Kamen Rider Saber Episode 45- "Ten Swordsman Betting The World" Discussion
 

All 10 Swords must unite in battle against the powers of Storius.

The real highlight of the episode is Kenzan taking down a Sage. Goddamn, I loved that.

Some things never change lol.

https://i.imgur.com/bO28ZAp.png

I can't believe Kenzan got his own Omnislash with Desast's spirit, that was one of the hypest things ever!

I also just love the idea that everyone is pushing themselves as hard as they can. Despite everything Ren just immediately rushes to help Kento and Touma. And judging by pictures for next week we're seeing that more and more so that's really cool. It's not just a "We beat our mini boss and we're done." it's "We beat our mini boss so if we can move we're going to move and keep on fighting".

Video was screwy during it, but goddamn that was amazing. He really grew to his own. The calamity strike would've been great enough, but him making a sword circle just elevates how much he's become his own swordsman. That growth!

Ok, the Mei disappearing act I did not see coming and I really should have.

She always has been innately adept at handing Wonder World stuff, primarily the book throughout the show. So much so I was surprised she wasn't starting to see Wonder World immediately after the end of the first arc, like many other humans, only to get it later.

Yeah, another stellar bit of foreshadowing in the show. Yeah, I think I'll gonna rewatch Saber rather quickly after it ahs ended. It'll probably enhance the experince imensly given all the hints in the show.

Website stuff about this week's episode. Took the TL from /m/.

In this week's broadcast, a shocking fact was finally revealed.
Only those who know the "Book of Omniscience" between Storius and Luna, who interfered with Storius, can speak to each other.
"'The stories, the technology, the whole creation is just information written in this book. Moreover, it describes the world from its beginning to its end. The end is definite."


The world that the Kamen Riders are supposed to protect is not going to be conquered by a secret society, overrun by an ancient king, or run amok by near-future technology, but is already confirmed to be doomed by the facts in the book.

It has been decided that Luna will choose Kamiyama Touma to be a hero, it has been decided that Touma will become Kamen Rider Saber, and it has been decided that the destruction of the heroes will lead to the end of the world. That is the story of this world.

The 2,000-year-old priestess and the "being that connects the world" who manifests Luna are just human perceptions, but in reality, a part of the "Book of Omniscience" was separated from the Book of Omnipotence and sent to this world to guide the hero through the written story, "the guide of the story.

The pop-up book "WonderStory" that Luna brought with her depicts events that happened in the past and events that will happen to Touma in the near future, and the story unfolds as if Touma (the Swordsman of Flame) is the main character.
As fate would have it, he has overcome many difficulties, formed bonds with his friends, and won the Wonder Ride Book one after another. All of his actions and words were just a scenario that was written for him as the protagonist of the story.
Of course, neither Touma nor his friends know this. There is no doubt in my mind that what they have achieved today is the result of their efforts. It is true. It's just that it was predetermined.


When Touma holds the Cross Saber in his hands, a new story is born on a blank page.


When Storius takes the Grimoire in his hands, a new story is born. After this page, there is no more blank page and it becomes the last page.

On the other hand, Storius used Viktor, the protagonist of 2000 years ago, to read the Book of Omniscience, to wait for the coming end time and finally to get the Grimoire to guide him through the final scenario.
If Touma was the chosen hero, Storius is the villain who wanted to be chosen.


In a story that already has an ending, he calls Kamiyama Touma "my hero" and plays the villain of the story towards the end.
What is his true intention?

And what does Luna mean when she says, "Touma can create a story I don't know"?

https://i.imgur.com/MfO1Vgh.jpg

It's a damn shame we lost Jaoh Dragon to a garbage character and garbage suit. I was really hoping Jaoh Dragon would hold up in terms of identity and screentime the same way Dangerous Zombie did. It's still a bit odd to me how unbelievably underwhelming Jaoh Dragon feels. I never thought the narrative would skew my opinion of a form or suit, but here we are.

At least Jaaku Dragon is gorgeous enough to hold its own.

There's probably like another helmet of Jaou somewhere, but it's a shame we probably won't see it again. It's an awesome suit.

I wouldn't say Logos is complete garbage tho, man's absolute hammy performance is great.

