[Kamen Rider Die]

Hi. I’m Kamen Rider Die, and this thread is Kamen Rider Die watches Kamen Rider Saber (and writes fan-fiction)!

Which… okay, yes, I know. We’ll get to that.

This is yet another thread where I’m going to watch a Kamen Rider series for the first time, write up my thoughts/impressions/criticisms/”jokes”, and hopefully folks will be gracious enough to come along for the ride. I’ve done a whole bunch of these (over a dozen?), and they are always a delight. Very excited to get back into the rhythm of watching a new show on an almost-daily basis, after the hecticness of the end of 2022. I like watching these shows!

I don’t… I honestly don’t know a lot about Saber? It’s got a ton of Riders, the collectibles are books, and I genuinely dislike almost all of the helmets. I don’t like the headswords! Too tall and pointy! I couldn’t really get on board with Kabuto’s helmet either, so feel free to file this subjective analysis in the same folder as that one, labeled Kamen Rider Die Doesn’t Get It.

This would usually be the point where I’d write a ton of disclaimers and prohibitions, but I think we all know what time it is by now. Please don’t mention anything from future episodes of Saber, even teases; please don’t mention anything from Revice (watching that in the spring); be prepared for me to potentially spoil stuff from Kuuga through Zero-One (not on purpose to be mean, but as a way of analyzing what Saber’s storytelling is doing); I’m sorry I write this way (I’m doing my best, but I’m also doing my fastest); your participation isn’t required (in case you're more comfortable lurking), but it is greatly appreciated. Standard stuff, I think.

Less standard is this Watch Thread’s gimmick: me writing fan-fiction. Let’s talk about that.

I’ve never done it before, is sort of the short answer. It’s an element of fandom I’ve never taken part in, on either end. I’ve never (knowingly?) read any fan-fiction. I’ve never had a burning desire to craft my own story for a show I’ve been watching, either. It’s… I like doing this. Analysis, discussion. Fiction writing, it’s not my thing. But this show is (to my very limited knowledge) sort of about writing, so I figured – in the same vein as writing about toys and suits – that it could be interesting to force myself out of my comfort zone and see if there’s anything to be learned from writing some fan-fic.

Since we skimmed over the usual caveats and notices up above, let me spend a minute going over some stuff you should know about this whole Writing Fan-Fiction experiment/debacle:

THESE WILL BE VERY SHORT PIECES. The goal is to have each episode’s post be an analysis of the episode, followed by a short piece of fiction inspired by the episode. That means that, six nights a week, I’m going to need to watch an episode, write a page or so discussing the episode, AND THEN a little piece of fiction. That’s a lot! I cannot write, like, a short story a night for two months! Expect the fiction to be short scenes – a page or two at most, unless I’ve got a lot of free time and/or the muse hits.

THEY WILL NOT BE SERIALIZED (MOSTLY). I don’t really want to try and write an evolving narrative while I’m still trying to learn what kind of show Saber is. I’d rather just see what I’m inspired by each time. There might be sequels and callbacks and whatnot, but I think things are going to be more anthology-oriented.

THEY WILL PROBABLY NOT BE THAT SERIOUS ALL THE TIME. I don’t know, maybe pretty obvious! I like being dumb about this stuff, so that might be what gets me motivated here. I’ll try not to just goof around on it, though; the point is try and approach this seriously, so I’ll aim for a nice balance. On that topic…

I AM NOT TRYING TO BE AN ASSHOLE ABOUT THIS. While fan-fiction isn’t my thing, I respect the many people who work hard to produce it, and the fans that support them. The absolute last thing I would want to be is disrespectful. Even if/when I end up producing some weird garbage, please know that it is earnest weird garbage. I can’t guarantee I’m going to come out the other side of this project as a dedicated writer of Kamen Rider fiction – in fact, I can guarantee you that I will not be a dedicated writer of fiction, Kamen Rider or otherwise – but I want to try and meet this element of fandom where it lives. I’m not one of you, but I want to learn more about you.

