KAMEN RIDER FOURZE EPISODE 29 - “SILENT TREATMENT FROM JUNIORS”

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There are two stories in this episode – a very sweet and slow-paced story about how to welcome in outsiders and best demonstrate compassion when the default state is distrust; and a ridiculous Ohsugi story full of relentless mugging and insane leaps of anti-logic – and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think I liked the Ohsugi one better.

Mostly it’s that I found the Haru/Ran story kind of boring? It’s the most Fourze plot you can do, but it’s also one we’ve seen a dozen times by now. Haru’s being preyed upon by the Horoscopes, Ran wants to protect him but ends up making him feel powerless, there’s a Relevant Secret to Ran’s backstory that we won’t learn until (probably) an impassioned monologue with Gentarou in Part 2, and so on, and so forth. There’s nothing wrong with the execution – I think Ran does a stellar job showing concern for Haru without coming across as overbearing – and, again, the formula is what this show runs on. But it is a formula, and I’m not sure the concept of the new school year does enough to make this iteration feel distinct enough. Gen’s doing his pushy good guy thing, Ryuusei’s creeping around the edges trying to figure out if this kid’s gonna be the next Aries (he’s obviously going to be the next Uva), and there’s a new Switch that might help Gentarou contain the slippery Zodiart enough to put an end to this madness. It’s all done competently enough, but that’s only because this show can do this story in its sleep by now. The only real wrinkle to this take is the fact that the gang needs to duck a newly-vigiliant Ohsugi.

Which kind of worked for me? I don’t think it’s some fantastic new use of Ohsugi, or anything – he’s still a weird creep about Sonoda and unnecessarily physical with multiple students – but it is a new use for him, and one that feeds into the episode’s larger story about how to bridge mistrust and help people who need it. Him trying to get to the bottom of his three most troublesome students isn’t a million miles away from Gentarou trying to get Ran to open up, and they’re both phenomenally unsuccessful. For all of Ohsugi’s wacky vendetta against Gentarou (tiresome), there’s a genuine belief from him that he needs to intervene with three delinquents before they ruin their lives forever. He’s a clown, but even clowns can help distract a bull so that it doesn’t kill a cowboy.

Can Ohsugi be a useful clown going forward? I don’t know! But I definitely appreciated his scenes in this episode, because they were a story I hadn’t seen this show do before. As we get into the back-half of the series, I feel like those moments are going to get a little more precious.

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I'll go into this more in my retro post after part 2, but of all the rubber-faced flailing comic relief characters in Kamen Rider, Ohsugi is by far my favorite. I think part of it is that he reminds me a little of a teacher I had in high school. Mostly, though, I just respect that he's a guy who really wants to have his heart in the right place most of the time but the universe has just decided that he absolutely cannot ever win.

Yayoi frames previous Zodiarts like Tamae, Ritsuko, and Nomoto, but it didn't seem to be resolved that they can go to the prom finely without anyone interfering, where Kengo's words to defend them aren't believed over Yayoi's. Still don't know why Nomoto decides to turn a new leaf despite being a Zodiart that isn't shown to befriend Gentaro after their fight. Ritsuko has Ryusei, a KRC member, being forced to go with him, but still. This'd also inadvertently prevent Meteor from showing up, but KRC didn't know yet that Ryusei is Meteor.

It's refreshing that Miu and Shun both actually graduate, just that there's a coincidence that their campuses are close to the AGHS, so they're not really separated yet even in distance. I wonder if by this, as their new status as college students, they'd still wear school uniform or such. One can still want to protect school or hang out with the friends, but there can be factors outside of their control that prevents one to, if one's campus is for instance, are far away from their current location from being opposite direction or if one goes to another town.

Turns out that now too, Shun can still have a conflict with Gentaro over Miu like when Miu ditched him to hang out with KRC before Shun breaks free from his father's influence, in him just distancing himself from Gentaro and later punching him. But finally at the end Shun relinquishes Miu to Gentaro. I wonder if there's a change in Miu too where she interacts amicably with Tamae and Nomoto in the prom. For Shun, he's quite almost 180 after he stops obeying his dad. Rider Railgun Tackle is the finisher I see for Fourze Magnet States in Climax Heroes.

