[DreadBringer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KIKAI SENTAI ZENKAIGER EPISODE 20 - “THE SWORDSMAN AND THE PIRATE’S BROTHERLY OATHS”

I mean, a lot of that is the way it subverts the Damsels In Distress schtick that the Specter special sadly leaned into for its finale. When Magine and Reika showed up to the big battle at the pier, having already broken themselves out – because they are both superheroes, of course they could break themselves out – I was so goddamn happy. I like that this episode of a completely different show addressed the weird way these guys seem to, like, take ownership of women in the name of protection, instead of treating them with a modicum of respect and dignity. Zenkaiser (I don’t know any of their names except Vroom and Magine) helps center Ryoga by getting him to have faith in his sister, rather than succumb to fear and anger out of a lack of control. It’s very smart, and incredibly appreciated.

It's a great one, though I'd still also wish that people like Kanon, the original one (not Reika-esque fake Kanons) also can get this treatment. Though logically it wouldn't make sense that a Rider beginner wouldn't fare as well (albeit there's a kinda bizzare part of Kanon pushing away grunts with bare hands late in Ghost). Actually Sentais mandatorily featuring the girls as another fighter in the core team (though I didn't know how overshadowed they're compared to others, though it can apply to likely non-red Sentais), thus iirc there can be more varied type of personalities of girls who became superheroes, of which Magine is the mostly shy and meek type but can exhibit rare creepiness (from what I read).

But Kamen Rider has many of the females having supporting roles, and the ones who are made prominent Riders (as in, not one time only) are mostly the ones more cold and ruthless type (this one's a superhero who is a former supervillain but still not fully tamed now), like how the seemingly quite wide theory of Mei becoming next Espada never happened. And thus among the Riders it's more expected that Reika would be the one they gave better treatment, in fights (as she's seen as shafted for being reduced to fawning for Ryoga). Though so far Reika has never been shafted in fights, she had a spectacular debut as Sabela after all and did good job to Solomon in last Saber episode talked about here. Though KR still also can shaft these type of girls as Riders too like Yua.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

And also: I like that Reika has a new friend at the end of the episode? It’s such a cute, sad moment. I don’t think Reika ever had a friend before. Her brother was up on a pedestal, and I definitely got the impression that everyone at work hated her. With, y’know, good cause, but still. So it was nice to see her make a friend (or more, your call) of her fellow superheroine hostage, and for her to have absolutely no idea how to communicate that to Magine. It was adorable, and one of my Top 10 favorite Saber things, even if it didn’t actually happen in a Saber episode.

I feel that it's not an unfortunate situation or something (if you'd frame it as a sad situation) that Reika has no friend before. She was a bad person before (and as fellow superheroine here, Magine looks to be the one to be more concerned about the other victims when she reported that to others), and also the type to views relationship as weakness, like when she forces Ogami to sacrifice his family to follow SoL's cause, or badmouthing Daishinji for his decision to join Touma and mocking Ogami for standing up for him. Thus it's on her to not make friends. I guess her defrosting by more openly fawning to Ryoga isn't entirely about being less quite but still rude, but on a few occassions she can make actual friends too in at least Magine.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Still, a very fun little team-up of some outgoing Sentai guys I don’t know super well, and the two most unfriendly and taciturn swordsmen that Saber had to offer. Very clever to build the two-parter around Orihime and Hikoboshi, since it gives you two similar enemies to fight across two different shows. It’s honestly set a pretty high bar for Super Hero Senki to clear, but this episode’s deft handling of mismatched teamwork has me feeling fairly confident in its chances.

I do think that Ryoga has more highlights in this episode, as previously I saw him mostly as male Reika who is introduced to reduce Reika into his simp (and I feel that she can do fine without him being introduced in story). Ryoga seems to start gaining his comically taciturn traits here with his disguises as well as his introductory scene. Also perhaps a more unusual take where Ryoga doesn't fit pretty boy type like many of the character subjected to crossdressing like Philip in W (but also doesn't get seen as hideous in-universe). Otherwise, other than being unfriendly, they also had the ruthlessness to attack people just because they're allies of Zox, but there are no cases of them talking about Zox's good qualities to ally with them (like Ren among Saber's cast)... I've known about the explanation before, but now the villain's schemes is more clear, to kidnap women who might look like Orihime.