So that’s what that’s all about! Watching Saber, writing about Saber episodes, and writing fiction about Saber. The schedule’s going to be the same as usual: new posts Wednesday through Monday, with Tuesdays off. I’m hopeful that there won’t be any extended breaks this time around, but if a day gets away from me and there’s a need to postpone a post, I’ll be sure to let you know. Here’s how we’ll be approaching all of Saber’s many spin-offs and ancillary content, in case you’re curious:

Episode 1-8
Swordsmen Chronicles 1: Slash and Buster
9
Swordsmen Chronicles 2: Kenzan
10
Phoenix Swordsman and the Book of Ruin
11-13
Swordsmen Chronicles 3: Espada
14-15
Swordsmen Chronicles 4: Blades
16
TTFC Direct Theater: Kamen Rider Saber 1
17-35
Out-of-Nowhere Dragon TVKun
36-38
Saber x Ghost
Specter x Blades
39
Movie Release Commemorative Combo Special (Special Issue/Zenkaiger 20)
Superhero Senki
TTFC Direct Theater: Kamen Rider Saber 2
40-47
Bonus Issue
Sword of Logos
TTFC Direct Theater: Kamen Rider Saber 3
Anime 1-4

POST REVICE (so, later in the summer)
Sabela and Durendal
Trio of Deep Sin

It’s so much stuff! So let’s not wait a second longer! Let’s watch Kamen Rider Saber and find out how this story begins!

[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER SABER EPISODE 1 - “IT ALL BEGAN, WITH THE SWORDSMAN OF FIRE”



I’ve been selling comic books since I was 12 years old. I’ve worked in a comics shop for decades, at all levels of employment. The absolute best part of the job is the visit after you sell someone a book. When you first meet someone and give a recommendation, it’s all investigation: what have they liked before, what are they looking for now, etc. You learn about them, and try to pick a book that’s going to make them happy. That’s fun. The rewarding part is when they return, telling you how well the recommendation worked for them, how excited they are to continue that journey. It’s literally the best. It’s what’s kept me selling comics for my entire adult life. A show about a bookseller? Who is also a Kamen Rider? And wants to protect the magic of storytelling? In a show about how fiction is both a way to give context to adolescence and a refuge from the harsh realities of adulthood, but not always the best way to deal with either time in our lives? This is a show that has my name all over it.

Which is why it’s sort of a bummer that I don’t think I enjoyed it much, if at all.

It’s nice to see the guy who did Ghost learn some lessons from that show’s start, though. Takeru was always an uphill battle for me because he never seemed to have a motivation outside of monster detonating, so the show rarely had a compelling B- or C-plot, something that generated out of the rest of the character’s life. Shows like Drive and Ex-Aid built complete worlds out of their protagonist’s day jobs; Takeru mostly sat in a basement until a Temple Nerd rolled in and shouted TAKERU, MONSTERS. Saber instantly corrects that, giving Touma both a relatable backstory (found early success in one field, but maybe lost the spark as an adult) and a normal-ass day job. Touma’s dedication to brightening the lives of children and stoking the magic of imagination is basically the first thing we learn about him, adding legibility and coherence to his motivation as a Kamen Rider. He’s a guy that cares deeply about the written word, and can’t stand to see it being used against people.

I just… I don’t know if the episode’s pivot from Touma Is A Dedicated Bookseller into Touma Is An Enraged Swordsman works?

It didn’t really work for me, which, again: sort of a bummer! It sucks to hit that first big Henshin and be like I’m Not Seeing It. I think it’s rushed, honestly. I think the show needed at least another Act between the book monster’s attack and Saber’s debut. There’s just this Touma monologue (Toumonologue) to get us from his shock at being in the middle of a dreamlike disaster in a storybook world, to him berating a book monster about misunderstanding humanity’s connection to prose so harshly that a flaming sword is deposited for his use. That’s… that is a lot of ground for one Toumonologue to cover! It’s a good speech! It’s just not a speech that papers over the pacing issues.

