[Androzani84]

Yeah, I don’t recall much in particular about these last two episodes. Or at least I thought I didn’t, until I remembered this tweet from Robin Furuya (Storious) of a picture he took with Les Romanesques TOBI (Tassel). You will not take the latter’s death scene seriously again after this.

https://mobile.twitter.com/mynameis_...544101888?s=20

Victor Oh Victor...

sorry.

*From Kamen Rider Saber official

[Sh Ranger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

Yeah, technically there's Mei in it as a Rider..... Angela Mei and Mei Hanakawa.

Imagine fighting in the DGP to grant the desire of Mei as Rider, only to get this result.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER SABER EPISODE 42 - ?SO IT BEGINS, THE BEAUTIFUL FINALE?

Very strong episode for Desast, maybe less strong episode for the rest of the cast.

Hey, nice rhyme. However, I think this was a strong episode for most of the characters.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Everyone else? it?s okay? We?re setting up an endgame that?s somewhere between 41 episodes and two thousand years in the making, so there?s going to be a little bit of ramping up. Tassel?s death is the major plot development for Storious?s slow-motion armageddon, and it lands as well as it can. There?s real pathos to Tassel?s sense of guilt ? his dream of a better future for mankind ended up getting all of his friends killed ? but it?s left behind by Storious in the next scene. The whole point is that it doesn?t bother Storious that he killed his friend, because he?s seen this all play out millennia ago. There?s an awareness of how far Storious has fallen from a more idealistic self, but he?s ready for all of this to end, and there?s no turning back. It?s a sad end for Tassel, but the episode sort of doesn?t really have anyone to mourn him, or any time to linger on it?

This episode made a lot of people feel bad for ever suspecting Tassel as the villainous Calibur. He's genuinely as kind and amicable as he appears and yet he's suffered on his own for such a long time. For those first 1000 years, he didn't even have Yuri. It's so tragic how desperately he tries to appeal to his last living oldest best friend, that even after getting fatally stabbed by him, he just apologizes for everything and blames himself for introducing Storious to the power that drove him to such deep despair. It's a surprisingly powerful and emotional scene for two characters we've never seen interact before.

It's also an omen that the show is about to get serious, as the man who opened the show and greeted us with Bonne Lecture to lighten the mood is suddenly gone, heralded by the encroachment of Wonder World on the human world, the sky turning Red like Ganma World used to be and Fukuda's return to the show to write the final arc, after several episodes written by secondaries.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

The most fascinating part of all this for me is that Desast kind of isn?t wrong about his outlook? He frames it in a self-defeating way ? living without friends or purpose ? but this is a dude who fought to live, full stop. He wasn?t guaranteed anything, and almost no one would?ve cared if he died. But he fought to build himself as close to a life as he understood, and then he fought to defend it from Storious. He?s someone like Ren who doesn?t even understand how much of a credo they constructed from just punching in every day, rather than dressing it up in speeches and slogans. There?s beauty in living a life, even if you don?t know what it?s for. Not every story needs to explain itself, you know?

I'd also like to talk about the interaction between Saber and Desast, since this is the first time outside Saber x Ghost where we actually get to see them fight both physically and verbally, with Saber retracting his previous cold statement about Desast not having real emotions and now fully acknowledging that his sadness, anger, excitement and will to live is as real as it gets.

As Storious reveals here, Desast was created on a whim as basically a "concept character", the sum of three unrelated stories carelessly mashed together, a character with no place in the narrative, discarded and left to do whatever he wants. But Saber argues for Desast's right to live, that even an artificial life granted as an afterthought is still a miraculous life and Storious is wrong to call that life worthless.

While Desast denies wanting friendship and meaning, to hide his vulnerability, he truly wants to feel alive and find a place to belong in the world. Somewhere along the way, without realizing, he found his own place in the narrative, in Saber's battles, Ren's pursuit of true strength and the world he loves too much to give up when there's so much left to experience. Storious decided to bring the end of everything, but Desast who wants to live can no longer stop his own story from ending. However, he can decide how his story ends and he can turn the page for a story that will succeed him.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

THE WORST HAS YET TO COME

Rintarou/Mei is still my favorite in this show, but Daishinji/Sophia is seriously cute as well!

