Kiramager's First Eight Episodes VS. Kamen Rider Saber's First Eight Episodes

I was thinking about the time I made a reaction towards the statement that Kamen Rider Saber turns out to be unpopular in its first eight episodes. It was five days ago and I thought I might want to see how Saber is faring against the current Super Sentai, Mashin Sentai Kiramager, in terms of its first eight episodes. 

What reasons are the first eight episodes of Saber getting flak? Here's what was gathered from Daisuki Toku: 

• Too many Kamen Riders may cause an accident.
• It feels more like a 30-minute toy commercial and the content is shallow.
• The pace is getting too fast to sell more Bandai merchandise that it's boring.
• A lot may happen in the 30-minute airing but it feels empty.
• The fact it's written by Takuro Fukuda contributes to the hate. Kamen Rider Ghost is considered the worst Heisei-era Rider ever. Some worries were proven right.

So, I decided to do a rundown on Kiramager's first eight episodes again. I did write eight weekly reviews of Kiramager (nine, if you count episode zero). I also did four reviews (though it covers eight episodes) of Saber at the same time. So, what's the big issue?

First, let's think about the first eight episodes of Kiramager...

Kiramager's introductory episodes (zero to two) slowly focus on the heroes than the additional toys. You get a glimpse of the main characters, their allies, and some development. Sure, new mecha is introduced along the way but it's done at an easier pace.

Episode three gives us a glimpse of who Shiguru is as an action star. It was also a random episode with the usual ridiculous villain plot for world domination.

Episode four has an episode involving Princess Mabusheena and her treacherous uncle, Garza. This also starts to give an early pace of the royal family.

The Shovyellow Corps is introduced in episode 5. However, what gets more focused on is developing Tametomo as a character. Sure, the mecha are alive (but most Sentai mecha aren't) but the rangers are the star of the show. 

Rather than introduce new Bandai toys in episode six - it focuses on Sayo's memory loss that made her think like a five-year-old. 

Episodes seven to eight are devoted to the King Express arc. So far, we're having an easier time tallying all the new stuff that enters. Though Kiramei Silver ends up getting rushed because of the long, necessary Legacy Virus hiatus where there were no new episodes after May 11, 2020, and the only real new episode was on June 24, 2020. So, the rush was pretty justified because Kiramager needs to really catch up after its hiatus and focusing so much on clip shows to make up. Not to mention, Juuru's actor, Rio Komiya, also caught the Legacy Virus. 

Meanwhile, let's tackle on Kamen Rider Saber's first eight episodes - the source of the FLAK!

A Kamen Rider with a sidekick since the beginning is NOT a problem. Kamen Rider W had the main hero and the sidekick form the titular protagonist (with Shotaro as the dominant mind). Some superhero series tend to have a sidekick. Kamen Rider Ryuki started early on with Shinji and Renn in a difficult alliance during the Rider War. So, it's not much of a problem when you have Touma and Shinjo introduced early on. However...

The next episodes (three to five) didn't even know what to do. First, we have the introduction of Kamen Rider Buster and only to give Kamen Rider Espada his focus later on. I feel this was a result of not good planning if you ask me. I mean, I was getting excited about what Saber would bring to the table.

The second ninja-based guest Kamen Rider arrives with Kamen Rider Kenzan. The first one was in Kamen Rider Zi-O with Kamen Rider Shinobi. Shinobi's actor was ripped off straight from Shuriken Sentai Ninninger - Hideya Tawada plays the guest character. After the introduction, suddenly Kenzan disappears in a puff of smoke. Was he just there to sell extra toys or will he return? I felt the same issue with Zi-O when it came to one-shot riders like Shinobi, Quiz, and Kikaider. What was the point of having guest Kamen Riders if they were just going to be written off? Is Kenzan destined to suffer that same fate?

Not to mention, too many new concepts are introduced ALL AT ONCE. That's why I was getting skeptical about how the earlier episodes of Kamen Rider Zero-One was introducing one new form after the other without the handicap feature shown in Kamen Rider Kuuga. In the case of Kuuga - the hero had to learn these forms. Aruto in Zero-One seems to be too much of a fast learner. I'd say that a lot of new forms were introduced way too fast. Is Bandai desperate to sell as many toys as early as possible? It's almost the toy rush from Choriki Sentai Ohranger except on steroids. The villains are also packing in as much as possible such as Desast and the new form of Zoous. It's getting crowded and the pacing is getting way too fast. Haste makes waste!

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Which of the first eight episodes of either show did you like better? I'd like to say Kiramager knew how to at least take it easy with the merchandise and focus on the characters. Unfortunately, it seems that Saber is already getting derailed before it could even establish its length. This week has the blacksmith Tetsuo becoming Kamen Rider Slash. I wonder could Toei and Bandai find a way to slow things down a bit because it could ruin quality check in the process?