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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.

I think the show's just having fun with how into character Gentarou is getting with his investigation, and how he lets his emotions ramp things up to a ridiculous degree. It's funny to see him treat Tomoko like a scheming villain, when she's really just a helpful bystander. Gentarou sometimes gets a little too excited for his own good! Just like me, apparently...

I don't want to just write off these very fair criticisms of my writing as just "It was late when I wrote that, and I was tired, and I sort of wasn't feeling Meteor's debut, and I didn't really feel like talking about why because I found the rest of the episode way more interesting for a variety of previously-elucidated reasons", so let me try and say more without hopefully making you even more disappointed in me.

I didn't really hate this scene or anything? I found it a little trite, in a Heisei Q2 Debut way, but I don't begrudge the show a cool new Rider, or the merch to go along with it. Meteor isn't my guy for reasons I'll probably get to down the line, but I don't feel like he unnaturally pulls focus or warps the show through some production-mandated chicanery. (He actually gives Gentarou some of my favorite story beats?) What's here doesn't fatally wound an otherwise stellar episode that does literally everything I want Fourze to do; it was just the part of the show I was less into, and I maybe gave it short shrift in ways that did a disservice to the character's fans, but I wasn't trying to be intentionally malicious or dismissive. I thought it was kind of rote, and I tried to explain why, but I clearly just made things worse than if I'd've just skipped mentioning him at all and stuck to the parts that I found more appealing. This scene was a big enough deal to feel awkward to exclude, but I wasn't feeling it at the time. I'm sorry if it's a worrying trend, or if I've let anyone down. Not my intention!

This was something similar as Kengo in episode 1 against the girl's letter. I wonder if Miu and Kengo's similarity in behavior would be pointed out. This is something that happened to the recurring cast though, unlike Yamano of OOO or Miura in ep. 2 before. Then again, other than Miu destroying the gifts, she still doesn't hide her snotty behavior in front of everyone, of which it doesn't affect her reputation unlike how she treats the gifts (of which she still completely ignores them when she's in public). I feel that for her default behavior she shouldn't only mistreat Gentaro, but just everyone except Shun and her own posse as everyone'd be inferior to her.

Feels like Yugioh about insisting that no items are useless and Gentaro determined to prove about something that seems worthless to others, with as much determination as him wanting to make friends. Gentaro did say that he's about making the impossible possible before, so he's the type to encourage people to constantly chase after your dreams, where not every KR main characters cover this aspect like Eiji or Shoma. But shonen MCs are often the ones who are about being ambitious to a master dream, they won't inspire the jaded audience though.

Then again, it's not like Gentaro would be the only one who wants to befriend Miu. Miu is so popular in school, so everyone wants a piece of her (at least even when she's visibly snotty to them outside of the gifts part), just like Gentaro. Popular jerks like Shun and Miu usually have a lot of friends in school (and a lot of people who has other awful behaviors that can be seen as entertaining like gossiping), the ones who people are less likely to be friend are the outcasts, people of lower status, or the people who don't bring anything on table, who feel like burden, where befriending them can carry a risk, not from them, but from the surroundings to likely humiliate you from befriending them. Meanwhile, being insulted by Shun/Miu would have everyone side with them. So far, the 'proof' I got from someone I met who claims to want to befriend everyone (other than me) is her willing to talk with a dustman.

I think Gentarou's story is sort of the opposite to how everyone else treats her, though? Miu has a lot of fans, but she doesn't really have any friends: people who see her as something deeper than her status and beauty. Gentarou isn't trying to befriend her because she's the Queen of the school, he's doing it because she's someone he doesn't know yet, and he wants to fix that. Gentarou is directly challenging how she treats her fans, in order to find out who she is as a person. I think it's very sweet?

KAMEN RIDER CLUB MEETING – QUIZ: KAMEN RIDER URBAN LEGENDS!! EPISODE 04

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I love the naming conventions of the kids in Fourze, how they’re all barely-scrambled references to Showa Riders. It’s like if there was an American superhero show about a high school club devoted to Justice League history, populated by characters named Alan Barrett, Halle Jordan, and Wayne Bruin. (Hilariously, the upcoming secondary for this hypothetical show would be like Clark Kent being named Superman Jones instead.) It’s invisible if you don’t get the references – spoiler, it’s Showa, I’d never get the references without these quiz shows or y’all on the boards – but when you find out what the deal is, it speaks to the goofy nerds running the production team, and I love that. I like how Fourze feels less like a structured anniversary homage and more like a celebration of the inexplicable longevity of the franchise.

