[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER FOURZE EPISODE 39 - “THE NEW SCHOOL RULES”



Setting aside a brief detour into an Emoto Exposition Encounter, I thought was a pretty tight and classic Fourze episode!

So, befitting the topic, let’s push off the discussion of the main plot of this episode – Sugiura’s dictatorship – to briefly touch on Emoto, whose presence in this episode is charming (the actor’s just got a real genial vibe to his wistful recollections and occasional flashes of hollowed-out warnings) while still feeling vaguely perfunctory, like we hit Episode 39 so it’s time to get a few more nuggets about how Emoto, Gamou, and Kengo’s dad fit together way back when. I don’t know that any of the information is new (at the very least, it doesn’t exactly feel revelatory), but Emoto’s tone here makes things slightly more dangerous and imminent. Like, it’s a good scene, but it never quite feels like it’s supposed to be in this story? This episode, sure; the Horoscopes meeting is like the B-side to this Emoto subplot. But it’s sort of random how we get to it, and Sugiura’s disappearance to deal with Gentarou feels mildly out of character – isn’t this an important seminar that he’s just bailing on to deal with Gen right this second? I mean, he has to leave so Kengo can monopolize Emoto’s time with Switch business, but that just puts more of a spotlight on how contrived this bit of backstory is to a largely separate story.

But that separate story is real good! It mostly includes everyone in it, although Miu and Shun’s contributions continue to feel like the production team is grasping at straws to keep them involved, especially with stories that are centered on the school campus. I like the premise, though – the school’s doing a fun fascism, which Kamen Riders are uniquely suited to take down. Creating a reason for Gentraou to have to defeat the villain while Fourze is magically barred from fighting, that’s cute. I like a complication like that, to force Gen and JK (if no one else) to have to use their wits when their dance skills and/or double dutch skills fail them, and pummeling is off the table. Getting to watch them dress up in goofy uniforms and go undercover… like, that’s such an Act One version of this show? It’s low-stakes, just this whole thing about overbearing rules and lack of individuality, dressed up in goose-stepping hall monitors and breakdancing competitions for people’s souls. There’s for sure going to be a second part to this story that delves into Sayaka’s accident and Sugiura’s motivation and it’s probably going to be slightly tragic, but this one’s just loopy nonsense, orbiting a story about control and safety and what we lose when we don’t let our lives have any risk.

There’s, again, a real classic appeal to that kind of Fourze story. If it splits up the cast a little too much (I think we get one KRC scene in the Rabbit Hatch?), then at least it shifts around the characters for a variety of fun groupings – Kengo/Yuuki/Tomoko and JK/Ryuusei/Gen, then Ryuusei/Kengo/Tomoko and Gen/Yuuki. (JK is off enjoying the addictive pleasures of enforcing a fascist regime, surely nothing that has any modern or historic parallels, just some flight of fancy from a TV show designed to sell toys to Japanese children.) Otherwise, we’re in a full-on Amanogawa High episode, filled with returning background characters, and largely set within school grounds. As this show goes further afield for space camps and school trips and spring breaks and exchange programs, it’s sort of nice to just spend a couple episodes with the normal student body, dealing with ridiculous school rules. It’s a throwback in the best way possible.

I just hope the Emoto stuff feels less shoehorned in next time!