Because Bandai needed to sell one more rider and seiken)
And if within the framework of the plot, then it allows Reika to open up from that very vulnerable side, the absence of which in many modern female riders you complained several posts earlier. Yes, she now follows her brother, but this also adds additional features and depth to her character. Plus, whatever fans of the tougher Sabella say, Ryoga doesn't outshine her sister. Simply because he is too straightforward a character to outshine anyone.
Also, as controversial as their sibling dynamics may be (but I will continue to admonish that looking at their relationship as incest is very superficial and lazy), it's a very interesting and even necessary variety in the show's huge cast. And even franchise riders in general. That is, with much more screen time, there is much less interaction between Ikki and Sakura.

That's it, that's the show.

Oh man, I've been wanting that Saikou and Falchion prequel for so long now. The premise in that flashback is so intriguing that it's a shame they never expanded on that. We never got to see what Saikou looked like before he became a sword either.

Yeah, I could see Falchion being the main villain of the Saber x Zero One Movie War Whatever Generations that never happened, since the "Summer" movie was released in that Winter spot instead. We could've had an awesome climax with Saber Emotional Dragon and Zero Two (if they ever remember this form exists) fighting against him. However, I think the movie we got was still awesome and made good use of the Sentai-length runtime.

Other than the famous meme that got us here, I agree that this moment is heroic and rewarding in its own right. Touma's open-ended promise has been hanging over him like the Sword of Damocles for the last 15 years and now he finally got to keep that promise, bringing a smile to Luna's face in a way that truly shows the spirit of Kamen Rider. I'm so happy for both of these childhood best friends to be reunited after all this time, however briefly.

Honestly, I was hoping he'd pick up Kurayami for no other reason than I was still holding on to MeiEspada theory. :lol

I think Ikazuchi and Kurayami must have landed there on purpose, like they're doing the "wait here and see who the Swordsman chooses" trick. I do pity Ikazuchi though, being discarded as Kento in his infinite despair doesn't think he has the right to wield that sword anymore.

I knew Running Touma would become an instant meme the moment I watched that scene in the RAW. :lol

Why did it have to be a book?! :p

What a crazy episode to end on as well. Sure does suck that TV-Nihon had to leave everyone hanging just cause some careless guy on Twitter decided it would be a great idea to casually namedrop them to Shirakura Shinichirou. I had to switch to using IzuSubs at this point, which I continued to use for Revice. I'm grateful to them for being there for everyone at that time, but I did miss the way TV-Nihon subbed Saber. Fortunately, FlameSubs have also done an amazing job subbing the show in such high quality and I look forward to seeing the rest of my rewatch with their subs.

Yeah, this is a case where I think headcanon is better than the official explanation. The whole imagination expiration date thing always sounds trite, especially in a fantasy show like this where the protagonist's sense of wonder only grew stronger with age. My headcanon is exactly the same as yours, that the book dimension simply exists outside of time. Not that the show seems too bothered about explaining the lack of aging anyway, considering Daishinji and Ogami.

On another note, I've been meaning to point out that a lot of Swordsmen have names starting with R:

Shindo Rintarou
Akamichi Ren
Ogami Ryo
Shindai Ryouga
Shindai Reika

I completely forgot about Touma running up that CGI. It's definitely goofy, but honestly I've seen much worse fake running in front of a green screen. Never really got why this got so much traction.

I assume it was due to his facial expressions not particularly conveying the scene well. Though to be fair, acting against nothing is, by testimony of a lot of people (Arrow’s Steven Amell expressed his frustration at having to do his death scene with tennis balls, for instance), really difficult.

Fish Sandwich also watched Kamen Rider Saber Episode 35

This episode might kinda be Saber in microcosm? My post from the time is actually another one that's broadly the same as Die's in terms of the analytical conclusions it's drawing about the material. I thought it was pretty clunky in a lot of its plotting as well, but as ever with me, and more surprisingly with Die, it nails a bunch of extremely important emotional stuff to make into this thing where it's like who cares?

Touma running up that bridge, it's the closest this show has to Ondul in more ways than one. Not only it is completely hilarious, but it's also something that only gets funnier the more genuinely invested in the story you are. Like with Blade, it's something people will see out of context, and maybe they'll only know the show from that, or it's the one thing that sticks out from a series they weren't enthused by, and it's just some funny thing, but I don't believe you can maintain much of an obsession with it unless it's legitimately close to your heart at the same time.

I think those shots of Touma running are like, god-tier meme material, like everybody, but I also think the whole reason it achieves that is because Touma looks like he's more desperate to reach his destination than any human being in the history of mankind ever has been, and that also speaks to why I love the guy as a hero so much. When he makes a promise, he keeps it! It's a corny moment of storytelling with some corny special effects, delivered with such immense earnest sincerity in its emotions that I can't help but love it unironically at least as much as I do ironically. And I really love that scene ironically!

Also, I'm sorry in advance if I keep pestering you about this, Die, but if you'll forgive me for winding the conversation back an episode, I still feel like there's something really important you're fundamentally misunderstanding about the plot of 34, and it's going to bug me in the back of my head forever if I don't try and untangle this a little more before dropping it.

