[Sh Ranger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

I don't know, I like him okay? I like how he's an additional pressure on Hayami, whose near-death experience with Fourze in the vacuum of space is somehow just the precursor to an even more terrifying meeting with Gamou, because we are in the phase of this show where Libra is constantly terrified of being Dark Nebulaed, instead of just frequently terrified. Leo gets to be the grown-up for Hayami to interact with, after a dozen-plus episodes of deranged students and sycophantic acolytes. Leo's just, like, Do Your Job, Man, and he'll fight a dude outside a bar if it gets things how Gamou wants them. I enjoy his professionalism and walnut-based diet!

I'll talk more about this later when we see another side of Leo's personality, but for now, I'll agree about his entertaining rivalry with Hayami and good taste in walnuts. I guess one of the Horoscopes needed to fill this role, as it's not like you can expect to find the total mystery of Virgo casually drinking at a bar.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Yukina deciding that the grand gesture of taking the Fourze Driver from Gentarou was worth it despite the imminent and verifiable danger it puts him in due to the gesture being colossally short-sighted is kind of exactly the sort of thing Gentarou would do five years later! Maybe because of this!!!

Except Yukina takes away Fourze Driver as she mistakes it for a burden, whereas 5 years later Gentarou throws away Fourze Driver as he believes his friend will return to him, which is proven true in HeiGen Final.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

Also, dunno why I didn't realize it sooner, but it's a TIL that Fourze's icons are the same as PlayStation controller's buttons.

Fourze is a PlayStation and EX-Aid is an XBox. Donbrothers also have buttons and D-pads, but I can't identify which console they're from.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

And recently, Tachibana's actor Kousei Amano also returns again in Zeztz as the tertiary Rider Dawn.

Are you still following Zeztz?

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

I guess I can say this better now after watching this episode, as Fourze's first time for me. As shown in this episode, Gentaro still qualifies for the title of True Kamen Rider what the fanbase gatekeeps about, in him sacrificing what he (or maybe what people think humans would want more) wants for the good of others in him constantly fighting and risking his life as a Kamen Rider, preventing himself from spending his youth to have fun. This still fits, at least in fanbase's eyes, "Hongo taking the lonely path is so nobody else has to" (albeit Heisei era onwards do have human allies alongside the main Rider more, for other series too not only KR), where Gentaro lets others spend their younger days having fun by spending his time fighting monsters as Kamen Rider. So I guess, Gentaro would do nothing to deter those fanbase's martyrdom complex.

Unfortunately, yeah, seems like gatekeepers still miss the whole point about Gentarou's motivation despite Yuki literally spelling it out for Yukina and the audience that fighting is simply what he does, not something he forces himself to do out of necessity. Asking him not to fight is asking him not to be Gentarou and that really would be a sacrifice that benefits nobody. Fighting can be a way to protect your friends and depending on the redeemability of the enemy, it can be a way to make new friends.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

I'll talk more about this later when we see another side of Leo's personality, but for now, I'll agree about his entertaining rivalry with Hayami and good taste in walnuts. I guess one of the Horoscopes needed to fill this role, as it's not like you can expect to find the total mystery of Virgo casually drinking at a bar.

...I would actually love the surreal image of the Virgo suit seated next to Hayami in a classy and subdued Kyoto bar.

[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER FOURZE: ROCKET DRILL STATES OF FRIENDSHIP

originally posted on December 13th, 2021, as part of “Kamen Rider Die rewatches Legend Rider projects (and more!)”



I’m not crazy about the Interactive era of HBVs, but this one keeps it relatively unobtrusive. It’s just, the consequences of the choices -- the difficulty of choosing the correct choices -- were weirdly distracting to me.

