom1pblQg

Lion, Peter Fan, Pegasus, King Lion and finally, Tategami!

And there’s two more jingles, but since they’re in neither of these videos, all you have to go that they exist is to either buy one yourself, or check the wiki

I swear on this Tategami, I will defend this world!

Homo Sapiens! The Frozen Beast King.

I did have a parody comic for this episode, but aside from it not being translated, I couldn’t tell what the joke was (it was basically ghostly apparitions of KickHopper, Meteor and Woz appearing during the fight with Zoous).

Also, Reika’s starting to have second thoughts. I have something for that as well, but I’m saving it for a more appropriate point.

Yes, great episode. I especially like that given the presence of different factions in the show, no one is left behind, because they decide to attack at the same time. Also, it's great that it doesn't feel like a repeat of the South Base story, because there was an infiltration, and here it's a clear intrusion. Rintaro gaining the power of an ice beast to protect his home is great, as is his massive CGI fight with Zous. Also, although this has already been mentioned, I will still write that Rintaro's speech is an improvisation of the actor, which shows how much he understands the character and how much the scriptwriters trust him. And now only the restrained and silent Storius remained with the Megid trio.
Touma's fight with Ryoga is also good. It should be noted that, despite his cheating abilities, Durandal is in many ways a video game boss: once you figure out how to defeat him, everything becomes much easier. And Reiki's suspicions will obviously not be ignored. I won't spoil it, but I applauded what they ended up with.
All in all, a good episode that completes the Rintaro line and lays the groundwork for what's to come. The fanfiction is good, but due to the fact that it is from the perspective of Daisinji, I kept mentally returning to his entries from previous stories;)

Yeah, Rintarou's arc here, about dciding to join Touma's little renegade gang, but really he embodies the best of the guild and literally becomes the representation of their memory instead of the guy who actually leads it, it's good. Helps that Tategami McNorthernbase looks really, really good, trading in the black and muted blues of his past two upgrades for white and icy blue and having a very ''cool'' debut fight.

Thanks!

Thanks for the videos! Very cool!

Yeah, Durandal's a guy that's got one unbeatable move, so he just sorta spams it forever. Once you can figure out its pattern, like Touma does here, he doesn't seem to have other options to fall back on.

As Mei correctly points out, it's so fluffy and shiny! Very enjoyable suit to watch.

Fish Sandwich also watched Kamen Rider Saber Episode 32

I feel like suprisingly little is coming to mind to say about this one, but it's a really great coda to the development Rintarou has had up to this point. Contrary to the image Saber created for itself early on, they really took their time building this whole arc for the guy, to the point we just did a two-parter where you could've easily imagined that being the big endpoint final form debut for Blades if they felt like it. Instead we get this fantastic extra step, with tons of gloriously kinetic Sugihara direction, and a script from a new writer that somehow manages to slip right in -- at the *end* of a storyline no less -- without feeling like it doesn't fit with what's happened before. Hiroki Uchida made a pretty darn great first impression for his work on Rider here.

Despite not being directly written by someone who worked on Ghost, this episode also does one of the most Ghost things imaginable by cementing Rintarou's growth with a new catchphrase, like all the Riders back in that show. I remember seeing the "I'll protect the balance of the world" thing before the show started, and not being able to gauge Rintarou's personality from it at all, because it immediately sounded weirdly, like, culty, I guess? It's a line I imagined would fit a typically aggressive secondary who would think the protagonist is disrupting the order of things or whatever. It makes perfect sense for Rintarou in context, of course, but seeing that change here to reflect what Rintarou now realizes is truly what he wants to protect, it felt like a very natural change.

I love Tategami Hyoujuu Senki by the way. The long white hair combined with the fact it's literally the collective power of generations of swordsmen makes me imagine it as like, this is what Blades will look like if Rintarou is doing this gig like a hundred years from now as this insanely respected veteran who everyone looks up to. He's the king of beasts, and now pretty much the king of swordsmen to boot. It's an appropriately different angle from Touma writing his own Wonder Ride Book, and every bit as fitting for the character. Plus, you know, I just like the white and blue color scheme a ton. The suits in this show, man! They don't miss!

Yeah, it's an episode I definitely wouldn't've minded the absence of (31's just so great for its emphasis on Rintaro's place within groups in general, and this specific group in particular), but I like how big of a win Rintaro gets here, in a way that wouldn't matter to almost any other Rider. Like, Ren wouldn't care what the rest of the guild thought of him; nor Ogami or Daishinji, for that matter. But this one's just to make Rintaro feel loved. It's nice when the big power-up comes from a character-focused place.

I think past me already nailed my thoughts, so I'm going to borrow from Fish here.

