[DreadBringer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER FOURZE EPISODE 12 - “DUTY AND NOBLE INTENTIONS”

We get to see a more serious side of Yuuki in this episode, to better convey how perilous things are for Kengo, but also to remind us that Kengo is kind of a terrible friend. He’s principled, but that makes him demanding and prickly. He’s concerned about the greater good, but in a way that disregards individuals and their feelings. He’s willing to die for his mission, but he isn’t prepared to share the burden. He’s kind of relentlessly rude, and prone to tantrums, and just a full-time project for Yuuki. It’s not that Kengo isn’t worth the hassle, but it’s also that it’s always a hassle with Kengo.

Not like Kengo was a friend to the KRC members anyway before, it's one-sided in others' favor for the friendship, so don't expect Kengo to fulfill the expectations of a friendship with him being terrible friend before. He's a jerk though despite fulfilling protective mission, as you explained here, though a handful of people I've known seem to think that these kind of problematic behaviors don't matter as long as you aren't the one seen as the cause behind disasters like mass death (e.g. being blamed for unwittingly causing a villain to rise). And maybe some'd see Kengo as only being 'terrible' here due to freaking out of being trapped in moon which is normal for people to lash out (but for Kengo, his usual behavior is also like this). Only at the end Kengo acknowledges them as his friends, with his handshake to Gentaro and also reporting to his dad about making friends. Kengo definitely goes through the softening/rehabilitating kind.

But Yuuki gets him, even if she normally indulges him. We’ve gotten 11 episodes of Yuuki gently steering Kengo to variable success, while placating his wounded ego and sweetly suggesting some new outlooks to him, but this time she needs to have a talk with Kengo. Kengo’s trapped on the moon – which is, you know, still a pretty big deal! – but he’s lashing out at the people closest to him, whether he wants to admit it or not. He’s missing how they’re not only working to rescue him, they’re working to honor him by continuing to fight the Zodiart that’s menacing the school.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

And that, honestly, is the only reliable way to connect with Kengo. It’s just like the first Kengo story with him and Gentarou about using Fourze, but now widened to include the entire KRC: You don’t reach Kengo by telling him you care about him, you reach Kengo by showing him that you care about his mission. The team putting the defeat of Makise over the safety of Kengo (because Kengo wasn’t in any immediate danger, despite being moon-exiled) lets Kengo know that there are people who share his dedication, and that’s worth letting them in.

I guess for this one, it's seen that Fourze tried to reach moon with his bike, but it failed, it doesn't seem to be about putting the Zodiart first before the friend, despite Yuki's claim of Gentaro prioritizing Zodiarts first. And I guess Yuki talked with Kengo before Makise was beaten, so it doesn't seem to be about prioritizing Zodiart before Kengo, it was equal prioritization at best, dividing tasks between KRC members. I do think though, Gentaro wanting to befriend everyone means he shouldn't only prioritize the main circle (like Kengo) over people who don't seem important enough in the narrative.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

I don’t… like, I don’t ever want to lose sight of how ridiculous and fun this show is, even when it’s doing a very sweet and melancholy story of a boy who’s afraid to die alone. Even when we’re getting Kengo screaming at the rhyming injustice of being trapped on the moon to die, just like his father, we still have a plot where some incel piece of crap is going to telekinetically drive a bus full of high school girls off of a bridge, and the only way to stop this cosmic monstrosity is to be electric and also briefly invisible??? (Also, I love that the way the director decided to show the girls being telekinetically manipulated was to fill them walking backwards and then run it in reverse, so they're walking forward in a herky-jerky way. Super clever!) Like, this is all still a bunch of high school kids trying their best to affect a moon rescue, and it’s simultaneously earnest and hapless, which is the perfect balance for this show of weirdos saving the day. For example: I get that Yuuki’s going through a lot, and she’s willing to try anything to rescue Kengo – up to and including begging the Chairman of the school to mount an international moon mission – but shouldn’t the astronaut-in-training have been the one to tell Gentarou that Fourze can’t just fly all the way to the moon? Seems like her area of expertise!

Maybe Fourze can use any items to attack Makise, but Electric is the upgraded form, so he used that. The important one is maybe the stealth one, like Verde does. At the end though, everyone gathered to the moon to visit Kengo, so Yuki would be wrong by saying this. Makise's deal is about approaching multiple girls and got rejected, so it explains him moving on from Yuki to others, after failing to previous girls before Yuki, and wants to get revenge on them by sending them to ocean.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Free convenient access to the moon and vista of Earth is a unique selling point as well! I think Rabbit Hatch is especially fun compared to the base of the show's second SHT partner, Gobusters, which is a dull grey place that looks like it was designed by Kengo. I'd say Rabbit Hatch is one of my favorites for sure, up there with Hikari Studio and nascita (coffee must improve after the first quarter, right?).

JK knows this, which is why to him, Rabbit Hatch can be turned into a tourist attraction.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

The inevitable misfortune of Gentarou's boast to befriend everybody at school. Makise should learn that girls won't respect him until he respects them, but self-improvement is difficult for narcissists like him.

