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Is... Ex-Aid considered a "darker series"? The video game doctor show? And the Riders in neon-colored bike shorts?

KAMEN RIDER FOURZE EPISODE 16 - “GOOD STANDS AGAINST EVIL”

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I’m just a sucker for any Kamen Rider story where a monster’s defeated through art, either psychologically or physically. That this episode manages to do both – Gentarou teaches Motoyama that the point of art isn’t perfection, but connection; also, Fourze uses a Pen Switch to counteract Perseus’s Medusa gauntlet – makes it a winner just on those merits, but it also brings in the whole club for a rousing Christmastime adventure, AND show off a mysterious new Rider. Truly, this is a Santa-worthy haul for any Fourze viewer.

Let’s start things off with the part I cared about the least: The mysterious new Rider who (I think?) goes unnamed for this appearance! It’s not that I don’t care about this comet-shaped hero, but I feel like we’ll get plenty of chances very soon to discuss his asteroid powers or whatever. His fight against Libra is good, but is also the typical Immediately Beats The Guy The Normal Rider Couldn’t secondary introduction, and that trope sort of wears on me a bit. It’s a combination of the Upgrade Form thing, where he’ll never be this powerful ever again, but also just the way it really gilds the lily of how unbelievably cool the new Rider is, by having him easily dispatch the guy who had (a one-handed, but still) Fourze on the ropes earlier in the episode. You make this guy look so cool, he actually becomes kind of uncool to me. Your mileage may vary on our new satellite-themed Rider!

But that’s all a minor distraction from what’s otherwise a super-sold conclusion to a very sweet little story. I like how Motoyama’s problem is all internally-generated – no one forced him to be a perfectionist, or mocked his art – because that’s hilariously true about making art. You are your own worst critic, as the saying goes. Motoyama’s problem is born from his success, where he made something that connected with people, so he wanted to make something better, to connect more, but in doing so he focused too much on making his work flawless, so he forgot that its value was in what it evoked from others. Art can never be perfect, because art is just… it’s like the Fourze handshake. It only operates with multiple people, and the point of it is to convey your feelings. A bunch of kids aren’t looking for high art, they just want something that engages their imaginations and inspires them to make their own art in turn. (Like a weekend tokustasu show!) Motoyama got caught up in his desire to be Better At Art, and in doing so he robbed himself of the desire to make art. By getting out of his own way, and reducing the pressure down to letting the process determine the result rather than forcing the process to generate the result, he’s able to get back the joy his art once brought him and others. It’s a sweet story.

And I loved how Gentarou’s the one to figure this out! Gentarou is fiery, and emotional, and I truly believe that he’s the one member of the KRC that would want to fight for the value of art by emphasizing imperfection. Art’s, again, about conveying feelings to others, and that’s Gentarou’s first and last move when it comes to solving problems. All Gentarou ever wants to do is express himself to other people while learning about them, so he gets what Motoyama’s overlooking. Gentarou’s art is passionate, if technically lacking, and that has value. Gentarou put his love into his childlike crayon drawing of Mt Fuji, and that’s what helped turn the tide against the machinations of Libra. I love that sort of stuff so, so much.

Then it all gets wrapped up with both an all-hands KRC battle against Perseus and Libra, followed by a charming Christmas party in the Rabbit Hatch. A cute little coda to a winning episode, even if Gentarou defaced the goddamn moon at the end. Kengo’s putting some coal in his stocking for sure!

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One thing I always forget from this is JK’s reference to PPAP. Probably because the actor is fluent in English, it doesn’t register to my brain.

I do like how the resolution was Gen teaching the guy that passion for art is more important than quality.

It's a great message, delivered by the one character who does not have the attention-span to really shape his art into anything more than an immediate impulse. (If Kengo was not refining Switches for Gentarou to use, Fourze would be screwed!)

Welcome back!

A version of Gentarou who held ill will towards others would be a severe threat, as he would use his talent for understanding others to determine the most effective way to torment them.

While I'm not going to disagree that Crimson Smash is awesome as hell, I love how Fourze's gimmicks are mostly just mundane heavy duty tools that he uses in creative ways.

I mean, fruit samurai and snack aliens don't sound dark either, but that's a poor way to judge the tone of a show.

As a debut fight, like, yeah, it has to share focus with Fourze finishing the brainwashed Perseus and it's a shame that Libra runs away before the mysterious sparkly black Rider can do his Limit Break. As an introduction though, it's amusing how his first dialogue is taunting Libra about his failed operation, like, you just know he's got a cunning grin under that mask. Maybe his overconventional coolness makes him uncool to you, but I think he commits to the coolness so much that his effort warrants respect!

It's a fitting escalation for Gentarou's friendship streak, from befriending a traumatized ex-Zodiart to befriending an active one. With Hayami being a charismatic bad influence on students, it's definitely the right time for Gentarou to start focusing on how he can help these students before it's too late for them. Good thing Motoyama was introspective enough to consider Gentarou's advice before he attacked the kindergarten and didn't use his full power to petrify Gentarou.