Like, the first choice is Which Switch Should Fourze Use On The Monster: Rocket, Drill, Launcher, or Radar? All of the offensive ones fail, and the correct choice is Radar. Except, all Radar does is intercept an incoming Ryuusei call, directing Team Fourze to go find Kamen Rider Amazon and pick up an HBV-exclusive collectible. That’s not predictable from the choices and setup provided! That’s like having the correct choice be the Hammer Switch, because the monster had an unpleasant encounter with MC Hammer at a Burger King in 1993. There is no way to have known that when you’re making the choice!

The ending choice is sort of the same thing: Choose between Amazon’s friendship sign and Fourze’s. Seems like a little bit of fluff; can’t possibly affect the outcome of the fight. Except it does, because Fourze’s friendship sign causes Amazon to cough up the Clear Drill Switch -- the thing that actually defeats the villain -- early enough to keep the villain from escaping. You go with Amazon’s friendship sign, the villain escapes and you don’t get to see the (presumably bundled with the magazine) brand-new Switch in action. Again, how could anyone intuit that from the story being told? This is presented like an innocuous choice, but it’s potentially depriving you of the better, longer ending.

Besides me yelling at a nearly decade-old piece of entertainment made to sell toys to children for being too difficult (THEY CHEAT), I really enjoyed this special. This was the first place I got to know Amazon, and he’s still one of my favorite Riders I Don’t Truck With. He’s an adorably innocent Rider, and his baseline belief in making friends is perfectly in tune with Fourze’s excitability. Just two Riders who want to be friends. To quote Keanu Reeves, “It’s always nice, when it’s nice.” Sure, he was talking about people reprogramming a video game to have sex with his digital avatar, but I think the same thing applies to two superheroes teaching each other unique handshakes. It’s always nice, when it’s nice.

It’s also nice to see a writer hit a minor roadblock, and then drive through it with such lunatic gusto that you can’t imagine why people drive around things. Ryuusei has told Team Fourze (for this special, that’s just Gentaro, Kengo, and Yuki) that they’ll need to travel all the way to South America to find the crucial Astro Switch and gain Kamen Rider Amazon's help. But, like, Fourze’s barely holding on against the monster in Japan. Going to South America, finding Amazon, and getting back to Japan would take almost two weeks.

So what if Fourze fought the monster for twelve straight days? Twelve days of increasingly exhausted combat? Days and nights of increasingly delirious fighting? A final few hours where both combatants are basically gently slapping each other, because all strength has left their bodies and they long for the calming embrace of death?

It would be amazing, and it’s such a terrific middle section that I can forgive it for BLATANTLY CHEATING on the interactive sections. It’s a bonkers conceit, coupled with Yuki and Kengo searching for Kamen Rider Amazon by going to the largest rainforest on the planet and just shouting out AMAZON until they eventually (almost literally!) stumble upon him. It is deliciously stupid, which is exactly what I want every HBV to be.

This was a ton of fun. Amazon and Fourze teaming up is incredibly charming (the little “Chun!” Fourze does when he performs Amazon’s friendship sign!), and the weirdly tortuous journey the other kids go on is like a fever dream. Perfectly ridiculous, and ridiculously perfect.



—

WHITHER TOMOKO



It’s the one flaw of this special, if we’re excluding the baffling and hostile choices provided as alleged gameplay – you’re dropping Tomoko from the Amazon crossover?! The character who arguably does the Amazon call better than either the Showa or Heisei versions of the actual Rider? They at least mention her, which is something, but it’s insane to me that they couldn’t get Tomoko into the mix on this one.

Other than that, this special still works pretty great. I like the implication that Ryuusei refused to help out over the week-plus that Fourze was trapped in mano-a-mano (another Amazon reference all along?!?!?! no) combat with a Mutamid, seeing that Fourze’s battle was too silly for Meteor’s assistance. It’s an HBV perfectly calibrated for Fourze’s unique blend of adolescent shenanigans and triumphant teamwork. Too bad that Yuuki and Kengo never came home!

[Androzani84]

For me, the funniest thing about this is the fact that Amazon’s entrance cuts from some old footage from the 70s of him on his bike to the newly shot scenes of just the suit.