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enchilada645

The next is Desast getting mad at Ren for not eating his Red Ginger. This is a quintessential Desast scene for me if I'm being honest.

Desast's defense of red ginger's honor is the clearest representation of Desast's burgeoning self-image, and I totally love it. How DARE Ren say that it's wrong to make things spicy and dangerous! Lots of people like it when things are unpredictable, Ren!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mesnick

Yes, this is a pre-episode. It seems to me that if the show had the same pace as at its beginning, then its events would be divided between 41st and 43rd.

Yeah, it's less of a "Part 1 of 2" and more of a "Beginning Of The Finale Arc".

Quote:

Originally Posted by Androzani84

You will not take the latter?s death scene seriously again after this.

Nice to see their friendship wasn't tainted by a trifling amount of homicide.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

This episode made a lot of people feel bad for ever suspecting Tassel as the villainous Calibur. He's genuinely as kind and amicable as he appears and yet he's suffered on his own for such a long time.

Weirdly, I never suspected Tassel of any nefarious agenda? He just seemed too nice and generous for this show to pivot into him being anything other than a force for good. Another show would inevitably reveal that the kind, enthusiastic goof was secretly a villain. I mean, Geats -- for sure. But not Saber. Wrong show for Tassel to end up being a jerk!

[DreadBringer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER SABER EPISODE 42 - “SO IT BEGINS, THE BEAUTIFUL FINALE”

Everyone else… it’s okay? We’re setting up an endgame that’s somewhere between 41 episodes and two thousand years in the making, so there’s going to be a little bit of ramping up. Tassel’s death is the major plot development for Storious’s slow-motion armageddon, and it lands as well as it can. There’s real pathos to Tassel’s sense of guilt – his dream of a better future for mankind ended up getting all of his friends killed – but it’s left behind by Storious in the next scene. The whole point is that it doesn’t bother Storious that he killed his friend, because he’s seen this all play out millennia ago. There’s an awareness of how far Storious has fallen from a more idealistic self, but he’s ready for all of this to end, and there’s no turning back. It’s a sad end for Tassel, but the episode sort of doesn’t really have anyone to mourn him, or any time to linger on it?

I dunno if this part has been shown yet, but Storious was the one who is never good at the first place, as in the past, Storious was the one who is already self-serving from the start, with him gaining the power as the means for it, but he managed to corrupt Zooous and Legeiel, who were actually nice before. Otherwise, this episode does display that Tassel's kind and generous, despite probably some suspect that he has ulterior motive behind his cheery disposition, but perhaps it's already subverted in previous episodes, like when Mei got a bit mad about Tassel not interfering, but it's revealed that he's not a part of this world, thus it's about he can't, not he won't. He also has guilt complex to blame himself for others' misfortune, which actually would further show his niceness, even if this'd often come across as a 'weak'/'annoying' trait in other characters. N̶o̶t̶ ̶G̶e̶a̶t̶s̶,̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶r̶e̶'̶s̶ ̶s̶t̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶s̶o̶m̶e̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶l̶i̶k̶e̶.̶.̶ ̶N̶a̶o̶m̶i̶ ̶f̶r̶o̶m̶ ̶D̶e̶n̶-̶O̶.̶

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Desast, though! That guy’s got… well, not friends, sadly. Acquaintances?

The one-sided friendship between Ren and Desast, as Desast has played chummy brother to Ren’s mopey lunkhead, is one of the best subplots for this show. Ren’s so unaware of his own deficiencies that he’s never been able to see that Desast is what happens when you’ve got nothing to believe in besides power and battle. Desast, meanwhile, refuses to acknowledge his personal growth, insistent on undercutting his burgeoning humanity whenever it bubbles over. It’s two guys who are identical in their low standards for themselves, and yet they’ve somehow managed to become better people for their companionship.

