[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER FOURZE EPISODE 04 - “CHANGES AND SECRET MOVES”



Miu! My second-favorite KRC character.

It’s the way that this story kind of drills into her character by making her more icily defiant and self-assured, rather than softening her or making her learn a lesson or anything. The runner for this two-parter is basically Miu Did Nothing Wrong, and I sort of respect that? It’d feel phony, or at least boring, to have Miu become this big-hearted softy who was humbled and humiliated, so she learned to appreciate people. Story ends kind of exactly the opposite: a bunch of sycophants learned that she’s the real deal, and her greatness is the ideal they should be aspiring to, rather than fruitlessly trying to tear down at the cost of their own potential. (Is this a Kabuto reference for the KRC?) It’s a two-parter that burnishes the legend of the Mean Girl, and I love that choice. Miu’s not some lazy bully, she’s a hard-working diva who’s earned every bit of her fame, and god help you if you think you can cheat it out of her hands. A whole story devoted to shaming the audience for suggesting that Miu isn’t the greatest? Okay!

And, like, this one really lets the actors do something nuanced and complicated here, which is so welcome. Gen gets to try out a more subdued and heartfelt version of his normal high-energy support, taking Miu’s setback more personally than she does, which makes for some tremendous scenes between the two of them. (They got chemistry to death.) Meanwhile, Miu has to find a way of being 110% Miu that somehow still has you rooting for her, and I gotta put all of it down to the charisma of the actor. The script is real good, and that speech at the Queen Festival is perfect, but without that specific actor nailing a bunch of tricky scenes throughout this episode – bowling alley, locker room, Festival, bridge, clubhouse – I don’t think this story lands. It for sure needs Gen to do his part, but this is a Miu showcase story, and it really only works if that actor can carry you along. She does, and she does so thrillingly.

The action and humor also continue to be great, counterbalancing the teen melodrama with a collection of outrageous stunts and ridiculous bits of comedy. I have no idea if this was actually in the script, something Sakamoto suggested, or just a blown take that Takaiwa adlibbed his way out of, but I could not stop laughing at this:



If there’s a flaw to this episode, it’s maybe that immediately following the first story’s A Sidekick Chafes In The Shadow with A Sidekick Chafes In The Shadow (For Girls) is maybe a tad uninspired, but I don’t know that I’d knock too many points off, for a few reasons. First, I think the specific cocktail of Shame/Rage/Resentment/Jealousy is such a teenage thing that I imagine a whole bunch of Fourze stories are going to lean on it. Second, the story in 1-2 doesn’t really provide a ton of character drama around either Shun or Miura; it’s just some face actor for Gen and Kengo to oppose, and Shun just splits. Third, there’s so much specificity to the relationship between Tamae and Miu, especially in the conclusion, that it feels like a massive improvement over the preceding story, rather than diminished returns. Finally, I think I like the idea that the exact same thing happened to Miu and Shun in subsequent weeks, like they’re on a Couples Betrayal or something.

But that’s honestly my only minor gripe about this story? Otherwise, it’s excellent. The drama lands, the humor is welcome, the action is solid, the cast all gets little bits of business, and the conclusion is specific and memorable. (Miu makes friends with her enemy!) It’s the new highpoint of the series, befitting its irrepressible and irresistible monarch.



PROGRAMMING NOTE: The next post will be the first of the Kamen Rider Club Quiz videos, which I'll be dropping in after every fourth episode, just like the old DVDs. Get ready for a group of children and one cubist monstrosity to be baffled and alarmed by Showa!