[DreadBringer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER FOURZE EPISODE 05 - “TWO SIDES TO FRIENDSHIP”

My all-time favorite thing in Fourze is Miu as the leader of the club. She just barges in and declares herself leader because she’s the most clever and charismatic girl in school, plus she’s already in charge of everything school-related as Queen… but then the show goes Yeah She’s Right, which is the funniest possible choice. It’s the idea that you can make a decision about the person you want to be – trying out new conceptions of yourself, new identities, new responsibilities – and you’re allowed to see where it takes you in high school. Every day’s a blank slate, and every dream you have is one you’re allowed to nurture and explore with the right group of friends (and friend-adjacent grumps like Kengo) at your side. Miu shedding things she’s outgrown, like Shun and cheerleading, in order to become a superhero supervisor that goes for moonwalks is such a fun concept to play with, and it alone makes this episode a winner for me. Every scene with Miu is fun and surprising.

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.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

If you’ve got a big-hearted but impetuous main character like Gen, you inevitably have to do a story where his twin tendencies of seeing the best in people and not really thinking past his immediate desire get him into trouble, so here’s a story where the enormously phony and fawning JK manipulates Gentarou into protecting him from a vengeful Zodiart. JK’s annoying from the first scene of this episode, declaring himself Gen’s best friend and biggest fan and Gen’s the coolest and the most amazing and I hate it. It’s one of those things that haunts this episode in a variety of ways: how the story hits the same buttons over and over, way past where the show has made its point, and into something more grating and annoying. JK’s supposed to be annoying, but I don’t need all of JK’s scenes to be annoying. It makes Gen look a little too naive to be believable, and it’s just not fun to watch play out. JK is performatively awful in this story, but he also makes his scenes awful to watch.

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.