Just wanted to give a heads up aside from Zero One for obvious reasons this show was the most affected by COVID it does a lot of things to ensure actors don't have to be on set together early on plus another heads up this show is written by the same person who wrote Ghost for the first half especially the first arc, as such expect a lot of stupidity in said arc IMO this show has the opposite problem as Build/Revice and the same problem as Drive the first frew arcs of the show is the worst part of it by far it does become really good once you get to the 20ies but you have to sit through a lot of trash to get to that point

Gotcha! Stay safe!

Thanks for the heads-up!

So I forgot that this was the first episode with Kento and Ogami and Other Guy That I Won't Name Because Maybe Spoilers. That is a lot and it is very on-brand for early Saber. This part of the show has some of the same issues that the first few episodes of Zi-O had in that they just cram in so much that you're constantly being inundated with so many new characters and concepts that it can feel hard to keep up with it all. There's also a number of things that the show seems to just assume you'll understand without any relevant explanations being provided until later, which I always find annoying.

You know who's not annoying, though? Ogami. This was a character that I was really wrong about at the outset of the show. I assumed that he was going to be one of two things: either a minor, passing through Kamen Rider that would only be in a few episodes (a la Danki or Sabaki) or that the show was setting up him and his kid because he was going to tragically die during these two episodes. This wasn't too long after I made the call that Azu would only be in a couple of clipshows for Zero-One and wasn't a real character. I was not good at making predictions in 2020 (I hope that's not giving away too much about Ogami by referencing things he doesn't end up doing in this two-parter). In any case, he's a fun character, I like his relationship with his son, and his weapon is very obviously and hilariously made of lightweight, bendy foam in most shots.

I wasn't a fan, but I accept it under the light that Toei was trying to cut down on the amount of time that actors had to be unmasked around each other. I suspect that the reason why we got both ending credits and lots of stock footage sequences was just another COVID safety measure.

I'm a Buster fan. Not necessarily because of the show though.

There's a spin-off manga called "Separate Volume Kamen Rider Saber Manga: Kamen Rider Buster" telling Ogami's origin story, that manga is my favorite piece of Kamen Rider Saber fiction. I like it better than the entire show.

https://i.imgur.com/c6y1P5N.jpg

So what I'm trying to say is, you should definitely read it. I'm unsure about when though. It features characters you haven't seen yet so right now is definitely too early. It was released in bits alongside the show, so maybe you could read it like that?

I did some digging and this is how each chapter was released, after the episode of the show:

• Chapter 1 - Episode 24

• Chapter 2 - Episode 26

• Chapter 3 - Episode 29

• Chapter 4 - NA

• Chapter 5 - Episode 35

• Chapter 6 - Episode 37

Technically there's nothing stopping you from reading it all at one point though, as the manga spoils nothing, it takes place entirely before the show. Although I do remember that the manga ultimately tells you what happened with Ogami's wife but the show takes a while to do so, so you might find out about that by reading the manga before the show tells it to you. Given when the manga was released that might've been intentional though. When they finally addressed it in the show it felt like such an obvious afterthought to me that I assumed they only wrote that scene in after the manga was finished.

The absolute safe route would be reading it all after you finish watching the show I guess. But please do read it.

I guess I get what you're bringing up here, as I too feel uncomfortable with Touma making a promise that sounds too big to be fulfilled in getting Ryota's parents' back from a place too dangerous for normal humans. I do think that promise can be big-mouthed to make as not only confidence, it also feels as if you can see the future. And the danger if it goes unfulfilled... but what if it fails not due to it being purposely broken, but due to Touma's death trying to fulfill it and (what-if) Rintaro's failure aftermath? It'd still have similar outcome to those purposely breaking it. Though as usual, I'd probably think, one shouldn't only blindly cling to principles, as there are also bigger pictures one also should see.

Yeah... I like overdesigned stuff (or to be specific, those that are detailedly designed), not that I don't have limit though. I̶t̶'̶s̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶b̶a̶b̶l̶y̶ ̶w̶h̶y̶ ̶I̶ ̶l̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶K̶a̶m̶e̶n̶ ̶R̶i̶d̶e̶r̶'̶s̶ ̶s̶u̶i̶t̶s̶ ̶m̶o̶r̶e̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶g̶e̶n̶e̶r̶a̶l̶ ̶c̶o̶m̶p̶a̶r̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶S̶e̶n̶t̶a̶i̶'̶s̶ ̶o̶r̶ ̶U̶l̶t̶r̶a̶'̶s̶ ̶d̶e̶s̶i̶g̶n̶s̶ ̶(̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶l̶a̶t̶t̶e̶r̶,̶ ̶m̶y̶ ̶f̶a̶v̶o̶r̶i̶t̶e̶s̶ ̶w̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶s̶o̶m̶e̶ ̶F̶u̶s̶i̶o̶n̶ ̶U̶l̶t̶r̶a̶s̶)̶.

For the brooding anti-hero types, the opposite of what you talked above, there seems to be those who insist that words don't matter as "actions speak louder than words", in how anything those type of secondaries do is swept under the rug, as long as they put themselves in danger fighting monsters. They also can be viewed as less superficial due to the view that (of which you seem also to value honesty highly) "politeness is deceptive, bluntness is honest"; being polite as Rintaro showed here also can be treated as misleading others about their true power. Other than Mei's comparison with Akiko... there's similar stuff here too with both of them being female leads who swoon over the secondary. Of which ofc, Akiko swoons over the 'edgy coolness' Terui had which is recognized as 'hard-boiled' (though not with limits as shown when Terui goes too far in his revenge).

