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Kamen Rider Saber Episode 42- "The Beginning Of A Beautiful End" Discussion
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07-04-2021, 01:24 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
Oh my gosh, Toei, please keep pairing up Fukuda and Kamihoriuchi forever and ever. I know this is a term from the wrong show, but talk about a Best Match. Five amazing episodes of Saber, and a sixth next week I'm sure I'll love just as much. I can't even define why it is (besides saying "go watch the Specter movie"), but something about their styles really seems to bring out the best of each other.
And that collaboration goes all the way back to Kenzan's debut episode, and his very first fight with Desast, too, so it's extra great to see that team seemingly bringing this plotline to a close as well.
Ren doesn't have the most to do this week, but he makes every scene he gets count. I'm honestly a little baffled how invested I feel in where his character is heading at this point. Kenzan has always trailed way behind the other Riders in Saber in terms of being a favorite for me, but I guess what I was underestimating for a long time was the fact that he's one of my least favorites in
Saber
, a show where everyone is my favorite by virtue of being in Saber. It's not even a matter of me being interested in how Ren relates to Desast anymore; I'm specifically interested in Ren
and
Desast, as individuals. There's a pretty obvious endpoint in sight for our little bratty ninja, but the road getting there is proving far more dramatic than I expected. I really buy into how empty Ren feels right now, and I love how his continued immaturity (love him accidentally stabbing Desast right in the heart with the "no friends" thing) is mixed with this realization he's had that he IS so immature, and how shallow his values have been up to this point compared to everybody else. It's such a perfect sort of adolescent storyline, distinctly Ren's very own "thing" in the show that makes him unique, and I'm all over it. I mean, he's even got his own version of Touma's dueling thing where he's had one-on-one time with so many of the other characters gradually pushing him along to this point! That's kinda cool!
Desast is fantastic here as well, but I feel like that one requires less elaboration on my part. He does a lot suffering in silence here, helped along by those stylish symbolic shots of him fading away (which are also used for Ren to further tie them together, because Kamihoriuchi is the man), and that's a thing I'm
always
down for in tokusatsu -- when you're made to feel the sorrow of a monster. What I said last time about rooting for Desast's happiness still totally stands. I mean, with both Ren (accidentally) and Storious (intentionally) rubbing in how he was given a life with no real purpose, it's hard not to care about him. Like,
somebody
has to, right?
So yeah, those two are very much the central players here, and all that material is just great. Because it's a Kamihoriuchi episode, too, I can only do it so much justice, because as always, a lot of what makes it such a strong episode is in how well the scenes are constructed and acted, with silences that often say so much more than words could communicate.
Heck, this episode is so good, it even made me care about Storious again almost instantly? Even his dumb voice sounds genuinely cool to me now, which is possibly even crazier than me liking Ren. It was the smallest thing, but it was also the biggest thing -- him killing Tassel. It's a great scene for Tassel, if it's really his last, with all these untold years of emotion pouring out into this heartfelt plea to an old friend, but what ended up impressing me the most there was what happens when Tassel hugs him and apologies right at the end, after he's been stabbed. Storious is
visibly shaken
, and that is *everything* to me. It's a sign that Fukuda was the one writing this. It's the proof that Storious isn't just interchangeable with Master Logos. Because Master Logos legitimately had no heart, and yet most villains in Fukuda's Rider shows
do
, no matter how buried they are. It's a moment that's mostly
implying
depth right now, so it's still a matter of where the show wants to take everything by the finale, but I seriously appreciate seeing even that mere implication of some extra layers to the main villain.
Outside of all that, the thing that I most want to say about this episode is how much I also love the scenes of the Northern Base crew just being kinda...
domestic
? Like, the show makes it a point to keep fitting in goofy antics with them all being a dumb family together, and now even Sophia is getting in on it. It's wonderful.
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Last edited by Fish Sandwich; 03-10-2023 at
05:33 PM
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