Kamen Rider Saber Episode 26- "Deep Darkness With A Sword!" Discussion
 

The Dark Rider, Kamen Rider Caliber has returned more powerful than ever and with a strange secret behind him...

Did Calibur beat Kenzan mercilessly?

No. And he never will, since he's just gonna beat him till he drops the sword.




That aside, though, BOY OH BOY, this was a heavily emotional episode. For real, I kinda had a heavy feeling on my chest when Kento told of his side of story. Seeing your friends like that die over and over again.

Poor Daishinji...

F for Suzune

No, he didn’t. Ren is his friend, and no matter how much you feel like he should die or be ‘beaten mercilessly’, neither Touma nor Kento feel that way.

That said, rip Tassel :(

Also the official Toei page for this week reveals that Kento never died, but was banished to a sort of ‘shadow dimension’, and that this is one of Kurayami’s unique abilities as one of the original swords.

Is that all you care about?

There's all this serious and emotional stuff going on in this show right now, all of it more important than your weird vendetta against Kenzan.

Seriously, PLEASE chill out.

Some lore for Kurayami. Interesting that it's a sort of "Sword of truth". It's an ability apparently disregarded by other generations of black swordsmen. Except maybe Hayato, Daichi, and Kento. Kurayami was also to serve a purpose of guiding the other swords so they won't be misused, hence its ability to seal them.

Kurayami has the power to show potential calamities, without the consent of its user. This would be a fine tool if there is no greater calamity, but in a world of war, it could make the user lonely.

https://pastebin.com/MFLF3gBr

No!!!!! Not Tassel!!! He was such a wonderful person!!! Damn you Master Logos!!!!! I hope that either Elemental Primitive Dragon or Touma final form beats you merciless!!

I DON'T WANT TASSEL TO GO!!!!

I want him to help Touma as the Saint Germain & Mad Hatter of Saber. He'll help him reunite with Luna too! I still hope for that to be a love story as Tassel can be both the Mad Hatter & Fairy Godfather to Touma.

And Kento going Doctor Strange route. I like it

I keep seeing Tassel mentioned. And something about Suzune. WTF HAPPENED?!

Well apparently Tassel or who used to be known as Victor was apparently killed by Master Logos and Kento used the power of Ankokuken Kurayami to seal Suzune.

NOOO!! Not Tassel! Who will greet us at the beginning of each episode?! And why Suzune?! Why the actual entertaining character?! BULLSHIT!!

I was gonna complain about the power level inconsistencies (IE how Kento with no training with Kurayami which you gotta figure is a little harder to use than Ikazuchi is able to be on par with Primitive Dragon despite Daichi who beat the shit out of Kento with Jao Dragon getting his ass beat by Dragonic Knight) but it hit me that Kento realized Primitive dragon turns Touma into a berserker yolor rushing everything so he's just using that to his advantage

also judging by the preview place your bets how long before Kento gets the crap kicked by Elemental Dragon and then Talk no Jutsu'ed (that term was used to make fun of Naruto/Steven Universe but it can apply to so many shows)

We finally done something with reika, but then there's master logo, narrator tassel guy, sophia, desast(haven't seen him beside the meme on the toei social), kento, and the whole megido higher up tribes. So many factors and heard the movie rider guy that played gogoV and amazon alpha will join the tv cast. It's getting out of hand how much storyline jumble together. Getting ridiculous out of hand with the pacing. I mean blue blade rintaro did all that to save and persuade kento when he hinted on defecting the guild, but when touma did it, they're all out hunting for him. The consistency is always off with saber. We did the whole 2 part guest of the week shenanigans for saikou for 6 weeks of predominately filler guest stories instead if expanding the lore. By the time we get master logos, everything will be disposable like fourze zodiarts. Reika will either be super loyal and get duped by him like medusa/white wizard.

C plot armor and whatever the narrative dictates. They can just say he's overwhelm by super dark magic he borrow from the dark dimensions since he pulled a dr strange future visions in this episode as well anyway i like the idea behind kento return like alway it's usually going emo like yaguruma kick hopper, lazer, night rogue, and maybe forcing it with Burning falcon(he did a reverse emo

Dang, they made Kento a further tormented version of Moira MacTaggert.

Like kakuranger narrator they ditch him during second half to progress the serious storylines. Mystery unfold. We hardly get the fairy tail and saber opening them epic heroism and brotherhood and we're entering the pent ultimate endgame it's like dc jump start justice league after batman v superman looser friendship.