Along those lines, the answers in this quiz were typically bonkers (them kids dodging explosions!!!) in the way only Showa could really get away with, Yuuki was a game host, and Kengo looked incredibly tired. Plus, we learned that Riderman has a mouth because he has a mouth worth showcasing!

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I'm going to stand by my original take here: I really liked the Motoyama story and how it played out. Full props to whoever did the suit acting for Perseus since they made that absolutely work in spite of Gentarou primarily acting alongside a foam and rubber monster suit with a fixed facial expression.

Absolutely going to stand up for Meteor's first appearance here, too. Always one of my favorite Riders to watch in a fight scene: adore the suit, love the Bruce Lee style martial arts, love the contrast between his polished fighting style and Gentarou's brute force approach. I'd completely forgotten he showed up here until we got the preview for 16. Looking forward to some elements of his addition to the cast and not others!

For the latest round of quiz answers, the V3 quiz’s correct answers were B (Haruka is Accel’s younger sister, while Chiharu is Yukiko’s equivalent in Kamen Rider the Next, which seems to have proved an effective misdirect), C (The second arc covered episodes 14-40 and the movie) and A. And now, for the Riderman quiz.

What title was Riderman bestowed upon his sacrifice in the show, and in his image song out of the show?
A) The Kamen Knight
B) Kamen Rider Man
C) Kamen Rider Yongou

Riderman appears in 9 out of V3’s 52 episodes. What percentage of the whole series is this?

A) 15.6%
B) 17.3%
C) 16.4%

Riderman’s reappearance in Kamen Rider Black RX was the first after his original performer died, so he was portrayed by a newbie suit actor being dubbed over. But who was the suit actor?

A) Seiji Taikawa
B) Richi Seiike
C) Naoko Kamio.

As for the quiz instalment, I kind of loved just how Yuki basically spends the whole thing trolling everyone, such as speaking out loud during the thinking time and humouring Shun's suggestion that the baby in the clip is Jojima Yuki, while denying that she turned into a monster as a baby.

I love any episode where a monster suit cries outside a kindergarten!

I'm glad Meteor fans were treated so well by his debut!

(I think it's actually kind of funny that I wrote about how this episode treated art as being about connecting with people and expressing yourself over the value of perfection or quality, and in doing so I posted a poorly-written piece that made multiple people mad about how I engaged with the Meteor scenes. Art is amazing!)

Oh, speaking of which, I completely forgot to mention that 16 is also the one where Gentarou specifically does a Fourze handshake with the monster, rather than just the person that turns into the monster. I really really really love that decision. Much like deliberately holding off on Kengo's turn to shake hands, it's a very smart use of the show's unique iconography to make a scene into a much more powerful statement than it might otherwise be. Even in a vacuum where Fourze was the only toku thing you knew anything about, you'd know by this point that the monster suits are there to get blown up, so to have a scene like this -- just that whole visual -- really beautifully emphasizes exactly what Gentarou is about as a person, and thus what Fourze is truly about as a hero.

Being in severe threat mode all the time is unhealthy though. Fourze is a show about friendship and there are too many problems that Gentarou cannot solve on his own. We can see this in effect with Kengo, who tried to do everything on his own and failed due to his weak constitution. Stuff like Switch calibration and battle tactics are his skill though, so Gentarou and Kengo need each other, in addition to the other KRC members' skills.

True, although the Rider Kick would be difficult to land, as Chainsaw lacks accuracy. Might be useful for fighting multiple opponents mid-air though.

It was like you became the Motoyama to Meteor's Yuki. :lol

My gut told me it wasn't Chiharu, but my logic told me it would be too weird for a movie to change her name.

What title was Riderman bestowed upon his sacrifice in the show, and in his image song out of the show?
A) The Kamen Knight
B) Kamen Rider Man
C) Kamen Rider Yongou

Riderman appears in 9 out of V3?s 52 episodes. What percentage of the whole series is this?

