[DreadBringer]

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER FOURZE EPISODE 21 - “A MISGUIDANCE COUNSELING SESSION”

That idea of everyone moving on, it’s a thing that most of these shows don’t really touch on until their final arc, if at all. The doctors in Ex-Aid are still going to be doctors when the show ends. Banjo and Sento will still be friends when Build ends. Takumi will still be a petulant handful when 555 ends. But Fourze (and Gotchard, but less so) is a show that’s telling you in Episode 21 that some folks are already planning the next phase of their lives. Shun and Miu are graduating in the summer, and that’s it for them and the KRC. Kengo, Yuuki, and Gentarou are figuring out what they’ll be doing in a couple years when they graduate. (Kengo’s like NO I CAN STAY IT’S COOL is such a sweet little note, him needing to finish his dad’s mission, no matter what.) Everyone’s aware that this situation – them being friends in the KRC – is as temporary as the fight against the Zodiarts, and that gives a real melancholy sheen to this show, and the strange gravity its exerted on its cast.

It's ironic that it seems that Fourze talks about how a friend circle is temporary, but some of those other series may not have anyone moving on to emphasize their friendship, that your friends are available to you 24/7, unlike the reality of real life where the "fake friends" won't be there for you again. And there can be people who wish that as a true Kamen Rider, people have to give up about what they'd be doing in a couple of years, based on how the premise (...in Showa) was built upon that, where Hongo has to give up university life to fight as Kamen Rider, sacrificing their happiness for the greater good.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

She clearly and loudly doesn’t want to be a teacher, which is a very neat change from Sonoda’s phony kindness and empathy. (Which, quick aside: I love how Ryuusei is the first one to clock that Hayami is up to something, because he sees the same bullshit geniality he’s using to deceive the KRC, which means Hayami is also trying to deceive them. Great character beat!) She’s doing a job she hates, because she can’t do the thing she loves. It’s a fun viewpoint to explore, the unhappy teacher, the one who’d rather be anywhere but Amanogawa. It’s mostly setup in this episode, tied to the mystery of the Pegasus Zodiart, and since I mostly don’t remember who the actual culprit is, I can’t spend as much time talking about how Haruka impacts this story.

As said by Androzani, Haruka is Lily from W. Other than her kickboxing here, Nao Nasagawa also did some acrobatics in W as Lily, albeit she botched it. Haruka was a potential Zodiart (red herring here), but Lily was an actual MOTW (in species), but a good one (guess she's the Cubi type of W). Hayami at first seems to look forward against Gentaro, but now he dismisses him and his friends as problem students. Gentaro should also recognize Hayami is up to something as he also recognizes Ryusei's bullshit geniality. I wonder about why Haruka didn't decide to make a living with kickboxing as she wants, like if she's still not good enough for competition or such despite Gentaro feeling that she's great.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

It’s, again, an action-heavy episode, where even the basic high school scenes get little moments of Haruka almost assaulting students and colleagues alike, which is another problem that the Amanogawa High HR department seems unwilling to address. (The Chairman’s gotta do better on his hiring standards! You can’t cosmically-hypnotize away every workplace violation forever!) With a Zodiart that just wants to test their strength and skills against anyone – from karate guys in a nighttime training session at a playground (???), to a lone jogger, to Libra (!!!) – it’s no surprise that kinetic and tense fight scenes are where this episode spends the majority of its time. (We even get a massive battle against Virgo and Dustards at the quarry!) It’s all really well done, with the Pegasus suit actor doing some incredibly fast and powerful moves against a variety of opponents, while Meteor and Fourze show off their different styles in several fights. It’s just a brawling episode, and few series are as well-suited to that concept than Fourze.

But last episode showed where Gamou refuses to let people investigate Amanogawa High. Gamou is the owner of the school, it's intentionally made to breed monsters. The students and teachers are also only potential grooming into Zodiarts. Haruka misses her kicks to people like Ohsugi, but they'd still got a look at her shoe bottom, which'd hit their skin if she connects her kicks, unlike on the gym where it's taken off. Meteor goes back to being cold when a friend fallout isn't involved, though he praises Fourze clearing up the Dustards with Claw and Board Switches.