[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER FOURZE EPISODE 32 - “THE SUPER SPACE SWORD”



In the same way that Gentarou can’t find it in himself to hold a grudge against someone who killed him, because he killed him for friendship, I also can’t find it in me to hold a grudge for a story turn I didn’t care for. I just… like, I believe you can get fresh fruit from a rotten tree. I tend not to dwell on why something happened as a series progresses, if the consequences of that development are interesting. I am as Present Tense as Gentarou is, and I think we’re both happier for it.

Along those lines, I was happy enough with the Ryuusei plotline, even if it wasn’t my favorite part of the episode. I like the tragedy of it, that Ryuusei got exactly what he wanted – Jirou’s revived by Yamada, who I guess also likes tragedies enough to let this thing play out, knowing how devastated Ryuusei will inevitably be – but at the cost of his friendship with Jirou. It’s Ryuusei finally realizing that becoming a friendless loner in the name of friendship is kind of an incredibly screwed-up thing to do, and it’s a plan that’s doomed to failure. Seeing Ryuusei immediately contend with his accidental selfishness and villainy, dressed up as dedication and self-sacrifice, is pretty great.

But, man, what an episode this is for Kengo and Gentarou!

I love Cosmic States as a concept. I love the path to get there, what with Gentarou needing to be pulled back from the actual afterlife. Cosmic States is just straight-up the Friendship Switch, harnessing the hard work of the KRC over the last 31 episodes, and the tightness of the bond that was forged as a result. Kengo being the one to take an insane leap of faith, to reach into the unknown for his friend, and to bring that friend back with the strength of the entire Club? So great. So great! It’s a Henshin that the whole Club does together, and it’s as exciting of a moment as anything on the show. It’s a culmination (a Climax, if you will) of everything the Club has been working towards, as well as a confirmation that the real power was the friends they made along the way. I love it all so much.

I hate Cosmic States as a costume. The face looks like a cheap Fourze popsicle, and the chest looks like a Ben Cooper costume. The numbers on the chest are dopey, since they’re just two-dimensional stickers, instead of the gloriously tactile and operable Switches. The angelic choir of the sword is a step down auditorily from the addictively robotic Fourze Driver. The sword is overly complicated, with a deployed-position that looks like a space banana. I hate this thing so much.

It’s like the opposite of what I said to start: rotten fruit from a fresh tree. Where the Ryuusei turn was something I didn’t like that became something I loved, Cosmic States the costume was like a punishment after Cosmic States the concept. But! I am not going to crab about it forever. I will take this time to whine about it, and then we’ll move on. When you care about something and it screws up, if its heart was in the right place, you gotta let it go. That’s a lesson that I was not expecting to need to use so quickly!