[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

Pointing at the Earth and saying "Look, the Earth never changes" is maybe not the best supporting example he could have come up with, though.

Gentarou was studying Earth Sciences in the last two-parter, and he only got a 50, so you'd understand why his very emotional and not terribly scientific appeal to Tomoko forgets things like continental drift or erosion or climate change.

Also, man, you don't think Yuuki is going crazy yet? She almost joins a witch cult in this story!!!

[Switchblade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Also, man, you don't think Yuuki is going crazy yet? She almost joins a witch cult in this story!!!

Oh, you'll know it when we get there.

[DreamSword]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

(And, yeah, it's obviously a Rabbit Hutch

ain't that the name of that one batman villain

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

Oh, you'll know it when we get there.

I mean, it's a spectrum with that girl, not a binary state! We're already getting some troubling signs along the way!

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamSword

ain't that the name of that one batman villain

Egghead?

[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER FOURZE EPISODE 11 - “THE LUNAR GATE DISAPPEARS”



It’s a more plot-focused episode of Fourze this time out, as the club members themselves are at risk, rather than a soon-to-be-friend or one-off guest star. Like, Makise is just a creepy incel weirdo, and so we don’t need to go through any story beats where we learn his tragic backstory or try to understand his motivation. He’s a creep, and he’s a creep to Yuuki, so we can just focus on what the threat means to the KRC.

As much as I’d’ve loved if we had followed Gentarou, JK, and Tomoko along on a trip to introduce Miu to ramen in what promised to be a thrilling homage to one of the best-ever Kabuto stories, we instead pivot into a story anchored by Gen and Yuuki on one end, and Kengo on the other end. We’re nominally in a story that’s about the Rabbit Hatch – its origin, and the specifics of its localization – but we’re really in a story that’s about Kengo realizing that he is, in fact, a part of the Kamen Rider Club… along with his friends.

The easier part of the story is watching the entire KRC scramble to locate the locker which houses the Lunar Gate, and it’s cute to watch the full-powered team work their sources and apply their skills to solving a problem together. It’s not super sophisticated or inspired or anything, but it’s just fun to watch these kids careen through hallways and leverage their status to try and get another detail that might save Kengo. If it doesn’t actually solve the problem, it’s still fun to see these well-meaning weirdos do their best.

The more interesting part of the story is Kengo, who finds himself trapped on the moon. A few months ago, he’d’ve probably been okay with it: time to work, in isolation, without anyone demanding his attention or recognition. But he can’t pretend he’s that guy anymore. The second he’s cut off from the rest of the KRC, the Rabbit Hutch feels as empty and lifeless as the lunar surface. It was a safe space, and now it might be his tomb. If you’re going to do a story where Kengo grudgingly realizes that he genuinely likes being in a club with Gen and the rest of them, you need to make him realize how he much he needs them – and not just to, like, actually save his life, but also simply the companionship of other people.

Writing this all out, it sounds exceptionally minor and kind of rote: some two-dimensional creep harasses the team, one member’s in danger, and the remaining kids have to pull together to save him, while he learns to appreciate everyone in their absence. But, man, something about this cast just elevates it? There’s so much specificity to every character’s actions – Kengo’s wry smile as everyone splits, Shun’s easy charm, Yuuki’s reluctant heroism in spending even a single goddamn second around Makise. (He’s repellant!!!) I kind of hate just going VIBES, because that’s like talking about food by saying It Tastes Good: true, but not really explaining anything. But it’s sort of just Vibes? The youthful energy of this show, it’s kind of my favorite version of toku. It forgives stupid plot decisions, because kids are stupid. It allows for rich melodrama, because kids are melodramatic. It gives Kengo being trapped on the moon equal emotional significance with him missing his friends, and sort of realizing that they are his friends and he does miss them, and none of it feels ridiculous or disproportionate. Show’s just real fun, because the cast is real fun, and you can stretch that to the moon and back if you want to.

[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER FOURZE EPISODE 12 - “DUTY AND NOBLE INTENTIONS”



Kengo! Jesus, what a handful this guy is.

We get to see a more serious side of Yuuki in this episode, to better convey how perilous things are for Kengo, but also to remind us that Kengo is kind of a terrible friend. He’s principled, but that makes him demanding and prickly. He’s concerned about the greater good, but in a way that disregards individuals and their feelings. He’s willing to die for his mission, but he isn’t prepared to share the burden. He’s kind of relentlessly rude, and prone to tantrums, and just a full-time project for Yuuki. It’s not that Kengo isn’t worth the hassle, but it’s also that it’s always a hassle with Kengo.