Sh Ranger also also watched Kamen Rider Saber Episode 32

Having finished the show, I can now confirm that this is actually my overall favorite episode of Saber. I'm a big Rintarou fan and I think this is a Fantastic (Lion) conclusion to his arc, both emotionally and visually, while also giving some cool moments to the other characters. Sophia shows off her force fields, to compensate for the time she was imprisoned. Ogami's so resilient that Zooous has to knock him out twice. Mei gets to hold Ikazuchi, feeding the MeiEspada theory some more. Touma figures out Durandal's trick. It's just awesome!

I'd totally recommend everybody reading through that whole thread anyway. It's humorous as hell. :lol

I was aware that Uchida wrote this episode, but I must've missed that this was actually his first episode ever. Kiramager had so many secondary writers on staff that I lost count of who did or didn't write for that show. Honestly, that just makes this episode even more impressive, for him to have debuted as spectacularly as Blades Tategami Hyoujyu Senki did.

Haha, so we're doing this again.

Yeah love this ep! There's something about the way the powers of Rintaro's new form manifest that just works for me. The icey air, the composure, the general beauty of the design, it's great!

Thank you for doing a Daishinji story btw, love that guy.

Takes a long time for Sophia to actively participate, at least with the resource of her abilities, like her acting as the "microphone" for the Riders in the Northern Base with her abilities. I guess this is the reason why Sophia was nonchalant when she got attacked by Calibur in ep. 9, as she can defend herself with barriers. Sophia would go down fighting off the Megids and threats to buy time, despite others insisting for her to run, of which it's a shared trait of most of the SoL members. Finally the Shindai sibilings waver a bit even Ryoga (who insists Reika to not waver), which happens after Yuri points out that the Master Logos work with Megid. Megid seems to be the answer to break blind loyalties here.

In this episode Rintaro gets some deliveries who'd seem "generic" (and I do think that here he acts similar to Touma), with him vowing to fulfill his promise that is about protecting Northern Base together as well as him vowing to protect his friends with his power (as the answer to Sophia's question to his reason), with him using the flashbacks of previous Blades as motivation to fight Zooous. Seems that Zooous only lasts for 1 more episode, so yeah his supposed human trait is also wasted. Only Storious seems to be a significant Book Club who works with Master Logos, with the other 2 only being henchmen. For the opposite of usual toku flick, Blades' Hyoujuu Senki has the enemy explodes in shattering icicles instead of a fiery one.

Touma once again figures out something to solve the problem... but for this one, it just borders on super senses as Touma didn't explain how he figured Durendal's power out unlike previous cases where it's gained through reading books. A bit disappointing for that, for now. It's a disappointing tease of Daishinji handing a sword to Mei who holds it for a while. At least have her defend herself with it for a bit lol. Ogami's defeat here, can feel as if his battle performance (along with Daishinji's) is downgraded, though I know Zooous gets an upgrade, but his superior swordsman skills (as shown to Saber's upgrades before) doesn't seem to shine through.

Wow! High praise!

Daishinji's a lot of fun to think about, especially at this point in the narrative. Glad you dug it!

I mean, I guess I don't see it that way? Rintaro's entire character arc was moving him from a guy who valued the organization over the individual, and now he's out here proclaiming that the only things worth defending are individuals. I'd say that's a pretty specific character development for Rintaro!

KAMEN RIDER SABER EPISODE 33 - “EVEN SO, THE FUTURE CAN BE CHANGED”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/saber/saber33a.png

If you ever want me to do an instant 180 on a character, the easiest way to do it is having part of their arc remind me of either KickHopper or PunchHopper.

So, Ren: new favorite character?

As soon as I saw him grumpily eating convenience store ramen under a bridge, those old Kabuto neurons started firing again. And then here’s Desast to make that compelling Come Be A Scumbag With Me pitch, and I’m over the moon. It’s an incredibly fun space for this show to play in, that chaotic dirtbag zone. We’ve got determined heroes, and apocalyptic villains (two sets!), and a tortured antihero, but Ren and Desast fill this intriguing role for the show as guys outside the Optimism/Pessimism divide. Their story is about feeling unfulfilled in a workplace, but unmotivated to determine what would actually make them happy. They don’t lack skill, they lack drive. They love the work, but they don’t know how to turn that into a career. They’re waiting to find something worth believing in, and they’re going to be a giant pain in the ass until they do.

There’s a bunch of other stuff in this episode, but, boy, none of it really hit me like the Ren/Desast stuff. That story was exactly what I was waiting for. The other main plot is… not my favorite kind of Saber storytelling. It’s half emotionally-resonant Touma/Kento friendship stuff, and half weirdly-deployed exposition about things that aren’t super relevant right this second, but clearly will be over the next dozen episodes.