I don't think Tassel's dead. He probably got banished somewhere by Master Logos.

When everyone are friends again, we will again hear the dulcet tones of "Bonne Lecture!" :D :D :D

With subs and a rewatch, I really do feel for Kento. I'm a sucker for the time loop punishment story like Madoka Magica's Homura., and it kinda kinda happened here with Kento. The punishment Kento endured to prepare him for his quest leaving him only with apathy and the look of utter defeat on Touma's face as Kento repeats his line. It's all so good.

I also liked that Kento's catchphrase was already villainous at the beginning, so it really sells it when he uses it here as "Your story has ended" albeit modified. So, it'll be even more triumphant when Touma argues back with his regular "I'll be the one to decide how this story ends!" catchphrase.

I wasn't 1000% sold on Daishinji screaming his sword's name at first, since it was a bit long, I would still prefer if he just said "Suzune!!", but I could still feel the pain, though.

We didn't get a rain fight with Calibur and Saber, but the scene was still brimming with emotion, I loved it!

Next episode is sigh Elemental Dragon's debut. Still not a fan of how the form looks, but at least it's directed by Sakamoto. He'll do it justice, I feel.

I would like to give props to Fukuda, though! Kami may have directed this episode, but it's Fukuda who layed out how the episode plot will go and all the cool details and lore on the world. Really great to see it!

what a powerful episode.
The scene with Kento seeing every possible scenario ending in the world being destroyed and all. Now are they the truth though ? or is there some kind of force showing him these false outcomes on purpose to make him seal the swords.

And the end with Daishinji screaming over his sword was heartbreaking

As for Tassel/Victor there is no way he is dead. Not the way they made him disappear so quickly with no real focus and all. He is probably sealed at worst.

Yeah this show is a CLUSTER*UCK. Amazingly, I like the other cluster*uck ZI-O better,and it was pretty all over the place bad.
Aw well, it will be over soon, and life will go on...

Whoo, that would be amazing if so. :rock:

That thing about Kurayami is impossible, unless the official site outright lied. Kurayami has the ability to show its wielded visions of destruction waiting in the future, and it is nowhere implied that this can be tampered with or in any way influenced. It shows the truth.

On the other hand, I absolutely agree that we haven’t seen the last of Tassel, and not simply because he didn’t get his flowers. We now know he was one of the original guardians, sure, but apart from that, we know nothing about the guy. I kinda hope he becomes the last swordsman.

I’ve also got a nagging feeling that Yuri is going to die, and the endgame will be Touma wielding Rekka and Saikou alongside Kento with Ikazuchi and Kurayami against whoever the final enemy is.

This is probably completely unnecessary, but I want to be on record as disagreeing with everything you just said.

Let it go. Everyone has their own thoughts, regardless of how well articulated they are. To some extent, I can understand how one would think this week's episode would be a clusterfuck. Maybe some aren't just a fan of time loop plot points.

Oh okay good, I was wondering if I was the only one who like, felt that way. Got major Madoka Magica/Infinity War Doctor Strange vibes from Kento's multiple future visioning sequence.

Yeah, I need to work on not overreacting so much.

Though, I never said they can't have their own opinion. I just said I disagreed with it. I don't want to start a fight about it or anything.

Here's the thing, If Kento needs to seal the swords to stop the end of the world, why doesn't he just seal one and that's it. I mean, the ritual wouldn't be completed if there was one inactive sword right. Just let Kento seal Ikazuchi (like he needs it anyway) and then everyone gets to keep fighting the Megid without the End of The World scenario.

Yeah, Tassel ain’t dead. There’s way too little fanfare involved.

And Kento’s situation reminds me of this conversation from a Futurama episode: “Do you know what a burden it is to know everything that’s going to happen? To never be surprised? To know the punchline to every joke hours in advance?” “Like watching Leno.”

I thought this episode was fairly good, but, you guys, I am really distracted by that gap in Reika's lycra leggings that makes it look like she's accidentally torn them whilst trying to sheath her sword.

Great episode, but I'm getting "lapdog" vibes from Reika. I've been suspicious since last week. Even though her becoming a Rider was a sweet reveal, it didn't actually have much impact on the plot. In all honesty, that fight amounted to nothing since she basically got sidelined as soon as Touma came into the picture. It wasn't like the usual Rider debut where you got to see them use a big move to finish a fight.

