[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

II 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).

Yeah, I mean... you and I aren't really on the same page when it comes to Ghost (if memory serves), but I really came around on that show in the second half. I think it, like Saber, is a show that has a lot of interesting things it wants to talk about, but it doesn't really know the best way to do that. Ghost took a dozen episodes to figure out how to modulate its worst tendencies, and slow down its storytelling, so I wouldn't be surprised if Saber managed to do the same thing.

Rough sledding in the first quarter, though!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kurona

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

I like about 85% of Brave Dragon. I love the colors, I love the half-skirt (so medieval!), I love the way the dragon head is the pauldron and the arm is the flames from its mouth. It's as heroic a suit as I can imagine.

That goddamn headsword, though. I can't! It's too tall and wobbly!

[Switchblade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

That goddamn headsword, though. I can't! It's too tall and wobbly!

Trust me, you have not seen wobbly yet.

[Deepsea]

Saber time! Aww yeah, time to pull up the twitter so I can post the story relevant crap from there

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

Trust me, you have not seen wobbly yet.

It's a costuming motif, which definitely bums me out. Kabuto had that gigantic crest, but it didn't trickle down to Gatack or Drake or Sasword or TheBee. With the headsword, it's as integral as the WonderRide books or whatever.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deepsea

Saber time! Aww yeah, time to pull up the twitter so I can post the story relevant crap from there

Please do! I ain't on the social medias at all - just doesn't seem great, emotional health-wise? - so I would love to see any non-spoilery stuff that's relevant to the viewing experience.

[GrandComplete]

Saber a show I really vibe with. But yeah even I agree the pacing for this episode once the action starts was really wonky. I remember sitting their watching this live and thinking "Man Covid really did a number on this show I hope it gets better."

And for me it did.

[Deepsea]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

It's a costuming motif, which definitely bums me out. Kabuto had that gigantic crest, but it didn't trickle down to Gatack or Drake or Sasword or TheBee. With the headsword, it's as integral as the WonderRide books or whatever.

Honestly I dont mind the headswords, but that may be a me thing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Please do! I ain't on the social medias at all - just doesn't seem great, emotional health-wise? - so I would love to see any non-spoilery stuff that's relevant to the viewing experience.

It wont be coming up till ep 16ish, but it's fun stuff. Also yes social media is aeful for my mental health tbh.

[Enchilada645]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deepsea

It wont be coming up till ep 16ish, but it's fun stuff. Also yes social media is aeful for my mental health tbh.

This is amusing to me because if I'm thinking of what you're thinking of. I was planning the same thing lol. I had dug through tweets to grab pictures and videos while dating them correctly to post them correctly alongside keeping the machine translated parts because those are too funny.

[Layton13]

Ah, Saber.

Very close to my top 5, just behind ZI-O, my 6th, and managed to just edge out Faiz.

That said, it suffers from one thing a lot of Reiwa series suffer, the first arc is rushed, and has some neat ideas, but none really get enough time to shine as they are drowned out by the toy flood.

That said, it never really went past "that is nice, but" and I always had at least some fun.

Touma and Mei immediately just grabbed me as insanely likable characters. They seemed so... hugable that my cheeks hurt from smiling after the episode. I had a blast with episode 1!

That said, episode 1 is... rough. Things move way too fast, and a lot of things kind of happen with not enough time to simmer.

But yeah, still enjoyed it and made me curious where this was going.

[Kiwami]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

That goddamn headsword, though.

I'm sorry for dropping in like this, unannounced and everything. I usually avoid these discussions out of a feeling of unworthiness.

I think your threads are among the best this forum has to offer, but due to me being a lazy bum who cannot be bothered to keep up with much over an extended period of time, I feel like I could never follow one of these adventures to the end, and just hopping in and out seems disrespectful to me so I stay outside most of the time. It's okay, just leave me be.

Kamen Rider Saber though, I was kinda interest to read your first impression, because I sit firmly in the "I didn't like it at all"-camp. But then I read this word here, "headsword". And it kinda made me think. He, well, surely has one of those. I looked at the one figure I have of Saber to confirm, and yes, it has a sword growing out of its little head. So Kamen Rider Saber is indeed a swordsman who has a sword on his head. Sword. Head.

Then I remembered what series I'm madly in love with over more than 2 years now, which was popular before Saber aired, long enough to say it might have had an influence. And the revelation that these two could potentially be connected through this element irritates me.

Is it a coincidence? Is it not? Intentional homage? It might be. I shall take my leave now, that thought will live in my brain for a while now:

"Is Kamen Rider Saber's helmet design inspired by Chainsaw Man?"

[DreadBringer]

Saber's one of these watches where I haven't watched the series, so yeah, just going with the ride(r) here, not knowing much about it other than some basic stuff like Touma being the lead and Mei being loud/obnoxious comic relief type female lead. And dunno if I'd give a feedback or even understand the fanfictions here...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

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

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'd say, Touma's one of the most disliked MC in Kamen Rider afaik, just like Takeru. Otherwise, you say here that Takeru only have monster detonating as a motivation actually as he recounts countless times in the intro, he wants to restore his physical body by collecting 15 Eyecons, and that is something often got thrown to, any characters who are established as goody-two shoes, to the point that I'd think it's undeserved hate/stereotype for those types, which consists of most main Riders. But it seems for you here, brightening the lives of children and being imaginative is enough to elevate Touma from that. It's good actually, but it can still be used to claim that character types like Touma "don't have anything other than wanting to do good to others".

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

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.

I'd think it's how superpowers can affect and influence someone's life who is formerly a normal human. An unsuccessful example, but in Faiz there was Keitaro who is a laundry, seemingly a job that has no relation at all to hero journeys, but it'd make sense for him to attempt to protect others as Kamen Rider if he got a chance, because now he had a chance to get the power to act on his ideals, not only by proclaiming to make people happy by performing his job (but it's an indicator). A successful example was Shinji in Ryuki (another red dragon-themed main Rider) who also had journalist as a job, but as he by person can't stand people dying, if he got a chance to protect people by finding an Advent Deck, he'd do it. Touma's job is a bookstore owner, like you, but Touma as a person is shown to be sweet and caring towards children, thus how he is as a person is what drives him to become Saber.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

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.

Well yeah, I think Saber's design is the best/coolest IMO among the main Reiwa Riders. I'd say more kudos for the CG considering that it was done during the heights of Coronavirus pandemic. And for Touma, there's an intelligent tactic of him as human using the fire hydrant to save himself and Mei from the giant monster.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

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.

Touma seems to have clear confidence when he confronts the MOTW and in his catchphrase to decide the ending, but it'd be a risky move to use the book story analogy to help Ryota. If Touma fails, it'd be a disastrous consequence for Ryota, not only in losing his parents, but also his worldview. I didn't expect for Touma to actually complete the manuscript in this episode though despite Mei's pushy demands making it sound difficult for him. For Mei, she's a female lead that brings Akiko to mind (though she has Kirihiko's surname), and she also has similar hit-or-miss reception from the fanbase. I kinda like a touch of real life modernity for the Wonder World being used to (attempted to) feed Mei's social media instead. In turn it's also relatable that Mei's motivation so far is to become the center of her friend circle. Rintaro had himself going extra on using homo sapiens term and also.. his smile at the end.