(If I felt especially generous, I could try and explain some of the shift in storytelling by speculating about Touma’s ability to lose himself in stories of heroic fiction. It sort of tracks that the guy who firmly believes in connecting people with uplifting stories of epic heroes might himself jump at the chance to do something poetic and insane, like rapidly become a superhero in order to detonate a book monster in a fairytale world. But I feel like I’m doing the show’s work for it? That’s all there, somewhere, but it’s not exactly presented as a way to understand Touma’s super-quick decision to become Kamen Rider Saber.)

After that lurch in the episode, I kinda didn’t click with the rest of the episode. The action was fine. Aggressively fine. I don’t know that the CG was great, but it didn’t hurt me or anything. But the fight was so one-sided in Saber’s favor that I sort of couldn’t invest much in the outcome. Touma demolished the book monster with the sort of boastful confidence of a much longer roll-up, not a first fight after a surprise knighting. It all felt pre-ordained in a way that actually had me feeling bad for the book monster. Touma’s heroic debut felt rushed, and then his fighting felt massively overleveled. It took the jerky pacing of the middle of the episode, then amplified it as the climax approached. Not a super great way to experience the first fight.

The thing is… man, I like a lot of what this show’s made out of. I like how it’s exploring how retail can be its own type of beneficial human connection. I like the concept of finding the stories that help us be the better versions of ourselves. I like how it’s such a thinly-veiled discussion of what tokusatsu shows and tokusatsu audiences give to each other. I like all of the things it’s talking about. And, man, I like Touma and Mei! I think Touma’s slightly embarrassed laziness works great against Mei’s wacky bossiness, and their dynamic was warm and funny throughout.

But, god, it’s that Ghost Debut thing of the show having a tough time putting it all together in a fluid way; instead, it’s all fits and starts, rushed parts up against perfunctory exposition. It’s a pretty clunky first draft. Probably could use some more editing as the series progresses.

—

MISFITS AND MISTAKES



The crimson-lit sign in the shop window – blazing KOJI AND YASUYUKI: HABERDASHERS in reverse to the sales floor – rendered Koji’s anger even more imposing than Yasuyuki was used to.

This was bad.

“This is bad, Yuki,” Koji muttered, to no surprise.

“It… was an oversight. Not a big deal. We can move these! It’ll be fine,” said Yasuyuki, unconvincing even to his own ears.

Koji stalked around the seated Yasuyuki, too frustrated to have this conversation immobile. He needed to vent, to let the steam off before he buried Yuki alongside this colossal blunder; this insurmountable hurdle. His boiling point was reached, though, at Yasuyuki’s attempt to minimize the damage. They were standing in financial quicksand, an oncoming ruin that was going to take their livelihood into the dirt.

“F– ‘fine’?! You think it’s fine to have ordered a dozen cases of these?!” Koji’s apoplectic questioning was accompanied by a quick lunge towards Yasayuki’s face, currently turned to avoid a withering glare, and several jabbing motions with his finger towards a mountain of boxes.

The boxes read MEN’S NOVELTY HATS - MULTICOLOR ASSORTMENT - CASE OF 12 BOXES. Twelve hats per box. Twelve boxes per case. Twelve cases. 144 boxes. Almost two thousand comical hats in every color of the rainbow.

Yasayuki took Koji’s dramatic, punishing pause as the opportunity to regain some ground, and launched into his hastily-prepared defense of what was a truly catastrophic screw-up… not that he planned on letting Koji know that.

“Okay, one, the website was very unclear that we’d be ordering case assortments. I’ve already fired off an email about their manipulative layout, and I’m sure we’ll be reimbursed fully. Two, I swear that the website said ‘nouveau’ hats. The font they used was… it’s probably a super common error, hardly worth beating oneself up over. But, three, I don’t even think it’ll be necessary to send them back. These are going to sell great. We just need a clever display – which you are great at, by the way, I’ve always been a fan – and some of my impeccable salesmanship, and we’ll be able to turn these stunning bits of headwear for a sizable profit. This is going to take our business to the next level, Koji, I’m sure of it.”

