[Kurona]

I don’t see any of this at all. Every recent Rider show has had an ‘endgame’ event before the new years break as tradition now (at least as far back as OOO — Mezool and Gamel’s combination and subsequent demise; 01 defeating Jin, Lazer friggin dying, etc). Fukuda’s shows certainly tend to do a lot more with it, making the stakes higher and feeling like the end to a whole era of the show; but to me that’s a positive in the favour and speaks to the idea that he knows very well how to write a weekly kid’s show that’s going to be off the air for two weeks over new year’s break.

In regards to repetition or running out of steam... no, I don’t get that either. Both Ghost and Saber clearly have new things going on after that rather than repeating the same beats. If anything it’s Takahashi who runs out of plot very quickly with how much he stretches things out and doesn’t have a clue what to do with his characters. I’ve got criticisms with how things are going in Saber right now but it’s far better than what a lot of Rider seasons manage at this point; the writers know what they’re doing.