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01-27-2023, 09:16 PM | #401 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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It is INSANE. It is the most hilariously specific response the universe could give me after a day of I Am Not Connecting With Saber. Uh, me and that show are clearly on some sort of wavelength! All hope is not lost!
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01-27-2023, 09:35 PM | #402 |
Showa Girl
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 9,064
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When I was reading it I was really enjoying it, but I also had a moment of "... wait have I not seen this before...? OH this was in the episode, right, I remember now. Okay so he's just fleshing it out and writing more emotion into it, I like that; I'm enjoying his take".
The actual reality was far funnier
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01-27-2023, 09:45 PM | #403 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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Quote:
When I was reading it I was really enjoying it, but I also had a moment of "... wait have I not seen this before...? OH this was in the episode, right, I remember now. Okay so he's just fleshing it out and writing more emotion into it, I like that; I'm enjoying his take".
The actual reality was far funnier Also, I was real close to letting tonight's story be me quoting that earlier story in its entirety, but I won't do less just for a joke. It wouldn't be fair to Rintaro!
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01-27-2023, 10:03 PM | #404 |
The Immortal King Tasty
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Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
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Wow, you're passing these trials a lot faster than I expected!
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01-27-2023, 10:34 PM | #405 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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KAMEN RIDER SABER: SWORDSMEN CHRONICLES EPISODE 4 - “AN EPISODE OF KAMEN RIDER BLADES”
I really do love this show’s cast. It’s a strange thing, to feel so much warmth for characters but so much frustration with the story they’re in. I don’t love it. You get these random bits of plot that feel like a mugging; random and violent and over in an instant, but the wounds are on you for days to come. But then you also get these characters, where they’re like a supportive bystander in the aftermath, helping you to your feet and reassuring you that you’re safe. I like Rintaro and Mei a whole lot, individually and together. Rintaro’s earnest naivete is so genuine and sweet that it feels like the best reaction to a decade of surly secondaries. Mei’s boisterous comedy never grates, and gives such useful insight to this world of idealistic novelists and chivalrous swordsmen. They’re the story I’m most interested in, their weirdly perfect romance. This episode is nominally here to fill in some backstory about Rintaro, in regards to his upbringing and familial connection to the other swordsmen, but that isn't why it works. It works because Mei is great at understanding where Rintaro’s weakest, which is his imposter syndrome. Rintaro’s love for his family makes him feel unworthy of that love, but the twist for him is that he equates being a good family member with being a good swordsman, so his inability to see himself as a valued sibling makes him think he’s a terrible swordsman. It’s… it is a very jumbled way of processing the need for support and affection that a family ideally provides, and it’s definitely damaged Rintaro in ways that are hard for his friends and teammates to address. He just comes off as a guy that needs to loosen up, and that’s not exactly right. Mei gets him, though. She sees all the weird connections Rintaro’s brain is making, and figures out the way to explain things that’ll allow Rintaro to accept his own positive qualities. She gets Rintaro to see that his constancy is what people need from him, not some all-powerful swordsman. They need Rintaro to never lose his own sense of right and wrong, his belief in his family, and his sweetness. The last thing Kento would’ve wanted was for Rintaro to become a brooding version of himself, resentful of an inability to prevent someone else’s fate. Mei knows that Rintaro being self-loathing isn’t a sustainable thing for him and gently nudges him back into shape. It’s all very cute, and a prime example of how close this show is to being one of my favorites. I haven’t found much yet in this show’s metaphors (although that whole “the poison of pessimism” thing I said to Fish off-handedly is sort of rattling around in my brain), but I adore these stories that just let the supportive interactions of these characters take center stage. God, I love this show’s cast. — SMARTER HEARTS “Hey there, little missy,” the man at the front desk said to Mei. “What can I do for you today?” Mei walked up to the desk, and set down her box of eclairs. She looked at the nameplate on the ledge of the desk: it read ‘Nachi, Building Maintenance’. “Hi,” she said cheerfully, “I’m here to see a friend of mine. His name’s Rintaro. Black hair, blue coat… adorable but sort of embarrassing, like a too-loyal puppy? I heard he came here today. Could you tell me what room he’s in, or what floor he’s on?” Nachi leaned back in his chair. “Rintaro? Oh, he’s here, but he ain’t on a floor or in a room. He’s up on the roof, brooding away.” Mei squinted a little bit at the answer she got. “Brooding? Rintaro?” Nachi nodded his head slowly, and clicked his tongue in the affirmative. “Yep. He came in all hang-dog, and said he wanted to brood up on the roof like Kento did. We asked him how he wanted it set up, and he said it should be how Kento used to have it. We said ‘Used to?’ and he said that Kento got poisoned by a rogue swordsman's blade of shadows, and disappeared into a purple mist. Which, y’know, me and the boys are real sorry about. That Kento was a good kid.” Mei was taken aback briefly by the flood of details, but quickly regained her focus. Kento. Right. Of course. “Thanks,” she said to Nachi in commiseration. “He… it was so sudden, and Rintaro was… they were like family.” “Yeah, I get that,” Nachi responded. “Anyhow, Rintaro’s up on the roof right now, tryin’ real hard to brood, which – you don’t mind me saying, he’s not very convincing.” Mei chuckled a bit. “No, I suppose he isn’t. He’s a sweet boy, though. I know he looked up to Kento. It’s a lot for him to deal with.” “Oh, you can tell, to all of it. I expect he’s paying tribute to that Kento by following in his footsteps the best he can, tryin’ to be the Kento that the world was robbed of.” “Uh huh.” This was a level of insight and analysis that Mei rarely got as she checked into a building and passed through the minimal security. Who was this guy? She’d heard from Touma that Kento would come here a lot, but this was getting weird. She needed to get up to see Rintaro before this guy psycho-analyzed her, and she was paralyzed with self-reflection. “I’ll uh, I’ll just go see how he’s doing then, if you don’t mind.” She moved towards the stairwell door. “Sure, sure,” Nachi said as he waved her by. “You go on and see about your friend. He’s probably just waiting for someone to come let him know it’s okay to be loved, or that he doesn’t need to change himself to win that love.” “I definitely will,” Mei said as she pressed her hip into the door’s push bar. “Oh,” Nachi called after her as the stairwell door slowly shut, “and I wouldn’t say no to one of those eclairs, if y’all don’t finish ‘em!”