Quote:

Originally Posted by r4bbitdragon

Oh, misunderstanding. Zox is not a more heroic character in the main show. He's a pirate, first and foremost, and they only barely got him to stop robbing people (in this world) and he will still endanger civilians without direct Zenkaiger intervention. Part of the theme of Zenkaiger is adjusting and dealing with alternate world views, so Zox plays into that by giving them someone with no respect for the general social mores of their world that they have to try and corral and work with/around anyways.

While Zox very much fits the definition of pirate, I guess I'd have to say that occupations alone don't determine their morality. Like, people aren't inherently bad (or mostly bad if they have good traits) for being a part of an evil like having mafia or cult ties, or having criminal reputation, and that for the reverse, people aren't inherently good (or mostly good if they have bad traits) for being a part of 'heroic' occupations such as cops, soldiers, doctors, etc. It's not that Zox has bad traits solely because he's a pirate but as you said, his action is robbing people and reaching his goals without care.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

...I mean, none of this has to do with Saber at all, but like I said earlier, I'll take any chance I can get.

Quote:

Originally Posted by r4bbitdragon

Part of the theme of Zenkaiger is adjusting and dealing with alternate world views, so Zox plays into that by giving them someone with no respect for the general social mores of their world that they have to try and corral and work with/around anyways.

If you've got thoughts on Zenkaiger, this is the time to share them!

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

I feel that it's not an unfortunate situation or something (if you'd frame it as a sad situation) that Reika has no friend before.

I mean, agree to disagree? Reika's a jerk for her early appearances, but that doesn't mean that she couldn't be a better person by having a friend. I think everyone should have a friend?

[Kamen Rider Die]

SABER X ZENKAIGER: SUPER HERO SENKI



These types of Kamen Rider movies never seem to work for me as well as I’d like.

I respect the intentions. I’m a sucker for stories about how we process stories. The metatext becoming text, and interrogating the lessons these shows are trying to impart? That’s all very much my jam. I like this franchise taking itself somewhat seriously as both a behemoth that has guided Japanese children for decades, and a body of work that’s capable of withstanding adult analysis and critique. I am A-okay with Kamen Rider grappling with its status as a piece of legacy culture.

Where it starts to lose me is when it sort of just devolves into KAMEN RIDER IS GREAT AND WILL ALWAYS BE GREAT celebratory stuff. It’s these grandiose speeches about the beauty and invulnerability of Kamen Rider, coupled with an Everyone Fights At The Quarry battle scene, and all I can think is that I’m not surprised Toei feels strongly about the strength of a 50-year toy-selling juggernaut. Like, the story indulges in its superiority so uncritically all of a sudden that I feel like I’m supporting commerce more than I’m supporting art, so I can’t help but check out a little at the climax.

And, y’know, I’m not expecting the movie that’s all about honoring decades of tokusatsu to start to question how commerce and art might work at cross-purposes, or whether a major packaged-goods conglomerate is the best steward for a nation’s youth. But I just… I sort of can’t help thinking about that, as the movie pivots aways from existential dread and deep introspection, into fan service fight scenes and hastily-read catchphrases. It’s a Me problem, almost certainly, but it’s still a problem.

But everything up until my brain was like Brought To You By Toei And Bandai? That stuff was great.

Hard to go wrong when we get our first official Touma/Aruto team-up, right? The inclusion of the last few Riders made this movie feel like a bit of a make-up gift for the COVID-era restrictions, and then a little extra consideration for fans by tossing in the Den-O cast, as well. (I don’t really know the Sentai actors, but hopefully fans of that franchise enjoyed seeing them.) The minor appearances of so many different types of characters, as they’re being wedged into classic fables, helps sell the ending’s point that there’s enough uniqueness to each season’s cast and world to dodge charges that the Kamen Rider and Sentai franchises might derivatively regurgitate the same heroic morals every year. All of these goofs are so bizarre and memorable that they’ll naturally warp any boilerplate story concept into new and interesting shapes. Aruto’s going to take a story in a different direction than Touma, even if the destination is the same.