But this is true, though, lol.

So anyone with me when I think that Mei having read Touma's manuscript and combined with Luna's powers they will create a Realizing Hopper equivalent WRB for Touma?

It's a great episode, I'd say. As if I haven't. A good showcase of what everyone can do, barring Sophia using Jaou haha. She just came in a few seconds late just to do an entrance.

Look at that, the two other Megid bros are back. Not complete sure if that's just an illusion of them through Luna, or the latter giving them a temporary resurrection to reason with him, but it's still good. Great to see how they acted before they were corrupted, I kinda actually wish the three get something.

Now, this is the highlight. Kenzan! Ren!
During his debut, I was only okay with him. He got kinda annoying, but his tease with Dezast during the start piqued my interest. Now, he is absolutely one of my favorites. His growth is showing. He's still the Ren we know, proclaiming "I
will take him down." But we can notice his growth and the true strength he learned. Having defeated a sage with minimal help from Slash. A pseudo Unlimited Dezast Works with the latter's weapons, and a modified version of Dezast's calamity strike by going into an omnislash with his ghost. Brilliant. And he's still standing afterwards to join up with Kento. The two are finally acting like equals instead of looking like a one-sided relationship.

Now, Slash, man. Daishinji has to be one of, if not the most bullied rider in this show. He got absolutely trashed and temporarily killed.

Buster and Blades is an odd duo, but considering it was Ogami who trained Rintarou in the manga, this is fine enough. That quick mention of Ogami about Sora's graduation is probably proof he's evaded that death flag once again. It's so we get a nice scene in the ending of Sora graduating with his dad, obviously.

Storious' goal is simple. It's already pre-determined in the omniscient book that the final battle is him and Touma and the world ends. He's going to make it as beautiful (Utsukushiiii) as he possibly can.

The siblings are there. They got easy motivations as to what keeps them going. Very cool. I did like the small scene of Ryoga just touching Touma's shoulder, immediately signalling him what'll happen. Next week Reika temporarily dies, as per female rider tradition haha. This will probably of course give Ryoga the strength to defeat the Sage, although it's also possible that it's Reika who takes the hit and deals the final blow. I'd like that.

Also it's kinda funny seeing Ren dash over Rintarou and the siblings.

I think Ren's either getting defeated at the final Sage, or he defeats yet another one with Kento but gets stopped, which leads to Kento, Rintarou, and Touma heading up for the final battle. Mei probably gets in there via Luna and that's how we get Wonder Almighty.

Very interested how the final battle will go. Also curious as to who gets the V-Cinema treatment. The basic answer is Rintarou since it's almost always the secondary, but the last series starting with Metsuboujinrai kinda gives the possibility that someone else might get it. My pick is on Ren again lol. But I'd love to see Rintarou in the main spotlight.

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

What a badass episode that was. Has to be one of the best episodes of Kamen Rider I've seen.

And Kenzan with that finisher, yeah? It's great to see the character arc of Ren starting from being annoying to now being real boss. And yeah I vote for a Ren v-cinema. With Dezast of course.

Some really good shots and fights in this one. I hope this level of directing will translate to Revice as well

awesome start to the finale.
Kenzan's omnislash finisher was so cool! I hope he gets a V-Cinema with an upgrade and we can see it again.

They tease so much 'death' but I hope everybody survives.

Mind if I ask a question? how is it you're able to watch it live. I clicked on the link on the first comment and for some reason, it says connection time out. I want to know because that's about 3 weeks i've missed the livestream because of it.

Talkin' bout the good shots, is the kamen rider before Saber is always at top notch like this but I just didn't realize or Saber is being really good with the camera?

I skip ZiO and 01 btw.

The director for this episode and the last was the main director for Zero One

I see. I think I can expect much from Zio. Thank you

While it does fall into Saber's habit of deciding any nice character beat is one they should do Twice, I do appreciate Desast dying, kinda, again, here. He did get injured in the first place being the first one to fight Storius on his final boss path, and unfortunately he didn't really push him back there. But this time he may have been instrumental in winning the fight- part of why the sages are so tough is that they developed and already know all of SoL's sword techniques, but Desast's 'Calamity Strike' is a technique they wouldn't know! It's a way only Desast could have helped, and it brings things full circle in him having been able to help protect the world, so it's fitting he'd be satisfied enough to be put to rest afterwards.