Same thing with this episode. It feels like she's a Rider just to be a Rider - which is fine and all, but I'm doubting she'll be much of a better character than Yoko. I hope to be proven wrong, though. To me it just feels like she serves as Master Logos' eyes right now, since it's too early for the final villain to henshin for whatever reason.

I loved Yua as a character and Rider, but for a tertiary Rider, she left a lot to be desired. Reika is just an extra Rider in this series - I can't imagine her role being that much better. Again, I do hope to be proven wrong.

With that being said, I am loving Saber so much more than Zero-One.

This has got to be the best episode of this show so far.

Like, everything about it is so strong and emotional. I was seriously crying at the end. Saber has made me feel emotions that no other Kamen Rider series has before, and I'm loving this show for it.

And the editing is just beautiful. The way everything fits together, and the way it moves from one scene to another. There's just this heaviness to it all.

It really surprised me how many parts didn't have music, and mow much impact that had.

As for the events of the episode, just EVERYTHING about Kento's Future Visions. We only see little glimpses of the futures he saw, (which raise so many questions on their own) but he saw them over and over again.

No matter what they did, the swords opened the book, and the world evaporated right out from under him. I don't even know what to say.

The fact that Tassel didn't introduce the episode, and then got disappeared by Master Logos. It makes it feel like things are going to get BIG soon.

I don't think Tassel is gone, though. I think the Master implied that he was going to use him for something.

And the whole battle at the end, just wow. Both the fight itself, and the characters. The moves and choreography clearly had a ton of work put into them. And it's also the most most emotional part so far. You can just hear Touma's heart breaking, hearing his friend talk like that.

I think this is the best use of Primitive Dragon yet, and it's not even a minute long! It doesn't even fight!

Also, Suzune is freaking dead! Of all the swordsmen who could've lost their swords, they went with the one who would be the most hurt by it. Just, dang.

This show is done holding back, and I am SO here for it. I cannot wait for more.

Anyone else wants an Espada mini series or V-Cinema detailing at least a couple of the alternate futures Kento went through? I especiially want to see the initial one seeinf the gang reaction and Kento happiness for coming back. And the final timeline where he accepts becoming Caliber.

Man, Saber is like nothing but sadness, sadness, and more sadness lately.

I love it!

I mean, I'd love to articulate that feeling in some meaningful, concise way, but there's this thing that happens sometimes where I get so into a show that it actively hurts my ability to unpack it in words, and Saber's been getting to that point lately. You have to understand, I am beaming as I'm writing this. There's really nothing more insightful I can say than that, at least not without devolving into disjointed rambling. But hey, with episodes this filled to the brim with cool things, can you blame me? Well, er, maybe you can...? Apologies in advance for the length of this one!

First of all, Brave Dragon was totally in those flashbacks to Kento's visions or whatever, and I just have to call that out. It's the base form that's too legit to quit!

And speaking of things glimpsed in those scenes, we totally saw that last sword in there, didn't we? This is another thing I've come to really appreciate about Saber, which is how it's been subtly shoving all this lore in our faces, often not calling attention to it until it becomes more directly relevant to the story, which in turn makes the world feel a lot more cohesive and thought out. I mean, I figured they had some kind of plan for Tassel beyond expository narration, but like, they had a plan for Tassel, you know? When I stop to really think about that, it honestly impresses me.

I'd also like to take some time out to mention how much I love Yuri? The way it's shaking out right now, my top three swordsmen actually go Touma>Yuri>Rintarou, and I'm pretty sure some months ago I said Rintarou was basically my #1 guy, so that should tell you something about how much great work the show has done with those other two lately. I mean, it's not even really a contest, they're all just super awesome characters for different reasons. When it comes to Yuri, what I adore about him is the balance in how his fish-out-of-water oddball tendencies allow the show to otherwise characterize him as exactly that old-school stalwart kind of hero without the character coming off as flat or too "perfect".

X Swordman has quickly become one of my favorite forms in the show because of how well it encompasses all of that at once. Sure, it's a bummer the whole "is literally a weapon" shtick didn't last that long, but I adore that Yuri went on this epic journey, questing to regain his true powers from the days of yore! ...and then that quest was just stopping by his buddy Tassel's house to have him dig some junk out of his closet so he could dress up like the protagonist of some silly comic book he's now an obsessive fan of. Like, Yuri is weird, to say the least, but in a way where it doesn't undermine the fact that he also legitimately IS this ancient dude who clearly carries a different sort of weight on him than the other Riders do. I joke that he just casually went to visit a friend, but keep in mind Tassel is now confirmed to be one of the most central characters in the entire lore now.