Makise seems to be who Gentaro refused to befriend, with him not being given similar reaction to the previous Zodiarts (who are obviously more sympathetic, though). Gentaro letting the girls giving Makise his just desserts can be used as a benchmark on how heroes shouldn't be so forgiving, like what Gentaro does here. Which I wonder what kind of people who does not deserve the heroes' kindness should still have the heroes being kind to them, or to have the hero go hateful and holding grudge into, outside of about how the audience knows the backstory so they're not a lost cause. Usually to people, it seems that more grounded evil type (where you seem to tolerate mass murder) like incels such as Makise is the one they'd see as nothing more than a monster, but this'd apply too for other uncomfortable crimes that people'd complain if the heroes doesn't have the "appropriate" reaction (like endless grudge to them), like abusive guardians, people in positions of power, bullies, etc.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

I do think though, Gentaro wanting to befriend everyone means he shouldn't only prioritize the main circle (like Kengo) over people who don't seem important enough in the narrative.

Kengo was trapped on the moon to die! I think it's okay to make him a priority!

[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER FOURZE EPISODE 21 - “A MISGUIDANCE COUNSELING SESSION”



It’s an action-heavy episode of Fourze, but still one that manages to hit at a topic that very few other Kamen Rider shows can cover.

This show takes place in high school, and that’s not forever, no matter badly you do in class. (Even Gentarou is bound to either graduate or get kicked out!) Kids will inevitably grow up, move on, and find lives outside of the very specific social circle they’ve developed over their educational journey. And it’s not just the students whose time in the halls of a place like Amanogawa High can be fleeting – teachers also come and go, as Ohsugi hilariously and melodramatically grapples with in this episode.

(Ohsugi… man, he’s so much better once Sonoda’s gone. He’s still a creep and an irritant, but he’s so much more self-involved and pathetic, and it just makes his schtick infinitely more palatable to me. Him having a full-on breakdown in the hallway because he misses being a harassing creep to Sonoda is fun, while him being a harassing creep to Sonoda was not fun.)

That idea of everyone moving on, it’s a thing that most of these shows don’t really touch on until their final arc, if at all. The doctors in Ex-Aid are still going to be doctors when the show ends. Banjo and Sento will still be friends when Build ends. Takumi will still be a petulant handful when 555 ends. But Fourze (and Gotchard, but less so) is a show that’s telling you in Episode 21 that some folks are already planning the next phase of their lives. Shun and Miu are graduating in the summer, and that’s it for them and the KRC. Kengo, Yuuki, and Gentarou are figuring out what they’ll be doing in a couple years when they graduate. (Kengo’s like NO I CAN STAY IT’S COOL is such a sweet little note, him needing to finish his dad’s mission, no matter what.) Everyone’s aware that this situation – them being friends in the KRC – is as temporary as the fight against the Zodiarts, and that gives a real melancholy sheen to this show, and the strange gravity its exerted on its cast.

Like new teacher Haruka!

She clearly and loudly doesn’t want to be a teacher, which is a very neat change from Sonoda’s phony kindness and empathy. (Which, quick aside: I love how Ryuusei is the first one to clock that Hayami is up to something, because he sees the same bullshit geniality he’s using to deceive the KRC, which means Hayami is also trying to deceive them. Great character beat!) She’s doing a job she hates, because she can’t do the thing she loves. It’s a fun viewpoint to explore, the unhappy teacher, the one who’d rather be anywhere but Amanogawa. It’s mostly setup in this episode, tied to the mystery of the Pegasus Zodiart, and since I mostly don’t remember who the actual culprit is, I can’t spend as much time talking about how Haruka impacts this story.

Aside from, you know, all the fighting!

It’s, again, an action-heavy episode, where even the basic high school scenes get little moments of Haruka almost assaulting students and colleagues alike, which is another problem that the Amanogawa High HR department seems unwilling to address. (The Chairman’s gotta do better on his hiring standards! You can’t cosmically-hypnotize away every workplace violation forever!) With a Zodiart that just wants to test their strength and skills against anyone – from karate guys in a nighttime training session at a playground (???), to a lone jogger, to Libra (!!!) – it’s no surprise that kinetic and tense fight scenes are where this episode spends the majority of its time. (We even get a massive battle against Virgo and Dustards at the quarry!) It’s all really well done, with the Pegasus suit actor doing some incredibly fast and powerful moves against a variety of opponents, while Meteor and Fourze show off their different styles in several fights. It’s just a brawling episode, and few series are as well-suited to that concept than Fourze.

Story-wise, this one was maybe bit more mystery and setup than I’d like, despite the amount of action (feels like we should’ve gotten the Pegasus reveal as the cliffhanger?), but it’s all done with such a rich level of style that I can’t complain. We’re still spending time on the character relationships, we’re still talking about a life beyond the KRC, we’re still getting Miu’s hyper-competent leadership (even if it kills Shun), and we still have a shot like this:

[Fish Sandwich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

a lone jogger

...played by Ayumi Shimozono, no less, which instantly makes this one of my favorite episodes of Fourze nowadays simply for being as close as I can get to a guest appearance from Magine! Now, you might think that makes as much sense as saying Fourze was basically in Gozyuger just because Takaiwa showed up, or that it would at least be more pertinent to instead mention the fun coincidence that Shimozono would later be the suit actor for another high school Rider with a predominantly white costume, but if that's where your mind goes first, it's only because you aren't as obsessed as me!

Anyways, yeah, this is the first Sakamoto-directed episode since 4, although I doubt anyone would need me to point that out after seeing it. Even without the bonus I just mentioned, this was always a particularly memorable one. It like it's just... an even more Fourze episode of Fourze than usual, you know?