Saber!

This show just spoils the heck out of me, what can I say? Going into this episode, it's like "aw sweet, a ton of awesome action with everyone directed by Sugihara! Probably doesn't need anything more than that to be fun, right?" And then it gives me more anyway, because this is the episode where Storious started making complete sense for me, too!

It's a pretty simple thing, but that scene with Luna accomplishes a whole lot to add context that more clearly fits him into the overall themes and plot of the show. As I'm (pretty sure) I've mentioned before, Master Logos was a glaring and deliberate exception to how villains in both Rider shows by this producer and team of writers have been handled. There's generally some level of humanity to even the most evil of them, or some sympathetic seed behind their twisted motives. Again, this is why I love Calibur in the first arc so much.

And now here, with Storious, finally, I think we've got something like that to go on? Not only do they rope in Legeiel and Zooous again to remind us of their honest beginnings, but it's very strongly implied that the reason Storious turned to villainy was because, as a poet, he had a deeply romantic outlook on life that was violently crushed under the weight of horrible knowledge. You can see that, especially, when Luna tells him Touma is capable of creating stories even she doesn't know. That look on his face, those little twitches -- I think that's envy, for sure. We saw with Bacht, too, how hard it is to let go of despair that deeply rooted. Storious swats Luna away there because the implication that he's spent thousands of years submitting to the cruel fate of the world for no reason is too much for him to handle. And it's all of that which also makes me appreciate Robin Furuya's performance in this last stretch even more. Because it's so over-the-top, like I'm blatantly watching an actor, and now I realize that the dumb voice and all that is because Storious is literally performing the role of the story's main villain, Being fake is a feature, not a bug!

So yeah, I don't know, maybe I'm reading into bits of this too much, maybe not, but I thought this was a great episode for the guy. All this stuff about fate and everything has been hinted at since WAY the heck back, too, so this is all shaping up to be a very fitting, perhaps even beautiful conclusion to the story of Kamen Rider Saber.

Or I mean, it's at least looking real pretty when Sugihara is the one directing. All that stuff I said about Storious, that's like, a bonus, on top of an episode that would've succeeded big time at what it was doing anyway. I love everything about the structure of this one. It's a pretty classic formula, the ensemble of heroes gradually breaking off into groups as they make their way towards some overarching threat that needs stopping, and it's a formula you see so much because it just kinda IS good? Especially for something like Saber that's always been especially fond of big dramatic displays of camaraderie and trust. It's fundamentally awesome seeing everyone get together, all in their base forms and everything, and head off to fight a huge army of goons. Even Sophia got invited to the party! And if Desast can be Falchion, then sure, why not have her wielding the literal sword of darkness? I appreciate how all hands on deck this one is, with even Mei running off to get actively involved by the end. There aren't really any bit players here, and that's exactly what I'd hope for from Saber.

Ren is a big standout. That's a phrase I'm still not totally used to saying, but he is! He gets possibly the coolest and most elaborate action sequence, courtesy of Sugihara flexing those Zero-One skills, and right as I'm thinking "but it's sort of a bummer he's not hanging out with Kento"... he goes to hang out with Kento! They're really dedicated to keeping Kenzan's arc going, even in an episode with so much else going on, and that's commendable. It almost makes everything else feel small by comparison, but even if those other moments are smaller, they still leave an impact. Daishinji snuggling up to Suzune after collapsing from his injuries especially is weirdly touching in the way only he could make it. If that guy says his sword is singing him to sleep, I believe it! And pretty much everyone else gets at least a tiny moment playing off of their established characters. I like Kento being the one to stay with Touma the longest; I like Ogami saying he's gotta live to do dad stuff; I like him paraphrasing Rintarou; I even like Reika and Ryouga mutually declaring their intent to protect one another for how it implies the depth of their bond, because darn it, I just like this show that much!

As usual, there's still a million other little things I could mention, like yet more new songs, but it really is those broad strokes that are important here. I said at the start it didn't even need more than the cool action, and I meant it. It's an episode of Saber where all the Riders get together and stylishly beat up monsters; I would've called it a great episode before the theme song even played.

