Kamen Rider Fourze



""Space...a wondrous world, filled with infinite cosmic energy. Using the Astro Switches, these young people will open the door to the future of space. Space on your hand! Reach out and seize the universe!""

- Opening Narration

The 2011-2012 Kamen Rider series and the thirteenth entry in the franchise's Heisei era. Pronounced "Four-Zeh" as in "Four-Zero", i.e. Kamen Rider's 40th anniversary series.

Amanogawa High School is a school that encourages every one of its students to be themselves, creating a diverse (but chaotic) student body. Arriving into this bedlam is New Transfer Student Gentaro Kisaragi, a cool guy with a Delinquent image who immediately vows to become friends with every single student in the school.

When the school is attacked by mysterious monsters named Zodiarts, Gentaro receives the Fourze Driver and Astro Switches from fellow students Kengo Utahoshi and Yuki Jojima. Using their power, he transforms into Kamen Rider Fourze to protect the students of Amanogawa High. Fourze can equip up to four Astro Switches at once, using them to equip attachments onto his arms and legs that boost his combat potential.

The plot's main driving element is Gentaro's goal in making friends with everyone in the school, even the Zodiarts Switchers. As such, many of the characters learn important life lessons from Gentaro as he tries not only to fight monsters, but also to befriend them and save them from themselves. The Zodiarts themselves show parallels to the darker sides of humanity and with each one that appears, it becomes harder and harder to free them.

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 * An Aesop: Aside from #1-2, there seems to be a trend of aesops similar to what happened in Gokaiger:
 * #3-4: "Do stuff that's beneficial to yourself and not to latch onto others."
 * #5-6: "If you want to be friends with someone, you have to accept who they are."
 * #7-8: "You must decide your own life and not let others decide for you."
 * #9-10: "It's all right to be yourself and to know that you're never alone."
 * #11-12: "There are people who are willing to help you with your problems; don't push them away."
 * #13-14: "Love can break through even the most powerful of temptations."
 * #15-16: "Art is not about perfection, but more of the love and compassion you put into it."
 * #17-18: "If you want to be friends with others, you have to show who you really are."
 * #19-20: "Even if you have opposite ideals, that doesn't mean you can't still be friends."
 * #21-22: "Even when times are tough, you just have to persevere."
 * #23-24: "You can be a hero just by doing the right thing."
 * #25-26: "Growing up and graduating is a part of life, but you should look forward for a better future."
 * #27-28: "The best feeling in the world is to be able to make people smile."
 * #29-30: "Not all people are untrustworthy; there are people who will always be friends with you through and through."
 * #31-32: "Friendship is the power that can conquer the impossible. These are the bonds that shape humanity."
 * #33-34: "Everyone has the right to be normal for a change, even superheroes."
 * #35-36: "It's okay to have your dreams, but don't use shortcuts to achieve them. Use your passion, heart and friends to do so."
 * Arc Words: There is lots of mention of Hayabusa the satellite, from Yuki's interest, cosplay and song of it, to Shun's last name being rearranged to said space craft.
 * Artificial Gravity: In the Rabbit Hatch, there's a rather large switch on the wall with the label "Gravity Control".
 * Artistic License Engineering: #2 has Fourze using Massigler to attack the Orion Zordiarts by grinding it with the front wheel, until it spews sparks. That's right, Massigler is the only motorcycle in existence with front wheel drive!
 * Ascended Meme: Lots of fans have noted that Fourze looks a lot like Skyzel of Space Ironmen Kyodain. Guess who he's teaming up with in his movie?
 * Beauty Pageant: #3 centers on one. Keeping with the show's use of high school tropes, it's pretty obvious it's in the bag for Miu from the get-go. Gentaro tries to turn it into a real contest by saying he'll become her friend if he can find someone who can beat her. Unfortunately, the only candidate he can find is Yuki. And then episode then ends on a wham when a hidden-camera footage is played on the screen showing Miu throwing away fan letters and gifts from admirers, turning most of the student body against her.
 * Big Eater: Jun, one of Miu's sidekicks, is almost always seen eating, usually candy and snacks. She even has bananas hanging from the inside of her locker door!