And Suddendeath still doesn’t get to fight Skyrider, despite being based on a villain from one of his movies.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Androzani84

And Suddendeath still doesn?t get to fight Skyrider, despite being based on a villain from one of his movies.

Maybe he'll get to come back a THIRD time!

[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER FOURZE EPISODE 35 - “MONSTER LIVE ON-AIR”



I remember two things about this story from when I first watched it years ago: I really liked it for the JK stuff, and I really disliked it for the Horoscopes stuff.

I’ve definitely changed my mind on the second part. I remember originally feeling like the Horoscope introductions were badly paced, relative to the run of the series – cramming in five Horoscopes over a dozen episodes, where we’d previously gone dozens to introduce a single new one. But with the closure of the Hole in Kyoto creating a reason for greater cosmic energy in Amanogawa, and Libra’s new Eye of Laplace more easily scouting out new Horoscopes (I wish he’d done the Taisen thing of saying HOROSCOPE PARTICLES DETECTED endlessly; missed opportunity), I think it works just fine? It sort of sucks to have to had jump through a bunch of hoops back in the 20s to generate a Horoscope, where here it happens entirely off-screen, but it also speaks to the higher floor of danger the show has for its narrative. Fourze’s leveled up, alongside the cast, so it just makes sense to be All Horoscopes All The Time. We don’t need to keep the show in a storytelling stasis, when there are bigger things on the horizon to worry about.

Which is another way of saying that I still love this JK story. The GeneGod story… it might be my favorite one on the show? Which is nuts, considering that a) the show has largely forgotten that JK’s existed for the last dozen stories, and b) he’s still probably my least-favorite KRC member. But I like how this story feels like it’s in direct conversation with JK’s original two-parter, in the ways it wants to talk about JK’s ability to value friendships beyond the transactional. It’s a story that allows JK’s fears from his past to color his hopes for the future, and asks him to weigh different friendships against each other to determine what those friendships are worth to him.

We start off with God, who isn’t another guy that JK wronged or is trying to manipulate – he’s a friend of JK’s and a guy that JK spends half the episode trying to protect from the KRC. It creates a more contemplative and bittersweet lens for this story – lit with moody neon and wistful sunset – where JK has another, equally vital friendship, but one that’s pulling him in a different direction. JK is genuinely protective of God, and wants what’s best for him: first, it’s trying to get the Horoscope Switch away from, then it’s shutting down the radio show that’s harming its listeners, but eventually it’s going along with God’s dream.

That arc through the episode, it just feels right? I buy it, in a way that still flatters JK’s hard-fought decency and sense of loyalty. It’s not a quick change, him throwing aside the KRC to be more than whatever his dad turned out to be. The episode slowly brings us along with JK, to see him become the performer he always wanted to be, but clearly wasn’t. (To have to stand there and listen to his friends be like That Song We Heard Was Too Good To Be Gene! Jesus!) To get the chance to be the star he always dreamed of, to not squander it or miss his shot like his dad might’ve, and to get to do that alongside a friend who remains the only one to believe in his hidden talent? Isn’t that worth giving up the brief friendship of the KRC? A club he joined a few months ago, that’s bound to disband or transform in a few more months once even more friends graduate? Is it worth missing out on his future in order to honor his present?

And that’s why I like this story so much – in the end, it’s just about high school. The friendships of high school are all-encompassing, until they inevitably evaporate. That’s either beautiful to someone like Gentarou – a chrysalis to turn us into our ideal selves – or terrifying to someone like JK, who sees these valuable friendships now as an anchor that’s keeping him from his dreams. The struggle of that, balancing what you owe to the people in your lives now versus what you need to do for your own future, that’s a perfect high school story. It makes sense that Fourze would knock it out of the park, and it’s still slightly unbelievable that they did it with JK.

p.s. I love the KRC band so, so much.