#as of now I only care about fourze

[writingpaperghost]

Linking With the Only One Called You (Chapter 1)

Amanogawa High School was for those who wanted to reach the stars. Ryuusei Sakuta wanted to be anywhere but, yet he finds himself transferring there anyway. After a whirlwind of a first day, Ryuusei finds himself as a member of the newly formed Kamen Rider Club, as Kamen Rider Fourze. As the Club gains new members and investigate the Zodiart appearances at the school, it becomes clear that not everyone at Amanogawa are what they seem, and even fellow students may turn out to be their enemy. Can friendship really endure when most of the Club has no interest in it?

And just what is the space loving Yuuki Jojima always up to?

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/56095588/chapters/142483234

Everything about Amanogawa High School was too bright; its students, its faculty, even its uniform, with its bright blues and reds. Amanogawa was where you went when you wanted a bright future – when you wanted to go to the stars. In that regard, Ryuusei Sakuta was horribly out of place, he had no desire to go to the stars, and his new uniform felt more like a prison compared to his old, dull, uniform back at Subaruboshi. Though he’d shed Subaruboshi’s brown uniform for Amanogawa’s bright blue and red, he wasn’t happy about it.

Amanogawa was a step towards the stars, and Ryuusei wanted nothing more than to stay on Earth.

Where Jirou was.

As he walked past the gate of Amanogawa, his new school, he checked his watch. He still had plenty of time, but he couldn’t help but feel a bit anxious. His parents thought that a change of scenery would be good for him, leave behind his problems at Subaruboshi. Ryuusei begged to differ, though, as now he had to start at a new school and deal with the fact that his best friend was in the hospital showing no signs of waking up.

“Make sure to make a few friends,” his mother had told him when she’d seen him off that morning. The last thing Ryuusei wanted to do was make friends, at Amanogawa of all places. Not when he was more worried about the friend he already had.

The homeroom teacher of class 2B seemed nice enough, Ms. Sonoda. He didn’t get to talk with her much, before class, not that he particularly cared to. He wanted the next year or so to go as quickly as possible, so he could go back to Subaruboshi. The bell rang and the class began to quiet down.

“Everyone, we have a new student, through the exchange program with Subaruboshi High School.” Ms. Sonoda introduced Ryuusei, and now all eyes were on him.

It was fortunate, or unfortunate for Ryuusei, that Subaruboshi had recently begun an exchange program with Amanogawa. That program was the only reason he’d found himself at a different school, now. He had the grades for it, but it was his parents who’d practically forced him to apply. It was just his luck that Ryuusei was the one chosen.

“I’m Ryuusei Sakuta,” He hated that he had to be here. “Let’s get along.”

“You can take the empty seat there in front of Utahoshi.” It wasn’t like Ryuusei knew who that was, but it was easy to tell where she was referring to. There was only one open seat in the classroom, after all. He supposed that made the grouchy looking boy behind it Utahoshi. Not that it mattered much, Ryuusei figures as he heads to sit down. He’s not here to make friends.

The girl beside him smiles, “I’m Yuuki Jojima,” she seems too friendly for Ryuusei’s liking. Ms. Sonoda begins to talk, though Jojima doesn’t seem to pay her much mind. “I can show you around-“

“Please pay attention, Jojima,” Ms. Sonoda called out. Jojima winced a little, but turned her attention towards the front with a small frown.

The next few hours went by quickly enough, Ryuusei let the instruction hold his attention more than much else. It was still far too long for his taste, and he was relieved when lunch finally came. He had intended to make a beeline for the cafeteria, but was stopped by Jojima.

“Let me show you around,” Jojima insisted.

Ryuusei hid his grimace with a polite smile, “No thank you, I’ll be alright.”

She frowned just a little, before that smile returned, “Amanogawa’s got some interesting groups, you’re new here, so you’re probably not going to fit in with anyone…”

“I’m not too worried about that,” Friendship isn’t needed here anyway.

“Come on,” Jojima grabbed his wrist and began to drag him out of the classroom, barely giving him any time to protest further. He sighed, deciding it would probably be best to let her do what she wanted.

At the very least, she waited until he had gotten lunch to launch onto her explanation of Amanogawa’s cliques. “You’ve got the popular kids, the football jocks, the nerds, the delinquents, the occult goths…” She listed, gesturing to each group. “And then you’ve got groups like them. I don’t even know what their deal is. Just that Utahoshi probably spends more time in the nurse’s office than in class…” She gestured to where Utahoshi sat with another girl, who appeared to be something of a goth.

“All schools have their in groups of some kind,” Ryuusei responded. That was true even of Subaruboshi, though perhaps not as noticeably as here. Amanogawa appeared to allow a lot more leeway in their dress code. Well, Ryuusei had read the handbook, he knew for a fact their dress code was very lenient, not even requiring the school uniform. His parents had simply insisted he had to wear it, to his own dismay.

“Maybe…” She frowned a little again, before looking at the time. “Ah! Sorry, I have to go, I’m supposed to meet with someone!”

Ryuusei shrugged, “It’s fine.” He wants her gone, anyway. Something about her smile was starting to get on his nerves. She was way too earnest.

Oh, and that odd pair of Utahoshi and the goth had disappeared. They, like Yuuki, must have had somewhere else they’d rather be. Then again, so did Ryuusei, unfortunately for him, he just couldn’t go to where he’d rather be.

The rest of the day passed at about the same speed as earlier. Ryuusei didn’t mind per se, the lectures and assignments were a distraction from his worry. Still, he was relieved when the final bell rang for the day. He needed to try to figure out more about what happened to Jirou, he doubted Amanogawa had any information. He would head back to Subaruboshi to investigate further.

Along the way, he passed by where the football team was practicing, and he heard a commotion. It sounded… an awful lot like a fight, but not any kind of fight he was familiar with. He ducked behind a building and looking around the corner, he saw some monster attacking the football players. What the hell was that?

He might not care for the football players, but he couldn’t allow them to simply be attacked. Tossing his bag aside, he ran at the monster, kicking it away from one of the players. When his feet land back on the ground, he focuses. He has plenty of practice for this, and while the monster was clearly not all that hurt by his kick, he could be enough to hold it off until the all the players were able to escape.

As Ryuusei fought off the monster, he noted it had a weird pattern on it. Something about the locations and arrangement of the circles and lines felt… familiar, though he couldn’t place where.

His fist fight with the monster was interrupted by a bright yellow blur, knocking it away and sending Ryuusei awkwardly tumbling to the ground to avoid the blur. He blinked, and then he could see that the blur that had knocked the monster away was some kind of robot.

“Careful, Utahoshi,” A voice called out, “You’ll hit your new classmate.” Ryuusei glanced in the direction of the voice, finding the goth girl who had been with Utahoshi at lunch as the source.

