[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enchilada645

As for the story... I really enjoyed the very "Dad tries to explain complex things to his Son" vibe with Ogami trying to explain why Daishinji can't henshin anymore. You got that down absolutely pat when it comes to that kind of wording. And then the hypothetical that makes Ogami just be like, "You know what, sure, Ice Cream", real nice way to end that honestly.

I really love when kids' questions accidentally spark existential crises in adults. With Sora around, this will probably not be the last time I go to that well.

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Originally Posted by Nokination

I would honestly love if every Saber episode kept this kind of pace, but of course, I know they won't, still, besides that, this is honestly my favorite piece of Saber related content that I've seen so far mostly because of how much I like the cast, and I hope that at the very least, the other Swordsman Chronicles specials keep up to this level of quality.

It's crazy how much my enjoyment of this series goes up when there's just a tiny bit of decompression to it. Like, gimme one friggin' scene of people having a basic conversation about how they fit within an organization's eternal battle against the forces of darkness and I eat it up. It doesn't seem like a huge ask!

[DreadBringer]

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

I feel like everyone else was fine with working together? It's their job, after all. With Ex-Aid... ha ha ha, yeah, Emu was pretty much doomed to fail there. The entire show is built around those characters not being able to work together because of their massive egos, so you'd need another 30+ episodes before they could really come together as a team. (Never as friends, though. Sort of the fun point of Ex-Aid as a show!)

Didn't say this before but Kiriya's a slight exception, I'd think he's the one that I can actually consider misguided (of which the term is often thrown around towards anyone with a glimpse of sympathetic traits, like outright villains venting their dark past in destructive way) at the beginning of the series of thinking lying is better path than brutal honesty, refused to work more due to being suspicious of Hinata than ego, and he's the one who became friends with Emu after clearing up their misunderstandings, just before his Game Over (ep. 12) - this is also the reason for me to think that closest ones are those who has less conflict between each other, I'd view Kiriya as the main Rider Emu's the closest with, other than being early too, despite more rocky beginning (with Hiiro also distrusting Kiriya).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER SABER: SWORDSMEN CHRONICLES EPISODE 1 - “AN EPISODE OF KAMEN RIDERS SLASH AND BUSTER”

There’s also some legitimate original suit action, too, which I never would have expected. Buster in action is always fun, but the introduction to Slash was a real treat. I’ve always loved the Slash design, even before I knew what his deal was. (Thought he was a bad guy!) I think I called it Trapper Keeper Maximalism in some other thread a few years back, and I stand by that assessment now. It’s this hot pink and brown suit, with a blue starburst visor and a high collar. It’s roughly four different things that shouldn’t even be on the same show together, let alone the same suit, but they somehow work beautifully. It all works together to sell Candy Armor in just the dumbest, funniest way (the candy buttons on the collar!!!), and I love that the stoic, dedicated Daishinji wears gingerbread into battle. Absolute best suit to date, and I can’t wait to see it appear in the modern day.

Yeah, he has a good design, despite the 'flamboyant' aspect of the form, other than pink (or is it actually magenta?), his accents also look like candy drops. It's due to it being based of the Gingerbread House from Hanselnuts to Gretel. Otherwise, Daishinji's problem is about his damaged weapon that he has to repair now, and I'm kinda confused (not only Saber's case) about the weapons still existing after the Riders de-henshin, or weapons that spawn when they henshin or equipped an item on their belts to summon it.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

This feels like a fairly avoidable problem: maybe don't have the heroes de-Henshin in the past. Kinda bonkers that they'd just hope no one noticed that Ogami and Daishinji haven't aged in 15 years. Maybe they both got the same surgeries Gai gave himself in Zero-One...

I agree with this, don't make them de-henshin in the past without new actors.

[Fish Sandwich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER SABER: SWORDSMEN CHRONICLES EPISODE 1 - ?AN EPISODE OF KAMEN RIDERS SLASH AND BUSTER?

I don't believe I ever made any posts about these? Which hopefully doesn't make it sound like I don't care abut them, because I absolutely thought they were quite enjoyable. It's just... I don't particularly have anything to *say* about them, for the most part. This first one for example, it's uh, it's about Slash and Buster... it makes them feel more fleshed out in a way complements the series proper... I feel like I'd just end up literally describing the concept like that? Which means they generally nailed what they were going for, I guess, but they really have a way of putting me at a loss for words... like, in a good way though! They speak for themselves, basically.

