KR Fourze 08 released

[takenoko]

So yeah, we get to see the many facets of Daimonji. Although we sorta see hints of him being cowed by his dad in the last episode, they really turn it up in this one. /me gives him an Oscar

But seriously, it's neat to see him just be a mostly brainless ox who just solves his problems by throwing himself against them. Though called the king, he's really just a pawn of everyone else around him. I bet even when he was dating Miu, he just ended up doing everything she said. We see some of that in episode one, in fact.

The back stories explaining why they all have detention were pretty good too.

I love the overdramatic music that plays when Gen and Daimonji are arguing.

It's pretty good to see Miu operating Powerdizer, but it sucks that she apparently is even worse at it than Kengo. How is that even possible? Just seems like one of those dumb "Women can't be Rider" situations.

Edit:
[03:56] <Magenta> his name was an anagram of problem child this whole time
[03:56] <Magenta> so deep
Daimonji 大文字
Mondaiji 問題児 【もんだいじ】 (n) problem child

You know, I originally wrote down Mondaiji-domo, because it sounded like Satake was purposefully making fun of Daimonji. But then I thought about it, and wasn't so sure. Since domo refers to a group, he seems to be addressing all of them, so maybe Satake is just saying what's natural, and it's supposed to come off as a witty to the audience, but not so for the people in the show?

[zeta_gundam]

Wait, the police are actually mobilised to fight the Zodiarts? Also, why didn't they attack Fourze? Surely a masked man jumping down from the top of the building is a suspicious character.

Miu was operating the PowerDizer? Wow. Shun gets into the PowerDizer and knows how to operate it instantly? Even bigger wow. Are the controls that simple to learn? I mean, it looks like a really complicated piece of machinery. Maybe the controls are like playing a video game. Joysticks to move and buttons to punch and all.

LOL, nice note that Magenta pointed out. But, for those that didn't know... the name Daimonji Shun (大文字 隼) is a tribute to Kamen Rider Nigou, Ichimonji Hayato (一文字 隼人). You combine the "一" and the "人" characters to get the "dai" (大) character.

[PHurricane]

Kinda long, but I’ve had a lot of thoughts build up over the last arc.

Damn. I really don’t want to like Shun, especially since his rant about following his Father’s instructions came off surprisingly whiny after he was a condescending irrational jerk to everyone, but it does explain his behavior. It by no means excuses it, for which I’m glad Miu didn’t immediately accept his offer to resume dating, but it does make him tolerable.

Gentarou’s observation that Shun doesn’t really act like a leader is part of something that’s been bugging me since the series began. Shun doesn’t really act like a quarterback from what we see of him. Leadership is a vital quality that successful quarterbacks must possess, and even Shun agrees that he’s not a leader. He’s also very quick to hit with his hands or try to tackle people. Quarterbacks don’t do that much tackling in order to protect themselves - it’s usually a really big deal when a quarterback gets involved in a play by tackling because it usually means they were the only player left who could stop someone on the other team (usually after a fumble or interception). They’re certainly still athletes, but Shun strikes me more as a defensive back or linebacker in how aggressive his mannerisms are.

It was nice to see the Zodiarts plot run parallel to the Club plot - both Daimonji and Satake’s kid had issues with their controlling fathers and living up to their expectations. And I have to admit - I didn’t consider that Hound could be Satake’s son until JK showed up at the classroom. I like it when Rider manages to surprise me.

The foreshadowing that Shun would use the Powerdizer was pretty heavy-handed. They also hinted pretty significantly that giving Daimonji some serious father issues can help him bond with Kengo. I’m sure they’ll have some conversations (or arguments) about living up to the family name, mission, etc. in the coming episodes.