 * Bittersweet Ending: #38 has Gentaro free Erin from the influence of the Zodiarts Switch,
 * Book Ends: #9 starts with Yuki and Gentaro racing to school; #10 ends with
 * #15 shows the debut of Motoyama on the rooftop with his painting of Mount Fuji. Where do we see him in the following episode? Back on that rooftop, redoing that same picture and Abe meeting up with him.
 * Potechokin was the first Foodroid Miu played with. In #26, it's helping her pack.
 * Brick Joke: Tomoko with her devil-head inkblot, from #7 to #8.
 * That corner in the back of the school where the hoodlums attack Gentaro and fail (twice) is shown vacant in #5. Then #7 reveals that the hoodlums have found an alternate hangout outside school grounds.
 * A visual Call Back to the "trash" label for Gentaro appears in #6 - he's left for dead on an empty grassy slope, but when Tomoko finds him later on, he's suddenly surrounded by actual trash.
 * In #9, Gentaro and Yuki's reason for running is to be energized with the "full power of youth" returns when Gentaro successfully frees himself from rope binding him....then it's just revealed that Kengo got his foodroids to cut the ropes.
 * Remember how the fire alarm was ringing in the beginning of #21? #22 explains what happened; Ms. Haruka Utsugi kicked it in frustration.
 * In #18, Ohsugi starts screaming out "TEST!" to the class; five episodes later, they return and the countdown focuses on Gentaro's test.
 * Call Back: In #37, Ryusei temporarily reverts to his Stepford Smiler front from before he was outed as Meteor. This time however, it's to cover the fact that he was the first to crack during the astronaut test.
 * Catch Phrase: Gentaro's. (After transforming) "Space is awesome!"
 * Canon Welding: In #33
 * Christmas Episode: Episodes 15 and 16 involve around Yuki helping the Glee Club, and the Kamen Rider Club having their own Christmas Party.
 * Competitive Balance: The Horoscopes.
 * Jack of All Stats: Scorpion Zodiarts
 * Lightning Bruiser: Cancer Zodiarts
 * Master of None: Libra Zodiarts
 * Mighty Glacier: Leo Zodiarts
 * Squishy Wizard: Aries and Capricorn Zodiarts.
 * Stone Wall: Virgo and Aquarius Zodiarts.
 * Conservation of Ninjutsu: Played straight. Scorpion's Dustards (read: Mooks) were able to overwhelm Fourze when they were attacking individually. Once they started attacking at the same time, Fourze got a break.
 * Continuity Nod: When seeing the interior of the Rabbit Hatch, one can notice two posters on the wall: One of Miu from #3, and another about JK Night in #5.
 * Miura gets mentioned in #8, stating that he was currently in the hospital after using the Zodiarts Switch. He appears in Episode 13-14, with the Kamen Rider Club trying to help him recover after becoming a Zodiarts.
 * Chouske is seen in #7 with all the other delinquents in a new hangout so Gentaro doesn't beat them up again.
 * Yuki brings up the witches of #9-10 to scare off Ohsugi in #11 - but he's stricken with acute Genre Blindness.
 * After the events in #11-12, Gentaro and company are seen screwing the locker to the wall.
 * In Movie Wars MegaMax, not only does Eiji remember Gentaro from Wonderful! Shogun and the 21 Core Medals, but Shotaro brings up meeting Eiji way back in A to Z: The Gaia Memories of Fate
 * Couch Gag: The camera goes into a hard zoom of a random Astro or Zodiarts Switch before the OP starts every week.
 * Crossover: Although it's not known to what extent this element will go, magazines have mentioned that there'll be urban legends in Fourze about the battles by previous Riders. The only confirmed one right now is about Rider 1.
 * Retcon: Apparently, Fourze will be using this aspect to fix continuity errors introduced by Decade.
 * And of course, the now-annual tradition of a Movie Wars crossover applies too; however, this time Fourze won't just be meeting his immediate predecessor OOO, but also Double, Riders 1 and 2, V3 and Riderman, X-Rider, Amazon, and Stronger.
