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Kamen Rider Saber Episode 31- "Strength To Trust & Believe In!" Discussion
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04-18-2021, 07:58 PM
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Fish Sandwich
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
That moment when Nagare starts glowing as Touma and Rintarou are having their duel and they just start
smiling
at each other is everything I love about Saber compressed into a single meaningful look.
This praise is no doubt starting to sound repetitive, but it's just so difficult to keep seeing Saber do all these things I love seeing and say anything besides "I loved this". So, yes, naturally, I was extremely fond of how profoundly proud of each other's successes Rintarou and Touma were throughout this episode, and, of course, seeing that extend even to when they're literally fighting each other was the highlight. One of many highlights, of course.
I will say upfront though -- the script dropped the ball on the whole people getting turned into jewelry thing exactly the way I expected it to. It's sort of vaguely resolved with a quick exchange of CG special moves, without actually seeing the people go back to normal, and as a result it's hard to say it added much to the plot in the end.
That being said, it's a flaw with the story that gets buried under all the things that are done right. This is a really stellar episode for what I guess you could consider the show's main trio. One especially pleasant surprise was how much attention was given to Rintarou and Touma praising
Mei
rather than just each other. She feels appropriately important in this story about her, despite the nature of it demanding her be in a passive role. I forget how much I've actively mentioned this, but I really do think Mei adds a lot to the series, helped along by a very strong performance (seeing how miserable Asuka Kawazu can look in this two-parter should give you a new appreciation for how bubbly she is otherwise), and as such I thought it felt earned seeing her talked about in such glowing terms.
It also fits with what is sort of a broader theme of these episodes, which is that everyone is extremely, constantly,
unwaveringly
supportive of each other. I don't exactly get the feeling Touma or Rintarou would even need much of an excuse to say nice things about Mei. Touma's even been doing it since their very first scene in the very first episode. Again, I've said all this a million times, but I adore how aggressively pleasant the protagonists in Saber are. Even in a story all about these underlying tensions flaring up, you know, they're just so
open
.
So that's about all I can say about the plot without going in circles, evidently. It's good character development for Rintarou that also touches nicely on some of the other main characters, and it all ends in a Double Rider Kick of friendship and trust. Hard to go wrong with it.
It's even harder to go wrong with the direction by Ishida, which I thought was even more stellar than the first half. It's in
countless
little touches -- from clever visuals all the way down to the way the audio interacts with them. It feels very thought out, and it always suggests the mood to the viewer perfectly, which is something critical to getting a typically busy Saber script working right. There are things so small I can't even describe them to call them out, and then also so many big things I'd be perfectly happy to. Like, man, isn't that rapid-fire sequence of shots when Rintarou and Touma are transforming for the climax so intense and cool? How about when Rintarou starts talking to Zooous about Mei and Touma trusting in him as Saber and the Cat Megid slide right into the shot in epic slow-motion? Those shots kinda "inside" Saber and Blades' suits to let the actors handle big emotional moments? I know I'm only talking about the back third or so of the episode right now, but really, I could probably pick something I loved out of any given scene if I took the time to. The episode is easily made at least twice as good by the work Ishida put in here.
__________________
誰かの笑顔のためだろ?
Last edited by Fish Sandwich; 02-17-2023 at
05:48 PM
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