Kengo let Shun use the Dizer for the same reason he let Gentarou use the Fourze Driver, but I kind of hope that the arc after the next one has more of a focus on how Kengo’s dealing with how everything has developed. His protests every episode that he doesn’t acknowledge the Club or its members are always good for a laugh, but the reality is that he’s slowly being stripped of all the responsibilities he had relating to the Switches. JK’s now doing surveillance, Shun’s got the Dizer, Miu is forming strategy and directing the so-called troops, Yuuki is Fourze’s personal cheerleader and giving tips on which Switches to use, and of course Gentarou is Fourze. About the only thing Kengo has left for himself is getting new Switches ready for use, but there’s a limited number of those and Nozama has repeatedly demonstrated that she’s talented with programming. On top of being sickly (something that’s been kept off screen for the most part after the first few episodes), it's got to be frustrating to be increasingly relegated as unimportant for something that was considered his "inheritance".

Other random thoughts:
-There are a lot of kids at school for a Sunday. Is that really normal?
-Nice touch to have Shun have leaves in his hair during the phone conversation with his dad since he was up a tree a few minutes earlier.
-Woah - Miura’s still hospitalized? Are all of the former Switch users hospitalized? That raises the stakes quite a bit, I think. It might even mean that the withdrawal effects are worse than those for using GaiaMemories.
-I’m waiting for someone to, you know, knock one of the evil Switches out of the person’s hand rather than just shout at them not to use it.
-Interesting to see Gen use Launcher with Radar, since apart from the first time when he was told to use them together he’s forgotten to turn on Radar before launching the rockets.
-I don’t know if all the “bad boy”s being thrown around was more or less funny because of it being said in English, but at a minimum its overuse made me chuckle.
-Elec’s state change visual effect reminds me of the OOOs henshin medal visual effect.
-Gentarou. An 18 on your test? The first time you’ve ever gotten a 50?! Maybe I just don’t have enough exposure to other franchises, but I can’t think of another series that has such a dunce as the main hero apart from Usagi in Sailor Moon.

[SacredCultivator]

Only comment I have from this episode, shall keep it to a bare minimum...

Yuuki's reason for having Supplementary Classes is hilariously cute!!!
(Sorry I'm just a huge sucker for her/her role)

Miu using PowerDizer was pretty amazing I'll admit, though agreed that it sucks she was only able to get off like one attack and down she goes.
(Unless I misunderstood how PowerDizer works, I thought it was by Stamina.. If that's the case wouldn't Miu have a lot since she's a Cheerleader? I assume you need a LOT of stamina to be a Cheerleader.)

- - -
I lied will try to make this a decent length because PHurricane made some good observations and some of those Random THoughts had me thinking.

"-I’m waiting for someone to, you know, knock one of the evil Switches out of the person’s hand rather than just shout at them not to use it."
^Seriously, like don't yell, run and slap that sucker out of their hand, or throw something. SOMETHING to distract them from pressing it.

"-Gentarou. An 18 on your test? The first time you’ve ever gotten a 50?! Maybe I just don’t have enough exposure to other franchises, but I can’t think of another series that has such a dunce as the main hero apart from Usagi in Sailor Moon."
^That 50 doesn't mean anything given it was only brownie points for helping Satake's kid. So I guess from what we've watched so far... Gentarou + Usagi are the dumbest ones.

[Lunagel]

Fourze is really good at making me hate a character and then pulling a 180 so I suddenly change my mind within only a few lines of dialogue.

I love it when Yuuki asked "Gen-chan?! Are you broken again?!" Probably exactly what I would've asked in that situation.

[takenoko]

Oh, I didn't know that thing about Daimonji's name, that's pretty clever. In general, Daimonji is a rich family name, so a lot of rich characters in dramas will be named Daimonji

I actually forgot to mention that I felt the way the A plot intercepted the B plot was pretty crazy. It's a "Leia is Luke's sister" kind of thing. Even with no reason to have a problem with it, it still feels like it was pulled out of nothing.

I was actually wondering why the teachers Sonoda and straps were still around on a Sunday. Even with Japan, I don't think that it's common to do more than a 6 day school week. And last I heard, the Saturday class trending toward a half day.

[Arigomi]

The stamina problem with Powerdizer probably has little to do with complicated controls and more to do with the conditions inside. It probably gets extremely hot inside Powerdizer during operation like a NASCAR race car. Daimonji is already accustomed to this as a football player.

[Catastrophe]

They make the inside of the Dizer larger then it actually looks.

