[Fish Sandwich]

Kamen Rider Web outright said it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call the show "Kamen Rider Blades" for these next few episodes, and it's very much looking like that's the case. And you know, that's awesome, because Rintarou is awesome.

From the outset, he was essentially everything the traditional secondary Rider is not (which of course mostly went to Kento instead), and that characterization immediately struck a chord with me all the way back in the second episode. Where other secondaries might be brooding, Blades was optimistic. Where they were aggressive in their manner, he was always dignified. Where they were defined by dedication to strongly self-motivated goals, his character centered on his immense loyalty to a larger cause. Where other secondaries had themselves, Rintarou had his family. He had a place in the world he deeply believed he belonged, that filled him with pride and purpose, and the show did a great job establishing all that over the earlier part of the show.

So of course, violently smashing that to bits is bound to make for some great drama, yeah?

The recent stretch of Saber has moved Rintarou into the background pretty significantly, as his shredded heart largely keeps him out of the action, especially as a Rider, but it's to the credit of that great characterization that I've never felt like he's been forgotten about to this point. On the contrary, I've really enjoyed the way Saber has built up to the inevitable "Blades gets his groove back" storyline, and think explicitly making him the last of the main Riders to leave Sword of Logos was a brilliant, very natural choice for his direction. We've gotten plenty of great, if smaller, moments out of him in that stretch, and as usual for Saber, the payoff is turning out to be worth it.

It's a cool episode overall -- I loved how Durandal's crazy spacetime powers were portrayed, seeing Yuri being comically unflappable is always a joy (as was seeing his other forms for once!), and of course the general plot was great, but I think I mostly want to call attention to my two favorite specific moments in the episode.

The first is right after the opening, where Touma reacts to the news Rintarou is finally defecting as though he's a kid on Christmas morning or something, complete with him excitedly running down the stairs like he's trying to catch Santa before he leaves. Or at least, that's where my mind went with that anyway. The point is, I just thought it was super adorable and earnest -- like, of course hearing he can finally hang out with his best buddy Rintarou again would be like the best present ever for Touma, right?

It establishes a mood that carries all the way through to the big climactic hostage situation where Rintarou pours his heart out, which leads me into the second thing. I've mentioned a few times how much I love the very specific angles Saber approaches its characterization from, most recently talking about Kento's return, and here too, I thought it was just amazing how Touma asks Rintarou to walk back his melodramatic declaration that the organization is better off destroyed, and Rintarou immediately admits he's just venting.

I'm not sure I can adequately describe why I feel this way, but that was the moment of that exchange that made me go "oh, yeah, I'm watching Saber" in particular. Like, this show doesn't feel the misguided need to plunge Rintarou into some total nihilistic depression where he's inconsolably lashing out at everyone for several episodes or something, and I love that? That scene from episode 10 of Touma, Rintarou, and Kento all making that promise to have each other's backs is one of my favorites in the whole series. I've been waiting for them to call back to it in light of all the insane turns that have happened since then, and I wasn't disappointed. Great episode, and it's kind of crazy to think this is only the start of a big story arc for Rintarou rather than the end.