[DreadBringer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER FOURZE EPISODE 17 - “IMPACT OF A METEOR”

A lot of it’s the way this episode’s constructed, kind of doing an Episode 1 riff, but entirely from Ryuusei’s perspective, and full of misapprehensions and bad-faith judgments. Ryuusei sees Gentarou’s need to be friends with everyone as a pathetic need for validation that results in an ineffective superhero, and he spends the episode cataloging everything that occurs as either wasteful or ridiculous. We’re walked through the basics of Fourze – Gen interacting with other students, the KRC meeting up, how the Switches work, Ohsugi being cartoonishly annoyed – but it’s constantly undercut by Ryuusei adding his reductive and dismissive two cents about how it all fits together for the characters and the show. It somehow manages to layer in his snide disapproval in a way that still preserves the brightness of the core concept – it’s judgment that always floats above the story enough to not interfere or derail it – while giving you his snarky eyeroll of a rebuttal.

It's Ryusei playing along to infiltrate, but didn't expect that turns out AGHS doesn't have a dress code, so Gentaro did nothing wrong by keeping his current outfit. Thus Ohsugi is just being mean to the students because he can, as his motto of how students and teachers shouldn't be friends. Ryusei's main difference to people like Kengo is that Ryusei puts up an act to others while hiding his disdain, while Kengo openly shows his disdain towards the surrounding people. Though I wonder if Kengo isn't made to accept friendship faster by ep. 12 and still act like how he was at the start, he can fill Ryusei's role in becoming a Rider (that fits with his weak constitution) that is focused on saving a loved one (his dad rather than his friend) and has conflict with the main Rider for it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

But this is still very much a Fourze episode, front to back. Ryuusei exists as this new piece, but it’s still the same puzzle. (I guess I like some puzzles?) But, y’know, it’s actually not the same puzzle, in ways that help push back on Ryuusei’s view of things. This is Episode 17, not Episode 1, and it shows throughout the episode. Ryuusei sees the nonsense in the cafeteria as a sign that Gentarou’s a clown, but it’s actually a sign that his desire to make friends has had a positive impact on the student body, transforming isolated cliques and disaffected students into vital, engaged members of the student body; it’s heroism, not narcissism. Ryuusei sees fair-weather friendship in the KRC, but the viewer sees hard-won camaraderie and the intense bond of months in the trenches against the Zodiarts. (Kengo defends Gentarou from Ryuusei's criticism, albeit in a typically backhanded way!) Ryuusei sees Kengo as the lynchpin of Fourze’s effectiveness, but he misses the inherent value of JK, of Miu, of Tomoko. (Tomoko, naturally, does not miss the value of the new Black Kamen Rider, who is not as a gothic as she might hope, but I think there’s still something there for her.) It’s a Fourze episode where a dedicated viewer gets a completely different experience than Ryuusei, and that makes Ryuusei’s running commentary so much more enjoyable than it might ordinarily be. This isn’t the Motoyama arc where Gen and Yuuki are extra Gen and Yuuki in order to explain a negative reaction; this is Ryuusei coming into Act 2 and thinking it’s Act 1, which isn’t worth his time.

It's ironic that there's a scene of Gentaro successfully making friends with most of the student bodies in school, contrasting ep. 1, thus he proves Yuki wrong about how schools need to be divided into groups, yet previously, there's a scene of people hiding their disdain for Gentaro, not only Ryusei and Sonoda for obvious reasons, but also Anko. It's indeed heroism to have Gentaro wanting and succeeding to give positive impact, of which while I agree of this being heroism, I do wonder about what defines heroism as some'd think kindness and being a good person doesn't equate heroism, that it's only reserved for high-stakes/risk situations or if they're self-sacrificing. It's typical for rival type characters to dismiss friendship, and they'd not acknowledge the value of others, they see other people as just burden. I guess it can be proven true in his eyes in JK being used as a hostage against Lynx. Kengo isn't wrong that Gentaro is indeed an idiot, he doesn't do well in academics. But his value is being a social expert in understanding others.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

I really liked this, too? I like the Meteor suit a lot, and how it communicates different ideas than the Fourze suit. Fourze’s a space shuttle: travel, exploration, teamwork. Meteor’s the solar system: isolation, emptiness, coldness, but still something that can be bright and warm if you find the right parts. They each feel like parts of the same concept, even as they approach it from different angles and at different scales. Meteor’s physicality is nicely unique from Fourze’s, as folks pointed out previously. He’s Bruce Lee smoothness and style, as opposed to Fourze’s brash exuberance. It makes Meteor feel like he’s outclassing Fourze without really doing much, and that fits Ryuusei’s disdain for Gentarou perfectly. (There’s also the disco soundtrack to Ryuusei’s Henshin, and I’ve never really liked it. I can’t find a way that it fits him! Maybe eventually! But right now I don’t like it! My headcanon is that he also doesn’t like it, but Tachibana refuses to change it.)