It might be worth noting I think I got a few things a bit twisted, too? I went back and watched some of those scenes again, and I'm pretty sure Master Logos is only addressing Reika when he says to watch Touma. (Hence why only she reacts.) This alone should begin to unravel most of what you were confused about. He wants Sabela stalking Touma so she can be there to snatch up Luna if she appears (she's good at snatching things; it's like her shtick!), which is exactly what she does, and Durendal's presence would not help that task at all, because the task Master Logos is giving there has nothing to do with fighting Saber. Hence, he goes off to fight Blades instead, continuing to pursue their ongoing task of retrieving the swords/books, and again, he literally says out loud what his interest in Rintarou is. Master Logos doesn't object to this at all until the beginning of 35, where having Luna as bait gives him a much more convenient option to bring everything together in one place.

I know I'm getting hung up on this one thing, but I really got the feeling reading that initial post about the episode that it was this vicious circle where you were paying less attention to the plot because it wasn't very meaty, but it also came off less meaty in part because you were paying less attention to the plot. The raw narrative mechanics of Kamen Rider Saber aren't what I'd consider the real juicy stuff either, but I swear, this stuff has more thought put into it than you're giving it credit for.

It really does! It's big and dumb and heartfelt and corny, and I really liked it.

Kento's stubborn refusal to allow himself to not suffer for the sake of friends who would very much prefer he not suffer on their behalf is the show's most constant subplot.

I don't understand this comment. Sorry!

Why Isn't Luna Fifteen Years Older is, like, the eightieth question I would ask the production team if I had the chance, right after Where Are All Of Touma's Customers and right before Why Didn't You Put Mopey Kento Back In The Pop-Up Book Part Of The Opening.

Yeah, if I didn't know in advance it was some huge meme in the community, I probably wouldn't've called it out or remembered it? It's a little funny to look at, but I don't think it's hysterical or anything.

I don't know where this narrative developed that I'm not willing to put aside plot concerns to appreciate the emotional successes of a series? I am completely willing to do that! I am very happy to enjoy the well-executed emotional scenes amidst episodes full of poorly-executed plot developments! I love this cast! I enjoy their struggles and root for their victories! I am against this false narrative!

Thank you for the update! I... boy, I feel like this all got really overblown with me? I don't even care that much about some random (TO ME! ONLY TO ME!) Rintaro/Durandal fight, and I only really brought it up to highlight, yeah, how much the mechanics of that episode were not working for me. I can't pretend that it retroactively saves or improves that element of the episode for me, but I can definitely stop trying to (poorly) explain my concerns. I apologize for not giving it its due!

I mostly just meant I'm more inclined than most to say literally anything Saber does is great enough to nullify literally any potential criticism of it. :lol

Oh, hey, and speaking of deflecting criticism of Saber!

It did! On both our ends! I'm very sorry for dragging this out, and will now leave you alone about this largely irrelevant tangent!

I mean that you complained about the show setting up a mystery about SoL traitor which Kamijo seeks, but what it eventually gives, in the traitor, is an antagonist you can get engaged with according to this comment.

I guess this explains why Master Logos brought Bacht back, to be used as his pawn here, though he just laughs as he disintegrates. Other than that, results aside, Master Logos played around everyone like a fiddle, other than Bacht, he also makes use of anyone to achieve his goals like taking advantage of Kento's quest to seal all Seikens (or even probably be the one behind it in hindsight due to corrupting Kurayami), which means only Touma has a chance to stop Master Logos here, and also making use of Shindai sibling's loyalty to fight and consequently add more books for him to use, of which even Touma's victory is used for his advantage too.

Really, didn't expect for at least you to have quite accepting reaction towards, well, Luna part here, due to how those previous parts regarding her has been nothing but annoyance, due to the non-intriguing mystery, or the lack of bond that is shown between those three other than just flashbacks, compared to something like Rintaro and Mei. What foils Master Logos' plan here is yeah, Touma and Luna's bond - of which while I understand that some mysteries can be used to solve current problems, I'd think, for this one though, Touma's care is all-encompassing, so it can be just about Touma's dedication to save anyone and not strictly Luna.

Here, Mei seems to quick to show open concern for Luna, seemingly by proxy after caring for Touma and Kento. About Sophia's reveal as a Luna clone, yeah it's used to only have her attempt to sacrifice herself in Luna's place, but it's shown that Master Logos don't care about her even one bit as a fake. Both Kento and Ren staying true to their character despite their outward actions of which Ren now no longer aspires to be like Kento, where Kento shields Ren and with Ren mourning over Kento's current state.

If everything about Luna that has been told to you by the series doesn't indicate it enough that she's not normal...

Not that Reika's 'vulnerability' here is well-received by many people, but about vulnerability it's not merely adding that to characters, but also how that it seems that there's a view where characters are only okay to display a breakdown, vulnerability, etc. if they have "proven" themselves to be a bonafide badass (by being unstoppable fighter with terrible personality depicted as tough) of which it'd be praised as humanizing them instead, while otherwise characters who aren't deemed as 'badass' enough showing that are derided as being crybabies, wimps, etc. Actually for the ones I mentioned in those posts, those character types are often given occassional vulnerable moments.

If what you like about Saber extends to even Luna, then I'd also wonder how'd you defend her as Luna (especially on her own) seems to be even worse than Sophia for one of the most hated in the franchise. About Reika, yeah, the hate she receives is mostly after Ryoga is introduced where it's more of disappointment that her character is ruined since then instead of inherently viewing her as bad as a whole. And I wonder what'd be the time limit for promises to you if that this is fulfilled very long time after, but all before those time Touma can be accused as breaking promises.

