It's a great one, though I'd still also wish that people like Kanon, the original one (not Reika-esque fake Kanons) also can get this treatment. Though logically it wouldn't make sense that a Rider beginner wouldn't fare as well (albeit there's a kinda bizzare part of Kanon pushing away grunts with bare hands late in Ghost). Actually Sentais mandatorily featuring the girls as another fighter in the core team (though I didn't know how overshadowed they're compared to others, though it can apply to likely non-red Sentais), thus iirc there can be more varied type of personalities of girls who became superheroes, of which Magine is the mostly shy and meek type but can exhibit rare creepiness (from what I read).

But Kamen Rider has many of the females having supporting roles, and the ones who are made prominent Riders (as in, not one time only) are mostly the ones more cold and ruthless type (this one's a superhero who is a former supervillain but still not fully tamed now), like how the seemingly quite wide theory of Mei becoming next Espada never happened. And thus among the Riders it's more expected that Reika would be the one they gave better treatment, in fights (as she's seen as shafted for being reduced to fawning for Ryoga). Though so far Reika has never been shafted in fights, she had a spectacular debut as Sabela after all and did good job to Solomon in last Saber episode talked about here. Though KR still also can shaft these type of girls as Riders too like Yua.

I feel that it's not an unfortunate situation or something (if you'd frame it as a sad situation) that Reika has no friend before. She was a bad person before (and as fellow superheroine here, Magine looks to be the one to be more concerned about the other victims when she reported that to others), and also the type to views relationship as weakness, like when she forces Ogami to sacrifice his family to follow SoL's cause, or badmouthing Daishinji for his decision to join Touma and mocking Ogami for standing up for him. Thus it's on her to not make friends. I guess her defrosting by more openly fawning to Ryoga isn't entirely about being less quite but still rude, but on a few occassions she can make actual friends too in at least Magine.

I do think that Ryoga has more highlights in this episode, as previously I saw him mostly as male Reika who is introduced to reduce Reika into his simp (and I feel that she can do fine without him being introduced in story). Ryoga seems to start gaining his comically taciturn traits here with his disguises as well as his introductory scene. Also perhaps a more unusual take where Ryoga doesn't fit pretty boy type like many of the character subjected to crossdressing like Philip in W (but also doesn't get seen as hideous in-universe). Otherwise, other than being unfriendly, they also had the ruthlessness to attack people just because they're allies of Zox, but there are no cases of them talking about Zox's good qualities to ally with them (like Ren among Saber's cast)... I've known about the explanation before, but now the villain's schemes is more clear, to kidnap women who might look like Orihime.

While Zox very much fits the definition of pirate, I guess I'd have to say that occupations alone don't determine their morality. Like, people aren't inherently bad (or mostly bad if they have good traits) for being a part of an evil like having mafia or cult ties, or having criminal reputation, and that for the reverse, people aren't inherently good (or mostly good if they have bad traits) for being a part of 'heroic' occupations such as cops, soldiers, doctors, etc. It's not that Zox has bad traits solely because he's a pirate but as you said, his action is robbing people and reaching his goals without care.

If you've got thoughts on Zenkaiger, this is the time to share them!

I mean, agree to disagree? Reika's a jerk for her early appearances, but that doesn't mean that she couldn't be a better person by having a friend. I think everyone should have a friend?

SABER X ZENKAIGER: SUPER HERO SENKI

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

These types of Kamen Rider movies never seem to work for me as well as I’d like.

I respect the intentions. I’m a sucker for stories about how we process stories. The metatext becoming text, and interrogating the lessons these shows are trying to impart? That’s all very much my jam. I like this franchise taking itself somewhat seriously as both a behemoth that has guided Japanese children for decades, and a body of work that’s capable of withstanding adult analysis and critique. I am A-okay with Kamen Rider grappling with its status as a piece of legacy culture.

Where it starts to lose me is when it sort of just devolves into KAMEN RIDER IS GREAT AND WILL ALWAYS BE GREAT celebratory stuff. It’s these grandiose speeches about the beauty and invulnerability of Kamen Rider, coupled with an Everyone Fights At The Quarry battle scene, and all I can think is that I’m not surprised Toei feels strongly about the strength of a 50-year toy-selling juggernaut. Like, the story indulges in its superiority so uncritically all of a sudden that I feel like I’m supporting commerce more than I’m supporting art, so I can’t help but check out a little at the climax.

And, y’know, I’m not expecting the movie that’s all about honoring decades of tokusatsu to start to question how commerce and art might work at cross-purposes, or whether a major packaged-goods conglomerate is the best steward for a nation’s youth. But I just… I sort of can’t help thinking about that, as the movie pivots aways from existential dread and deep introspection, into fan service fight scenes and hastily-read catchphrases. It’s a Me problem, almost certainly, but it’s still a problem.

But everything up until my brain was like Brought To You By Toei And Bandai? That stuff was great.

Hard to go wrong when we get our first official Touma/Aruto team-up, right? The inclusion of the last few Riders made this movie feel like a bit of a make-up gift for the COVID-era restrictions, and then a little extra consideration for fans by tossing in the Den-O cast, as well. (I don’t really know the Sentai actors, but hopefully fans of that franchise enjoyed seeing them.) The minor appearances of so many different types of characters, as they’re being wedged into classic fables, helps sell the ending’s point that there’s enough uniqueness to each season’s cast and world to dodge charges that the Kamen Rider and Sentai franchises might derivatively regurgitate the same heroic morals every year. All of these goofs are so bizarre and memorable that they’ll naturally warp any boilerplate story concept into new and interesting shapes. Aruto’s going to take a story in a different direction than Touma, even if the destination is the same.

And the overall point about how we need to see our humanity in heroes in order to be more heroic ourselves, I like that a lot. Square-jawed heroes that exist above us can’t really teach us anything important; flawed heroes who battle against their own failings to become better than they started, though, that’s always going to be a compelling story. The power of the Kamen Rider franchise isn’t in its heroes’ power, or their costumes. It’s in how nobility can be found in even the darkest of places, and that we all have the ability to be a better version of ourselves. This is a movie that argues against avoiding conflict, because only through overcoming conflict do we improve as people. Perseverance through adversity leading to a better world for everyone, which is a pretty apropos sentiment for a franchise that’s been around since 1971.

I did enjoy this movie, even if the triumphant battle royale left me as cold as it always does. I can’t help thinking about the darker aspect of this sort of commercial entertainment, even as I’m dedicated to its messages and adore its characters. It’s complicated, and maybe contradictory. I hope Shotaro Ishinomori might appreciate that.

—

HEART OF A BROKEN STORY

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

Rintaro was reading something.

