[Sunred]

Sort of a late post considering Die has covered up to episode 4, but here goes.
Here's a "Jean-Claude Van Damme in Breakin'" levels of trivia for everyone.
Sota Fukushi wasn't the only one to find success after this show. One of the school muscleheads was Wataru Ichinose (he is I believe the shaved head dude with noodles in his mouth while working out with a pulley in episode 1) who went on to star as the protagonist in Netflix's Sanctuary, the show about a delinquent who enters the world of sumo and becomes a rikishi (portrayed by Ichinose).

King-Ohger fans also might want to check this out if they haven't since So Kaku who played Kaguragi/Hachi Ohger plays a prominent supporting character in it. There are probably one or two more familiar faces as well, but these two are the ones that come to mind right away.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

...Which is a pretty important thing to do early on like this, too. We've already started to establish the idea through Gentarou and Kengo, but having this plot play out like this really underscores that idea of friendship being about finding something in what a person is, and all that.

It's a thing I will definitely get into more once we're past the winter movie and a certain character is introduced, but a major part of Gentarou's character that I love is that he can be friends with anyone, as long as it's their authentic self. Challenging himself to be friends with Miu helps him understand the ways in which they're similar, and he in turn challenges her to be true to herself. No one is worth abandoning as long as they're honest about who they are.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunred

There are probably one or two more familiar faces as well, but these two are the ones that come to mind right away.

Very cool! Thank you!

[Sh Ranger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER FOURZE EPISODE 04 - ?CHANGES AND SECRET MOVES?

Miu! My second-favorite KRC character.

It?s the way that this story kind of drills into her character by making her more icily defiant and self-assured, rather than softening her or making her learn a lesson or anything. The runner for this two-parter is basically Miu Did Nothing Wrong, and I sort of respect that? It?d feel phony, or at least boring, to have Miu become this big-hearted softy who was humbled and humiliated, so she learned to appreciate people. Story ends kind of exactly the opposite: a bunch of sycophants learned that she?s the real deal, and her greatness is the ideal they should be aspiring to, rather than fruitlessly trying to tear down at the cost of their own potential. (Is this a Kabuto reference for the KRC?) It?s a two-parter that burnishes the legend of the Mean Girl, and I love that choice. Miu?s not some lazy bully, she?s a hard-working diva who?s earned every bit of her fame, and god help you if you think you can cheat it out of her hands. A whole story devoted to shaming the audience for suggesting that Miu isn?t the greatest? Okay!

While I wouldn't rank Miu quite as high in KRC as you do (assuming you're counting Riders?), I think the new president is a great first addition to the team for sure! I agree with you about the Kabuto reference, like Tendo, while Miu is somebody who may appear arrogant and pretentious at first sight, especially with Tamae making propaganda to frame her as such, all of her boasts are in fact totally sincere, not empty words. Tamae deceived herself, believing that she was only a stepping stone for Miu, when Miu would never make friends with people she doesn't care about. So Miu is a totally reliable and loyal friend, if you can accept her proud personality. Even Yuki-supporter Tomoko looked mildly impressed with the speech.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Androzani84

Also, I didn?t mention this last time, due to my rules on not doing the feature for characters whose actors were prominent in later shows beyond unsubtle hints, but the announcer with the ridiculously huge bow tie was one of those future regulars. He was a bit of a beast who flipped out towards the end is my misdirecting hint.

I knew about the FENIX employee in the next arc, but the flipping beast in this one surprised me!

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

While I wouldn't rank Miu quite as high in KRC as you do (assuming you're counting Riders?), I think the new president is a great first addition to the team for sure!

Gentarou probably comes in third!

[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER CLUB MEETING – QUIZ: KAMEN RIDER URBAN LEGENDS!! EPISODE 01



I love these little quizzes. It’s all the general camaraderie and individual alliances of the KRC, but goofed off via an obligatory piece of DVD content. We get “Kengo” instead of Kengo, for example, where the normally grumpy and curt protagonist becomes an amiable and hilariously underprepared game show host. It’s just enough of the character showing through to make it feel like Fourze content, but still meta and disarmingly giggly.

Which, man, you can tell which of these kids were having the most fun on this show through these quizzes. They all seem like they’re having a good time – as someone who thinks Showa jank is ridiculous, I very much appreciate these kids laughing their asses off in unison at some of the story choices from the 1970s – but some of them just come across as more willing to look dumb in these bits of ancillary content. Miu for sure seems like she’s having a blast, and Kengo is an inspired choice for the first host. Everyone else acquits themselves well, and is at worst amiable in playing along with the conceit, but some folks seem like they really dug this idea.

(Like, I feel as though you can tell the difference between the Actors and the Performers here: the Actors get into a role and can’t really play a game as their character, while the Performers are willing to do something ridiculous if it gets a laugh. I know we’re looking at young people on a Kamen Rider show, so they’re probably all models/singers/dancers from performing arts academies or whatever, but folks like Gentarou and Shun seem like they’re not as equipped to goof around as the others.)

The quiz itself is a riot, letting a group of kids be alternately thrilled and surprised by the idiosyncratic choices that would come to define the franchise, which they themselves are the beneficiaries of with their current employment. It’s less like a bunch of modern-day young adults mocking the past, and more like the children in a family watching home videos of the granddad when he was their age. While I’m a little shocked that Actual Rider Fan JK did so poorly in the quiz (he schools them all on how Ichigou powers his Henshin!), I really enjoyed watching the cast try to reverse-engineer the correct answers from trying to decide what would be the dumbest and/or cutest options, which sometimes fails when you don’t go dumb enough. Fun way to celebrate the 40th anniversary of a very cute and very dumb franchise!

[Switchblade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER FOURZE EPISODE 04 - ?CHANGES AND SECRET MOVES?

