[Fish Sandwich]

This is pretty much the first perfect episode of Saber. Absolutely fantastic at both the big things any good Rider show needs, which are:

-The Story/Characters-
Basically synonymous since this episode had a plot that was entirely driven by the characters. This is only a good thing in my mind. It does a lot in that short runtime to flesh out the relationship between Touma and Kento, showing how the years apart have left them with a bit of a distance that's not just going to go away overnight.

Their downplayed, very human conversation in the bookstore is a highlight of both Kamihoriuchi's skill as a director, and one of the things I maintain Fukuda excels at as a writer. The latter is even more evident in the way Ogami gets Kento to loosen up a bit on that rooftop, which might be my favorite moment in the whole episode.

An episode that, mind you, is doing ALL that in addition to the juicy backstory reveals with Calibur, further hint dropping about other things, continuing to build the world with things like a proper introduction for Daishinji, and even a comic relief sidequest for Rintarou and Mei. And Kento and Touma still get a satisfying mini-arc by the end. The plot here was astonishingly well handled.

-The Action-
It's just really really cool? I struggle to really analyze it too much, but I can point to trends the show is doing that I like. Bike action is an easy one; I can think of few more effective ways to show two Kamen Riders bonding than by taking out some monsters on their motorcycles together.

More importantly, I'm noticing this show is proving to be better than most about giving each Rider a truly distinct fighting style, which plays off both the personalities and elemental themes of the characters. Esapda's got a fairly no-nonsense approach with powerful strikes and purposeful moves, living up to the lightning shtick and ending a battle as quick as possible (and with a sick catchphrase to boot). Buster is just a huge rock that throws himself at the enemy because Ogami has never even heard the word "subtlety". Rintarou is highly disciplined, which is reflected by his notably more graceful swordplay, where each swing seems to flow like water into the next. And then Saber himself, the protagonist, consistently gets the big showoffy yet clumsy CG special moves utilizing the unique powers of each Wonder Ride Book, which fits Touma's (presumed) lack of real training, his natural affinity for books, and the uncontrolled raw power you might associate with flames.

I don't know how intentional all of this is or if it'll keep up throughout the whole show, but it's one of the neater elements of the series right now. There's a ton of nice detail in these episodes for how fast they fly by.