#kento was touma's childhood friend who thought him to be dead for years and was overjoyed when he was able to see him again

[t-u-i-t-c]

"If I were in your place, I'd give up my life to protect you! Just like you're doing now... I won't die! And I won't let you die! "

[jade-lop]

Let us took a moment to appreciate how cute Sora was. Could he have more roles in the future?

I hated you Smoky… but darned it all! You were cool!

However, the sexy transformation silhouette was not to my taste. I hoped Toei would not do that again in the future.

I also hoped Toei did not take away her agency like they did with Yaiba.

This episode, Smoky was not the only woman in the spotlight. Mei shone and took the stage in her own way.

Luna showed up again in the same episode Kento returned. Last time we saw her was during Kento’s ‘death’.

I never saw someone reading a book while being angry before. Was that even possible?

If there was one person who could understand Primitive Dragon’s sorrow in this series, that person would be Touma. He failed to save both his childhood friends, and he spent the majority of the second arc being at odd with his comrades.

Yuuri spent a thousand years in another dimension. The only people he considered old friends came from his time period. Was this never crossed Ogami or Daishinji’s mind?

Daishinji worked surrounded by books. How could he be so genre blind?

Did they torture Sophia on a daily basis…?

The book Sophia created, was it going to be used to tame/soothe/restrain Primitive Dragon? I thought it would be the one Touma received from Luna.

Kento’s new outfit shared similar shade of colours as Yuuri’s.

I completely forgot how Emo™ Kento was. His time being dead only made him more Emo™.

[narashikari]

So... episode 8.5 & 9 of Saber huh?

8.5 revealed that Tetsuo and Ryo were there in the incident 15 years ago when Calibur attacked, which resulted in the previous Saber seemingly sacrificing himself and Touma lost his memories of Luna. It was also then that Tetsuo lost his ability to transform into Slash, apparently because he didn’t hear his sword’s crying (or something to that effect). 

I wonder if both of them know more than what they’re telling the others. Both seem reluctant to believe that Kento’s dad would betray the order, even though they both saw with their own eyes that Calibur was intent on causing destruction and that the previous Saber was fighting him. At the very least, they seem to suspect something else is afoot.  It just seems like they know more than they’re admitting. Note how they exclusively refer to the traitor as “Calibur” in their conversation.

I also wonder if they knew Touma was also there to witness the whole thing- and if they do know it was him, if there was a reason why they wouldn’t be more forthcoming about it. It’s possible of course that they thought it was just a random kid and didn’t make the connection to Touma, especially since Touma doesn’t seem to have told them exactly what he thinks he remembers.

Then there was that thing Desast said in the end, gleefully pondering how many swordsmen will fall this time around. We know that there’s at least ten Riders in this series, though now I’m wondering just how many Riders there used to be. We know of at least two that fell in battle, after all- so how many more Riders also died and were just never replaced for some reason? Maybe because their gear was also stolen by the Megid, since they are going after the Wonder Ride Books as well.

It was kinda cute how Tetsuo and Ryo referred to themselves as the “senpai” to the “troublesome” OT3 trio of Touma, Kento and Rintaro. We already saw Ryo being a father-figure to Kento, and both quickly took a liking to Touma too. Hopefully that type of relationship develops more in the series itself. 

I do wonder why Ren wasn’t included in that number, though notably he doesn’t use a SworDriver like the other three do, so that could be why he’s kinda left out. I suspect that he may have a focus episode of his own to explain that.

Then there was episode 9. Boy, this episode was a handful.

First was Slash’s debut. As expected of an episode directed by Koichi Sakomoto, his first fight was extremely flashy. The man apparently did not lose his touch despite being relegated to the sidelines for a decade and a half. I’d say the most unexpected thing out of it was his personality doing a whole 180 turn when he used Bremen no Rock Band. 

Then there was Touma gaining his “complete set” form, Crimson Dragon, and I must say, it gives Wizard a run for its money in the “badass suits with capes” department. I honestly love its aesthetic. Poor Touma gets winded when he uses it, though Rintaro is once again there to help his boyfriend to his feet. (Yes I ship Rintaro with Touma and Kento and Mei, don’t judge me. Rintaro absolutely deserves a harem.)

Also there was Reika’s arrival. She seemed quite curious of the new Saber, which is equally curious and suspicious in my books. I kind of understand her interest in Touma as she’s the emissary of the Southern Base (which presumably is a branch of the Sword of Logos), but at the same time I wonder if she’s there to merely observe or if she has some other agenda on hand- perhaps to test him of his worthiness or use to the order? Her having the third of Kento’s set of Wonder Ride Books adds to the puzzle.

What intrigued me the most though was Touma seemingly regaining a bit of his memory involving Luna- namely, that there was another one of them, another friend, this time a boy. Of course said boy was none other than Kento, since not only does Touma know him as a childhood friend, but Kento visibly reacts when Touma voices this. However, Touma himself doesn’t seem to know that the third child in his memory is Kento. Which is weird, because of the aforementioned established knowledge of them being childhood friends. If he knew it was Kento, he would’ve started asking him questions about the girl in his dreams/memories. So there’s definitely more there than just amnesia.

And of course there’s the preview. It basically confirms that Kento’s dad is not the traitor that betrayed the order- but also, that it may be someone else from the order who took his powers as Calibur and framed him, possibly even doing something to him which lead to his absence in his son’s life. I honestly hope we don’t get another Katsuragi Shinobu type situation here, though I think it might be the most plausible answer to the man’s whereabouts for the past 15 years. (Aside from the other obvious answer of him being... ya know, dead.)

And that kinda makes the conversation between Ryo and Tetsuo in 8.5 even more relevant. Could they suspect, or even know, who the real traitor was all along? And why would they not tell anyone if they did?