But Yuuki gets him, even if she normally indulges him. We’ve gotten 11 episodes of Yuuki gently steering Kengo to variable success, while placating his wounded ego and sweetly suggesting some new outlooks to him, but this time she needs to have a talk with Kengo. Kengo’s trapped on the moon – which is, you know, still a pretty big deal! – but he’s lashing out at the people closest to him, whether he wants to admit it or not. He’s missing how they’re not only working to rescue him, they’re working to honor him by continuing to fight the Zodiart that’s menacing the school.

And that, honestly, is the only reliable way to connect with Kengo. It’s just like the first Kengo story with him and Gentarou about using Fourze, but now widened to include the entire KRC: You don’t reach Kengo by telling him you care about him, you reach Kengo by showing him that you care about his mission. The team putting the defeat of Makise over the safety of Kengo (because Kengo wasn’t in any immediate danger, despite being moon-exiled) lets Kengo know that there are people who share his dedication, and that’s worth letting them in.

It’s a phenomenal episode, for how it makes Kengo his most intemperate so that Yuuki can be her most forthright, and in turn let Kengo be chastened enough to accept that he’s not alone. It’s very sweet, how this story took the time to make Kengo that last official member of the Kamen Rider Club.

Also! An incredibly fun episode of superhero teen dramedy!

I don’t… like, I don’t ever want to lose sight of how ridiculous and fun this show is, even when it’s doing a very sweet and melancholy story of a boy who’s afraid to die alone. Even when we’re getting Kengo screaming at the rhyming injustice of being trapped on the moon to die, just like his father, we still have a plot where some incel piece of crap is going to telekinetically drive a bus full of high school girls off of a bridge, and the only way to stop this cosmic monstrosity is to be electric and also briefly invisible??? (Also, I love that the way the director decided to show the girls being telekinetically manipulated was to fill them walking backwards and then run it in reverse, so they're walking forward in a herky-jerky way. Super clever!) Like, this is all still a bunch of high school kids trying their best to affect a moon rescue, and it’s simultaneously earnest and hapless, which is the perfect balance for this show of weirdos saving the day. For example: I get that Yuuki’s going through a lot, and she’s willing to try anything to rescue Kengo – up to and including begging the Chairman of the school to mount an international moon mission – but shouldn’t the astronaut-in-training have been the one to tell Gentarou that Fourze can’t just fly all the way to the moon? Seems like her area of expertise!

But I’ll forgive the show that minor oversight, since everything else in it was so perfect. Kengo’s story is treated with the appropriate gravity (well, more than, considering his lunar imprisonment) while the previous episode’s all-hands youthful energy continues to carry the rest of the narrative. A two-parter befitting our newly-official Kamen Rider Club!

[Androzani84]

I have to wonder why they gave Power Dizer a launchpad function if it can’t even help Massigler escape Earth’s orbit.

Anyway, beyond Makise and his surprise return at two separate points later on in and out of series(you’d think people would want to avoid him after this), this two-parter is one that vaguely stuck around in my memory, but didn’t leave much of an impression.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Androzani84

I have to wonder why they gave Power Dizer a launchpad function if it can?t even help Massigler escape Earth?s orbit.

I mean, it definitely helped get Fourze and a Zodiart into low-Earth orbit before, where the cosmic energy of a detonating enemy didn't evaporate the city, so I think the launch function has displayed its utility? Plus, even setting aside the obviously hand-wave-y science of tokusatsu, I don't think the Power Dizer's anywhere near big enough to launch Fourze to the moon, without potentially.... vaporizing the city.

[Sh Ranger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER FOURZE EPISODE 10 - ?COLLISION IN THE MOONLIGHT?

Like, I just love the Rabbit Hatch? I love how every episode it becomes less sterile (Kengo) and starts being more diverse and chaotic (the KRC). It?s maybe my favorite Heisei set, for how it melds the show?s sci-fi aspects with its hangout teenage premise. The point of the Rabbit Hatch is to visualize how all of these weirdos bring their own perspectives to a single place, to share their passions and idiosyncrasies with each other, and in doing so create a coherent attitude and viewpoint for the Kamen Rider Club.

Free convenient access to the moon and vista of Earth is a unique selling point as well! I think Rabbit Hatch is especially fun compared to the base of the show's second SHT partner, Gobusters, which is a dull grey place that looks like it was designed by Kengo. I'd say Rabbit Hatch is one of my favorites for sure, up there with Hikari Studio and nascita (coffee must improve after the first quarter, right?).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Tomoko?s a girl that?s always wanted to be accepted for who she was, but when that seemed impossible, she wanted to escape instead: to the moon, or into someone else?s madness and vengeance. But people like Ritsuko never saw her, never wanted who she was. And yet on the moon, she found friendship instead of desolation and isolation, with a group of kids that wanted her to be herself, and in doing so make them all better. It?s a sweet little message ? Be Yourself ? that?s delivered with the appropriate level of teenage pathos to make Tomoko?s embrace of it feel like the truest victory of the story.

