It's Ryusei playing along to infiltrate, but didn't expect that turns out AGHS doesn't have a dress code, so Gentaro did nothing wrong by keeping his current outfit. Thus Ohsugi is just being mean to the students because he can, as his motto of how students and teachers shouldn't be friends. Ryusei's main difference to people like Kengo is that Ryusei puts up an act to others while hiding his disdain, while Kengo openly shows his disdain towards the surrounding people. Though I wonder if Kengo isn't made to accept friendship faster by ep. 12 and still act like how he was at the start, he can fill Ryusei's role in becoming a Rider (that fits with his weak constitution) that is focused on saving a loved one (his dad rather than his friend) and has conflict with the main Rider for it.

It's ironic that there's a scene of Gentaro successfully making friends with most of the student bodies in school, contrasting ep. 1, thus he proves Yuki wrong about how schools need to be divided into groups, yet previously, there's a scene of people hiding their disdain for Gentaro, not only Ryusei and Sonoda for obvious reasons, but also Anko. It's indeed heroism to have Gentaro wanting and succeeding to give positive impact, of which while I agree of this being heroism, I do wonder about what defines heroism as some'd think kindness and being a good person doesn't equate heroism, that it's only reserved for high-stakes/risk situations or if they're self-sacrificing. It's typical for rival type characters to dismiss friendship, and they'd not acknowledge the value of others, they see other people as just burden. I guess it can be proven true in his eyes in JK being used as a hostage against Lynx. Kengo isn't wrong that Gentaro is indeed an idiot, he doesn't do well in academics. But his value is being a social expert in understanding others.

It can feel that Meteor's regular attack seems stronger than its Limit Break with him punching with huge Jupiter ball rather than just punching with blue energy. I often feel KR finishers are bland like this, only having attacks with energy effects, though dunno if this is about paying respect to the Showa Rider finishers. I also wished that Meteor's Rider Kick would be a literal meteor, perhaps something like Kiva to descend from a great height and making an AoE crater to the ground. I guess as a Kamen Rider Bruce Lee, Meteor vs Fourze is also about martial artist vs street fighter. The stereotype is also that martial artists are honorable while street fighters are more likely to fight dirty.

Heroic yeah, but as with many other secondary Rider, Meteor's anti-heroic type as well. He's like Ren or Makoto where their motivation is to save their loved one, and while they generally beat up monsters and saving people, their priority is said loved ones, so they can be complicit in the continuation of a threat, like Ren wanting to learn to kill by freeing Asakura or Ryusei letting Lynx go and as pointed out, can still have Lynx threatening others.

That's totally fair, but a) it's not really something the show comes out and states, and b) I'd've appreciated a little bit of narrative cover for Ryuusei to acknowledge that detonating Cygnus is kind of the exact opposite of his whole mission, even if he instinctively knows that stopping Cygnus is the right thing to do. Like, Ryuusei's on a journey, and he's being shaped by the KRC in ways that he might not even be fully aware of yet, but him up and destroying Cygnus feels like a massive step that the show treats like no big deal. (Again, no one comments on it!)

The little planets Meteor punches with are indeed pretty cool!

KAMEN RIDER CLUB MEETING – QUIZ: KAMEN RIDER URBAN LEGENDS!! EPISODE 06

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Tomoko! Too precious for this ruined world.

I like how much of this one was the kids remarking that various aspects of Kamen Rider Amazon were either cute (Mole Beastman, the Junglar, Amazon’s legs) or Showa-casual levels of horrifying (a bloodied Amazon, or Amazon nearly getting run over by a roller coaster). It’s a fun way to look at classic shows, even if jaded fans of Heisei – not naming names – cannot be bothered to appreciate Showa Riders in their original context.

Also, man, The Ichigou/Nigou Team is seriously unbeatable! Tomoko is exactly right that someone needs to break up that team to preserve the spirit of competition. (Although, really, I think it’s Shun who’s unbeatable, right? He’s won with both Kengo and Miu.) They never run away with a game, but they’re so consistently winning that it somehow feels like no other team is ever really in it. Give someone else a (Ryuusei) chance!

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I also want to know and learn more regarding this if you can?

I mean, I think of heroism as kindness when unkindness or indifference is easier; the scale is sort of irrelevant to me. Heroism can be fighting a monster that wants to bring ruin to humanity, but it can also just be letting someone know they aren't alone when it'd be easier to ignore them. I think that's something Kamen Rider has been great at showing throughout its history, and one of the things that's made me a fan of it.

So the Amazon quiz was harder to do than the others, since a lot of fodder for good questions is either in the official one, or could be answered by watching something else. But I still came up with something, so I?ll start by saying the answer key to the X quiz was A, C, B, and move on.

In spite of his supernatural origin, Amazon is still considered a modified human like the other Showa Riders. How?
A) The ancient mystic grafted the Gigi Armlet onto his arm.
B) He has an artificial heart from a childhood accident.
C) A fragment of wood is lodged within his ankle.

Amazon is notably the only Showa Rider from the first 5 years not to meet any of his predecessors and initially doesn?t ride a bike. So how does he receive the name ?Kamen Rider??
A) It?s the loose translation of the ancient Incan title he inherited.
B) A couple of kids note that he reminds them of past Riders and give him the name.
C) He reads it in the newspaper and thinks it sounds catchy.