The last thing the spirit of Desast says to Ren...
"You stole that move from that blonde spiky haired guy in that video game"

I gotta admit, Saber has done some really good world-building. While some may argue that the characters don't develop much throughout the series, a lot of the characters are already developed.

Buster has his whole other life with a wife and child. Slash looks young but has a past with a lot of the older characters. Ren has grown a lot, but I'm also interested in the previous Kenzan and how Ren became the protégé.

This last "siege on the enemy base" thing only works when there are stakes and motivation, and just about every swordsman has a reason to be there and contribute. Yes, some are bigger and more important than others, but everyone's got a reason and that is enough.

Great episode! Can't wait to see the finale.

Also side note: is this episode's filming location the same as one of the Wizard crossover movies?

Something keep bothering me everytime I thinking about SoL. There's a lot of people there, and I believe its a swordman too. But the seiken is only that much. Once, I believed that they're just like nameless knight like in the ending of Garo Makai Senki, when they fight Idea. But, in Saber, either in Falchion movie or this episode, where there is a lot of combatant to fight, they never show up. Is it a plot hole, I missed something, or I've thinking too much?

For now, I'm doing a mind yoga that Isaac kill em all off screen just like what he did with the four sage. But now it raise a new question,

How Isaac kill all the sages but beaten by cross saber, but cross saber can't do much with em?

Ok. I need to sleep. Too much coffee. Sorry

I think Saber's got a lot of holes in its storytelling like that, but thankfully they're for pretty minor details. I think you could easily explain away that they're dealing with Megiddo elsewhere or Solomon injured a lot of them or something; could have done with a few throwaway lines in the show but it's easy enough to imagine some explanations.

As for a real world explanation, I'd bet on their being given a heavily reduced role due to covid restrictions. It seems they were going to feature slightly more prominently from the scans we got mid-season.

I can agree with you. Afterall, with every flaw it has, Saber still a beautiful works. Even I join Tokunation with my poor english is because I need to talk about this show, hahah. Thank you Kurona, you're always respond my post. It means alot

In the case of other swordsmen we've seen that at the very least in the Southern Base Isaac all froze them. As for the Sages it was because they were all past thier prime and were very old when Logos got rid of them. Storius not restored back to thier youth but also gave them a power boost. Plus they probaly where backstabbed by Isaac

Eh? Is it happen on screen? Why I don't remember this? Can you tell me wich episode?

It was in Episode 39 when Reika and Ryouga were breaking back into the Southern Base in order to retrieve the Wonder Combo Books.

https://i.ibb.co/Dw8H07j/Screenshot-...5-Facebook.jpg

Forgot to mention this last week but, the Mooks are back!

Great episode, loved seeing everyone using their base forms (Calibur included), and Ren absolutely stealing the show. Seriously, he might actually be my favorite character at this point. Heck, everyone got to show off a good deal this episode, and that was a treat to watch. Even the music was phenomenal!

And yep, boy do I feel dumb when I think about the importance of Mei at this point now, but dang, does she get to witness what is probably Touma's greatest masterpiece, which may just become the rumored Almighty Saber I've been hearing about.

Zooos and Legiel even get to show up, kind of wish they got to play a bigger role in the story, but still. Not only that, we also got the two previous Calibur wielders showing up, and of course I didn't forget, Desast!!! That scene was an absolute masterpiece, made better by the fact that he got the first Sage kill.

Next Week: Who get's to decide this story's conclusion- *Doesn't say Final Episode* Okay, never mind...

You know while I always like Storious as a schemer, this episode and his conversation with both his former friends and Luna really gave him the development he needed to solidify his place as the final villain.

Also it was honestly really cool seeing all the swordsman fighting their hardest. The fact that we even brought back the Three Little Pigs book too as part of Kenzan's short combo with Slash was equally cool. Makes me hope we'll see Bremen and Jack this next episode with Daishinji and Ogami since I don't think I'll count Daishinji out yet.

Two more episodes left (technically 3 but that one's a special episode) and I'm excited to see how this story concludes.