[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

Outside of Libra threatening other Horoscopes to obey him, Libra also insists that he takes credit for the faction's achievement like finding Goto.

We are in a phase of the show where Gamou and Leo treat the Dark Nebula like it's got a daily quota, so I think Hayami is just trying to reiterate his worth before he gets put on the 9:55 to the Zodiart Zone. (Also, Hayami is a self-aggrandizing creep.)

[Fish Sandwich]

This probably isn't a two-parter that immediately comes to mind for me when I think of my favorite Fourze stories, but it is one I like quite a bit, so I'm happy to see Die singing its praises in spite/because of the way it focuses in on a supporting character he's generally not otherwise that excited about.

It really does just kinda come together super nicely, as a story that makes sense for JK, and for the show? Taking his whole frivolous partying side, for example, and then expanding that into music specifically as a big theme, letting the sorta mood and tropes that come with that territory color the whole tone in a way that helps it stand apart from other Fourze two-parters -- like, it's hard to really say when it's been a while since I've seen it, but I recall this one feeling particularly... cohesive, I guess. Like there's just this particularly clear intent to the script, which would definitely line up with the way Die is talking about it.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Like there's just this particularly clear intent to the script, which would definitely line up with the way Die is talking about it.

Yeah, it even gets to end in a very melancholy and final way, like Gene was an actual cast member. Normally, you'd end a thing like this with an upbeat Remember Why You Wanted To Sing montage, where JK rediscovers his love of performing with Gotou, and he trains a little harder to be good on his own merits instead of due to the proximity of cosmic energy/drug metaphors, and it's all very hopeful and open-ended. This one... definitely goes the other way! JK acknowledges that Gen asked him to keep at music, and he said no, preferring to leave it in the past and let his future reveal itself through his friendships. It's letting the musical aspirations be a way he was trying to find meaning, but that meaning became kind of a self-destructive trap, when the real meaning happened without him even realizing it. There's a maturity to that, and again: this was a JK story!!!

[DreadBringer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER FOURZE EPISODE 36 - “OUR LAST PERFORMANCE TOGETHER”

It’s also what makes this all so poignant, because – much to his surprise and chagrin – he’s not as self-serving and as cowardly as he appears, even though JK himself isn't aware of that. JK’s made too many real friends to be okay throwing them aside for fame, and he’s sacrificed too much as a member of the KRC to be okay with a bunch of kids wasting away from cosmic shredding. High school is about finding out who you are, and JK discovers that he’s not Gene, because Gene was the dream of a kid who wanted fame at any cost, and was desperate to escape the reality of his limits. But that was a long time ago, and holding onto that fear and desperation, it’s JK forgetting about how he’s grown, and the reasons he wanted fame in the first place.

I guess, what's specifically wrong in this story is, about Capricorn harming others in pursuit of fame, and as what Gentaro puts it, being a phony who took a shortcut with Zodiart power to be famous. But still, dunno what's really wrong to go into separate ways from a friend to chase after dream by itself. As long as it's not using underhanded method or faking it. The ending would be obviously, the usual "right" way of leaving away your dream to spend time with friends (albeit different future path compared to past can be a good lesson too), albeit Gentaro told JK to not give up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Naturally, it’s Gentarou who gets it, after learning who Gene really is; not the pseudonym, but what the identity of Gene really meant to JK. It was about fame, sure, but it was more about being able to express himself, and be seen for what he could be, and connect with others… which is all the things the KRC is already letting him do. He thought he needed God’s Zodiart ability to reach people and be loved, but here’s Gentarou spending a day learning the song that made JK love music, just for a chance to let JK show his authentic self to an audience. JK missed all that in the rush to become a star, hollowing himself out just like his brainwashed fans. He tossed aside the goal for the dream, but luckily his friends were there to remind him of what he really had to offer.

As JK thinks friendship is only temporary and a fraction of someone's life, seems that the solution for JK is the usual modeling good behavior for your friends that has happened before to Ran, and to a lesser extent Ryusei (ep. 28), in Gentaro acting as JK's dad to him, and at the end when JK didn't expect to be forgiven by the KRC, which seems to prove about what you said here of him being loved. Still, this doesn't dispute about how when graduating from high school, people won't see each other anymore, despite being close in high school. I mean, there's Miu and Shun being still a part of KRC, but still it's not addressed (albeit it's only because their college is close to AGHS).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Again, it’s a sweet story of high school, and how easy it can be to hold onto your past when the future is pointing you in a different direction, which is sort of exactly what JK was saying last episode, just 100% reversed in its meaning. It only works if you think that JK is shallow enough to team up with a horned cosmic guitarist at the possible cost of dozens of lives, but lucky for this show, JK is the worst, and so we can see it – but even more lucky for this show, we can see that JK is capable of changing for the better, and maybe he’s been changing this whole time without us even noticing.