That wasn’t a surprise to Mei. Rintaro was basically always reading something. The few times she didn’t see him with his nose in a book when they were at the Northern Base, it was because he was on his way to get a new book.

This was different, though. He’d usually be seated at a table, or holding the book out in front of him as he stood. This time he was turned a bit into the corner, and hunched over whatever he was reading. Whatever it was, he was engrossed in it. He didn’t seem to hear her walking towards him.

So she snuck up behind him, craned her head over his shoulder to look at his book, and said “What’re you reading?”

“GAH!” he shouted unheroically. “Mei! I, uh… I didn’t hear you walk in.”

She shoved his shoulder playfully. “Yeah, obviously. What have you got there?” She could see the back of the book, pressed up against Rintaro’s chest in surprise. It was thin, and small. It looked like a zine; something hand-copied and brief.

His face immediately turned red, and he started that adorable stammer. “I, well, um, it’s, um, it’s nothing really, you wouldn’t be interested in it–”

She snatched it from his hands and looked at the cover. In blocky, hand-lettered characters it read THE STRONGEST SWORDSMAN ~ BY REN.

“Wh–” She couldn’t even fathom what this was. “What IS this?”

Rintaro snatched it back while she was stunned. “It’s… it’s probably my fault. After the battle against Asmodeous, Ren had questions. He wasn’t around for a lot of the adventure, and he didn’t seem to understand any of what Touma was talking about before the final battle. A good deal of the moral and emotional context… eluded him.”

Mei nodded. That definitely sounded like Ren.

Rintaro continued. “Well, I tried to explain it to him, but he really seemed to be fixated on the idea that we had a creator, and that we were heroes with a story, but that we could write our own stories within it. It– it was a metaphor for our own ability to determine a fate beyond what the world pushes us toward, but–”

“But it was a metaphor, and Ren doesn’t understand those,” Mei finished.

“Exactly,” Rintaro said sadly. “He kept asking me if Touma was so powerful because he wrote a story where he was powerful, and how Touma always said he’d write the end of a story before he defeated an enemy. I said that Touma’s strength did come from his creativity and–”

“And Ren wrote a story to make himself more powerful. Am I skipping to the end correctly?”

“Sadly, yes.” Rintaro looked at the cover of the short story, and shook his head. “I found it shoved under the door this morning. It is… not the best representation of Ren’s abilities and value as a swordsman. I had hoped to spare him the embarrassment of any other of his friends reading it, but…” Rintaro handed it to Mei. “I think you deserve to see it.”

She took the zine and began to page through it. It was brief, for fiction. Barely a dozen pages, and at least two of those were illustrations of Ren beheading a monster. Nearly every sentence ended in an exclamation mark. Kento was brought up repeatedly, mostly to fawn over Ren and insult Touma. Isaac… this was not a story Isaac would want to read. It was amateurish, and self-congratulatory, and barely coherent.

But it was also sort of sweet.

Ren was a lonely boy who didn’t understand the point of anything other than winning a fight. All of his self-worth was tied up in that outlook, and it had left him behind as everyone around him grew up into complicated men. He wanted to join them, but didn’t know how. So he wrote this horrible, horrible story to try and get back to where he might be loved again.

Mei sat down on the stairs of the meeting room, tears in her eyes. This stupid, simple boy wrote a story to be back in the family that he missed. It was clumsy, but it was genuine.

Rintaro sat down next to Mei, and put a consoling arm around her. “This is why I didn’t think it should be shared,” Rintaro said softly. “I’m sorry you had to see it. I don’t think his appraisal of you as a bumbling sidekick is accurate.”

Mei turned to Rintaro. “As a WHAT?!”

It's hard to me to describe how I enjoyed this movie, purely because I'd be writing way longer than I really need to on the subject. So I'll just say I really enjoyed this movie.

I will say though, that Hiroshi Fujioka's performance as Hongo (or rather himself) at the end was very heartfelt. You could tell it was the actor mostly speaking instead of the character and it worked nicely. Some of his lines were also reminiscent to the final words that appear on screen in the Ichigo 2016 Movie and I feel like that was a bit intentional.

Anyway that was a story that took many kinds of tones and turns, from slightly comedic, to emotional, back to a punchline right at the end. Really well crafted.

I really like this movie.

In part many ways it feels like a direct response to critcism of the Taisen Series in many ways.

And stems from the name Taisen roughly translates to Great War. So it would like Super Hero Great War Series. And by the title alone the core concept was always hero vs hero. And in order for the spectacle to happen often times many of the characters had to bent out of shape to allow the conflicts to happen.

In contrast this movie feel more delibrete. It has to me a more concise tone & message. And I feel all the characters are in-character even if I don't know all of them. There a sincerity I can feel wheras Taisen movie always had a rushed even a little cynical cash grab vibe. Banking on vs fights & not the story.

That not to say Senki isn't filled to the brim with fanservice & nostalgia baiting but too me it feels like it wants to tell a good story with the added bonus of fanservice rather than the Taisen movies which almost has a so good it's bad style going for it.

This is one of the few Saber and Zenkaiger pieces of media I've seen.

And yeah I really loved this film. One of the more impressive aspects to me was just how good all of the character interactions were at getting information across in terms of characterization; Giving the viewer just enough to get the general idea as well as highlighting the unique quirks of everyone involved.

The short version is that it's a movie with alot of layers, and I enjoyed it from start to finish despite my relative unfamiliarity with both shows being crossed over.

Did you just... ignore my entire comments afterwards there which right answers those?

"Before" = early appearences. And those behavior I listed there should explain by itself that it's about her early appearence for Ogami-Daishinji trouble?

I mean regarding "it's on her", is that about how I thought she'd be the one who likely would actively reject friendships or extending hands on her, and her view on relationships seemingly would drive her to do so too, thus that she herself is the one who'd distance herself from others to make a friend, not about how it's that she wants to reach out to others but get ostracized (which was what what I think for being sad unless you got another mind).

And right here I reacted that she's also getting better (though there's a typo in "quite", I meant "quiet"), I talked about how her opening up isn't only about her only getting more relaxed around Ryoga but also actually the one reaching out here by making friends with Magine. I opened it with "defrosting" too.

If you're doing this, this can make me just look like a biased hater (in general criticizing behaviors of characters seen as cool, NOT criticizing about their writing and if they're good/bad as characters, can get one look just like a hater, and I mean about early appearences here about you saying she's a jerk here, but it can be framed as her being tough).

It's a very fun movie! Definitely the best possible version of the old Taisen template.

Wow. Hey, I was just saying that I thought even unlikable characters deserve friends, and that friendships help people open up more. If Reika'd had a friend like Magine years ago, maybe she'd've been a better person when this show started. No one's saying you're "a biased hater". Take it easy, okay?

