Poll: What do you think of Saber?

[CheetahLynx]

The biggest thing with Saber, to me, is the pacing is just so weird! Like, usually by this point we'd have maybe four fun/filler episodes, but with Saber, it feels like every episode something big and/or serious happens.
That said, I do watch it every week hoping something fun will happen.

And I really love the opening, so there's that..

[Catastrophe]

The thing we have to think about when discussing Saber is the massive effect of COVID had on it. I just noticed the severe lack of interactions with the rest of the world that the main cast has. There was the boy in episode 1 but beyond that (I'm not counting Buster's kid), there isn't a focus of normal people. I generally think parts of the city disappearing when a MOTW attacks was purely design to limit any potential of one off normal people that has been a staple for tokusatsu. Saber is the most insular KR series I ever watched. Usually series get insular with its cast towards the end but by episode 5, Saber has completely isolated itself from the rest of the outside world.

I feel Toei is using COVID to completely justify their lack of effort which is sad.

That was my original thought as well. But then Kiramager doesn't really feel that much different to how it was pre and post COVID break. So if they really wanted to, they could do something about it.

[takenoko]

The thing we have to think about when discussing Saber is the massive effect of COVID had on it. I just noticed the severe lack of interactions with the rest of the world that the main cast has. There was the boy in episode 1 but beyond that (I'm not counting Buster's kid), there isn't a focus of normal people. I generally think parts of the city disappearing when a MOTW attacks was purely design to limit any potential of one off normal people that has been a staple for tokusatsu. Saber is the most insular KR series I ever watched. Usually series get insular with its cast towards the end but by episode 5, Saber has completely isolated itself from the rest of the outside world.

I feel Toei is using COVID to completely justify their lack of effort which is sad.

No, I don't believe that. You can see that Toei has tightened their guest budget in the last few years prior to covid. You can look at the handful of Ryusoulger guests to see that point. I mean, Zero-One had a lot of guests, but it also had to to tell the story that it did?

[fapolo]

I have set my expectations very low since I discovered that the writer of Ghost was going to write Saber as well. And I must say that I can see some similarities between both shows - mainly pacing and lack of meaningful events. Remember all the 99 freaking days for Takeru to save himself? Yeah, it end up meaningless after all, in my opinion. Saber is kinda like that: most of things that are happening does not bring that feeling of being important, and I blame the pacing for not leaving room for events to settle and be digested by the audience.

Spoiler

Hope the main antagonist of Saber does not end up being like copies of himself as well.

That being said... I still watch it for the sake of watching KR weekly. It is true that it's been very hard to give the show any pros (specially the story... god damn it is everywhere!), but I keep watching because of the franchise more than anything... and hoping that the show improve just a little one day.

For me, Saber have 2 problems to face: 1) Covid, used as an excuse or not. Comparing to Brazil, where I live, TV shows did not return at all until this day and Toei started already and I doubt they didn't have to shift the production to follow any laws/rules/agreements. 2) Zero One, that was a good show, with good characters that we care about, and an overall good story even with the competition arc. Saber did not deliver any so far.

I guess we can also add an urge to change the formula because of the new era, even because zero one didn't change it at all.

That being said, please keep up the work. I undersand that translating a bad show can be more of a chore than an enjoyment, but I say it for myself that I watch for the show/franchise itself, but also for the work you guys do translating it, that is the best in my opinion.

[Dante ShadowRoadz]

The show is a hot mess, but a different hot mess than Zi-O was. Ghost I had my issues with, by far, but at least that one had some strong characters and story points here and there that made things bearable. But now it feels like the writer isn't even capable of doing that much, it's like someone finally showed him the basic Sentai formula for the first time and he's made it his hill to die on no matter what. I like Sentai, but I think the whole reason it and Kamen Rider have co-existed so long is that they fulfill different niches, same as Ultraman, Garo and all the other mainstream fiction productions that Japan have made hallmarks of.

Turning Kamen Rider into Kamen Sentai has been messed with before obviously, but never to this blatant an extent and never this messily. Discounting the Sentai elements, you still have hyper-compressed pacing to the story, one-dimensional characters that fit into said pacing like square pegs into round holes, and the fastest streak of escalating power-ups we've ever seen in a Kamen Rider season to date, all of them feeling unearned and with next to no gravitas for the fights and story. I know these shows mainly bank on toy sales, but even kids can tell when they're being suckered with this stuff.

And yes the pandemic may or may not be a deciding factor, but all the same Toei has made some deliberate choices as a result that have made the season a hot mess. I keep hoping it will improve, but at this point I half expect them to wrap it up with a shorter overall season like they did way back with Decade. Might be better than letting it decline even further by trying to meet usual standards.

[Mari_Matrix]

I'd say don't drop it, i know it's really bad right now, but i have hopes that it'll get better in future episodes. *fingers crossed*

[erikhol]

I love this show! Please don’t drop it!!!

[Alpha-Vector]

Hi guys, been a lurker for ages but finally joined the forums. Just chiming in with my 2 pence, but I do see every criticism of this show I've seen as pretty fair. But I think it might have a good core in there somewhere that they can work with? Feels all too rushed and maybe that down to introducing so many characters, but hopefully if they hold off anyone new and focus on who we've got, it could really turn it around. I want to keep watching on that (possibly slim) chance.
O
f course, totally up to you if you want to keep subbing it. I definitely appreciate all the hard work you all put in to make this available for us to watch so thank you.

[FishFaceL]

As long as you sub it I'm gonna watch it. I never willingly drop tokus no matter how much I dislike them just because I want to be able to form a full opinion on them. I'm not particularly fond of Saber so far but (only comparing it to the shows I watched live) I hated Kyuranger and Zi-O way more at this point and I still survived those so Saber isn't going to kill me either.

[Aikawa]

Personally I'm on the fence, I don't find it as enjoyable as most other series. I can't point to anything in particular that I can specifically say is bad. The music is fine, the suit designs are fine, the acting is slightly over the top but not more than other shows, so it's fine too. Character development is happening. There's nothing really stellar about the series so far, but it's not like there are many things in it that I can say "this, I hate this," or "Saber would be great except for ____. I can't stand ____."
I think you should keep going, there are definitely people enjoying the series.

[The M]

You guys had the courage to finish subbing Ghost so I can't see you dropping Saber.

[Thenosa Yechette]

Saber is my first KR season that I'm watching from the beginning. I thought it had a lot of potential with the theme being books and swords. But now I think Toei is not taking Saber as seriously as previous seasons. I have hope for the season, since not every season starts out great. But so far, not much coming out of Saber....
I'd say, if you really think you should drop it, then do that. And if at some point the show gets better, you can consider picking it up. But if you guys keep doing it, we'll be watching, don't worry about that. I'm still watching it hoping it to get better. We'll see what happens in the future.

[Lunagel]

You guys had the courage to finish subbing Ghost so I can't see you dropping Saber.

Correction: I was stubborn enough to finish Ghost, takenoko may not be as patient

[takenoko]

Honestly, I thought this would be more of a dunk fest. And while I don't know if I believe the poll, it does seem like more people are enjoying Saber than I thought?

[Grunfox]

Not to brownnose or anything but honestly this is the only sub group I trust. I always appreciate being able to not just enjoy the main series, but the specials, spinoffs, and movies as well. As far as I'm aware you all might be the only ones who subbed the Swordsmen Retsuden. That being said if it's really that draining and painful for you to work on this, then drop it. As much as I'm enjoying this series it wouldn't be right for me to get enjoyment at the cost of others time and patience. Sorry if this all sounded weird, I'm really not good at talking/typing to others or putting my toughts to words.