I guess it's what Ren is still unaware of something, even if he does aware now that battle-lust isn't going to give what he needs for his soul searching. But you've liked Desast since beginning, and him being very strongly written here should be a good reason of him being one of Saber's most popular characters. There's tragic things happening to him here with Storious discarding him, and him slowly dying, and can't heal anymore. Though it'd still be different for how Desast is an outright bad guy unlike Ren, regarding being a good person is hard.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

For everyone else, it’s a lot of setting up the board. Storious is starting his incursion on the Real World. Luna is, as always, as slippery as an eel. (That Mei post-credit thing! THE SECOND SHE TURNS HER BACK ON LUNA! NAIL THAT KID TO THE GODDAMN GROUND!) The swordsmen are getting ready for the finale, just like they were fifteen years ago. It’s solidly dramatic, but mostly just preparing things for the climax.

I'd say that this continues to show that Mei's deep (non-romantic/lust) care for Touma extends by proxy to do the same to Luna, where Mei's only concerned about Luna being alright even when she falls into a puddle. Luna though, she kinda alternates between disinterested or concerned to ask Mei if she's alright or walking away from her twice. Though this really shafted Kento hard, to not be included as if Mei overshadows Kento in that friendship group. I'd agree more with Daishinji explaining that the onigiri isn't that good to Sophia, but not in demeaning way (though it'd be a challenge too for Daishinji) where Sophia already apologized and encouraged him to be honest.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

This episode made a lot of people feel bad for ever suspecting Tassel as the villainous Calibur. He's genuinely as kind and amicable as he appears and yet he's suffered on his own for such a long time. For those first 1000 years, he didn't even have Yuri. It's so tragic how desperately he tries to appeal to his last living oldest best friend, that even after getting fatally stabbed by him, he just apologizes for everything and blames himself for introducing Storious to the power that drove him to such deep despair. It's a surprisingly powerful and emotional scene for two characters we've never seen interact before.

Maybe it can come from how he's supposedly apathetic with just apparently acting as a bystander that doesn't interfere and only sit back and watch.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

I guess it's what Ren is still unaware of something, even if he does aware now that battle-lust isn't going to give what he needs for his soul searching.

I think a lot of it is just Ren being unable to think outside himself, and appreciate what he's got. He's always wanted to be stronger, and to impress people, but that's looking for approval to fill a void. The problem isn't even that Ren doesn't fight for a larger goal; the problem is that Ren can't be comfortable in his own skin, with his own achievements and failings. Desast is genuinely happy with a life that's just palling around with a like-minded friend, and that's a contentment that Ren is completely baffled by.

[Fish Sandwich]

Fish Sandwich also watched Kamen Rider Saber Episode 42

You know, I really do love what a humanizing touch it is to have Sophia being embarrassingly bad at cooking, and I think I love that detail even more now, because it just clicked for me after like a year and a half that they almost certainly put that scene in this episode specifically to contrast with Desast, another artificial creation of some evil mastermind who has had significantly less luck finding a life for himself beyond a purpose a villain no longer needs him in.

It probably goes without saying that I was as invested in what was going on with Desast as everyone was (is Desast actually the single most popular Saber character?), so instead I'll talk a bit about Storious, because this is the episode where his new direction immediately starting clicking for me. That scene with Storious killing Tassel is some fantastic emotion on the latter's end, of course, but what surprised me about it the most was how the show actually allows Storious to react to it. How, very intentionally, he even drops the cheesy extra evil voice during their conversation, right up until he drives that sword through his former friend.

Later on, speaking to Touma, Storious describes Tassel's death as being "not particularly beautiful", without further elaboration, but given everything we've learned about our new big bad lately, I feel there's a very clear implication there -- Storious is upset that Tassel made him go off script.

Everything Storious is doing right now, it's all about having people playing the exact roles they've been assigned in this ongoing tragedy he's put himself in charge of enacting. In of itself, that's the beginning of a thematic specificity to his motivations I was hoping for after last episode, so that's already pretty great. (I can't begin to tell you how much I love him calling Touma "my hero".) But on top of that, we get a tantalizing hint of so much more depth to Storious with how shaken he clearly is for a moment as Tassel appeals to the man he once was, even in his very last moments. It's a death that isn't "beautiful", I think, because Storious envisioned a gloriously hopeless scene where the ultimate villain remorselessly strikes down one of mankind's greatest protectors, who would no doubt be defiant to the end, foolishly fighting back to no avail, or at least hurling some condemnations at the villain with his final breaths. But instead, Tassel tries only to get through to him as a friend, and if Storious was able to stand that, what he most certainly can't abide by is that there was even a single moment there where those pleas were almost working. It's why I like the detail of him dropping the silly voice, too; it implies that's merely a conscious affectation Storious has adopted believing it makes him more convincing in his role, and he's starting to break character.

