These quizzes were fun, but honestly, on rewatch, they?re kind of a chore to pay attention to.

Anyway, the answers to the last quiz were B, C and A. So now it?s time for the final quiz, which covers the 90s Rider movies.

Our three main Riders in order:

Masked Rider Shin

Name: Shin Kazamatsuri

Bike: N/A

Transformation item: N/A

Attacks: Shin Rider Kick, High Vibe Nail, Spine Cutter

Enemy: Institute of Super Science

First opponent: Cyborg Soldier Level 3

Kamen Rider ZO

Name: Masaru Aso

Bike: Z-Bringer

Transformation item: N/A

Attacks: ZO Punch, ZO Kick

Enemy: Doras

First Enemy: Koumori Man

Kamen Rider J

Name: Koji Segawa

Bike: J-Crosser

Transformation item: J-Spirit

Special attacks: Rider Kick, Rider Punch, Rider Elbow

Enemy: Fog Mother

First opponent: Agito (no, not that one)

And for the questions.

Kamen Rider J?s actor Yuta Mochizuki is known for playing TyrannoRanger in Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger. But what other Toku hero is Shin?s actor known for?
A) B-Fighter Genji
B) Ultraman Hikari
C) Voicelugger Gold

In early concept art, ZO would?ve received upgrade parts based on past Riders. What would he have received from Amazon?s power?
A) jaws
B) claws
C) a fin?

Kamen Rider J is known for his ability to grow giant to battle larger foes. But which of these has he not battled in a later appearance?
A) Shadow Moon
B) King Dark
C) Terror Macrow
D) Insert joke answer here.

There were 12! I double-counted!

Androzani! We need to know who won the Quizzes! Please tabulate the points and declare a victor!

Hey, that's a great episode to get emotional over for sure!

That reminds me, I need to rewatch Build sometime! It's my second favorite Heisei Rider, so it's kind of weird that I haven't done that yet.

Kamen Rider J?s actor Yuta Mochizuki is known for playing TyrannoRanger in Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger. But what other Toku hero is Shin?s actor known for?
A) B-Fighter Genji
B) Ultraman Hikari
C) Voicelugger Gold

In early concept art, ZO would?ve received upgrade parts based on past Riders. What would he have received from Amazon?s power?
A) jaws
B) claws
C) a fin?

Kamen Rider J is known for his ability to grow giant to battle larger foes. But which of these has he not battled in a later appearance?
A) Shadow Moon
B) King Dark
C) Terror Macrow
D) Insert joke answer here.

Poor Shin not getting any questions dedicated to him. Well, not that I mind as that's the only 90s Rider movie I haven't watched yet.

As a person who takes quizzes very seriously and may or may not be as large as Kamen Rider J, I also want to know the results.

Well having gone back and looked through all the quizzes

Ichigou: Die got 0 points, Shi got 3 points.

Nigou: Die: 1, Shi: 1

V3: Die: 1, Shi: 1 Switchblade:D

Riderman: Die: 1, Shi: 3

X: Die: 2, Shi: 2

Amazon: 2, Shi: 3

Stronger: Die: 2, Shi: 3

Skyrider: Die: 2, Shi: 2

Super-1: Die: 1, Shi: 1

ZX: Die: 0, Switchblade: D, Shi: 1

Black/RX: Shi: 2, Die: 2

And the answers to the final quiz are B, A and C, which gives both regulars one point each. Die has a total of 15 points, while Shi has 23. The answer to who won should be clear.

I thought you'd still rank him low because of his debut, where he was the two-faced kind of jerk, but turns out it's because he's just there, where I guess yeah, this may happen exactly because of his cowardice to constantly run away and not contributing something. Of which, many people may agree for this, but where something like upfront jerks like Shun beating up Gentaro for no good reason or sabotaging Fourze's fight may be seen as completely ok. I know that he's unlikable, but I rather hope that said aspect isn't used to convince Gentaro to just cut him off or for the KRC (audience can often only want the characters to be exclusively kind only to their established friends or who they like) to just kick him out (you seem to write this for Ryusei instead), relating to his lack of contribution too and how he felt more repulsive to the audience, where him being unlikable should be the point for Gentaro's philosophy.