From the yellow robot came a scoff, the only response to the goth girl’s observation. Frankly, Ryuusei would appreciate it if he – presumably Utahoshi in there – showed a little more concern about not hurting him. There were a lot of questions on Ryuusei’s mind, but he pulled himself up and hurried off to hide behind the corner of a building. He watched as the robot fought the monster, the goth girl watching as well.

She spoke again, “That seems to be the Orion Zodiart,” She glanced at the pages of a book, though Ryuusei couldn’t say as to what the book was about. “A hunter… and he seems to be hunting the students.”

“Now’s not the time for theories,” From the yellow robot came a voice, presumably Utahoshi’s. He sounded strained and out of breath.

It seemed piloting that robot took its toll on Utahoshi, as his movements became more sluggish, and soon the monster was able to get away. Out from the robot came Utahoshi, looking exhausted.

The goth girl hurried over to him, “Utahoshi,” She didn’t seem surprised, but certainly concerned. “Did you overdo it again?”

Utahoshi shook his head, “I’m fine.” Still, he was out of breath, and the goth girl didn’t even seem to believe him.

“Let’s get the Dizer back, then you can get some rest at the Hutch.” The goth girl helped him up.

“Yes… where’d that Sakuta go?” Utahoshi looked around, prompting Ryuusei to duck out of sight, hidden behind the building. He could still faintly hear the two.

There’s a moment of silence, and then the goth girl responded, “He ran off. Probably far away from here.”

“If he’s smart,” Utahoshi’s voice sounded almost dismissive. “But then again, he tried to fight a Zodiart, Nozama, I doubt he’s that bright.”

The goth girl, presumably Nozama, said, “Let’s just get going. It’s better not to linger here.”

Ryuusei waited a bit, until the sound of footsteps and machinery was fading. Utahoshi and Nozama obviously knew something about that monster – a Zodiart, Utahoshi had called it – and Ryuusei wanted to know more. He couldn’t be sure, but it wasn’t impossible that this monster, and by proxy Utahoshi and Nozama, were connected to that night with Jirou…

He’d know for sure if he saw one of those switches.

Carefully, he followed Utahoshi and Nozama. They stored the robot machine, the Dizer, away, and then reentered the school. This part of the school didn’t seem like it was often used, especially given the storage room that the pair had entered. When Ryuusei caught up, he found the storage room empty, no sign of Utahoshi and Nozama.

He investigated the room, though it wasn’t big. There wasn’t really anywhere for anyone to hide, save for a locker. And a locker wouldn’t be big enough for two people to comfortably, if fit at all. Still, there could be a sign of them in there, maybe their bags or something…

When Ryuusei opened the locker, he was met with a bright, blinding white light.

What was this?

He then realized that the white light appeared to be some kind of hallway. He thinks, at the very end, he can see some kind of door. Taking a breath, he stepped in, tightly holding the strap of his bag, and he shut the door of the locker behind him. Step by step, he traversed through the tunnel, seeming to be endlessly white in every direction, save for in front of and behind him.

Finally, he reached the door. It wasn’t like the locker door, or even a regular door. This one was metal, seeming almost like a hatch. Reaching out, he grabbed the handle and turned it, opened the door.

On the other side, the first thing Ryuusei registers is a lot of white. Not as blindingly as the tunnel, but certainly white. He could spy some English text on walls and machinery, but he doesn’t get a chance to try to make out what it says. Instead, he feels the eyes of Utahoshi and Nozama on him.

“What are you doing here?” Utahoshi is quick to ask, standing up from the table, where his briefcase was opened.

Ryuusei turned his attention to them, for now. “I followed you,” He answered plainly.

“Followed us…?” Nozama mumbled, a book clutched to her chest, her fingers covering the lower part of her face.

“That monster, what was it?” He leaned against the wall beside the door, eyes still trained on Utahoshi and Nozama.

“That’s none of your business,” Utahoshi answered, almost as soon as Ryuusei had finished his question. Obviously, he wouldn’t be all that forthcoming with answers. Still, Ryuusei wouldn’t give up so easily.

He frowned, “You know what it is, I heard the two of you talking about it.”

“It’s none of your business,” Utahoshi repeated, this time more forcefully.

Nozama watched them, carefully and curiously. She seemed mostly willing to let this conversation stay between Ryuusei and Utahoshi, and Ryuusei was fine with that. Utahoshi likely had more answers, based on what Ryuusei had seen so far. Though she obviously knew something about what was going on.

Recalling that fateful night, Ryuusei remembered the device in Jirou’s hand… “Does it have something to do with… switches?” That was the best way to describe the device.

That elicited a slight change in expression from Utahoshi, “How did you…?”

“I’ve seen it before, Utahoshi. And it wasn’t here.” While it wasn’t entirely true, Utahoshi’s reaction said enough that his hunch that the incident with Jirou and this monster at Amanogawa were somehow connected.

That statement seemed concern Utahoshi, who took a step back and paced just a little, in thought. “I hadn’t thought any Zodiarts had appeared outside of Amanogawa…”

“Maybe,” Nozama spoke up, taking a few steps closer to Ryuusei, examining him, “this is a sign, a fate that brought Sakuta to this school. Drawn to the Zodiarts.”

Her statement was… odd. Ryuusei wasn’t entirely sure what to make of it, though judging by Utahoshi’s expression, he was somewhat used to it, though still not particularly thrilled. “I doubt that’s the case…” He then turned his attention to Ryuusei, “You need to forget about all of this. It under control.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Ryuusei had seen their solution for that, hitting the monster – Zodiart – with that mech. It wasn’t an awful solution, but it clearly wasn’t the most effective, especially seeing how awful it left Utahoshi. He seemed better now, but it was obvious that piloting that thing left him very drained. It couldn’t be the most viable solution.

“Like you would know,” Utahoshi scoffed.

Looking between Ryuusei and Utahoshi, Nozama wonder aloud, “Maybe he’s the one who could use…” Her gaze then wanders over to a desk, where a strange belt sat.

“No,” Utahoshi shut down that thought before Nozama could elaborate any further. Ryuusei got the impression that, despite the amount of time that they spent together, Utahoshi and Nozama didn’t appear to be all that friendly with each other. “We don’t need anyone-“

Ryuusei decides he can’t upset Utahoshi any more quickly, so he asked, “Just what is that?”

“You ask too many questions,” Utahoshi snapped. “Leave.”

Now that Ryuusei knew the way into their little base, there was no harm in waiting until they were gone to take a closer look. It might even let him get a closer look at that odd belt. As it was, it didn’t seem likely he’d get any more answers from Utahoshi and Nozama, at least with how annoyed Utahoshi seemed.