And the overall point about how we need to see our humanity in heroes in order to be more heroic ourselves, I like that a lot. Square-jawed heroes that exist above us can’t really teach us anything important; flawed heroes who battle against their own failings to become better than they started, though, that’s always going to be a compelling story. The power of the Kamen Rider franchise isn’t in its heroes’ power, or their costumes. It’s in how nobility can be found in even the darkest of places, and that we all have the ability to be a better version of ourselves. This is a movie that argues against avoiding conflict, because only through overcoming conflict do we improve as people. Perseverance through adversity leading to a better world for everyone, which is a pretty apropos sentiment for a franchise that’s been around since 1971.

I did enjoy this movie, even if the triumphant battle royale left me as cold as it always does. I can’t help thinking about the darker aspect of this sort of commercial entertainment, even as I’m dedicated to its messages and adore its characters. It’s complicated, and maybe contradictory. I hope Shotaro Ishinomori might appreciate that.

—

HEART OF A BROKEN STORY



Rintaro was reading something.

That wasn’t a surprise to Mei. Rintaro was basically always reading something. The few times she didn’t see him with his nose in a book when they were at the Northern Base, it was because he was on his way to get a new book.

This was different, though. He’d usually be seated at a table, or holding the book out in front of him as he stood. This time he was turned a bit into the corner, and hunched over whatever he was reading. Whatever it was, he was engrossed in it. He didn’t seem to hear her walking towards him.

So she snuck up behind him, craned her head over his shoulder to look at his book, and said “What’re you reading?”

“GAH!” he shouted unheroically. “Mei! I, uh… I didn’t hear you walk in.”

She shoved his shoulder playfully. “Yeah, obviously. What have you got there?” She could see the back of the book, pressed up against Rintaro’s chest in surprise. It was thin, and small. It looked like a zine; something hand-copied and brief.

His face immediately turned red, and he started that adorable stammer. “I, well, um, it’s, um, it’s nothing really, you wouldn’t be interested in it–”

She snatched it from his hands and looked at the cover. In blocky, hand-lettered characters it read THE STRONGEST SWORDSMAN ~ BY REN.

“Wh–” She couldn’t even fathom what this was. “What IS this?”

Rintaro snatched it back while she was stunned. “It’s… it’s probably my fault. After the battle against Asmodeous, Ren had questions. He wasn’t around for a lot of the adventure, and he didn’t seem to understand any of what Touma was talking about before the final battle. A good deal of the moral and emotional context… eluded him.”

Mei nodded. That definitely sounded like Ren.

Rintaro continued. “Well, I tried to explain it to him, but he really seemed to be fixated on the idea that we had a creator, and that we were heroes with a story, but that we could write our own stories within it. It– it was a metaphor for our own ability to determine a fate beyond what the world pushes us toward, but–”

“But it was a metaphor, and Ren doesn’t understand those,” Mei finished.

“Exactly,” Rintaro said sadly. “He kept asking me if Touma was so powerful because he wrote a story where he was powerful, and how Touma always said he’d write the end of a story before he defeated an enemy. I said that Touma’s strength did come from his creativity and–”

“And Ren wrote a story to make himself more powerful. Am I skipping to the end correctly?”

“Sadly, yes.” Rintaro looked at the cover of the short story, and shook his head. “I found it shoved under the door this morning. It is… not the best representation of Ren’s abilities and value as a swordsman. I had hoped to spare him the embarrassment of any other of his friends reading it, but…” Rintaro handed it to Mei. “I think you deserve to see it.”

She took the zine and began to page through it. It was brief, for fiction. Barely a dozen pages, and at least two of those were illustrations of Ren beheading a monster. Nearly every sentence ended in an exclamation mark. Kento was brought up repeatedly, mostly to fawn over Ren and insult Touma. Isaac… this was not a story Isaac would want to read. It was amateurish, and self-congratulatory, and barely coherent.

But it was also sort of sweet.

Ren was a lonely boy who didn’t understand the point of anything other than winning a fight. All of his self-worth was tied up in that outlook, and it had left him behind as everyone around him grew up into complicated men. He wanted to join them, but didn’t know how. So he wrote this horrible, horrible story to try and get back to where he might be loved again.

