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01-31-2023, 03:18 PM | #471 |
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Well, since this is an opportunity, let's talk about Yuri. First, he has the most catchy jingle in franchise history. (Who is this sword shining?!) Secondly, he is a good example of how you can write an ideal character into the story without causing rejection or falseness. Just don't make him the main character. Plus, Yuri's popularity confirms my theory that audiences like competent characters, even when they're not assholes. Thirdly: the appearance of the actor. Such faces with a powerful jaw and prominent cheekbones were popular during the filming of Seven Samurai, so in some ways he really looks like a man from the past. Regarding your wishes / claims, I will say: "Everything will be. But later." This episode is really a breather not only for the audience, but also for the characters to figure out what they need to do. |
01-31-2023, 07:41 PM | #472 |
Alias: ZeroEnchiladas
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So something I just realized, were you not able to find any videos for the Final Stage? Since I noticed that there doesn't seem to be listings for the Final Stage on the schedule.
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01-31-2023, 08:49 PM | #473 |
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Fish Sandwich also watched Kamen Rider Saber Episode 17
My old post for this one opens up with me mentioning how Die's Kabuto thread apparently kept me too busy to get around to it for days, which I straight up don't remember? But I guess that fits nicely with what I do remember about this next stretch of Saber, that I was planning to talk about soon anyway. I ended up getting to a couple of the next few episodes pretty late, in part because I was watching with subs from GenmCorp, who unfortunately ended up dropping the series entirely after generally getting the episodes out hecka fast (and at hecka quality!) to this point, which left me scrambling around for other options for a bit there. I bring this all up because, looking back, I guess I had this kind of weird synergy going with Touma in this stretch of the show. I had a whole routine going that I was very comfortable with, and out of nowhere, it kinda shattered on me. Granted, it was hardly very dramatic in my case. I'd watch the episode, write my post about it, and then go take a thorough look at each week's episode guide, a little endeavor I made during Saber specifically to get myself actually reading Japanese for a change. I greatly enjoyed getting to just smash all that into one Sunday every week, you know, just really soaking up the series for a few hours straight, but it wasn't the end of the world to have to shuffle that schedule around slightly for a few weeks. Which I guess means maybe I didn't have that much synergy with Touma after all, because this episode makes it abundantly clear what a huge disruption this sudden influx of drama is in the lives of our favorite swordsmen. Yuri's great, instantly -- right up there with Rintarou as one of My Guys from Saber -- but what this new status quo truly achieved was putting Touma on the path to being up there himself. It's just such an interesting new scenario to throw him in, where there's suddenly WAY more weight put on him personally. He used to have this whole squad of tight friends he was (more or less) always on the same page with, and now he can't even figure out working with the one Rider still willing to hang out with him -- some weirdo old dude who constantly seems off in his own world, frequently making basic communication alone a struggle enough to put Saber's battles with the Megid to shame. Plus, speaking of the monsters of the week, gotta love that new format for 'em! I see what Die is saying about the further potential of this particular formula, and we'll see if he feels Saber gets anything more out of it later or not, but either way, I think even just the basic benefits of it already add a lot to a plot, even before any deeper emotional connection. Speaking for myself, just in general, I like how monsters of this sort inherently reframe the stakes from broader notions of saving The City, or Humanity, to saving a life, which I often find more tangible and engaging, despite being smaller in scale. And specific to this show, going smaller in scale fits the overall mood of the episode quite nicely, where we're finally letting off the gas for a second to really take in everything that just happened at the end of last year's run of episodes. I don't know, I could ramble about this episode for a while, but I might be too excited here to actually be saying anything of substance right now. There are a ton of little facets and big broad strokes that make this new era of the series crazy exciting to me, and it's hard to get that condensed in my head. I'd probably like this stretch of Saber anyway for borrowing that W-era gold standard formula I never tire of (I was a Wizard fan before I was a Saber fan!), so how well that formula genuinely fits this point in the overall story of Saber on top of that just takes it to the next level. I'm not sure if people consider this When Saber Got Good, or just the transitionary phase, or whatever, but I adore the show's new vibe at least as much as I adored the old one, which you might recall -- I adored a whole lot.
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01-31-2023, 09:41 PM | #474 |
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It's still a severe misunderstandings to not have them, I mean Ogami and Daishinji, take a look on why both Caliburs, Hayato and Kamijo, betrayed them which'd hope for the SoL traitor/system to be explained to them, particularly from Rintaro who has more faith to Touma and is likely in better position than Touma against other SoL people.
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(The joke of it was that I never checked the anime section of Cat Site, just the live-action section where Kamen Rider stuff usually lives. I've learned my lesson for the future!) Quote:
Secondly, he is a good example of how you can write an ideal character into the story without causing rejection or falseness. Just don't make him the main character. Plus, Yuri's popularity confirms my theory that audiences like competent characters, even when they're not assholes.