Well, I’ve got a lot to talk about for this movie. First off, I’ll start by explaining the lineups for each part of the battle.

* Saikou, Den-O, ToQ 1gou, Ex-Aid and Kiramai Red: More lighthearted comical designs and themes, with two of them being train heroes.
* Gokai Red and Zi-O: Anniversary heroes that had a large amount of continuity and tons of cameos.
* Decade and LupinRed: Decade usually partners with another gun-toting phantom thief, while Lupin Red has a passive aggressive relationship with another Tsukasa in pink.
* Kenzan, ZX, NinjaRed, HurricaneRed and AkaNinger: Ninjas.
* Battle Japan, GoggleRed, ZO and Kiva: Heroes that have partner creatures and originate outside of Japan.
* Espada, Stronger, DenziRed, Red One, and Build: Electricity and science heroes.
* Sabela, Red Racer, Go-On Red and Drive: Car-themed heroes. The exhaust smoke is where Sabela fits in.
* Slash, VulEagle, Blade, Shinken Red and Gaim: Swordfighters.
* Super-1, Red Flash, FiveRed, Fourze and Shishi Red: Space-themed heroes.
* Nigou, DynaRed, J and GoRed: Riders that used to be photographers, and Reds in a position of authority. Themes of protecting life.
- Saber, ChangeDragon, Agito, Ryuki and RyusoulRed: Dragon and knight-themed heroes (dinosaurs were originally thought to be dragons by archeologists, hence RyusoulRed’s appearance).
* ZenkaiJuran, TyrannoRanger, AbaRed, OOO and KyoryuRed: Dinosaur-themed heroes (OOO's Purple Cores being dinosaur themed).
* Buster, Red Mask, Black, RyuuRanger and GekiRed: Martial arts and a focus on super strength.
* Skyrider, Red Falcon, Red Hawk and ZyuohEagle: Flying and bird-themed heroes.
* ZenkaiVroon, Black RX, Red Turbo, BoukenRed and W: Adventure and learning-themed heroes.
* Durandal, Mega Red, TimeRed, Faiz and Kabuto: Time and speed heroes.
* Blades, ZenkaiGaon, Amazon, GingaRed and GaoRed: Lion and animal-themed heroes.
* Riderman, OhRed, DekaRed, Hibiki and Patren 1gou: Mentor-themed Riders, and police-themed Reds.
* ZenkaiMagine, MagiRed, Gosei Red, Wizard and Ghost: Magic and supernatural-themed heroes.
* Zenkaizer, Twokaizer, Akarenger, Spade Ace and Red Buster: Zenkaizer working with the first two Sentai (one of which he was based on), and Twokaizer working with the one that came after the one he was based on.
* Ichigo, V3, Kuuga, Zero-One and Saber: Saber working with the first Riders of each era. V3 and Saber are also both the protagonists of the series after the first of their era.

Next up, back when this movie came out, myself and dreamcastergirl did a play by play of our thoughts on it, and rather than simply consult it to get the memory back, I decided to reproduce (a tatstefully edited version of) the conversation here.

DCG: Here we go
Ah I can see sandman clearly now
[Redacted for spoilers]
So happy

Me: Yes, this is where the costumes originated

DCG: Oh
I had no idea
Shows how in the loop I have been

Me: To be honest, I had to look it up.

DCG: Haha
Why is Touma complaining. Isn’t he just putting off work lol

Me: I want to see what Kento got up to in the Carranger/Black RX/Drive hybrid world.

DCG: Yeah, I would have been up for that
Hmm, I think I did this better lol
I think Rintaro is kind of adorable in this so far
I like Touma’s jacket lol

Me: I think this is the first time in a while Yuri directly turns into the sword

DCG: Asumu

DCG: (reply to my last comment) Oh I forgot he did that
Oh
The tower from Dragon Ball actually had a point there
(Emojis)
Sophia has a pretty loose grip on reality

Me: Asmodeus confirmed most OP character ever

DCG: The kid does not draw like Ishinomori at all

Me: Meanwhile, at the Kyoto stage

DCG: So is Buster just not going to be in this properly?

Me: I assume he got into his own misadventure offscreen

DCG: But he is the main character hahah
Unexpected

Me: Slightly less unexpected

DCG: Hahaha
Bunch of weirdos
Why is Kintaros Pigsy lol
Someone is definitely stopping hem from making it to the west haha

Me: Given the presence of Rinshi, it must be the Chinese

DCG: We’ll there is the obligatory Den-o moment I guess

Me: It’s Ninja enemy time

DCG: Doggy,
Hahah
I liked the Megaraper
I have. I idea what is going on here

Me: They’re reenacting Satomi Hakkenden with Kyuranger characters in the supporting roles, it seems

DCG: Maybe it’s because I don’t recognise so many of the cameos
I really am not a fan of the Owner

Me: You should recognise these guys…. I think

DCG: Oh is it the Shinkenger guys?
I did not recognise KirameiBlue at all hahahah
This doesn’t look like India at all

Me: wow that grunt was a douche

DCG: Why did they use the worst Zi-o armour

Me: This is the closest we get to an official Saber/01 crossover

DCG: I guess… well… I don’t know, I still don’t really like Aruto

Me: I love how the Kamen Rider J book Zyuran has is bigger than the others

DCG: I thought that was cute too haha
Oh I forgot this show had all these guys in it
Where are we?
Lol
As if they need to ask
I liked the Juran and Momo moment lol

Me: Hey Saber World, Swartz called, he wants his plan back

DCG: This is even lighter on plot than I expected, you know
See, Asmodeus is not a bad guy after all
I feel this way about the Heisei era too lol
Just rip it up

Me: Man he drew Zenkaiser and Blades quickly
Quick, skip to the end

DCG: This film is not doing it for me

Me: This is where it gets weird

DCG: Unreal World
This is green screen
I do not get this
Is he a child?

Me: Basically, Ishinomori stopped wiriting as a kid and now everyone lives in a mundane world

DCG: Or unwell…

DCG: (responding to my last comment) Oh!
Um… yeah…
The weird camera and the green screen are nauseating

Me: I did say it gets weird here

DCG: It is a bit… surreal
But not clever surreal, just trying to ape the style of Evangelion surreal
I like the message but ah,,
This isn’t for me
How does Touma function every day with this knowledge
This kind of changes everything
That is not a good angle for Luna

Me: And we’re back to reality, with an evil army that only has one major villain in it

DCG: Hahah, the grunts for promoted
Oh yay
Back to original armour
YAKYU KAMEN

Me: Tonight, the role of Masked Rider Shin will be portrayed by a mannequin
Where’s he been the whole story?