Where that all finally ties back to this episode is simply that, for not having a big role to play beyond exposition, I found myself taking note of all these minor little details in how Yuri carries himself that I was glad to see in an episode with so much going on already. They're minor beats, all around: the specific blunt, uncompromising tone of him telling Kento he can't let himself be sealed because he has hero stuff to do; or specifically being the one to shield to Touma and Mei from Calibur's big special attack. That's a deliberate choice on the part of the show; you can totally just not have them be in danger in the first place, but it emphasizes the danger posed by Calibur, and lets Yuri do a cool hero thing, so it's more exciting to watch and more characterful.

I, uh, I also started this whole tangent about Yuri simply because I wanted to mention how he hangs his head when Kento says he saw the future, which was a great little way to show that Yuri has more knowledge of the swords and everything than most other characters, and probably already knew where Kento was going with that statement, while everyone else just looks shocked.

Kinda took me a while to get around to that point, but the conclusion to that elongated segment of me gushing about Yuri does lead me into my next point -- I'm very, very glad that Kamihoriuchi was the director on this one. He has a way of letting pregnant pauses and meaningful looks carry the story in a way unmatched by anyone else working for Toei, and that was the perfect fit for this very emotionally charged episode. Amazing attention to detail in even the most subtle shots. One of my personal favorite is how when Reika comes to get in the way of Saikou and Calibur having their epic light vs. dark duel, she literally gets in the way, with her Ride Book covering up the two in the frame and stealing the focus. Between that level of consideration in the staging, and the strong performances he gets out of actors who are already adjusted to their roles, this is another absolute stunner of an episode when it comes to direction.

It's especially great to see him directing a script by Fukuda, as this exact winning combo also produced episode 5, one of my favorites of the whole show so far for being the first time I felt some deeper emotion from Saber, which, funnily enough, was also centered on Kento's (proper) debut as a new Rider, and Touma's relationship with him. Like I've mentioned talking about Rintarou lately, I'm a huge fan of how Fukuda can write conflict between these people by testing the bonds between them rather than undermining them. It's not "Kento shows back up and is evil", it's "Kento and Touma disagree about what is good", and that not only makes for a more complex, layered story -- it makes that story more engaging emotionally by stressing that these characters still want to get along, and that these aren't decisions they're making lightly.

That's something this episode in particular nailed, I thought. Having Touma asking to just slow down and talk, and then having Kento do exactly that, it was so wonderful. There's such a tragic bent to Saber in recent months, but the show doesn't come off as overly grim or cold, because it goes out of its way to root the pain the characters feel in the simple fact that they have hearts, and it makes all the difference.

...And I guess that's enough about episode 26 of Kamen Rider Saber for now? You know, after I realized my posts about so many later episodes of Zero-One were getting excessively long, I was trying to make it a point with Saber to keep things at least a little more simple and short, which would save time for everyone including myself, but evidently I can't stop myself, at least not when Saber keeps flooring me like this week after week. I guess look forward to seeing how long I can rant about the emotional weight of holding hands next time? :p

Please, whatever you do, do not make these shorter. I seriously look forward to your long and insightful thoughts on this show. It's kinda inspiring, in a way.

As for the weight of holding hands, I could probably ramble about that going from one short scene in this episode alone. But maybe I shouldn't. Don't want to steal your thunder or anything.

Wow, Saber has really not been pulling its punches at all. Master Logos just casually killing/sealing Tassel, Kento's repeated visions, Touma failing to take the boy's hand, Daishinji screaming Suzune's name... so much in this episode, just... hurts.

I guess the writer learned his lesson from Ghost and took a 180. I like that it still has Ghost's themes of bonds and friendship but Saber subverts it and uses it to build drama and tension (such as Kento's concern for his friends and the world pushing him to become an anti-hero/villain) instead of using it as power-ups. I mean, it will with Elemental Dragon but it's not as jarring as Ghost.

I'm guessing Suzune because Tetsuo is the easiest character to have be doing other things, with his whole being the forgemaster for the northern base and all that. I'm betting he'll be studying the Kaenken Rekka and how to use it (and other swords) to split meggid from humans.