A) 15.6%
B) 17.3%
C) 16.4%

Riderman?s reappearance in Kamen Rider Black RX was the first after his original performer died, so he was portrayed by a newbie suit actor being dubbed over. But who was the suit actor?

A) Seiji Taikawa
B) Richi Seiike
C) Naoko Kamio.

Thanks for the mental image of Riderman being a small lady dubbed by a deep dude.

I may feel that Miu's decision to stick to her guns can be more impactful, if she wouldn't win back all of her former fans, not having everything going in her favor. Being honest in a way that'd make others hurt should still get people to be resentful, perhaps like if someone in internet hate those who reveal their "rotten"-ness (though I do see those who defend someone successful who resorted to underhanded ways to achieve it and being honest regardless if they pulled something dangerous like potential killing). Guess it's still ideal to have everyone cheering her back on. I do feel against Miu's fans too, that in contrast to many around me, I don't make myself a fan of any public figure (including KR actors/actresses), as I view them as just human too, not anything special or above others, and may feel that those people are "admitting defeat" by thinking that they're inherently inferior to those idols they worship including fawning (often due to their looks/status compared to them, like even thinking their name is superior to normal people's), but obviously there can be those who want to improve themselves by being inspired by them.

I don't know if Miu has a change even a little here, but Gentaro's behavior should be also important here as something that may make her open her eyes. A possible reason why one can be mean is about viewing the world in a dog-eat-dog mindset, that one gotta be a jerk first to others to survive or thrive, and that others are just dishonest about not showing their true colors compared to the proud jerk. Which is seen in Miu assuming that Gentaro will gloat and be proud of Miu losing so he'd benefit, or if trying to help her means looking down on her (I do have this feeling too, being offered help means being looked down upon). But Gentaro proves that he means it to become her friend that he's prioritizing Miu's well-being despite her confusion, that he wants her to win despite the potential disadvanage Gentaro puts himself into due to their deal, which should prove Miu that not everyone is a threat (which can lead to being mean as defensive mechanism).

Maybe it can be based on superficial judgment/evaluation that they see the kind Shinji as someone who often gets beaten up and being saved, while Ryuga, the version that "sheds the weakness", is someone who beat up Ouja and his combination monster. So yeah, doing that would be safe for them, can easily achieve the objective more, and takes care of the problem better. I mean, it increases their capability when alone, no need to not receive help from others by this (no need to be in threat mode against actual friends), which'd even increase their capability. I mean, the protagonists are often made to win at the end yeah, but it can come off as a fluke/plot armor to them as they're mostly beaten up throughout the series so their win doesn't feel consistent enough to be acknowledged (as strength or such).

About being sincere and reliable, this is taken by some people to the point that many think that since, not Miu, but characters like villains aren't hiding their crimes, thus they are incapable of lying and will always tell the truth. For that the enemy is always more truthful than a friend. This makes people required to be spoon fed that a villain is lying to them by actually showing that they are lying instead of putting the pieces together. Honestly, my view is that being a friend is about exclusively treating certain people better than others, so anyone can be a reliable/loyal friend to someone regardless of how rotten they're. One can be a reliable friend, as long as they exclude said friend in even their own crimes like exterminating certain group like cockroaches. It's an extreme example, but yeah, bullies in school can have their circle of friends or family they deeply care about, but they're bullies towards people they don't think are worthy to be their friend.

Tbh, the other supporting characters (so far to me) except Yuki are no worse than Miu, as Kengo (who did similar stuff to the girl's letter) and Shun are as bad outwardly. Their attitude to Gentaro are the same as Miu's.

Gentarou definitely treats Miu differently than anyone else in school, which makes their dynamic in the KRC so fun. They wouldn't be as effective without her leadership!

KAMEN RIDER FOURZE EPISODE 17 - “IMPACT OF A METEOR”

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Ha ha, boy am I looking forward to talking about Meteor now!