“Fine then,” He shifted his bag on his shoulder and then turned and left. He’d come back later, when they were gone.

Once back at the school proper, Ryuusei situates himself in a nook by the hallway leading to the storage room, from here, he should be able to see Utahoshi and Nozama leave. Now it was just a matter of killing time, waiting until they finally left. Hopefully, it would be before it got too late, though Ryuusei could always tell his parents he was practicing, surely they’d believe at least one familiar routine was good for him.

Even if, truthfully, he’d kept her practice to places where he was alone and out of the way. He felt too uneasy practicing around others, since that night. A repeat wouldn’t even hurt that much, he just… couldn’t shake the feeling. The memory of that night stays with him, and all Ryuusei can hope to do is find a way to fix what happened. To wake Jirou.

His gaze fell to the watch that Jirou had given him, now a reminder of why he had to find a way to save him. And if that meant figuring out what was going on at this school with Utahoshi, Nozama, and these Zodiart creatures, then so be it. He wasn’t certain there was any connection with what happened to Jirou, but Utahoshi’s reaction gave him the most evidence he’d had yet, and he wasn’t letting go of a lead this easily.

His opportunity arose quick enough, as only about half an hour or so later, Nozama and Utahoshi appeared out of the storage room. Much like after fighting that monster before, Utahoshi looked worse for wear, Nozama helping him along. He can just barely hear Nozama mumbled, “You really are prince of the nurse’s office,” as they pass by. Based on that comment and Jojima’s earlier one at lunch, Ryuusei gets the suspicion that Utahoshi’s poor health was a repeating occurrence.

Regardless of the regularity, as soon as the two were out of the hallway, Ryuusei had a chance to examine their little base more closely. He slips out of his hiding spot and back to the storage room. With no hesitation this time, he opens up the locker and enters the white tunnel. Wherever this led, it certainly wasn’t in the school, he could gather that much even from his first visit. That, and the odd white tunnel certainly helped that theory.

On the other side of the door in that tunnel was where he’d previously spoken with Utahoshi and Nozama. Now that they weren’t here and he could get a closer look, he could see the words “Rabbit Hutch” written on the wall in English. The machinery that was present along the walls appeared very scientific, not something you’d find in an average high school – or even one like Amanogawa. Something about it seemed very… science fiction, in a way. The sort of thing you only saw in regard to space and such.

He didn’t know how much time he had, though. Nozama may come back once she’d gotten Utahoshi to the nurse’s office. He’d have to either be out of this place by then or find somewhere to hide away and avoid notice. So he turned his sights to the belt from earlier. Whatever it was, Utahoshi was adamant that it wouldn’t involve Ryuusei, and frankly, Ryuusei wasn’t sure why Nozama would even suggest that it might.

The belt was… odd. It looked a bit like a kid’s toy, in a way, a light blue color with a lever on the left side. There were four slots, two on each side of some kind of display that maybe showed the silhouette of a person, but it was hard to tell with the screen dark. He picked up the belt, and though it appeared light, there was a certain weight to it that half surprised Ryuusei. It was no kid’s toy, that was for sure.

No, there was this certain… sensation pulsing through it. The casing blocked a lot of it, but every few seconds, Ryuusei felt a tingle, a little jolt as if it was trying to tell him something in it was more than just a strange device. In some ways, it made him want to drop it, end any and all contact with it, but in others… in other ways, he felt like it was trying to tell him something. Trying to reach out and…

The door opened, snapping Ryuusei out of his thoughts. In walked Nozama, who didn’t show it if she was surprised to see him. “Sakuta.”

“Nozama,” He said, quickly setting the belt back down, the odd sensation ceasing. A phantom of the feeling still lingered on his fingertips.

She regarded him for a moment, her gaze once again covering him, searching him, like she was trying to find something. It made Ryuusei uneasy, prompting him to cross his arms. Her lips curved into a smile, “Welcome to the Rabbit Hutch, Sakuta. Something has brought you here.”

“Something has brought me here?” He was unsure what she meant.

“Yes… a cosmic fate, I believe, has brought you here. Your seeking answers, and the moon surely holds them.” She responded, showing him the cover of her book. The title read Astral Moon, the cover depicting a moon surrounded by odd symbols. It appeared to be some kind of fiction book, though knowing so little about Nozama it was hard to say much more. He was beginning to think she fell under the category of occult goth, though.

He blinked, realizing that she was just exaggerating. Of course she was, there was no way she could know anything about why he was so interested in this all or anything about a… a “cosmic fate”. Amanogawa High School is full of characters, it seems.

“That’s…” He struggled to find the words to respond to her with.

She walked over to a lever, “Let me show you where we really are.” She pulled it up, and the shutters that previously covered the windows along the top of the ceiling pulled up, revealing the outside. The very dark and star filled outside – and most notably, the Earth.

He could see the Earth.

“…What the hell?” If he could see the Earth, then he wasn’t on the Earth. The Rabbit Hutch was not on Earth. How? How could two high schools students be hanging out on something in space?

Nozama had an amused smile, “The Rabbit Hutch is a moon base,” She said, “Utahoshi’s father used to work here.”

“Utahoshi’s father?”

She nodded, “He was a scientist. He created that device,” She pointed at the belt he’d been holding, “The Fourze Driver.”

That explained why Utahoshi reacted so oddly. He was probably protective of his father’s work. But just what even was this… Fourze Driver? He looked between the window and Nozama, “Why are you telling me about all this?”

“Neither Utahoshi nor I can use the Fourze Driver, he says it must take a certain person…” Her smile faded, just a little, forming into a small frown.

“And you think I might be that person?” Ryuusei couldn’t imagine why she’d think that. They’d just met and have interacted only twice now. He hadn’t even really known about the Zodiarts until an hour or so ago.

Nodding again, Nozama said, “Your arrival is a sign from the stars-“

He shook his head, “I really don’t think that’s the case.” The stars were sending no signs, and certainly not about him. She’s way too into that occult stuff.

“And yet… you’re one of the few to know about the Zodiarts, and on your first day…” While he might have been one of the few to know what they were called, he doubted so few else had seen them. Even the one earlier would have been seen by the whole football team, and if there had been more of them before, they certainly would have been seen by at least a few more people.

Before they could continue the conversation further, one of the computers beeped, pulling both of their attentions. The screen turned on, displaying that Zodiart from before, seemingly attacking students again.

“The Orion Zodiart,” Nozama observed, eyes darting between the screen, Ryuusei, and the Fourze Driver.

