Not like Kengo was a friend to the KRC members anyway before, it's one-sided in others' favor for the friendship, so don't expect Kengo to fulfill the expectations of a friendship with him being terrible friend before. He's a jerk though despite fulfilling protective mission, as you explained here, though a handful of people I've known seem to think that these kind of problematic behaviors don't matter as long as you aren't the one seen as the cause behind disasters like mass death (e.g. being blamed for unwittingly causing a villain to rise). And maybe some'd see Kengo as only being 'terrible' here due to freaking out of being trapped in moon which is normal for people to lash out (but for Kengo, his usual behavior is also like this). Only at the end Kengo acknowledges them as his friends, with his handshake to Gentaro and also reporting to his dad about making friends. Kengo definitely goes through the softening/rehabilitating kind.

But Yuuki gets him, even if she normally indulges him. We’ve gotten 11 episodes of Yuuki gently steering Kengo to variable success, while placating his wounded ego and sweetly suggesting some new outlooks to him, but this time she needs to have a talk with Kengo. Kengo’s trapped on the moon – which is, you know, still a pretty big deal! – but he’s lashing out at the people closest to him, whether he wants to admit it or not. He’s missing how they’re not only working to rescue him, they’re working to honor him by continuing to fight the Zodiart that’s menacing the school.

I guess for this one, it's seen that Fourze tried to reach moon with his bike, but it failed, it doesn't seem to be about putting the Zodiart first before the friend, despite Yuki's claim of Gentaro prioritizing Zodiarts first. And I guess Yuki talked with Kengo before Makise was beaten, so it doesn't seem to be about prioritizing Zodiart before Kengo, it was equal prioritization at best, dividing tasks between KRC members. I do think though, Gentaro wanting to befriend everyone means he shouldn't only prioritize the main circle (like Kengo) over people who don't seem important enough in the narrative.

Maybe Fourze can use any items to attack Makise, but Electric is the upgraded form, so he used that. The important one is maybe the stealth one, like Verde does. At the end though, everyone gathered to the moon to visit Kengo, so Yuki would be wrong by saying this. Makise's deal is about approaching multiple girls and got rejected, so it explains him moving on from Yuki to others, after failing to previous girls before Yuki, and wants to get revenge on them by sending them to ocean.

JK knows this, which is why to him, Rabbit Hatch can be turned into a tourist attraction.

Makise seems to be who Gentaro refused to befriend, with him not being given similar reaction to the previous Zodiarts (who are obviously more sympathetic, though). Gentaro letting the girls giving Makise his just desserts can be used as a benchmark on how heroes shouldn't be so forgiving, like what Gentaro does here. Which I wonder what kind of people who does not deserve the heroes' kindness should still have the heroes being kind to them, or to have the hero go hateful and holding grudge into, outside of about how the audience knows the backstory so they're not a lost cause. Usually to people, it seems that more grounded evil type (where you seem to tolerate mass murder) like incels such as Makise is the one they'd see as nothing more than a monster, but this'd apply too for other uncomfortable crimes that people'd complain if the heroes doesn't have the "appropriate" reaction (like endless grudge to them), like abusive guardians, people in positions of power, bullies, etc.

Kengo was trapped on the moon to die! I think it's okay to make him a priority!

KAMEN RIDER FOURZE EPISODE 21 - “A MISGUIDANCE COUNSELING SESSION”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../fourze21a.png

It’s an action-heavy episode of Fourze, but still one that manages to hit at a topic that very few other Kamen Rider shows can cover.

This show takes place in high school, and that’s not forever, no matter badly you do in class. (Even Gentarou is bound to either graduate or get kicked out!) Kids will inevitably grow up, move on, and find lives outside of the very specific social circle they’ve developed over their educational journey. And it’s not just the students whose time in the halls of a place like Amanogawa High can be fleeting – teachers also come and go, as Ohsugi hilariously and melodramatically grapples with in this episode.

