Terrific short story, with only one minor addition:

"Okay, so, we've got the big first fight between Blades and Durendal. We know it's going to wrap up in that parking garage from Touma's last trip to the Southern Base -- everyone knows Southern Bases have great parking -- but where does the fight start? What's a good, distinct location?"

"Oh, you're gonna love this: a hotel ballroom."

"Dang, that does sound pretty epic. But I feel like there's a touch it's missing."

"A giant red cone?"

"...you are reading my mind."

Ha ha, yeah, I think Daishinji mentions them for the first time in the clip show, and now the next week Master Logos is like I Killed Them All Off-Screen. That is some real Q1 Saber cause and effect!

Yeah, I'm already not loving how breathless she gets when her big brother is introduced as, basically, her replacement? Not a great start!

To explain myself better, I refer to the moral here as in keep holding on your optimism like Touma and you'd get rewarded for that (e.g. Touma getting Elemental Dragon at the end), in comparison to Kento who still wallows in his pessimism thus is blind to golden opportunities like Touma's triumph and it'd be set as his downfall. Of which if it's like that then it can be just assumed as the story favoring Touma.

I've said before that Mei is never at odds with Touma again since Kamijo's demise, and it extends to his work too, where now Mei isn't pushy to Touma to force him to complete manuscripts ASAP anymore, instead she knows that he can be busy doing his protecting the world job, but it's Touma himself who wants to write it despite his new Kamen Rider occupation. As a first watcher, so Ryoga is introduced earlier than I thought, of which it'd do a big disservice to Reika's character, after some praise for her as (ugh..) tough and cunning girl, and it's already seen here with her just fawning over her onii-chan.

I do think that the recap here is done better than some others as it's something already established in-universe where Touma writes his and his comrade's story as a book, thus he'd want to continue it with what happens recently, so there'd be an in-universe reason to recap, but I guess as you said, there still can be a room of improvement.

I guess you're right about Kento's actions now being an influence of his father, though it wasn't him being maddened or something to resort to that, and his future visions are still from Kurayami, but it was revealed that Hayato also saw the futures in Kurayami. So it's a parallel for both Touma and Kento, where they both carry a will from previous Calibur anti-villains who seek to achieve good via extreme means, Kamijo and Hayato respectively, but correc ttheir way. Touma obviously won't do something bad, but Kento doesn't quite correct their way, even if Kento's method is tamer in comparison. Ren's reaction to Kento is obviously opposite compared to Touma, where while Ren is eager to dispose Touma of when the SoL accuses him as being power hungry, here he vehemently denies that Kento can be problematic.

There?s a reason why, when the question is raised of what books characters would add to their arsenal, my answer for Reika is Flowers in the Attic.

So, here I actually have to strongly object. The relationship between Shindai is not what you three are talking about. Their relationship may be look like this, it may even be intentionally pretending to be it and in fact it is no less unhealthy thing, but it is not it. The future will clarify everything, the main thing is not to neglect the spin-offs.
P.S. And "Flowers in the Attic" is also not about incest, but rather about bad parents. Although the book does not hesitate to exploit this topic.

Speaking of episode, it's great to see that you care so much for Rintaro. Like other characters in this show, he must fall to the very bottom of despair, then to rise up and frighten enemies and inspire friends with a lion's roar.
Also, I can't help but notice that many of your fanfictions are dedicated to Mei, which is also wonderful. As far as I remember, she didn't get enough attention during the broadcast of the show, so I'm glad that this omission is being corrected now.

I've seen every bit of Saber spin-off media. None of them make it better, some of them make it worse. Very unwilling to agree-to-disagree here; it's just disgusting. Don't fill my email notifications with nonsense, thanks

Fish Sandwich also watched Kamen Rider Saber Episode 29

This is an episode all about Rintarou, so naturally it's like the coolest thing ever. Considering the heights the last major story arc reached, it was kind of a question of what possibly come after Primitive Dragon that wouldn't feel like a step down. I think they found the perfect answer! This is another episode I probably don't exactly need to sell anyone on, so I'll just add how much I love that emotional conversation between Rintarou and Touma while Durendal politely refuses to interrupt good drama. It's another one of those exchanges I immediately think of when I think of how unique Saber's writing is among Kamen Rider. Just stuff like how Touma basically launches into a second confession of his love here when a simple "I could never leave you behind!" would completely suffice, or when Rintarou starts spouting nonsense about how the organization he devoted his life to might as well be destroyed, only for Touma to immediately walk him back from the hyperbole. There's just such a kindness to so much of this series, you know? I can't get enough of it.

