[Enchilada645]

Been a while since I've done some rereading of Saber, but I suppose now's a good time as any to start catching up. Which is funny since I have been following along with Saber but not, follow, following in regards to subtitles. I've at least caught up on all the stuff I've watched previously though, and a few new nuggets which is good! So before I get to Primitive I figured I'd go over the past set of episodes I like to call.

The Yuri Introduction Arc (Episode's 16 to 22):

Episode 16 still hurts so much despite knowing that everyone turns against Touma. I felt it was a clever idea to have Riders who were a bunch of comrades at the start, suddenly turn against the outsider due to their ties to their organization and duty. Like, it's a good inversion of "Riders against each other, now they're friends" that we usually go through. I just like the idea of everyone falling out, but eventually coming back into the fold and even bringing in new members as well. We aren't there yet as of Episode 22 only Daishinji's returned, but it's a start!

I suppose I should talk about the big star of this set of episodes, Yuri. I love the balancing act he has of a very fish out of water guy but still wise and knowledgeable about certain things. Him being locked away and his old mindset also helps excuse the sort of misunderstanding that occurs during Yeti Megid Two-Parter. I just sorta like the idea of him being super straightforward but also not specifying, so that's what causes the conflict. And the characters all let him have an earful as well.

It's a nice little arc to see though, with Yuri being fascinated with the modern world, and slowly but surely growing from a stiff blade to a swordsman again. He's still got some work but he's getting there. And X-Swordsman still is probably one of my favorite suits out of Saber. Say what you will about the colors, but if it was only one or two colors I feel like that'd come off as more bland than anything. The multitude of colors just help him pop better as an individual. I will close off on saying that Yuri is also a breath of fresh air. Because I'm pretty sure we haven't had a Rider introduced at New Years who was an ally to begin with since... Mach? So yeah, that was nice to see.

Touma himself is starting to slowly grow and become stronger, with his confrontation against Daishinji being a highlight of this set of episodes. It's nice to see the others point out "Yeah it's cool that you can use books well, but that's all you do" in regards to his fighting style, because it's true. He still has a lot to learn though since I liked how he ran with those words too literally when he faced Ogami. Like he figured it would be the same duel he had with Daishinji every time, go Brave Dragon, shout his resolve, and win. But he'll need more than just resolve to bust through Buster.

Ogami gets his chance to shine in this set of episodes, or at least is starting to, since Daishinji took over a lot of the focus once we moved past the Yeti Megid. But I do like how the two are proactive and as the older one's, realizing something's wrong and not immediately buying what Reika says anymore. But they're still cautious and they want to be sure. Not much to say on Rintaro, or Ren, I do like what they're doing with Rintaro though. You can tell how pained he is just by looking at every scene he's in, and he's just so hesitant and heartbroken about this whole situation. Ren though... yeah still don't care much for him. Kids emotional and not really even thinking straight, and given I wasn't on good standing with him in the first arc, this is just making me dislike him more. Props to Reika for knowing what buttons to push though, she really had him in the palm of her hand.

Really one of my complaints though is probably the lack of well... dread when it comes to the humans turned Megid. Like the Yeti Megid worked because it was Touma and Mei's chief editor, like, while she only showed up the episode before the arc, she's still an established part of the background. So that helped ramp up the tension.

I'm slightly more lenient on the King Megid, purely because of what happens in Episode's 21. But the King Megid was rather boring, a model maker who admires Touma as the singular connection between the two. It just doesn't really work in my opinion, and it feels very filler filled even if we got some good over-arching stuff with Daishinji in it. Like I said I'm a bit more forgiving though purely because in Episode 21 we find out that our evil book club has been turning tons of people into new Megid. And there's a bit of a chill when seeing a stack of Alter Ride Books on the table in the Megid hideout.

Like the King Megid felt like a big time waster because it absolutely was! It really helps emphasize that Touma needed a team backing him. If he had a team then the King Megid would have been taken care of maybe halfway through the first part, we wouldn't even need a second part. Maybe they wouldn't be able to get to everyone in time, but I guarantee you that if he had the full crew, they'd be able to distract the Megid Leaders for Touma to swoop in with Yuri and separate the human from the Megid. It really helps hammer in that Touma can't do this alone, no mater how strong he is.

Likewise Charybdis and the twins... didn't do much for me with the Twins story. And while I just praised the King Megid like not that long ago, this gets into the slight problem with the human Megid I mentioned at the start. While we were fairly monster of the week in the first arc, our focus was less on the victims, more on the heroes. Yeti works because it has a connection to the heroes, even if it is a minor one. King and Charybdis though... don't really work because it feels like we've gone too long without any real outside characters, that they don't strike up the same sense of urgency plots like these normally would.

And that's pretty much all I have to say on this set of episodes. At least that I can think of anyway. Looking forward to getting into the Primitive Arc.