Mei sat down on the stairs of the meeting room, tears in her eyes. This stupid, simple boy wrote a story to be back in the family that he missed. It was clumsy, but it was genuine.

Rintaro sat down next to Mei, and put a consoling arm around her. “This is why I didn’t think it should be shared,” Rintaro said softly. “I’m sorry you had to see it. I don’t think his appraisal of you as a bumbling sidekick is accurate.”

Mei turned to Rintaro. “As a WHAT?!”

[Enchilada645]

It's hard to me to describe how I enjoyed this movie, purely because I'd be writing way longer than I really need to on the subject. So I'll just say I really enjoyed this movie.

I will say though, that Hiroshi Fujioka's performance as Hongo (or rather himself) at the end was very heartfelt. You could tell it was the actor mostly speaking instead of the character and it worked nicely. Some of his lines were also reminiscent to the final words that appear on screen in the Ichigo 2016 Movie and I feel like that was a bit intentional.

Anyway that was a story that took many kinds of tones and turns, from slightly comedic, to emotional, back to a punchline right at the end. Really well crafted.

[GrandComplete]

I really like this movie.

In part many ways it feels like a direct response to critcism of the Taisen Series in many ways.

And stems from the name Taisen roughly translates to Great War. So it would like Super Hero Great War Series. And by the title alone the core concept was always hero vs hero. And in order for the spectacle to happen often times many of the characters had to bent out of shape to allow the conflicts to happen.

In contrast this movie feel more delibrete. It has to me a more concise tone & message. And I feel all the characters are in-character even if I don't know all of them. There a sincerity I can feel wheras Taisen movie always had a rushed even a little cynical cash grab vibe. Banking on vs fights & not the story.

That not to say Senki isn't filled to the brim with fanservice & nostalgia baiting but too me it feels like it wants to tell a good story with the added bonus of fanservice rather than the Taisen movies which almost has a so good it's bad style going for it.

[DreamSword]

This is one of the few Saber and Zenkaiger pieces of media I've seen.

And yeah I really loved this film. One of the more impressive aspects to me was just how good all of the character interactions were at getting information across in terms of characterization; Giving the viewer just enough to get the general idea as well as highlighting the unique quirks of everyone involved.

The short version is that it's a movie with alot of layers, and I enjoyed it from start to finish despite my relative unfamiliarity with both shows being crossed over.

[DreadBringer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

I mean, agree to disagree? Reika's a jerk for her early appearances, but that doesn't mean that she couldn't be a better person by having a friend. I think everyone should have a friend?

Did you just... ignore my entire comments afterwards there which right answers those?

Quote:

She was a bad person before, and also the type to views relationship as weakness, like when she forces Ogami to sacrifice his family to follow SoL's cause, or badmouthing Daishinji for his decision to join Touma and mocking Ogami for standing up for him. Thus it's on her to not make friends.

"Before" = early appearences. And those behavior I listed there should explain by itself that it's about her early appearence for Ogami-Daishinji trouble?

I mean regarding "it's on her", is that about how I thought she'd be the one who likely would actively reject friendships or extending hands on her, and her view on relationships seemingly would drive her to do so too, thus that she herself is the one who'd distance herself from others to make a friend, not about how it's that she wants to reach out to others but get ostracized (which was what what I think for being sad unless you got another mind).

Quote:

I guess her defrosting by more openly fawning to Ryoga isn't entirely about being less quite but still rude, but on a few occassions she can make actual friends too in at least Magine.

And right here I reacted that she's also getting better (though there's a typo in "quite", I meant "quiet"), I talked about how her opening up isn't only about her only getting more relaxed around Ryoga but also actually the one reaching out here by making friends with Magine. I opened it with "defrosting" too.

If you're doing this, this can make me just look like a biased hater (in general criticizing behaviors of characters seen as cool, NOT criticizing about their writing and if they're good/bad as characters, can get one look just like a hater, and I mean about early appearences here about you saying she's a jerk here, but it can be framed as her being tough).