I don't want to spend a lot of time talking about other shows, but: Ex-Aid is not a dark series. That was my first Rider show, and I love it, so I'll goof on it for being a video game doctor show about neon-colored, bike short-wearing superheroes. I was making a joke, but I could've just gone with It's Not A Dark Series if that's a less poor way to judge it.

The joke wooshed over me, but I didn't mean to insinuate that EX-Aid is a dark show, just pointing out that Rider is full of dark stories dressed in ridiculous motifs. I started with Decade and I love that show, but like you, I want to talk about Fourze, not the pink and pink-ish Riders.

Fourze is a show worth talking about!

As a first time Fourze watcher, so I guess it wasn't only Revice as an anniversary show, Fourze as 10 years before anniversary show has a Kamen Rider fanboy with actual references to IRL Kamen Rider shows like George in Revice as well in Tomoko showing the clips of Kamen Rider shows. Another school-theme KR show in Gotchard has Houtaro being the protagonist known as highly energetic (though not my cup of tea), but Gentaro seems to be more of a assertive hardass most of the time rather than being energetic honestly. Forgot to talk that his 'delinquent' traits other than fighting seems to be about him skipping classes or 'causing trouble' like constantly talking in class. He's consistent rule breaker.

Guess the first one Gentaro successfully befriends is Miura, and seems that Gentaro wins people over by his Kamen Rider fighting, seems to be simple and really easy solution in an action-based show. Shun may also be humbled by two kids he dismissed as an idiot actually proving themselves right that they're Kamen Rider and MOTW respectively. Proving that fear and punishment seems to be the effective tool against unlikable people.

So you'd think that Gentaro feels like an asshole for insisting to beat Kengo, I thought that Gentaro, the supposed nice guy, was being an asshole here for immediately going violent and accusing on Tomoko. Something that, well Shinji in Ryuki (also someone who's against unlikable cast members) got called out upon for accusing Ren as child eater (albeit Gentaro did get restrained by Yuki). It's significantly easier to find what's mean about Gentaro than Eiji before. Otherwise, Gentaro's insistent on fighting as Fourze and finding the monster can be also the usual chronic hero syndrome of the heroic lead that also commonly portrayed as them being reckless and never ever backing down. And obviously Gentaro hates thinking, he just acts on impulse as the idiotic hero.

Man, this may sound like how kindness is a weakness to have them not/rarely becoming a severe threat due to their kindness. Like saying that Ryuga is when Shinji isn't restrained by moral compass, thus Shinji becomes weak due to being kind, so people like that don't live up to their full potential. Used to encourage people to stop being kind and consistently in that 'severe threat' mode all the time.

I'd talk more about this when the show reaches Fourze's final form (obviously for this one, I already know from games). My point was more about how Drill stays the same Drill if used like, just regular kick with the Drill attached. And technically Rider Kick with Rocket can be done with Chainsaw too.

I recall you expressing similar thoughts to this about Birth's debut during your OOO rewatch too, and I'm still really confused by this whole "guilty until proven innocent" approach you seem to be taking to these secondary Rider debuts all of a sudden? Like, I want to go ahead and prove the episode innocent, but I'm struggling to figure out exactly what it is you thought was egregious here?

The emphasis on how the new Rider will "never be this powerful ever again" suggests some kind of preoccupation with power scaling that seems strangely... banal for you, so even though I can be reasonably sure you aren't seriously suggesting the new guy only wins because those dastardly writers bumped up his RPG stat levels arbitrarily, for the record... the new guy doesn't "win" a fight in this one? Libra is clearly just testing a mysterious new foe's strength, and chooses to bail once he's had his fill. It successfully distracts him from dealing with Fourze, but it's hardly some one-sided smackdown.

But I guess the real crux of your complaint is that the way the character is portrayed comes off as shilling the new merchandise in a ham-fisted manner? And again, I'm just not sure what exactly the better alternative you're proposing is? Especially since you already know who this guy is, can you really say it somehow doesn't naturally fit that character and his role in the show for his first impression on a viewer to emphasize that he's clearly a skilled fighter above all else? Is he just not allowed to show up as a cliffhanger tease, and they should've held off until the next episode entirely to have him appear?

Don't get me wrong, I get the instinct to declare Gentarou is just like, Your Guy, and thus reject the show's efforts to make you think some other Rider who doesn't comically flail around with a variety of wacky gadgets could possibly be anywhere near as interesting, but if there are Rider shows out there that are doing a poor job figuring out the right balance or justifications for how they portray a new Rider on their debut... I just don't think this is one of them? New guy here is basically just a glorified decoy to let Fourze have the actual hero moment resolving the actual plot, at the end of the day.