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Yeah, that's where my heart is for these superhero shows, too. I like the ones where it's just the hero trying to figure out how to help someone, the end, and the specific ways the hero does it are where these shows explain themselves to me. It's all handsome young men with big hearts, but Aruto doesn't help people in the same way as Sougo does, and Sougo doesn't help people in the same way as Sento does, etc etc etc. Giant battles for the fate of the world can all come off the same, but these stories of individual stakes and impossible choices really connect me with a show. I'm glad to see Saber trotting them out, even if they haven't quite leveraged all the benefits of the template.
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02-01-2023, 05:33 PM | #475 |
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KAMEN RIDER SABER EPISODE 17 - ?THE ANCIENT MESSENGER, IS HE LIGHT OR SHADOW??
Even though I definitely wanted to spend more time on the SoL/Touma conflict (why didn?t they just wait at the bookshop and ambush him there?), I really like the smaller dynamic of Touma, Mei, and Yuri. They make for a fun, almost Day 1 version of the cast. It?s charming, even if it maybe needed to be a bit more intense. Can?t believe I?m ragging on this show for not moving faster! There?s no pleasing Kamen Rider fans! In the absence of a Swordsman, Saikou can weaponize the Shadow of his past self to wield him. It's one of the most nondescript suit I've ever seen, which is appropriate since we're not supposed to pay attention to Shadow, a mistake Saber made when attempting to attack it, when he should've targeted Saikou's physical sword body. I think that's a fun gimmick! Regarding the Touma/SOL conflict, remember that Fantastic Kamiyama is a public place frequented by kids and their families. It would be too dangerous and scary for SOL to ambush Touma like that and probably Ren would complain about it being too easy. Swordsmen are expected to resolve their problems chivalrously after all. Quote:
EVERY LITTLE MEANS TRUST
(There had been a few minutes of Touma?s verbal self-flagellation in the aftermath of Yuri?s arrival, where Touma had berated himself for Mei?s near-miss from Kenzan?s blades, but Mei put a stop to that quickly. She was going to be by Touma?s side throughout this entire adventure, and the consequences were for her and her alone to deal with.) Quote:
I wonder why'd you view/elevate this denying fault and responsibilities as having twisted sense of morality, like I thought this blame game of refusing to owe up to anything they do is something common done by the more selfish ones (and the norm for narcissists) to get away, especially/including in criminal scenes; "no thief would want to admit". Kabuto's school principal in ep. 38 blaming the students for wanting to make the wish as he kills them and replaces them with Worm version.
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02-01-2023, 06:06 PM | #476 |
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Regarding the Touma/SOL conflict, remember that Fantastic Kamiyama is a public place frequented by kids and their families. It would be too dangerous and scary for SOL to ambush Touma like that and probably Ren would complain about it being too easy. Swordsmen are expected to resolve their problems chivalrously after all.
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I'm glad you acknowledged this, since none of the characters bring it up in the episode. I imagine Rintarou would be especially ticked off with Ren for raising a blade to Mei. Touma's already been hard on himself for failing to save Luna and Kento, so yeah, he'd totally hate for Mei to get hurt trying to protect him.
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02-01-2023, 06:22 PM | #477 |
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Sure, but I'm not suggesting they'd burn the bookshop down to smoke Touma out; they're basically next door neighbors? (Or they were, until the SoL got reassigned to the other end of the planet.) If they'd all had a chance to step out of their front door and know that they could corner Calibur, I feel like they'd've done it, and not sworn it off as too easy, or an imposition or whatever. It just feels like a weird storytelling oversight that should've been acknowledged.
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02-01-2023, 06:24 PM | #478 |
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Honestly, that's just a) great villainy, and b) key to his whole Make The Hero Create Your MacGuffin strategy. Guys like Calibur and the Book Club could take notes from Hipster Dad/Evolt/Evol!
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02-01-2023, 07:33 PM | #479 |
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Plus, speaking of the monsters of the week, gotta love that new format for 'em! I see what Die is saying about the further potential of this particular formula, and we'll see if he feels Saber gets anything more out of it later or not, but either way, I think even just the basic benefits of it already add a lot to a plot, even before any deeper emotional connection. Speaking for myself, just in general, I like how monsters of this sort inherently reframe the stakes from broader notions of saving The City, or Humanity, to saving a life, which I often find more tangible and engaging, despite being smaller in scale. And specific to this show, going smaller in scale fits the overall mood of the episode quite nicely, where we're finally letting off the gas for a second to really take in everything that just happened at the end of last year's run of episodes.
Man's a genocidal alien from the Blood World, but even he wouldn't charge rent, jeez.