Dunno what are your expectations here, but probably this is meant to 'subvert' expectations again? In case you'd think Kento has minor role. Probably this is sorta a 'filler'/out of place introduction, but no need overthinking in this case for Kento coming to the place and checking in, I mean as this episode establishes, Kento is Touma's childhood friend, why can't he check in to reunite with his friend? Mei seems to have... an opposite of 4th wall awareness, where here she seems to be aware that Touma and Kento are story characters, with her reacting like an audience would over a sweet Kentouma reunion. Otherwise, this series seems to not care about gender of who's made as the butt of the jokes... with poor Mei here getting all her eclairs eaten by the boys.

Gotta state it to you here, he's the 3rd introduced Rider in the series, but he's not the tertiary. And honestly this is not a spoiler tbh, as it's already revealed in the marketing materials (order of introduction in press conferences). As stated ther, he does have passionate love for his child, but I'd think he's not as wholesome as Rintaro though, as he can be gruff and condescending towards the younger ones like Touma, which he speaks ill of. He provides some of the subverted expectations you'd think about Rintaro before of brushing off their attempts to join him, though well, aside from carrying too much duties, he seems to be the strongest Rider so far by one hit killing 2 Megids.

For Saber and Blades though, while Saber does have potential before, it seems that Blades still has some edge over him, like how he uses Peter Fantasia, and as usual, Blades isn't condescending seeing Saber's failed use. But wonder what if Peter Fantasia is the first one Saber used when Blades claimed he's not ready for 2 volumes yet.

To further talk about Mei, she seems to fit over the manic pixie dream girl archetype, other than her wacky overreactions and being pushy towards Touma for the manuscript editing, here she's also pushy towards Sora, trying to liven up his life... whenever Sora likes it or not. She means well towards him but yeah, it's bad to force someone against your will even if it's what you think is good/interesting for them, as it only wears them down, and worse in her being inattentive and getting Sora trapped here. She does feel regret here, but often these type of character can have their faults overlooked, like invading personal spaces to bring someone "out of their shells" and have them deemed as 'cute' and 'romantic' instead of acknowledging it as harassment.

Yeah, I've seen your old threads being broken in wording, so you'd actually fix them. Wonder if you'd remember those old shows better (I hope, kinda). So the recent show you've watched is Geats.... (dunno until which episode) of which yeah it returns back to some of the franchise's established formula like abusive mom or non-easy teamwork.... as the show before it, Revice, should perhaps defy your written expectations here.

Didn't know you'd get actually mad about Keiwa = Kagami 2.0, as you didn't really care about the "Blade's (THE ONDUL SERIES, OK) secondary" debate between Tachibana and Hajime previously; of which yeah it similarly happened too for claiming Keiwa's the MC instead of Ace, or Michinaga's the secondary instead of Keiwa, p̶r̶o̶b̶a̶b̶l̶y̶ ̶a̶l̶s̶o̶ ̶c̶l̶a̶i̶m̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶T̶s̶u̶m̶u̶r̶i̶'̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶f̶e̶m̶a̶l̶e̶ ̶l̶e̶a̶d̶ ̶o̶v̶e̶r̶ ̶N̶e̶o̶n̶.̶ There's a valid reason why they make the comparison though, albeit surface level; they're both secondaries that are paired with the cocky hypercompetent protagonist, who is also the straightforward good guy type (Rintaro seems to start the trend of the secondaries being nice lately??) that is also made a struggling loser, giving them underdog vibe to watch them grow while being sorta 'mentored' under said protagonist.

And Ogami's son is also named "Sora".

I. AM. HERE.

You have distilled everything I love about Oogami in this line. I actually want to cry because I am very emotional about how wonderful he is as a character; for me, he is the most important Heirei Rider since Hibiki - which, ah, is me really laying my cards on the table in regards to my specific emotional damage, I guess.

tl;dr he's amazing. Hands down the best character to appear in this franchise in a long time.

also: your story was beautiful. <3

As I said, Saber's first arc is wonky, but in a charming way, I'd say.

As for Rintaro and Ogami?

Love em to bits! In general, I love how little conflict there is between them here. Sure, some small gripes, but in general, they all just kinda work together.

And as messy as the first arc can be, it works well as a baseline introduction to these characters in a lower stakes environment, something I always appreciated.

As for the structure of the Swords of Logos. Yeah, Saber loves just dropping some info and then letting it simmer for a good amount of episodes before going into detail. Some dislike that style; I personally love it. There is a lot of seemingly unimportant information in early Saber that gets brought up again later and kinda recontextualises other stuff. And that made watching week to week feel very rewarding since when you looked back, you could draw out a clear path for things to develop.

Speaking of COVID safety measures, we're three episodes in already so I'd be remiss to not mention the Eyecatches which were almost most definitely added as another way to fill some kind of time. We haven't had one for a full series since Black RX back in the day.

The best we got was during Brain's specials. But now we've got them in full force for Saber.

I'll absolutely admit though that I adore the Saber Eyectaches. They're a lot more extravagant than the other ones but also still relatively simple. Plus it's kinda cool to have you see like what they consider the important books of the episode.

Yeah, much like Rintaro, it's nice to see how uncomplicated Ogami is in his debut. He's a dad! He cares about his kid! It's nice to have some stuff that's... I don't know, comfortable? I like having relationships that are clearly-defined sometimes.

I will definitely read it after the show's over! Thank you so much for the recommendation!

I mean, because the construction of the episode and its pacing are insane? Kento's introduced, the show goes to the opening credits, and the next scene is Rintaro and Touma going to fight a book monster before Buster debuts. It's really weird storytelling to not have Kento's introduction continue into the main story, and/or have any relevance on the next scene with Touma.

Thanks! Writing is fun!

And, yeah, I'm excited to learn more about Buster. Shit, I'm excited to learn more about all of these weirdo sword mans. Beyond being interesting representations of how stories create mental frameworks for how we interact with the world, they're just such a nicely disparate group of personalities. It's a fun cast!

