[DreadBringer]

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER FOURZE EPISODE 30 - ?NO NEED FOR SENIORS?

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.

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.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

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!

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.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

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?!

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.

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Originally Posted by Androzani84

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.

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.

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Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

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.

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.

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Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Well, guys like Gentarou are right there, but it doesn't stop some people from gatekeeping the title of True Kamen Rider.

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.

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Originally Posted by Switchblade

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.

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.