DCG: What the heck
At last. (Buster emoji)

Me: ‘Modern Rider is too much like Sentai’

DCG: I haven’t liked any of the music in this so far

Me: The logos should clear up whos fighting who

DCG: I don’t know how I feel about the logos
Tiny J
Red Falcon and Yakyu Kamen in the same shot

Me: You also get Buster and Black in the same fight

DCG: It’s like Toei is reading my stories
Hibiki sounded really weird

Me: Most of these guys are voice doubles

DCG: Yeah, I guessed as much
I like the Akibaranger mention
Could have done more with it though
Some self awareness from toei there

Me: I bet they saved a ton by shooting this close up

DCG: Oh yeah for sure
I guess more than a little bit that COVID came into it too

Me: Revice cameo over. Time for robot battle

DCG: I guess the Revice cameo wasn’t the worst
Ah I miss the old model shots

Me: Legit think this suit looks better than the one they cannibalised to make it.

DCG: Yeah, I think that looks fairly cool
Imagine if one of those books had hit Sophia in the face though
Ichigo is as amazing as ever
I Thought …. The end was good?
H,mmm

Me: Yeah, this is more okay than anything really amazing.

DCG: a lot of was less than amazing lol

Me: Though I do have an idea involving the Saber World.

DCG: I thought the Zi-o film did a better job of covering the same themes.

And next up, is my usual theme for Saber.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=wH6m7rfvFRs

Throughout the ages, the heroes’ tales of battle all come together into one story.

Heroes never die, heroes live forever.

And finally, with the debut of Revice, comes the debut of my feature for Revice when you get around to watching it.

Ikki: It’s Ikki’s…

Vice: And Vice’s…

Both: Stamp Navi!

Ikki: And today’s stamp is this one!

Megalodon

https://youtube.com/watch?v=G4tqboOpkJY

Dive Boom Boom! Ready, go! Splash! Megalodon! Just a passing through h-h-h-hunter!

Ikki: This Vistamp increases Revice’s combat efficiency with punches. The Divine Fins on its arms can be used in close combat.

Vice: It’s also got some wicked cool water generation powers, allowing for some neat sliding attacks.

???: Hey, hey, hey!

Enter a man in a lab coat with glasses.

Man with glasses: This Vistamp’s basis was… this guy.

(Cut to stock footage montage)

Tsukasa: Just a passing through Kamen Rider. Remember that!

KamenRide: Decade!

MWG: The destroyer of worlds, Decade. He travels through Alternate Rider Worlds to guide the heroes in their quests. His Dimension attacks are really powerful

[B][I]Final AttackRide: D-D-D-Decade![B][I]

(Back to present)

Vice: Hey, who’s this guy?

Ikki: Vice! I can’t believe you forgot the guy who made us both Riders. How could you forget Geo-?

MWG: It’s okay. I haven’t been introduced properly yet. It’s only fair he pretends not to know me until I actually debut.

Vice: I knew we were starting this feature way too early.

Ikki: Anyway, we hope you enjoy the next instalment.

Vice: (despondent) We’re already cancelled.

Fish Sandwich also watched Super Hero Senki

This is one of my favorite toku movies ever. I could go on about this thing endlessly, which is itself one of the reasons I love it so much. This'll be super disorganized, but I think I'm just going to pick random topics for a bit here before hopefully talking about how that all comes together to form the bigger picture.

First things first -- the score is REALLY good! It's not every day that the background music in one of these movies immediately jumps out at me to this level, but there's a ton of clear effort put into this one, and I think it's one of the keys to why the film flows so smoothly. Music for a film, it's ideally not simply about sounding good, but how it helps communicate the story to the viewer, and this one does that great as the narrative flows from beat to beat, especially in how it makes use of motifs in great spots. Allow me to get a little Kiva here and share some of that stuff right now to help illustrate.

There's the theme for the film itself, which first comes in just a bit at the end of this track, right as the title card appears:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDznCXC8tYY

And then right before the climax, it comes back in a little slower and more dramatically as Touma reveals the literal Super Hero Senki book in the film, leading us into the prelude of the big climax, with the theme coming in again, this time at absolute triumphant full force as we finally get the entire line-up of every lead Rider and Sentai Red there's ever been.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9A17dY0tTqA

So all that stuff is great, but also, as a Saber fan, it really does right by that show in how it makes use of the titular character's own motif in spots. It's there like normal for the big Rider roll call of course, but before that, it's used to excellent effect to help sell the drama as Touma deals with the revelations of this movie's darkest hour. First, you get this like, broken version of it, as Touma and Mei find out their entire story is exactly that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrKw2GuK-bA

Then, as Touma resolves to face that story, it starts to kick back in again, almost building up to its usual more triumphant sound, before getting just that bit more melancholic and slow again as Luna appears, and Touma is reminded exactly what he's giving up to do this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAMTr7nAH34

And the whole film is like that! Not merely music that fits the scene, but very considered compositions that go out of their way to match the exact emotional tone of a given beat within each scene, whether it's briskly-paced fun action or those more wistful dramatic moments. Saber's composer and the two from Zenkaiger are all credited on Super Hero Senki, and they all did a wonderful job with it.

Oh, and since I've got all those thumbnails sitting there, can I just take a second to mention how much I love the posters for this movie? Like, the cool blue color is nice, everyone's doing awesome poses... they did the whole cheeky thing where Revice is just on there like it's no big deal, even though nothing about that show had been officially revealed yet? Like, a lot of us just thought the pink guy was named Kamen Rider Revice! Really fun visual to represent the movie.

Plus, speaking of this movie and fun visuals, Ryuuta Tasaki! He was Zenkaiger's main director, which unfortunately means he didn't get to do any episodes of Saber, but thanks to this film, I still got to see him applying his usual ludicrous amount of talent to these characters I love so much. The shots and the editing and everything strictly visual about Super Hero Senki, it's all the same stuff I just said about the score. The way it flows is impeccable, and it always does a fantastic job helping the viewer through the narrative by enhancing whatever emotion the script is going for at that moment. There are more slick little shots in this movie than I could possibly call out all at once, which makes rewatching it a huge treat, because just when you think you've noticed them all, you'll realize how sweet some other new visual is.

And this movie is seriously rewatchable! There's so much detail packed into every scene that I'm consistently still discovering new things every time I go back to it. Even though I haven't had the time to outright rewatch Saber for this thread, I couldn't help but give Super Hero Senki another go, and I only just now figured out Shiguru makes a cute reference to his most iconic bit from Kiramager, for example. Oh yeah, and I've rewatched this thing a ton? You'll already know this from my original post about the movie if you read it, but I was kind of instantly obsessed with Super Hero Senki as soon I saw it, to the point where I saw it again, and again, and again. There are just so many dang layers to this movie -- so much action and fanservice crammed in there, so many different themes the story touches on, so many fun character interactions -- it's hard to get tired of it.