I felt the sweetheart himbo and colossally full of himself is completely separate thing where the latter is before ep. 8, and he's the former from ep. 8 onwards. I felt that he's the one who changed 180 from the beginning, like Zack from Gaim. And yeah, as the only capable enough Power Dizer user, he should still be constantly using it, even after Meteor is there, as 3 fighters, but maybe, like the usual underutilized powers of Kamen Rider fights, it's about the budget.

Guess even without something like obsessive workplace harassment (just because you have a heroic job in teacher or being a part of a lighthearted show doesn't mean you're a saint or less of a jerk to characters from lighthearted show; I guess, of which you completely expected Tassel to be nice for being a part of Saber), I guess it's recurring for you to find these kind of characters repellent, like Jean, Shunpei, Haima.

Among the KRC, I guess I'd relate most to Kengo, with some Tomoko thrown to the mix. I guess though, what's fully Gentaro's plan for Kengo is when he got murdered by Gamou, to tell the others to not hate him while stopping him, as for Cosmic States, Kengo was full of anger and hatred (justificably) to Ryusei, and he's only following Tachibana's instructions.

I guess it can be ture about how Kabuto or Geats acted as idealized figure in influencing others with their hypercompetence, but while I already said my piece about Kabuto back in that thread, Geats was someone who did something like JK early on (more like second episode). And for a show lead that isn't about resolving their trauma, that'd be also Yuusuke in Kuuga (also has deceased parents). Gentaro is also, though a newcomer in Rider system, he's also already an experienced on in fighting (the main thing Riders do, obviously), albeit he's no match for actual trained martial artists like Ryusei or Utsugi.

I wonder if what's stand out in Fourze compared to other high school settings of the shows, though this may happen because it's one of the Kamen Rider shows that is meant to be about teaching morals or lessons (and Fourze also being lighthearted one), is about how the popular isn't necessarily only demonized and used as strictly an adversary, enemy, or obstacle (even the nice popular person in these setting isn't a genuine friend, the good guys are only the unpopular ones, including for the formerly popular ones who no longer popular, with unpopular being corrupted if they're in popular circle). I guess, Gentaro himself is also a "delinquent", mainly looks, but that he also has a fighting skill of one and also is against rules, which rubs some teachers the wrong way.

I wonder who'd be the ideal type of main character/Rider in this case, if Gentaro, someone who's seemingly the few one who got critically acclaimed, isn't something memorable to you.

Probably my mistake, just that I thought Rokuro didn't specifically seek to see the Presenters, where IIRC he only talked about making Fourze Drivers, Astroswitches, and passing them to the next generations.

More like about referring to him as true hero like Tendou before.

I rather felt that, at least from what Die said above, there'd be still characters who feel that they're just there, like JK or Shun. Of which, though personal feelings might be different, it can seem that you'd be way harsher for these cases in other shows that aren't Fourze or Ghost type, but lets it slide for these kind of shows. I guess, I more meant that deeming someone as being bad or irrelevant is still subjective.

Well, there's a comment in this thread to force people to like Miu.

It seems to apply in your case for any lighthearted shows like Fourze, Wizard, Ghost, Saber.

Wow, I was more competitive than I thought I was. Thanks for doing the math!

It's something about the character that gets lost later in the series as the classroom scenes are even more brief than usual, but Gentarou canonically is a terrible student. He's a great friend, and a multiplier to everyone else's high school experience -- he's cheering for everyone to succeed -- but all that enthusiasm and support comes at the cost of, like, paying attention in class and doing the work. I would probably not want to try and teach him, regardless of how well-meaning he is!

KAMEN RIDER X KAMEN RIDER WIZARD & FOURZE: MOVIE WAR ULTIMATUM (DIRECTOR’S CUT)

originally posted on December 24th, 2021, as part of “Kamen Rider Die rewatches Legend Rider projects (and more!)”

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I think, at the end of the day, I appreciate what these two stories were trying to say.

They’re both broadly about getting out of the way for the next generation. It’s a theme that fits Fourze a little better, which is why the Fourze section is a little more thematically-grounded. The Kaijin Alliance are a group of kids who are horrified by what the previous generation has left for them, and pessimistic on their own chances for happiness. Gentarou’s story is centered on his need to step back and let that next generation see that they’re in control of their own destinies, rather than operating at the whims of manipulative scientists or over-protective teachers. The only way the next generation can become the best versions of themselves is when they feel like their future is truly in their hands.