It's a huge blemish on Storious' perfect narrative, but in my eyes, it's a scene that does a whole lot to make the story of Kamen Rider Saber that much better.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

It's a death that isn't "beautiful", I think, because Storious envisioned a gloriously hopeless scene where the ultimate villain remorselessly strikes down one of mankind's greatest protectors, who would no doubt be defiant to the end, foolishly fighting back to no avail, or at least hurling some condemnations at the villain with his final breaths. But instead, Tassel tries only to get through to him as a friend, and if Storious was able to stand that, what he most certainly can't abide by is that there was even a single moment there where those pleas were almost working.

Yeah, it's... I think it's relevant that this scene is private? It's not Storious as the Master Villain, taunting his foes with his Ultimate Power or whatever. This is Storious trying to be a hardcore psychopath with the one guy alive who knows it's all bullshit. It's Storious getting found out, and being a little vulnerable, and then rededicating himself to fulfilling his 2000-year objective. There's a whole I Know, Right? aspect to Storious doing his villain schtick with a friend who knew him back in the day, and that's a little sweet and sad.

[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER SABER EPISODE 43 - “THEY CLASH, SEEKING VALUE IN THEIR EXISTENCE”



All I want to talk about is the fantastic direction of this episode, and how it elevated every single storyline.



There are so many close-ups on the Desast mask, which I feel is sort of unusual for a kaijin character. He gets close-ups here that the heroes get; he gets close-ups that human faces get. It’s immediately telling us that it's okay to empathize with Desast in this story. There’s a fragility to Desast’s character – emotionally and physically – that the episode wants you to feel.



So much space between Ren and Desast in this first shot of the two of them! They can only be vulnerable when they think they’re alone, and we’re already keeping them apart.




I love this haunting image of Desast’s conception of his death that debuted last episode, and I also love the accompanying image of Ren as a witness. Ren’s still processing what Desast is to him: a mentor? An aggravation? A warning? A friend? All of those? None of those? He’s here in this shot to try and understand what it might feel like to watch Desast die, and work backwards from that feeling to put a name on their relationship.



My absolute favorite motif in this episode – and this shot’s example of it is when I knew this was going to be an all-image post – is characters in spaces too large for them. It’s letting you know that the narrative is indifferent to suffering; the characters are going to have to weather hardship and come out the other side, no one’s going to help them. It’s a nice visual reinforcement of Saber’s recurring themes of self-determination and self-actualization, by making the direction itself something that exists at a scale that isn’t concerned with centering a character, or emphasizing humanity. It’s all over this episode, not just in the Ren and Desast scenes, and I like that throughline. We’re in a story bigger than the characters’ ability to handle it, so they need to start leveling up.





This whole introductory shot of the Sword of Logos is done backwards, which is really interesting. We get these contextless close-ups, and then we get the establishing shot. Beyond being nicely disorienting, I like how it reduces the scale back down to something intimate. We’re not as unfocused and spun-around as Ren, we’re with a cast who is completely focused on averting the apocalypse. Plus, it gives everyone a little bit of body language to establish their emotional levels re: Things Have Gotten Pretty Bad.



A lot of really lovely long takes in this episode, which adds to the tension and trepidation. This one in particular has this terrific single diffused spotlight on Desast at the end of the row of columns, making him a slightly ethereal destination, rather than a character. He’s something Ren can’t stop heading towards, even if he doesn’t completely get the significance.



Great shot of Desast pushed into the corner. It gives him a sense of powerlessness, unable to grab focus or wrest control of his fate. He’s dying, and this is his only chance of having a death with any meaning to it.