(Ohsugi… man, he’s so much better once Sonoda’s gone. He’s still a creep and an irritant, but he’s so much more self-involved and pathetic, and it just makes his schtick infinitely more palatable to me. Him having a full-on breakdown in the hallway because he misses being a harassing creep to Sonoda is fun, while him being a harassing creep to Sonoda was not fun.)

That idea of everyone moving on, it’s a thing that most of these shows don’t really touch on until their final arc, if at all. The doctors in Ex-Aid are still going to be doctors when the show ends. Banjo and Sento will still be friends when Build ends. Takumi will still be a petulant handful when 555 ends. But Fourze (and Gotchard, but less so) is a show that’s telling you in Episode 21 that some folks are already planning the next phase of their lives. Shun and Miu are graduating in the summer, and that’s it for them and the KRC. Kengo, Yuuki, and Gentarou are figuring out what they’ll be doing in a couple years when they graduate. (Kengo’s like NO I CAN STAY IT’S COOL is such a sweet little note, him needing to finish his dad’s mission, no matter what.) Everyone’s aware that this situation – them being friends in the KRC – is as temporary as the fight against the Zodiarts, and that gives a real melancholy sheen to this show, and the strange gravity its exerted on its cast.

Like new teacher Haruka!

She clearly and loudly doesn’t want to be a teacher, which is a very neat change from Sonoda’s phony kindness and empathy. (Which, quick aside: I love how Ryuusei is the first one to clock that Hayami is up to something, because he sees the same bullshit geniality he’s using to deceive the KRC, which means Hayami is also trying to deceive them. Great character beat!) She’s doing a job she hates, because she can’t do the thing she loves. It’s a fun viewpoint to explore, the unhappy teacher, the one who’d rather be anywhere but Amanogawa. It’s mostly setup in this episode, tied to the mystery of the Pegasus Zodiart, and since I mostly don’t remember who the actual culprit is, I can’t spend as much time talking about how Haruka impacts this story.

Aside from, you know, all the fighting!

It’s, again, an action-heavy episode, where even the basic high school scenes get little moments of Haruka almost assaulting students and colleagues alike, which is another problem that the Amanogawa High HR department seems unwilling to address. (The Chairman’s gotta do better on his hiring standards! You can’t cosmically-hypnotize away every workplace violation forever!) With a Zodiart that just wants to test their strength and skills against anyone – from karate guys in a nighttime training session at a playground (???), to a lone jogger, to Libra (!!!) – it’s no surprise that kinetic and tense fight scenes are where this episode spends the majority of its time. (We even get a massive battle against Virgo and Dustards at the quarry!) It’s all really well done, with the Pegasus suit actor doing some incredibly fast and powerful moves against a variety of opponents, while Meteor and Fourze show off their different styles in several fights. It’s just a brawling episode, and few series are as well-suited to that concept than Fourze.

Story-wise, this one was maybe bit more mystery and setup than I’d like, despite the amount of action (feels like we should’ve gotten the Pegasus reveal as the cliffhanger?), but it’s all done with such a rich level of style that I can’t complain. We’re still spending time on the character relationships, we’re still talking about a life beyond the KRC, we’re still getting Miu’s hyper-competent leadership (even if it kills Shun), and we still have a shot like this:

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/fourze/tomokoko.gif

...played by Ayumi Shimozono, no less, which instantly makes this one of my favorite episodes of Fourze nowadays simply for being as close as I can get to a guest appearance from Magine! Now, you might think that makes as much sense as saying Fourze was basically in Gozyuger just because Takaiwa showed up, or that it would at least be more pertinent to instead mention the fun coincidence that Shimozono would later be the suit actor for another high school Rider with a predominantly white costume, but if that's where your mind goes first, it's only because you aren't as obsessed as me!

Anyways, yeah, this is the first Sakamoto-directed episode since 4, although I doubt anyone would need me to point that out after seeing it. Even without the bonus I just mentioned, this was always a particularly memorable one. It like it's just... an even more Fourze episode of Fourze than usual, you know?