Um, but that make sense. If a character can be both strong and weak, both rude and soft, this is versatility. If he/she always shows only one trait or several similar ones - this is a flat character. That is, morally good characters are not necessarily good written characters. I myself like to evaluate riders, including from a civil point of view, but this is far from the only point of view. Not to mention the fact that the feelings "like / dislike" are often not explained logically in principle, because they are born in the heart, not the brain.

Sure, I like Luna, generally, but most of what I like about her is pretty basic stuff, she's just a kind cheerful kid and I mostly care about her cause I care about Touma and he cares about her. Also, that Master Logos was acting like a creep towards her, so I wanted Luna to get away from him pretty quickly. She's not prominent enough that I can defend her on the same level as Sophia, but I will argue against the haters that they shouldn't have expected too much activity from a character stuck in the book dimension for 15 years anyway.

I'm pretty indifferent to Ryouga, but I feel inclined to defend him a little, since I've seen some of Reika's fans-turned-haters blame him for "ruining" her, even though Reika's dysfunction is her own problem and out of Ryouga's control.

Regarding time limits for promises, that depends on whether or not a time limit was established as one of the conditions and whether it's specific, like "today next week", or vague, like "in a few days" (such as my promise to Die about discussing Book of Ruin), which varies for each person. Of course, if there's no time limit given, then a promise could be fulfilled even after both parties are dead. Like if a hero promises their dying friend that they will protect the world, then they also die fighting to protect the world, but their effort posthumously leads to that outcome. So Touma promising to save Luna can be considered a success, despite the long duration.

Moderation is important here though. Reika starts out cold and merciless, but the swing in the opposite direction makes her pathetic and submissive, while still being cold and merciless. So then she gets hated for being the worst of both extremes, rather than steadily moving in to the sweet spot.

But in the end, she gets better. And, again, I would not say that she is "submissive", since Ryoga is a useless "dominant". He is the one to whom orders are given, and when he tries to dispose, this does not lead to anything good. In principle, the whole nature of Sabella's destructiveness can be explained by the fact that her older brother was perceived by her as an infallible ideal, which he never was. So she aspired to the wrong and inappropriate role model for her. And as soon as she saw in him an ordinary person who could make mistakes, their relationship as relatives and riders immediately improved.

The arc you just described sounds good in premise and fitting with the moral of taking care with idolizing authority. However, for all the unnecessary trouble Reika causes for characters who have no investment in her personal arc and the overly long time it takes to address her obsession with Ryouga, I can't really hold it against people to begrudge her for that.

Logos also needed Falchion's sword, so it turns out releasing him was maybe less about hoping he'd take out Touma and more about eventually needing that sword, and why not let him cause some trouble first.

I don't know, I thought the show landed the storyline here? Luna as a concept I can take or leave, but Luna as an actual physical person for Touma to snatch from the clutches of villainy? I'm good with that!

KAMEN RIDER SABER HYPER BATTLE VIDEO - “GATHER! HERO! THE EXPLOSIVE DRAGON TELEVI-KUN!”

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

Finally, this show gets its Cubi.

I love stories about monsters who’d rather not be evil. I don’t mean long arcs where villains slowly succumb to the hero’s (or heroes’) moral gravity, and fight for justice. Those are nice, but what really gets me are little stories about chump monsters who are too adorable to be evil, and would rather just be creative, or happy. Little stories of heroes encouraging monsters to follow their innocent dreams? That is the most Kamen Rider story possible, to me.

So, yeah, I adored this hilarious HBV about finding merit in even the goofiest of heroes. Leave it to Saber to take the pack-in video for an issue of Televi-Kun, and turn it into both a hysterically self-referential joke about kids-magazine superheroes AND a moving short story about the inherent nobility of even the most slapstick of heroes.

It’s an HBV where I got maybe half of the references (Lone Wolf & Cub and Aflac, yes; whoever Rintaro was supposed to be, no) and still loved every second of it. The ongoing gag about Touma being drafted by an increasingly in-character X-Swordman to portray partner-turned-rival-turned-partner Blademan-Y alone is a joke that would’ve carried most other HBVs, but this thing also gives us everything with Storious (greatest episode for him) and Mei’s frenzied dedication to breaking this ludicrous story. It’d be one of the best ever HBVs if they’d only tried half as hard; the rest is just them flaunting their prowess.

God, I loved this. The HBV is, I always feel like, where a show most becomes itself. It’s where the cast and crew are confident enough in their abilities to do something this parodic and absurd, while still delivering what we love about the series. After this, it’s the endgame, and Legend Riders, and a solidified legacy. And it’s all because they landed something as inconsequential and goofy as this.

I guess there’s heroism in even the most humorous of forms.

—

CERTAIN STARS

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

“‘Yes father… I shall become… a blademan. Why?’ WOO! Classic stuff there, right guys? Hey, it’s Kaho, back with a deeper dive into the history of SWORD-X-MAN and the entire SXM universe. As always, if you want to stay on top of these explainer videos, be sure to smash that bell! Don’t forget to Like and Subscribe, as well!

“Okay, Blademan-Y! We’re gonna dig a little deeper into his story this time out, but first, I gotta respond to some of the comments from the last video. I got a lot of ‘Kaho, WTF? We thought you hated Sword-X-Man!’ I mean, some of y’all were a little saltier than that, which: thanks for the assist, mods!

“But, yeah, no, you guys are right. I definitely came in on Sword-X-Man with a bit of an ax to grind – no pun intended for you Z-Axeman fans! I definitely didn’t love how it was approaching American superhero tropes, and I didn’t feel like the creative team was really honoring what they were referencing. It was… yeah, not a great first impression.