I honestly loved this one? The trick, for me, is that I don’t really care about Kamen Riders, if I really tried to analyze it; I care about characters. Meeting a Rider without knowing the character to me is just slightly more mystery than an average Zodiart storyline, and I don’t really think too hard about that stuff. (I almost never theorize about mysteries, for anything, anywhere. I’m just not a Puzzle Box guy?) It’s when you give me details about the character inside the suit that I really get invested, and that’s what this episode offered. Like, Meteor showing up to do his Meteor thing last episode is both technically thrilling and emotionally empty for me – it’s suits fighting suits, and my brain can’t add a value to that exchange any greater than a stunt show. But Ryuusei? That is a guy can spend an episode getting to know and feel like I instantly want to watch more.

A lot of it’s the way this episode’s constructed, kind of doing an Episode 1 riff, but entirely from Ryuusei’s perspective, and full of misapprehensions and bad-faith judgments. Ryuusei sees Gentarou’s need to be friends with everyone as a pathetic need for validation that results in an ineffective superhero, and he spends the episode cataloging everything that occurs as either wasteful or ridiculous. We’re walked through the basics of Fourze – Gen interacting with other students, the KRC meeting up, how the Switches work, Ohsugi being cartoonishly annoyed – but it’s constantly undercut by Ryuusei adding his reductive and dismissive two cents about how it all fits together for the characters and the show. It somehow manages to layer in his snide disapproval in a way that still preserves the brightness of the core concept – it’s judgment that always floats above the story enough to not interfere or derail it – while giving you his snarky eyeroll of a rebuttal.

But this is still very much a Fourze episode, front to back. Ryuusei exists as this new piece, but it’s still the same puzzle. (I guess I like some puzzles?) But, y’know, it’s actually not the same puzzle, in ways that help push back on Ryuusei’s view of things. This is Episode 17, not Episode 1, and it shows throughout the episode. Ryuusei sees the nonsense in the cafeteria as a sign that Gentarou’s a clown, but it’s actually a sign that his desire to make friends has had a positive impact on the student body, transforming isolated cliques and disaffected students into vital, engaged members of the student body; it’s heroism, not narcissism. Ryuusei sees fair-weather friendship in the KRC, but the viewer sees hard-won camaraderie and the intense bond of months in the trenches against the Zodiarts. (Kengo defends Gentarou from Ryuusei's criticism, albeit in a typically backhanded way!) Ryuusei sees Kengo as the lynchpin of Fourze’s effectiveness, but he misses the inherent value of JK, of Miu, of Tomoko. (Tomoko, naturally, does not miss the value of the new Black Kamen Rider, who is not as a gothic as she might hope, but I think there’s still something there for her.) It’s a Fourze episode where a dedicated viewer gets a completely different experience than Ryuusei, and that makes Ryuusei’s running commentary so much more enjoyable than it might ordinarily be. This isn’t the Motoyama arc where Gen and Yuuki are extra Gen and Yuuki in order to explain a negative reaction; this is Ryuusei coming into Act 2 and thinking it’s Act 1, which isn’t worth his time.

And then we get the Meteor action.

I really liked this, too? I like the Meteor suit a lot, and how it communicates different ideas than the Fourze suit. Fourze’s a space shuttle: travel, exploration, teamwork. Meteor’s the solar system: isolation, emptiness, coldness, but still something that can be bright and warm if you find the right parts. They each feel like parts of the same concept, even as they approach it from different angles and at different scales. Meteor’s physicality is nicely unique from Fourze’s, as folks pointed out previously. He’s Bruce Lee smoothness and style, as opposed to Fourze’s brash exuberance. It makes Meteor feel like he’s outclassing Fourze without really doing much, and that fits Ryuusei’s disdain for Gentarou perfectly. (There’s also the disco soundtrack to Ryuusei’s Henshin, and I’ve never really liked it. I can’t find a way that it fits him! Maybe eventually! But right now I don’t like it! My headcanon is that he also doesn’t like it, but Tachibana refuses to change it.)

The cliffhanger at the end? Also great! Meteor needs to find Aries, and Aries doesn’t exist yet, so he needs the various Zodiarts to evolve until one of them is Aries. It’s a personal mission, but not necessarily a heroic mission – it certainly looks like other students could be harmed if Lynx is powered-up and on the loose – and it nicely creates a break with the KRC. It’s directly opposing them in a way that feels more like an unfinished negotiation than anything intrinsic or immovable. (Kengo, mirroring Gentarou’s approach to the Switcher, just outright asks Meteor what he wants and why he’s doing what he’s doing, yielding immediate and tantalizing results. And to think, I once didn’t like Kengo!) It’s a philosophical and moral conundrum, and it’s incredibly fun to think about.