It’s a little sad to see that, amongst so many huge improvements from the first batch of episodes (Ren!!!), this show still randomly drops huge details in a relative void, like it’s all some big stew of plot details. There’s no slick puzzling out of key information, it’s just maddeningly abrupt declarations like Sophia Is A Hologram Clone Created To Mimic Luna. It’d be an absurd yet tantalizing detail if Touma discovered it through episodes of hard work; here, it’s that Saber standby of characters revealing insane elements of the series arc like they’re recapping the previous episode, and I still dislike it intensely. There’s barely any reason for Kento or Master Logos to talk about it right this second, beyond giving context for viewers, and it’s that sort of expository clunkiness that would always take me out of generally-excellent emotional scenes from earlier in the run. It’s no different here, and that’s a bummer.

Because, otherwise, good scene! I like that Touma – just like with Rintaro – cannot ever close the deal on reuniting friendships because he always rushes the resolution. Kento’s coming around after a picnic reconciliation, but then Touma’s like STOP BEING LONELY AND BROODING AND FIGHT WITH ME and Kento remembers why he’s keeping this guy at arm’s length. It’s incredibly funny to me that Touma still doesn’t know how to separate work and friendship. Maybe Rintaro’s been a bad influence on him?

The Master Logos stuff was also really good. I dig the way he’s all about psychologically torturing his foes to keep them off-balance. He’s not only having a blast telling Kento and Touma how fun it was to destroy their childhoods, he’s using that information tactically. He’s making it personal for them (even This Isn’t Personal Kento completely loses his shit), and while it’s great as a little team-up moment for fans, it also renders both Saber and Calibur less effective in battle. Pretty much a win/win for Master Logos!

Despite some dull integration of plot details, this was still a terrific episode of Saber. The Ren/Desast stuff makes up for a lot of deficiency, but the B-plot with Kento and Touma wasn’t a complete loss. The characters continue to be strong enough to overcome some artless plot developments, and nearly all of them get a chance to shine this time out. And I didn’t even mention the fun runner with Yuri and Mei!

(Oh! I watched that Desast Walk Vs Kenzan Walk thing, but it’s only a minute long and didn’t have subs. Cute fight scene, though!)

—

SUNDAY MORNING

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/saber/saber33b.png

Yuri looked around the cottage, searching for any clues to Victor’s disappearance.

He’d never known Victor to leave his post, except for rare (and recent) occasions. He’d guarded the Wonder World for a thousand years, and never once wavered in his dedication. He had a strange sense of humor, but he was steadfast in his duty. Yuri respected that.

As he looked around the room, a wall clock began to chime. It struck nine times, despite hours and minutes being foreign concepts to the Wonder World. He approached the clock, as a tiny bird came out from a door at the top. The bird had a card in its beak, and it hovered in front of Yuri.

The card said READ ME.

Yuri took the card and thanked the bird, which promptly vanished. He read the back of the card, which contained several paragraphs that confused Yuri. It was all information he knew, and even experienced. What was this for? Why did Victor want him to read this?

To his left, meters from the room’s sole chair, a portal opened.

The portal was perplexing, even for Yuri’s vast knowledge. It was maybe a foot in diameter, and its contents were conflicting. It was as though he could see a face, or maybe millions of faces. They were waiting, patiently, for something. They were looking at him to–

Oh. Of course.

Yuri sat down in the chair at the center of the room, facing the portal. He looked at the card, and began to read from it.

“Bonne Lecture, my friends,” he said with his most precise and serious enunciation. “My name is Yuri.”

So this episode is basically a bit of a decompressing one even if we are still moving forward. Honestly after a month of Kamen Rider Blades, the first episode outside of that arc would have a lot to stand up to.

This is basically the point where Ren clicked for me, when he and Desast basically started becoming a duo. It's a fun dynamic, it was great when we saw glimpses of it during the Kenzan Special, and even more so during our brief Ren and Desast meeting during the King Megid arc. And it was just fun to see them here.

While the Master Logos bit alongside the Touma and Kento stuff is fine enough.

My favorite fight this episode was probably the Ren and Desast vs. Sabela transitioning into Blades vs. Sabela. Blades is at the point where he's easily a match for the Southern Base Riders, and we see it here. Also a cute moment of Rintaro being absolutely cold after finishing the fight, to where he gets a bowl of (Soba I think it was?) to warm up via its natural warmth thanks to Yuri.

Speaking of Yuri! That was a fun short story. Yeah, with Tassel currently MIA for now thanks to Master Logos, we've ended up discarding the usual opening segments. So it was cute to have you have Yuri do that.


Note: We are now skipping Desast Walks because they are technically tied to certain things that Die won't get to for a bit yet. So we'll be skipping around slightly. Expect at least two to happen at the same time as a result of this change.

Note 2: So thankfully there's just a full video I can share of this still on Youtube that has the sound the original twitter video was lacking.

Desast Walk #13:

"Hello, humans.

I'm Dessert. I'm a demon born from a book.

I was created by mixing three books together, so I don't have a story to tell.

This moment, this battle itself is my story, the meaning of my existence.

That's why I'm going to get serious, okay?

#Desast'sWalk vs #Kenzan'sWalk"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDyxl4eXcbQ