That's nice to know! I'm looking forward to getting a deeper understanding of this book-obsessed warrior cult.

Fish Sandwich also watched Kamen Rider Saber Episode 3

Man, it's fascinating to me how you still worship that Build HBV to such a degree that it comes to mind here before Asumum in Hibiki or like, the couple of options you had from Kiva.

Anyway, yeah, Saber is still very much in its early weird messy phase with this one, which leaves my thoughts on it, going from memory at least, pretty much identical to the prior episode. Fantastic introduction to a new main character, lots of breezy fun action, surprisingly strong world-building under the hood, all packaged together in a very strange way that's almost certainly going to drag the overall experience down for people who aren't just inherently on the show's wavelength the way I am.

Buster's real great though. Most of the things I could say about him probably don't need explaining, so I'll guess I'll take this opportunity to mention suit actor trivia because why not? I haven't brought up that Saber himself is Kousuke Asai, who has become a new favorite for me in recent years thanks to his ability to emote on a level that approaches Takaiwa's heights (just watch him as Don Momotaro!), Blades is Eitoku, who I've felt similar about for even longer, and as Buster, we've got Jirou Okamoto, Kamen Rider Black himself, who is perhaps the only real choice to portray a seasoned veteran member of his organization who can dominate a scene with a touch of old-school intensity. Like, man, I wonder how hard it was for him to get inside Ogami's head! (Plus, Calibur is Kuuga's suit actor, Kenji Tominaga, making this the second year in a row a Heisei star came back to beat on the new kids as a purple bad guy.)

I went to look this up out of curiosity and, just in case there was any doubt, apparently it has been mentioned in some magazine interview or another that the ED and eyecatches were indeed a conscious decision to reduce the amount of new footage they'd need to fill out an episode. Between this and the stuff I've heard about the early story plans, it's curious to think just how many things I like in Saber only came about because of the unfortunate realities of when it was produced.

I can't keep that many Kamen Rider shows fresh in my brain! I totally blanked on Asumum from OOO and the Kiva moms from I want to say Faiz? Thanks for picking up my slack!

At least the individual components are still good? (THAT CAST!) I'd be more concerned with a competently-packaged episode full of boring decisions, so count that as some small optimism from this viewer who longs to be on this show's wavelength.

Sure, I can see what they're going for. I like the concept of it being a bookshelf scabbard, but I think the execution is kind of messy. I'm not even sure how I would've handled it differently without sacrificing the gimmick, so I guess I don't mind.

After a decent introduction as a cool Swordsman and loving father, this is the part that made Ogami lose a few points, at least in this episode anyway. Like, I don't really sympathize much with his whole "kids these days!" attitude, where it becomes apparent that he's not quite as easygoing as he first appears. He's quick to dismiss Rintarou's concern for taking Sora in to battle and his apathy towards Touma's fascination with his narrative potential kind of makes him seem more mean and cold than he needs to be. His behavior imprints on Sora as well, since Touma and Mei have to be the ones who educate him on the wonders of books, when that's something a father should do.

Regarding Buster, honestly, I think the suit is pretty meh. I especially dislike Gekido though, since it doesn't have any gimmicks or alternate modes like the other Seiken Swords. It's literally just big, like that's its whole thing, it's big. It doesn't give me the feeling of elegance or style that Rekka or Nagare do.

When are you going to watch Pretty Den-O, The First and The Next though?

I know what you mean, makes me feel bad for Ace and Tendo. Sometimes I think those people only see them as Mary Sues and forget that they're actually human beings with feelings.

While it's better to only make promises that you're confident you can keep, I think the most important part of any promise is the will and moral obligation to do everything possible to see it through. Like you said, it's a declaration of absolute truth, an expectation that only the most confident or clairvoyant of people can live up to. You have to be prepared for that extreme responsibility and the consequences of breaking it. However, the worst kind of people are those who would give false promises, gilded lies made to to deceive or get out of inconvenient situations, without any respect for the recipients' wishes.

Do you like Metal Heroes as well?

Personally, I have no problem with Tendo's feelings, I would say that his concern for Kagami and the sisters is the best thing about him (and also most likely brought by his grandmother). My main problem with him is that he did not do even the 10th part of what he could. When the policemen died in Kuug, it happened because the rider did not have time to come to their aid. When ZECTroopers died in Kabuto, the reason was that the rider was simply not in a hurry.

Yeah, I can also only chime in to say Ogami is a great character, and has a great suit! He also shows off the first new weapon / driver, and I think it's cool but shows the first weird limit of the props - the wildly differing scales between the books and the swords. You have this huge, obvious slot for a whle ridebook that comes from scaling up the toy, and the WRB just sits right in the middle! This isn't a serious crtique or anything, it's just a little funny.

All of those complaints, though... that's the point? They're all about one thing: Ogami is a dude who takes pride in his job -- he definitely wants his son to see the value in it -- but it's a job. He uses a big-ass sword because it's efficient. It's not worth trying to look at his life in mythic terms, because that's almost insulting to the hard work Ogami puts in. (It's also sort of condescending to blue collar folks? Imagine going into a fast food joint and telling the person bagging your order that they're the embodiment of man's struggle against the forces of capitalism, and how their quiet dignity points towards an innate humanity that blah blah blah. They would definitely spit on your fries when you weren't looking.) Everything about Ogami as a character is about strpping away the flowery elements for something focused and raw.

Well, I totally forgot about Pretty Den-O, so, WHOOPS. Maybe some time in the early spring? No plans yet for The First/The Next, but anything's possible.

I think I laughed a little more at how Buster has to keep moving the WonderRide book around to different spots on the sword to do different things. I bet it drove him crazy.