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enchilada645

Anyway that was a story that took many kinds of tones and turns, from slightly comedic, to emotional, back to a punchline right at the end. Really well crafted.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GrandComplete

That not to say Senki isn't filled to the brim with fanservice & nostalgia baiting but too me it feels like it wants to tell a good story with the added bonus of fanservice rather than the Taisen movies which almost has a so good it's bad style going for it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamSword

The short version is that it's a movie with alot of layers, and I enjoyed it from start to finish despite my relative unfamiliarity with both shows being crossed over.

It's a very fun movie! Definitely the best possible version of the old Taisen template.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

If you're doing this, this can make me just look like a biased hater (in general criticizing behaviors of characters seen as cool, NOT criticizing about their writing and if they're good/bad as characters, can get one look just like a hater, and I mean about early appearences here about you saying she's a jerk here, but it can be framed as her being tough).

Wow. Hey, I was just saying that I thought even unlikable characters deserve friends, and that friendships help people open up more. If Reika'd had a friend like Magine years ago, maybe she'd've been a better person when this show started. No one's saying you're "a biased hater". Take it easy, okay?

[Androzani84]

Well, I’ve got a lot to talk about for this movie. First off, I’ll start by explaining the lineups for each part of the battle.

* Saikou, Den-O, ToQ 1gou, Ex-Aid and Kiramai Red: More lighthearted comical designs and themes, with two of them being train heroes.
* Gokai Red and Zi-O: Anniversary heroes that had a large amount of continuity and tons of cameos.
* Decade and LupinRed: Decade usually partners with another gun-toting phantom thief, while Lupin Red has a passive aggressive relationship with another Tsukasa in pink.
* Kenzan, ZX, NinjaRed, HurricaneRed and AkaNinger: Ninjas.
* Battle Japan, GoggleRed, ZO and Kiva: Heroes that have partner creatures and originate outside of Japan.
* Espada, Stronger, DenziRed, Red One, and Build: Electricity and science heroes.
* Sabela, Red Racer, Go-On Red and Drive: Car-themed heroes. The exhaust smoke is where Sabela fits in.
* Slash, VulEagle, Blade, Shinken Red and Gaim: Swordfighters.
* Super-1, Red Flash, FiveRed, Fourze and Shishi Red: Space-themed heroes.
* Nigou, DynaRed, J and GoRed: Riders that used to be photographers, and Reds in a position of authority. Themes of protecting life.
- Saber, ChangeDragon, Agito, Ryuki and RyusoulRed: Dragon and knight-themed heroes (dinosaurs were originally thought to be dragons by archeologists, hence RyusoulRed’s appearance).
* ZenkaiJuran, TyrannoRanger, AbaRed, OOO and KyoryuRed: Dinosaur-themed heroes (OOO's Purple Cores being dinosaur themed).
* Buster, Red Mask, Black, RyuuRanger and GekiRed: Martial arts and a focus on super strength.
* Skyrider, Red Falcon, Red Hawk and ZyuohEagle: Flying and bird-themed heroes.
* ZenkaiVroon, Black RX, Red Turbo, BoukenRed and W: Adventure and learning-themed heroes.
* Durandal, Mega Red, TimeRed, Faiz and Kabuto: Time and speed heroes.
* Blades, ZenkaiGaon, Amazon, GingaRed and GaoRed: Lion and animal-themed heroes.
* Riderman, OhRed, DekaRed, Hibiki and Patren 1gou: Mentor-themed Riders, and police-themed Reds.
* ZenkaiMagine, MagiRed, Gosei Red, Wizard and Ghost: Magic and supernatural-themed heroes.
* Zenkaizer, Twokaizer, Akarenger, Spade Ace and Red Buster: Zenkaizer working with the first two Sentai (one of which he was based on), and Twokaizer working with the one that came after the one he was based on.
* Ichigo, V3, Kuuga, Zero-One and Saber: Saber working with the first Riders of each era. V3 and Saber are also both the protagonists of the series after the first of their era.

Next up, back when this movie came out, myself and dreamcastergirl did a play by play of our thoughts on it, and rather than simply consult it to get the memory back, I decided to reproduce (a tatstefully edited version of) the conversation here.

