[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER FOURZE EPISODE 41 - “ALL CLUB ACTIVITY CEASES”



You know things are serious when Miu quits.

It’s my favorite part, the Miu stuff, which is maybe no surprise if you remember *gestures to the previous 40 episodes worth of write-ups*. She hasn’t been a lynchpin for the group recently, the way she was in the first half of the series, but if you need to show that the story has definitively and irrevocably shifted into a higher and more dangerous gear, put the spotlight on Miu.

Where Shun can be scared by the terrible glory of bathroom holes, and JK’s just permanently terrified, Miu reacts to Virgo’s threats with the type of unbending steel and smirking resolve that comes from being the best President the KRC ever had, or ever will have. In a series full of heroic declarations, and an episode full of powerful moments of vulnerability, the scene of Miu first telling a murderous Horoscope that they’ve already lost to Fourze without knowing it, and then backing down (with spite and venom) only because an innocent person would be in the crosshairs if Miu fought back… series highlight for me. Miu’s my favorite Rider on this show.

Otherwise, it’s a great first half to this episode, as Tachibana coldly suggests that the KRC pare down to just Fourze, Meteor, and Kengo if they knew what was good for them, and then Virgo threatens JK, Miu, Shun, and Yuuki to quit the KRC if they know what’s good for them. (Surely, this Tachibana Cause and Virgo Effect is something we won’t be talking about in a couple of paragraphs, so just put it out of your mind.)

The whole first half is like the show drifting into horror, from its simpler action-adventure beginnings: nowhere is safe (bathroom dangers!), no one is off-limits (Jun, the guileless cheerleader, is threatened with cosmic holes!), and everything’s way too terrifying for a group of non-powered helpers to be involved with. That shot of Miu and Shun and JK and Yuuki leaving the KRC, with the history of the last year in the background, is such a beautiful way to show both how far these characters have come, and what they’re giving up by walking away now. Even Ohsugi gets a brilliant moment of guidance, forbidding the remaining members of the disbanded team to die, because it’s against the rule he made up. (Not to worry, though: Ohsugi is immediately humiliated in the next scene. There is still some light to be found at Amonogawa!)

Then, with the cast dispersed into Heroic Trio and Probably Filming Stuff For The Summer Movie camps, we transition into a training montage, and I kind of didn’t care as much about this part.

I mean, sure, it’s mostly to eventually reveal to the kids that Virgo is Tachibana, without revealing that Emoto is Virgo is Tachibana, and I think that’s a really cute complication to the somewhat-standard Masked Helper schtick. (Sorry, Kamen Helper; this is Heisei.) To have Tachibana be both an established villain and have Emoto be an established ally in one reveal, that’s really giving the audience a lot to chew on. If we still don’t know the how or why to a lot of the details, we’re at least closer to get some sort of closure to the many various mysteries swirling around our favorite M-BUS driver.

But the training montage itself just feels like it’s killing time, and trying to provide an amount of Suit Action that the plot more or less is not equipped to provide, at least in a configuration that would move the plot along. It’s visually pleasing, in a stunt show -slash- Taisen conclusion way – explosions and wirework at Kamen Rider Quarry – but it feels like not the sort of thing this show needs right this second. (It doesn’t help that Training To Not Need Friendships feels like a non-starter for Gentarou, even if he’s reluctant to ask his friends to endanger themselves to defeat the Horoscopes. Like, this is not a good plan thematically!) It’s slightly goofy, just after Yuuki’s stark terror and Miu’s gritted sacrifice, and I don’t… it sort of feels weird here? Without the show acknowledging how weird it is?

Speaking of weird: Hayami! Yes, we are at the dawn of the Tachibana endgame, so it makes sense that Hayami would be here for it. (wink!) He’s hilariously squirrelly and cowardly here, suddenly unclear on what Gamou’s doing, how it’s going to affect him, and who all is even in the goddamn group he’s been operating alongside the past year, which is a plot development that strains credulity, even if it delivers some fun distractions vis a vis Leo threatening a petrified Libra, which is always a good thing for the show to bring back. Hayami not knowing what exactly he signed up for after enacting a major portion of this plan and now getting the first frosty toes of cold feet is just… like, it feels poorly motivated, at least for its speed and impetus, if not for its result. I am not sure why Hayami is acting like he just joined this group, and it’s bizarre to think he’s been neck-deep in Switch Distro without an inkling of where this was all heading. But he’s a sweaty mess now, which is one my favorite modes for that actor, so I’ll let it play out.

Crazy to think that we’ve only got seven episodes left! Things are picking up speed, and the shape of our endgame is coming into focus! Miu’s got her work cut out for her!