So... yes and no?

I definitely feel like the scale the Book Club are operating at is totally different now, and even a fully united SoL would've had a problem solving this one. Like, Touma and Mei -- armed with a magic book that tells them when Megid attacks are happening -- had zero clue this many people had been lost to Alter Books. So, to me, this wasn't so much a problem that a unified SoL could've prevented, but a problem that was always going to defeat Touma emotionally.

Sometimes You Get Beat is sort of what Daishinji's trying to impress upon Touma, you know? How Touma deals with adversity will tell Daishinji if this is a kid worth following or not. So, to me, the fight in this one for Touma isn't necessarily trying to reunite the SoL in order to solve this problem with/for him, but to find a level of personal strength that will allow him to keep fighting, even when he fails.

Also! Thanks for the kind words on this episode's bleak-ass short story. This is sometimes a horror show, what with the high number of grieving family members, so it felt like time to honor that.

Yeah I get what you mean, which is why your first response of "yes and no" perfectly encapsulate the situation.

Because make no mistake. I'm not about to downplay how hard the Megid decided to play ball because wow did they just decide to take things further than ever. There's no way a united Northern SoL could've solved the issue. But the situation definitely could've been handled a lot better than it has.

Will agree though! Sometimes you just lose, and after losing you just got to stare yourself in the mirror to see if you either give up or keep going. And in this case, Touma kept going. It's a good lesson that's imparted and one thing I'll mention is I like how the weight of swords is brought up here. Like these swords aren't just metal being swung, they have so much put into them that transcends beyond mere materials/magic.

Oh, absolutely. This whole string of episodes is the Book Club getting away with shit because the SoL are focused on Touma, and Touma's juggling Yuri, his old friends, and his investigation into the traitor. They'd've all still been behind the 8 ball (no one's ever made a Megid out of a human before, after all), but there'd probably have been a more immediate plan to track down the Book Club before double-digit lives were lost.

Yeah, X-Swordsman is a very cool suit design, the comic page aesthetic really works for me. I also like Daishinji and Ogami actually sort of joining with Touma is great, and I love that the cast is slowly forming back together.

However, everything else in this episode? It's fine, I don't have much to say on it, I just can't really muster up any feelings for the rest of the stuff in here, it doesn't necessarily do anything wrong, it just doesn't resonate with me.

The stuff with Daishinji though, was just great; as I've said numerous times, the cast is my favorite part of this show, and I love how Daishinji sticks to his roots and goes with Touma instead of the Sword of Logos because of what his Grandfather had said instead of just trusting the Sword of Logos fully, he sticks to what he believes. It's nothing too big, but it's a nice trait for his character.

Besides that though, I have nothing else to really say. The rest of the episode just didn't do all that much for me, but still, I thought it was a pretty good episode overall.

Yuri fights as a Shadow Saikou, but as an X-Swordsman, he uses more than just his sword, he equips the flashy armor on himself as well, making him feel more like a regular Kamen Rider. Though, other than Yuri's view to be less of a bystander and blend more with the world, in fight Shadow Saikou is well, a shadow and thus already can phase through most attacks like yeti Megid's before? With X-Swordsman armor, he's no longer invulnerable? And actually, Yuri is Rintaro when he's kinda a dick because he also has Daishinji's traits of his bluntness and standoffishness, and here... he also assumes different persona when fighting as an X-Swordsman like Daishinji as Rock Band Slash, but seems that Yuri does that intentionally.

I don't know if you expected this before, but yeah this shows that Tassel isn't just a narrator for the audience. Probably the first episode to make a full revelation of Tassel being a part of the world? (other than vague Yuri in cloak visiting). Overall there's a lot more of him so yeah there's a lot of spoilers for him (of which I also largely still don't know).

Which is why I want to know how was Kamijo and Hayato as a person back when they're still with SoL. What differentiates Touma from them when Kamijo or Hayato are still loyal to them (other than a flashback where Kamijo displays firm determination to save as Saber when the book that absorbs Luna opened... similar to Touma displaying his dedication to helping people), or if it's actually none and that SoL and Reika's suspicions on him are more justified... including how in the franchise, there are characters who are noble but had fall from grace at the end like Yuuji from Faiz or Aruto from Zero-One.

I guess even if it's not a formal investigation group like W's Narumi Detective Agency, seems that many Riders would have pseudo-investigating phase, like how here it's the Fantastic Kamiyama Bookstore that does its job due to many more Megid attacks than just Yuki. Mei is given a book that alerts Megid's presence by Sophia, but now Mei relays info using internet from her phone instead. I do appreciate that Mei's quite active in her way of words towards the SoL members, but here I kinda disagree with Mei's solution to Touma needing allies to just smile and then try to recruit (though he's successful in Daishinji here). She also needs to be given a lesson about how talk can be cheap... like Touma here about his vow to save everyone.

