[Fish Sandwich]

So, the whole reason I'm so excited to be sharing tracks from the second OST is because I find there's a more weighty, much moodier sound to many of them compared to the show's initial batch of tunes, appropriate for Kiva's shift towards heavier and heavier melodrama in the back half, and this one that plays in this episode as Wataru is trying to comfort Mio early on exemplifies what I'm talking about. This show's music is good, you guys.

And now that Saga has made his proper debut, I'd like to actually talk about him a bit, because I'll never get tired of praising this show's design work. First of all, that finisher is amazing. I've mentioned how in these later stages of Kiva, the absence of the elaborate stock footage finishers is a bummer, but not only does Saga make it night here, his go-to killing blow is to literally hang his foes, which is such a fantastically characterful thing for Taiga, as "executioner" is legitimately part of his royal day job.

Then there's the name. Like every other Rider in Kiva, it's actually just an ordinary Japanese word that describes the character. (Rey was "cold" and Arc was "evil", by the way.) The word saga (性) basically refers to the innate nature or destiny of things, and thus Saga as a character is defined by his unwavering belief in the status bestowed upon him by birthright. This is on top of the English meaning of saga, which also somewhat describes how Taiga probably views his life story – part of a grand lineage of the world's righteous rulers. I love it.

I also love a lot about that suit. The blue snake eyes are great, and the whole thing works nicely as, well, another Kiva, while still feeling entirely like its own thing. I think the ornate nature of a lot of the body actually prevents me from liking Saga as much as I want to, but I have to admit the theming is very well thought out. As in, it turns out Saga's creation was something of a saga in of itself.

The original motif concept for him was actually space, with the thinking being that the mysterious nature of the vast unknown would surpass even the many monsters the show was already using. This survived into the final design in some fashion, as Sagarc being a flying turntable originated with the idea of blending Kiva's musical theming with a UFO. Pretty neat! ...But obviously that sort of cheesy sci-fi idea is pretty outside Kiva's theming, and the concept for the third Rider himself didn't end up having anything to do with this. Instead, they came up with the very obvious idea of "make him a Fangire because the last one was a human", and from there incorporated there the whole focus on European architecture, complete with the stained glass that fits so perfectly. Also, his ears are both an "S" for "snake"! Neat!

It's a really good design, and especially because of that stained glass, I feel like Saga is sort of the epitome of everything about Kiva aesthetically, more so than even Kiva himself. Again, it's never quite been as much of a favorite for me as I want it to be, but I deeply appreciate what it's doing.

Also exciting for me is the man inside the suit. Eitoku continued to move closer to his destiny of playing secondary Riders by getting to be Kiva's tertiary one. Funnily enough, much as their untransformed actors are the same, Eitoku was also the suit actor for Rey in the movie prior to this. Saga's restrained body language doesn't give him too much room to show off, but still, it's cool to see him climbing that ladder over the years.