It can feel that Meteor's regular attack seems stronger than its Limit Break with him punching with huge Jupiter ball rather than just punching with blue energy. I often feel KR finishers are bland like this, only having attacks with energy effects, though dunno if this is about paying respect to the Showa Rider finishers. I also wished that Meteor's Rider Kick would be a literal meteor, perhaps something like Kiva to descend from a great height and making an AoE crater to the ground. I guess as a Kamen Rider Bruce Lee, Meteor vs Fourze is also about martial artist vs street fighter. The stereotype is also that martial artists are honorable while street fighters are more likely to fight dirty.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

The white and black contrast never goes out of style. Even the accents of Fourze's orange and Meteor's blue emphasize their conflict. Yet both of them are heroes, only with different priorities. Fourze is colorful and has a lot gimmicks, which he relies on his friends to help test and determine their compatibility, while Meteor looks minimalistic, he relies on his own strength and has a few moves that he has mastered. The Rider Systems are appropriate for their users.

Heroic yeah, but as with many other secondary Rider, Meteor's anti-heroic type as well. He's like Ren or Makoto where their motivation is to save their loved one, and while they generally beat up monsters and saving people, their priority is said loved ones, so they can be complicit in the continuation of a threat, like Ren wanting to learn to kill by freeing Asakura or Ryusei letting Lynx go and as pointed out, can still have Lynx threatening others.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

I'd argue that this is actually totally in character and highlights one of Ryusei's flaws. Like with the Gentarou punch in Episode 18, the usually cool Ryusei will lose his temper and act against his own interest if he can get short-term gratification. In Cygnus' case, it's not just about making him look bad in front of Tomoko (first as Ryusei and second as Meteor), the way Cygnus calls himself a hero while imposing his twisted sense of morality on others is something Ryusei hates. Ryusei may lie to others, but Cygnus lies to himself, so at that point I think Ryusei simply decided for himself that Cygnus wasn't even worthy to become Aries Horoscope. Like Meteor always says, "I'll decide your fate."

That's totally fair, but a) it's not really something the show comes out and states, and b) I'd've appreciated a little bit of narrative cover for Ryuusei to acknowledge that detonating Cygnus is kind of the exact opposite of his whole mission, even if he instinctively knows that stopping Cygnus is the right thing to do. Like, Ryuusei's on a journey, and he's being shaped by the KRC in ways that he might not even be fully aware of yet, but him up and destroying Cygnus feels like a massive step that the show treats like no big deal. (Again, no one comments on it!)

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

It can feel that Meteor's regular attack seems stronger than its Limit Break with him punching with huge Jupiter ball rather than just punching with blue energy.

The little planets Meteor punches with are indeed pretty cool!

[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER CLUB MEETING – QUIZ: KAMEN RIDER URBAN LEGENDS!! EPISODE 06



Tomoko! Too precious for this ruined world.

I like how much of this one was the kids remarking that various aspects of Kamen Rider Amazon were either cute (Mole Beastman, the Junglar, Amazon’s legs) or Showa-casual levels of horrifying (a bloodied Amazon, or Amazon nearly getting run over by a roller coaster). It’s a fun way to look at classic shows, even if jaded fans of Heisei – not naming names – cannot be bothered to appreciate Showa Riders in their original context.

Also, man, The Ichigou/Nigou Team is seriously unbeatable! Tomoko is exactly right that someone needs to break up that team to preserve the spirit of competition. (Although, really, I think it’s Shun who’s unbeatable, right? He’s won with both Kengo and Miu.) They never run away with a game, but they’re so consistently winning that it somehow feels like no other team is ever really in it. Give someone else a (Ryuusei) chance!

[DreadBringer]

I also want to know and learn more regarding this if you can?

Quote:

It's indeed heroism to have Gentaro wanting and succeeding to give positive impact, of which while I agree of this being heroism, I do wonder about what defines heroism as some'd think kindness and being a good person doesn't equate heroism, that it's only reserved for high-stakes/risk situations or if they're self-sacrificing.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

I also want to know and learn more regarding this if you can?

I mean, I think of heroism as kindness when unkindness or indifference is easier; the scale is sort of irrelevant to me. Heroism can be fighting a monster that wants to bring ruin to humanity, but it can also just be letting someone know they aren't alone when it'd be easier to ignore them. I think that's something Kamen Rider has been great at showing throughout its history, and one of the things that's made me a fan of it.

[Androzani84]

So the Amazon quiz was harder to do than the others, since a lot of fodder for good questions is either in the official one, or could be answered by watching something else. But I still came up with something, so I?ll start by saying the answer key to the X quiz was A, C, B, and move on.