Amazon has a different narrator to the other Rider shows from the 70s and early 80s. But who was it?
A) Eisuke Yoda
B) Shun Horie
C) Goro Naya

Thanks for the fun quiz!

Gentaro isn't smart in academics, but what he's good for is reading and understanding people. So I guess this makes him less naive than a handful of goody-two-shoes to know Ryusei's game to some degree. Maybe there's a reason why Gentaro seems to be more successful in winning jerks as friends compared to people like Shinji from Ryuki. I thought Gentaro would already know that Ryusei is Meteor based on this scene, but turns out that Ryusei punching him gets him accepted into KRC, albeit it makes sense that Gentaro praises Meteor based on that, unlike the two-faced Ryusei.

And ironically, Meteor may also see Fourze as superficial and fake like the view of honest enemy vs fake friend, with him thinking that Fourze looks for validation from others. It can seem that to some, likely Meteor included, being honest means being asshole who highlights negative traits while being kind is done for ulterior motives. Otherwise, seems that against the Dustards, Yuki can do some fighting with tools. And the justice talk here fits the usual KR theme of how the term justice is relative to people and can be misused heavily, despite Tomoko having good intentions to point out about Kamen Riders fighting for justice as a genuine fangirl. Kamen Rider in Showa though, says that human life is more important than peace and justice.

As I said previously, this is probably a dim view of mine, but my view of a friend is about exclusively treating certain people better than others. So indeed, as said here, those who aren't a friend of someone can be seen as expendable, depending on the person. Which is why I think having friends or being shown to be a good friend of someone doesn't necessarily mean one is a good or heroic person. Examples ranging from bullies in school with circle of friends, to extreme ones like exterminating certain group like cockroaches, the people they exclude from those actions still qualifies for a friend to them. Gentaro's the type who cares for everyone like most other main Riders, not only about the main circle, but his way is treating everyone as a friend.

KAMEN RIDER FOURZE EPISODE 25 - “THE PROBLEM WITH GRADUATING”

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It’s so Kamen Rider to have the story where Shun is at his most cartoonish – he literally dresses as America Clown for this episode’s cliffhanger – to be the one that takes the Shun/Miu relationship the most seriously.

As much as I enjoy Shun’s romantic flights of fancy, partially for how it exposes Gentarou’s romantic (and also Romantic) nature in pursuit of an idealized high school experience for his buds, I really like how much this episode grounds Shun in regret and a more mature level of admiration for Miu. Shun dated Miu because she was the most popular girl in school, and he was the most popular boy in school, and that was the end of the equation for him; she was arm candy, not a serious emotional investment. Then she wised up, self-actualized, and he figured out what he was missing. That’s the part I like the best: this isn’t a story about Shun being a horndog or a possessive weirdo or whatever, this is Shun realizing that he’s fallen in love with the Miu who leads the KRC, and that Miu’s worth looking like a clown for.

But Miu isn’t making it easy on him, because she’s got her own problems to deal with, and those problems do not have time for Shun’s grandiose attempts at reconciliation.

My favorite thing about Miu is that she’s genuinely good at her job. The easy way to do a show like this would’ve been to have Miu as some flighty brat who pushes people around without anything motivating her besides her need for attention, while the rest of the Club indulges her as they overcome her distractions and obstacles. But that’s not what this show does. Miu’s spotlight two-parter establishes her as a hard worker and a supremely motivated character – sure, it’s tuned towards popularity contests, but she is running full-tilt on whatever she sets her mind to. Having her declare herself the leader of the KRC and then whip these dorks and delinquents into shape is one of the many things that makes this such a fun show to watch. She became her best self in the KRC, and did something that finally mattered. She’s not ready to give that up yet.

It’s a melancholy story to tell, Shun and Miu graduating. Shun sees their time as a success, but one he can move on from while planning a future with Miu. It’s like football – the season ends and you move on, knowing that the team will continue on without you. But for Miu, the KRC is where she was the version of herself she liked the best – without that purpose and structure, there’s a team that will be great without her, and a girl that won’t have the chance to be her best self. She wants to prepare her friends to excel without her, but she also wants to excel with them. That idea of the KRC being a thing that she wishes she’d found early enough to really appreciate it, that’s a very bittersweet story to tell.

Which I am very happy about! I love a wistful story about moving on, especially when it can be a metaphor for adolescence wrapped up in a Zodiart mystery. Miu acquits herself incredibly well, which was expected (my favorite!), but Shun steps up his game to deliver an alternately on-brand ridiculous performance – every overreaction, every fantasy, throwing himself down a hill in despair – as well as a surprisingly subtle exploration of his genuine love for the woman Miu’s turned into. (That scene on the hill, where he seems so happy to have been able to get to know the real Miu over the last few months… amazing. Amazing!) The monster-fighting aspects are something I’ll probably feel more interested in with the next episode, because this one was all Miu and Shun. I am rooting for these two to be happy!

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Shun dressing up as a clown took me and the friend I watched Fourze with so off guard that it's become a running gag between us ever since.

I might be rather neutral on Fourze as a whole, but it definitely has that specific aspect of it going for it if nothing else.