This was pretty sweet, and its good Shun has a place in battle. The only issue I see is if the CGI budget is stretched and then we get less Dizer, and less Shun (which generally happens with these mech anyway).

And the elec + rocket combo is a fastball special? Nice, although probably still situational. And -10 points for the wolf jumping into said attack.

[Dengar]

I always thought the PowerDizer was motion-operated. That, combined with it probably being rather hot in there, would explain why Miu couldn't do it. Shun, being an athlete would make sense. And operating it is more a matter of training than reading the manual, but I will forgive a kids show for having a guy instantly be able to operate it.

Also, I don't know if the bad acting during the 'crying' scene was deliberate or not, but once again I will forgive them, because it DID get the point across pretty well.

Last week did foreshadow the whole "Shun does have redeeming qualities, he just hasn't shown them (or couldn't show them)". I really like how this show handles its characters. It doesn't miraculously fix their flaws, it just sheds a new light on them.

[jolly_old_saint]

Can you hear me? I'm a space dog.

When white approaches black, it too becomes sullied...

Be better at being dramatic, Captain S! Your parents would be ashamed at that acting.

Pompadøuren Fjorzengaard, failing tests won't make you more like Great Teacher Onizuka than you already are.

Remember this week's lesson, altering test scores to help your students is perfectly fine. And complete amateurs are naturally attuned to piloting robots. And vandalism for personal vindication is just dandy. And crying is manly and acceptable. If you're a girl.

[CityHunter]

The football star horrendous acting skills made the supposedly sob story insanely funny. Call me a sadist, but I couldn't stop rotating between laughter and facepalming.

[locuas]

>Wait, the police are actually mobilised to fight the Zodiarts? Also, why didn't they attack Fourze? Surely a masked man jumping down from the top of the building is a suspicious character.

Because he is a Kamen Rider. in the second episode it's confirmed that this is a Gokaiger esque world. with this in mind, it makes sense the police has "don't shoot the masked lunatic" as a procedure to deal with monsters.

[Connie_Edogawa]

I know that someone called it in the episode 07 thread that Hound would be Satake's son, so congrats to them for that guess. On that note, I totally called Shun being the Powerdizer pilot!

I expected Shun to be a "Well Done Son Guy" but I have to admit, I didn't expect his dad to be in charge of how he runs the team, too.

On the subject of Miu having a harder time using Powerdizer: Yes, she'd have more stamina, since she's not a sickly as Kengo, BUT bear in mind that Kengo has more experience working it, and it's also possible, since it seems to be motion controlled, that it takes a bit of muscle to work it well, too, since I imagine it's quite heavy. Kengo would've built up some muscle in all his time operating it, and Shun has a ton since he's a football star, bu Miu wouldn't, since, despite all the training she goes through not just as a cheerleader, but to keep in shape for her appearance, she's got a more svelte build than a muscular one.

Seeing Shun do the handshake in the Powerdizer made me laugh a bit. It was also somehow satisfying to see him smash the statue. I bet part of the reason they don't have Shun and Miu get back together is for episodes about a possible love triangle involving them and Gentarou, since he's previously expressed how he finds Miu attractive.

Preview Spoiler:

Spoiler

So, for Nozama's arc we get a trio of witches and another States Change? neat. I wonder what role Nozama will have in the club once she joins. And Yuuki calling the new States a "Firefighter" makes me think the new switch will be called "Fire" or "Heat" (lol, W references) or "Flame" or something. also, if the new States is a firefighter, and Base States is quite obviously an astronaut, what's Elec? an electrician? a construction worker? cause i'm starting to think the theme for Fourze isn't just "space" but also "careers kids wanna be when they grow up".

[evel333]

Shun's breakdown was way too "Narm" for me. So I guess that leaves Goth Girl. I'm curious which direction they will take the friendship plot for the rest of the series: Will they explore more the relationships between the KRC members, or Gen's school-encompassing befriending?

[locuas]

i think some of fourze switches are designed to counter any possible danger during a space mission, not only exploration. so it makes sense he has a firefighter function or some weapons.