[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER FOURZE EPISODE 03 - “THE QUEEN FESTIVAL COMPETITION”



I wasn’t even planning on watching this tonight? Got home late from a movie (Mercy; awful but so awful it was great) and didn’t feel like I had a ton in the tank for Fourze, despite skipping yesterday due to the Bears game. I don’t love skipping two days in a row, but I’m letting myself take this process as less of an obligation, and more of something I do when/if there’s time. It’s not "skipping days", it’s letting this be a hobby I do in my spare time. It’s okay to say Not Tonight, you know? But, god damn, I love Fourze. I didn’t want to go another night without watching it, so here we are. Getting to talk about this show is a gift, and I want to honor it as such.

Unlike Miu!

Fun episode centering ever more members of the opening title’s cast, this time adding JK and Miu to the mix more prominently. JK’s here to help Gen (and the viewer) better understand the social hierarchy and interrelated anxieties of the students, since 1) Gen just got there and seems to be hilariously/frustratingly status-blind, 2) Yuuki conveys information about social groups the ways one might denote mines in a minefield, and 3) Kengo is perpetually annoyed at the very idea of human connection or social responsibility, so we definitely need a kid that’s capable of weaving folks together, even if it’s sleazy and transactional. JK adds another tool to the show’s narrative toolbox; also, he’s a tool, so we’re just cutting right through it.

With Miu, we’re in kind of a different space. She’s full-on Mean Girl Miu in this episode, assured of her own majesty and disdainful of everyone else in the school, most of all her adoring fans. She’s maliciously ungrateful, which bites her fully on her ass at the climax, where her mid-episode venom is replayed for all of her fans. There’s a little bit of back and forth between her and Gen over the course of the episode, a little runner about him betting her he can Pygmalion some other girl into beating her for Queen of the school (valiant effort from Yuuki, who correctly points out that three dancers in the talent portion should be against the rules), but it’s sort of just Miu being awful, she’s exposed as being awful, cliffhanger into next episode. It’s kind of hard to not just see it as just desserts, you know?

What makes it work is that it feels like the second part of a third storyline this episode, about Gen refusing to give up on the Hopping Switch. Kengo thinks it’s difficult to control and marginally useful, so he immediately gives up on supplying it for Fourze. But Gen refuses to give up on it, pledging to keep using it until a purpose reveals itself – which it eventually does, securing a brief victory over the episode’s Zodiart. It’s a cute bit of heroism and dedication from Gen, but it’s kind of not really about the Switch. It’s about friendships.

Kengo instantly discards people who can’t help him in his mission, and that’s kind of his whole decision-making matrix when it comes to letting people in. With Gen, it’s… like, making friends with everyone means making friends with everyone. You gotta spend time with cool, passionate dorks like Yuuki, but you also gotta spend time with vain, imperious jerks like Miu. You might have to argue with them, or get insulted by them, or directly challenge their status and inherent sense of self, but in doing so you can get to know them enough to find the value in them. Refusing to even try out of dismissiveness or pragmatism isn’t some smart move, it’s laziness and lack of imagination. You never know which weirdo or jerk or sleazeball or constantly-fainting misanthrope could be your next new friend.

…Okay, reading that back, I’m not sure Gen’s right on this one? We’ll find out next time!