[DreadBringer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

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

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.

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.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

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!

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.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

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.

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.

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Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Unfortunately, yeah, some people in the west have pretty contradictory ideas about morals. They can preach about how people should sacrifice what they want for the good of others, but they will seldom exercise that belief IRL. Besides, if everybody in the world thought like that, then nobody would actually benefit from sacrifice. The whole point of guys like Hongo taking the lonely path is so nobody else has to. That path chose him, so he wouldn't want people idolizing him like that. A world where everybody is selfless would totally suck.

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.