It didn’t seem to be outside this time, so it must be a different attack, one occurring now. “That’s the school’s hallways…” He said, then dashed out the door. Utahoshi’s mech wouldn’t be able to fight inside, and it seemed he didn’t exactly have a plan for that. If it took a certain kind of person to use the Fourze Driver, then they were better off just finding another way to deal with the Zodiart.

And maybe it knew something about what happened to Jirou.

“Sakuta!” Nozama called out, but Ryuusei was already out the door. He was wasting no time in finding where that Zodiart was.

He ran through the halls of Amanogawa, searching for the one from the video. That, and for the fleeing students. Whatever direction they were going, he knew Orion must be in the opposite. When he finally found Orion, he kept behind a corner, watching. It seemed like Orion was after something – maybe the football team? Or his previous attack on them could have been coincidental. It was hard to say yet, but figuring it out might give an advantage against Orion.

While he was watching Orion, Nozama caught up to him, holding the Fourze Driver. “Sakuta,” Her voice was quiet, clearly aware that it was possible for Orion to hear them. “If you can use the Fourze Driver, you’ll be able to fight Orion.”

“If it’s so picky, then it probably won’t like me either,” He responded, looking away from over the corner and over at Nozama.

She held the Fourze Driver out to him anyway, “There’s only one way to know for sure.” There were devices slotted into the holes now, seeming like some kind of switches, but different from the one he’d seen Jirou with. Orange, blue, yellow, and black. She practically shoved it in his hands. “Flip the switches in the belt, then pull the lever. If it doesn’t work, nothing will happen.”

He takes it, begrudgingly, “And if it does?”

“You’ll know,” She smiled, taking several steps back.

Ryuusei sighed, but she wouldn’t be happy until he gave it a try. He placed the belt on his waist, straps coming out and locking around him, fitting perfectly. Then, going across, he activated each switch.

3…

2…

1…

It was quite noisy, a glance around the corner shows that it caught Orion’s attention. “Nozama,” He said, hurriedly.

She smiled, almost disturbingly, “It’s working. Pull the lever and say transform.”

“What?”

“Do it!”

With little else to do other than run, Ryuusei complies. He reached down for the lever and pulled it, “Transform.”

And a sudden burst of steam appeared from the Driver, obscuring him. Then armor appeared, most of what Ryuusei can make out is white. Somehow… it seemed Nozama was right, the Fourze Driver did work for him, though how she knew that was beyond him. It must have been a coincidence.

“So this is Fourze…” Nozama breathed, amazed.

He glanced back at her, “Fourze?”

She nodded, “Yes, Kamen Rider Fourze!” There was an unusual excitement in her voice.

Kamen Rider Fourze, huh? Well, Ryuusei could work with that. If what Nozama and Utahoshi had implied was right, then he should be able to deal with Orion easy. The armor still felt strange on him, pulsing and jolting just as the Fourze Driver had, but he could ignore it. He had a Zodiart to deal with, after all.

“Right, then,” He turned his attention to Orion, “This is between you and me.”

Ryuusei ran at Orion. Fighting wasn’t a new thing to Ryuusei, but this was different than anything before. Spars weren’t intended to be full out fights, weren’t intended to be stopping someone from hurting others. This was a fight, between Fourze and Orion, one that Ryuusei wouldn’t lose. The armor might be new, but the movements needed weren’t, they were practiced, like second nature to him.

His first order of business was to get Orion out of the halls and into somewhere more open. That would be tricky, even with windows, he’d still have to get Orion through…

“Fighting in here will be too hard,” Nozama called out, “Use the Rocket Switch to get him outside!”

She said that like he had anyway of knowing which of the Switches in the belt was which. “A little more description would be useful!” He called back, blocking a swing from Orion.

“The one on the far right,” He ducked to the side and flipped the Switch she said to.

Rocket on!

Out from the Switch came a bright orange rocket that attached itself to Ryuusei’s right arm. “Is this actually-“ Before he can finish his question, the rocket’s thrusters activate. Though it took him a moment to get it under control enough, the rocket gave him enough force he could grab on to Orion and let the rocket take them through the ceiling and out of the building.

They land roughly on the ground, the rocket still blaring. The momentum keeps pushing Ryuusei, forcing him to keep moving around. Maybe he could use it to help him fight, though. After weaving through a few attempts at attacking him, he manages to land a hit on Orion and gets a moment to turn off the Switch. His arm hurt from having a rocket on it, even if the effect was lessened by the suit.

He and Orion resumed their fight. While the rocket was helpful and all, Ryuusei was far more comfortable using his fists, it’s what he knew best. They trade blows until they push each other back, giving some space, and the Switch on the far left began to flash and beep. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he flipped it on anyway.

Radar on!

From his left arm came a panel and a satellite dish. Out came an annoyed voice, “Use the other Switches, for goodness sake.”

“Utahoshi?” Sure enough, that was Utahoshi’s voice, and on the screen was him, seemingly in the Rabbit Hutch once more. He must have hurried there when he realized Orion had appeared.

“Yes,” He said, still sounding annoyed, “If you use Radar, this Switch, together with Launcher, the one on the middle right, you’ll be able to aim missiles at Orion.”

Utahoshi would probably know how these Switches work best, and given this is a fight, Ryuusei figured it would be best to listen to him. “I’ll take your word for it.” He reached and flipped the blue Switch on the middle right.

Launcher on!

He pointed the dish on his arm towards Orion, watching as the screen changed until it seemed to have found its target. He planted his right leg down and the blue apparatus that had attached itself there fired missiles at Orion. Each landed on him, just as Utahoshi said they would.

“Good,” Utahoshi said, “Now you can go back to close combat. Change the Launcher Switch for the other one you have.”

“The other…” Sure enough, he found a Switch of a lighter blue than the Launcher Switch. “Alright, then.” Again, he’d have to take Utahoshi’s word on it. It flipped off the Launcher Switch and swapped it out for the lighter blue one, activating it.

Chainsaw on!

Replacing the launcher on his right leg, now a light blue chainsaw appeared. At this point, it wasn’t even a surprise. It wasn’t exactly Ryuusei’s style, but he could make it work. Now his kicks with that leg would simply… have a bit extra blade to them. Though he attempts to kick Orion, Orion blasts at him, keeping him from getting close.

What a pain. He deactivated the Chainsaw Switch, it wouldn’t do him any good if he couldn’t get close. Well, he’d just have to be faster…

Rocket on!

With the Rocket Switch, he had both more speed, as well as the ability to take to the sky, allowing him to weave between Orion’s blasts. Now how to deal with Orion… he recalls the one Switch he hasn’t used yet, the yellow one. “Let’s see what this one does.”

Drill on!

From the Radar, Utahoshi called out, “What are you doing? Don’t-“ but Ryuusei just rolled his eyes and flipped the Switch off. Utahoshi’s advice was helpful, sure, but Ryuusei could handle it from here. He knew what each of the five Switches he had did, now it was just a matter of using them to defeat Orion.