I love how childish these shots make Ren look. There’s no heroism or elegance to his initial fight with Desast, only copied moves and pathetic tantrums. The shots here aren’t sweetening the emotions, or providing judgment – they’re raw and unsentimental. Ren doesn’t get to look like a hero, he gets to look like a petulant child that measures himself against everyone else. He wants to be more powerful Than. It’s always Than someone else. He can’t beat Desast because the fight itself means something to Desast, and Desast won’t believe in anything other than the fight. Ren will always lose because he needs something outside himself to grade him, to praise him. The power the other swordsmen have over Ren isn’t necessarily a creed or a code or an ideology; it’s the will to ignore what the world is telling them and fight for their own beliefs. The specifics of that are irrelevant. The power is in the resolve, and the hope that that resolve might be equal to the task.



And then this is the turn, when Ren pushes aside the expectations of others and declares his right to exist on his own terms. He’s not avoiding reflection or searching for meaning, he’s content in his own skin. He doesn’t need to emulate Kento or surpass Touma, he just has to be Ren, because Ren is pretty cool. Desast is right there with him, arguing for his humanity by reminding this world who he is.



Desast is so proud of his sword son! And that his sword son is going to murder him in glorious battle! He's basically saying Come Hug Your Sword Dad, Sword Son! THIS SHOW, YOU GUYS!



It’s the first shot at this location, but the aftermath. Ren’s made it to the place Desast started, bathed in the same light of self-acceptance. He’s finished his journey.



The camera’s mostly on Ren for Desast’s death scene, which is probably just how Desast would’ve wanted it. We’re here to see how Desast’s lessons have changed Ren, and how this scarred-up swordsman is able to process what’s going on. It’s all very closed-off and quiet, which is always the smarter way for these deaths to go, I think. Touma pawing at a dying Kento, I sort of bounce right off of. But Ren staring down at a dying Desast, honoring his friend by letting the fight just be a fight, that’s a gut punch if this show ever threw one. It’s these two weirdos having only swordfighting to connect them, but letting that be a relationship as resonant as a million conversations.



And the director lingers so long on this empty shot after Desast disappears! Gorgeous! It’s all empty space and silence, nothing to mourn. It’s a shot that refuses to blink or look away, just locked in on Desast’s absence. So good!




The storyline with Touma and the returning Shindai Siblings (who were definitely not absent due to them filming a Zenkaiger episode) is your more traditional tokusatsu action extravaganza, but it’s no less entertaining for it. The shots vary between the exquisitely framed ones above – Touma rising up from the Shindais’ unwavering duty to express his eternal resolve, Touma as the new heart of the Sword of Logos – to slow-motion battles across staggering landscapes and sets. It’s jaw-dropping in how much it puts movie climaxes to shame.



This little post-credit scene of Ren on the bench, eating his food with the red ginger flakes to honor Desast, but then staying true to himself by not denying that they’re gross… it’s this whole outstanding episode in one funny, touching shot.



And then the pathway through the woods, full-color and vibrant, with the road stretching off into the distance. It’s quiet now, emptier, but full of possibilities. It’s a space to explore, not to hide in. It’s one story ending, and a new story beginning. It’s lovely, and a little sad.

What a phenomenal episode of television.

—

A SISTER’S SOCIAL AGONY



Reika was protective of her brother.

She was sure that this would come as a surprise to many of her recent acquaintances. The various swordsmen of the Sword of Logos likely saw her as a taciturn but dedicated warrior; perhaps a bit too inflexible, but she knew they secretly respected her for sense of duty. They could cover it up in disinterest and threats and jokes and several intense battles, but she knew she’d gained their respect. They couldn’t see the devoted sister, only the formidable warrior and unflappable leader. They were blinded by her competence.

Her brother, however…

It galled her that no one else seemed to be aware of Ryoga’s many heroic and admirable qualities. He’d attempted to smooth over the earlier friction of their civil war against the guild traitors by applying his highly-regarded intensity to the many failings of the Northern Base, but his efforts were thus far unsuccessful in rehabilitating his image. He was a man of deep pride, and for that he was routinely mocked and belittled. She’d had to stay her hand countless times, watching sleight after sleight go unremarked upon. She’d hoped that the swordsmen’s respect and admiration for her time as their leader would transfer to her brother, but it seemed to be a lost cause.

