[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER FOURZE EPISODE 13 - “KICKED OUT OF SCHOOL”



On the one hand, this episode is zero percent subtle about its metaphorical usage of “Astroswitches” in place of “drugs”. Miura is hardcore fiending for some sweet, sweet, cosmic collectible power, and it’s a wonder that Toei didn’t take the English language route inherent in its foreign high school aesthetics and just title this one “Switch Madness”. This is not one you’ve got to work hard to decode.

On the other hand, I’ve always loved that this story existed in Fourze, even if it’s hammy to a degree that Kengo would probably turn off if he saw it on TV. The idea of the Astroswitches being a targeted attack on teens naturally lends itself to a further exploration of how teens turn to drugs for all of the same reasons that celestial henchmen might find them malleable and villainously-motivated: pressure, anger, guilt, sorrow, jealousy, resentment, etc etc etc. Kids are at a vulnerable point in their development when they're teenagers, and they’re susceptible to making poor decisions that endanger themselves and others. Sometimes it’s narcotics, sometimes it’s cosmic collectibles.

And if Astroswitches are like an illicit substance preying upon kids, then eliminating their immediate hold isn’t going to cut it. Miura and the rest of the kids in the first few episodes may not have known the full extent of the deal they were making with Scorpio, but they willingly made the deal to endanger themselves for cosmic power; no one had this forced on them. The same motivations that Miura had in the past are still with him, and the allure of the Astroswitch is an easy way out of living with the diminished reality he finds himself in, and the attendant guilt and shame. His addiction isn’t about wreaking vengeance anymore – Shun apologizes here, and Miura basically acts like Shun’s being oblivious to the real situation – it’s about the addiction, full stop. You don’t fight that by defeating drug dealers or exploding drug supplies or putting on street plays about friendship (almost, though!) or by letting someone know that you’ll always protect them from their ability to get more drugs. You don’t fight it at all, really, which is the lesson that Gentarou’s learning throughout this episode. His friendship with Miura can’t fix what’s wrong in Miura, only Miura can do that. The friendship isn’t a solution, but it’s maybe a place where Miura can solve this problem for himself.

And who better to be introduced in a story about the addictive allure of power to help you feel less like a failure than ol’ wall-hiding puzzle-eating Tachibana from Kamen Rider Blade!

Yeah, we’re introduced to Principal Hayami this episode, a million miles away from the self-sabotaging failure pile that we all adored from Blade. Hayami’s smiling, charismatic, beloved, and unnervingly nefarious in a way that the episode is clearly asking you to think he’s Scorpio. Luckily for me, we find out at the end of this one that Happy Young Non-Threatening Teacher Sonoda is actually Scorpio, so I don’t have to pretend like I forgot that reveal. (I really didn’t want to have to be like Maybe The New Principal Is The Scorpion Zodiart, because we both know that ain’t right.) While Hayami duplicitously balances his bright and sunny exterior with notes of menace towards Gentarou in private, it’s really Sonoda who’s the main threat in this one, and I’ve never really liked that?

It’s for two reasons. The first is that the show took the surprise factor a little too much to heart, and even knowing Sonoda’s the bad guy on this rewatch, there’s maybe only one story where it’s even suspicious, or something to puzzle over. (The JK story, where she’s invited to the party.) Otherwise, she never really expresses any thoughts on the unfolding storylines, or does much to interact with any of the students. (The Witches stuff, maybe, for a couple lines of dialogue.) It’s not a bunch of clues leading you to this conclusion, and even in retrospect, there’s precious little in either the performance or the surrounding dialogue that makes the mystery affect the story. It’s just this episode where suddenly she’s in the action, or suspiciously not around when the action occurs. It’s like the production team pointed at her for the villain slot, when they just as easily could’ve pointed at Ohsugi and gotten the same result. (Arguably better! That would’ve been way more fun!)

The other problem with Sonoda being Scorpio is kind of a downstream consequence of her being so hidden and normie over the last 12 episodes: I don’t care if she’s bad? Her only real use was in observer cutaways with Ohsugi that I mostly rolled my eyes at, or increasingly troublesome interactions that I feel like Amanogawa High School HR should be addressing. (She’s so horny with Hayami! Inappropriate for the workplace!) I don’t feel like she’s shifted the balance of power in the narrative because she doesn’t feel like a loss for the KRC. She added nothing before, so her heel turn isn’t subtracting anything from the team’s hopes or dreams. To put it another way, I was not watching the end of this episode and saying SONODAWHYHAVEYOUBETRAYEDUS?!?!

But the drug metaphor stuff, that really worked. If I don’t have a lot positive to say about the reveal of the drug dealer, I guess that’s not the end of the world. I will get over it, unlike Miura and his jonesing for that pure, uncut stardust…