“I stuck with it, though, and I really ended up getting into the story they were telling. It took a minute to get into the rhythms, but, man, so rewarding when the cast opened up. Sword-X-Man is great, and the whole book wouldn’t work without him as the stable lead, but c’mon: Blademan-Y! Z-Axeman! Hell, how great and nuanced is Duckler as a villain? It’s killers all the way down the line.

“And, look, it’s not the most serious attempt at this sort of story. It’s goofy, and it’s sometimes ridiculously earnest, and it’s always taking the weirdest approach to its storytelling. But, isn’t that okay sometimes? It doesn’t make the characters less evocative or intriguing for being funny, or even wacky. It’s one other type of flavor. Who would want there to be less flavors in the world?

“So, yeah, I came around on Sword-X-Man, and I’m glad y’all are willing to let me go on that journey with you. OKAY! Back to the explainer! So, I love this line: ‘You don’t get it boy… this isn’t a quarry… it’s a sword shop. And you’re the whetstone.’ But what does Blademan-Y really mean here? Well, we’d have to go back to Sword-X-Man issue number…”

Excellent HBV. Faiz's musical remains my favorite, but this one is a solid second. A wonderful touching story by Ahiru Megid, funny and sad at the same time. I didn't understand all the references either, but I'm sure they were great. I would also like to draw your attention to Storius. Here he, albeit very grotesquely, is depicted as a cruel creator who does not care about his creations. Not a bad option for opposing the hero-writer. Also, this HBV gave my favorite Mei`s line:
https://i.ibb.co/yPTNWP6/Girls-love-ducks.png
It's a joke, although I love this one too. But what I really meant was this:
https://i.ibb.co/QCZmqP9/All-Heroes-are-great.png
And how not to adore her after that?
Returning to the theme of X-Swordsman in fanfic liked, although it was obvious.

I have to say, I mostly remember this less for any content when I got around to watching it, and more for the fact that toy reviewer k2eizo felt the need to shoehorn the Ridebook into every video he made for the next week after it came out. And it came out the same week as the final form item.

But rather than subject you to all of them, I’ll simply share what it sounds like if you use 2 or 3 books (which I had to translate myself, since the wiki editors were apparently too lazy to add in three lines about this book.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=hC09nKITPrA

TV-Kun: These warrior’s tales of battle are recorded in the transcendentally enjoyable TV-Kun!

Comic Rider! One Manga Volume! The delightful book grants further power to the sword.

The power of laughter is imbued in the sword! Comic Rider! Two Manga Volumes! The delightful book grants the power of smiles!

When the delightful book comes forth, the power of smiles is imbued in the sword! Comic Rider! Three Manga Volumes! The sword of smiles has now reached the zenith of delight!

Next time: Jaoh Dragon, King Durian, Kasshine, Kamen Rider Kitbash!

I didn't give it any super long writeup, but yeah, I adored this thing too. A rock solid HBV that has particular appeal for me personally, well beyond simply being the Saber one, which probably would've been enough to begin with.

This is a pretty absurd Hyper Battle Video.

There's just a lot of fun stuff, like the shot at the beginning by cutting directly to a singular panning shot of everyone eating eclairs around the Sword of Logos table, and their casual conversation. Touma just reading a Ghost related book. Our duckling Megid in general. Yuri's obsession of just LARPing and dragging Touma into it. Charybdis is back in something more than a minor speaking line. Also Storious can just go full Sentai motw what with growing large?

It's a lot of fun and absurd stuff even if I didn't get a lot of the references. Got the Aflac one though, but that was like the easy one.

As for our story, well hey this is familiar ground. Was not expecting us to go back to Kaho of all characters, but it's fitting given the subject of the HBV does more digging into the Sword X Man mythos with Y-Blademan.

Still rather fun

Thanks! I thought it was worth seeing if our resident YouTuber could find something of value in a franchise she'd previously dismissed.

Very cool! Much appreciated!

It's a consistently entertaining one-shot that still manages to feel uniquely and canonically Saber. This show really knows how to nail its comedy, and I'm not sure if that's a common opinion? I don't know how this show is appraised, outside this thread.

The table is such a weird one for a rotating shot, since you've got that big dumb scanner at the front, but I like how the director turned that weakness into a strength by having Mei pop up from behind it with her plot-propelling declaration. Clever!

Have you noticed my update?

Sorry! Things have been really busy the last couple days. I'll get to it today!

I made two Riders for Fourze as well. I will explain what I have of their designs here.

One is yellow and gray with silver accents. The other is a female, pink and purple with gold accents. Neither one has the Rider eye color currently established.

https://cdn.picrew.me/shareImg/secre...7_Gj0IbOD2.png
Here’s what the female Rider looks like un-henshined. She has short brown hair that covers her right eye, with gold highlights in it. Her eyes are the same pink-looking color as Mariska and Iris. (For those who haven’t looked at the DM convo between me and Die, those are Akiko and Hina)

(She also wears purple, completing the color scheme)

KAMEN RIDER SABER EPISODE 36 - “WIDE OPEN, THE OMNISCIENT POWER”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/saber/saber36a.png

Isaac is a nepo baby!!!

It’s the funniest, best possible Boss character for a show whose template is Workplace Dramedy. Some dude who inherited a position he never wanted, grew to resent it, and is now going to harness the power and authority it bestowed upon him to do horrible things to average people? I mean, it’s - by far - the least fantastical thing this show has ever presented, but I’ll allow it.