(Also, the in-show WonderRide books have QR codes in them, and it takes me out of the scene whenever I see them. Just a Me thing.)

Watching Episode 4, and I accidentally figured out what the Touma/Rintaro dynamic reminded me of:

https://media.giphy.com/media/APbMkl...cz9F/giphy.gif

Not sure if this makes the show better or worse for me?

Rintaro as Boyle is an incredibly cursed image, thank you for bringing it into existence.

KAMEN RIDER SABER EPISODE 4 - “THE BOOK WAS OPENED, THAT IS WHY”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/saber/saber04a.png

I thought this one worked pretty well? There’s a lot of weird mystery stuff in here that I’m largely immune to (I definitely spend brainpower more on figuring out characters than I do figuring out mysteries), but the confident way in which it was presented kind of got me on its side.

I’m pretty much just talking about Desast.

Immediately fills the villain void this show was in, while also making Calibur someone worth caring about. Desast has such devastating charisma, right from the start. He basically tells Calibur, the guy who summoned him, to go screw. He’s excited to duel with Buster. His loss is taken with a laugh; he seems to relish the idea of having an excuse to fight again later. He’s just fun, in a way that Calibur’s quiet menace and the trio of book gangsters had yet to manage. He comes into Buster’s story of a terrified parent and goes Man You Got Old. It’s great!

(His name's also, like, "disaster", which is cool as hell.)

It, again, even makes Calibur cooler? After a rousing Desast duel and a goofy Megid fight, Calibur’s last-minute attack on Touma and Rintaro strikes the right chord of predatory malevolence. Everything that was done was to separate out the various members of the Sword of Logos, tap their strength, and leave them vulnerable to Calibur’s power. It’s a cunning tactic, a world away from the last few episodes of random beatdowns and crossed-fingers from our troupe of terrorists. This is a guy who knows what it’s going to take to get what he wants, and is capable of doing it. Also great!

The remainder of the episode was solid, if less exceptional.

Ogami’s storyline, him seeing past Touma’s artistic facade for the dedicated warrior inside, was nice. It’s mostly just a standard Warrior Respects Warrior thing, but it’s landed effectively. I wish they’d found a different angle on it – something where Ogami finds value in Touma’s sweetness, or studiousness? – but what they gave was at least coherently done.

I don’t know that I loved the Sora resolution? The metaphor is strong, about the wonder of imagination and the worlds a book can take you to, but let’s be really real here with ourselves: that kid was excited to see a superhero do a form change and detonate a monster. Unless that kid’s going to take a Reading Rainbow to Kamen Rider Spirits or whatever, I’m not sure he’s going to get the same sense of wonder in his life. It’s a nice message, but it’s kind of not what Sora experienced.

I’ll let it go, though, because as a fellow bookseller, I was glad to see Touma do the coolest aspect of the job: getting a minor piece of information and figuring out what book it’s from. There is no more superheroic feeling as a bookseller than having someone offer a tiny detail from something they half-remember, and you spending a couple seconds in thought before going Oh It’s A Book Called “Friday”. That’s such an electric charge moment, and I’m glad Touma was able to showcase it for a generation of children.

Overall, this wasn’t a perfect episode, but everything in it seemed to work a little more effectively than last time. The villains are cooler, the fights are stronger, and the mysteries seem a bit more appealing. Pleasantly surprised!

—

HOME FROM WAR

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/saber/saber04b.png

So, that happened.

There are times in your life when change feels incremental; a series of barely-perceptible alterations that are only identifiable if the time frame is measured in months and years, rather than days or weeks. Diets that seem to bounce off layers of fat, savings that never quite seem to become usable funds, home improvements that only manage to create long-winded excuses to guests about unforeseen developments and arguments at hardware stores. Kouhei was used to those types of change, for better or for worse.

But when a blank plastic book transports you to the stomach of a mythical beast in a magical forest, and an excitable ditz shoots fireworks that summon superheroes… it feels like the universe is sending you a sign that it’s okay to drastically reexamine your life. It might even be a demand to do so immediately, because you might not get a second opportunity.

Changes came rapidly for Kouhei after that afternoon. He threw himself into his family with the same energy he used to avoid them. Gone was the fear that he’d hollowed out his hopes in favor of stability; returned was a confidence that he had a family that needed him, and a family that wanted to be there for him. The man who used to chase away feelings of parental inadequacy with self-delusion – that he was still taking care of his son, even if his son couldn’t understand that – looked at his actions with a newfound honesty. What could he do right now, today, for his son?

Family dinners were no longer something to sleepwalk through. Games were played in the small backyard: stories of superheroes and monsters, even if Yohei never quite knew where some of the finer details of swordsmen and lizardmen came from. (It was to Kouhei’s relief that his family never inquired after his renewed dedication to them; it meant he hadn’t been as lost as he’d thought.) Weekend excursions broadened Yohei’s horizons and cultivated new passions in the young boy. Kouhei finally felt like a father again.

This weekend’s trip was to a small bookstore another parent had recommended to Kouhei. A local mother (Yu, he thought, or perhaps Kaoru) had been by recently, and said it had some charm to it. Yohei’s interests lay more in the physical – that jeweled Sentai show certainly had him careening through the house most days – but maybe there’d be something to keep the boy’s attention.

It was a pleasant weekend afternoon, so the tiny bookshop – small had been underselling it – was crowded with a few other families. Yohei had found a corner of the store to rifle through a shelf of picture books featuring bugs, dinosaurs, and all manner of creatures to win the heart of an outdoor-loving child. Kohei browsed aimlessly, mostly waiting until his son had made a selection.

“That one yours?”