I see that people often want to see characters performing impossible feats, thus yeah they often preach about characters needing to be extraordinary either in feats or in the sacrifices they made, as being extraordinary does mean something that they wouldn't pull IRL. I feel that to people, heroism is about someone doing extraordinary stuff, rather than morally upright, thus it only applies in high stakes or sacrifice, of which I see this being applied on something like, IRL sport shows too, like complaining if safety is pushed more there, thus the feats the athletes do aren't as impossible and "heroic" by this. For real life too, those people often complain if soemone does a good deed without destroying themselves, like giving charity with still many money to spare ("it's just a penny for them"). I really wish that, there can be people/characters who are seen as morally upright and true hero as Hongo without them being self-sacrificing or destructive; for them caring about everyone or generally refusing to do wrong things, which sacrifice isn't necessarily required.

He is not allowed by this show to have any dignity, and he faces that indignity with its own kind of heroic dedication.

I think it helps to remember that the Zodiart Switches do warp people's minds, and their actions under the influence shouldn't be held against them forever. I'd assume that Nomoto regrets his actions, and has tried to put it behind him, without necessarily doing it for Gentarou's sake.

Was more refering to how Nomoto was a control freak who prevents other people from giving suggestions (after Kengo joined track field that time) purely due to ego as a leader who should take credit for everything and deny everyone else their agency. He was someone fully unlikable, Zodiart or not.

But we never saw him without the Switch? Every appearance he made, he was already under the effects of the Switch. We never saw what he was like before all of that.

KAMEN RIDER FOURZE EPISODE 30 - “NO NEED FOR SENIORS”

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This was a sweet and heartfelt conclusion to the Haru/Ran story, which did not have nearly enough meat on the bone.

You can sort of tell by how many extra plots this episode had? We’ve got the Ohsugi B-plot that’s exceptionally funny and hugely important to the storytelling dynamics of the show going forward, without it really feeling terribly looped-in on the core idea of trust across generations. (It sort of does – Ohsugi doesn’t trust the kids to take care of themselves – but it’s not like he’s been burned by trusting kids before, or that it’s a two-way street or anything. He sort of just needs to feel like what they’re doing matters, and that by helping them he could keep the Club safe. It’s a pretty different cross-generational story?) And then we get a random field trip to Ryuusei’s old school to set up next episode’s escalation of the Aries plotline, with a Libra fight that just feels like it’s an obligatory Meteor showcase, padding out the runtime of the episode. That’s a whole lot of stuff that’s happening around the Haru/Ran story, and that does not speak to the depth of the conflict the KRC are trying to resolve.

It’s a story that’s simultaneously believable and exhausting, this Ran stuff. The entire second part exists because Ran got burned by some older kids she trusted, so now she’ll never trust older kids ever again, but she also won’t ever explain why, because that would require trusting the people who are asking, so we get nonstop narrative obstacles from hell to breakfast that our cast has to puzzle their way around. It’s like the bit about her looking for the friendship charm, where instead of saying what she’s looking for, Kisaragi and the rest of the club have to dredge the viaduct for literally everything, and then try and intuit which single piece of debris is relevant. It’s time-consuming, which honestly wouldn’t be as bad if it weren’t also a completely obvious resolution as well. (I love seeing the cast dedicate themselves to insane demonstrations of friendship!) Haru has been saying loudly and violently that he’s tired of Ran thinking he needs to be protected – he started using a psychologically-scourging cosmic collectible just to be powerful enough to stand on his own two feet! This was not hidden information! It’s a setup that makes Ran a giant boulder that everyone alternately needs to work around or try and sand down, and I just got real tired of it. I don’t doubt that a kid who found her best friend bullied by older kids she trusted would be a little gun-shy and overprotective in the aftermath, but the level to which Ran drags her feet in order to drag out this kind of thin story was mildly disappointing. They could’ve done more for Ohsugi’s inaugural Switch Story!

