[Kamen Rider Die]

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Originally Posted by Enchilada645

Saber's a bit of a punching bag (though slightly less now thanks to Revice) for the fandom, but I will still gladly and loudly proclaim that I love Kamen Rider Saber, and I consider it one of my favorite Rider shows of all time.

Saber is one of the most qualified I Really Loved This Show recommendations of all time for me. A genuinely special experience, marked by sporadic bouts of anger and disappointment. In the aftermath, it's all worth it. But if someone hasn't started that journey yet? Ehhh...

[Fish Sandwich]

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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.

[Mesnick]

I basically already wrote everything I wanted to say about this show in posts dedicated to the last two episodes. So just to reiterate, Saber is my favorite rider show and I'm really glad you enjoyed it. Let the path be thorny, but this is what helps to better remember and appreciate the journey. And also I note that after the end of the series, Saber never ceases to amaze. There is still a lot of interesting things ahead!

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

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.

Which is great! It's awesome to put yourself so utterly in the hands of creators, and have it all work out better than you'd dreamed. That's a rare experience, and you're right to both treasure it and share it.

For me? If I can paraphrase Kamijo -- a character that still doesn't work for me, even in retrospect -- when my resolve failed, I still had hope. I didn't know it was all going to work out, but I always hoped it would. I've never been able to quit a Kamen Rider show, and I doubt I ever will. I always wonder what's around the corner: Does the show fix its flaws, change its focus, clarify its vision, live up to its goals? If there's even a spark of a better show in the one that's not working for me, I gotta give them a chance. I may not like it to start, and it may let me down in ways I have to call out, but I will always root for these shows to get better. When it happens? They'll have my sword.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mesnick

Let the path be thorny, but this is what helps to better remember and appreciate the journey. And also I note that after the end of the series, Saber never ceases to amaze. There is still a lot of interesting things ahead!

It's certainly a more interesting show to talk about, for its pricklier parts. And yeah! We still have a week of ancillary content to go over, starting with today's Sword of Logos episodes!

On the topic of that ancillary content, here's a revised and expanded schedule for the next few days:

03/18: Sword of Logos
03/19: Anime
03/20: TTFC Episode 3
03/22: Final Stage
03/23: Trio of Deep Sin
03/24: Sabela & Durandal

Looking forward to seeing how weird Saber can get with its stage show!

[Kurona]

Interested in if you'll watch what exists of Outsiders now? Having watched Saber you now have context for everything that currently exists in and has been promised for it

[Kamen Rider Die]

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Originally Posted by Kurona

Interested in if you'll watch what exists of Outsiders now? Having watched Saber you now have context for everything that currently exists in and has been promised for it

Yeah, but not right away. Finishing Saber, then catching up on three months of Geats, then Revice, then (probably) Outsiders.

[DreadBringer]

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER SABER EPISODE 48 - “BONUS ISSUE – A NEW PAGE, HAS BEEN TURNED”

The Saber part, where the eternal friendship of Touma and Kento imparts a lesson about how friendships can weather change and adversity – even grow because of them – is incredibly sweet. It’s this show letting you know that your favorite Saber characters will be out there living their lives, even if you’re not around to see them. It’s also asking you to focus on the good times over the last year, rather than feel bad that they’re ending. Leave it to Saber to take a baton-passing crossover episode and still manage to say something heartfelt about both friendship and storytelling. It’s letting an audience know that stories are constantly starting and stopping, so it’s better to be excited by change than afraid of it. Because we’re not just talking about this story ending, we’re also talking about the next story starting. Namely, Kamen Rider Revice.

So here Kento is shown to be also doing his part of talking down civilians, similar to Touma further taking promises seriously to convince Takuto to fulfill it. I guess this'd strengthen the part of him being more of a fundamentally good person, instead of just a redeemed bad guy tagging along with the heroes (though there's still already an extensive part of him being at odds with the heroes), or that the earlier part of him was just him being 'heroic' due to going along with the main character (e.g. Micchy in Gaim) - thus the part of him being hellbent on revenge against Calibur was a genuine being caught up in emotions rather than his inherent dark side taking over. Ofc, with the problem of the promise being monster attacks, Kentouma both serve as the "security guards" for the childhood friends meeting up here.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

It’s a hard thing, to try and serve two tonally different masters here. Saber is a sweet, earnest show, filled with a rich, diverse cast of nuanced performers. (And Reika, who’s insanely awful this episode.) Revice, on the other hand, seems to lean very very hard into obnoxious comedy and constant antagonism. These are… not two things that can exist simultaneously in a story. It’s fine for one series to pivot into another, but it’s tonally dissonant to have Vice mugging for the camera and farting his way through a hard sell to watch his new show, all while Touma and the gang are charting out the next phases of their lives. Like, this is an episode where an egalitarian deconstruction of a morally-bankrupt cult sits alongside an invisible ghost taunting Yuri and everyone reacting to devil flatulence. It’s… you can’t really do both? And I don’t know if the disrespectful hard sell is the best foot forward for the new year of Kamen Rider?

