[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mesnick

I will again note that the peculiarity of Saber is that it is a show of riders, which has few allotted episodes. Therefore, all additional content in it is more important than usual. Even such a short action-oriented movie.

I figured! The post-credit scene very much makes it look like Falchion's story isn't over (even if that actor may not return; not sure!), and it introduces the weirdo Book Prison that's also maybe the Southern Base. Plus other stuff that I don't yet have a context for, possibly!

Quote:

Originally Posted by weedle013ZiO

*in Izu voice*
His username is a very funny joke based on the similar sound of ?Rider? and ?ride or?.

I'd say DON'T EXPLAIN THE GAG, but I already did, so instead:

[Mesnick]

Quote:

Originally Posted by weedle013ZiO

*in Izu voice*
His username is a very funny joke based on the similar sound of ?Rider? and ?ride or?.

But it was Sento who liked to explain names.

[weedle013ZiO]

I was parodying them both! HAHAHAHAHAHA!

[AkibaSilver]

Yeah, the Saber movie is great, if you like your CGI swordfights to have some vague philosophy about returning to nothing laid over them. It's just, for the same reason I don't remember much of the dozen Sentai films I've seen, I don't remember much of this. But it succeeds at what it sets out to do - Touma gets to be the hero, the apocalypse is thwarted in less time than it takes to cook a meal, and it's a nice coda to the chaos that is early Saber. Plus... it's a 20 minute appetizer to hype 9 year olds up for the 01 movie. It's probably good it's not a deep character piece where the characters never transform!

And I know I just said all that, even in this Kamen Rider equivalent to the most sugary drink known to man, Falchion is great. The suit works amazingly for something bolted on top of a 5 year old default form (even the colour scheme is the same as Ghost), and Future Ultraman Decker here is doing his best to make the short have some emotional depth to it.

(Oh, and if we're doin favourite movie Rider, shout out to my boy Katsumi Daido, man still earning that undead paycheck even a decade on)

[Fish Sandwich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

It's always funny to me when we can describe a Kamen Rider project in broadly similar ways, while coming to completely different value judgments about those projects. Like, we're saying incredibly similar things, but where you sort of shrug off the lack of character development and overemphasis of action as accurate if largely irrelevant, I'm over here like That Makes It A Miss For Me.

Well yeah, I mean, faulting this film for its lack of complex plotting or deep themes would make about as much sense to me as berating a Hyper Battle Video for not being serious enough, you know? I'm very much considering the movie in the broader context of when and where it was released and why it has the goals it does and all that, and I really do think they nailed it? It's a very traditional sort of Japanese kids' show movie deal where it is 100% about the simple thrill of going to a theater and cheering your favorite heroes on as they do cool action stuff on a bigger screen than usual. The only way it could be more old-school is like, if it were literally just a cropped version of one of the regular episodes from TV. Paradise Lost is still probably my favorite Rider movie ever because of how much it just feels like a *film*, but something like this, it's kind of in a different genre entirely the way I see it?

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AkibaSilver

(Oh, and if we're doin favourite movie Rider, shout out to my boy Katsumi Daido, man still earning that undead paycheck even a decade on)

God, favorite movie Rider... my memory's terrible -- and these shows get pushed out of my brain so quickly, to make room for the current show that I need to think about daily -- but Eternal's a really good pick? I remember thinking Verde was too strong a concept to have kept just in a film. Eden definitely found some interesting depth in REALxTIME. I'd love to hear any and everyone else's picks, if only to selfishly jog my own memory!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Well yeah, I mean, faulting this film for its lack of complex plotting or deep themes would make about as much sense to me as berating a Hyper Battle Video for not being serious enough, you know? I'm very much considering the movie in the broader context of when and where it was released and why it has the goals it does and all that, and I really do think they nailed it? It's a very traditional sort of Japanese kids' show movie deal where it is 100% about the simple thrill of going to a theater and cheering your favorite heroes on as they do cool action stuff on a bigger screen than usual. The only way it could be more old-school is like, if it were literally just a cropped version of one of the regular episodes from TV. Paradise Lost is still probably my favorite Rider movie ever because of how much it just feels like a *film*, but something like this, it's kind of in a different genre entirely the way I see it?

Sure, and part of my reaction to it is from the expectation that I'd be given something other than an all-action opening act to a different film. But I... look, I'm not saying that this isn't successful as a commercial for a toy commercial TV show. I gotta think kids who hadn't sampled Saber yet were rushing home to set their DVRs afterwards. But I've seen HBVs that managed stories AND humor AND action AND new suits, all in half the time. I don't think it's impossible that this film couldn't've had a little more meat on the bone, narratively-speaking.