 * A(nother) series of crossover shorts with Shin Chan has been announced aired during both shows as a way to honor both series' anniversaries.
 * Much like Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger bringing back Space Sheriff Gavan for a movie, Fourze will be joining up with Space Ironmen Kyodain!
 * Curb Stomp Battle: The Leo Zodiarts does to this Fourze and Meteor a multitude of times.
 * Delinquent: The group that Gentaro beats up in #2 and #3.
 * Elemental Powers:
 * Astro Switches
 * An Ice Person: The Freeze Switch.
 * Blow You Away: The Aero Switch.
 * Dishing Out Dirt: The Schop Switch.
 * Light'Em Up: The Flash Switch.
 * Make Me Wanna Shout: The Beat Switch.
 * Making a Splash: The Water Switch.
 * State Forms
 * Non-Elemental: Base States, Rocket States.
 * Shock and Awe: Elek States
 * Playing with Fire/Making a Splash: Fire States, depending on the mode of the Hee-Hack Gun.
 * Extra Ore Dinary: Magnet States, by manipulating surrounding metal through its magnetism.
 * Space Master: Cosmic States, who can create a warp drive to send the enemy into space for its Finishing Move.
 * Evolving Credits: Like with OOO, the opening is usually adjusted to highlight the latest Switches, but it's stopped at Switch #20 for now.
 * Episode 19's opening takes out Sonoda and adds Meteor. Episode 21's opening adds Magnet States and showcases the Switches starting with #21 (Stealth).
 * #35 adds Cosmic into the States montage. It also added Ryuusei into more of the Kamen Rider Club Shots, updated the States (including adding Meteor Storm into the credits), and Miu, Shun, Ohsugi-sensei and Gamou have new clips for the opening.
 * Freeze-Frame Bonus: In the Evolving Credits for #10 onwards, during the montage of Fourze using his various switches, Shield!Fourze flashes a peace sign from behind his shield.
 * #15. Some book artist thinks Perseus looked like Orlando Bloom.
 * The M-Bus Satellite was actually seen in the beginning of #1.
 * The Imagine Spot from #25 goes into "Friday In Hell" levels just before it ends.
 * Funny Background Event:
 * In the opening, during the montage of Fourze using various Switches, Shield!Fourze can be seen flashing a peace sign and Flash!Fourze accidentally blinds himself. From #21 onwards, Fourze lampshades the nature of the Stealth switch by performing a ninja hand gesture before fading out, and plays Rock Scissors Paper against the Hand switch - but loses. In the next update, when Fourze activates his GiantFoot switch, he accidentally crushes himself.
 * #1 has a funny foreground event the first time we see the classroom, with one student invoking some kind of summon ritual amidst the classroom chatter.
 * #5. Sonoda and Ohsugi are discussing something while another teacher in the back is getting punked by a student, then retaliates with a headlock.
 * #9. While Kengo is pointing out the silliness of Yuki and Gentaro racing to school every morning, there's a couple of the "inmate" students doing an even more strenuous exercise behind him.
 * Not just any exercises, but full on hopping squats and fireman carries. The other students don't seem to bat an eye.
 * #10. More of an easter egg, but when the witches tie up the entire Kamen Rider Club, JK's hands are inexplicably tied into his JK finger salute.
 * #16: While the Kamen Rider Club (minus Gentaro) is admiring their Christmas Cake, the three Foodroids are fighting over party hats.
 * Golden Snitch: Played straight in #37. The Bonus Question in the astronaut entry exam is enough to get Gentaro and Yuki to the next phase, even though Gentaro couldn't answer a single one of the others.
 * Gratuitous English: Oh, where to begin?...
 * It doesn't help that Gentaro seems to have a hard time understanding the English words everyone is throwing left and right. (The best one is in the first episode, believing Miu calling Gentaro "Trash amongst Trash" meant "Man amongst Men"). He knows how to say "Thank you" in English, at least.
 * Against Unicorn in #6. Heck, Gentaro once said to Kengo that "[he] must think [he's] so smart by using katakana" in #2!
 * The detention teacher in #7 uses a few English words, but especially "bad boy" for Gentaro, which he always pronounces in a gleeful yet creepy way.