Ah, but Switchblade, don't you see? The resemblance to a hotel is clearly a powerful bit of deliberate symbolism on the part of the show, representing how in this episode, Rintarou, much like a businessman on a protracted trip, realizes at last he needs to check out of Southern Base, and finally return home to his family after letting his job keep him away for far too long. Up until this point, Rintarou, overly focused on the demands of his occupation, has mistaken the Southern Base itself for that home, but now that the truth is revealed to him, that revelation is at the same time communicated to the viewers through the set design. Just some really strong visual storytelling going on here, and definitely nothing else. :p

I mean, I guess? It's the story explicitly stating (recurringly!) that there can be no success in pessimism. If that's the story favoring Touma, okay? I don't know if/why that story should take the side of a character that doesn't embody its morality.

Yeah, there's definitely something in the previous Caliburs that Kento and Touma are reacting to. Good point!

Thanks! Just as a base level, I find Mei really interesting. She's fought for her place in the cast, despite her not having any fighting ability. She's used her managerial skills to act as a glue for this bizarre group of swordsmen, and I like digging into that skillset.

Also, we're in a phase of the show (probably for good) where there aren't many outside perspectives to borrow, and that's where I feel most comfortable writing. I don't 100% get all these guys yet, and twists can end up making previous writing feel off, so it's easier for me if I can create a little more from outside observation. With Mei, she can have a slightly less rigid perspective than an SoL guy, which suits me just fine.

It's really what separates Touma from every other lead Rider, I think, him doing that. Anyone else would've been like Yes And We'll Bring Them Down Together or something, and it would've felt heroic and powerful. But Touma's right there to push back on Rintaro's uncharacteristic nihilism, and ask him if he'd really be happier with the Sword of Logos gone forever. Because he knows that Rintaro just wants this thing he believed in to be worth what he's endured; the last thing Rintaro wants is for his entire life to be erased. It's nice that Touma's a guy who won't even let his hope fade on the evil organization that is trying to systematically eliminate his friends and destroy the world!

I can see that, but only because there was a piece of paper taped to the wall that said "Sword of Logos." Never would've gotten there without that.

Rintarou's unyielding loyalty is one of his most admirable heroic qualities and yet, unfortunately, Master Logos exploited that to turn him against his friends, much like he did with Touma's empathy. An important part of loving something unconditionally is the ability the think critically and the courage to admit when it's in the wrong. SOL isn't bad, but it is broken, due to Master Logos turning it against the tenets it was established to uphold. Rintarou's love for SOL hasn't faltered, on the contrary, he loves it so much that he's found the resolve, thanks to Touma giving him a little nudge, to punish the traitor for perverting the organization's noble cause and restore it to something worthy of that love.

Pretty much. It's confusing for Touma since he has to try and figure out what's happening in real time battle, as well as learning his own powers as Elemental Dragon. While we being spectators, it gives us more time to understand. So yeah, Durandal is the Swordsman of Time, who uses a book about marine animals of the ocean. This is cleverly symbolic of Norse culture, where the ocean is used as a metaphor for time and limbo, a bridge between parts of a person's life.

While I agree that the spin-off does slightly improve Reika's character (which is a talk for later), I don't think that retroactively makes her more tolerable in the show, nor does it justify any of her abusive behavior. Kumon Kaito had a similar problem, where he wants to commit genocide to make a better humanity for vague reasons, as his backstory for that only comes up in Gaim Gaiden Balon. That kind of content should've been in the show, not a spin-off released after.

I'd suggest Medic Roidmude is an example of this done right. She's a terrible person, but then it's revealed that she only became a terrible person by accidentally absorbing negative emotions from other terrible people that she healed. And that important content was in the show, where it should be.

Furthermore, even if you do try and look at the Shindai siblings in a (relatively) healthy way, that doesn't stop people from ignoring it. As mentioned in the Zero One thread, the dark side of the shipping community has certain, uh.... Idiosyncrasies, that the way this is being depicted in the show is basically just pouring gasoline on a fire. My advice for anybody who wants to enjoy Kamen Rider Saber is just to ignore the Reika stuff as much as they can.

No offense, but agree to disagree is pretty essential for any healthy discussion and debate. I dislike Reika as much as the next guy, maybe even more considering how harshly I criticized her in Episode 25, but people are going to have their own opinions, y'know. Also, you can turn off notifications in settings if it bothers you that much.