[Sh Ranger]

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER FOURZE EPISODE 35 - ?MONSTER LIVE ON-AIR?

Which is another way of saying that I still love this JK story. The GeneGod story? it might be my favorite one on the show? Which is nuts, considering that a) the show has largely forgotten that JK?s existed for the last dozen stories, and b) he?s still probably my least-favorite KRC member. But I like how this story feels like it?s in direct conversation with JK?s original two-parter, in the ways it wants to talk about JK?s ability to value friendships beyond the transactional. It?s a story that allows JK?s fears from his past to color his hopes for the future, and asks him to weigh different friendships against each other to determine what those friendships are worth to him.

My main nitpick with this story is how this Gene guy is introduced out of nowhere and virtually everybody in KRC is a fan of him. It doesn't have the same effect as Wakana's Healing Princess, which Shoutarou and Phillip were regularly shown listening to. However, I do appreciate the effort to do something with JK to solidify his motivations, as he's the member with the least focus. I think it's a better story than his introduction anyway. The guy most likely to betray his friends has betrayed his friends, but only due to intense peer pressure from another friend and it's interesting to see how that development can be resolved. JK feels like whether it's KRC, God or himself, he'll be betraying somebody no matter what, which leads to him accidentally betraying everybody.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER FOURZE EPISODE 36 - ?OUR LAST PERFORMANCE TOGETHER?

But the smaller Zodiart stuff still works just fine, like the battle between Meteor and Leo. I love any fight where the Rider wins through strategy over power, so I really liked Meteor attacking Leo?s literal Achilles Heel, forcing Leo to abandon a fight that Meteor definitely couldn?t?ve won. It?s also a great way to see some of those old Horoscope suits again, even if the usage here felt a little superfluous. (Leo did not seem to have much of a problem kicking Meteor?s ass in his normal form!)

I like how Meteor's role in this arc is basically just to prove Tachibana wrong and show he can keep up with Leo in a fight, a more recreational problem Ryusei gets to obsess over now that the big deal Aries stuff is behind him. He's a martial artist with a lot of pride, so you can't tell him he can't win and not expect him to try until he can't stand anymore. Meteor sticking to his base form and enduring through targeted attacks was great to watch. He didn't exactly win, since Leo mostly decided continuing the fight would be more trouble than it was worth, but forcing him to retreat was still an impressive win for Meteor.

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Originally Posted by DreadBringer

I actually also relate on how friendships can be temporary and that it's only a fraction of someone's life. It's not only high school too, but this still applies to places like work, and there can be also places where the meeting is even briefer, like I guess, the place where Ryusei and Jiro went to (martial arts training), or likely public places like forum, where people may join for some weeks then disappear forever. This can make me less enticed to form friendships, though this can be just my experience because it seems that others stay in touch later after graduating, but for me, it's always me initiating before with nobody doing it after I moved places, which I still wondered how those formed the friendships to not be one-sided (never having social skills or properly learning it).

Yeah, making friends IRL can be difficult and keeping them even more. Friendship thrives on having a common hobby, but something like Tokusatsu is so niche. When people want to talk about "normal" stuff like most sports, world news or weather, I lose interest and can only feign so much. When the server switch happened on my previous forum, I also lost contact with a bunch of interesting people, so that sucks. I'm glad TN welcomed me here though, at a bad time for me. Gentarou is surely enviable, for his ability to navigate human relationships with such skill and hold on to them.

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Originally Posted by Androzani84

Anyway, time for my own quiz. The answers for last time were b (which no-one got, despite my mentioning it earlier in this very thread), c, a. This quiz too a little more effort on my part, so it should be slightly harder.

Which of these Jin Dogma monsters was the winner of a kids design contest?
A) Red Danger
B) Keyman Joe
C) ShoukaKong

What historical Japanese figures shares his name with a me of Kazuya?s martial arts mentors?
A) Musashi
B) Benkei
C) Goemon

Unlike most other Showa Riders, the series constantly reminds us that Kazuya is a cybernetically modified human. How?
A) He performs regular maintenance on his electric mechanisms.
B) He excretes oil
C) Metallic sound effects play during his fights.