“Let’s end this fight,” Using the rocket to speedily propel him towards Orion, Ryuusei held the foot that the drill was on out into a kick. He flew through Orion, causing an explosion as the drill dug itself into the ground.

Turning to look at where Orion once stood, he couldn’t see anything. Maybe the Zodiarts weren’t related to that switch Jirou had…

“You did it!” He heard Nozama call out, finally catching up to him. “The first Zodiart defeated by Kamen Rider Fourze…”

Ryuusei sighed, “I guess… what even is a Kamen Rider?”

“Well, urban legends but… they’re heroes who fight for justice!” Nozama quickly pulled something up on a tablet she held, showing him videos of various masked and armored people fighting monsters.

“Heroes who fight for justice…” Well that was not how Ryuusei would describe himself at all. Then again, it seemed likely Nozama had given Fourze that title herself.

Before their conversation could proceed, along came Utahoshi in his mech, “Ryuusei Sakuta.” He said, voice dripping in anger.

It seems Ryuusei had really pissed him off. Not that he thought it took a whole lot to get on Utahoshi’s nerves. “Utahoshi, it seems we’ll be working together from here-“

Utahoshi cut him off with a vicious “No,” and grabbed him by the waist, lifting him up.

“Utahoshi!” Nozama called out, obviously not pleased by this turn on events.

“I’m not working with you, nor am I letting you be Fourze.” Utahoshi said, the mech yanking the Fourze Driver off of Ryuusei as it set him on the ground. Ryuusei stumbled, but was thankful Utahoshi at least wasn’t trying to hurt him. With that mech he certainly could.

Talk about grouchy.

As the mech took off, Nozama called out Utahoshi’s name again, but he obviously wasn’t listening. Her frustration with his actions was evident.

Ryuusei turned and began to walk away. He’d figure something out, he knew how to get to the Rabbit Hutch, after all. Utahoshi would have a hard time keeping him from the Fourze Driver, and Ryuusei didn’t really care all that much what he thought of him.

What an exciting first day at his new school.

---

“So Fourze has appeared at my school,” A man with red eyes sat in a dark room, pondering the most recent events. Mitsuaki Gamou was a patient man, his plan had been in motion for eighteen years, he could wait a while longer. Especially as Fourze’s appearance would surely usher his plan along faster than he could ever otherwise dream of.

And, of course, he had his Horoscopes to aid him. Leo, Virgo, and Libra stood waiting for instruction. And though Scorpio had yet to be graced with his presence, he was being instructed by Libra. There was another he had high hopes for, but the time hadn’t come to give her a Switch, yet…

Yes, his plan was coming along wonderfully.

[tokiro07]

Martial Master Asumi ch.15 thoughts

[Sick Kamen Rider Fourze Reference, Bro]

(Contents: Sakura/Asumi character analysis)

I'm not crazy, this dude is a reference to Fourze, right? I caught it pretty much immediately when I saw a delinquent talking about friendship, but he literally did a Rider Kick. It's pretty blatant, isn't it??

I should watch Kamen Rider...

I think this might be my favorite fight so far cus it completely flips Asumi's dynamic with the rest of the cast on its head. Up to now, he's been fighting people with actual experience and know-how, either overcoming them with his unique strengths or failing due to his own lack of experience, but this time he's fighting an opponent with absolutely no understanding of MMA. The tricks of the trade don't work here; an opponent who isn't on the lookout for an opening or wary of danger won't fall for a feint, and an opponent who doesn't know the risks of getting grabbed won't recognize when they're in an inescapable situation

They say that the toughest opponent for a chess master isn't another master, but a complete amateur whose moves are completely unpredictable. An amateur's moves are arbitrary, made without any forethought on what they're trying to achieve aside from a vague idea of "victory." You can't force a move from someone who doesn't know the proper methods to counter or evade, all you can do is react to what might as well be a random string of movements

I'm also loving this fight because Sakura is a great foil for Asumi. Kawada has always been good at crafting foils, like Hinomaru vs. Kariya being a battle of short-statured wrestlers who chose opposite paths in reaction to their stunted growth, and this one feels like it's going to be just as impactful here as that one was there

If Asumi is someone who wants to avoid pain, then Sakura is someone who simply pays it no mind. Someone might show up later who actively seeks pain, but right now the contrast isn't in their opinion on pain, but rather how much they care. Pain is a driving force for Asumi, but it seems that Sakura couldn't care less about it. Taking hits? Getting his arm broken? What of it? Long as he wins, that's all that matters, and to him, winning isn't about strategy, it's about guts and stamina. The winner isn't the smarter fighter, it's the guy who hits harder and keeps standing

His unwillingness to go to the ground, even if it would be potentially advantageous for him to know how to grapple, also strongly contrasts with Asumi's main strategy centering around grapples. Asumi isn't an aggressive person, he's defensive and evasive, so strikes don't come naturally to him, but Sakura is 100% aggression. If Asumi is best at reacting to his opponent's moves, Sakura is best at acting in the first place. The only way out for Sakura is forward, not back or to the side

This reminds me of Hinomaru's fight with Kunisaki, where Kunisaki took the rules of wrestling to be more cutthroat than sumo because of how easily a sumo wrestler can be defeated; Hinomaru of course taught him the fallacy of that thinking, that being able to lose easily means that you have to try harder not to be defeated. Even if both are dangerous, it takes more skill to walk a tightrope than a plank

Sakura is similar, though still presented in a unique way. He thinks that all it takes to win a fight is to hit the other guy enough, but he's missing a key factor: if a loss is defined by how much you get hit, then doesn't it stand to reason that one should avoid taking hits? Even if he does have the stamina for it, Sakura's "strategy" of tanking hits will inevitably lead to that stamina going to waste when it could be better served channeled into actually taking down the enemy

Asumi's willingness to adapt to being grounded rather than scrambling to get back up shows that he has the flexibility to move the fight consistently in a direction that he wants rather than pushing through no matter the consequence. Taking risks is pretty much always necessary to win any competition, but there is a world of difference between a calculated risk and one taken for the sake of taking a risk. The question now is whether or not Asumi will be able to teach Sakura that lesson, or if Sakura's stubbornness will be too much for Asumi to overcome and lead to his own self-destruction

[jossukehigashikata]

...I want to watch kamen rider fourze

[luckycomicsanimepaper]

Being Captain Marvel son having the powers of Kamen Rider Fourze would include.

Warning:Fluff/There might be some spoiler's from avengers assemble and Kamen Rider Fourze

Uchu Kitaaaa!!!!!

