[Fish Sandwich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

And that's sort of the whole show for me? That anecdote? It literally all works, even if it also completely doesn't for large stretches. There's an argument to be made that the producers valued the book over the chapter, which is probably the way I'd negatively describe this show. But, god, what a book.

I do think I loved it, at the end.

The thing about Saber I've realized watching Die go through it is that a given viewer's enjoyment of it, hilariously enough, probably hinges a ton on how much faith they're willing to put into it. If you decide after a few episodes it's not worth your time, and drop it outright, it'll only ever be some noisy and mediocre series to you. If you stick it out, believing there's a chance things will get better, you'll eventually find they do. And if you're as recklessly optimistic going in as I was, you'll be met with an immediately enjoyable show that only seems to become more and more so with each episode.

Every time I read Die say something about how formless so many elements of the show feel until context is provided later on that makes it all meaningful, I'm just reminded all over again how insane my connection to Saber is. Die's experience is probably rather typical of most viewers, I'd imagine. It's only reasonable to question the way some of these things are structured. But for whatever reasons, I was there from day one, already having a great time, and feeling more than generous enough to excitedly imagine what all those "Somehows" that would make a given element of the narrative important might turn out to be. I never doubted that these things were being done with purpose, which made it that much more exciting when everything did start tying together so beautifully. That's probably not the typical experience with this series, at all. But that's my story with Kamen Rider Saber -- a story of faith rewarded.

Honestly, I'm not even sure what I should be writing here? Between that and everything I said about the show in that old post for 48, and, well, everything I ever say about Saber, my broad opinions on the overall series are pretty covered at this point. It's a show that stands out as special to me within a franchise of shows that are special to me, and as such I have no idea how to condense those feelings. Did I love the story and themes? Did I love the characters? Did I love the action and the aesthetics? Well, how long do you want this post to be? I'll leave the answer to those questions as a very obvious "yes" for now, and probably take another crack at this when the thread as a whole wraps up, but needless to say, following Saber for a year was an experience I'll cherish forever. Ironic a thing as this is to say about the one starring a writer, I don't think I've ever found words that do justice to just how much I do care about this series.