[DreadBringer]

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER SABER EPISODE 13 - “I WILL, PIERCE THROUGH, WITH MY CONVICTIONS”

Some of it is that, I don’t know, it’s a lot of people yelling TOUMA and KENTO for twenty minutes? Even for the Kento Dies (well, “Dies”; we’ll get to that) episode, this veered into the histrionic end of the acting spectrum pretty quickly. I can handle maybe a couple minutes of that per episode. Once it becomes Mei blowing out her vocal chords to find an even louder version of TOUMA to scream, it’s beyond diminishing returns; it’s actively taking me out of the story. It’s the sort of acting and/or directing choice that kills my ability to see past the artifice and enjoy the narrative. I’m just like Find A Different Note To Play, and that hampers my emotional investment.

And this'd be the reason of why a good number of people find Mei annoying. You've said that you liked Mei, but I guess even you aren't immune to being annoyed at this part of the show. I do think poor Mei though of being quite treated like crap by the people on SoL like Ogami, due to her being someone normal and non-fighter.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

(This is a minor part of my coldness to this episode, but: when and why did this become solely Touma’s problem to solve? This is a story about the power of friendship, and how Kento’s martyrdom robbed him of the best tool to defeat Calibur. But the second half of this episode is everyone screaming at Touma to save Kento, and then everyone laying there while Touma generates a powerup to defeat Calibur single-handed. It would’ve been nice if this episode about the power of friendship used that friendship as more than just a way for Touma to feel supported and become powerful enough to do things by himself!)

Yeah this is the memetic portrayal of the power of friendship that is only used as a weak justification for someone to power up and win the fight. This is one of the reasons Touma is disliked, and dunno (as a first time watcher) if this aspect of him will take more focus later on.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

But, weirdly, the thing I liked the best this time is what I usually roll my eyes at, which is Kamijo saying Universal Truth as an unquestionable justification of his actions from the last 15 years. I liked it here because it brought the metaphor into focus: Universal truth is the antithesis of storytelling and fiction. Universal truth is verifiable, and objective. Storytelling is subjective, and personal. Calibur loses because his goal doesn’t allow for unexpected events or empathy, the two things fairy tales and folklore thrive on. Pitting a novelist against the cold logic of Calibur is an incredibly clever concept, even if the show tends to reduce Calibur to a remorseless supervillain with a couple catchphrases.

Now this seems to be a good analysis of re-evaluating Daichi's universal truth seekings, and even more fitting that it happens in a story about storytelling. Touma achieving his Dragonic Knight form is something that's beyond what Daichi used in the past of seemingly only being stuck on base Saber, unless Daichi somehow can take Saber on equally high level in the past. Only the main protagonist seemingly takes the Rider into unreachable height for anyone else starting from his Dragonic Knight here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

The bulk of the episode, though… it was pleasant in that Explosions and New Suits way a Kamen Rider episode can be, but I never felt like it moved me. Kento’s death/”death” felt so… I don’t know, forced? Kento’s been trying to get himself killed for the last half-dozen episodes, and it looks like he finally succeeded. Touma’s anger and self-recrimination over being unable to save Kento felt like someone being angry at themselves for not stopping a sunset. Kento’s not a person you can save, man! Just ask Mei! Like some of my problems throughout the first act, this development feels too rushed to feel organic or preventable, which are the things that usually make character deaths hit hard. Suicidal Swordsman Gets Murdered isn’t a plot that shakes me up, you know?

It kinda makes sense that Touma would be angered as not stopping a sunset, noble characters like him do will get angry over something out of their control, which shows how empathetic they're to try creating best outcomes for anyone (especially as someone constantly making promises), but that can be something self-destructive. Even Touma's new powerup can't save him just like previous episode. Regarding Kento, yeah this'd be a dark path for him, especially for someone that holds so much emotional baggage. About everyone mourning for him though, I wonder what'd be Kento's appeal to Ren for him to simp for Kento.

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Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

While I wouldn't go as far as saying I hate it, I agree that it's pretty lame and overrated. Kind of just looks like an all-silver Jaou Dragon but without the cool details that make me love Jaou. The emphasis on Saber riding his red dragon seems like something he should've been able to do easily anyway, considering how we saw Rintarou casually riding his blue lion in to Fantastic Kamiyama in his first appearance. Oh, there's the ridiculous name, "Dragonic", which is like, why? Draconic is already a word! Overall, least favorite Saber form.

While being able to go through Sophia and maybe Luna, so this'd be something in Saber that you dislike.