Koji looked less sure of it. He also looked significantly redder than he did before Yasayuki started explaining himself. Could the sign maybe be getting brighter? Was that possible?

Koji’s twitching eyelid and grinding teeth suggested it was not possible.

“You. Are. Out. Of. Your. MIND,” Koji forced out through gritted teeth. “You cannot sell 1700 of these ridiculous things. Hell, I don’t think you could sell one of these. They’re like something a clown would wear! The ones that aren’t tiny are massive! What fashionless dope would wear these outside of a bet?”

Yasayuki saw an opening.

“Bet, huh? Okay, how about this. I bet you I can sell one of these to the next customer who walks in. I win, we try and sell the rest of the order. I lose–”

Koji cut him off. “You lose, you’re going to be wearing one of these tiny hats at your funeral real soon, Yuki.”

Just then, the door chime went off. A lanky young man entered wearing baggy clothes, and a vest that was somehow too thin and too big. His outfit screamed What Is This “Fashion” You Speak Of. He looked like he’d fallen out of a plane and was still wearing his deployed parachute. He looked like a waiter who’d suddenly lost two hundred pounds. He saw the two owners in the middle of the floor, and took long strides over to them.

“Hi, my name’s Touma. You guys sell hats? I think this outfit could use a hat. Maybe a couple hats. What do you think?”

Yasayuki’s face brightened as Koji’s mouth dropped.

“Friend,” Yasayuki declared as he stood and clasped the young man on the shoulder, “I think we’ve got just the thing.”

[Enchilada645]

Saber... Saber is fun. Like... just absolutely fun. So much fun (and slightly frustrating) that I made a Fanfic Crossover with Symphogear! If you're interested whoever is reading this, I have a link on my signature that'll take you where you need to go.

Anyway... the first arc misses more than hits to most people (I consider it comical nowadays because of how it's paced so I lean towards the middle right or so?) purely because like. Covid.

They could not film a proper first episode for the main showcase they did, they just could not. They had to take snippets from the first episode and make their own narrative in the Toei backlot (Including such guests as The Omori Hill! Expect to see him a lot more) to make a functional preview that they could show audiences. It's such an intriguing thing to see such different preview footage than what's actually in the show.

Seriously, I am not using Covid as an excuse, but expect some insane decisions in regards to pacing, how things are setup, etc because of them just starting to work off the heels of finishing Zero-One just barely.

Anyway, I suppose if I had a spirit animal that was human (is that this kinning thing I hear nowadays?), it would be Touma. The man... as a story teller, is like... the Rider I most relate to? Hopefully he wins you over, I feel like he does, especially in his fashion. But only time will tell!

But uh yeah, episode one, not much to talk about if I'm being real honest. It's very basic and gives us some fun quirky characters but not a lot of them.

Again I feel like I'm going to be talking a lot about pacing because like... if you thought Ghost Q1 was fast... well that's old news now, it's time to get with the times.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enchilada645

Seriously, I am not using Covid as an excuse, but expect some insane decisions in regards to pacing, how things are setup, etc because of them just starting to work off the heels of finishing Zero-One just barely.

That's the thing: I don't feel like the detrimental decisions are from COVID? Like, COVID restrictions are usually on big group scenes, or large action sequences, or crowds, or or or. None of what's wrong with this episode would've been improved by those things. What's wrong is what was frequently wrong in Ghost - a lack of patience on the part of the storyteller. The writer is like SABER'S DEBUT, and sort of forgot to give us more incremental storytelling before that, or some comedy/hesitation/incompetence during the fight; something that tells us that Touma is new to this, and needs to be cautious. Instead, he's just demolishing this book monster and immediately plotting out his next move in the mega-arc. It's too fast! He's too good at this!

So, yeah, not sure how COVID contributed to that hasty storytelling?