You transform into Fourze with your belt that only you can use since anyone else that tries to use it the belt won't transform.

Your adoptive mom who is Captain Marvel of course know's about this, at first she tried to keep you away from danger but of course since you live in New York that is very hard.

The fact that you also go to where villain's are doesn't help, but you like to help people wich for her it's both a blessing and a curse.

Since she can't keep you from going to fight villain's she might as well teach you how to fight.

When you were 18 years old she had to leave the earth, not because she wanted to leave you, but because she's captain marvel not only earth need's her help wich is something you understand.

When she leave is were the series start but you being well you went to the avenger's to join them.

After sometime they let you in the team after seeing your skill's.

Of course you have to tell your mom and she's very proud and supportive of your decision.

Sometime later other's joined the group but one of them caught your eye.

Kamala Khan aka Ms Marvel, not only did the name called your eye but also her power's, personality, look's her beautiful smile.

Yep you had gotten a crush on your mom's biggest fan.

After sometime of getting to know each other better you graduali started daiting and month's later you became a couple which the avenger's approved and suported.

Sometime later your mom came to visit and that's when a big suprise is revealed.

The moment carol call you her son the jaw's of all of the avenger's drop when they found out, kamala exe has stopped working.

When you presented kamala as your girlfriend she was visibly shaking so hard it looked like there was an earthquake.

She was so nervous not only did she had to impress her idol as a hero but also as the girlfriend of her son.

After sometime of spending time together carol approves of kamala being your girlfriend, when carol gave her permision kamala couldn't stop smiling for an entire month.

She orderer custome shirt's with both of your symboles that said Ms Fourze Suport Club and handed them to the other avenger's they all use them at some point to tease.

But the one's that use them the most are Your mom (carol), Tony, Scott, Hope, Thor, Falcon, Clint, Hulk, and Nat the have officialy made a Ms Fourze social media account were they uploud pictures of both of you together.

You both are embarrased but thankfull for the support especialy kamala.

Kamala's friend's follow that account and like every picture it upload's and tease kamala in school.

Kamala 1000% has writed fanfic of your relationship.

Overprotective mom in the battlefield coming thru.

Sometimes this is good because you have one of the most powerful woman watching your back, in other times it's bad cus she'll sometimes baby you in the middle of a battle.

You okay there sweetie if it get's to much just let momma know and i can take care of it.

Did you eat before you battle cause if not you can go eat and ill take care of it.

Do you want to use the batrhoom sweetie cause if you want i can-

Mom please not right now, i love you but were in the middle of a battle.

The avenger's (most of them at least) find this moment's sweet or amusing, captain marvel protecting her son in the middle of a battle and seeing her soft is a nice view to say the least.

Kamala has so many pictures of you with your mom, she has a special folder for those pictures.

Her wallpaper is a photo of you and your mom hugging after a battle with some bruises and maskless and smiling in the afternoon (when she showed it to carol she asked kamala for the picture and not only did she also make it her new wallpaper but she also printed the picture and frame it and is neatly placed in the avenger's mansion.)

Sometimes she takes you to space for fly's to have some quality space mom and son time.

She introduces you to the guardian's who you get along great, (they all have Ms Fourze shirt's and also support your relationship.)

Gamora and Quill sometimes ask you for advices and tips on relationship or dates since they don't have much expiriencie, (you sometimes go to double dates with them when they drop by earth.)

Now both Marvel's reaction to your different form's/States

Normal State:

Since this is the form your in most of the time there neutral about it but they still like it tho.

Nicknames:

Carol:Little Austronaut/Kiddo.

Kamala:Love/Fourze.

10 Elec State:

At firts they didn't like it just for the fact that when you electrocute somebody you also electrocute your self, when you manage to master that state there more happy because now you don't damage yourself and you have a new power now.

Nivknames:

Carol:Little Charger.

Kamala:My Battery.

20 Fire State:

The think it's a great power not only can you shot fire but you can also extinguished and absorb it. Carol like's it because you can prioritize saving people over fighthing and kamala think's you look awesome and accidentally called you hot the first time (till these day you still don't let her live that one down.)

Nicknames:

Carol:Little Sun.

Kamala:Hot Shot.

30N 31S Magnet State:

They think you look cool altought carol sometimes can't help but worry because she sees a truck flying in your direction only for it to stop and be launched to a bad guy, kamala has made a joke about how much you attract her.

Nicknames:

Carol:Little Magnet.

Kamala:My N magnet (she inspired this nickname in your switches she's S magnet.)

40 Cosmic State:

They love it they think you look awesome kamala think's your straigth out of a comic book you mom love's it the most, because now she can call you her little cosmic storm when your in that form or when she fell's like calling you that.

Nicknames:

Carol:Little Cosmic Storm.

Kamala:Star.

[dangerouscommiesubversive]

If every main rider got swapped with someone else in their show, who do you think it'd be? (This is because my friend and I were discussing this about Gaim, but found the scenarios of Kouta swapping with Kaito and Micchy equally as enjoyable.)

This is such a fun question, and it's not dissimilar to conversations I've had with my husband, often along the lines of "who in this show is the actual main character." Pondering it, at least with modern Rider, here are some of my thoughts--ok, we will hit the Showa for one, because:

Stronger--Yuriko. Imagine a world where Yuriko was Kamen Rider Stronger (and thus got a proper full-face helmet and therefore a suit actor and could get through the whole show), and Shigeru was her himbo sidekick Tackle (which would be perfect for him as a name because he canonically played college football).

Anyway! On to the modern era. Please note that for the most part I'm not saying, "this character should be Kamen Rider [Whatever] instead," but, "what if the show was Kamen Rider [That Guy] instead of Kamen Rider [This Guy]."

Kuuga--I...genuinely I don't think any other character in that show could replace Godai. He holds a unique place even among modern Riders.

Agito--so Hikawa is already essentially the main character of the show. Honestly, though, I would love to see a version of Agito where Ryou is the lead. Shouichi is notable for being gentle and domestic and non-combative, whereas Ryou is very angry and conflicted and stressed out about what's happening to him. The day being saved by Kamen Rider Gills, Misfit Toy of the Seeds of Agito, would be a fascinating arc.

Ryuki--Ren thinks he's the main character anyway, we'll skip over him, what if the show was Kamen Rider Raia? And our lead was this pacifist with the fucking curse of Cassandra laid upon him, so instead of having no idea what's up he's the only guy who knows what's up? That would be so cool.

555--Takumi is a rare and unusual gift among Rider leads, and I'm not really eager to swap him out for another character, but a version of the story that puts Yuka front and center would kick ass.

Blade--obviously if our lead character isn't Kenzaki then this is a story about Hajime.