Which, that part was great. I think he’s treated with appropriate level of respect – he gets rightfully offended at JK’s casual suggestion that he doesn’t care about his students, and he gets nicely intense when Ran reveals that a teacher is the one distributing Switches – while still being a buffoon that maybe is not a net positive for the Club. (Well, Net positive, maybe.) Where the Haru/Ran story felt like the show going through its paces ostensibly in the service of expanding its world with a new generation, the Ohsugi story felt like the show actually widening its aperture by looking in the other direction, with the staff of Amanogawa High collaborating with the students to forge a path to victory. The stuff with the kids was just a gentler version of the stories we normally get with the 3rd and 4th-year students, while the Ohsugi story had a spark that broadened the scope of what’s possible on the show. Like Gentarou, maybe I had Ohsugi wrong all this time?!

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I don't actually believe the staff would deliberately try to make a Fourze plot dull and formulaic (and I don't necessarily believe these episodes were, either), but since the overall series structure purpose of it *is* getting Ohsugi more in the mix going forward, and with the way Die talks about the episodes, I do find it to funny to imagine this was all some clever gambit to further convince viewers he, of all characters, is the guy we needed to give this show the spice it needs to stay fresh. :lol

I guess, Horoscope isn't like school. While in school, students are expected to obey and listen to teachers, for Horoscopes, Kijima is really equal to Hayami like he said before. Hayami only tries to order and stop Kijima for his own ego, rather than it being done for the good of Horoscopes. Hayami disappointing Gamou now should be clearly seen as where the reason can be Hayami's own flaws.

For Meteor, I guess yeah, he's just looking out for himself. Technically not as he wants to save someone else, his friend Jiro, which for many I've said, it means not about himself, but I feel that to only care about certain someone that matters to him is still about only in it for himself. Meteor hasn't shown to directly save someone, like civilians, against Zodiarts, unlike Ren in Ryuki (similar motivation) who's shown to. Though what motivates Meteor to emphatize is if he sees another case of a friendship fallout like Gentaro with Kengo. It seems that Kijima is the one on the villainous side for people like Gentaro or Miu who can read people well, and he exposed Ryusei by this.

Gentaro's parents told him to make many friends, of which Gentaro succeeded. But it can be common for parents to tell their child that, and they are just unable to. Moreover, the parents can force the child to make friends like pulling them into crowded groups they hang out or insult them to motivate them to do so. Many people also want to make friends to benefit from them, directly as "friends will save you", and discard them or complain if they have no benefit to them. Ryusei vows to not make friends anymore and dismisses other people because of what happened to Jiro, but there's something that makes Ryusei value Jiro more than anyone else that he's hellbent to save him unlike the others around him. What'd Jiro have that other people doesn't?

The entire Zodiarts plot has been a false-flag operation to center Ohsugi as the most popular cast member of Kamen Rider Fourze. I realize you might have to suspend your disbelief, but--

The Horoscopes are just Amanogawa's highly-selective accelerated apprenticeship program. The stars might need to align in order to be accepted, but--

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

All I'm hearing is that I should not get my hopes up for a Kamen Rider Meteor 15th Anniversary film.

(Also, holy shit, that kabuki movie looks amazing. Definitely going to check it out if/when it shows up on streaming, because it looks like I already missed its scattershot theatrical domestic release?)

(Also also, let me point out that in Kokuho, Ryo Yoshizawa plays a character named... Tachibana.)

Same here, I'm gonna have my eye out for Kokuho. But since we're talking post-rider careers, there's also another movie starring Yoshizawa which was fun that I stumbled upon a while back.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwHSw7rhSF4

He plays a man who aspires to be a Shogi master, but a twist of fate has him give up and end up coding an AI Shogi program and take on his rival once more. Oh yeah, Fumika Baba, aka Medic, and Kanna Mori aka Natsumi Hikari, are in this as well. Baba plays the role of the sister to the AI club guy who helps Yoshizawa's character, while Mori plays the role of the rival's wife.

KAMEN RIDER FOURZE X CRAYON SHIN-CHAN CROSSOVER SPECIAL

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I had no idea what this was before I watched it! I guess it was a series of 30-second shorts to promote a Crayon Shin-Chan movie? I don’t know, there’s really nothing to them (it’s maybe 90 seconds of actual storytelling) but it’s neat to see a Kamen Rider crossing over into something with the global ubiquity of Crayon Shin-Chan. This was cute!

