[Switchblade]

Fourze 39-40

Like I said last time, we are officially into the part of the show that I don't remember very well. At least, that's what I thought. I got about halfway through the first of these episodes and my long-term memory managed to start pulling the rest of the plot out of storage: the injured girlfriend, Taurus going crazy, JK an Gentarou dressing normally. I will admit that I forgot about the golf showdown, which is certainly one of the weirder moments in the arc, but I remembered a lot of the main beats. I'm curious to see how much this continues happening as I finish off this last block of episodes.

I liked these two, by the way. I tend to have a strong dislike for stories with authoritarian regimes and stories where the heroes get turned upon, but I like these episodes. Part of it is that it's Fourze, so even at it's darkest it's pretty goofy (Sugiura's main power as Taurus isn't brainwashing, it's a complete defiance of physics). I also just really like the emotional core of the story, culminated in the confrontation between Sugiura and the class president on the roof. You really feel bad for him when Virgo shows up and sucks him into that wormhole. Even knowing the plot twist that's coming up next episode, it's still pretty sad.

Speaking of things I forgot: Virgo transporting Nozoma away. Again, something that loses a lot of drama on the rewatch, but it's still a really well-played scene. I like this last part of the series for Nozoma, where she gets to stop being creepy and start being more insightful. Speaking of the KRC, I forgot how much Miu and Shun are barely in the show anymore. More than before I'm really wishing they'd just replaced them with the swimmer girl and her friend. Having those two graduate really makes it hard to keep them relevant to the plot.