 * Episode 15 has Yuki, along with the Glee Club, sing a nice rendition of Jingle Bells.
 * In the same episode when JK goes to throw Fourze the Pen switch, he says "This is a Pen" (which may be a common phrase in English-as-a-second-language class if this clip is any indication).
 * And in #31, we have the PE Teacher acting as the English teacher
 * Halloween Episode: #9-10
 * Ham-to-Ham Combat: Gentaro and Shotaro in Movie Wars MegaMax.
 * High School Dance: The Prom which is the focus on #25-26.
 * Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Each episode has a title written in four kanji which when taken together forms a sentence.
 * Institutional Apparel: Parodied. All students get school tracksuits, as seen in #8, but they're bright orange, making the "muscle" clique, who wears them the most, look like inmates.
 * Limited Wardrobe: Justified by the school environment (and gets rather egregious with Shun and Miu), though it should be mentioned that Gentaro wears his uniform to "JK Night" in #5 when everyone else has dressed to the nines (well, moreso than usual in JK's case.)
 * Gentaro subverts this: while he still has his jacket and pants, he'll sometime be depicted in different shirts. Also, starting with #15, the school is shown wearing winter coats, and Gentaro now sports a new jacket.
 * Meaningful Name: The name of Amanogawa High can be translated as "Milky Way".
 * Milestone Celebration: Fourze is romanized as "40", in connection with Kamen Rider's 40th anniversary.
 * According to The Other Wiki, the series is also in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's feat as the first human in space.
 * Multiform Balance
 * Jack of All Stats: Base States
 * Glass Cannon: Elek States
 * Lightning Bruiser: Fire States
 * Fragile Speedster: Rocket States
 * Mighty Glacier: Magnet States
 * Super Mode: Cosmic States
 * Mythology Gag: Gentaro winding up with the belt due to Kengo's condition brings to mind Hiroshi Fujioka's well-documented Game-Breaking Injury, which led to the creation of the second Kamen Rider. Not the only time it's been done, either...
 * Speaking of which, the very first MotW has three circles in a row on its belt buckle. The Tron Lines are negligible though, since apparently all Zodiarts will depict their constellations this way.
 * The Pyxis Zodiarts has a disturbing resemblance to Uva.
 * #21. While Fourze gets Wolverine Claws apparently inspired from witnessing Kamen Rider OOO in action from his Early-Bird Cameo, Ohsugi gets a Homemade Sweater From Hell that just happens to have a red right-arm sleeve.
 * JK even has his own finger-salute representing the letters J and K. We've seen the J before.
 * Kengo carries out his own investigations to unmask the Chameleon Zodiarts, and winds up replicating Kamen Rider Double's finger-point gesture.
 * Speaking of which, #7 has JK running from the Monster of the Week while yelling "look, UFO! Abominable snowman!", calling back to Detective Jinno's focus episode.
 * In #17, Sonoda does Wakana Sonozaki's Character Tic, complete with a close-up on her lips.
 * The NS MagPhone Upgrade Artifact is designed to go into two Astro Switch ports simultaneously for Magnet States, much like the Xtreme Memory.
 * The gigantic explosions caused by powerful Zodiarts that can cause major damage call back to Kamen Rider Kuuga. The police dealing with the Hound Zodiarts - ineffectively - may also be a call back.
 * The Beat switch delivers a sound attack that even sounds like a drum.
 * The symbol for Haruka's gym in #21 has some similarities to the Hibiki logo.
 * Cosmic States' transformation involves Astro Switches combining into Fourze (with the Foodroid Switches ejecting from them) in a sequence evoking that of Armed Hibiki's transformation.
 * A girl in #6 has New Den-O's henshin sound as a ringtone.
 * Fire States has the ability to suck in all surrounding flames to empower itself.
 * Gentaro does a point-blank fire shot in Fire States against the Perseus Zodiarts in #15, much like how Kamen Rider Garren and Kamen Rider Double HeatTrigger form used such an attack. Interestingly, Meteor has a similar move in #18 via the "Mars" function on his Meteor Galaxy.