—

KAMEN RIDER FOURZE EPISODE 31 - “THE FIEFDOM OF PLEIADES”

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I can’t imagine what the Meteor version of this series would’ve looked like.

We’re here at what’s nominally (to my limited memory) the conclusion of Ryuusei’s main arc, and it’s probably coming at least two episodes later than I’d’ve liked, with a compelling structure (melodrama and unrequited love and switched roles!) and a heel turn I don’t fully buy. Aries is finally found, and at the same school that Ryuusei transferred from in order to find Aries, which is the kind of dramatic contrivance that Yamada would find delicious. Ryuusei is exposed as Meteor, at precisely the moment where he murders Gentarou, which doesn’t feel like it’s going to do wonders for either identity. It’s a bunch of major plot things happening, and I don’t know that I connected with much of any of it.

Like, this is a problem that should be a slam-dunk for Ryuusei: Aries is right there, zero mystery as to his identity, no backup from the other Zodiarts, he’s got Fourze on the scene, and all they have to do is defeat Aries, recover his Switch, and use that to synthesize a cure for Jirou’s hilariously convoluted malady. (I think this is the first time it’s completely spelled out? Jirou activated his Switch, it went haywire for some reason, and it’s stuck in the Switch On position because he’s in a coma and can’t switch it off. This… for sure feels like a health problem the show decided on fairly recently!) But instead of doing the absolute final step in a multiple-month plan that Ryuusei was 100% dedicated to, he gets frustrated, and anxious, and headstrong, and decides to trust Aries over Tachibana, betting on the verifiable actions of an untrustworthy adversary over the uncertain outcome of a trusted ally.

That’s the part that sort of lost me? Ryuusei’s strategy here is just, like, impatience. Tachibana has a plan; it’s not a guarantee, but there’s literally nothing to suggest that Tachibana can’t deliver as promised. (Also, I assume this was always the plan? But right this second it’s not good enough for Ryuusei?) Abandoning the plan to date to hope that Yamada – a legit and visible psychopath – will do what he promises, at the cost of Gentarou’s life, is bonkers. If there was no other way, or Tachibana was less certain, or a million other things that’d give Ryuusei some narrative cover for being all I HAVE NO CHOICE, then fine. But he’s just opting to trust Yamada because he can’t risk Jirou’s life, and I just don’t know that he needs to? Jirou isn’t more at risk than he was an episode ago, and the worst case scenario for Tachibana’s plan not working is that there’ll just be another Aries later, right? The Zodiarts still need a full complement of Horoscopes, right? So why the insane gamble?

If it works at all (and it didn’t for me), it’s because this is an episode of Kamen Rider Meteor, not Kamen Rider Fourze. Fourze is the show about the beauty of friendship; Meteor is the show about the tragedy of friendship. Ryuusei’s a guy that can’t stop turning himself into a monster in the hopes of saving his friend, when heroism would get the job done just a little bit slower. His whole story has been about expediency at the cost of empathy, and this final turn is no different. He could trust in his friends to come through for him, or he could take it all on his shoulders and suffer the consequences of that isolation. What’s one more moment of distrust on top of months of deception?

And, y’know, hell of a cliffhanger: Gentarou, dead; Meteor, unmasked; Tomoko, sad. Typical episode of Kamen Rider Meteor!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../fourze31b.png

When you transfer schools to find a guy, but he transferred to your school.

Also I love how they use what is clearly Toei’s stock bunny mascot suit for Yamada’s Zodiarts form’s silhouette.

And what a cliffhanger!

Anyway, random thoughts over. Actor trivia time.

I missed out on it last time, but Ryusei’s implied old girlfriend Mei is played by Runa Natsui, aka the female Shinken Red in Shinkenger, Gokaiger and that Go-Busters movie.

And Yamada himself was previously Decade’s alternate Leangle Mutsuki Kuroba.

And now he's the Strongest Zodiart!

Just like Horoscopes regarding Kijima compared to Hayami (albeit Kijima was really a lower level threat by his defeat in ep. 28...), for KRC, especially that Miu and Shun are no longer a part of AGHS, thus they aren't in uniform too, teachers and students have more equal position, so by this, Ohsugi would answer to Miu and probably Yuki as those with higher position, and even he has to obey students' orders like Kengo. Ohsugi insists that teachers and students shouldn't be friends, but Ohsugi still has some integrity in his job as a teacher to protect students, which aligns with what the KRC is doing. Like Miu to change her deal with Gentaro to let her know about KRC, after the KRC is clearly seen as protecting students like teacher's jobs, he changes his deal in obeying rules from reporting them to becoming their advisor.