Just like this whole episode! I loved it, from front to back, without a single bum note. Unless you count that little disco rhythm from the Meteor Henshin!

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So our new guy Ryusei breaks from the theme naming of the other protagonists (if he followed it, it would be some play on Hiroshi Tsukuba logically). And as pointed out last time, his forename literally translates as “meteor” (which no-one notices in universe due to them exclusively using other Japanese words for it, like “inseki” or “nagareboshi”.

And we also meet Tachibana, who is the show’s narrator as a character in universe. He originally had a different alias, but then the writers figured it would make a later reveal too obvious, so they went with another naming reference.

As well as Tachibana shouldn't! Meteor's belt looks like a disco ball, so it blasts disco music when he transforms! It may not help the covert agent thing, but the theming has gotta take priority sometimes, you know?

And Meteor's theming in general, I'm quite fond of. It's actually the one other thing I bothered to write something about in the middle of rewatching Fourze, which I think says a lot:

Like I mention a bit in there, I'm really fond of that run of secondary Riders to begin with -- guys like Accel and Birth too, who have to look like they belong in the same show as the first while also having a wildly different concept, as opposed to duos like Ghost and Specter, or Blade and Ch-- Garren, where part of what defines the secondary guy as being secondary is how similar they are instead.

Meteor though, he might be THE guy who goes the most out of his way to make literally everything about him as opposite as possible from the main guy? And it's not just his suit and his shticks, too, but even the whole character of Ryuusei and frankly, like you quickly realized watching this one, it just adds *so* much spice to the show in a super fun way. One of the things that makes it work especially well, and one of the reasons you can't not have the embarrassing disco belt, is that Meteor's coolness, in the full context of the kind of guy Ryuusei is, always seems just a little... tryhard, in a way that feels entirely deliberate on the part of the show? It's this gray area where you can buy into the dude's hype or not and the show still works either way.

But now it completely gives away that he's secretly the principal of the school!!!

The thing that makes Ryuusei work for me -- and hopefully continue to work for me this go around -- is that the actor nails the performative aspect of the character, which is incredibly hard to do. Not in the usual This Guy's A Liar thing, like the parts where Ryuusei chums it up with the KRC or Aw Shucks his way into saving Gen from Ohsugi, but the parts where no one else is watching and you can see in his eyes that he's being a little too cruel, a little too dismissive, and he doesn't like where he's ended up. Even when Ryuusei's being himself, you can tell that he's not being himself, and that's so much fun to watch on a pure acting level.

I just started watching Episode 18, and there's a close-up on the Meteor Driver, and I never noticed this before, but the central ball is the projector at a planetarium. It's got all these little lenses, like you'd have to view constellations and the night sky!

(I... don't know why it makes disco music, but sometimes there are parties at planetariums, I guess?)

Probably too expensive to do things properly and license some Pink Floyd.

KAMEN RIDER FOURZE EPISODE 18 - “THE GEN RYU BATTLE”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../fourze18a.png

I’ve always liked the setup for Ryuusei’s role in the series, but mostly for how it deepens Gentarou’s character. We’ve seen Gen completely and utterly dedicated to befriending every single person he’s met, even if – especially if – they hate him. To Gentarou, disliking him is just the first step towards liking him, and people who dislike him are more interesting to get to know. (Also, most people dislike Gentarou as soon as they meet him, so it’s not like he’s got a lot of options to pass up haters.) Positioning the new character not as a new Kengo, someone who refuses to be friends with Gen, but as someone who too willingly wants to be friends, that’s really clever. Hearing Gen say that he can’t be friends with someone he can’t trust (and say it in such a heroic, wistful way) is a new side to his character. He isn’t (just) some gregarious and hot-tempered buffoon, he’s a guy that genuinely wants to get to know every person he meets, find what makes them unique and special, and celebrate that part of them. Ryu isn’t that guy to him for most of this episode, because he’s clearly not showing himself to Gen – too quick to smile, but in a way that never quite reaches his eyes; too obsequious; too desperate to be a part of a group he doesn’t even know yet – but, hilariously, Meteor is.