Like, here, just as one thematic thing: Touma encouraging a young Shoutarou Ishinomori really gets at a lot of stuff that hits me pretty deep as someone who cares about art the way I do. Shoutarou talks about his views on fighting, and how that informs the heroes he tries to create, making them feel as much evil as good, leading to this simple exchange:

"That's no hero at all!"
"No, Shoutarou. That's the kind of hero only you can draw."

And that's so beautiful! You've got a young Ishinomori worried he's doing something wrong because his ideas for stories don't conform perfectly to the expected tropes and conventions of the genre, and Touma telling him in no uncertain terms that his unique voice as an individual is exactly why he *should* be expressing those thoughts in his stories. How much value there is in that honesty.

That's just one level that scene -- which is clearly a highlight of the entire film -- is operating on, and I could dig into this stuff for a long while yet, but I'd imagine you're all getting the gist of how much I adore Super Hero Senki by this point. I see it very much as a sort of sister film to Over Quartzer, which I adore for a lot of similar reasons (excellent Tasaki direction and a very Shirakura story, namely), but Senki's broader scope and the two shows it's primarily pulling from mean I probably enjoy this one even more? Like, it's got Saber, so of course I do, but I don't know -- words fail to truly do justice to how much affection I have for this. It's kinda like when I talk about Magine that way!

I already linked the whole post up top like always, but just for the sake of it, I'm going to repeat here the same note I left that post on, because it's about as good a summary as I can give of my opinions on this film.

A lot of good things have already been said about this film, so I can only join in. The best crossover rider and sentai, one of the best crossover rider and definitely deserves a place in my top movies. I love watching it too.
I also want to note that the creators of SHS found themselves in a difficult position. On the one hand, the 50th anniversary of the franchise required a big story, and the very nature of Saber and Zenkaiger implied a meta-commentary. On the other hand, Generations Forever and Over Quartzer were already a love letter from the riders to their viewers, and by adding Sentai they risked breaking the 4th wall Taisen, which they clearly didn't want. Therefore, it was decided to turn to Shotaro Ishinomori and create a film for him and about him. Hence the details like the mention of characters that look angry or Shotaro from the movie being embarrassed in front of Mei because she fits his favorite type of heroine.
I also want to mention Asmodeus. In such a big crossover, the villain is doomed to remain in the shadows, but his plan was not bad, and the moment when he points Shotaro to the fighting heroes and asks if he likes what he sees is very good. Indeed, what better way to make a person give up on superheroes than to throw him into their world? Especially during another global fan-service brawl.
In addition, I note that in this film, Saber becomes the most important hero in the franchise, because it is he who inspires Shotaro to return to creativity, which means that without his intervention there would be no riders, no sentai, not even Zubat. Amazing if you think about it!
So I will repeat once again that I love this film and finally I will drop my favorite shot from there. Even though it has nothing to do with Saber or even riders, it doesn't change how good this moment is:
https://i.ibb.co/n7bR49V/So-Cringy-I...ally-Hurts.png
Fanfiction is also very good, to match this wonderful movie.

https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...744&height=418

10/10 crossover no notes.

But yeah, I appreciate how this film basically takes the exact same starting point as the Zi-O/Build crossover ("Kamen Rider may be fictional, but we're important to something to someone, which means we're not meaningless!") and puts its own spin on things. Not just by being really fun, but by directly involving Ishinomori and Touma's own voice as a writer, it perfectly aligns.

Also, I get what you're saying, about the final battle being a long string of catchphrases (said by some incrdibly bad sound-alikes, Jesus Toei, was your stock library being cleaned that day?) being Toei boasting about how Kamen Sentai is the best thing ever, but I've been thinking about it - Sure, Rider/Sentai might from one angle be a tool to sell impressionable kids some merch, but also, merchandising franchises come and go. These characters, and indeed those catchphrases, wouldn't mean anything to anyone if the writers and characters and stories were just a vessel to sell toys in the minds of everyone. That probably ties into how nostalgia is used in modern media as a crutch vs as inspiration, which is something equally deep as the intersection between art and selling toys. Idk, I'm no sociologist.

Seriously though they had the Akibarangers on screen in 2021 for their 10th birthday and everything I am not immune to nostalgia

Very cute story! And thanks for all the info!

Wow! Thanks so much for the in-depth thoughts! This was a pretty fun film to engage with (the entire Real World sequence in the middle is maybe a Saber-era highlight for me, despite not really unpacking it here, time has been not helpful), and it's fun to see many folks sharing their memories here.

Touma Inspired Sentai And Kamen Rider is an incredibly weird thing to think about, but I don't hate the writer Rider having a greater significance than any other hero.

I mean, it's a messy thing to try and untangle, because art and commerce have been intertwined for as long as capitalism has been a thing, and even before that. You're not going to be able to reach an entire nation for decades unless someone's paying for it.

And, yeah, people have been using the power of major companies to stealthily finance personal visions for about as long as patronage has existed, so there's no denying that any (or all) of these tokusatsu shows have high-minded morals and deeply-felt ideologies that are being transmitted alongside a demonstration of the new Q2 toy line.

It's a hard thing to explain, where it starts to tip into feeling like I'm being asked to support a company more than a story, but: the end of that statement, I guess. I love Kamen Rider stories, and I appreciate the franchise, but I don't love Toei or Bandai. There's a transitive property-style thing that it feels like the movie might accidentally wander into during some of the stirring defenses of a pair of world-class tokusatsu franchises, and it makes me a little less excited.

Though the movie had the franchises being mocked as recycling the same premises over and over, but it's coming from the big bad. Asmodeus claiming that everyone can be protagonist including him is true though, there can be villain protagonists. I'd say though, kinda wish that Saber perhaps would have this kind of premise in the actual series of entering stories or such like in this movie. Mei seems to be real intrigued with Shotaro Ishinomori and his works here. I kinda like it that Shotaro Ishinomori's work is related with Mei's job, of her suggesting to have his comic got noticed by her editor. The authors are described as the gods of the stories, and Shotaro Ishinomori displayed his invulnerability inside, though it's used against him by Asmodeus to demotivate him and erase every heroes.