I appreciate how that "be yourself" message isn't delivered in a trite way either, it's just Gentarou and the others opening up about their flaws to show Tomoko they're not overly creeped out by her and they (except Kengo but he'll come around soon) want to be her friend. They don't try and force her to take a linear path, but rather encourage her to decide who she is. The scene where Tomoko captures Altar's staff and gives the speech about the duality of the moon being cold and warm is a peak moment!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

I also love the Rabbit Hutch, even if I always want to spell its name wrong? (like, it only makes any sense with the "u", but also, apparently there's a character in Kamen Rider officially called Gord Drive, so what do I know)

Well, they do have to use an airlock hatch to get in and out of the moon's low atmosphere.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Which reminds me! I've always loved that beat where Tomoko rubs mud on her face because she's so desperate not to be seen without her makeup? Because like, the whole point of the story is how she's terrified of being seen, in a larger sense, and you'd still get that from everything else going on, but that moment in particular really encapsulates the whole conflict in a way that doesn't need words. It's always really stuck with me from way back in the day.

I like that scene as well, although, it's not like Tomoko uses makeup as something to hide behind, as she is a goth after all. In general, wearing makeup is a common thing like wearing clothes, so I guess Tomoko is more afraid that being seen without it would make others perceive her as someone other than herself, that they wouldn't see her, hence the moral about looking beyond appearances to see the real self.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

I still think saving Tomoko for last (-ish; we'll come back to this next time) is an odd choice but she's here now and that's awesome.

This is called saving the best for last.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER FOURZE EPISODE 11 - ?THE LUNAR GATE DISAPPEARS?

I figured you would use this screencap.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER FOURZE EPISODE 12 - ?DUTY AND NOBLE INTENTIONS?

But Yuuki gets him, even if she normally indulges him. We?ve gotten 11 episodes of Yuuki gently steering Kengo to variable success, while placating his wounded ego and sweetly suggesting some new outlooks to him, but this time she needs to have a talk with Kengo. Kengo?s trapped on the moon ? which is, you know, still a pretty big deal! ? but he?s lashing out at the people closest to him, whether he wants to admit it or not. He?s missing how they?re not only working to rescue him, they?re working to honor him by continuing to fight the Zodiart that?s menacing the school.

And that, honestly, is the only reliable way to connect with Kengo. It?s just like the first Kengo story with him and Gentarou about using Fourze, but now widened to include the entire KRC: You don?t reach Kengo by telling him you care about him, you reach Kengo by showing him that you care about his mission. The team putting the defeat of Makise over the safety of Kengo (because Kengo wasn?t in any immediate danger, despite being moon-exiled) lets Kengo know that there are people who share his dedication, and that?s worth letting them in.

Miu shows once more why she's president as well, as she stopped Yuki from organizing a moon landing that would surely have compromized the secret base and mission Kengo cares about so much. And it's thanks to Tomoko's ward, which Kengo probably dismissed as frivolous, that they were able to find the real locker and ultimately rescue Kengo. It's great how all the acquaintances Kengo has been complaining about were essential to solving his problem, resulting in a fitting conclusion for the first quarter with him finally accepting them as friends and doing the handshake to officialize his recruitment to KRC!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Androzani84

Anyway, beyond Makise and his surprise return at two separate points later on in and out of series(you?d think people would want to avoid him after this)

The inevitable misfortune of Gentarou's boast to befriend everybody at school. Makise should learn that girls won't respect him until he respects them, but self-improvement is difficult for narcissists like him.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Miu shows once more why she's president as well, as she stopped Yuki from organizing a moon landing that would surely have compromized the secret base and mission Kengo cares about so much. And it's thanks to Tomoko's ward, which Kengo probably dismissed as frivolous, that they were able to find the real locker and ultimately rescue Kengo. It's great how all the acquaintances Kengo has been complaining about were essential to solving his problem, resulting in a fitting conclusion for the first quarter with him finally accepting them as friends and doing the handshake to officialize his recruitment to KRC!

The most Kengo way possible for this story to end was Kengo declaring the KRC an official club, while six other people are all like Bro We Have Been For Three Months Now, but letting him have it because it's Kengo, and this was a small step for the Club, but a giant leap for the grumpiest sick boy at Amanogawa High.