DCG: Here we go
Ah I can see sandman clearly now
[Redacted for spoilers]
So happy

Me: Yes, this is where the costumes originated

DCG: Oh
I had no idea
Shows how in the loop I have been

Me: To be honest, I had to look it up.

DCG: Haha
Why is Touma complaining. Isn’t he just putting off work lol

Me: I want to see what Kento got up to in the Carranger/Black RX/Drive hybrid world.

DCG: Yeah, I would have been up for that
Hmm, I think I did this better lol
I think Rintaro is kind of adorable in this so far
I like Touma’s jacket lol

Me: I think this is the first time in a while Yuri directly turns into the sword

DCG: Asumu

DCG: (reply to my last comment) Oh I forgot he did that
Oh
The tower from Dragon Ball actually had a point there
(Emojis)
Sophia has a pretty loose grip on reality

Me: Asmodeus confirmed most OP character ever

DCG: The kid does not draw like Ishinomori at all

Me: Meanwhile, at the Kyoto stage

DCG: So is Buster just not going to be in this properly?

Me: I assume he got into his own misadventure offscreen

DCG: But he is the main character hahah
Unexpected

Me: Slightly less unexpected

DCG: Hahaha
Bunch of weirdos
Why is Kintaros Pigsy lol
Someone is definitely stopping hem from making it to the west haha

Me: Given the presence of Rinshi, it must be the Chinese

DCG: We’ll there is the obligatory Den-o moment I guess

Me: It’s Ninja enemy time

DCG: Doggy,
Hahah
I liked the Megaraper
I have. I idea what is going on here

Me: They’re reenacting Satomi Hakkenden with Kyuranger characters in the supporting roles, it seems

DCG: Maybe it’s because I don’t recognise so many of the cameos
I really am not a fan of the Owner

Me: You should recognise these guys…. I think

DCG: Oh is it the Shinkenger guys?
I did not recognise KirameiBlue at all hahahah
This doesn’t look like India at all

Me: wow that grunt was a douche

DCG: Why did they use the worst Zi-o armour

Me: This is the closest we get to an official Saber/01 crossover

DCG: I guess… well… I don’t know, I still don’t really like Aruto

Me: I love how the Kamen Rider J book Zyuran has is bigger than the others

DCG: I thought that was cute too haha
Oh I forgot this show had all these guys in it
Where are we?
Lol
As if they need to ask
I liked the Juran and Momo moment lol

Me: Hey Saber World, Swartz called, he wants his plan back

DCG: This is even lighter on plot than I expected, you know
See, Asmodeus is not a bad guy after all
I feel this way about the Heisei era too lol
Just rip it up

Me: Man he drew Zenkaiser and Blades quickly
Quick, skip to the end

DCG: This film is not doing it for me

Me: This is where it gets weird

DCG: Unreal World
This is green screen
I do not get this
Is he a child?

Me: Basically, Ishinomori stopped wiriting as a kid and now everyone lives in a mundane world

DCG: Or unwell…

DCG: (responding to my last comment) Oh!
Um… yeah…
The weird camera and the green screen are nauseating

Me: I did say it gets weird here

DCG: It is a bit… surreal
But not clever surreal, just trying to ape the style of Evangelion surreal
I like the message but ah,,
This isn’t for me
How does Touma function every day with this knowledge
This kind of changes everything
That is not a good angle for Luna

Me: And we’re back to reality, with an evil army that only has one major villain in it

DCG: Hahah, the grunts for promoted
Oh yay
Back to original armour
YAKYU KAMEN

Me: Tonight, the role of Masked Rider Shin will be portrayed by a mannequin
Where’s he been the whole story?