You mean, the Arutouma team up ~ (why next protagonist name didn't start with "ma"). I guess the other parts outside of Saber and Zenkaiger (the ones who aren't the part of final ensemble) like Zi-O or Den-O is the "Super Hero Senki" part on the title too. Unfortunately, this movie seems to have more focus on Kamen Riders, for Sentai fans, with them not getting a lot of screentime. About Touma thinking that he makes the characters suffer in his story compared to his real life Kamen Rider work, that'd seem like a view of not separating fiction and reality, of which it's often discouraged. As it's pointed out that there are stories where the characters don't suffer, that'd mean perhaps Touma has room of improvement as an author to get more perspectives in writing.

About the term of flawed heroes, that's usually used by fanbase to refer those who have awful or nasty traits, while people like Arutouma are (mistakenly) viewed as perfect and flawless due to them having little to no negative traits. Wonder if you'd also include the likes of them or most other main Riders among the flawed heroes, because it's true that being a nice guy doesn't mean they're flawless, but gotta have a distinction about their type of flawed to the ones more morally flawed. I'd also think for the people who witness heroes, this is a reminder to not have impossible expectations of a hero and like, not immediately ditch or purge them (doesn't mean no criticize) when they don't meet your expectations. Stories can be conveyed in varied things though, the paragon types who are above humanity can provide alternate perspective to view the conflict in, providing some other themes and premises through their perspective.

Well, it's a bigger Kamen Rider anniversary (50 vs 45), so it's more reasonable to have Saber take the lead. There've been a few of the old Taisen movies that felt more Sentai-focused (the Fourze one!!!), so it's not like this is an all the time thing. I'm sure we'll have a Sentai/Rider movie for Sentai's 50th that'll probably be less Rider-focused.

Worth noting that later that year, one of Zenkaiger’s 4 G-Rosso stage shows was a celebration of 50 years of Toei Tokusatsu, which was mostly focused on Sentai (the representation for other series amounted to Kamen Rider and Metal Heroes getting three of their Legends (Ichigou, V3 and Black for the former, Gavan, Fire and Blue Beet for the latter) showing up for the final battle.

TTFC DIRECT THEATER: KAMEN RIDER SABER ACT 2 - “SAVE EVERYONE, SABER & BLADES!”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/saber/ttfc2a.png

Cute! Fun! That’s… basically it?

I don’t even remember what I wrote about the last one of these, and it’s too late at night for me to investigate. (AEW Revolution was a very long PPV.) Arisa is a fun addition to the formula, but we’re still in a very stunt-heavy Kamen Rider Saber stage-show-by-any-other-name, so the story is simple, if still charming in its simplicity. There’s really nothing here other than the lightness of the material, which – in all honesty – totally a highlight. The threat is goofy, the victory is assured, and the effort involved is minimal. It’s 15 minutes of thrills, the end.

I liked it, though, for what it was. Nothing that made me work too hard to dig out subtext, ‘cause there really isn’t any. Saber and Blades save the girl, and Blades has to fend off a new admirer. Good enough for a late night Saber escapade!

—

ON THE BUBBLE

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/saber/ttfc2b.png

“...okay, there we were, frozen in little bubbles, while an ant monster threatened our lives.”

“Uh huh.”

“But then a superhero named Kamen Rider Blades showed up to save us!”

“Uh huh.”

“But he didn’t.”

“Uh huh.”

“But then Kamen Rider Saber showed up to save us!”

“Uh huh.”

“Except he had to fight Blades to save some lady who’d been turned into an ant monster.”

“Uh huh.”

“But then he beat Blades, saved the lady, and freed all of us from our bubble prisons!”

“...So what you’re telling me is that you STILL didn’t order the pizza.”

I legitimately have nothing on these other than what my theory was last time. So like...

That story! Very simplistic and i honestly don't blame you for basically doing I'm assuming a play by play of what happened via one of the audience members. What got me at the end was the punchline purely because I seem to recall mention of a dude not ordering the pizza from way back when.

Now that's what I like to call a callback.

Ha ha, glad you liked it. It's... I don't remember the episode, but it's the one where Tassel's on the phone with someone off-screen. That poor couple is never going to get their goddamn pizza!

This Act is made in the same way as the first, only with the addition of Blades. So I'll just add that the girl in this episode is Naomi Majima from the same agency as Angela May. And since we are talking about Zeroichi Familia, I will share their poster, which looks very cool:
https://i.ibb.co/R2874rR/zeroichi-familia.jpg
Fanfiction is funny.

Still neat to be experiencing a Saber thing for the first time, but beyond that, yeah I can't think of much to squeeze out of this either. Which makes it sound bad, but of course, it's totally solid light entertainment. With Rintarou this time! I think that automatically makes this sequel the superior installment? At any rate, I still think the whole conceit of using viewer-submitted clips to make the audience part of the story is cute, not that it's any real focus here.

Neat! I think the main lady is from a Sentai? I don't know anyone else in that poster (I don't think?), but I wish them well in their creative endeavors.

It doesn't hurt! I love how Rintaro is almost eager to eat a loss from Saber, more content with a team win than any glory for himself. He's right back in that early-series "Boyle from Brooklyn 9-9" role as Touma's delighted and deferential sidekick, which is kinda nice to touch back on this late in the show's run.

KAMEN RIDER SABER EPISODE 40 - “THE SHINING FRIENDSHIP, OF THREE SWORDSMEN”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/saber/saber40a.png

The Book of Omniscience is a device that makes other stories subservient to it. Solomon is a character that sees everyone as a minor tool to further his own greatness. These are both things that act against the central thesis of this series: that the world is full of individual stories, each with their own author, and we only succeed by embracing that diversity.

It’s a fun way of thoroughly defeating and disgracing Isaac. He gets humiliated in this episode, from the theme song to the end credits, from Storious talking over him to Storious evaporating him. But the main thrust of this episode is all in how Isaac can’t possibly win against the teamwork of Saber, Blades, and Espada.

They’re all in sync in this one (struggling not to say “on the same page”), where even their basic teamwork is able to overcome the majority of Solomon’s attacks. The three of them are unified in their goals, and able to understand what each of them brings to the table. They know each other so well that the moves effortlessly bleed into one another; the camerawork lingers on the moments of transition, like when Blades ducks slightly to open a lane for Espada. There’s cohesion in their fighting that overcomes whatever cheap tricks Solomon can pull.

The twist is that Solomon can now infect the Wonder Ride Books, turning swordsmen into his puppets. He only uses them to cause chaos, which is about as simplistic as you’d expect from him at this point. He’s never been able to see his underlings as anything other than disciples and cannon fodder, so it follows that he’d basically point them at a target and then wander off. In contrast to their stunning teamwork of earlier, the possessed swordsmen swing like drunken zombies, flailing and screaming and generally being incredibly bad at actually damaging an immune Saber. (Durandal fares better in the Southern Base. Instead of blaming his opponents, let’s just say that the smaller arena gave him an edge?)