It’s a nice prelude to the endgame arc of this series. Isaac has utterly and irrevocably pulled the mask off, telling the entire world to TATAKAE for his insane pleasure. The Shindai siblings have exercised the Serves Master Logos Specifically loophole in their contracts to embrace the heroism that the Sword of Logos subverted. Ren’s starting to realize that he isn’t running towards a future, he’s running away from his past, so maybe this whole friend-avosion thing is not super sustainable. Even Kento’s finally getting some solid advice from similarly big-picture characters like Yuri and Sophia (eventually), instead of the emotional pleas from Touma to which he’s grown impervious. It’s an episode very much about trying to get all of these disparate swordsmen to figure out a way to coexist, and a giant floating madman telling everyone to kill each other for his enjoyment is a pretty good start.

We’re in a real fast-moving plot phase of the series, where there aren’t a ton of new revelations about our main cast (Yuri’s speech to Kento is just a longer, less-deathbed-y version of his appeal to Kento from a few episodes ago), but it’s very cool to see everything start to line up emotionally and narratively. There’s an undeniable thrill to Touma and Rintaro showing up to save Ryoga and Reika, and for the four of them to form an uneasy truce to take down Solomon. Isaac makes for a great villain, because everyone in the cast wants to kick his ass. Even Falchion seemed to have a brief moment of Eff This Dude!

The Solomon suit and sword, though… not my fave? The suit looks real kitbashed, but I’m not conversant enough in this show’s costumes to pick out where all the pieces might’ve originated. That sword, however! Dude is just swinging around a repainted King of Arthur sword, which does not exactly scream Important New Villain. There’s a real cut-rate approach to the Solomon suit and weaponry that feels a little disappointing, even if it’s (maybe?) not the final form for this goofball.

So, minor complaint about our bad guy’s new getup, but otherwise? Very entertaining and fleet episode of teamwork that constructs a hilarious criticism about inherited wealth and how unearned power creates a gnawing hunger that can’t ever be sated. Real fun times!

—

WAGE WARS GET RICH DIE HANDSOME

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/saber/saber36b.png

Isaac, the floating sky man, had made his orders clear: Wage wars in his name. Fight. Now Junki just had to figure out how to actually do that.

Junki was, sadly, used to bizarre proclamations from superpowered beings upending his life. It had only been a few months since Kamen Rider Saber had demanded that people like Junki cheer for him, and now his home was filled with mountains of branded merchandise. He’d hoped it was enough to either power or placate the masked swordsman. Now, he feared he’d gotten an answer.

He wasn’t sure if Saber had abandoned him to this new deity, but he also couldn't ignore this new demand. Junki would continue to cheer on Saber, but he’d also have to find some way to battle on Isaac’s behalf.

He’d briefly considered a campaign of terror using the various Saber-worshiping products he’d procured, but disregarded that almost immediately. The plastic toys might raise a welt, or irritate, but they’d be no use in an actual fight. Maybe… maybe if he threw them at someone? No, that wouldn’t be much better; plus, then they’d lose some of their collectibility, and that wasn’t NOT a concern of Junki’s.

As he struggled to form a plan of action, Junki admitted to himself that Isaac’s demands just weren’t in his wheelhouse. He wasn’t the war-waging type, which would normally go without saying or regretting. Now, he’d need to find some solution to a problem with both moral and practical concerns.

He’d wondered if maybe Saber could save him. He’d seen how effective the superhero had been in that monster fight, where he saved the broadcaster. Maybe there was some way Junki could empower Saber, without risking Isaac’s wrath? Looking around the room of Kamen Rider merchandise, he found his answer. Perfect. This would save him, and hopefully save everyone.

He put the disc for Kamen Rider: Climax Fighters into his PS4, and prepared to wage war online in Isaac and Saber’s names.

This quote from Androzani provides all the answers in regards to Solomon. Head is Jaou Dragon, Bravo King Durian's cape, with the rest of the body being Kasshine from Zi-O.

Very much a patchwork form that uh... kinda works? I do find it funny that the Kingexcalibur repaint is named Caladbolg. Since I believe Caladbolg has some connections to the Excalibur mythos.

Anyway, Solomon... not the best but not the worst I'd say. I do find it funny that Bravo King Durian Arms' cape is just the Vezon's cape of Kamen Rider. If anyone gets that reference, kudos.

That being said, our episode is fairly fun. We basically have the full roster of Riders again with mostly everyone trying to find some way to pick apart our new big bad. I love the Shindai Siblings utilizing loophole abuse in order to stage their coup while remaining loyal. Some nice stuff with Yuri and Kento. Overall a nice episode that very much is the start of the "How the hell do we beat Solomon?" Arc.

... also I love the story this time by the way.

There's something so absurd about Isaac just saying "Yo, wage war for me you peasants" and expecting everyone to actually do it. Because if I recall, there's never any cutaways to anyone actually doing it. Which implies everyone is like "Whoa, weird talking head dude" and just went about their days. Or they went about it more creatively... like Junki here!

Debut of Kamen Rider Solomon. Yes, it's very funny how everyone wants to end Solomon. It was previously mentioned that the Shindai do not follow the spirit of the Sword of Logos, but its charter. But Isaac managed to break it too, losing his last allies. Of course, it is foolish to expect the Sword of Logos to immediately unite again, leaving the past (although Touma does not mind), but Isaac is doing his best to make it happen as soon as possible.
The fanfiction is very funny and would be a good advertisement for the game.