This is miscommunication stuff that drags the plot, of which, though you may like it in Faiz, this feeling you have, for others, seems to be the reason why something like Faiz got criticized a lot by them in West, and that miscommunication trope is seen as one of the most annoying running trope for KR as a franchise. Ran has Michinaga Azuma-level of extremity in lumping everyone in a group (teachers included) as rotten after a bad, but common moment, in meeting asshole older students. The solution seems to be about actions over words (and again, what one does at their lowest, like how Gentaro won Miu over by encouraging her as she likely loses), where the KRC proved themselves in wanting to befriend Ran by finding the charm, compared to Gentaro saying he wants to befriend her/Haru before. I guess, compared to usual enemy conflict, Ran should be used as an example of what not to do as a friend (for an active one, rather than the 'passive' one like abandoning), like being overprotective and infantilizing (for other examples that may be brought up, perhaps toxic positivity), where conflicts are created from well-meaning intentions/gestures in this case.

My sub has JK's words translated as "did you really think it has nothing to do with the students?" so, this one isn't about accusing Ohsugi as not caring about students. Ohsugi's plot seems to be about some misunderstanding to be on conflict against the KRC, like how he just now learned that the teachers are distributing Switches, confirming JK's words above that the monster attacks are about the students. Ohsugi is also now on the receiving end of being accused by Ran or being dependent on KRC due to Haru. Ohsugi had Gentaro wrong a lot more than Gentaro had Ohsugi wrong, Ohsugi was just like the previous KRC members who were jerks to Gentaro at first, like Shun and JK, but later moved by his dedication of befriending them. And obviously, thinking that Gentaro drove away Sonoda because she can't stand him. The truth about Sonoda should be revealed in-universe (also related to monster attack) to have Ohsugi's feud with him finally ended, though it might traumatize him to inactivity.

Guess, albeit there's a hidden depth for Ohsugi revealed in this episode, Ohsugi is/was an asshole, obviously he'd do unacceptable things like that. He's unpopular among the students because he has bad personality too alongside bad looks. Being a loser and/or comic relief (except for villainous ones like Kuroto or Chirami) doesn't mean that they'd be innocent nice guy (albeit annoying) like Shunpei or Onari. It'd be likely ironic to have Ohsugi report KRC, yet he's the one who got punished (fired/arrested), because of the method he used to try reporting them here, he's the problematic one, not KRC.

I agree with this part, though Ran may feel like a reharsh of Utsugi before, of which she seems to have the first two part (albeit her kick didn't really hit people). Thus it seems to be the insensitive to the friend's feeling part that is the big factor of her unlikability.

Maybe Gentaro can still fit said sacrifice mentality, as it can seem that he's sacrificing his life by only dedicating himself to others by becoming their friends and acting as true friend to them, preventing any personal gain. What's seen as real friend by people would involve sacrifice (not being fair-weather friend), like suffering or dying together with them, bearing all their predicaments and becoming their punching bag. He also became a teacher at the end, a profession that has hero label (like doctor or firefighter), only about dealing with other people.

The aikido tossing gag would be like the crazy violent tsundere gags. But maybe not have her skills utilized against actual stakes such as the Zodiarts, perhaps likely Dustards, like Hana in Den-O only beating up the core 4 Imagins.

I don't know if this is right? I see Ohsugi as being a faculty advisor to an afterschool club: he doesn't fit into the hierarchy, because that's only for students, and he exists more as an additional resource for the club, but one that's entirely optional. Like, he's just there to monitor them and make sure they're safe -- he isn't in charge, and he doesn't answer to them. That said, this is just my extrapolation of how clubs usually work; I imagine Ohsugi and Miu would have very different views of things!