If there's one thing I could say, it's just that I really like the dynamic this one focuses on where Ogami and Daishinji are emphasized as the designated veteran duo? It's a strong way to distinguish them from the rest of the heroes, and give their characters a flavor that's unique in the show. They're both guys who have just kinda been at their jobs for a while now, and I dig that whole vibe a lot.

[Sh Ranger]

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Originally Posted by DreadBringer

Yeah, I know she's from Wild Force (watched bits of it when little), how tf did I make a mistake in typing Time Otherwise, if your Saber love extends to Sophia too... I wonder if that'd be the hardest thing for you ever to do to try defending her from what you think undeserved criticism/hate, as she seems to be one of the most hated characters in entire franchise with practically near-zero fans (but I guess if you'd defend Mihara from Faiz, you'd have some experience for it too).

I've had to defend her a little before, but, "one of the most hated ever"? Nah, I think that's a slight exaggeration. Out of all the Saber characters, Angela Mei's character gets a lot more (often justified) criticism in the Western fandom, despite apparently having a cult following in Japan. That's for another talk though.

Sophia definitely goes through a lot of undeserved treatment for someone who just wants to support the Swordsmen the best she can. So I'll be sure to point that out and express my sympathy when the time comes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER SABER: SWORDSMEN CHRONICLES EPISODE 1 - ?AN EPISODE OF KAMEN RIDERS SLASH AND BUSTER?

(Which? do the Sword of Logos guys not age? Both swordsmen look exactly the same as they did 15 years ago. But, Kento has aged at the same rate as his childhood friend Touma? It also makes Desast?s whole You Got Old jab at Buster seem like an even weirder insult, since Buster was his same dad-bod self when they last fought. If there?s a non-spoiler explanation that isn?t Don?t Ask Unnecessary Questions About Adult Circumstances, please let me know!)

Basically, the only difference between a Swordsman and a normal homosapien is that the former wields a Seiken Sword, while the latter doesn't. I think the weirdest part about Ogami's and Daishinji's aging though is that 20s Ogami still looks in his 30s, while 30s Daishinji still looks in his 20s. Daishinji's actor is actually younger than the actors of the core 3 Swordsmen and even a few months younger than me, but for some reason he was cast to play a 30s character. After Gai though, I think it's a little easier to suspend disbelief and I enjoy the theatrical performance of Daishinji's emotional shifts.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

There?s also some legitimate original suit action, too, which I never would have expected. Buster in action is always fun, but the introduction to Slash was a real treat. I?ve always loved the Slash design, even before I knew what his deal was. (Thought he was a bad guy!) I think I called it Trapper Keeper Maximalism in some other thread a few years back, and I stand by that assessment now. It?s this hot pink and brown suit, with a blue starburst visor and a high collar. It?s roughly four different things that shouldn?t even be on the same show together, let alone the same suit, but they somehow work beautifully. It all works together to sell Candy Armor in just the dumbest, funniest way (the candy buttons on the collar!!!), and I love that the stoic, dedicated Daishinji wears gingerbread into battle. Absolute best suit to date, and I can?t wait to see it appear in the modern day.

Slash's Onjuuken Suzune is my favorite Seiken Sword, so I want to talk about that as well. While gunblades are pretty typical weapons for Riders, in a show where everybody has a unique sword, you got to have a gunblade, you know? The way Daishinji accidentally breaks Suzune for 15 years by ignoring its cries is kind of like getting a cool new video game that breaks your PC cause you didn't spec-up enough. It builds up Suzune as this really cool sword, while showing that Daishinji's job as a swordsmith shouldn't be taken for granted. Like Ogami said, the only reason why the Swordsmen can continue to fight is due to Daishinji's regular maintenance. I love Suzune's upbeat jingle as well and all the "Yay"s that would make even the Build Driver envious.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

Yeah, he has a good design, despite the 'flamboyant' aspect of the form, other than pink (or is it actually magenta?), his accents also look like candy drops. It's due to it being based of the Gingerbread House from Hanselnuts to Gretel. Otherwise, Daishinji's problem is about his damaged weapon that he has to repair now, and I'm kinda confused (not only Saber's case) about the weapons still existing after the Riders de-henshin, or weapons that spawn when they henshin or equipped an item on their belts to summon it.