It's an interesting choice going with Miu as the first recruit for the KRC. Given her attitude towards Gentarou in the first two episodes you'd think she'd be one of the last to come around instead of the first, especially with Tomoko actively helping out/stalking the gang at this point. It's a good choice, though, because Miu is really fun and this story does a great job of showing off the full range of her personality. It makes a lot of sense that she and Gentarou bond early on, though, since one of Miu's big things is respecting people who are honest about what they want and Gentarou never uses less than his whole ass in everything he does. I'll always love the bit where she provokes the Zodiart because she trusts that Gentarou will be able to save her.

I think this was also the first time we saw Fourze headbutt a monster and I'm always here for that.

Let's see what I said about it in '19:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

And speaking of fun, I'm now through episode 4 of Fourze, the end of Miu's recruitment arc. It's good to have her on board the team now and to have JK on tap to join up next. I'd completely forgotten what an asshole Shun was at this point, what with happily ditching Miu when the Queen contest turned against her. That's really funny given how by the end of the series he's really desperate to be her boyfriend while she is clearly not that interested anymore. I liked how Miu forgave her friend for trying to attack her, though. I think this arc is part of why she was always one of my favorite members of the KRC. She can be kind of an arrogant dick, but her heart is always in the right place.

Other random things Switchblade had forgotten about Fourze:

- Miu's "Oops" catchphrase. It's cute in moderation, but there were times when it, like Shun's twinkle effect, got badly overused.

- Fourze's States forms. The preview for episode 5 teased the arrival of Elec States, which I had somehow completely forgotten existed. I do remember it, Flame, and Magnet now. I think that was it for non-movie stuff aside from Cosmic, right?

As a final comment, I really hope Rikako Sakata took a thorough shower after filming that pool scene.

[Androzani84]

The quiz segments are so fun, that I came up with my own set of multiple choice questions, which I will ask every time we reach one of these segments, and reveal the answers at the end of the next.

Q1: Which real world monarch did Geldam’s Commander Black serve under before his fall to evil?
A) George V of The United Kingdom
B) Tsar Nicolas II of Russia
C) Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany

Q2: Gel-Shocker’s combat men are given pills they must take every hour. What happens if they fail to take the pills?
A) They revert and become human again.
B) They die horribly
C) Their bodies turn inside out.

And for the third question, Hiroshi Fujioka was famously injured doing a motorcycle stunt for episode 10. What new regulations were put in place as a result?
A) All actors doing their own stunts must be qualified
B) All actors must have a motorcycle license
C) All actors must be physically athletic.

The only rules are that you can’t look the answers up on purpose.

[Fish Sandwich]

I wonder if in the 2050's we'll have some TTFC monthly spinoff where the actors from the current Rider show are baffled by correct answers to Heisei-centric questions such as "Kiva turns into a giant bow and arrow Decade uses to defeat a monster" and "Kabuto saves exactly one falling bottle of olive oil". Heck, maybe by the 2060's we'll even have fans on futuristic forms of social media declaring they Don't Truck With Heisei!

...Eh, who am I kidding? An unsightly era like that will probably just be more popular than ever by the 80th anniversary of Rider.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

I'll always love the bit where she provokes the Zodiart because she trusts that Gentarou will be able to save her.

Everything Miu does in Episode 4 makes her arrival as Club Queen at the end feel not just inevitable but necessary. She's way too competent to let a club she's in be run by these dummies!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Androzani84

The quiz segments are so fun, that I came up with my own set of multiple choice questions, which I will ask every time we reach one of these segments, and reveal the answers at the end of the next.

Q1: Which real world monarch did Geldam?s Commander Black serve under before his fall to evil?
A) George V of The United Kingdom
B) Tsar Nicolas II of Russia
C) Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany

Q2: Gel-Shocker?s combat men are given pills they must take every hour. What happens if they fail to take the pills?
A) They revert and become human again.
B) They die horribly
C) Their bodies turn inside out.

And for the third question, Hiroshi Fujioka was famously injured doing a motorcycle stunt for episode 10. What new regulations were put in place as a result?
A) All actors doing their own stunts must be qualified
B) All actors must have a motorcycle license
C) All actors must be physically athletic.
D) All actors must have great big bushy eyebrows

The only rules are that you can?t look the answers up on purpose.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

...Eh, who am I kidding? An unsightly era like that will probably just be more popular than ever by the 80th anniversary of Rider.

I very much look forward to telling future fans that Ex-Aid is supposed to look like that, and maybe they aren't sophisticated enough to appreciate the heroic power of neon-pink bike shorts!

[Sh Ranger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Gentarou probably comes in third!

So, based on what you've said before, I guess your ranking probably looks something like:

Tomoko
Miu
Gentarou
Ryusei
Shun
Yuki
Ohsugi
Kengo
JK

Am I close?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Androzani84

The quiz segments are so fun, that I came up with my own set of multiple choice questions, which I will ask every time we reach one of these segments, and reveal the answers at the end of the next.

The only rules are that you can?t look the answers up on purpose.

Q1: Which real world monarch did Geldam?s Commander Black serve under before his fall to evil?
A) George V of The United Kingdom
B) Tsar Nicolas II of Russia
C) Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany

Q2: Gel-Shocker?s combat men are given pills they must take every hour. What happens if they fail to take the pills?
A) They revert and become human again.
B) They die horribly
C) Their bodies turn inside out.

And for the third question, Hiroshi Fujioka was famously injured doing a motorcycle stunt for episode 10. What new regulations were put in place as a result?
A) All actors doing their own stunts must be qualified
B) All actors must have a motorcycle license
C) All actors must be physically athletic.

I haven't watched OG Rider yet, so these are mostly just my guesses based on what seems the most Showa.