Ah yes, Isaac basically transmits a message demanding the world listen to him. I imagine the response from people who don’t speak Japanese on the YouTube uploads of his message was “And you are?”

And since we learn his name is Isaac, I think I’ll reveal that one of the writers expanded upon his story on Twitter, stating that his surname is “Kanda” (which contains the archaic kanji for god), he’s the grandson of the og Logos and that he’s 1028 years old.

And sadly, since all videos of Omni Force include another book that’s very spoiler-y, I’ll just mention some things about its sounds.

At least two people that the subs saying “Open the Omnibus” was a mistranslation for “Open the Omniverse”. Despite this show being book-themed and Omniverse not even being a word. (It’s the name of a Ben 10 show. A terrible Ben 10 show).

One thing the subs did get wrong though was the name of his second finisher. Toy scans revealed it was actually “Solomon Stlash” (your guess is as good as mine as to what the heck that means). Though to be fair, I’m sure even someone Toei hired to subtitle this for a TTFC upload would use Strash.

And yes, I did pretty much sum up the parts for Solomon’s suit last time. The way I did it was specifically a parody of the jingles for Revice’s movie Riders (King Crab, Crocodile, Kamen Rider Chimera (Chimera)!/Octopus, Kurosai, Oomukade, Kamen Rider Daimon, Daimon, DAIMON!)

And in lieu of all the jokes about how Master Logos already had his own sword prior to being a Rider (type in “Sakanamaru” into YouTube sometime), I’ll share this.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...8/IMG_0507.JPG

Fish Sandwich also watched Kamen Rider Saber Episode 36

There are a lot of different things I like about this episode that I think my post from the time already covers pretty thoroughly, so right here, I'll say something I couldn't have been quite sure of back then, which is that I'm actually quite fond of Kamen Rider Solomon.

I have sort of a paranoid disdain for psychotic main villains who are arbitrarily also Riders, or "Gold Drives", as I always think of them. (Even though Gold Drive isn't actually called Kamen Rider.) Despite enjoying a lot of later half antagonists who broadly fit that mold, I always kind of worry when one shows up that fight scenes in the show will become repetitive, with a focus on the same one opponent for the heroes, and part of me is eternally sort of hung up on the idea that the name "Kamen Rider" loses weight any time you slap it on a bad guy for more merch appeal.

But again, plenty of these guys end up being really enjoyable for me anyway, and I did already like Master Logos to begin with. The kitbashy nature of his suit actually created a bit of headcanon (or like, head-thematics) for me I kinda doubt was intentional, which is how it emphasizes that he's just a straight up pretender. Dude doesn't even have a proper holy sword, so for all the amazing powers he's flaunting, there's always this vibe that he's some cheap knockoff who doesn't even remotely understand what it means to be a swordsman in this series. (And by extension, what it generally means to be a Kamen Rider.) Frankly, I think the suit just plain looks good to begin with, but ever since I starting thinking of it that way, I started outright loving it.

I think that one of the causes of Solomon is that when you get to this part of a Rider series, Toei is already starting to shift development budget into the next show. Full new suits are expensive and it’s too late in the product cycle to wheel out brand new roleplay toys, which means that it’s time to start recycling. This is how we end up with Necrom getting a repaint of Specter’s shitty plastic stick or {Insert Multiple Revice Spoilers Here}. I don’t mind it when it’s done well, especially if it involves costumes or props that didn’t get much use in the first place.

Response?

It's sweet that Sophia's still looking out for Kento despite him no longer being affiliated with SOL and trying to remind him that his life actually matters to people and that Hayato wouldn't want him to sacrifice himself for his mission. Even though he's Calibur now, Sophia still calls him Espada, since she can see that deep down, he's still the same Kento under all that despair, who wants the same thing that everybody else does.

We also get the full confession from Yuri, that he was totally prepared to sacrifice Touma from the start, but now he believes wholeheartedly that Touma will decide the ending of that story. A future not yet written that's invisible to Kurayami, but illuminated by hope.

I hate Solomon for the same reason I hate Yuuki. Seriously, they decapitated my bad*ss Jaou Dragon to make this? Kind of makes me want to see Solomon get destroyed just for the sake of it. I would've preferred it if Isaac became a Megid or pseudo-Rider instead.

Weird talking head dudes declaring their evil intentions to humanity is a pretty common Tokusatsu trope, so I imagine a lot of civilians are probably used to it happening every few years at this point.

This isn't even the first time the word Strash has appeared in KR. The briefcase weapons and Progrise Hopper Blade in Zero One said it as well. I believe it's supposed to be a pun on strike and slash, but probably sounded a lot less eyeroll-inducing in Toei's head.

You didn't even mention Grease using two Twin Breakers, that's got to be the laziest one. Personally, I thought the GanGun Catcher was pretty cool! Sometimes, a new weapon can be just as intimidating as a new form, a good example being the Perfect Zecter.

I feel we are moving towards a time when kaijins become more popular than riders because of their rarity. I wonder in how many years the main character of the show will be a good kaijin fighting against an organization of evil guys with belts?

Case in point, there is no way most of the fandom would have noticed that Solomon's body is a re-use of that servant robot guy from Zi-O if it hadn't been pointed out! The Jaou Dragon helmet sticks out like a sore thumb, though; especially since I'm pretty sure it had just been a single episode since we last saw that suit anyway?? Talking of recent parts re-use, downright hilarious to me that this re-uses the tattered cape from Bravo's new upgrade.