I guess it depends on whether it's part of the Driver, so it would disappear, or if it is the Driver, so it wouldn't.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

If there's one thing I could say, it's just that I really like the dynamic this one focuses on where Ogami and Daishinji are emphasized as the designated veteran duo? It's a strong way to distinguish them from the rest of the heroes, and give their characters a flavor that's unique in the show. They're both guys who have just kinda been at their jobs for a while now, and I dig that whole vibe a lot.

It's such a fun choice to make for the first episode. I was totally prepared for a Saber/Blades installment, which would've been fine (I think they've got a fun dynamic), but it's so much more interesting to spend time with Daishinji's slightly withdrawn swordsmith and Ogami's boisterous warrior.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Basically, the only difference between a Swordsman and a normal homosapien is that the former wields a Seiken Sword, while the latter doesn't. I think the weirdest part about Ogami's and Daishinji's aging though is that 20s Ogami still looks in his 30s, while 30s Daishinji still looks in his 20s. Daishinji's actor is actually younger than the actors of the core 3 Swordsmen and even a few months younger than me, but for some reason he was cast to play a 30s character. After Gai though, I think it's a little easier to suspend disbelief and I enjoy the theatrical performance of Daishinji's emotional shifts.

...man, that is an insane paragraph to have to read. At this point, I'm just gonna go with Swords Age Differently and not wait for this show to explain itself.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Slash's Onjuuken Suzune is my favorite Seiken Sword, so I want to talk about that as well. While gunblades are pretty typical weapons for Riders, in a show where everybody has a unique sword, you got to have a gunblade, you know?

It's very cool! My entry to the franchise through Ex-Aid means my expectation is always that weapons should also have form changes, and it's very considerate of Saber to meet me halfway.

[Switchblade]

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER SABER: SWORDSMEN CHRONICLES EPISODE 1 - ?AN EPISODE OF KAMEN RIDERS SLASH AND BUSTER?

So I've never seen this one. Not sure why or how I missed it, given I was pretty all-in on Saber at the time (but only at the time; still haven't gotten around to any of the post-series content). I don't have much to say about it, therefore, but I will mention that these two are probably the best examples on the show of something that's been bugging me about Kamen Rider since at least Fourze: I really dislike it when weapons on these shows are obviously just plastic toys. Now at least Rider upsizes them from the DX versions (calling you out, modern Ultraman), but I find it hard to shake off suspension of belief with some of these things. Slash's pink plastic and Buster's floppy piece of foam are definitely major offenders here.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

I really dislike it when weapons on these shows are obviously just plastic toys. Now at least Rider upsizes them from the DX versions (calling you out, modern Ultraman), but I find it hard to shake off suspension of belief with some of these things. Slash's pink plastic and Buster's floppy piece of foam are definitely major offenders here.

Ha ha, my first-ever Kamen Rider weapon was the Gashacon Breaker -- a weapon I would gladly pay Complete Style Gigantic money for if they made one -- so I am probably the last person in the world to decry a show's weaponry being too toyetic.

But even outside of that, I think it's a natural hedge for this show's collection of swords. I don't know if any toyline for kids could get away with large, bladed weaponry, so a design ethos that allows for bulky, stubby swords... I think that's just corporate self-preservation?

[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER SABER EPISODE 9 - “HARMONIZE, THE SWORDSMAN’S RESONANCE”



In what I’d hoped would be a brand-new phase of Saber’s storytelling, with a firmer hand on how to tell its story, we are very much in some Traditional Saber territory, for better or worse.

Let’s start with the Worse!