That's just me, though! It's clearly not what the filmmakers wanted, and (judging by the reaction in this thread) it's not something most viewers felt was needed. Giving the audience pure, unfiltered spectacle was probably the safest and most popular choice. For me though, as someone who generally loses interest in Kamen Rider movies as night descends on Kamen Rider Quarry, I would've liked to see something with a little more behind it than this.

[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER SABER EPISODE 11 - “THUNDER CRACKS, AS DARK CLOUDS SPREAD”



Holy shit, I loved this. No notes!

I don’t know if this is the official start of When Saber Gets Good, but it sure as hell felt like it. An entire A-plot that’s dedicated to things like how we use our own stories to fill in the blanks of the people we love, a B-plot that just wants to goof around, and a C-plot that starts to wind up the Book Club storyline, or at least let it do something of value? That is exactly the type of show I want to see more of, and it’s got me legitimately excited to see the next episode.

It’s clever in the way it largely dodges Touma’s still-not-quite-resolved Narratively Convenient Amnesia, in favor keeping the focus locked on Kento’s confusion, frustration, suspicion, and general self-destructive martyrdom. In other words: it’s a Handling Kento episode.

I’m all for that? As previously stated (I think earlier today?) I really like how much this cast has to try and navigate the minefield of Kento’s mood swings, as well just, like, generally keep him from dying in a blaze of sword sparks and shouted accusations re: his dad, of which he’s only got the one memory. (It’s a good one! But, shit, I’d hope he’d interacted with his dad more than the one time!) Of the few recurring story engines this show has, Handling Kento is my favorite.

This episode does a bang-up job of interrogating Kento’s current grumpiness by having Rintaro get involved, who honestly pluses up every single plot he’s involved in. (Dude is seriously this show’s MVP so far.) The start of it was where I knew I’d love this episode, because it smartly makes Rintaro’s one and only appeal something that would be a critical hit on Rintaro, but a total miss for Kento. Rintaro tries to argue for the rules and duty of a swordsman, but Kento couldn’t care less about a guild that let a former member probably-murder his dad, and possibly cover it up for 15 years. Kento needs an emotional appeal, not a logical one.

The thing that makes this episode great for a Kamen Rider episode, not just a Saber episode, is how it reframes Rintaro’s original argument into him actually trying to appeal to Kento emotionally. To Rintaro, the Sword of Logos is his family; Kento is his brother. When Rintaro’s putting things in terms of how the Sword of Logos would be hurt by Kento’s actions, or how Kento risks expulsion, what Rintaro’s trying to say is that Kento is hurting this family. He doesn’t have any other way of saying it, because his story doesn’t include things like a father or a brother. He thinks he’s opening himself up to Kento, but Kento’s just hearing more office talk from an organization he no longer trusts.

It’s a type of miscommunication that’s really fascinating, and thematically appropriate for this show. Rintaro’s got a story he knows, about duty and responsibility and comrades-in-arms. Kento’s got a story he knows, about fathers and sons and guilt and shame. Those stories inform how they interact with the world, and how they view relationships. We get to see Rintaro eventually try and understand Kento’s story by the end, to his (physical) and Kento’s (emotional) detriment. Rintaro is able to see Kento’s need for answers through the lens of Rintaro’s own dedication to the other swordsmen, and how he’d risk his life for them. His sacrifice for Kento lets Kento understand that his bond with Rintaro (and Touma, and Mei) is something that’s more than just situational or professional, it’s familial.

(Even that screencap I used up top is two brothers who know how to get on each other's nerves! It's playful while still being intensely serious! A+++!)

Powerful, beautiful episode. It did everything right, and I didn’t even touch on the hilarious Gremlins plot of Kenzan thanking a monster for a fun fight, or Saber trying to call a time-out mid-battle because he's a little winded after the last couple days. This one was perfect! No notes!

—

WHAT WE TALK ABOUT



“That took a while. You went into the kitchen to make that call,like, five minutes ago.”

“Yeah, no, sorry… I was…”

“Was what?”

“I was calling the pizza place, but I guess I dialed it wrong, because I got some guy on the phone instead.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, he said his name was Tassel? And I was like ‘oh, sorry, wrong number’, but then he just starting telling me about the Sword of Logos–”

“He started telling you about a sword? What?”

