[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER SABER EPISODE 19 - “FIRE AND LIGHT, SWORDS INTERTWINED”



Sort of let this one percolate for a bit, hoping I’d feel inspired, but… not so much?

It’s a solid, if unexceptional episode. Entertaining, if unmemorable. We’re still circling our major plot points – Book Club’s like More Monsters Never Hurt, Sword of Logos is confused over how best to deal with Touma, and Yuri is still feeling his way around a world that he’s about 60% clear on while doing some light theft of personal property. Nothing is bad, but everything’s just… more of the same?

Like, the stuff with Shingo. He gets almost exactly as much characterization as Yuki got last time, which is barely enough to qualify as a sentient human being. He’s got a name, and an interest, and then he’s some victim for Touma to save. Shingo isn’t an active participant in this story, beyond being someone that Touma can feel guilty about not saving yet. There’s no story there, you know? Touma might as well be saving his own miniature castle from a Book Club scheme, for all that the specificity of Shingo’s character matters to the proceedings. There’s some fun fights, and it’s all miles better than the random Megid attacks of the first dozen episodes, but it’s still just Touma trying to save a random victim before the Book Club or the Sword of Logos interfere.

The best part of the episode, though, comes off of that interference. Daishinji (what, did you think I meant Storious?!) is still trying to understand what Touma’s up to, and if he’s already lost to the same lust for power that the SoL assumes corrupted Kamijo. But Daishinji isn’t the type to get the truth by having a discussion, because words are just another way for someone to obfuscate their intentions. The best way for Daishinji to see if Touma’s still to be trusted is, of course, having a duel with him.

I love that, for a bunch of reasons. The main one is that it just looks badass, especially compared to the chaotic nature of the other fights in this episode. Where those are all about throwing Touma off-balance and keeping him from attacking cleanly, this one’s just superheroes trading awesome moves, with no distraction. More than that, though, I loved it for how true it is to Daishinji’s character. He’s not comfortable hashing out a difficult emotional situation and reading someone’s motives through intense debate, but he knows when a swordsman is duplicitous because their moves are a lie; the fight is a confession, and only Daishinji can hear it.

It’s by far the strongest part of an episode that never really bored me or upset me, but hit its marks with such straightforward efficiency that I feel like I’ve already forgotten what else happened. It’s not bad, but it’s like… did you enjoy the last episode? This was more of that. It’s cool if you liked both this one and that one. I liked this one and that one! But this one kind of felt like it was spinning its wheels on the mega-arc (Daishinji finale aside), and still hasn’t found a compelling enough story it wants to tell for its guest-stars on the MotW front.

Hopefully the second part of this story finds some fresh ideas!

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YOUNGER THAN AMERICA



Kaho adjusted the ring light, and pressed the RECORD button on her console.

“Hey, guys! Kaho here, with another comic review! We’re talking about Sword Man #1 this week, and I hope you’re ready for it!” She held up the comic book to her camera, its garish yellow background highlighting the purple and gold superhero.

“It’s a decent American superhero comic, but… like, am I the only one who thinks it’s a cash grab from that Kamen Rider Saber urban legend? Folks online are talking about some sword-wielding superhero, and here comes a new publisher with a guy called Sword Man? Like: SWORD MAN. That’s it. That’s what they bothered to call this guy.” She shook her head, and placed the comic down out of frame.

“Putting aside how lazy the name is, and how rushed the production seems, there’s really not a lot here. It’s some obvious ‘American Superhero’ tropes, without much love for the genre. As you can, I’m a BIT of an American superhero fan.” She gestured to the shelf behind her, slightly obscured in the room’s darkness: rows of Marvel superhero action figures, scattered DC statues, and a framed promotional poster for the Image Comics’ superhero Invincible, signed by the creators. “This comic reads like it wasn’t an homage, or even a parody. It reads like it was created by someone who was told that American superheroes *existed*, and just came up with a hero from there. No love, just mimicry.”

Kaho leaned in closer to the camera, her eyes wide from anger. “And, speaking of mimicry, could this publisher not find a different artist? This guy draws like Rob Liefeld is still the height of superhero art, rather than something that was played out before I was born. It’s all distorted anatomy and gritty poses, which is laughable in a world that has Cory Walker, Ryan Ottley, and so many others. It doesn’t have to be like this, publishers! Try harder!”

She leaned back in her chair, and exhaled. With a laugh, she started back up. “Okay, so, yeah! Not a fan of this one. Those of you out there looking for a homegrown take on the American superhero model, just save yourself some time and check out translations of the real deal. You’re sure to enjoy it more. That’s it for this review! Come back next time, where we’ll take a look at the hot new romance comic, First Love Hero! Thanks for watching!”