But, again, this is a show that fights back against predetermined narratives. The concept of losing your own point of view, your personal story, is anathema to this world’s themes. This show isn’t about similarities, it’s about differences. Shoehorning every character into a single narrative misses the point of their uniqueness, and how their differences allow for a greater potential.

Even the new Saber upgrade… it’s this show’s version of Trinity Form, but it keeps all three guys separate. That’s the point. It’s three individuals working in unison, but operating in separation. It’s three points of view collaborating on one success. It’s Featuring Saber; Saber’s just the most prominent member of a team that he needs at his side to be his best.

Boy, I just thought this was the smartest episode. Absolutely on-point new form, and a thematically consistent repudiation of everything Solomon was about. Very happy with how this one turned out.

—

LINES IN THE SUIT

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/saber/saber40b.png

It was weird how many new superhero outfits Touma got.

Mei had known him for a couple years, and seen him wear maybe a half-dozen outfits before joining the Sword of Logos: billowy pantsuits and pastel shirts and so many hats. Terrible, pretty much across the board. She wondered how he even found some of these shirts. Who makes a front and back cape?

But even with the breadth of cut and color, Touma’s fashion landed pretty firmly on just a few outfits. (Mei supposed that when your style was as unique as Touma’s, new additions to your wardrobe were infrequent.) That all changed when he became a swordsman, though.

Today was… Mei lost count of how many new armors that Touma had manifested over the last year. Twelve? Fifteen? Some she’d heard about in passing, most she’d seen first-hand. Primitive Dragon. Emotional Dragon. Elemental Primitive Dragon. Crimson Dragon. Dragonic Knight. Was there one where he was a hedgehog? Did she remember that right?

This new one, Featuring Saber… she liked it. She liked the whole starfield motif of the new suit, Xross Saber, and this one was equally pleasant to look at. She liked how it matched well with Rintaro and Kento’s uniforms; Touma’s fashion sense precluded wearing any uniform that the other two would be caught dead in, but this new armor made him look like he was on the same team as his friends. She approved.

It was strange that Touma should get so many new armors, and other guild members would get so few. She hadn’t seen Daishinji or Ogami or Ren in anything but the first armors they wore, which felt a little weird. She wondered if they were less powerful. Or, maybe it was a choice? Daishinji’s suit was high-class; she couldn’t imagine him wanting to lose it.

The important thing, as far as Mei was concerned, was that Touma kept getting new armors. Hopefully, one of the new designs would teach him what actually looked good on his tall frame. Maybe he’d understand why the universe hadn’t manifested Kamen Rider Saber - Culottes Dragon for him yet…

And so we have, as Storious put it, a "truly laughable and miserable... yet beautiful" end for Isaac.

The man showing his cards this early while Storious kept to the background made it clear that Isaac was only going to be a speed bump, and he did his job rather well. I really enjoyed Isaac as this sort of 3/4ths of the way through antagonist as he inadvertently got everyone on the same side because of his actions. You talking about Isaac's differences and inability to understand things beyond what he knows is also very accurate and I do like that about him.

And it's clear the man was not going to even learn from his defeat this time. So long as he could restore the Omniforce Book, he was going to keep at it for as long as he took, going further and further into a screaming tantrum, even more so than he did at the end here.

Featuring Saber is also a really nice suit. We got a taste of this before with Dragon Hedgehog Peter, and Dragon Alangina, but now we get a true trinity form between Saber, Blades, and Espada. It's a really cool suit that just works nicely in the Xross Saber colors.

Shoutout to my favorite directed moment of this episode though. In which Luna says "They all get along really well, after all" in reference to Touma and his friends. Only to hard cut immediately to a possessed Rintaro and Kento slashing into Touma who's shouting at them to stop. Like absolute props to the people who put together this episode, I don't know if you wanted me to laugh, but I laughed so hard when that scene came up.

As for our story... a nice little one about Touma and his many outfits, both in and out of suit.

It had to be intentional, and it's one of the funniest gags in the entire series. She's very heartfelt in her desire to protect Touma's precious friendship... with two dudes who are wailing on him with swords. It's a solid gag!

Well, exit Isaac. I don’t know about you, But I saw Storious taking over the big bad spot as far back as Episode 32 (indeed, if you read the fic I shared after episode 30, there’s a point in it with the two together where one reviewer on FF.Net pointed out that Storious was clearly the one in control of things). Though from a more canonical viewpoint, the whole reason his plan got any further than “wait for them all to die or have their swords sealed” was because Storious blew up the Northern Base’s barrier.

And in that same conversation where I mentioned Isaac’s motives to my brother, I also mentioned Storious’s, to which he responded “So, he’s insane?”

Fish Sandwich also watched Kamen Rider Saber Episode 40

It probably goes without saying this is another one I particularly adore. Like, when I think of how much I love the really early episodes of Saber, I always think of that promise between Touma, Rintarou, and Kento (and Mei), so it's only natural when I think of how much I adore the later stretch of the series, my mind often goes to Featuring Saber's single yet extremely memorable appearance. We're at the point in the story where all the swordsmen have managed to overcome everything that was keeping them apart to become this epic team of heroes, and few things are as emblematic of that as this particular episode, where a villain who was previously an unconquerable threat, playing the entire cast with his sinister scheming, is reduced to an ineffectual bumbler who can't do anything to get in the way of these people and their bonds anymore.

It's pretty much perfect, and I think Die put it at least as well as I could. Everything in this episode just fits, and it's also directed by Ishida, because, again, pretty much in heaven by this point. In my post from the time, I'm weirdly critical of the stuff that isn't directly about the Three Musketeers, but like, I even look back on that stuff quite fondly in retrospect? There's just way too much to like about this one to waste time asking more from it. Solomon needing to get defeated three times in a row could've felt redundant, but much more so than 39, this one does an incredible job making all that extra humiliation feel truly fitting for what Saber as a show is all about.

(I do wonder if it slightly dampens the impact of finally seeing Espada again that Die watched the Senki stuff first though? Like, clearly not, given the glowing opinion of the episode, but it is worth noting this was originally the first time we'd seen him in action since Kento gave up being Calibur, which only makes the triumphant feel of the story here that much more palpable.)

You're right, it's Yodonna from Kiramager! Yeah, I don't recognize anybody else besides her and Reika either, most of them look like live-action Sailor Heroines or something.

This is the episode where Isaac completely lets his delusions of godhood go to his head, like to Shin Dan Kuroto Kami-sama levels of delusional. Storious was nice enough to let him crash at the Megid base and even he's not spared from Isaac's insanity. I guess this is a moral that can be applied even to villains, that you should still treat your fellow villains with respect if you don't want them to betray you later. In the end, Isaac was only playing at god and he died without fanfare, pathetically, making way for Storious to reveal himself as the true final arc villain.