DCG: What the heck
At last. (Buster emoji)

Me: ‘Modern Rider is too much like Sentai’

DCG: I haven’t liked any of the music in this so far

Me: The logos should clear up whos fighting who

DCG: I don’t know how I feel about the logos
Tiny J
Red Falcon and Yakyu Kamen in the same shot

Me: You also get Buster and Black in the same fight

DCG: It’s like Toei is reading my stories
Hibiki sounded really weird

Me: Most of these guys are voice doubles

DCG: Yeah, I guessed as much
I like the Akibaranger mention
Could have done more with it though
Some self awareness from toei there

Me: I bet they saved a ton by shooting this close up

DCG: Oh yeah for sure
I guess more than a little bit that COVID came into it too

Me: Revice cameo over. Time for robot battle

DCG: I guess the Revice cameo wasn’t the worst
Ah I miss the old model shots

Me: Legit think this suit looks better than the one they cannibalised to make it.

DCG: Yeah, I think that looks fairly cool
Imagine if one of those books had hit Sophia in the face though
Ichigo is as amazing as ever
I Thought …. The end was good?
H,mmm

Me: Yeah, this is more okay than anything really amazing.

DCG: a lot of was less than amazing lol

Me: Though I do have an idea involving the Saber World.

DCG: I thought the Zi-o film did a better job of covering the same themes.

And next up, is my usual theme for Saber.

Throughout the ages, the heroes’ tales of battle all come together into one story.

Heroes never die, heroes live forever.

And finally, with the debut of Revice, comes the debut of my feature for Revice when you get around to watching it.

Ikki: It’s Ikki’s…

Vice: And Vice’s…

Both: Stamp Navi!

Ikki: And today’s stamp is this one!

Megalodon

Dive Boom Boom! Ready, go! Splash! Megalodon! Just a passing through h-h-h-hunter!

Ikki: This Vistamp increases Revice’s combat efficiency with punches. The Divine Fins on its arms can be used in close combat.

Vice: It’s also got some wicked cool water generation powers, allowing for some neat sliding attacks.

???: Hey, hey, hey!

Enter a man in a lab coat with glasses.

Man with glasses: This Vistamp’s basis was… this guy.

(Cut to stock footage montage)

Tsukasa: Just a passing through Kamen Rider. Remember that!

KamenRide: Decade!

MWG: The destroyer of worlds, Decade. He travels through Alternate Rider Worlds to guide the heroes in their quests. His Dimension attacks are really powerful

[B][I]Final AttackRide: D-D-D-Decade![B][I]

(Back to present)

Vice: Hey, who’s this guy?

Ikki: Vice! I can’t believe you forgot the guy who made us both Riders. How could you forget Geo-?

MWG: It’s okay. I haven’t been introduced properly yet. It’s only fair he pretends not to know me until I actually debut.

Vice: I knew we were starting this feature way too early.

Ikki: Anyway, we hope you enjoy the next instalment.

Vice: (despondent) We’re already cancelled.

[Fish Sandwich]

Fish Sandwich also watched Super Hero Senki

This is one of my favorite toku movies ever. I could go on about this thing endlessly, which is itself one of the reasons I love it so much. This'll be super disorganized, but I think I'm just going to pick random topics for a bit here before hopefully talking about how that all comes together to form the bigger picture.

First things first -- the score is REALLY good! It's not every day that the background music in one of these movies immediately jumps out at me to this level, but there's a ton of clear effort put into this one, and I think it's one of the keys to why the film flows so smoothly. Music for a film, it's ideally not simply about sounding good, but how it helps communicate the story to the viewer, and this one does that great as the narrative flows from beat to beat, especially in how it makes use of motifs in great spots. Allow me to get a little Kiva here and share some of that stuff right now to help illustrate.

There's the theme for the film itself, which first comes in just a bit at the end of this track, right as the title card appears:

And then right before the climax, it comes back in a little slower and more dramatically as Touma reveals the literal Super Hero Senki book in the film, leading us into the prelude of the big climax, with the theme coming in again, this time at absolute triumphant full force as we finally get the entire line-up of every lead Rider and Sentai Red there's ever been.

So all that stuff is great, but also, as a Saber fan, it really does right by that show in how it makes use of the titular character's own motif in spots. It's there like normal for the big Rider roll call of course, but before that, it's used to excellent effect to help sell the drama as Touma deals with the revelations of this movie's darkest hour. First, you get this like, broken version of it, as Touma and Mei find out their entire story is exactly that.