“No, it’s not a sword. I guess it’s like some sort of cross between a religious sword apocalypse cult and that show The Office? It’s like if Jim and Pam were both trained killers with magic swords who were trying to prevent a monster armageddon.”

“...is the Sword of Logos?”

“Yeah. And they live in a base at the North Pole, but there’s another base at the South Pole, and that one’s real sketchy. Anyhow, the Sword of Logos–”

“Why is the South Pole one sketchy?”

“Uh, he didn’t say, and it– it sort of wasn’t relevant? It’s like he just wanted to dish about some lady who was real suspicious. He didn’t even tell me her name, but he was like ‘That Southern Base! I don’t trust them!’”

“Uh–”

“So anyway, Sword of Logos: they got betrayed by some guy named Calibur, and his kid Espada is in the group now, but it turns out Calibur isn’t his dad? It’s some other guy? Who used to be Saber, but not the current Saber, an old one.”

“So this guy’s dad used to be Saber?”

“No, his dad was Calibur, but then Calibur wasn’t his dad. Calibur is Saber, but not the Saber who’s friends with Espada. Oh, and whenever Tassel mentions Calibur his voice gets really low and menacing, even though he normally sounds real cheery and musical. Like– like he’s hosting some kid’s show?”

“Uh huh.”

“Right, so, Espada’s all freaked out about his dad not being Calibur right now, and Saber’s remembering all this stuff he forgot about this little girl he was friends with as a kid. It’s a whole THING.”

“Right.”

“That’s all I got, though. It sounded like some friend of his showed up, and he started telling them some of this? And then he hung up on me.”

“... Look, are you going to actually order a pizza, or what.”

[Enchilada645]

Yeah I'd say the end of Q1 is when Saber gets into high gear with how it wants to go.

Personally I feel as though it's after Q1 where it starts getting more of its footing, but we're definitely on the uptick I feel in terms of how the episodes are turning out compared to say Episode 1 through 9.

But yeah, funny how you watched Saber's theatrical short yesterday because Jaou Dragon does exist first in terms of production order. And so does it's pop up book which Emotional is retooled from.

That being said, as much as I love Jaou Dragon and it's heavy metal jingle of death, I just... I really love Kento in this episode? He's the kind of guy who is self-destructive and while he can get help, he can easily slip back into those tendencies. As you said earlier, it's very interesting to see the cast having to navigate the minefield that is Kento's mood. It also feels realistic in that, sometimes you cannot so easily crawl out of whatever rut your in even with your friends trying their best to support you.

Kento's an interesting lad! Really love him to be honest! I wish he would take better care of himself!

That being said, man Rintaro... I'm glad you're loving Rintaro a lot because he's personally one of my favorite Secondaries in the franchise. And this episode is very much the start of me taking more of an interest in him.

As for the story this time... not much to say honestly. I got a chuckle out of the way this guy was explaining what Tassel was narrating. It reminds me of giving someone with no context, details about a plot in Kingdom Hearts. It's like... if you know everything surrounding those details it makes sense in context and isn't that weird. If you don't... it just comes off as confusing and you really hope your friend is going to get you that pizza he said was on him.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enchilada645

That being said, as much as I love Jaou Dragon and it's heavy metal jingle of death, I just... I really love Kento in this episode? He's the kind of guy who is self-destructive and while he can get help, he can easily slip back into those tendencies. As you said earlier, it's very interesting to see the cast having to navigate the minefield that is Kento's mood. It also feels realistic in that, sometimes you cannot so easily crawl out of whatever rut your in even with your friends trying their best to support you.

To paraphrase a quote I can't remember the source of anymore, Kento is one of those guys you have to know how to be friends with. He can be a really good dude, but you are probably also going to have to separate him in a bar fight someday. Being friends with Kento is like being friends with a time bomb: you think you've cut the right wire, but the damn thing still might explode at some point.

It's honestly really, really great.

[Androzani84]

And now we get to Jaoh Dragon, not only the first power up book to be released, but the one with the most WTF jingle of the bunch.

The zenith of evil’s darkness will armour up the various dragons whose hidden power is now released…

To summarise, the dark dragon messenger invades!

No one can get away…

And then there’s this meme, which has its own comment included for added funny.



Also Sophia gets kidnapped, which serves three purposes: 1), to leave the heroes lost as to what to do without a voice of reason, 2) to create mystery as to who did it using that method (Calibur’s thing is darkness, not smoke) and 3) it allows the actress to take a break from the show to meet a theatre commitment.