[Sh Ranger]

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Originally Posted by TheRaizin

We learned that Daishinji's family are the first homosapien blacksmiths to create a Holy Sword and that being Rekka. Yuri also wielded both Kurayami and Saikou at some point.

It makes sense that Yuri would be related to both elements. As Saikou, he is both a sword and a person, who summons a shadow cast from his own light to wield himself when not being wielded by another swordsman. Calibur, in both of his forms, also has an ability to interact with shadows, which would probably make him a good opponent for the otherwise invincible Saikou Shadow.

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Originally Posted by TheRaizin

We also learn that Seikens are also able to power themselves up which may explain how Slash was able to overpower Saber a few episodes ago. I also like how it made it so that it didn't matter what form Touma could use or what special attack he could throw, it had to be his own swordsmanship and his own Seiken that got Dashinji's guard off. This shows that Touma has a long way to grow past his "finisher throwing" style he used to pull back in Q1.

According to Daishinji, all the Seiken Swords have their own voices that he's able to perceive thanks to his heightened hearing. This could explain why the default forms are still relevant if a swordsman's power is determined more by the strength of the connection between their will and the will of their Seiken Sword. It's like how Saber wasn't able to unlock the full power of King of Arthur until he proved himself worthy and maybe that's how future forms will work, like controlling Primitive Dragon. It's about using the Seiken Swords as an instrument of will and the philosophy of what makes a Kamen Rider a hero rather than just a weapon.

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Originally Posted by TheRaizin

Daishinji is, so far, the best character in northern SOL. Goddamn Ogami and Rintarou need some screentime! Which may come soon as tomorrow has Blades and Buster go up against Saber.

It looks like Ogami already has faith in Daishinji's judge of character, as they go way back. Daishinji's challenge to Touma was mostly a test to see if his sword was still as strong as his pen, figuratively speaking, so Ogami will probably just want to confirm his righteousness for himself as well, before he commits fully to being his ally once more. Their loyalty is to their mission, not SOL specifically, and they're a little older than the others so they have the experience and wisdom to make their own decisions.

Rintarou and Ren are definitely going to be the hardest to convince. Rintarou is conflicted between his loyalty to SOL and the promise he made with Touma, Kento and Mei, all of whom he considers family. Ren's still just kind of being an a**hole right now.

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Originally Posted by TheRaizin

Now, for Yuri. It's amusing to see Tassel actually play an active supporting role for Yuri, and that the "Story of ___" books can actually contain the abilities of a swordsman. Kinda makes sense considering each of the swordsmen are technically their own story, so of course they'd have WRBs about their stories.

As ridiculous as X-Swordsman looks, it... works? Yuri's appreciation for a dumb superhero comic works well for the silly design and powers of the form.

I think Saikou X Sword Man does the humanoid power-up for non-humanoid Rider thing better than Lazer Turbo. I like how it's not so much Saikou shapeshifting in to that form but rather possessing his own shadow in a way similar to Den-O Climax Form and Zi-O Trinity. He can move around the suit fluidly, becoming a leg or an arm when necessary. It's such a cool and unique concept for a Rider!

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Originally Posted by FairyKing

I might not be seeing the same thing everyone else is seeing, but... Storious, Legeiel and Zooous?

Yeah, that's what we're seeing as well.

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Originally Posted by FairyKing

I've been wanting more backstory on the three villains since the beginning, and theorizing since the first "turn a human into a Megid" plot that maybe the other Megid were also human at some point, so I'm very curious to see if anything comes of this.

Very interested in their backstory now for sure, since this means they were probably good guys at some point. Although it's hard to imagine for some of them since Legeiel is such a stereotypical villain and Storious just seems to get creepier each time he shows up. Zooous has his backstory with killing Kenshin and now his rivalry with Rintarou and I'm looking forward to seeing how that subplot develops. But maybe the way they are now was due to something tragic and terrible happening to them 1000 years ago. Perhaps, they were also manipulated and wronged like Hayato was and this is all just part of greater scheme shrouded in mystery.

I think the other three could be Tassel, Master Logos and Sophia. I don't trust this Master Logos dude, since Reika serves him directly which leads me to believe he's the source of the corruption. Allegedly, SOL collect the Seiken Swords and Wonder Ride Books to protect the world from the Megids, but maybe that's just a convenient excuse to hoard them for purposes yet to be determined, another part of the elusive ultimate truth. I'm abandoning my previous theory that Tassel is evil, since he and Yuri seem pretty tight the same way Daishinji and Ogami are.