I actually like that Touma is more versatile in trying to make use of something else other than the sword like how the power can be used from his knowledge of books (of which for several KR, those utilities can be forgotten), but, it's still problematic where he didn't make use of the sword and too much focused on the side-utilities. To be an effective fighter, you gotta make use of everything you can in your arsenal, like for Touma's case here, swordmanship skills aside from the extra powers. Daishinji is established as standoffish due to his lack of social skills, but here as he shows more open appreciation to join Touma, he feels as if he acted as harsh mentor here instead.

Here Touma needs to come to terms that heroes aren't omnipotent, by default; saving any number of people at any given time means even more people aren't being saved. Heroes can't save everybody because reality forbids it. Daishinji already does which as Ogami describes, his sword swings are made heavier by anyone he fails to save. Touma stopping to focus on his failures to save people, also makes him do the same, now matching Daishinji in swordmanship better with weaker form. But, isn't this a kind of "I Was Mad Before But Now I've Seen Things Happen For More Times And Now I'm DOUBLE MAD" motivation for Touma? Motivations working with a multiplier effect.

Ah yes, the time the Megid proved the old adage that villainy only fails when the camera focuses on their schemes. But if it takes place off camera, they’re able to score victories up the wa woo.

And I’ll talk about the random sword themed books around Tassel’s house at a later time (possibly during the spin offs?), but for now, here’s what Yuri makes of the “Story of Kougouken Saikou” book.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=GeXUb_y2V7k

Episode 1: Fight with all the colours!

Episode 2: All of me goes to my arm!

Episode 3: All of me goes to my leg!

And similar to that “Touma is from Wonder World” misunderstanding, TV Tropes actually misinterpreted a scene from the previous episode to mean this episode would be about Touma’s Kaenken Rekka breaking down from lack of maintenance. Which in retrospect, is kind of silly (just because the toy of the magical artefact is electronic, doesn’t mean the magical artefact itself is).

Fish Sandwich also watched Kamen Rider Saber Episode 21

I'd be pretty shocked if you're assuming correctly here! To me at least, that Saber/Slash fight is easily a highlight of the entire series, so as fun as X-Swordman is coming in at the end, it's hard to compete with the impression left by that earlier duel. This was the first episode of Saber directed by Teruaki Sugihara, and as ever, the man just knows how to make things purposefully cool. You've got a line in the script where Touma says how heavy each swing of Slash's blade is, and that translates on the screen to the sick as heck use of slow motion to emphasize every individual strike. And that's just one detail in there!

It's also an extra memorable fight because it's just real darn good use of the suits? One of the simple things that makes this stretch of Saber so fun for me is that Brave Dragon, Crimson Dragon, and Dragonic Knight were all treated as equals in a way that generally doesn't happen with modern Rider shows as soon as a single big power-up makes its debut. It's cool in general, but this particular fight scene also harnessess that to further fuel the excellent drama going on in the scene, and it's a complete joy to watch. Combine that with Yuri's ever-growing appreciation of modern heroism resulting in him cosplaying as a guy he hated a month ago, and you've got an episode of Saber where the writing, the direction, and the merchandising are all working in beautiful harmony to bring out the best in each other.

Filled with climaxes and an important episode. The debut of Charybder, Yuri turned into a comic rider, Daishinji went over to the side of Toma and the audience was shown that by losing in battles the Megids win the war. The story develops in its own way and there will be many more interesting things to come.
Also your story is quite dark today.

It's really great how much this show lets characters' stories not always be in subservience to Touma. We get a lot of new insight into what Daishinji believes, instead of the story being about Touma swaying another character. Like, this sort of plot could very easily treat the SoL swordsmen as just another collectible for Touma to win, but Saber smartly stays away from that.

He also shows up in the final Kento storyline, but only from a distance. This was the first time he really provided something of tangible value to the cast, though.

I just assumed they were suddenly more effective due to Zoooooous's nighttime parkour.

I'm happy to be wrong in my assumption! It seems like everyone who enjoyed this episode called out the Daishinji thread as the best part, which is great to see. Folks got good taste!

Ha ha, you're not wrong! Sometimes these stories don't have happy endings for everyone.

If you want a fun name for Zooous aside from stretching the letters, might I suggest Zoobooks? It's one of the many nicknames my friend came up for various members of the cast during Saber's run.

Anyway, ya'll remember Zoobooks? I never had any but I remember seeing that commercial all the time. That Tiger Poster man...

I don't know where I was going with this. That is all.