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01-28-2023, 12:14 AM | #406 |
Alias: ZeroEnchiladas
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 2,567
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Once again another solid special. Not much to say here if I'm being honest since it would just be me saying, "Rintaro and Mei are so good guys!" and that being about it. Just some overall fun stuff and a nice way to end off the Swordsmen Chronicle specials.
As for the story... again, I just love that you've made an entire subplot regarding the guys who run the building that the Swords of Logos wielders brood/converse on. Makes for some real fun conversations like the one between Nachi and Mei. |
01-28-2023, 12:34 AM | #407 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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Location: Chicago, IL
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Quote:
I love that this show has one dedicated Brooding Roof that Kento frequented and that in Kento's absence, Rintaro decided to keep the tradition alive. It's a beautiful tribute to the golden swordsman.
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01-28-2023, 01:35 AM | #408 |
New Member
Join Date: Mar 2022
Posts: 89
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I'll admit when I saw that raffle scene with Rintaro winning the camera, listing off details about it, and then saying he was going to take a picture of his family, I was just dumbfounded at how it had somehow went exactly as your story did. The rest of the episode is nice and all (even if the Zooous fight flashback went on a little long for my tastes), and I really like the ending of this special, but I can hardly say anything after witnessing just how much you got right.
The special itself though is still good, I've pretty much loved every one of these Swordsmen Chronicles specials, and it's a shame to see them end, but I really did feel like this was a great ending to these specials, I really enjoy seeing all of the Sword of Logos members interacting together. (Though unironically, I'm still stuck in wonder at how you perfectly predicted the raffle subplot in your previous short story, every plot beat went nearly the exact same way, how on Earth did you manage to do this?) |
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01-28-2023, 03:42 AM | #409 |
Veteran Member
Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 2,546
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Quote:
I am watching Swordsmen Chronicles Episode 4 right now, and it is so beat-for-beat a story I wrote a few days ago that I am losing my goddamn mind. It's 100% Rintaro winning a raffle on a first try, getting super excited about a camera he read about, Mei being a little baffled at his excitement, and Rintaro excitedly staring at his camera as he walks ahead of Mei. I-- I think I might actually be writing this show now?
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01-28-2023, 06:35 AM | #410 |
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Join Date: Mar 2019
Posts: 318
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So... Yeah... Episode 15...
Aka, the episode the show just clicked for me where it went from having fun with it to actually liking it. Where all the "buts" became so insignificant that it was just "I'm enjoing this!" That said, hilarious that it seems to have had the opposite effect on you. And because of that, I have some things to say. First, on the table of contents, since it kind of feels like you downplay what it is a bit too much. It's a bit more than a map; it's more of a very quick summary of the world's history and every truth unknown to man, which would be rather interesting for both people wanting to remake the world and searching for something unknown. Second, I love the parallels between Kamijo, Kento, and Touma in this one. They all are ultimately motivated by the death of a treasured person, but they took this in completely different directions. Unlike Kamijo, who abounded his comrads to burden all the world's problems himself, hello Kento, Touma keeps insisting that only by working with them can he achieve his goals. Adding to that, Kamijo abandons all his morals by working with the Mejgid, the creatures he fought before this all started, while looking for the easiest way to solve his problems, simply obtaining the universal truth and not really showing any care for the people he originally swore to protect since the methods justify the means for him. All wrapped in a sense of nihilistic hopelessness that anything he does won't matter since the world's end is already set in stone, wonderfully contradicting his catchphrase, which is also used in this episode. And through it, Touma shows him true determination by fighting with his fallen comrat instead of being consumed by his loss and effectively becoming him as Kamijo did with Calibur. It's just... YES! That is the stuff I come to Rider for and makes for a great "Big Damn Rider"-moment for Touma, even being able to reawaken the man Kamijo had buried 15 years ago, only for it to be tragically cut short, while also setting the stage for what's to come. As I said, I think whenever Saber pulls together its story strings for a climax, it always delivers!
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