It seems that Ryusei has gone closer to the main cast, with him acknowledging that he's not really different from them, as he also wants to make a friend smile, like the view he dismissed Gentaro before, but only one person. And he also acknowledges that the KRC has done good for him and he's grateful to them. It's a shame in-universe that things would go even darker than this shortly after. Some people mock the do-gooder type of Riders (usually main) who only got handed by their powers and don't rightfully "earn" it, yet the jerkish secondary Rider Ryusei got that here where he just constantly begs Tachibana to give him another chance, where he finally got given his belt back as well as an upgrade. Tachibana seems cold to ignore Ryusei's pleas for Jiro, but he seems to appreciate Ryusei helping the KRC and he earns his belt back by this. You'd think this is a lesson from him to make Ryusei appreciate his relationships.

Yeah, I do think that Meteor Storm looks worse than base Meteor, I think the gold and blue is downgrade, it looks more toyish compared to the slick base Meteor color combination. And I guess, even Meteor Storm's weapon is a literal toy, a spinning top named Storm Topper. Emphasizing the "blade" part of beyblade. Technically though, a spinning top can be like a drill, but much smaller in size. And Meteor Storm's debut's fighting was rather ordinary, unlike many other cases where usually a Rider's debut fight is the flashiest, and best one for their fights compared to their other screentimes, it's only the finisher that rips Cancer to pieces. I wonder if they only use a rod in Meteor Storm Shaft for Meteor Storm as the actor may have difficulties using nunchakus (it can be learned, like I do), but there are tokus that make use of that, like Ultraman Leo.

This just feels like Kobayashi's shows about something conveniently happening to Jiro, albeit for opposite part, where there's Eri (Ren's fiancee) waking up in Ryuki and also Shingo waking up in OOO. And I guess, in addition to spinning top as weapon, where usually, that kind of match in Japanese shows are seen as only about merchandise driven (though KR is also one...) and not making sense to settle things through those games, this 2-parter also has the main threat from Kijima beiing about deadly games, where one bets their soul for it, rather than him attacking others as monster. Otherwise, while here, friend is about modeling good behavior for others (as Gentaro's way of doing his protecting everyone's smiles like other Riders is becoming their friend), friend can also be about enabling bad behavior in them, because of selective care that one naturally cares more about friend, but they won't care about others they don't know that are negatively affected by a friend, which is still technically helping a friend to gain what they want and their happiness.

He defeated a giant CG crab monster! That's plenty flashy!

Despite the two parter’s best efforts, I still kind of hate Ohsugi. It doesn’t help that he spends it doing stuff that, in real life, would result in him being at best, fired, at worst, arrested.

I did like the idea of Haru being savvy enough to go after the creepy dude who gave him superpowers to learn his identity, even if it amounted to very vague information.

If only the police were allowed to investigate Amanogawa High!

I feel that Ran is overbearing to Haru, to want to protect him, but being overprotective of him and preventing him from making friends with anyone else except her. Rather clear that Haru wants to become a Musca Zodiarts to prove himself to Ran. A case when a 'support' from a friend, something usually seen as preventing someone's darkness, has the friend being pushed to darkness instead, pressing the Switch after Ran assures to protect Haru. I see for many other cases, a story would have someone who is ostracized by others, getting only one friend that is portrayed as just enough. Here, it's the opposite where having only one friend isn't seen as something good (I mean, it's clear about what's the MC of this series is), and Haru wants to make more friends than just Ran. I think for school, it's not enough, because teachers can forcibly separate you from them in new class or pair you with those you don't know well for group tasks.

Ohsugi gains a lot more power over the students as the new homeroom teacher (with Utsugi's actress only appearing at the movie and the finale), to move the three "delinquents" ahead of the seat row, then getting a chance to stalk and follow them. At the end, he successfully discovered the Rabbit Hatch, despite some resistance from Yuki's Foodroids. Ohsugi's vendetta against Gentaro is revealed due to thinking that Sonoda retired because she can't stand Gentaro. Gentaro seems to rub several teachers the wrong way in Sonoda (at least for him calling her with -chan or being late), Satake, and Ohsugi (extension from some scuffles with Sonoda there). I wonder if the cast, either the kids or Ohsugi, would eventually know that Sonoda's actually Scorpio and the reaction for it.

