[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER FOURZE EPISODE 11 - “THE LUNAR GATE DISAPPEARS”



It’s a more plot-focused episode of Fourze this time out, as the club members themselves are at risk, rather than a soon-to-be-friend or one-off guest star. Like, Makise is just a creepy incel weirdo, and so we don’t need to go through any story beats where we learn his tragic backstory or try to understand his motivation. He’s a creep, and he’s a creep to Yuuki, so we can just focus on what the threat means to the KRC.

As much as I’d’ve loved if we had followed Gentarou, JK, and Tomoko along on a trip to introduce Miu to ramen in what promised to be a thrilling homage to one of the best-ever Kabuto stories, we instead pivot into a story anchored by Gen and Yuuki on one end, and Kengo on the other end. We’re nominally in a story that’s about the Rabbit Hatch – its origin, and the specifics of its localization – but we’re really in a story that’s about Kengo realizing that he is, in fact, a part of the Kamen Rider Club… along with his friends.

The easier part of the story is watching the entire KRC scramble to locate the locker which houses the Lunar Gate, and it’s cute to watch the full-powered team work their sources and apply their skills to solving a problem together. It’s not super sophisticated or inspired or anything, but it’s just fun to watch these kids careen through hallways and leverage their status to try and get another detail that might save Kengo. If it doesn’t actually solve the problem, it’s still fun to see these well-meaning weirdos do their best.

The more interesting part of the story is Kengo, who finds himself trapped on the moon. A few months ago, he’d’ve probably been okay with it: time to work, in isolation, without anyone demanding his attention or recognition. But he can’t pretend he’s that guy anymore. The second he’s cut off from the rest of the KRC, the Rabbit Hutch feels as empty and lifeless as the lunar surface. It was a safe space, and now it might be his tomb. If you’re going to do a story where Kengo grudgingly realizes that he genuinely likes being in a club with Gen and the rest of them, you need to make him realize how he much he needs them – and not just to, like, actually save his life, but also simply the companionship of other people.

Writing this all out, it sounds exceptionally minor and kind of rote: some two-dimensional creep harasses the team, one member’s in danger, and the remaining kids have to pull together to save him, while he learns to appreciate everyone in their absence. But, man, something about this cast just elevates it? There’s so much specificity to every character’s actions – Kengo’s wry smile as everyone splits, Shun’s easy charm, Yuuki’s reluctant heroism in spending even a single goddamn second around Makise. (He’s repellant!!!) I kind of hate just going VIBES, because that’s like talking about food by saying It Tastes Good: true, but not really explaining anything. But it’s sort of just Vibes? The youthful energy of this show, it’s kind of my favorite version of toku. It forgives stupid plot decisions, because kids are stupid. It allows for rich melodrama, because kids are melodramatic. It gives Kengo being trapped on the moon equal emotional significance with him missing his friends, and sort of realizing that they are his friends and he does miss them, and none of it feels ridiculous or disproportionate. Show’s just real fun, because the cast is real fun, and you can stretch that to the moon and back if you want to.