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02-02-2023, 12:17 AM | #480 |
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KAMEN RIDER SABER EPISODE 18 - “WITH FLAMING TENACITY, STRIKE DOWN THE MEGID”
Boy, this was a great episode, and a great two-parter. I like how the entire story is sort of commenting on the necessity of these small-scale Kamen Rider adventures, you know? It’s very much in the camp that these sorts of battles, where it’s all about saving one person from a horrible fate, are as crucial to understanding heroism as the gigantic world-in-peril mega-arc stuff. After a few months of epic battles to save the world, this story is all about not missing the trees for the forest. It’s all in that really well done Yuri/Touma debate, where Yuri’s unemotional pragmatism – defeat the Megid at any cost, because that’s your job – runs up against Touma’s emotional decision-making, because Touma can’t sacrifice someone that he can still try to save. Touma’s point is that people like Yuri and the Sword of Logos, they’re so wrapped up in their duty and grandiose mythology that they’re forgetting that the only reason to Save The World is so people can live in it. They’re literally trying to save the world, by preventing a global apocalypse, but they can’t see how individual lives are caught up in that struggle. Touma’s a writer, and he’s used to empathizing with people to see how they tick, to better understand a world he wants to write about. He’s only doing all of this for his friends, and for the people whose stories make up the world. It’s a nicely humanistic view of a show that almost exclusively traffics in large-scale metaphor. Despite the appearance of the Sword of Logos, and another crucial misunderstanding (Touma is terrible about quickly explaining that the Book Club is now turning people into Megids), this episode is a great big win for Touma. He saves Yuki, he wins Yuri’s respect, and he gets his head on straight in regards to his quest. He’s not skeptical about Kamijo’s claims, or fearful that he might be on the wrong track. He’s resolved that he’ll have to fight to get at the truth, but he knows his methods can work. I really liked how smoothly this episode went. It’s all about enjoying the pleasures of these classic two-parters: the speeches, the debates, the salvation. It’s so nice to have a clear victory for Touma, even in the midst of so much darkness. I guess it pays to have a Sword of Light by your side, huh? — EXPLODE AND MAKE UP Daishinji sat next to Rintaro in silence. Daishinji liked silence, generally. He preferred his workshop, and the concentration the isolation afforded him. He cared greatly for the other swordsmen, and considered them good friends, but he liked the peace and quiet of his seclusion. He didn’t like loudness, or interruptions. He didn’t like arguments. Everything that had happened since the defeat of Calibur had been a trial for Daishinji. Touma succumbing to the temptation of power was a failure of the entire guild, and it put Touma in an unacceptable amount of danger. Daishinji and the others had been poor teammates, and worse friends. He was new to the strength of the Sacred Swords, and unprepared for how they could make a man feel invincible, unaccountable to rules and warnings. They’d all tried to stop Touma before things got out of hand, but they’d failed there, too. Touma was on the run. He was scared, most likely, and worried his friends had abandoned him. They’d all argued, back under the overpass. It was painful to Daishinji, physically. He’d volunteered to go after Touma, to try and reason with him. Rintaro had volunteered to go with, and even suggested a location that Touma might visit if he felt particularly anxious. (Daishinji was aware of the Brooding Roof from Kento’s frequent trips; the stage was a late birthday present that Daishinji had worked hard on to get right.) Rintaro was clearly struggling with Touma’s betrayal, and Daishinji was, at first, glad for the silence as they waited for Touma’s arrival. The quiet was a welcome surprise, considering Rintaro’s anger and confusion over recent events. Daishinji wasn’t looking forward to a heart-to-heart conversation with Rintaro. But that was several minutes of silence ago, and even Daishinji’s love of personal space and choked-down emotions was reaching a threshold that made him uncomfortable sitting next to the taciturn swordsman. “This is a nice roof,” Daishinji said, in his best approximation of what an icebreaker might be. “It is. It was one of Kento’s favorite places,” Rintaro said. His eyes watered slightly. Oh no. This was getting off to an awful start. “I built that stage.” Daishinji pointed over at the wooden furniture, a slight smile of pride relatively beaming off of his face. “Kento told me that he and Touma used it to relax a few times.” “Yes,” Rintaro said with a small laugh, “they’d act out books they’d loved as children. It was…” He trailed off for a moment, which was unusual for Rintaro. That was always such precision to his speech, every word carefully considered and placed methodically. “It must have been nice for them, to have that bond.” Rintaro’s face was like a damaged sword to Daishinji: undiagnosable, but clearly in pain. He’d hoped a brief chat might help calm Rintaro’s nerves, and he had no idea if he’d accomplished his goal, or made things worse. Rintaro’s expression was becoming more clear by the minute, though. Something had captured his confidence. “That’s why we have to stop Touma from destroying everything Kento believed in,” Rintaro said to Daishinji. “We aren’t stopping Touma for Reika, or for the Sword of Logos. We’re stopping him for Kento, and for himself. We’re stopping him because we’re still his friends.” Rintaro looked out across the roof, with the closest thing to a smile that Daishinji had seen on his face in days. He turned to look Daishinji in the eyes, which Daishinji found distasteful, and said, “We’re fighting Touma to save Touma.” Daishinji hoped Rintaro was right. He missed the silence of friendship.
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