Kohei, startled, turned to the voice behind him. The man was a decade older than him, with close-cut hair and a weathered face. He had on a white polo, collar turned up like he’d stepped out of 2008, under a navy military coat that looked like he’d stepped out of 1808. He half-expected the man to invite him to a Napoleonic reenactment. Or a kegger.

“Hmm? Oh, yeah, that’s my son. Yohei.”

The man nodded approvingly, as though having a son had earned Kouhei the privilege of further conversation.

“That’s mine over there, Sora,” the man said, pointing towards a boy on the opposite side of the room. The boy was dressed like a miniature version of his father: white shirt, jeans, elaborate boots. (Kouhei presumed that the military surplus store was having trouble sourcing a child-sized captain’s coat.) The store’s owner was excitedly recommending various fables and fairytales to the boy, who marveled at each of them.

The gruff man shook his head slightly, but smiled throughout. “I don’t know where he gets this from, all this book stuff. Just the other day, he was crazy about the outdoors, running and playing, and now he wants to come here all the time. Touma, the kid who runs the place… good guy, but, man, I don’t know. Hard to see the point to it, you know?”

“Heh, yeah, maybe,” Kouhei said, surprised at the man’s casual unburdening to a stranger. “I think it’s good to get some different perspectives for kids. It…” Kouhei didn’t know the man, but if they were getting stuff off of their chests, well… “It’s good for any of us, really. Best thing about having a son is letting it push you to find other parts of yourself. Hard to change for me, for my own problems, but it’s easy as anything to change for him. If that’s the case, why stop him from trying to change? Does that… does that make sense?”

The man squinted a bit at Kouhei, who wasn’t sure what was going to happen next. Had Kouhei overstepped, broken some Naval code of conduct? Was he about to be punched in the face, or keel-hauled?

That lazy grin came back to the man’s face, and he punched Kouhei causally in the arm. (So he had read the situation correctly enough to predict being punched; it’s nice that he didn’t miss the social cues entirely.) There was a mild chuckle, and then:

“Yeah… yeah, I get that. We get to be here for the whole thing. Nothing better than that, man.”

Kouhei saw that his son had decided on his book (a giant picture on the cover of a grasshopper was no surprise), and took the opportunity to excuse himself. The gruff man nodded once, and then walked to wrangle his son away from a growing mountain of books.

It was a pleasant conversation, if somewhat sudden and almost alarmingly honest. He hoped the man was a good father, even if he seemed to be a strange one. Either way, he was ready to gather up Yohei and leave for home.

These days, he was always ready to leave for home.

Oh Desast... Desast, Desast...

He's like one of my absolute favorites in the show if I'm being honest, and I'm glad he made a strong enough impression for you to like him right off the bat.

There's just a lot to him almost immediately and you're right, he very much strikes a different chord than Calibur and the Megid Trio in a very good way. I definitely think the trio do get a bit better moments later but Desast I feel is the strongest of our antagonists at the moment.

I really can't wait for you to continue because just... again Desast is so good, it's hard to actively describe how I feel without getting too far ahead of myself. Just know that of my two major Fanfics I do, Desast is like Top 5 in the characters I love writing about.

Anyway yeah, overall a pretty solid resolution to the episode. I'd like to shout out Mei who actually owns up to her mistake and tries to find a way to help our heroes even if she can't fight. It's a big step up than how she's been in the past few episodes and it's enjoyable to see.

We also get a few more standard form changes and such, the highlight being Saber finally using all three book slots for Dragon Hedgehog Peter. In which we get to see Tinker Bell (a female wrestler/body builder I think?) just pin a salamander monster to the ground to finish it off.

As for the story this time... I was curious to see if you'd do a follow up since you know despite you leaving it on a technical cliffhanger there was no guarantee. It was nice to see that follow up and how this insane event managed to change Kouhei's perspective. His little ramble to Ogami at the end and the two having that like fatherly understanding and stuff was also rather sweet.

HE'S SO GOOD. I love how much he's okay with being an asshole in this story. He's genre-savvy, but in the exact opposite way Touma is. That's perfect.

Thanks! This one was... not my favorite. Needed a better idea of the ending going into it, but this was what got done. Glad you enjoyed parts of it!

Yet another good episode, I'm glad that there's an actual villain now that interacts with the Riders, rather than just cutaways to a group of villains that we don't know and that don't seem to do much affecting the cast. Buster/Ryo still remains a pretty good character, and even if I don't resonate with the story very much, I am liking the cast, even if I do think that Touma's motivations are still a bit vague, though presumably that's due to his amnesia, and that he'll get a stronger sense of character as the plot progresses.

We also get to see the Rider that was in Touma's flashback thing in Episode 1, which has a pretty nice design, even if it still has that strange headsword thing that I wish the show stopped adding to the suits.

This was actually a pretty solid episode, and I'm glad that there's now an actual villain that interacts with the Riders, and I hope there's some more character development, since this show rushes through a lot of character introductions and we don't really get a feel for them. But still, all in all this episode was pretty solid.

I actually... I think Touma's motivation (beyond a general sense of duty/empathy/humanity) is just The Demands Of The Narrative. He's in a superhero story, and the story wants him to be a superhero, so here we are. There's some other stuff rattling around in Touma's head and heart, but I think he's fundamentally a guy who wants to fit into a genre.

So, now that Desast has shown up, I think I’d better explain what he is.

As you may or may not have noticed, the books have three categories to them: mythical beasts (Shinjuu), animals (Seibutsu) and real world stories (Monogatari). This extends to the Riders and the previous Megid (Saber, Calibur, Buster and the Golem are Shinjuu, Blades and the Salamander are Seibutsu and the Ant/Grasshopper duo and new guy Espada are the Monogatari guys) Well Desast is classified as a Chimera Megid, meaning that he’s all three at once. He’s a hybrid of Fenrir, a silkworm and The Singing Bone. Though for toyline purposes, he gets classed as a Seibutsu.