I don't remember the details of Ryuusei's arc well enough to engage in a real debate about this, but it definitely seems like his behavior here being irrational is sort of crucial to the story, even if it ends up being frustrating as a viewer? (I mean, he does literally kill Fourze.) If you can't believe that Ryuusei himself would believe he should make these decisions in those moments, that he would be tempted by the path he takes, then yeah, I guess there's an argument to be made about plot contrivance and all that, but "impatience" in of itself sounds like Working As Intended for the youthful high school heroes of this series.

>didnt watch climax episode

trash thread

And that's the thing for me: I think this would all make a lot more sense to me if it weren't Ryuusei. The idea of a hotheaded, impetuous loner failing to believe enough in anyone outside of himself that he makes the worst choice in the name of his mission, I would absolutely ascribe that motivation to multiple characters in the cast... just not Ryuusei? (He's not impetuous!) I don't buy Ryuusei getting this deep in following the Anti-Zodiarts plan, and then being like Maybe One Zodiart, As A Treat just before he crosses the finish line.

I did not realize that was a different thing from the Director's Cut of the final two episodes! My fault for assuming that Climax meant, like, the last ones. Whoops!

Given the era and the title I'd have assumed it was some kind of Den-O crossover.

i agree. the killer should've been shun in his clown costume.

How would you describe him flipping out and punching Gentarou despite trying to keep up a tactical false persona then? Unless I'm forgetting something about the full context of that scene, I feel like part of the point of it is to demonstrate that in spite of his best efforts to be cold and calculated, Ryuusei has very passionate emotions that can still get the better of him and make him act in ways that won't end up helping his mission.

Heck, there's even sort of a poetic symmetry going on there, for the back half of his introductory two-parter to have him hitting Gentarou like that, and then having the first half of the two-parter promising a resolution to that storyline end with him hitting Fourze, but scaled up to more climactic consequences.

That's fair! Ryuusei has been known to let his temper get the better of him in triggering moments. I guess my counterpoint here (and I swear I'll stop talking about this; you haven't rewatched it, and this is probably a Me problem in regards to Meteor) is that this isn't Ryuusei losing his temper, or a rash decision Ryuusei's making when no other option presents itself, or where there's no time to consider the ramifications of his choice -- Tachibana has a plan, it's about to come to fruition, and then Ryuusei approaches Aries to figure out if he could revive Jirou, and then Ryuusei opts to murder Fourze in order to get Aries's aid. It's not a split-second thing, or a mounting frustration, it's just a weirdly unreliable and slapdash alternate plan at the last minute? (He really is counting on a Horoscope to honor his word! That seems like a Step 1 mistake!)

Finally catching up to the present episode discussion.

I wonder if Meteor Storm is stronger than Fourze Magnet States, or that Fourze obviously just doesn't want to fight him, but it wins their finisher clash, of Meteor Storm Punisher vs Rider Railgun Bomber. Meteor Storm's Limit Break is the same Rider Kick as its base form, nothing different. The attack that killed Fourze is the one-inch punch, not classified as a finisher by Rider system, but wonder if it's stronger than the Limit Break before as it gives explosive power by concentrating all the force from the body in short burst of movement. Gentaro has no hard feelings of being murdered by Ryusei, and just praises Ryusei for being fully honest about what his motivation really is.

Though Zodiart is about actually corrupting the user, Yamada's the most evil of all Zodiarts, the one that is more vile than Makise. He has Kitazaki vibes by his hair and perhaps behavior, but he seems to act like Gai more than Ouja to toy with people's lives as much as he wants, in his case, by having them play drama, and abuses his at least sleeping power to anyone that ticks him off, making him the tyrant of Subaruboshi. He does have some Kijima-like traits of forcing people to play his game, as well as a conflict with Hayami, but this time Yamada seems to be more dangerous to Hayami than Kijima's casual disobedience. As said above, Mei's actress was a part of Shinkenger, so she got some action by smashing some Dustards with a pipe. Then again, dunno if Tachibana is also fully trustworthy, as he can be really cold and only mission-focused like him ignoring Ryusei and his pleas before when his identity got exposed, where someone mission-focused may think of leaving one to die for the sake of many.