As soon as Storious opened his mouth, I knew I wasn’t going to love this episode. It’s another scheme that’s pulled from thin air, as three random Alter Books and a whole bunch of Wonder Rider Books will now give Calibur all sorts of crazy power. It is, as always, the dullest way to kick off a Calibur plot. He just stands in the room waiting for a new Book Club hoop to jump through – usually accompanied by a totally random Megid – and then we get to watch him jump through it in the most straightforward way possible. There was a time, once, when this show had Calibur and the Book Club and Desast and a Megid all working in unison, to manipulate our heroes into a cunning trap. That episode feels like it belonged to a different show, for all the similarity to this episode’s basic-ass monster attack premise. This one’s just A to B to C, with no particular cleverness needed from the Sword of Logos. It’s barely worth thinking about, thankfully -slash- sadly.

But, speaking of Slash!

He’s the Better, obviously. As Tassel’s introduction and catchphrase suggested, it’s time to meet a new swordsman. (Also, a new swordswoman, probably!) The only spark this episode had was in its introduction of Daishinji’s Kamen Rider identity. It’s the smartest part of the episode, mostly because of its dedication to getting incredibly dumb.

Much like Daishinji’s personality changes when he becomes Slash – wild and uninhibited – this episode shifts gears in a major way for its middle third. It’s like a rock song, where there’s no nuance or intricacy; it’s just loud, fast, and fun. Every Rider gets to detonate a monster, and turn their back on the explosion. Slash gets multiple form changes, both of them gloriously garish and stupidly fantastic. Touma gets his Wonder Combo form, Crimson Dragon, and it’s slick as hell. The whole fight scene against Calibur and the Ducklings was so jaw-dropping (and reminiscent of the killer Geats action scenes I’d watched just before starting Saber) that I had to look up who the director was: OF COURSE IT WAS SAKAMOTO. Love how he moved the camera during the Calibur/Saber portion of the duel; easily the best brawl this show has had to date. This episode is only really concerned with introducing Slash, but it made that introduction so indelibly wild that I kind of don’t hate that decision.

There’s nominally a Touma plot here, where he starts the episode wondering what to write about, and ends the episode deciding to write about his friends, but… that’s literally the whole plot. There’s no, uh, middle section of that story, unless you count Fighting A Bad Guy. It’s the sort of bookend sequence that could’ve landed on nearly any of the last five episodes, and I don’t even know why they bothered with it here.

Oh, almost forgot! There’s that aforementioned new swordswoman! And growing suspicion that Calibur isn’t who anyone thinks he is! But no details are forthcoming, so I don’t have anything to say about that!

I really enjoyed the Slash action sequence in this one, don’t get me wrong, but there’s basically nothing else here besides that. I’m never going to be super in favor of a show trading out narrative momentum and character drama for a big ol’ fight scene, but I guess I can make a slight exception for a fight scene as grandiose as this one, and an expansion of the very charming Daishinji’s role on the show. It’s a bit of a wash!

—

THEY WRITE BOOKS ABOUT THIS SORT OF THING



As Touma looked over the sea of notes, he felt adrift. Could all of this have really only occurred over the last nine weeks?

It seemed absurd, when he saw it all written down. The people he’d met, the battles he’d fought, the places to which he’d traveled… nine weeks? It was enough incident to fill months; years. To fill books, not a book. To fill a series. To fill a library.

He didn’t hurt for inspiration, that was for sure. He just needed a start, any start. A single one of those notes. Something to–

The door chime rang. A delivery of books from one of the store’s vendors. The box was opened, the packing slip removed, the items checked off for order accuracy, the inventory entered into the Point of Sale system’s database, the one damaged book set aside for replacement (after quickly filling in the requisite fields on the vendor’s website), the books shelved in their sections, the box broken down for recycling, the counter cleaned of detritus.

There. The work completed, Touma sat himself back to his wall of notes. What if he started with–

The phone rang. A question about a particular title, and whether Touma’s store stocked it. An affirmative response, followed by a trip to the shelves to verify its current availability. Yes, still there. Yes, he can set it aside. Thanks for calling.

Okay, back to the writing. He–

The door chime rang. One of his regulars, a local family. He spent time introducing the two children to some gorgeously-illustrated picture books, and then chatted with the parents while the children made their picks. The topics included the weather (a little drier out, thankfully), the nearby restaurant openings (a ramen cart that Touma raved about; an ice cream shop that the family had recently tried and enjoyed), and what had been enjoyed on TV (Touma didn’t watch TV, but he was happy to let others share their excitement). Once the children had decided on their books, Touma thanked the family for their visit and waved as they walked out the door.