The Wizard section sort of hits on the same issues, where Poitrine is a character that disregards her responsibilities to indulge her own desires. She should be a guardian of children, but she’s too wrapped up in her deferred dreams to be of much real help. Her story is one of adulthood, the realization that you eventually need to be okay with how your life turned out and find some way to help the next generation along. It’s a sort of Wizard take on Fourze’s themes of growing up, where Poitrine’s depression and need to relive her childhood dreams risks destroying the people around here.

That’s unique ground for a Kamen Rider movie to cover, because it has a kind of maturity to it. It’s a story for the adults in the audience. Or, at least, it’s a story more about the adult anxieties of the production team. This whole movie is about how to protect children, and when to step back from protecting them, and how to live with the idea that it’s someone else’s turn. That’s nothing a kid is ever going to care about. It’s a perspective that only comes with age, and that makes for an interesting Kamen Rider movie.

Thematically, I think this movie has a lot to recommend it. Narratively and structurally, though… um.

The Fourze section has the roughest patch in it, where, again, I appreciate what it’s trying to say. Saburou is a villain who’s just lashing out from loneliness, and he needs someone his own age to tell him he’s worth befriending. It’s just, it’s a resolution that’s asking everyone around Saburou to bend over backwards to make him feel better, when he barely does anything to warrant it. It needs Miyoppe – who is victimized by Saburou – to ask for Saburou’s forgiveness for… I’m not even sure what? It’s Saburou who’s constantly harassing and endangering her, while she’s solely focused on her own goals and activities. It’s like she’s being penalized for not thinking enough about how the surly asshole in her class is feeling, selfishly focusing on her own happiness, and it’s gross? It’s a little gross, the way she’s made to bear responsibility for her bully. It’s preaching a moral that wants to say Sometimes Mean People Just Need Compassion, but it definitely comes off as Maybe You Had It Coming. Not a fan of that!

The other big thing that people are probably going to kick about from the Fourze part of this movie is Gentarou throwing away his Fourze Driver, and I’m of two minds on it. On the one hand, it’s completely the sort of Big Dumb Gesture that Gentarou would make. He’s someone who is very focused on the current interaction, and he’ll gladly toss away everything Fourze accomplished if it means getting through to one struggling teenager. On the other hand, the plot immediately shows what a short-sighted maneuver this is, since Gentarou needs to borrow a Fourze Driver if he’s going to save the world. There’s some obvious calculus here, about the needs of the many versus the needs of the one, and I get why Gentarou throwing away an apocalypse-averting piece of gear would bother folks. I think it works for the character, but I wish it was being done for a kid who maybe deserved it more? Gentarou’s throwing away a hero that saved millions of lives for a grumpy bully who’s making himself the victim. I don’t love that trade?

The Wizard section… boy. I really loved about 99% of it. The idea of Poitrine drawing strength from her love of toku, but needing to find a healthy way to incorporate it into her adult life? YES. Relatable! But, wow, to sort of it toss it all aside for a Gay Panic joke? When (and I know this was never going to happen in a million years) you actually have a sort of poignant trans metaphor to work with, something that could speak to a whole group of kids watching toku that never thought they’d get a chance to see something that spoke to their experience or perspective? It’s heartbreaking. It’s a great story about identity and expression and how hard it can be to not see yourself in the stories you love and how we get to pull the parts we want out of toku to make something just for us and how being an adult means keeping some of that love for toku out of sight… and then you find out its written by someone who thinks gay people are a joke, and that sucks. It super sucks.

Those disappointments aside, I think the movie works okay. It’s a Sakamoto joint, so the action is top-notch. (Folks complained about his male-gaze-y direction before, but this was the movie where I found it too distracting. Every girl in a skirt needed a close-up and slow-mo shot of her twirling skirt! There were a bunch of Nadeshiko butt bumps! Inga Blink was perpetually glistening!) Every Heisei Phase 2 Rider makes a return appearance, even if it’s just the main hero suit and zero dialogue. Eiji’s here, because Eiji’s cool. We get modern-day refreshes on classic Ishinomori characters. There’s a massive Mad Max-esque vehicle fight that lasts about as long as a Mad Max movie. It’s a gigantic action film with a ton of cool-looking characters, whatever its other failings.

I wish I liked this movie more. There are ideas and themes that I think are smart and original, but the execution tells me that the writers didn’t know what they had. Good attempt, bad follow-through.