I say all that but I'm actually a big fan of the suit! I think it looks appropriately menacing, most of the parts re-use is smart and I like the colour scheme a bunch

Thanks! It's very Isaac to just assume that everyone's going to fall in because he said so, instead of, y'know, actually doing anything to motivate people. He doesn't even resurrect the dead or disappear a city block! He's just like TATAKAE, and waiting for people to jump to it, which is perfect nepo baby reasoning

Everyone wants to kill this dude! It's exactly the right energy for a series-long villain's in-costume debut.

An omnibus is almost exactly what he has? It's a word for a book made of other books, which is what Isaac's new collectible is!

I do like this (Isaac is a guy who doesn't bother putting in the work, for the most part), and I don't think it's intentional (sometimes suits are just kitbashed for time/resource reasons), but I love that this is yet another in a series of Fish Sandwich Explains Why Crummy Thing Is Actually Extra Good For Its Crumminess. It is my not-so-secret joy. Any time we can get a post that's not just a defense of something that's hardly worth defending, not just a justification for that approach by a creative team, but a celebration of that random thing and the disappointing execution of it... boy, there's really nothing else like it in the fandom. Thanks for starting my day off right!

Yeah, the suit itself wasn't the big deal for me, but I thought reusing the King of Arthur sword so blatantly was a little lame. At least let the guy have a new/old/better sword!

Hey, buddy. I'm happy to talk about non-Saber stuff via PMs, but I'd really like to keep the focus of this thread on Saber and its story. Thanks for understanding!

Yeah, I like that Sophia seems to have a more motherly relationship with characters like Kento and Rintaro, since she watched them grow up. It's hopefully something the show'll delve into more in the next episode. I like when these shows can try and address maternal guardianship?

You'd think Isaac would at least be concerned about how regal his appearance was, right? He's some privileged rich asshole that has been coddled his entire life! Those guys don't usually dress sloppy!

So you've obeyed the Master Logos' command to discard that title and thus you too goes by his real name Isaac. About him inheriting the position he never wanted, well the Solomon name in his Kamen Rider form is a reference to how Solomon was a good king who turned into wicked later, which'd be how Isaac previously followed his duties as SoL before he became bored. So I'd think perhaps, Isaac genuinely wanted to protect humanity before but not for actual noble reasons of living beings being worth protecting but to oversee their evolution, but particularly to see them evolve in power-hungry way, for his own entertainment, but when he didn't get that from humans, he turned on them. It'd mean his reason of protecting humans was something similar to Daguva. Man, I'd wish that by this we'd see a villain who actually does the protecting for this before instead of just sparing their enemies.

Desast's antics go further in this episode with him hanging upside-down to pester Ren, though obviously it's no problem with his power. And it's a reveal for the audience that Ren got his social darwinistic beliefs from his mentor, of which it's a case when a mentor's teaching backfires on him to instead create a rather psychotic member of the SoL, though he didn't do evil unlike the Shindai siblings or especially Isaac. And that Ren only respects Kento's strength, but views everyone else as a threat or stepping stone. Yuri's advice kinda reveals something dark about him at least in the past, in contrast to the reveal that he'd not sacrifice the humans that turned into Megid, to be prepared to sacrifice Touma, though at least he seems to be only going for 1 person instead of anyone he can.

And we get the "Sophia is Sophia" thing in this episode? With Rintaro still using and Mei going f̶o̶r̶ ̶l̶e̶s̶b̶i̶a̶n̶ ̶e̶n̶e̶r̶g̶y̶ holding hands together with her. And yeah, despite Saber's lighthearted tone, Isaac is one of the most irredeemable villains in the whole franchise, thus he can have even other questionable characters get disgusted with him. Though for Bacht, evil characters displaying their standards can be something that happened in a handful of stories. Ryoga and Reika finally defects from SoL, particularly from Isaac's exact words that he's no longer Master Logos, and it's shown that Ryoga still has his standoffish nature by rejecting Touma's help, though he quickly relents here.

Other than him being in the main villain position to wipe the floor with literally everyone, Solomon also has a human form that can fight 2 Kamen Riders at once untransformed, displaying his skills or just his powerful nature to help him doing so. About his power use here of swinging King of Arthur sword, gotta wait for later explanation of it, should turn around the not screaming important new villain part. I know there are handful of Kamen Rider villains already, but I'd wish that Isaac didn't turn into Kamen Rider, moreso due to the magical nature of this series and perhaps the potential ambiguous human status of him that can easily have him turn into Megid boss-level or something.

So even you have a limit about Saber, in it making a depraved villain Kamen Rider (or if it's just the Rider design here).

There's Inoue's series with Takumi as a Wolf Orphnoch and Wataru as a half-Fangire, the former also had him fighting Smart Brain. Though there's also the ones that happened in the endgame like Yuusuke turning into more like Grongis, Kenzaki turning into Joker, Kouta turning into Overlord.

It's something this show gets at a lot, where characters can't see individuals, only groups, and how that makes it easier for them to lose empathy. Isaac probably hasn't ever interacted with any normal people, so he thought of humanity as a duty, then a burden, and now as a source of amusement. He doesn't care about people because he doesn't see individuals, he just sees some nameless mass.

(I laughed pretty hard at Isaac going on this diatribe about how terrible humanity is, only for Yuri to counter with a Yeah But You Still Were Supposed To Protect Them. The "yeah, but" is so mean! It's so dismissive of humanity! Yuri! In-character maybe, but dude!)