Until now.

They’d recently been the victim of one of Isaac’s cruel plots, and Ryoga had been forced to battle his sister and her teammates. Through Ryoga’s impeccable character and unstoppable resolve, he’d thrown off the shackles of control and staved off disaster. Unfortunately, Buster and Slash had been minorly effective in buying Ryoga time, and therefore needed to be thanked. She offered to do it on both their behalf, seeing as the two Northern Base swordsmen held her in such high regard, but Ryoga had demanded to do it personally.

This was going to be his moment. He was going to show the sincerity of his appreciation, convey the gratitude inherent to his code, and they’d see his nobility like she did. They were going to laud him as they should have from the start. They were going to love him like she did.

If this all worked out, they were even going to love him like they loved her.

[Enchilada645]

One of my favorite episodes in Saber, wholeheartedly. It's such a fantastic climax to Desast and Ren's characters and it was this episode that fully made me turn around on Ren to being like... "You know what? He's a fine kid" in terms of like, finally accepting him after being very fed up with him at the start of the show.

Like, there's just so much fun stuff to pick apart with in the fight, I could be here all night. And oyu picked some really good moments. I love Ren trying to imitate Rintaro because he thinks that's what he should do and it not working. I like Desast using Kyomu because it does have negation abilities, so that means Ren can't go super crazy with wind elemental techniques.

I love the visceral hits each of them takes all the while the music builds up to a wonderful slow ballad insert by I believe Mei's actress. Just... everything about this fight is so good, and on that alone, this episode already made it really good for me. The post credits scene was also just, really nice to see tbh.

Of course we have all the other stuff which while despite furthering the plot, was very much our B-Plot for the episode. That's not to say it wasn't entertaining though, there's some fun small moments.

Like Reika having a slight look of shame after seeing all the trapped souls in books, because as I said, despite the Megid playing in a whole other ballgame, she realizes that if she hadn't been blindly following orders and didn't split up the Northern Base, then some of these people would be saved.

Then there's the final fight with Charybdis who's just using everything in his arsenal, to which everyone else fights their hardest too. Touma pulling out Kaiji to swap with Ryoga was pretty cool, ngl. And of course we see that Charybdis is basically everything Storious wanted out of Desast and more, the chimera Megid basically becoming the pot to allow every single ingredient Storious collected to cook and create the new Ride Book.

So yeah, real good episode. My highlight of course is Desast and Ren, but the other plot stuff was also really good.

As for our story, it's an interesting insight into Reika... of which I think this is the first time you've used her? I think. I might be forgetting... but still, rather nice.

Now then, what you've all been waiting for...

===Tweet by Eiji Togashi (Ren's Actor)===

"The Desa-Ren combination has settled things.

It was fun

Thank you."

===Zero Presents: Desast Walk===

Desast Walk #17 (Quote Retweet):

"Hey, Akamichi Ren.

I'm Desast.

I had a good time, too.

Thank you."

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enchilada645

It's such a fantastic climax to Desast and Ren's characters and it was this episode that fully made me turn around on Ren to being like... "You know what? He's a fine kid" in terms of like, finally accepting him after being very fed up with him at the start of the show.

Ren's storyline is the quintessential Saber plot, because it has to be grating and annoying at first in order to eventually be poignant and transcendent. How much that destination is worth the journey is, appropriately, where Your Mileage May Vary.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enchilada645

As for our story, it's an interesting insight into Reika... of which I think this is the first time you've used her? I think. I might be forgetting... but still, rather nice.

I think it's the first Reika short? I knew I wanted to do something on that apology scene, and I'd already done Ryoga and a ton of Mei, so I thought I'd see what was there for me. It really clicked when I decided that Reika 1000% does not see that everyone hates her, and that she definitely thinks Ryoga is a great brother that she needs to protect by being the cooler sibling. I kinda love these two oblivious jerks now?

Also! Thanks for all the Desast Walks! They were great!