Hibiki--I...would love a version of Hibiki where Hibiki is actually the main character.

Kabuto--Kagami is the main character of Kabuto, but a version of the story that truly centers him would be fascinating--if the show was Kamen Rider Gatack and Tendou had to get his approval it'd be a wildly different ballpark.

Den-O--now see my problem with Den-O is that it keeps insisting that the show is Kamen Rider Den-O and not Kamen Rider Zeronos Featuring Den-O.

Kiva--Megumi, for what I think are probably obvious reasons. Let Megumi be Kamen Rider.

Decade--if Tsukasa isn't the lead, then I think this immediately makes the show Kamen Rider TheEnd (spelled like that instead of DiEnd), where you've got focus primarily on Daiki trying to shirk his responsibilities to save all worlds from the Destroyer because he loves him.

W--this one's cheating but I would super enjoy a version of W where Philip and his struggles to contextualize the world are the primary focus, with Shoutaro as his wacky sidekick, instead of the other way round.

OOO--a story that doesn't center Eiji is, I think, absolutely about Gotou trying as hard as he can to Do Things Right.

Fourze--there's potential here for a Kuuga-like story about Kengo slowly destroying himself trying to be a Rider, I think.

Wizard--fuck it, full role swap, Koyomi is Wizard now, confused eyebrows and all, and Haruto is her incredibly shy sidekick.

Gaim--you called out Kaito and Micchi, but I think I'd really enjoy a version of Gaim in which Takatora is the main character and gets to have a little more nuance than "noblesse oblige."

Drive--let Kiriko be Drive. Alternately, Chase should be the main character.

Ghost--Alain would make a wonderful alternate lead, although I think if the writers aren't careful then this ends up with an arc very similar to Takatora's.

Ex-Aid--there is a version of Ex-Aid that lives in my heart where the entire show is about Nico.

Build--I would potentially enjoy a version where Katsuragi doesn't get transformed into Sento and has to start the show knowing the terrible things he's done and trying to rectify them.

Zi-O--cut out the hereditary-royalty thing, but make Tsukuyomi the lead here, traveling through time trying to avert the rise of this terrible warlord who she is unfortunately finding that she likes.

Zero-One--make Yua the inheritor of Hiden, and move Aruto over to AIMS to be the unfortunately competent partner who's always tormenting Fuwa with his jokes. Yua and Izu hanging out would be potent stuff.

Saber--I think Mei should be a Rider. If you've got Yua as Zero-One, then that's a much more serious lead, and so then you can have this goofy woman as Saber and Touma as her sidekick/head cheerleader.

Revice--oh my god where do I even start. Make Hiromi the lead, I don't know. I love Revice but it's such a mess.

[scoups4lyfe]

Say Gentaro Kisaragi is mindcontrolled and he hurt a lot of people while under mindcontrol... how does he react upon snapping out of mindcontrol?

Lmao I have surprisingly thought about this a lot.

Gentaro is someone super loving and forgiving, even if they, I don’t know — say, muRdeReD him.

(Lmao)

The moment he got alived again, he literally went to find his murderer and said, “wow <333 I know you so much better now.” Which is a whole thing

But I think it’s interesting how very little he thinks about himself. Others are always placed as more important. They hurt him? Insult him? That’s okay because he is going to befriend The SH*T out of them no matter what >:)).

Every single one of the actions Gentaro takes are impulsive to a degree, but always a selfless one. He loves people. He wants to help people. He wants to make them happy. So what would happen if he were the one to cause the pain?

Oh, the agnst would be beautiful my friends.

The amount of care he’s placed on other people (before himself), means that if he were the one to have hurt them, essentially I think it would put him in a state of shock.

He would be horrified.

That trust he has so keenly in himself and his actions would be the first to disappear. He would have the thought “what if I hurt them” constantly twisting inside of him. Building and building.

I absolutely love how wholesome Fourze is as a show, but as a writer —- if Fourze were to ever be remade, I think putting that focus on Gentaro and his altruism and the conflict or pain his actions could cause — mind controlled or not, would be a very interesting theme to explore.

We see similar things being explored right now through Ikki and Momoi. Gentaro would fall somewhere within the middle. (And I think a character exploration as to why he thinks or acts like this would also be something I would hope a re-write would address and it’s fascinating actually. The fact that Gentaro chooses to wear and style himself like a Punk, a Rebel (TM) and yet why?

People can wear whatever aesthetics they want. But there’s always a reason, subconscious or not. A punk aesthetic is one of the aesthetics I would say is chosen as like a shield.

“I am agaisnt this world so this world can’t hurt me.”

But, Gentaro isn’t someone I’d describe as “against the world”, he’s more than for it. So why does he dress and style himself that way, is he modeling himself after a mentor he looked up to? Is it a shield he wears so that even when he’s attacked or hurt he can think ‘I’m fine. I’m okay. This world cannot affect me (negatively).’

His psychology would be something fun to explore. Now, if you say: “Naw, he’s just naturally forgiving and—“

Listen.

All actions a human takes. Every reaction. Is based on something.

No one (take this with a grain of salt, but most of the average population is what I’m taking about.) is “naturally forgiving” and selfless. That’s a learned trait. What’s the first trait you see in toddlers? The idea of possession.

“This is MINE.”

That ALWAYS comes before the action of sharing. (There might be outliers yes, but 99% of the everyday population is like this, so the outliers AREN’T the point.)

So Gentaro’s selflessness has to have come from somewhere.

Anyways, back to the hypothetical question (lol), but I 100% believe him hurting others (not at all of his own volition) is something that would break him.

He’d lose his trust in himself. He’d start to doubt his actions, he’d start to overthink.

“What if this ends up hurting someone? What if I hurt someone again?”

It would terrify him. With his emotional turmoil conflicting how he normally appears with friends, I don’t doubt that he would mask it. He would smile like everything is fine, when he can’t even sleep at night because every time he does he’ll have nightmares from that Day. That time where he hurt people.

Originally when he first snaps out —he can’t think, only react. He sees people hurt, he would go up and try to help them, in shock and not at all thinking yet ‘I caused this’.

But then they shrink back from him in fear, and that makes him pause. Hesitate.

And then the thoughts come, they start processing, and he can’t be here, he can’t be around these people that he’s hurt. So he leaves, he backs away, he isolates himself, and then Everything Hits.

[mmikmmik2]

Okay I have four (4) whole Kamen Riders under my belt (not even going to try to complete the supplementary material, have just finished the original TV runs of all these)

Fourze's the best. Loved the heroes, loved the villains, thought the plot was super well-constructed, the themes were on point. Great writing, great acting, great props. My only criticisms would be little nitpicks, like I think Tomoko needed a second focus arc.