Perhaps a simple fix should be if Jiro is in actual emergency, or dunno if this'd be portrayed as an actual flaw of Ryusei (but this happens after Ryusei starts to trust the KRC more), but last time, he was shown to be fine yeah. Though dunno about cases like for example Eri in Ryuki too about how long she'd last (where Kitaoka died at the end of series about saving himself and Yui'd die at her 20th birthday). I do feel that Ryusei's one of the stupider one in the common secondary trope of allying with a villain to save a loved one, but it seems that Fourze's perfect reputation along with W or OOO prevents this to be brought up more unlike cases such as Daiji from Revice, or perhaps because the conflict is not dragged on. Ryusei's not proud of killing Gentaro, but he went through it unlike Ren in Ryuki who freed Asakura to learn to kill from him, but he ends up disgusted by him, and what Ryusei did only got his powers taken away, deservingly, by Tachibana, exposing his identity in front of everyone, leaving him defenseless too against Aries.

I think it's mostly that Fourze's not as keen on defeating Meteor as the other way around-- and Meteor has the element of surprise on multiple levels to keep Gentarou from being able to really fight back --but I feel like the power levels for new forms usually go by the Newest Form Wins rule. Meteor Storm debuted after Magnet States, so it has the edge. If only there was a powerful new Switch that Gentarou has yet to master!

There is! Switch #39: Stamper!

He IMMEDIATELY mastered Stamper! And it didn't help him with Meteor Storm at all!

KAMEN RIDER FOURZE EPISODE 32 - “THE SUPER SPACE SWORD”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../fourze32a.png

In the same way that Gentarou can’t find it in himself to hold a grudge against someone who killed him, because he killed him for friendship, I also can’t find it in me to hold a grudge for a story turn I didn’t care for. I just… like, I believe you can get fresh fruit from a rotten tree. I tend not to dwell on why something happened as a series progresses, if the consequences of that development are interesting. I am as Present Tense as Gentarou is, and I think we’re both happier for it.

Along those lines, I was happy enough with the Ryuusei plotline, even if it wasn’t my favorite part of the episode. I like the tragedy of it, that Ryuusei got exactly what he wanted – Jirou’s revived by Yamada, who I guess also likes tragedies enough to let this thing play out, knowing how devastated Ryuusei will inevitably be – but at the cost of his friendship with Jirou. It’s Ryuusei finally realizing that becoming a friendless loner in the name of friendship is kind of an incredibly screwed-up thing to do, and it’s a plan that’s doomed to failure. Seeing Ryuusei immediately contend with his accidental selfishness and villainy, dressed up as dedication and self-sacrifice, is pretty great.

But, man, what an episode this is for Kengo and Gentarou!

I love Cosmic States as a concept. I love the path to get there, what with Gentarou needing to be pulled back from the actual afterlife. Cosmic States is just straight-up the Friendship Switch, harnessing the hard work of the KRC over the last 31 episodes, and the tightness of the bond that was forged as a result. Kengo being the one to take an insane leap of faith, to reach into the unknown for his friend, and to bring that friend back with the strength of the entire Club? So great. So great! It’s a Henshin that the whole Club does together, and it’s as exciting of a moment as anything on the show. It’s a culmination (a Climax, if you will) of everything the Club has been working towards, as well as a confirmation that the real power was the friends they made along the way. I love it all so much.

I hate Cosmic States as a costume. The face looks like a cheap Fourze popsicle, and the chest looks like a Ben Cooper costume. The numbers on the chest are dopey, since they’re just two-dimensional stickers, instead of the gloriously tactile and operable Switches. The angelic choir of the sword is a step down auditorily from the addictively robotic Fourze Driver. The sword is overly complicated, with a deployed-position that looks like a space banana. I hate this thing so much.

It’s like the opposite of what I said to start: rotten fruit from a fresh tree. Where the Ryuusei turn was something I didn’t like that became something I loved, Cosmic States the costume was like a punishment after Cosmic States the concept. But! I am not going to crab about it forever. I will take this time to whine about it, and then we’ll move on. When you care about something and it screws up, if its heart was in the right place, you gotta let it go. That’s a lesson that I was not expecting to need to use so quickly!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../fourze32b.png

Yeah, Cosmic States isn't one of my favorites, either.

Yeah, my opinion on these episodes haven't really changed. Not the best story, but it's nice to finally have Ryusei's secret exposed so we can finally move on from that plotline.