Date was the perfect foil to Gotou. Cheery and laidback to Gotou's straight faced, serious demeanor.
And considering the previous series's only relief character was Akiko, a character like Date was a godsend.
Liking Date was easier than you think.

only akiko?!!!
the entire cast in double were comedy relief except shotaro and phillip! but none were good at it!

Not really, believe it or not.
They just had more comedic storylines.

tell me one that was not a comedy relief

Pro-tip: A character having a goofy moment/quirk a comic relief character doesn't make.

is santa-chan just a man with a quirk?
is the inspector and his sidekick just two men with a quirk?

Santa chan shows up in like, 3 episodes and a movie.
And yes. Yes they are.

Ryu. Shroud. Sokichi. Ryubee. Saeko. Kirihiko. Isaka - oh dear god, Isaka. Jun. Daido. All the NEVER guys that weren't Luna... man, I kinda want to watch W now. :lol

Even though I still have only watched the first two episodes of Fourze, after hearing so much good things about it and remembering that I have all of it downloaded, I figured I'd give W a shot. And man, am I glad I did.

W is fucking amazing. While I'm only 15 episodes in, I love everything about this show. W's forms, the Dopant designs, the setting, everything in this is amazing.

Since I'll probably finish this very soon, what Rider show do you think I should check out next? Part of me is leaning towards finishing Fourze, while the other is leaning towards watching either Ryuki, OOO or Den-O.

I'd finish Fourze. It's a pretty good series in and of itself.