Anyway, boxing Tinkerbell. That is all. Next time, I might talk about the episode.

Saber Dragon Hedgehog Peter is a hell of a mouthful of a name and that's about what can be said about the suit itself! Naturally, I LOVE that about it! Just a wild combo of random, disparate parts and stories with its own unique power coming from it. Pretty perfect for the kind of character Touma is and exactly the kind of crazy I love to see in Tokusatsu!

And hey, while we're here; Dezast is on the complete opposite end as a super sleek super sexy bad guy! Awesome combination of traits melded together well with a simple black-and-red colour scheme, and you gotta love the cape and skullhead. Really good!

Thanks for the info!

It's a fun-looking suit. I kind of don't love how this is the second time in four episodes we got It's Very Difficult For Even Experienced Swordsmen To Use More Than One Book Oh Wait You're Doing It, but there are clearly Kamen Rider conventions that this show is barely capable of acknowledging, let alone indulging in, so whatever. I like the power-ups to have more risk involved in utilizing them, at least for a new Rider, but that's just not this show.

But! Red Yellow Blue Saber! Fun design, for sure.

Yeaaah I very distinctly remember that one. One of the very few times in recent memory that one of these shows has actually brought up a reason to not use a more powerful form in favour of a base/earlier form - something I'd like to see them do a lot more! - and then it's just, sort of, swept aside and doesn't matter. Okay!

Fair enough. I don't mind if people dislike Tendo for being an a**hole or unhelpful to men in a domestic setting, but yeah, I'll always encourage people to look at him as a flawed person with a traumatic past as well.

For sure, like Touma, I can appreciate Ogami's narrative potential, in both his qualities and flaws. However, I think the story goes a little too one-sided on depicting him as being this stubborn old guy (even though he's only in his 30s) who won't acknowledge the wisdom in youths and how he's inadvertently inhibiting his son's development, to the point where he's pretty much a strawman with no strong argument in this 2-parter. Of course, I'm glad he gets character development early, so he can be more likable and chill now, which is important for his teamwork with the other Swordsmen.

Yeah, Desast is a totally awesome villain. He's like the Alain of Saber, even people who dislike the show are fans of Desast. Like that intimidating sword gesture before his Calamity Strike! He has an established notoriety to SOL as a bloodthirsty killer of previous Swordsmen and an active threat during the incident from 15 years ago, which makes his debut fight against Buster more intense than your average Megids.

Picking up on a reference and trying to remember where you recognize it from can even be a gratifying moment for anybody who's a fan of various media! It's a cool way to show off Touma's knowledge of books, which is fitting with the episode's moral that books aren't a waste of time and besides entertainment, they can actually be educational for future reference. Salamander talking about the king's awakening only made me think of Time Jackers, so it's good that someone in the show could figure out what he really meant.

Tinkerbuff!

I'm not sure what argument he's supposed to have in this two-parter? His point-of-view is mostly that Touma's not taking this seriously enough, and that he lost his goddamn kid. If Ogami had forbid Sora from, like, reading, I think there'd be plenty to criticize. As it is, I think it's more just Ogami needing to see that Touma's dedication might look different than his own, but it's definitely there.

I do like that nearly every victory in this show is down to Touma reading a lot. Super simple way to keep the show's focus on its main attribute!

Desast's name is a play on the French word "D?sastre" (デザストル, Dezasutoru). Otherwise, yeah it seems that Desast is the Saber character that reaches franchise-wide success, even though he's a secondary villain, though it's for the reasons you haven't known yet (while you already enjoyed him). He's the one who actually purposely lets the heroes get advantages due to his blood knight approach of wanting good fight. The cliffhanger part of Calibur's attack also'd involve Kento which you questioned before.

I mean honestly, I'd think this'd land better if you acknowledged Ogami's faults better before in his treatments to the younger ones, though in this episode Ogami had a good reason to be livid and it's hard not to considering what happened to the child, he also needs to not quickly jump into conclusions, especially regarding people he looked down into. Though I'd wish that Ogami had a chance to look or hear Touma figuring the problem out, other than just being convinced by Kento, tbh, as he'd witness Touma's main potential in front of his eyes, other than just going side by side to battle and dividing tasks. Other than that, here Mei seems to have stepped up her game, in her support role being vital here to locate the kidnapped Sora using the same Wonder Book he opened, then informing others of their location by using fireworks.

Yeah, this is another part where Touma's knowledges book seller job is really important to save the day. So now it's about scientific knowledge he got from books other than just fairy tales, like deducing that the Megid regenerates which is why Sora is still trapped, as they haven't beaten him yet. I guess what I'd say is actually, previously fairy tale knowledge can be as important as actual scientific knowledge from books, at least in this series, as the former is usually deemed as useless stuff and reading those kind of fiction books are still 'not proper reading'. I wonder if I'd see more of Touma's appeal than many other people, but this is still early on. Once again, Touma also makes use of unconventional fighting style by summoning Fighting Fairy, portrayed by wrestler Reika Saiki, and to prevent the Megid's regen by using an area denial AoE attack.

Oh, you explained it better than me (and represented it) about the problem of Ogami's attitude. Not that his character is bad or something, just, yeah, these are the reasons why I don't think of him as that wholesome like said here. Or perhaps I just don't wanna give him free pass just because of his love to his son. But yeah the next episode addressed this, albeit IMO, wasted potential due to what I said below.

