[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER SABER SPIN-OFF: SABELA AND DURANDAL



Without previously wanting to wade into the discourse around how various writers and directors portray the relationship between Reika and Ryoga, it’s maybe worth pointing out that when I saw the promotional imagery for this special – months before I watched Saber and had any context for these characters – I assumed Sabela and Durandal were a romantic couple that was finally tying the knot in a piece of post-show storytelling.

All of that is to say that this show 100% knows how it’s portraying these two characters, and yet I really admired how seriously they took this slightly dumb story about Reika getting married to someone who is not her brother, and turned it into a respectful exploration of Reika and Ryoga that tries to reframe their relationship into something healthy and normal… before kind of basically making them a couple at the end, I guess, sort of, if you want to read it that way.

Like, Ryoga raised his sister, and it kind of permanently messed up their dynamic. She saw him as an idealized man, and he saw her as a precious, fragile innocent. Their adult lives are just deeper and weirder versions of that relationship, and it’s keeping the two of them in a toxic orbit. Ryoga’s kind of an overbearing asshole, because he’s trying to be a father and coworker, rather than a brother. Reika’s a jealous psycho, because her whole world was always her brother, and any threat to that status quo is a threat to her emotional stability. They don’t relate to each other as people, but as totems to protect and control.

So, yeah, a movie where the two of them have to reexamine the ways they each dehumanize the other, and how that collectively inhibits Reika’s personal growth? Big fan of that! Rui as a character is nothing to talk about. (Him immediately copping to Ryoga’s accusation was hysterical, like he saw how many minutes were left in the story and thought against prolonging the mystery into another scene.) The overall plot doesn’t really make any sense. (I don’t know why the wedding ruse was necessary, or why Rui needed Reika’s sword.) But the emphasis on trying to rework a less-than-ideal childhood for Reika into something supportive without being stifling? I like that choice!

And then the end is Reika being recognized as a woman by her brother, at which point they partner up as equals and also go out shopping together and… and I start to wonder if maybe Reika and Ryoga did get married in this, like I assumed a few months ago? There wasn’t even an officiant at Rui and Reika’s ceremony (or any guests!), so maybe the Shindais figured What The Hell and just decided it for themselves?

It’s.. this is a movie that knowingly plays with a certain iconography – Durandal pulling a wedding dress-clad Reika by the arm as the quarry explodes around them – in order to both subvert it and adhere to it, and that bothers me more than if they’d’ve picked either lane. It’s like they’re laughing at the audience, and then going You Guys Got A Point Though. I thought this movie was 85% smart and heartfelt, but then 15% gross and juvenile. I was on this movie’s side, and then it felt like they had to get one more dumb wink in at the audience.

Weird installment, this one. Mostly clever, with a whole bunch of funny cameos (Ren! Ogami! Sora! Mrs Ogami! MAGINE, UNEXPECTEDLY!), that manages to somehow both live up and live down to whatever you thought of these two characters. Tough bullseye to hit, but this team worked hard to hit it. Kudos?