Then, as Touma resolves to face that story, it starts to kick back in again, almost building up to its usual more triumphant sound, before getting just that bit more melancholic and slow again as Luna appears, and Touma is reminded exactly what he's giving up to do this.

And the whole film is like that! Not merely music that fits the scene, but very considered compositions that go out of their way to match the exact emotional tone of a given beat within each scene, whether it's briskly-paced fun action or those more wistful dramatic moments. Saber's composer and the two from Zenkaiger are all credited on Super Hero Senki, and they all did a wonderful job with it.

Oh, and since I've got all those thumbnails sitting there, can I just take a second to mention how much I love the posters for this movie? Like, the cool blue color is nice, everyone's doing awesome poses... they did the whole cheeky thing where Revice is just on there like it's no big deal, even though nothing about that show had been officially revealed yet? Like, a lot of us just thought the pink guy was named Kamen Rider Revice! Really fun visual to represent the movie.

Plus, speaking of this movie and fun visuals, Ryuuta Tasaki! He was Zenkaiger's main director, which unfortunately means he didn't get to do any episodes of Saber, but thanks to this film, I still got to see him applying his usual ludicrous amount of talent to these characters I love so much. The shots and the editing and everything strictly visual about Super Hero Senki, it's all the same stuff I just said about the score. The way it flows is impeccable, and it always does a fantastic job helping the viewer through the narrative by enhancing whatever emotion the script is going for at that moment. There are more slick little shots in this movie than I could possibly call out all at once, which makes rewatching it a huge treat, because just when you think you've noticed them all, you'll realize how sweet some other new visual is.

And this movie is seriously rewatchable! There's so much detail packed into every scene that I'm consistently still discovering new things every time I go back to it. Even though I haven't had the time to outright rewatch Saber for this thread, I couldn't help but give Super Hero Senki another go, and I only just now figured out Shiguru makes a cute reference to his most iconic bit from Kiramager, for example. Oh yeah, and I've rewatched this thing a ton? You'll already know this from my original post about the movie if you read it, but I was kind of instantly obsessed with Super Hero Senki as soon I saw it, to the point where I saw it again, and again, and again. There are just so many dang layers to this movie -- so much action and fanservice crammed in there, so many different themes the story touches on, so many fun character interactions -- it's hard to get tired of it.

Like, here, just as one thematic thing: Touma encouraging a young Shoutarou Ishinomori really gets at a lot of stuff that hits me pretty deep as someone who cares about art the way I do. Shoutarou talks about his views on fighting, and how that informs the heroes he tries to create, making them feel as much evil as good, leading to this simple exchange:

"That's no hero at all!"
"No, Shoutarou. That's the kind of hero only you can draw."

And that's so beautiful! You've got a young Ishinomori worried he's doing something wrong because his ideas for stories don't conform perfectly to the expected tropes and conventions of the genre, and Touma telling him in no uncertain terms that his unique voice as an individual is exactly why he *should* be expressing those thoughts in his stories. How much value there is in that honesty.

That's just one level that scene -- which is clearly a highlight of the entire film -- is operating on, and I could dig into this stuff for a long while yet, but I'd imagine you're all getting the gist of how much I adore Super Hero Senki by this point. I see it very much as a sort of sister film to Over Quartzer, which I adore for a lot of similar reasons (excellent Tasaki direction and a very Shirakura story, namely), but Senki's broader scope and the two shows it's primarily pulling from mean I probably enjoy this one even more? Like, it's got Saber, so of course I do, but I don't know -- words fail to truly do justice to how much affection I have for this. It's kinda like when I talk about Magine that way!

I already linked the whole post up top like always, but just for the sake of it, I'm going to repeat here the same note I left that post on, because it's about as good a summary as I can give of my opinions on this film.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Superhero Senki isn't anything as lowly as "the best one of those crossovers yet" or whatever; it's a fantastic crossover, plain and simple. It combines the beautifully unashamed sentimentality of Kamen Rider Saber with the insane amount of layers and detail in the production that Kikai Sentai Zenkaiger brings to the table, and the resulting mix is something to behold. I love it enough that... well, I mean, I've already watched it around half a dozen times in like half a year, so I think that about says it all. Or at least, as close to "all" as I feel like getting right now!