KAMEN RIDER SABER EPISODE 37 - “THE FUTURE SHALL BE WRITTEN, BUT BY WHO?”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/saber/saber37a.png

I love Mei, and I love that she’s Yuri’s hand-picked representative to demonstrate how humanity’s improved over the last thousand years, but it’s pretty farcical for her pitch to be We Communicate Better With Our Friends in an episode with so much Kento melodrama. I know she knows him!

If there’s a weak point in this episode, it’s Kento’s herculean intransigence. Honestly, I like that he’s not going to just abandon his martyrdom because of anything Touma says or does, because there’s no drama in that. Touma shows a flash of awareness by having patience with Ren’s soul-searching, but otherwise massively doubles down on his normal hot-headed badgering for other people to just see his big picture already. He tells Ryoga, a guy whose main personality trait is that he hates traitors and loves service, to just forget all that traitor stuff because Isaac was a villain, and abandon what’s left of the Sword of Logos to pitch in with his team and save the world – like Touma completely blanked on how long it took Rintaro to get over his own sense of loyalty and duty. (And Rintaro LIKED Touma!) With Kento, he’s still like WE CAN WORK TOGETHER to a guy who literally told him that working together is what gets Touma and everyone else killed. Pushing back on Touma’s genuinely terrible pitches is generally fine with me.

But then we’ve got Sophia, who can’t convince Kento with a brief and forgettable intervention. (I seriously can’t remember what she talked to him about.) And Rintaro, whose idea is fairly clever, also gets nowhere: if Kento won’t join his friends, his friends will just join Kento. It’s an adorably Rintaro way of undercutting Kento’s gruff brooding, and it manages to last for about three-quarters of a fight. It’s a failure, like every other attempt to sway Kento over the last however many episodes.

I think I’m sick of it? It’s reached a point where I can’t imagine what’s going to change Kento’s mind, and I’m not sure if anything would even feel organic at this point. If that dude somehow, some way changes his mind about being all alone and sacrificing his life… I don’t even think I’d buy it at this stage? And in the meantime, I’m almost sick of his friends trying.

There’s a… you can’t save everyone. You can’t, especially if they don't want to be saved. I don’t like to say that kind of stuff about a kids show, because it’s a terrible thing to tell children. These shows are powered by boundless empathy, and the unwritten rule that everyone can be saved. But Kento… he’s just toxic at this point. He’s a guy that was always looking for a way to give his life for his friends, to atone for misplaced guilt and deep-seated shame. As he’s gained more power, he’s only become a more focused martyr. Like, you can keep reaching your hand out in case he reaches back, but sometimes you gotta go the Ren route and realize that you can’t force an epiphany. Some folks gotta hit rock bottom before they're ready to accept help, and they know where to find you when they’re ready.

And, shit, if that’s where this story goes? A+. I’d love it if Touma learned a lesson about forcing people to believe in you when they don’t yet believe in themselves. I’d be thrilled with a story where Kento has to generate his own self-worth, instead of people beating him over the head with it. But in the meantime, we’re just getting these same moments repeated over too long a timeline, where Touma comes off like a hectoring weirdo (he’s shouting the same stuff at Kento every episode!) and Kento’s martyrdom just looks like slow-motion suicide. It’s very hard to maintain interest in a storyline that keeps hitting the same notes for as long as this one has.

Boy, I’m ready for this Touma/Kento story to find a different gear.

—

SMARTER HEARTS

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...esasterful.png

catching up expect a LOT Of repaints for the remainder of the show TOEI basically gave Saber half a budget due to COVID and even if it's not as obvious this part of the show was filmed during a pandemic there are still noticable budget cuts/shortcuts you wouldn't see in any other rider show (Also at this point they were focusing their budget for the following rider show)

Yeah I can see how it can get a bit grating at this point with Kento. We're very much 10 Episodes into Kento re-emerging into the plot and there is no real clue of when it'll end on his side.

Anyway not much to say this episode other than my favorite part was absolutely Mei trying to appeal to Bahato. Like, it's just such a great comedic scene and you can see Mei trying her best! And that's all that really matters.

Also I liked Ren's duel? There's something about Ren challenging Touma... and basically getting nothing out of it in his mind.

Even if the Sword of Logos members weren't all evil, man were some just problematic. Like that dude who we see that's Ren's trainer... like... dude, you are the reason this kid is like this.

Granted who am I to say whether Ren is bad the way he is huh? He's been mostly staying out of trouble if I'm being honest. Cause even his assault against Touma wasn't that pressing of one compared to the one back during the King Megid Arc. I feel like being with Desast is doing something with Ren...

Speaking of, "Where's my pin?" stellar twitter conversation. I was wondering if you were going to bring that style back. Though speaking on Desast taking forever to update...

Sadly no Desast Walk updates as of the moment (partially because I'm skipping a few because reasons). But they will return soon!

Flying bikes aren't cheap!

It's sort of hysterical to me that Touma's like You Gotta Believe In Something and Ren's like NO I DON'T EVER HAVE TO and Touma's like Uh Good Luck With That... when Touma 10000% will not leave Kento alone with his weird martyr complex and self-loathing. Touma's cool with Ren figuring himself out on his own schedule, but turns every conversation with Kento towards the one thing that Kento explicitly told him was off the table. I guess it's because Touma just doesn't like Ren that much?

Thanks! I like thinking that Desast and Mei have an emotionally-supportive online friendship. It's my favorite made-up part of this series.