Oh, I guess ep. 4 touched upon the consequences of breaking promises. Seems that even Touma too, can only respond in continuing to talk about keeping it, when his promise apparently failed and got confronted by Ogami. I guess that is meant to build up tension and drama regarding Sora, but Touma, I'd wish for Touma to give a more convincing answer if he can solve it later.... People who purposely give false promises to deceive/manipulate situations are terrible, but deeming them as the worst ones as if no one else is would be subjective... as the worst kind for people would vary... even for petty ones like just someone being "whiny" (as in, having standard emotional outburst while not being a badass...). And as bigger picture is also important, I'd not view those who give a false promise due to being forced by outer circumstances to break it while making an effort for it in the same light.

Perhaps not as much due to from what I seen, less varied...

(probably similar to early Ogami above...) It's clear that Tendou has a soft spot towards his sisters, and is actually one of the only few people he's always gentle with. What I wouldn't want is tbh, to have Tendou be viewed as a saint (similar to most other main Riders) due to his treatment of his sisters alone (using it as "proof"), while blaming all the other people (instead of Tendou) for his more abrasive treatment towards them. Even outright villains can have their evil overlooked when they're shown to be nice to certain one person (,,or... have no qualms screwing over everyone for that person). He's a good person overall, but to Kagami he can be overly harsh like how he is to any others, so wouldn't think he had special treatment to him..

I think it's also partly Touma's fault? For a) a bookseller and b) a novelist, he's not super great at reading a room sometimes. Nothing about Ogami says that he's excited to hear about his own thematic relevance, so maybe treating him like a heroic archetype instead of, y'know, a co-worker was the wrong way to introduce yourself. Just a thought!

I'm actually really glad the show did this particular scene in this way. It's important to get a little more insight into Kento's relationship with Touma (considering it's likely to be a big part of the next episode), and there's no better way to demonstrate the strength of their bond than to have Kento make an emotional appeal to Ogami on Touma's behalf. It's a good use of the gigantic cast!

It's odd - Dezast is such a fresh precense, I think I took him for granted in this early stage of the show. He fits so well into the slot of "antagonist in the moment", rather than Calibur's mysterious machinations (title of my new album), or the Megido trio's... whatever their deal is. But because of that, he passed under my radar as someone I should have a big attachment to, especially when the show is throwing so many Riders at us, but his simplicity belies something more. Also he looks damn cool.

And yeah, it's nice to see Mei being brought up! Mei's goodl!

Fish Sandwich also watched Kamen Rider Saber Episode 4

I'm still very broadly in agreement with Die's overall assessment while definitely still finding the show more fun than he does, so I'm not sure how much I can really add to the discussion here, short of just excitedly screaming about how much I love Traffic Light Saber or something. (Really, at some point I should totally just do some deep dive on all the different suits in this show, because I could say something about all of them.) As for the story, I think this is the point where you can definitely start to see the pieces getting pulled together into something that functions a little smoother. Even the weird introduction of Kento kind of makes more sense if you consider this as a single larger script? Like, that cold open from last time would come off a lot less disconnected if it leads into Espada debuting at the end of the same episode as a sort of bookend (on top of Kento's role in the middle here), right?

I think it'd definitely be a bit unfair to say the show *completely* sweeps it aside. Rintarou's cautiousness in the second episode could mostly be attributed to that being his personality (he also barely knows Touma at that point), and even just at the end of the episode here, we see Touma all worn out from the climax, which heightens the sense of danger when Calibur shows up (and Touma and Rintarou both only use one book). They admittedly don't do a ton with the concept, but there's enough done for me to see why it's there in the first place.

I'm in the same camp. I remember being more annoyed by him than interested, at first. I kind of resented having yet another new character crammed into the show, especially when I still hadn't even learned the "main" villains' names yet. In hindsight, of course, he's one of the show's best characters and he brings a lot to the table.

Yeah, she is.

Even now I'm not 100% sure I could tell you which Megido is Storious and which one is Legiel.

In the absence of anything tangible from the first four episodes, I've definitely headcanoned those three as Calibur's Awful Sons (Who He Loves Very Much). At this point, I'm sort of hoping I never learn anything that might contradict this impression?

That would've helped, yes! Or if Kento's appearances felt less like the actor was just turning up for scenes where he's not in the script! This episode goes a long way towards making Kento's role clear as Touma's friend -- as opposed to Rintaro's "friend from work" thing, since this show is completely and utterly a workplace dramedy. (But that's what I like best about it!) It just... boy, it doesn't seem to treat it as more than a random element, rather than a crucial piece of the narrative. I'd like to see more consistent follow-through on this stuff, you know?

Storious is the one with the really long piece of hair. Legiel is the one that doesn't have big poofy hair and whose name I didn't remember before you posted it.

(This post is made with 95% certainty)

KAMEN RIDER SABER EPISODE 5 - “MY FRIEND, THE SWORDSMAN OF LIGHTNING”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/saber/saber05a.png

KAIDO

That alone: five stars. Seeing this guy back on my TV in a new role is already the highlight of my year. Any complaints I’d have after that are minor in comparison.

But speaking of complaints.

If there’s one thing this show doesn’t lack for, it’s characters, If there’re two things this show doesn’t lack for, it’s big brass balls. To take your fifth episode – your FIFTH EPISODE – and turn it into a ramshackle Let’s See What Everyone’s Up To screw-around… boy, that is something else. That is a decision that shows tremendous confidence in your cast to make it all palatable to the audience, and tremendous obliviousness at the insanity of how much story you’ve actually told so far.

If it works at all, it’s because this show is dead-on right to have enough confidence in their actors to sell a bunch of underwritten fight scenes and unconvincing revelations. (I kinda love that the first time we learn that Calibur is Kento’s dad is randomly in a conversation with Ogami, instead of at a climactic, emotionally-relevant moment. Also, I don’t think Calibur is Kento’s dad.) This show is a workplace dramedy, so letting its various coworkers ping-pong off of each other in a bunch of charming dialogue-heavy scenes… it’s not the worst idea this show has had yet, that’s for sure. You can totally send Rintaro and Mei off into a citywide excursion that only succeeds in them getting jumped by Desast (sort of, he’s pretty much just out for a walk, total non-Kaido episode highlight) and Zoooooooous, and still call it an enjoyable subplot. Ogami and Kento sharing a soda on a roof before Ogami swears vengeance against a bottling plant or whatever? Similarly captivating.