That’s the beat in Gen’s story I love the most from Fourze. He’d rather have an honest enemy than a fake friend. Meteor’s a danger to others and violently imposing his own sense of justice, but he’s 100% honest and forthright about it. He has passion and dedication, which is laudable; he has the strength of his convictions, which Gen can relate to. The specifics of what he’s doing is something Fourze has to oppose, but he still wants to find a way to make Meteor his friend. It’s not until Ryu punches him in the face that Gen can see some of what Ryu’s been hiding, and think that he can get that guy to open up at some point and be a real friend.

And, like, that’s the other thing about Ryu that’s a nice alternative to the more-obvious character type of A Guy Who Thinks Friendship Is Dumb: Ryu is doing everything he’s doing for friendship. He’s fighting the Horoscopes because they left his best friend in a coma. He’s letting the Zodiarts evolve until he can get at the one he needs to save his best friend. The circus of Amanogawa High is a distraction from the friendship he’s trying to sustain and revive. Like, he’s a good guy, Ryuusei. He’s a good friend, and a principled warrior, but narrowed down into a point of light, instead of a starry sky. Because he doesn’t have friends, he has a friend.

Which is the fun distinction through this episode, and it comes up right in the first scene. Both the KRC and Meteor are pursuing Justice, but they happen to define that differently. It’s the same thing with friendship, and we see that through Ryu’s flashbacks, Gen’s monologues about the Club, and Fourze’s surrender to save JK from last time. Ryu and Gen would both do whatever they have to do to protect their friends; the problem is that Gen has way more friends than Ryu. Ryu has one guy he needs to save, so everyone else is expendable. Gen has an entire school full of friends, so no one’s expendable. The tension there, as they each try to follow the north star of their friendship, is such a fun engine for this story.

Which was overall another winner! The main thing that didn’t work for me was sending Sonoda to the Dark Nebula, which reeks of This Actor Wasn’t Working Out. Sonoda’s presence in the show was nothing for a while, then something for a couple episodes, then not much for another couple episodes, and now she’s whisked away without really having an impact on the KRC with her identity. It’s like the show just gave up on her, and I can’t be too mad about that, because I never cared about her to begin with. (She was mostly there to be creeped on by Ohsugi, and now with her gone he’s a weirdly nihilistic clown, and that’s at least more socially-agreeable?)

But the Meteor stuff continues to be great, and I like the duality of telling this story about honesty, trust, and friendship over both the Teen Dramedy and Tokusatsu parts of the show. This is basically what I think about when I think about Kamen Rider Fourze!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../fourze18b.png

Tomoko: Kamen Riders are supposed to be heroes of justice.

Toei since 2001 (at most, 1988): It’s funny you think you can dictate that

So, I'm going to start with a realization that I had watching these episodes after seeing the comment about the music Ryusei's belt makes: he literally transforms into a disco ball. I love that both for him and for myself as the viewer.

There's a moment in 18 where Tomoko breaks up the fight between Fourze and Meteor by shouting that this isn't how Kamen Riders act that always, without fail, makes me think "Oh honey, you didn't watch Kabuto."

I still think the POV shift to Ryusei makes these episodes one of the more interesting introductions for the secondary Rider (especially during this "there are only two Riders" phase of the Neo Heisei era). We usually get to see the existing cast reacting to the new arrival more than the other way around, but this is framed far more from Ryusei's perspective, giving us a greater understanding of both who he is and why he's such a dick. It also adds a bunch of dramatic irony to his interactions with Gentarou since we, as the audience, know a lot more about what's going on than he does (and not just about basic math and world history this time). Part of me wants to think that he figures out who Meteor really is after Ryusei punches him, but I'm pretty sure the show directly refutes that idea after this.

Tomoko's arguing (beautifully, passionately, I love the performance here) for friendship between Riders, and you're acting like it's random or off-base? Y'all forget which one Tomoko is?!

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

Touche.

I was actually particularly looking forward to this thread just so you'd finally have the chance to talk about this specific episode in more detail, because I recall that even from way back, you'd always bring it up as something you really liked in Fourze whenever you had the chance. And yeah, I basically can't add much to the discussion of the story other than a firm "yes yes, that that" to how clever much of it is.