Anyway, humorous story, the scene where Touma, Rintarou, Mei and Kento did their swordpile was first revealed in a magazine and at first glance I thought Mei was holding a new Seiken Sword, before realizing a minute later that I was looking at a stick. :lol Even though this episode debunked MeiEspada theory, I was still hoping Mei would become a Swordsman. Now that I think about it, Touma had Rekka spare, he could've at least let her borrow that for a few seconds to make the swordpile look more official!

While I like the design of Featuring Saber for sure, like all Xross Saber's form changes, I think Rintarou and Kento mimicking his moves in the background made it look a little silly to me. Not sure why Blades even got de-henshined, as Lion Senki was only removed from the Hissatsu Holder, not the Seiken SworDriver. Like, it's only so Espada doesn't get overshadowed due to his lack of power-ups, but then it's like him and Blades get overshadowed by Featuring Saber anyway. I definitely preferred Zi-O Trinity as the more literal example, although I don't like the suit.

I think for me it was when Storious watched Isaac set up his laser lightshow at Promise Park, whichever episode that was. The show took pains to let you know that Storious had just been handed the blueprint for Isaac's masterplan, which made Isaac superfluous.

I think the Durandal stuff works in this context because Solomon can't even control his two formerly most loyal lieutenants, the folks that were the instruments of his will for a dozen episodes or more. Seeing the heroes collectively overcome his power in the Southern Base, the seat of his former authority, is kind of a great companion piece to the forest beatdown. Dude's losing on boards he forgot he was playing on!

I can't say it bothered me, no. Kento had already rejoined the team two episodes prior; the suit's just a suit to me.

In almost every other circumstance of the Female Sidekick getting an official role, I'd agree with you... but not here. I like the point the show's sort of making that editing is a useful skill on its own merits -- it's not lesser than writing. Mei doesn't write in the way that Touma does, but her ability to help shape his work and steer his direction is arguably the thing that makes him effective, the thing that separates art from trash. She's doing great as the manager of these superheroes! There's no shame in that role!

Sure, Mei's an amazing character in her own right and not being a Rider doesn't make me love her any less. I just think it would be cool, is all.

Great episode. The final defeat and death of Isaac, marking the beginning of the final arc. Great job by the three main characters. And when Mei joins them with a stick... well, just for the sake of this stick, she should not be made a rider (although if some semi-canonical special happens, where she is allowed to wave a sword, I will only be happy).
Also, this is the episode where the Reika actress likes her acting. I generally liked the Ryoga-possessed mayhem at South Base, which works both as a boost to Shindai sympathy and as a reminder that veteran riders have not gone anywhere, even if they have been hanging around lately.
Overall, I love this episode.


Very funny fanfiction. Laughed while reading.
Also, I looked at your viewing plan and I have a little advice/remark. Would you like to watch Sword of Logos Saga before the end of the show? It's just that it's mostly showing the events in and before the show from Isaac's point of view (of course, with small but important additions). And it seems to me that after the finale, this mini-series will not be as interesting as while the unfortunate villain Isaac is still fresh in memory.

There is always the possibility of rushing to TTFC. Both personal and crossover like Girl Remix. My ideal is a dream, like that W episode where Akiko became a rider. If that wasn't effective enough, she could get some Dream Sword that doesn't exist in the real world. But it seems that I am already wandering into the territory of fanfiction.

About Isaac's god complex, Rintaro's speech to him is golden, that actually what'd make him closer to god was when he was an outwardly admirable figure to the SoL members, like how Rintaro practically worshipped him, but with his true colors revealed, now he's the one who abandoned godhood as no one would revere him as such anymore. And Isaac's much more sensitive than expected facing people's scorn against him. And this cements Storious as the real big bad of the series, actually. As Storious said, Isaac's death is well-deserved as well as being poetic justice of everything this irredeemable monster has pulled off.

So yeah, this episode was about power of friendship in teamwork where, the heroes beat the villains due to what leads to them "ganging up" on the villain. Though Xross Saber already beating Solomon before was talked below. Other than that, Isaac is the opposite of Touma (at least early one), where Touma is someone who isn't that good in swordmanship, but has excellent imagination to make up by his unusual and creative battle tactics, Isaac is a master swordsman (albeit with lack of burden in his blade) but has no imagination to only use Omni Force to constantly spam brute force moves, compared to Xross Saber using magic carpet for example.

The Shindai siblings seem to further open up to others here, with Durendal asking for Slash and Buster to finish him off to end this madness, and that after this ends, Ryoga once again expresses his gratitude with a little smile and even Reika doing the same. And this episode had Kento validating his father's actions.... to portray his extremist methods as him being self-sacrificing and noble. It's true that both Hayato and Kamijo are much better people than Isaac, but this is another kind of vindicating parents or the lesser evil (to Isaac), unlike Zi-O's quiz arc.

I'd think that the fight is also like Ex-Aid Hyper Muteki w/ anyone or Zero-Two w/ anyone against the main threat where, upgrades aren't really needed and they hard carry the battle where their much weaker teammate has no problem with the much stronger villains. And actually at the beginning I found disappointment that Xross Saber ends up only relying on his swordmanship to fight Solomon (who does the same), but later there are at least more tricks displayed between those 2.

"Mei isn't the Reika type of female, so there'd be no chance for her being the one appointed to action".

I recall some MeiEspada theorists changed to MeiCalibur after seeing that new shot in the OP with 10 Swordsmen facing the big glowing purple guy, as it got people speculating about Who's Calibur? Part 3. At this point, I just wanted her to wield a Seiken Sword. Any Seiken Sword. At least once.

I didn't watch Girls Remix due to my strong dislike of the two protagonists, but if Mei was in it, as a Rider, I would've been tempted. If it happens in a future TTFC special or something, I'll watch it.

Imagine them creating an ice Seiken for Mei to wield. XD

Blades already has a Long Get on the ice element, with Tategami Hyoujyu Senki.

It's understandable with Aguilera, but you should at least get to know Dark Tackle before disliking her :) Just kidding, of course I understood everything. But those who watched admit that it was not necessary to put Jeanne in the title of this mini-series.

I think it's more about the lack of a divine in her name ;)

Logic

I forgot to mention that the SoL could draw on the powers of Tategami and cause what I described earlier. Also, the idea of Mei getting ice was really supposed to be a reference to her crush on Rintaro.

One of them is probably the actress who played Yoko, the slightly crazy monster expert on Ultraman Z. I have no idea which one because my facial recognition game is not what it used to be.