But the main story these characters are all supposedly operating in? Nowhere. Dog shit. The piranha stuff is laughably inconsequential, even by this show’s standards for tokusatsu action storytelling. There’s just, like, two of them! The end! It’s so obligatory and thin that I’d rather they not even have bothered. None of the monster stuff contributes anything towards Kento’s feelings of guilt and/or responsibility, beyond a vague air of consternation. The heart of his rage comes from the way Calibur’s actions personally affected Touma and the Sword of Logos; there’s absolutely nothing of value, narratively, in a cruise ship or a race track. It’s just noise, and it’s a distraction a show this frequently unfocused can't afford.

I wish to god this show could just, like, pick a lane. It’s got a charming cast, a hilarious antagonist in Desast, and a terrifying menace in Calibur. Spending any time at all with a half-assed Megid and one of them dopes from the Book Club… no. No, you cannot afford to drop that shit in when you’ve got so much stuff, better stuff, to build out and address. If you can’t find a way to tie that stuff in organically – AND YOU CAN’T – just leave it out.

Anyway, KAIDO, the end.

—

MARTINIS ON THE ROOF

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/saber/saber05b.png

“Maintenance.”

“Hi, yeah, this is Tomohisa from the 8th floor? From the law firm?”

“Tomo, yeah, it’s Nachi. What’s up?”

“So, one of our paralegals went up to the roof for a smoke, and there’s, uh, there's…”

“...’there’s’ what?”

“She– she said it looked like there’d been a school play up there.”

“Uh huh.”

“Yeah, it– it, uh, there was a stage? And benches?”

“Okay. So, what can I do for you, Tomo.”

“What can you… I’m sorry? I said there was a stage on the roof, and benches. She told me there was an inflatable globe. I was hoping you can tell me what that is, and when it’s going to be removed.”

“Well, removed, I don’t know, probably tonight. I think the swordsmen’re probably done with it by now, I’m just waiting for the night crew to get here so we can start taking it all apart.”

“Oh, that’s great, we… I’m sorry, did you say ‘swordsmen’?”

“Yeah, the swordsmen from the Sword of Logos.”

“Is that a, a kendo club?”

“The Sword of Logos? Nah, they’re a, whatchacallit, kind of a mystical society of warriors, armed with forbidden knowledge and unparalleled weaponry, destined to defend the world as we know it from the villainy of creatures from beyond human comprehension. One of those, you know?”

“I–”

“So, yeah, they got a long-term lease on the roof. They need to brood, mostly – great views of the city – and sometimes to work through downbeat character arcs. That kid Touma, his words, not mine. We let the other tenants use it all the other times when they don’t need it; smoke breaks, lunches, that sort of thing.”

“Uh–”

“But we’ll get that all broken down tonight, less’n they need it for some inner conflict and guilt that’s still gnawin’ at ‘em something fierce. I’ll give ‘em a shout at their North Pole base, just make sure we’re clear for teardown.”

“Th– thanks. Thanks, Nachi.”

“Not a problem, Tomo. Anything else I can do for ya?”

“Well, there’s one other thing. It looks like the soda machine was cleft in twain? Can you get someone to take a look at it tomorrow?”

Yeah, Kaido's actor is like Magiyellow's in Toei, in which they just get grabbed constantly for other roles in other Rider/Sentai stuff occasionally. Always good to see when those two pop up from time to time.

Kento's an interesting lad with a lot of problems, and I suppose with the introduction of Dragon Eagle this week I can sort of explain my further thoughts on Blades' lion chest. It's oddly bulky when compared to the other two Swordriver Animal armors. Like I get it because it's his main accent piece, but it definitely is striking when you see how flat Hedgehog and Eagle are.

I don't have much to say about this episode so um...

As someone writing Saber Fanfiction (My crossover with Symphogear)... making the Monster of the Week Megid interesting in any kind of situation is definitely a hard one.

-Golem, easy tbh, he's the first boss, fairly easy thing to have Touma run into him in my story.
-Ant and Grasshopper were harder to utilize and make interesting but I think I managed it though it was very much a sorta repeat of the plot Saber did just to have some more character interactions.
-Salamander, a bit harder given well, Ogami sadly does not exist in the crossover so the whole Sora plotline just isn't a thing. But his setup was more interesting to work with even if it was to continue further character interactions before getting back to Symphogear's main plot.
-The Piranha Megid... I basically dispersed them as like, extra enemy combatants during certain chapters. Again, when you compare them to Salamander, they're very boring in terms of what they can really do.

Fun fact, those four Megid I listed were the only ones I used for Season 1 of the story (15 Episodes in total not counting specials)! This is also the point where I once again say, Saber Q1 is beefy, so beefy I've been slowly but surely spreading it out over the course of two seasons.

As for the story... ah the old classic pure conversation and let the dialogue carry the whole story, rather nice. I'll say this at least, when the Swords of Logos folks brood, they brood in style...

The neat thing about the four Riders we've seen so far is that each of them has a different installation for their Rider Book? Saber's on the left, Blades is in the center, Espada's on the right, Buster's on the sword. It lets each of their suits be just that little bit unique in design, beyond just the helmet and coloring. I really appreciate the slow staging of that.

Ha ha, oh man, I cannot imagine trying to sculpt compelling chapters out of these forgettable dopes. Good on you for trying to salvage something from the trash! I admire the creativity!