In spite of his supernatural origin, Amazon is still considered a modified human like the other Showa Riders. How?
A) The ancient mystic grafted the Gigi Armlet onto his arm.
B) He has an artificial heart from a childhood accident.
C) A fragment of wood is lodged within his ankle.

Amazon is notably the only Showa Rider from the first 5 years not to meet any of his predecessors and initially doesn?t ride a bike. So how does he receive the name ?Kamen Rider??
A) It?s the loose translation of the ancient Incan title he inherited.
B) A couple of kids note that he reminds them of past Riders and give him the name.
C) He reads it in the newspaper and thinks it sounds catchy.

Amazon has a different narrator to the other Rider shows from the 70s and early 80s. But who was it?
A) Eisuke Yoda
B) Shun Horie
C) Goro Naya

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Androzani84

In spite of his supernatural origin, Amazon is still considered a modified human like the other Showa Riders. How?
A) The ancient mystic grafted the Gigi Armlet onto his arm.
B) He has an artificial heart from a childhood accident.
C) A fragment of wood is lodged within his ankle.

Amazon is notably the only Showa Rider from the first 5 years not to meet any of his predecessors and initially doesn?t ride a bike. So how does he receive the name ?Kamen Rider??
A) It?s the loose translation of the ancient Incan title he inherited.
B) A couple of kids note that he reminds them of past Riders and give him the name.
C) He reads it in the newspaper and thinks it sounds catchy.

Amazon has a different narrator to the other Rider shows from the 70s and early 80s. But who was it?
A) Eisuke Yoda
B) Shun Horie
C) Goro Naya
D) Clotho

Thanks for the fun quiz!

[DreadBringer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER FOURZE EPISODE 18 - “THE GEN RYU BATTLE”

I’ve always liked the setup for Ryuusei’s role in the series, but mostly for how it deepens Gentarou’s character. We’ve seen Gen completely and utterly dedicated to befriending every single person he’s met, even if – especially if – they hate him. To Gentarou, disliking him is just the first step towards liking him, and people who dislike him are more interesting to get to know. (Also, most people dislike Gentarou as soon as they meet him, so it’s not like he’s got a lot of options to pass up haters.) Positioning the new character not as a new Kengo, someone who refuses to be friends with Gen, but as someone who too willingly wants to be friends, that’s really clever. Hearing Gen say that he can’t be friends with someone he can’t trust (and say it in such a heroic, wistful way) is a new side to his character. He isn’t (just) some gregarious and hot-tempered buffoon, he’s a guy that genuinely wants to get to know every person he meets, find what makes them unique and special, and celebrate that part of them. Ryu isn’t that guy to him for most of this episode, because he’s clearly not showing himself to Gen – too quick to smile, but in a way that never quite reaches his eyes; too obsequious; too desperate to be a part of a group he doesn’t even know yet – but, hilariously, Meteor is.

Gentaro isn't smart in academics, but what he's good for is reading and understanding people. So I guess this makes him less naive than a handful of goody-two-shoes to know Ryusei's game to some degree. Maybe there's a reason why Gentaro seems to be more successful in winning jerks as friends compared to people like Shinji from Ryuki. I thought Gentaro would already know that Ryusei is Meteor based on this scene, but turns out that Ryusei punching him gets him accepted into KRC, albeit it makes sense that Gentaro praises Meteor based on that, unlike the two-faced Ryusei.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

That’s the beat in Gen’s story I love the most from Fourze. He’d rather have an honest enemy than a fake friend. Meteor’s a danger to others and violently imposing his own sense of justice, but he’s 100% honest and forthright about it. He has passion and dedication, which is laudable; he has the strength of his convictions, which Gen can relate to. The specifics of what he’s doing is something Fourze has to oppose, but he still wants to find a way to make Meteor his friend. It’s not until Ryu punches him in the face that Gen can see some of what Ryu’s been hiding, and think that he can get that guy to open up at some point and be a real friend.

And, like, that’s the other thing about Ryu that’s a nice alternative to the more-obvious character type of A Guy Who Thinks Friendship Is Dumb: Ryu is doing everything he’s doing for friendship. He’s fighting the Horoscopes because they left his best friend in a coma. He’s letting the Zodiarts evolve until he can get at the one he needs to save his best friend. The circus of Amanogawa High is a distraction from the friendship he’s trying to sustain and revive. Like, he’s a good guy, Ryuusei. He’s a good friend, and a principled warrior, but narrowed down into a point of light, instead of a starry sky. Because he doesn’t have friends, he has a friend.