 * Kamen Rider Meteor's support is named Tachibana in honor or Tobei Tachibana, who was an ally and mechanic to the first seven Showa Riders (from No. 1 to Stronger).
 * The storage room Kengo's locker is in also contains Daisuke's guitar case.
 * The Lynx Zodiarts is a monster cat that can do bursts of superspeed. His look, the way he moves, everything makes him basically a repaint of the Smilodon Dopant.
 * Not only is the Cygnus Zodiarts similar to both Seig and Ixa, but the Cygnus cult meeting involves a Swan Lake ballet and an exercise ritual worthy of IXA-Cise. Towards the end of #23, Cygnus performs a kick that is very similar to the Fang Streiser.
 * And the Giantfoot Module mimics the Kiva Dogga Form's Finishing Move in terms of concept.
 * At the end of #24, when discussing Eguchi's hero-worship, Yuki does Eiji's henshin pose.
 * The Kamen Rider Girls make their second in-universe appearance in #26, after Shogun and the 21 Core Medals.
 * The Musca Zodiarts in #29 develops new powers when his arms and legs turn green.
 * The Cosmic States transformation involves all 40 Astro Switches and a BFS. And the Foodroids join in as well. Where have we seen that before?
 * Fourze's easy access to his Astro Switches when in Cosmic States involve pressing corresponding buttons somewhere on his person. It's like Complete Form all over again.
 * JK's rock star Imagine Spot involves wearing his hair in one-sided cornrows - a style Ankh was known for. Adding a meta twist, Ankh's actor Ryosuke Miura actually had his own rock concert.
 * Rocket States' Finishing Move, Tailspin Crusher, is an Homage to two of Rider 1's moves, the Tailspin Shoot and Head Crusher.
 * Non-Serial Movie: #33 confirms that the events of Movie Wars Megamax are out of canon... but it's the first time we even hear about Subaruboshi High. However, Eiji recognizing Fourze places it in Shogun and the 21 Core Medals continuity, which itself is seperate from OOO series continuity... anyone's head exploded yet?
 * Numerological Motif: "40" of course.
 * People are starting to notice a pattern emerging: Decade (10, who can use one card at a time), Double (2, two minds sharing half a body), OOO (3, powers in three areas), and now Fourze (40, weapons and powers on four limbs).
 * Off-the-Shelf FX: #37. The 'project' built by a rival team for the astronaut test is obviously the RoboSapien.
 * Rated "M" for Manly: Football, hot girls, and Hot Blood in the first episode ALONE. It's already looking like Fourze will be the most manly Kamen Rider ever made.
 * Recycled in Space: Motif-wise, literally.
 * Rule of Three: Shown all over the place. Miu and Ritsuko lead a posse of three, Power Dizer went through three users aside from Kengo (Miu, Shun and JK) and has three modes, there are three female members of the Kamen Rider Club, etc.
 * The Kamen Rider club starts out with Gentaro, Kengo and Yuki, who are not just Two Guys and a Girl, but fall under Id, Superego and Ego respectively.
 * Running Gag:
 * That bunch of thugs hanging out at the back of the school who attack Gentaro on sight, and fail, twice so far.
 * Gentaro's constant misunderstanding of English words (i.e. trash, knight).
 * And there's also Kengo's constant reminder of the gathering that it's not a club and telling Miu she's not the president of said club...Well, until #12 that is.
 * Gentaro breaking something or hitting someone with his henshin pose.
 * Gentaro asking why certain leg switches (Brush, Hand, etc.) are on the leg in the first place.
 * The debut of a Foodroid also shows the food they were based on. The only exceptions are Burgermeal and Softonya.
 * Shout-Out: The Astro Switches are named after Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi's Twitter profile.
 * Yuki pointing out the different "student groups" to Gentaro in #1 may remind some of a scene from Mean Girls.
 * Fourze's limbs are each marked with a different symbol: Circle (right arm), X/"Cross" (right leg), Triangle (left leg), Square (left arm).
 * Tachibana's Cool Mask looks just like the ones worn by Daft Punk.