Dozens of lives due to the brainwashing of Capricorn... but for another case of seemingly mass brainwashing/life force draining, like Clotho using the Zukyumpire power for this, it's seen as how the villain never killed anyone, has completely clean hand, thus wasn't really bad/wrong (for redeemable talk). It seems to be a hot take for me to think that the bodycount only didn't happen because the plan is foiled in the heroes taking care of those people or beating the villains, but it's seen by people as them purposely not killing. It'd be pointless for the heroes to try to stop them if, according to that view, the villain isn't a real danger with them never having the heart to kill.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Beyond that, this is a pretty good episode of tokusatsu storytelling? The larger Zodiart stuff continues to feel like a series of developments happening without much build-up or foreshadowing – much like JK’s issues with his dad are brought up last episode for the first time literally ever, we get two episode of Horoscopes talking about the lost Core Switch as a big deal that no one really brought up before. (It’s… maybe this was the Horoscope stuff from this story I ended up not liking? Like the Hole in Kyoto, we get zero build-up, and then suddenly it’s all anyone can talk about. There’s got to be a more organic way to set some of these escalations up!) But the smaller Zodiart stuff still works just fine, like the battle between Meteor and Leo. I love any fight where the Rider wins through strategy over power, so I really liked Meteor attacking Leo’s literal Achilles Heel, forcing Leo to abandon a fight that Meteor definitely couldn’t’ve won. It’s also a great way to see some of those old Horoscope suits again, even if the usage here felt a little superfluous. (Leo did not seem to have much of a problem kicking Meteor’s ass in his normal form!)

I guess this is a decent showing of a Rider fight where the choreograph mostly disappoints me, that Ryusei refuses to give up despite Tachibana insisting him to due to how powerful Leo is, and he at least proves Tachibana wrong by making a small step in his rematch by injuring a fragile point of Leo, thus while Meteor didn't beat Leo yet, it made Leo uncomfortable to retreat from the fight. Some cuts like that can be an inconvenience while not being life threatening. Also, there's another Switch combination from Cosmic States, and it's on the theme for Beat, combined with Net, the Beat soundwaves form a net to capture Capricorn's wave and then trap Capricorn inside it along with its own attack.

[Switchblade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

Fourze 35-36

Yeah, so I kinda dragged my feet on this one. I watched the first episode ages ago, but just got around to the second tonight. I'm not a huge fan of this arc. There's some really good JK stuff, but the Zodiart is kind of annoying and most of the other supporting characters get very little to do. I regret the choice, though, because 36 ended up being much better than the set-up in 35 led me to think it would be. The scene with Gentarou playing guitar on stage while JK sang was really good. "Gene" is a really stupid name for your rock god alter ego, though. I thought that at the time and it's still true today.

This is an arc that really works better on rewatch. The Core Switch is first brought up here and it's something that makes way more sense knowing the full story. It still comes out of left field, but at least I know the context better now. There were some more good explanations for why we're getting only Horoscopes now, too, what with the Kyoto wormhole being closed. The show really did a much better job of justifying the villain upgrade than I remembered.

Action scenes were good, too, although Cosmic crapping out when JK temporarily left the KRC feels like a cheap attempt to prolong the story. Not as bad as Machine Chaser in Drive, but the stalling was still palpable. Meteor's continued rivalry with Leo is always fun, though, and I liked both his trick in the second fight and the return of the older Horoscope suits.

Next up is an arc I've been looking forward to: the moment when Yuki completely goes off the deep end.

I'm going to stand by some of what I said here, but honestly I didn't think episode 35 was all that bad this time. I wouldn't rank it as my personal favorite, but all the JK stuff definitely landed with me a lot better this time and I didn't find God/Capricorn as annoying as I did last time.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

But still, dunno what's really wrong to go into separate ways from a friend to chase after dream by itself.

I don't know that the episode makes this clear enough, but what I took away was that JK's dream was about music as a kid, but as a teen it's evolved into something more nuanced and open-ended. If JK really wanted to leave the KRC behind to be a musician, I don't think anyone would've stood in his way, but what he was doing in 35/36 was more about his fear and desperation.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

"Gene" is a really stupid name for your rock god alter ego, though. I thought that at the time and it's still true today.

You think The Demon from KISS has a stupid name?! I mean, he's a terrible human being, but a legend in rock music.

[Switchblade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

You think The Demon from KISS has a stupid name?! I mean, he's a terrible human being, but a legend in rock music.

It's a name that probably sounds cool and foreign to a kid living in Japan but it is incredibly mundane to an adult living in America (so nice, with your bad self).

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

It's a name that probably sounds cool and foreign to a kid living in Japan but it is incredibly mundane to an adult living in America (so nice, with your bad self).

I suppose! I'm just still hung up on the idea that we didn't get a "GeneGod vs Juuga" TTFC special. Karizaki wouldn't let that name be taken by a band that didn't include him!