[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER FOURZE EPISODE 26 - “A SUBLIME SLOW DANCE”



I like how this one just lets you sit with Miu and Shun graduating, and what the KRC means to them both.

There aren’t really any huge twists or turns in this episode, which I think is smart. The Switcher is exactly the girl you think it is (Yayoi) for exactly the reason you think it is (not wanting to leave Amanogawa High behind). What that leaves us with is a more character-driven story of how you sometimes need to say goodbye to things, but you don’t have to say goodbye to the way those things changed you.

Like, Miu and Shun have to graduate; it’s happening no matter how they feel about it. Yayoi’s plan to attack prom is some Switch-sponsored lunacy, since it’s not like any attack will let her keep going to school forever. High school’s done, and they all need to leave it with as much grace as possible. Getting to really dwell on how they each feel about it, and what they want to take from the experience is basically all I wanted from this one. I just wanted it to feel consequential, and it did. We get multiple scenes with Gentarou acting as a sounding board for Shun and Miu, letting each character express their ambivalence about leaving a thing that meant so much to them, and that they aren’t ready to leave yet. That’s it. That’s this episode.

Except, I sort of lied up above, because there is a twist to this episode: Miu and Shun are staying on as advisors for the KRC. It’s a reasonable twist, them both realizing that the friendships they made don’t have to end just because they graduated, and leaving their friends is also abandoning their mission. Who they got to be because they joined the KRC isn’t done, because things like Friendship and Motivation don’t end just because you graduate. Shun and Miu still want to protect their school, and they still want to help their friends – neither of those require either of them to be high school students! You can still hang out on the moon as a university student!

But this nicely isn’t framed as a regression, or them clinging to past glory. Miu and Shun still graduate, and they go to prom, and Miu gets her dance with Gentarou, and it’s all very sweet, the pin the show puts in their story. (Those flashbacks to them joining the KRC! My heart!) Their membership in the KRC has never been about their academics, or their shared role as students; it’s about them all being friends and caring about their school, and that hasn’t changed.

I loved this episode, even if I can’t really pull much out of it. (I’m also sick today! Writing this has been a struggle!) The things that make it work are performance-based, or nice shots, or just a general bittersweet tone. I love how seriously the show takes Miu’s sadness, or Shun’s affection. Sometimes that’s all it takes for a beautiful episode of Kamen Rider Fourze!