Sadly, Ryusei isn't even focused on protecting Jirou's smile, as he's been willing to do things that would make Jirou cry. The judgment of his new friends and ability to see his past mistake in Kengo are exactly the kind of conflict he needs to get back in touch with his morals.

The part where Ohsugi gets mildly attacked by the obviously fake rabbit prop is amusing and would be hard to take seriously if it were happening to anybody except Ohsugi. Following Shun's Rider tackle, this episode ends on another memorable cliffhanger which is dramatic for KRC's integrity yet relentlessly comedic, since it's Ohsugi.

Yeah, like, I get Ran just got out of middle school and all, but even by that standard she's way too childish for me to tolerate. If it was just the cold shoulder, or aggressively flipping teachers, or being insensitive towards her only friend's feelings, then that would be more okay. All of them at once is obnoxious and makes me gravitate even harder towards the much more enjoyable Ohsugi plot.

Especially when you consider that Sonoda was one of those students whose life got derailed by a teacher giving her a Switch. While Ohsugi doesn't know the full story, he believes that following the rules is necessary to keep everybody safe, so finding out the faculty aren't playing by those rules is reason enough for him to join the KRC. Even if it's only so these teenagers have a "wise voice" to guide them, which they won't argue with as long as it means they can keep operating. Honestly, I think he's a great addition and the only thing this episode is missing is the Gentarou handshake. (nice pun BTW)

Sounds like this will affect your ranking.

Well, guys like Gentarou are right there, but it doesn't stop some people from gatekeeping the title of True Kamen Rider.

I honestly don't remember if she comes back from the Zodiart Zone or whatever it was called (Dark Nebula, just remembered, but I like "Zodiart Zone" so much better), but it was kind of a bummer to have her storyline wrap when it did without ever having the cast deal with her identity. Kind of made that whole plot go nowhere for me?

I really liked how shook he was by the implication that it was a teacher who was preying on the students, instead of just some terrifying space monster. Like, there's a real guy under the sexual harassment and casual student grappling and suspender snapping and pratfalls and sweaters, and getting to see that guy treat this situation with some gravity really made everything else about him feel less cartoonish.

Last time I watched the show I remember thinking Ran and Haru were a lot of lost potential: interesting characters that could have been fun additions to the show if Fourze was allowed to either expand or change its cast. After this viewing I'm going to have to revise that: Ran is an interesting character with potential; Haru is also there. Is there maybe something to him that could be worked with in terms of his poor self-esteem and general weenieness? Probably. But given how much screen time the secondary batch of KRC members are getting I don't think he would've gotten much development. Ran seems pretty fully formed, though, and her proclivity for Akido-tossing everyone could make for a reliable source of comedy. In any case, you can practically feel the writers backing themselves into a corner when they realize that these characters would make a great fit for new members of the KRC but they couldn't actually add new cast members to the show.

I stand by my comments on Ohsugi, though. The "3-2-1" with close-ups of him pulling increasingly silly faces still absolutely kills me.

Yeah, I think Haru and Ran's story could've been a little more valuable if there was some sense that we were investing long-term in their growth -- like JK's story, or Tomoko's evolution -- or if this was a series built to run longer than a year. Instead, we're in a very dense story of two kids that's also simultaneously simplistic, and then at the end Kengo's like We'll See You In A Few Months; it's a standard Switch Story, despite how much work is done on the Haru/Ran stuff.

Fun fact about Jiro and Ryusei, or specifically, the people who portray them. It's no secret Jiro's actor Ryusei Yokohama went on to play Hikari/ToQ4 in ToQger after this. But it's even more crazy that both him and Ryo Yoshizawa, who portrays Ryusei/Meteor both went on to become big names after this show.
Be it a blockbuster or a critically acclaimed art film, they've been in at least one or two after this show. And in 2025, they're co-stars again in this film about rival kabuki actors, one from a major lineage, the other who isn't.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0KfXj3Skao