And ironically, Meteor may also see Fourze as superficial and fake like the view of honest enemy vs fake friend, with him thinking that Fourze looks for validation from others. It can seem that to some, likely Meteor included, being honest means being asshole who highlights negative traits while being kind is done for ulterior motives. Otherwise, seems that against the Dustards, Yuki can do some fighting with tools. And the justice talk here fits the usual KR theme of how the term justice is relative to people and can be misused heavily, despite Tomoko having good intentions to point out about Kamen Riders fighting for justice as a genuine fangirl. Kamen Rider in Showa though, says that human life is more important than peace and justice.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Which is the fun distinction through this episode, and it comes up right in the first scene. Both the KRC and Meteor are pursuing Justice, but they happen to define that differently. It’s the same thing with friendship, and we see that through Ryu’s flashbacks, Gen’s monologues about the Club, and Fourze’s surrender to save JK from last time. Ryu and Gen would both do whatever they have to do to protect their friends; the problem is that Gen has way more friends than Ryu. Ryu has one guy he needs to save, so everyone else is expendable. Gen has an entire school full of friends, so no one’s expendable. The tension there, as they each try to follow the north star of their friendship, is such a fun engine for this story.

As I said previously, this is probably a dim view of mine, but my view of a friend is about exclusively treating certain people better than others. So indeed, as said here, those who aren't a friend of someone can be seen as expendable, depending on the person. Which is why I think having friends or being shown to be a good friend of someone doesn't necessarily mean one is a good or heroic person. Examples ranging from bullies in school with circle of friends, to extreme ones like exterminating certain group like cockroaches, the people they exclude from those actions still qualifies for a friend to them. Gentaro's the type who cares for everyone like most other main Riders, not only about the main circle, but his way is treating everyone as a friend.

[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER FOURZE EPISODE 25 - “THE PROBLEM WITH GRADUATING”



It’s so Kamen Rider to have the story where Shun is at his most cartoonish – he literally dresses as America Clown for this episode’s cliffhanger – to be the one that takes the Shun/Miu relationship the most seriously.

As much as I enjoy Shun’s romantic flights of fancy, partially for how it exposes Gentarou’s romantic (and also Romantic) nature in pursuit of an idealized high school experience for his buds, I really like how much this episode grounds Shun in regret and a more mature level of admiration for Miu. Shun dated Miu because she was the most popular girl in school, and he was the most popular boy in school, and that was the end of the equation for him; she was arm candy, not a serious emotional investment. Then she wised up, self-actualized, and he figured out what he was missing. That’s the part I like the best: this isn’t a story about Shun being a horndog or a possessive weirdo or whatever, this is Shun realizing that he’s fallen in love with the Miu who leads the KRC, and that Miu’s worth looking like a clown for.

But Miu isn’t making it easy on him, because she’s got her own problems to deal with, and those problems do not have time for Shun’s grandiose attempts at reconciliation.

My favorite thing about Miu is that she’s genuinely good at her job. The easy way to do a show like this would’ve been to have Miu as some flighty brat who pushes people around without anything motivating her besides her need for attention, while the rest of the Club indulges her as they overcome her distractions and obstacles. But that’s not what this show does. Miu’s spotlight two-parter establishes her as a hard worker and a supremely motivated character – sure, it’s tuned towards popularity contests, but she is running full-tilt on whatever she sets her mind to. Having her declare herself the leader of the KRC and then whip these dorks and delinquents into shape is one of the many things that makes this such a fun show to watch. She became her best self in the KRC, and did something that finally mattered. She’s not ready to give that up yet.

It’s a melancholy story to tell, Shun and Miu graduating. Shun sees their time as a success, but one he can move on from while planning a future with Miu. It’s like football – the season ends and you move on, knowing that the team will continue on without you. But for Miu, the KRC is where she was the version of herself she liked the best – without that purpose and structure, there’s a team that will be great without her, and a girl that won’t have the chance to be her best self. She wants to prepare her friends to excel without her, but she also wants to excel with them. That idea of the KRC being a thing that she wishes she’d found early enough to really appreciate it, that’s a very bittersweet story to tell.

Which I am very happy about! I love a wistful story about moving on, especially when it can be a metaphor for adolescence wrapped up in a Zodiart mystery. Miu acquits herself incredibly well, which was expected (my favorite!), but Shun steps up his game to deliver an alternately on-brand ridiculous performance – every overreaction, every fantasy, throwing himself down a hill in despair – as well as a surprisingly subtle exploration of his genuine love for the woman Miu’s turned into. (That scene on the hill, where he seems so happy to have been able to get to know the real Miu over the last few months… amazing. Amazing!) The monster-fighting aspects are something I’ll probably feel more interested in with the next episode, because this one was all Miu and Shun. I am rooting for these two to be happy!

[DreamSword]

Shun dressing up as a clown took me and the friend I watched Fourze with so off guard that it's become a running gag between us ever since.

I might be rather neutral on Fourze as a whole, but it definitely has that specific aspect of it going for it if nothing else.