So I guess instead of even trying, I'll just toss in a mention how much I love the Meteor Galaxy? I think it represents a really clever compromise to allow Bandai the obligatory roleplay weapon for Meteor without having to actually give him a weapon, but simply on a superficial level, those voice clips are still some of my absolute favorites in the ever-increasingly large pantheon of Rider toys with goofy voices. It's been over 10 years at this point and I still randomly hear "Okay! MARS!" in my head more often than quite a few base form transformation sounds for lead Riders. :lol

I kind of love how basic Meteor's weaponry is, for a Guy Sticks Three Different Planets On His Hands-level of "basic". Where Fourze's Switches are plentiful and bizarre (Wheel gets a funny use, considering that it's probably not ever going to be the main Switch for a guy with a full-size motorcycle), but Meteor's attack options are basically Small, Medium, and Large, with modifiers of fire or, uh, rings. And those announcements! They're like Deneb to me, some outgoing and courteous soundclip for a taciturn and obstructive Rider. OKAY!

You champion people not changing from their mean self, but there's a change in Miu for no longer being on the same page as Shun where she now acknowledges a geek and nerd in repeating what Gentaro said of being the manliest of the man, after Gentaro proving his genuineness of being her friend. Not about forcing people to change, but people's positivity inspiring others to be better. Guess I think Miu's similar to Kengo too where though both are cold to others and destroy gifts given to them, Kengo takes his duties to fight monsters and tells to take injured students to hospital, where Miu also claims as a Queen her duty is to protect the school. I want to figure out things here putting your bias aside, I wonder if what Miu is good for (other than running her mouth) is about her reading people (as how much she climbs the social scene) to become the leader, as she points out about Kengo giving special treatment for Yuki to use his name casually. I do also feel this too as while Kengo dismissed Gentaro at first, he's completely friends with Yuki.

I know you'd likely support Gentaro not making friends with JK, but though JK may seem annoying (particularly at the end), JK should be just another difficult challenge Gentaro overcomes to make friends with, so I feel Gentaro's being rather cold for no reason at the beginning, which Yuki also said he rather changed. I can feel Gentaro also conditionally accepted JK as a friend here due to viewing what he can do like making many friends in the party or bringing him girls. I know JK was shown to be slimy at the end, but previously, I feel JK was being annoying in the same way as Kotaro in Blade to Kenzaki at the start of the series. JK's behavior that time also reminds me of Ryutaros or Ryotaro possessed by it. And yeah, if JK wants Gentaro to protect him from Zodiart, no need to manipulate him (of which, this can be also about Gentaro being cold for no reason albeit it'd be what you agree with), or sabotage his fighting, but I don't think JK wants Gentaro to protect him from the Zodiart by this.

I mean, it's not so much that JK was annoying, it's that he was manipulating Gentarou into a dangerous situation through his own cowardice. That's maybe not someone you want to bring into your life!

I feel that this is about indirectly fixing other people by proving their view wrong. JK thinks that no friendships are genuine, not only about him, but also about the friends he made in the party that refuse to help him when he's captured. But Gentaro proves that there are friends who would help just because it's the right thing to do, so the likely most sympathetic case of JK is that, he has always been in fair-weather friend environment. I may feel that Gentaro's ideal can be stronger to be applied on someone that seems winning in JK about dog eat dog environment, rather than if it's done on someone who has been visibly a victim and resorts to taking advantage of others because others did it first (which may have the audience view them as innocent and only blame whole society/their so-called friends that time). I still feel that it's unknown why JK steals the Electric Switch, I don't know about the purpose. I think friendships are also about understanding each other, even though they seem awful from the outside, I want a discussion about the reason why JK chooses to steal Electric Switch, something that just seems like a worthless toy to him, which should be what can repair their relationship better by understanding each other.