[Enchilada645]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

That's the thing: I don't feel like the detrimental decisions are from COVID? Like, COVID restrictions are usually on big group scenes, or large action sequences, or crowds, or or or. None of what's wrong with this episode would've been improved by those things. What's wrong is what was frequently wrong in Ghost - a lack of patience on the part of the storyteller. The writer is like SABER'S DEBUT, and sort of forgot to give us more incremental storytelling before that, or some comedy/hesitation/incompetence during the fight; something that tells us that Touma is new to this, and needs to be cautious. Instead, he's just demolishing this book monster and immediately plotting out his next move in the mega-arc. It's too fast! He's too good at this!

So, yeah, not sure how COVID contributed to that hasty storytelling?

Oh right I realize I sorta misread what you said, in which case I'm not going to talk about it yet. I don't want people to talk about it. Die needs to experience the insanity to Saber's beginning with a surprise. It won't take that long. If you've seen Saber you know what I'm alluding to.

Anyway I forgot to talk about your story. Um... I love the use of the punchline, just setting up this odd but mundane situation and then BAM, that last section! Really enjoyed it.

Also my friend who dislikes Touma's Fashion (Yes i will defend it!) loved that bit of your post because I had to share it with him.

[Future Rider Prism]

Ah, this is where the fun begins.
(Hopefully)

What I mean is, Saber is one of my favorite seasons, but looking back, I think it does start a bit slow. It's mostly the characters that make this show for me, but I don't really have many complaints in general.

Actually, I have exactly one complaint, which doesn't come up till the second half or so.

But until then, I'll probably just chime in to talk about good character moments. Hopefully.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enchilada645

Anyway I forgot to talk about your story. Um... I love the use of the punchline, just setting up this odd but mundane situation and then BAM, that last section! Really enjoyed it.

Thanks! It was fun to do one of these. Let's see if that feeling is retained over the next two months!

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Future Rider Prism

But until then, I'll probably just chime in to talk about good character moments. Hopefully.

I really liked Touma and Mei here, in case that wasn't apparent. The initial conflict being Touma Missed A Deadline is so typical for a creative type, but I liked how apologetic Touma was about it. He really wants to deliver for Mei! He just, uh, has to make this delivery first! It's adorable.

[Switchblade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Which is why it?s sort of a bummer that I don?t think I enjoyed it much, if at all.

I'm not going to spoil anything, but I will say that I strongly disliked Saber at first. I had no idea what was up with the clown narrator. I did not like Mei reviving Shunpei's old shtick from Wizard as comic relief. I actively hated the ending dance sequence stolen from Super Sentai. Saber is the closest I've ever come to ragequitting a tokusatsu. The shows I tend to DNF - Amazons, most Sentais I try watching - I usually just fall out of and never bother going back to. This was the first time I really seriously considered dropping a show because I didn't like it.

I ultimately finished the show and, by the time it finished, it was a show that I really had grown to love. Most of the characters grew on me a lot and Mei, in particular, ended up being possibly my favorite character on the whole show. It's not my favorite Rider show of all time, maybe not even of the Reiwa era, but it absolutely turned around my original impressions. I tend to group it with Drive and Black RX as the shows that did a complete 180 for me over the course of their run (and I think it did so faster than either of those).

I'm not going to make any excuses for how the show starts - there's a post somewhere on these boards (probably by Fish Sandwich) that gives a full breakdown of all the original plans that got scrapped and replaced because of COVID. I will say that, for me at least, it's a show that absolutely rises above where it starts.

The dance credits are still absolute garbage, though.

[Kurona]

I hope you like this one! It's one I wasn't really able to get into myself, but looking back I think I was a bit too mean on it and there are some very good things about it legitimately worth praising. There's some really weird stuff I really don't like that they do with some of the women later, but that aside Saber's a pretty fun one I think.

Also! I love the suits. I love the suits SO much. Zero-One has more suits I'd put in an S-tier but when it comes to overall aesthetic, Saber easily has it beat for me. Really fun wild vibe going for it all; Brave Dragon is one of my favourite Main Rider suits of all time