 * #7-8 has a good number of these. The Hound Zodiarts is shown dangling a bundle of chains resembling the poachers' lure from Mighty Joe Young, and Satake claims to be "the one they call in when things go wrong".
 * The Sunday detention class itself stands out as a straight-up Homage of The Breakfast Club. A jock, a delinquent, a creepy girl, a cute girl, and a brain are all sent to weekend detention with a Jerk teacher who picks on the delinquent from the get-go, and a key moment is when the Jock reveals through blubbering tears that he's terrified of not living up to his father's expectations. Even the writing 1000 words punishment mirrors the 1000-word essay . Considering the show's heavy use of english language and American high school tropes, we can probably expect to see more homages like this in the future.
 * #9-10 feature a trio of goth girls dabbling in witchcraft.
 * The OP includes a shot of Fourze making a Full-Moon Silhouette while on a bike. Sound familiar?
 * #12 has Miu trying to drive a bus that's speeding out of control towards an unfinished bridge.
 * #14 has Shun taking the Power Dizer leaping off a wall to catch JK and Gentaro with a backflip. And it's even black and yellow!
 * #15 has some Fist of the North Star-esque Scenery Gorn with an entire building whacked into an angle. And the Perseus Zodiarts could be considered as one to the new Clash of the Titans.
 * #16 has some as well. The sound in the Rabbit Hatch that let Kengo know Gentaro was in danger is also the sound of the low HP bar from the Kingdom Hearts series. Not to mention Gentaro getting a brush that actually writes things in the air.
 * The Pen Switch was introduced in the Perseus Zodiarts story arc.
 * #20 has Meteor delivering Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs Ip Man-style. Rather appropriate considering where all his other moves came from.
 * The Cygnus Zodiarts, who has a swan motif, . Now where have we seen this before?
 * On top of that, we have Toriizaki, a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing ballerina who dons a black tutu in her last appearance.
 * It doesn't help that Swan Lake was a heavy motif in those episodes.
 * Yuki says that the Ugly Ducklings have had their fill of heroes. This isn't too remarkable by itself, but she does so while mimicking the Henshin pose of Kamen Rider OOO!
 * While the myth behind the Coma Berenices constellation mentions Queen Berenice sacrificing her hair, the Coma Zodiarts' ability to turn it into more monsters comes from a different mythical character. Sun Wukong, to be precise.
 * #37. As if reinforcing the Shonen Idiot Hero thing, Gentaro makes it through the test by sheer luck without being able to answer a single question, much like Naruto once did.
 * Signature Style: Yes, Koichi Sakamoto has a hand in this show, and just to hammer it home we have Fourze jumping off a flying bike to kick the enemy in #2. Other elements of Sakamoto's style are present such as the wire-fu (in mild doses when compared to Power Rangers) and filming at an angle. The Kalishplosions did not get carried over, thankfully.
 * Space is Just Awesome: Tends to happen with any person entering the Rabbit Hutch and realising where it really is for the first time.
 * Space Is Noisy
 * Talent Contest: Episode 3 features a contest for School Queen, in which the candidates showcase their talents and deliver a speech as to why one should vote for them.
 * Thousand Paper Cranes: In #37, Gentaro's group--while in a space isolation test--is making ten thousand paper cranes to pass the time. Gentaro actually tries to get Ryusei to calm down by saying "think of Jiro when you do it!"
 * Two-Teacher School: Ohsugi and Sonoda are the only regular staff members to appear on the show. Two other teachers appear briefly for two episodes each.
 * Wham! Episode: #11: Kengo's now seemingly stuck on the moon because the Pyxis Zodiarts destroyed the locker that acts as its teleporter.
 * #13. Aside from bringing back an old Zodiarts Switcher,.
 * #14.
 * #18.
 * #19.
 * #22.
 * #25.
 * #27:
 * #29: Remember the time where Ohsugi took the locker to Rabbit Hatch around 18 episodes back?
 * #30: At the end of the episode,.
 * #31:
 * #33:
 * #34:
 * World of Ham: Judging from the fact that this is from the man who wrote Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, this should not be surprising at all!
 * Zettai Ryouiki: The girls have Grade B as a whole.