I feel that so far it's a pattern in Fourze that the monster of the weeks are someone who got screwed over by the part of the main cast, not only JK to Nitta, but also Miura to Shun before. Though Miu's a subversion that it can be thought that Miu was screwing over Tamae like Shun to Miura, but actually it's just Tamae's jealousy. Dunno if this is also important to challenge the biases of people who may downplay what the main characters do (other than JK, here, at least in this thread), but exaggerate what the people outside of the main friend's circle do, which, I think should be the real test of Gentaro in making friendship, of which it's good that Gentaro still tries to extend friendship to Miura, Tamae, and Nitta here. I wonder though if JK joining KRC was about JK owing Gentaro for helping him despite betraying him, so JK was forced by Gentaro to do labors he doesn't like (also, JK is good at keeping valuables on his hands, as said before). Sorry to bring up about other series, but I feel that nothing beats something like Kuroto working together with the CR in Ex-Aid about having an awful person teaming up with the heroes (not the MC forcing, but Poppy does bring him in).

Then again, as I said above, Gentaro doesn't distinguish between the main circle of friends and the other nobodies around, which actually passes his vow of treating everyone as a friend. Gentaro didn't only stop Nitta from beating up JK, but he also stops JK from beating up Nitta when he lost and pointed out that JK did deserve it.

Which can be why that those who're trying to redeem actual villains are complained about. I mean, other than people like JK who can be more realistic, wouldn't this also apply to those villains who may be more enjoyable to the audience as their crimes feel more fictional (or to you, to also know more about them inside that makes you have more positive view on them)? And it'd not only personally harm the hero, but villains would endanger many people by pulling this. Like for instance, cases like Sougo to Heure, Aruto to Horobi, or Shoma to Rakia can easily end up with them being betrayed, possibly killed, and have the villain still endanger others without being stopped? Not happened, but a possibility that would always happen against anyone unlikable.

It's definitely a pattern for the first 10 episodes, because that's how we get introduced to the cast!

Ryusei KITAAAA!

This is a cool moment to show that Gentarou, true to his reputation, has already befriended a large amount of people offscreen. Notice that the cat idol girl also appeared at the school festival in Megamax, so it fits nicely in recent continuity. Gentarou's friendly influence certainly creates a different atmosphere for Ryusei's first day in contrast to what Gentarou experienced.

And yeah, I love Ryusei, honestly, one of my favorite Secondary Riders, but he's pretty miserable on the inside at this point, with his major downer on friendship while acting as a flatterer to get on KRC's good side. Those two sides of the actor's performance are entertaining to watch, especially as the real Ryusei starts to leak in to his persona.

The white and black contrast never goes out of style. Even the accents of Fourze's orange and Meteor's blue emphasize their conflict. Yet both of them are heroes, only with different priorities. Fourze is colorful and has a lot gimmicks, which he relies on his friends to help test and determine their compatibility, while Meteor looks minimalistic, he relies on his own strength and has a few moves that he has mastered. The Rider Systems are appropriate for their users.

I'm glad you love this as well, I also think Gentarou's response to Ryusei punching him is an iconic moment for their rivalry. Well, maybe kids shouldn't take it too literally about punching people in the face to make friends, but in this specific context, the punch tastes like the hidden truth of Ryusei, letting Gentarou sense the exciting mystery that exists behind the unremarkable sham he met earlier. And Ryusei, established as the handsome ace who can know and do anything, cannot in turn understand the mystery of Gentarou but learns that what he calls his stupidity shouldn't be taken lightly.

True that people are likely to care more about their friends than those outside their circle. Bullies' friends are often other bullies though, which becomes an echochamber to support their bullying behavior. Miu is friends with Jun though, who is just a happy person who loves to eat, so I think we can better perceive people by observing the company they keep.

Yeah, I appreciate Gentarou not letting JK play the victim, sharply reminding him he was the one who provoked Nitta in the first place. While Gentarou is a friendly and loving guy, he's firm when he needs to be and calls people out when they're wrong.

For guys like Heure, Horobi and Lakia, we get to see how they became like that, which presents the possibility to help them see the error of their ways. JK's introduction is concerning, as the show leaves it to the imagination to figure out why he's like that, even if he's not the life-threatening type. Turns out he is actually a good person after all, but the uncertainty is what makes it problematic until we see his reassuring helpful contributions to KRC in the following episodes.

What better anniversary tribute to 40 years of Kamen Rider than Riders punching each other in the face, though? (I like to think it's an Inoue tribute!)