Kamen Rider Saber follows the life of Touma Kamiyama, a young novelist and bookshop owner as he is drawn into a fantastical battle between warring knights, featuring fairy tale settings, dangerous monsters, and all while and meeting a myriad of characters along the way.
Kamen rider Saber is the second Reiwa Era Kamen Rider series and as such you can feel the show trying to find its identity. If you are familiar with Kamen Rider the first episode feels a bit like W or OOO tonally, but it shifts into a tone that reminds me of Kamen Rider Wizard and Super Sentai (please don't be scared off by that comparison though!)
Right now we are a little early into the show's run (I am writing this just a couple hours after watching the fourth episode), so it is difficult to gauge the overall quality of the show, however currently the show has a lot of potential, but is being held back by odd pacing and an upsetting overuse of stock footage.
The main strength of the show as it stands over the writer's previous contribution to the franchise (Kamen Rider Ghost) is the characters and acting. While the characters are still a bit flat everyone has defined personality traits, and no one feels too similar to anyone else. The actors seem like they are having a lot of fun, and in particular I quite like the actor for Touma.
I am a fan of the suits and fights, but this is obviously down to personal taste so your mileage will vary.
This show has a large focus on CGI, I was initially put off by this, and while I would have preferred more practical effects the CGI has frustrated me a lot less than expected, for some reason it just isn't bothering me as much as in other entries of the series. I've seen other people mirror this sentiment, but again your mileage will certainly vary.
The biggest issue in the show is likely the pacing. The show dedicates around 3 full minutes of its 22 minute run time to its "last time on" sequence, opening theme, ending theme, and "next time on" sequence. The show also uses VERY long stock footage for the transformations (think Super Sentai or Power Rangers roll calls), these happen multiple times an episode and can easily eat up around a minute of the episode. These can be irritating but no more so than in
Sentai, if you already know Sentai roll calls bother you I doubt these will be any different. It is worth noting though these will likely be toned down somewhat as the show goes on, we've even already seen them skip two transformation sequences in episode 4 to save time.
The plot pacing in this show can be pretty rough, things just sort of happen, and sometimes things just don't happen... Episode 2 is a good example of this, it feels as though the whole episode is spent on fight scenes yet somehow there is also an overbearing amount of exposition, this makes the pace feel all over the place, feeling overwhelming yet somehow uneventful.
At this point is may sound like I am being quite negative about the show, so it's time for the plot twist... I LOVE this show.
Beyond all reason I have found myself completely enamoured with Kamen Rider Saber, and almost none of its issues really bother me very much. It is hard to pinpoint what it is about the show that has me enjoying it so much, but something about its presentation, writing, and tone are just amazingly enjoyable to me. I can't say for sure if this is simply a matter of personal preference or if there is some inexplicable quality to the show that makes it better than the sum of its parts.
As it stands I would suggest anyone hesitant to watch this show to give it a chance, and not to give up on it too early. The last couple episodes have felt like they are speeding the show towards some form of early plot progressions and I am expecting the show to be a very fun ride.
A 7/10 was the highest rating I thought was reasonable to give this show with it's current flaws, if the show improves or my enjoyment fades I may change this number and provide an update.
TL;DR: Give it a chance, and see what you think. I feel like the rating on this show is going to stay fairly low but please don't let that and my complaints scare you off, this show has problems, but it's fun, and maybe fun is all it is, but there's nothing wrong with indulging in something fun from time to time.
