[DreadBringer]

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

I'm aware of what an anti-hero is! Tassel being Calibur wouldn't necessarily be a villain, which is why I offered options like Threat and Anti-Hero!

So this is a misunderstandingTM. It came from how I usually get "villain/anti-hero" in sentences as being lumped together, like for example "my favorite villain/anti-hero <list below>", but this one's not.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER SABER EPISODE 25 - “SHROUDED IN SMOKE, THE CRIMSON ASSASSIN”

It was so smart to save Rintaro for last. (I mean, there’s Ren, but even Ren’s got this look of What Did I Get Myself Into, so I can’t imagine we’ve got a lot to do on that front.) Rintaro is the most interesting character this show has, and I don’t mean that as a slight against this phenomenal cast of memorable characters. It’s maybe the best ensemble a Kamen Rider series has ever had… but Rintaro’s the standout. He’s loyal, but that loyalty is wrapped up in obligation and duty. He’s a good friend, but he believes that putting his own needs ahead of the Sword of Logos is heresy. He’s absolutely destroyed by everyone else’s actualization, despite wanting the best for the people he loves.

How did people seemingly forget about Rintaro when discussing about secondary Riders breaking the usual mold such as being nice, though cmiiw (like when refering Keiwa from Geats as one, Rintaro seems to be the one who starts this trend)? Though at this point, Rintaro's relationship with Touma is quite strained and Rintaro gets more typical secondary traits here by being a brooding one like ignoring Mei's calls and keeping everything inside while not conveying it properly - overcome with rage and emotion in that... like what viewers may expect in Rintaro's debut scene of him being suspicious.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

If you need to have an A-plot for the episode where the B-plot is Reika Makes Her Move, there’s maybe none better than Mei reaching out to Rintaro in hopes that the group schism which is giving Rintaro an ulcer can be brought to an end. Once again, the series is very smart about the tools it uses to pry swordsmen from the SoL. Like, we’ve seen Rintaro and Touma try to hash out their differences and find common ground before, but they just end up shouting past each other until it’s too late. But Mei! Mei’s always been the one who had Rintaro’s number, and knew how to get him to be okay with basic emotional states like Happiness and Pride and Anger. She’s the one who was integral to Rintaro and Touma seeing that they were stronger together than apart, and they were all stronger for being a group. I mean, it was the three of them who made that promise to–

Coming from me, now it's fully expected that Mei would be the middlewomen between both of them here (wanna hear the comparison between how Mei reacting to Rintaro fighting and Mei reacting to Touma fighting - last episode), as practically since Kamijo's demise, Mei has never been at odds with Touma anymore, consistently supporting him without conflicts/disputes and got worried over him over smaller things like Saber getting knocked off his feet in battles. As Mei pointed out, Touma and Rintaro's argument here sounds like lover's confession (can get Mei jealous of her crush doing that). and other than comedy factor it can be kinda true that Rintaro keeps everything bottled up and reveals all about it at once with Rintaro at one point claiming it's the admirable trait of Touma that he likes. However when it's not heated up, Rintaro makes more sense that losing his comrade (of which Touma is one too, as pointed by Mei) is also about Rintaro being forced to strike Touma down, thus losing his comrade. Though Rintaro calls Touma as reckless for being hellbent to save the boy, that can be something to be the key regarding Primitive Dragon.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

All this goodness and praise, and I haven’t talked about the happiest surprise of the episode: Reika’s super fun as a villain! Way too long after I’d gotten sick of her one-note laconic imperiousness, here she is as Kamen Rider Sabela to kick the shit out of Slash and Buster in one of the most epic fights this show has put on. I mean, she’s OP as all hell, at a level that will surely get scaled back as the series progresses -- like, her being smoke when she’s hit and solid when she’s hitting is the sort of power set that even Yuri would think needs nerfing -- but it all makes for a fight that I’m still replaying in my head. That shot in the beginning of the fight when they charge her, SMOKE, she walks towards camera, DUDES FALL. So good!

Yeah, I'd say perhaps for Reiwa, Reika's debut as Sabela is the most epic female Rider debut so far. This'd be perhaps how Reika got her fanbase, at least in this point - for being the 'strong tough girl' via this showing, and ofc the type that evokes the viewer to have her step on them... like on Slash (and her scheming can be deemed as cunning, competent, and mysterious to add more on the 'tough girl' praise); but like before, I hope people won't forget that she's being villainous here, not being merely acting tough for girls (indicating that being tough can mean stirring shit). Though Reika's villainy is more than just directly fighting but all of her schemes lately before too. Sabela is the most powerful Rider so far with her dominating both Slash and Buster, 2 very accomplished swordsman who got Saber on their robes, but well, this is debut showing. Reika's the 2nd tallest female Rider so far at 173 cm, after Yuri (the Kiva one, not here!). I talked before about wanting to see Daishinji and Ogami's performances as human, but well obviously this one had them powerless as they're pitted against Primitive Dragon.

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Originally Posted by AkibaSilver

I feel, if you wanted to make the crutch argument, Sento is the one to focus it around. Part of the Hazard Trigger arc is that dichotomy he sees between only being able to match Grease and Cross-Z charge by using it (and thus protect people/Banjou from them/himself), but also seeing it as something cursed that even thinking about using constitutes crossing a line and will render him as the villain. Whereas Aruto's driver gets gummed up the first time using MCH, and the drama centers more around his inability to sit back and not throw himself at someone he thinks needs help, even if the consequences have to be dealt with later.

I was thinking of Aruto as the exception as actually he had turned into a worse person who is only hellbent on revenge after processing the tragedy. The Sento one was an example I mentioned but there's many like the similar ones to that was PuToTyra stuff.