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/saber/magine.gif

i can't believe reika hacked fish's account

her brother is going to be pissed

Making a friend/family a priority is always ok in people's eyes for any conditions. For obvious reasons yeah, but like Kengo claims in this episode, not prioritizing loved ones first can often get them accused as terrible friend/family member who abandoned them, thus it's what I pointed out. Perhaps like something such as someone who has a family, but can often "neglect" them (spent little time with then, even though if they're loving if they're with family) due to feeling responsible to take care of public safety.

Sure, but a) they weren't prioritizing Kengo, they were actually prioritizing his mission, which is why they put a pin in rescuing him in order to stop the Zodiart, and b) if they were prioritizing Kengo, it wouldn't be because he was a good friend or a valuable teammate, it'd be because he was trapped on the moon.

Episode 21. I already discussed the guest star back in the W thread and I ain’t going back through two years of discussion threads to quote myself.

But I will point out that the DX version of the Zodiarts Switch represents the featured Zodiarts by having it so pressing the button outside of “Last One” mode triggers a “Zukaan” (encyclopedia) mode, that has Scorpio listing the constellations that got Zodiarts in Japanese and English (eg. Ikakuju-za: Unicorn), and the MotW Zodiarts stop at Pegasus, before going to the Horoscopes in order (namely, Ohitsuji-za: Aries to Uo-za: Pisces). Thankfully, his series is where P-Bandai got its start, and they released an updated version that featured all the ones from the show (with the other big change being replacing Scorpio’s voice with Gamou’s)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=3G_pL5Bm...vPQHHI7CTpl0Y1

Ryo Hayami, who played the lead role of Keisuke Jin, later married and had two children with his co-star Naoko Miyama. But who did she play in the series?
A) Ryoko and Kiriko Mizuki
B) Chiko
C) Medusa

Episode 27 is a commemorative special focused on the 5 Kamen Riders. But what milestone does it commemorate?
A) 200 episodes
B) 5 years
C) None. It?s just a special episode.

In the second half of the series, G.O.D switches to using monster based on real historical figures. But which of these is not an actual monster that resulted from this?
A) Toad Goemon
B) Bat Rasputin
C) Centipede Youkihi

Makise committed attempted mass murder and I wouldn't say I tolerate it, especially for such a petty reason as being rejected by girls. My ability to forgive is generally dependent on seeing remorse and a sincere effort to atone. Makise is a despicable person for being a self-entitled creep, blaming the girls for making him evil instead of taking personal responsibility for his behavior. For him to earn my forgiveness and certainly, Gentarou's friendship, then at minimum, he'll need to prove he's not like that anymore.

Hmm, feels like I've seen this screencap somewhere before. Ryusei's bored expression is amusing.

I have to pity Ohsugi. While his attachment to Sonoda was unhealthy and unreciprocated, he seems like he has some abandonment issues that push him to cling to familiarity, like how he's often thinking and talking to himself about Gentarou even when he's in a good mood.

That's how it is for the west, but Shun and Miu will actually be graduating in spring.

A homeroom teacher isn't only a job after all, it's a long term relationship with students who all have different fears and dreams. Of course, it makes sense that Utsugi can't be a good guidance counselor when she doesn't even know what she wants to do. Fortunately for her, she has a good persistent student who's willing to help her find her way. Anyway, in case Androzani's reminder wasn't clear, you may remember the actress as Shirogane Lily, the Invisible Dopant! I recall you were disappointed with her previous performance, so I'm curious to know if you think she's improved.

The Claw, Board and Winch combo was enjoyable for sure!

Neat! Thanks!

I may remember her... but I didn't! I think her work here is passable, but not as nuanced as it maybe should've been. She comes off too much like a contemporary of Gen, rather than an authority figure -- the performance makes her sound like a disaffected teen, rather than a disillusioned adult. It all vaguely works, since Utsugi isn't on screen a ton in this episode, but I had to keep reminding myself that Gen was not befriending yet another Amanogawa High student. Like, she's literally 10 years older than the actor playing Gen, but the performance aims it like she's his age. Maybe this was a specific choice the crew made, to not make it seem weird? I don't know. It wasn't great, but it wasn't worth calling out as something I disliked.