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—

NOT QUITE FIVE YEARS LATER

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Okay, let’s just do some quick hits because I watched this movie again, sat down to write about how I liked its take on ceding the stage for a next generation and how that dovetailed sweetly with the defeat of Gamou, and then I found out I wrote basically the same thing in 2022, minus the Gamou part.

-I guess that’s one of the things that was nice about watching this movie again, after also watching the series, because it feels like a real epilogue to the final episode, more than anything with newly-revealed foes or snazzy kit-bashed suits or catching up with space girlfriends. It’s Gentarou trying to learn from Gamou specifically, and create room for the next generation to work their stuff out with safety and support. (Also, man, after Gamou’s scheme, Gentarou should have zero tolerance for Bamba’s plan of manipulating emotionally-unstable teenagers to power-up a strange device!) It’s a story that’s really just about Gentarou learning to turn his teenage enthusiasm into adult guidance, and be the kind of comforting and heroic presence that Gamou could’ve been, if only someone had shown him the way in time. That’s sweet.

-Unfortunately, it doesn’t leave a ton of room for the KRC as a group? With so much of the Fourze section given over to the new kids, we're allowed one Getting The Club Back Together montage, and then some traditional club activities (fighting monsters), and that’s sort of it? I know that asking for a Trio Of Deep Sin-esque examination of friends drifting apart into adulthood is too much to ask for a Sakamoto-directed superhero movie -slash- leg show, but it’s a bit of a bummer that we got a movie that focused on Gentarou’s journey at the expense of, like, the Club’s bond. I liked what we got, but I’m not thrilled with what we gave up to get it.

-Did I seriously not talk about the Ishinomori Insanity of it all originally? Poitrine! Inazuman! Akumaizer 3! I didn’t watch any of those show, so I don’t really care about the historical background of the characters, but I think it’s neat to shovel in so many Ishinomori creations – that said, I would’ve WAY preferred that Toei have done it via a Taisen flick, since (again) all these extra characters don’t leave a lot of room for our Legend and current casts to carry the story.

-Kind of fun to see Sakamoto do a sort of Movie Trilogy for Fourze! This movie acts as a capper for a string that starts in the previous year’s crossover movie and runs through the summer film, bringing back Nadeshiko, Rocket States, Inga Blink, XV-2, the Fusion Switch, and somehow finding a few seconds to canonize the Amazon HBV?! It’s mildly unnecessary, but I like that Nakashima and Sakamoto went to the trouble.

-It bears repeating: maybe the most egregious Sakamoto Gaze project for Kamen Rider? The Miu/Rumi stuff is cringe-y, sure, and the Nadeshiko butt bumps are done three times too often, but there is an establishing shot for a scene set in the Akumaizers’ truck realm that starts on Poitrine’s thighs. My dude! Even Quentin Tarantino would say you are indulging your fetish a little too much as a director!

-Finally, there’s a shot in the back half of the movie where Fourze and Wizard do the Friendship Handshake, and it occurred to me that – assuming Takaiwa is Wizard in any scenes featuring both Fourze and Wizard – this was probably the first time where Takaiwa was on the receiving end of the Friendship Handshake. That kind of blew my mind a bit, and it had to have been a little jarring for him as a performer. Talk about getting out of the way for the next generation!

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The two biggest things I'll ever remember from this movie:

1. Gentaro throwing his best friend into molten steel.

2. The Director's Cut going on for an eternity.

1. I mean, there is precedent for sacrificed friends of Gentarou to miraculously return! Kengo specifically calls out that the Fourze Driver will return when Gentarou needs it, and he's sort of the expert on the topic!

2. I definitely skipped the Wizard section this time, because a) I'll be watching this movie again early next year, and b) I would like to finish this thread before May.

My single favorite moment in this film is still the moment when future Gentarou shows up in front of past Gentarou and the latter briefly freaks out before immediately handing over the Fourze driver. Love the immediate mood switch.

I really have to wonder how the casting for the monster kids. "We need a hot girl, a dude who looks like a big fat gorilla, and a dude who looks like a weaselly little rat." I cannot shake the image of the latter two's agent(s) calling them up and saying "Okay, so the good news is that I have a perfect role for you in the next Kamen Rider movie..."

Fun thing I didn't realize when I watched this last time: the gorilla and rat kids showed up for a cameo alongside Ohsugi in the Fourze/Faiz episodes of Zi-O.