[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER SABER EPISODE 28 - “A PAST SET IN STONE, AND THE FUTURE NOT YET WRITTEN”



What better way to decompress after an arc so emotional that it generated a power-up with the word Emotional in it, than to spend twenty-odd minutes recapping the last six months of your life to the friends who experienced it alongside you?

A clip show by any other name, huh? There’s new footage, for sure: the fight scene at the finale, Master Logos introducing Reika’s brother as the next/last swordsman, Yuki making a minor return appearance. But the intent of this episode is to reestablish the storyline of this series, the end. We’re here to be reminded about events, and have certain causalities clarified. The point isn’t to do much more than reaffirm who the heroes and villains are, and what they plan to do next.

It’s not terrible, even if the amount of time people spend explaining things that they both/all experienced is pretty comical. There must’ve been a more elegant way to recap this information, right? It’s… I don’t want to say “lazy” to do it this way, because there’s enough fresh material to dodge that charge. But there’s an artlessness to having everyone talk like they got possessed by Tassel, and can’t stop rehashing their motivations, their triumphs, and their fears. It’s basic, which is a descriptor that I’d hoped Saber had left behind for good.

But, hey, at least everyone’s here? Desast shows up to watch a fight, which is at least bringing him closer to being in a fight again. Ren splits from the guild because of their No Kentos Allowed policy (Kento from Southern Base security is allowed; they get to have one Kento) and promptly finds out why that policy was enacted in the first place. Everyone else gets at least a couple three lines of dialogue. It’s a full episode, say what you will about its narrative value.

Definitely was not expecting to roll up on a clip show, first thing out from the last arc. These Unprecedented Times, I guess.

—

POWER DOESN'T RUN ON NOTHING



“Let me tell you about my last six months! Well, I got super strong, and won a bunch of fights, and my best friend died. Other than that? Hmm. Nope, can’t think of anything. I don’t think anything important ended up happening to anyone else, either. Now I’ve got to go see my best friend, who isn’t dead anymore. We’re probably going to team-up and fight a whole bunch of people, which’ll make me even stronger. I don’t think I’ll be the strongest, though, because that means I can’t get any stronger! And I never want to stop getting stronger!”

“Sir, this is a ramen stand.”