So regarding Saber part, it's shown that someone like Sophia also can loosen up a little to join in the cast relaxing, which is good for her. Other than Kentouma, the focus here also seems to be done on Ryoga for some reason, who, initiates a duel with Rintaro, which makes sense as previously Ryoga was the evil counterpart of Rintaro, with both having trouble with socializing, but Ryoga is fanatically loyal to SoL's cause without a shred of conscience at that time. Thus like how Rintaro initiates a duel with Touma back then to convey it, now Ryoga repeats that with Rintaro. With now Ryoga seemingly fully opening up to the others, the 'traitors', more than Reika who's still only at best explaining Ryoga is while staying hostile to anyone not him. I wonder why for this part you think Reika is awful here as since Ryoga came, being deadly jealous of others approaching him is also a consistet part of her.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Like, I’m trying not to judge Kamen Rider Revice off of this. In their world, in their context, maybe it all works. Maybe Saber should’ve made this less about their cast and more about promoting Revice. Maybe Revi should’ve been in the Promise Park battle and used less of Vice’s… contributions. I don’t know. I can’t say if Revice works or doesn’t work as a concept, because I haven’t watched the show yet. All I can say was that they were the worst part of this episode, which is a bummer for a viewer who was looking forward to discovering a whole new Kamen Rider series.

But Saber! Still so good and so smart, even if the effort of fitting in the Revice cast tore at the seams; at the little things it usually got right. (Namely, Reika being a lunatic, and Rintaro being way too wacky in his romantic comedy stylings. I am normally rooting for both those characters! But not this time!) Last episode is the clear winner in terms of wrapping up this show’s narrative, but this was a nice coda about how endings are bittersweet but necessary. Not my favorite episode, but a decent enough note to go out on.

Regarding Revice, I only wonder how'd you feel regarding your view about families in KR when you get through it, especially that you watched Geats first which have (reverts into) more typical KR families. Honestly, I'd think that the Vice humor part is jarring here, like the fart jokes? It doesn't represent Revice at all. Regarding Rintaro, I guess it's good that his dork part is still consistent here with him making an awkward 'confession' with Mei due to misunderstandings, which ofc he meant actual official family instead of just a group with actual familial feelings. But the general consensus of Rintaro is that he's just there, for some of the audiences (also one of the secondaries that feel overshadowed by tertiary, Kento). I'm not into these crossovers but at the end it seems that the Saber part has something moving forward with SoL solving the Master Logos problem with it being turned into a council of four, of which for some reason only Ryoga got appointed as one of its members without Reika. Ren reacts more amicably to the group with his journey, though the focus is still on his interactions with Kento.

[Sh Ranger]

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Yeah, but not right away. Finishing Saber, then catching up on three months of Geats, then Revice, then (probably) Outsiders.

You're still going to watch Pretty Den-O after Saber though, right?

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

I wonder why for this part you think Reika is awful here as since Ryoga came, being deadly jealous of others approaching him is also a consistet part of her.

She's always been protective of her brother, but this is ramping things up into a more irritating jealousy angle that... I mean, it's problematic, I think we can all agree. Even if you end up viewing it as a sibling's devotion, or an idolization, it's still super weird that this grown woman is infuriated by her brother maybe-flirting with Mei. It's not that funny, and it unnecessarily harms Reika's character.

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Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

You're still going to watch Pretty Den-O after Saber though, right?

After Revice, since Revice is starting up (currently!) April 13th, and I got non-Kamen Rider stuff for at least the last week of this month. Pretty Den-O for sure will happen later this year. I have not forgotten! We'll cover the post-Revice roadmap in more detail as Revice wraps up.

[Switchblade]

For me, Saber is a show that I tend to associate with Black RX and Drive: three shows that I thought started off really weak but that eventually found their voice and turned into something really fantastic by the end. Between the heroes and villains it probably had more characters than it really knew what to do with most of the time, but I think it generally did a good job of doing justice by the majority of them.

I will always look back fondly on the time when Touma, Mei, and Yuri were the main active characters while everyone else just hung out in a library getting gaslit by Reika. I loved the whole storyline around the Primitive Dragon books and how that was ultimately resolved. I appreciate Kento for cutting past several episodes of misunderstandings by just openly explaining his plans and motivations. I respect the show for finding a way to take its worst character and give him one of the most emotional fight scenes in the entire series. There's a lot to credit this show with, but these are probably the elements that stuck out to me the most.