That was fun, but he needed to get a start on this–

The phone rang. A question about an upcoming book, and whether Touma’s store would be carrying it. A quick check online indicated the book would be out next month, and Touma assured the caller that he’d have copies on the day of release. A quick note made to call the interested customer back when the book arrived, and Touma placed the phone back on the cradle.

Okay, now–

The door chime rang. A confused looking woman, who inquired about the location of a nearby business. Touma gave the directions quickly (it was a common request; why did everyone come to the bookstore to ask directions?) but pleasantly, and wished the woman luck on her search.

Now–

The phone rang. A question about a book, and whether Touma had it in stock. It was a popular title, so Touma assured the customer he had one as he walked over to the… hmm. It wasn’t there. Maybe it had been misfiled? No, it wasn’t in the section at all. Maybe it was moved to another part of the store? Touma apologetically informed the customer that he didn’t seem to have it in stock, but would certainly have a copy shortly. The customer replied that they’d needed it today, for a gift, but thanked Touma for his time.

With the phone call ended, Touma scoured the store for the book. No luck. Checking his inventory database, a copy was clearly indicated. Where had it gone? Giving up after considering the various possibilities (theft; database error; hallucination) Touma reset the stock level to zero, and hoped he wouldn’t lose any further sales in the wait for a reorder.

Okay, he could–

Touma dropped the pen. He’d forgotten to write out this week’s email to his customers, with updates on events and the list of new releases. He quickly typed out the new information into his template, and scheduled the email for the next day.

With that out of the way, he could finally get started on his writing. He looked over the notes for a moment, ready to grab the first one that caught his eye.

Behind him, a banging noise, and a young woman’s plaintive cry. “Geez, what’s with you, do you have writer’s block or something?”

[Enchilada645]

This episode is our proper introduction to Kamen Rider Slash. I've talked about how he's my favorite Rider already, but man is he so cool. There's an elegance to his standard form and him just switching to a loud mouth rocker when we get a musical form in the mix is also really nice. Also the first time that an extra Rider in this show uses their main armament before Touma does since Touma got to use Jackun and 3 Little Pigs before both Buster and Kenzan did.

But yeah, not much to this episode in terms of monster of the week plot really. Fun fact about these ducklings though, in my story currently for Season 2 of it I've only used those six, and the Medusa trio thus far for it since man do they fill out some fodder ranks nicely. Kind of helps since there's a lot more dense stuff happening on the other side of the crossover, so I'm not too bummed about them not having a lot to them though the Medusa trio definitely have more uses than the Duckling ones.

Anyway Sakamoto! If your series doesn't have much in terms of out of suit physical fighting and you're suddenly getting out of suit physical fighting? It's absolutely Sakamoto taking the lead in terms of the directorial work.

Also since we got a new character in today, and I forget if she's named or not, but anyway... fun fact! Did you know that every Swordperson's name has some sort of version/reference of 'god'/'deity' in it. This was a method people used back when Saber was airing to see if potential new characters could be potentialy swordspeople or not.

As for the story...

how dare you

I... you just went for my throat with that. Touma was already relatable enough but you just went for the jugular in how I sometimes operate from time to time. The abrupt interruptions, the things that need to be done, the not getting anything done!

AHHHH!!!

... that is to say.

Good Job.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enchilada645

Also since we got a new character in today, and I forget if she's named or not, but anyway... fun fact! Did you know that every Swordperson's name has some sort of version/reference of 'god'/'deity' in it. This was a method people used back when Saber was airing to see if potential new characters could be potentialy swordspeople or not.

They didn't name her, but I've seen Incredibly Tall Sword Lady in enough random Kamen Rider places (Girls Remix for sure, I want to say) to immediately do the Leonardo DiCaprio pointing gif when she walked in. Excited to learn her deal!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enchilada645

I... you just went for my throat with that. Touma was already relatable enough but you just went for the jugular in how I sometimes operate from time to time. The abrupt interruptions, the things that need to be done, the not getting anything done!

The idea that Touma could get any writing done while running a bookstore (SOLO!) is by the far most fantastical and unbelievable concept in this entire series.