W was extremely strong, though not perfect. I would compliment it in all the same areas I praised in Fourze, but W had some issues (e.g. not quite sticking the landing in its final three episodes, sometimes being weird towards women) that are more serious than Fourze's minor flaws. Although, some of its approaches I liked a little more than Fourze, just from personal preference. The memory/beloved place motifs are more up my alley than Fourze's legacy/space motifs, I generally like adult protagonists more than teens, etc. So I would rank these two as pretty much equal to me personally. I'd be equally excited to rewatch either one.

Den-O and Ex-Aid are both hard to judge for different reasons.

Den-O was super fun and pretty and had likeable characters, and I really liked the plot for most of the show's runtime. But I couldn't get over how badly the plot fell apart in the last arc. I get the impression a lot of people don't care because they love the Ryotaro & the Taros dynamic so much, but my favorite part of the show was the Airi and Yuuto and Ryotaro family dynamic, and I really liked Hana too. The Taros are good, but I found the main human characters more interesting and, honestly, funnier. Nogami sibling weird shit was hysterical, I was losing it at the hostage situation episodes. So, even though there were some AMAZING dramatic payoffs for Airi and Yuuto towards the end (omg the scene with Airi where she's holding the candle), the final arc was a huge letdown about my favorite part of the show. It wasn't even so much about not making sense, it was about having no idea what the implications were for the characters. Who knew what when, and how do they feel about it? How will this change them going forward? No idea. This is too harsh, but it felt like a Moffat Doctor Who twist. I think probably part of it was having to write around the real world stuff with Hana's actress, but still. I feel frustrated looking back even though I was having a great time with most of the episodes I watched.

Ex-Aid had huge issues but I think I forgot about most of them because they were boring. Like a few months out, I remember the show had so many episodes that ended with screamingly frustrating "well MY level is higher so now I will swoop in at the end and pointlessly remind you I exist" scenes instead of resolving the episode's conflict or advancing the overarching plot, but I remember it like a fact I know and not like I experienced it. All my beefs with Ex-Aid are fading into the mist and the show to me is now a montage of the best Nico and Snipe scenes and Poppy having a tragic villain arc that was really good because of all the backstory I made up for her in my head and all the times Kuroto chewed the scenery in a good way and Kiriya's outfits. I genuinely have stronger positive feelings towards Ex-Aid than Den-O right now, though I suspect that will change as the immediate frustration of Den-O's ending fades.

[melto]

i know like...shit doesnt work like this but i wish being able to look at something and thinking about it rationally made it disappear. bc like. i understand why im so insecure in my friendships and have issues about being heard/seen. it has to do with how my dad spoke to and about me when i was growing up and even now and losing all my friends in highschool both things stemming from my interests being seen as weird and me being a freak and too intense. but i recognizing this doesnt make it different. and things just keep happening to confirm that my irrational thoughts might be right...like today i started talking to my mom abt what ive been watching bc she always lets me and its usually the only place i felt like anyone actually was listening but then she just said smthin like “have you told your therapist how crazy obsessed you get with stuff? kinda a problem” nd she tried to say it was a joke but i know it wasnt. i think everyone thinks im stupid or just oblivious but i know people dont care about what i have to say. i know when people are speaking to me like im stupid or a child even if we are the same age. and it sucks and its really demeaning a lot of the time. its so so obvious that people dont want to hear what i have to say even if they ask in the first place. even if i share interests with people no one actually wants to talk with me for whatever various reason. maybe im liking something wrong or im just annoying. idk. i hate talking to my friends and feeling like im talking to my dad because its so painfully obvious that 5 seconds into me talking people want me to shut up. ive been trying...so hard to be better at reaching out even though its scary and its been really hard but its like im just grasping for air. which just makes it hard for me to believe anyone when they say they care about me or are here for me or whatever bc it all just ends up sounding like something to get me to move on or what they know i want to hear. i guess honestly its my fault for like...overestimating my place in peoples lives and like tricking myself into thinking people like me more than they do and im like not mad at anyone or anything. i just idk. i wish that sometimes i actually just felt seen or heard without it feeling like it was just an obligation for the other person or whatever. none of this makes sense im emotionally drained from crying over fourze and having an attack at the eye doctor so maybe im just being stupid and oversensitive

[isitreallyok]

Super Hero Time and My Very Own Kamen Rider Club

[A quick note before we get started here.  In this post and likely in all posts to come names of people in my personal life have been changed to maintain anonymity.] After last week’s heavy topic regarding the pressures of positivity, I thought it would be better to at least start this week off lighthearted. It’s very likely that the vast majority of the readers of this are going to be from the US and as such likely have grown up with or at least seen an episode of Power Rangers. While there are a lot of things that the Power Rangers franchise does that are beyond silly and seem absolutely ridiculous to many of us that see them as adults, the things that are presented in these shows seem absolutely incredible to their target audience. These shows are marketed towards children in case that wasn’t obvious.

Power Rangers is a nostalgic thing to watch for me and I still greatly enjoy it!

Well dear reader, I am glad we agree on that. I grew up watching Power Rangers and as time has gone on I have found that I still enjoy the monster fighting, transforming, masked heroes presented therein. There are even a number of series in the franchise that I have enjoyed even as an adult. Though as I have grown older, and in turn begun to use subtitles on everything I watch, I have developed a fascination with Asian television as a whole since it tends to feel vastly different from most of what is made available in the US. This fascination extends to tokusatsu television shows including but not limited to Super Sentai and Kamen Rider.

For those who aren’t aware, Power Rangers is actually based on the long standing Super Sentai franchise in Japan. Each week on Sunday mornings, similarly to the Saturday morning cartoons of yore, a television block called Super Hero Time airs. This consists of the most recent annual series for both Super Sentai and the annual series of another long standing series called Kamen Rider. Both of these play into the gimmick of transforming masked heroes that have a different theme with each season. Of late I have been enjoying watching episodes of each of these series with a small group of folks on Discord and let me tell you all about the joy of finally finding a group of lovely people that are interested in these series the same way I am.

Sounds like it’s time for a story. Shall we queue the “Long Ago In A Galaxy Far Far Away…” scrawl?

You know what. That sounds fun. Lets imagine this as an opening to a cinematic experience. Lets travel back to June of the COVID times, a mere six months that feels like it is 87 years ago . At this point depression had grabbed a hold of me and thrown me so deep into the pits of despair that I wasn’t sure where I was going to find a light at the end of the tunnel. I had just been through a breakup with my first girlfriend in four years, I was living at an extended stay with my father taking care of him as best as I was capable, all while sacrificing my own ability to take of myself and cope with the emotional break down that was happening as my social life and many of my friendships were falling to shambles.

Enter Kenshiro. I started interacting with Kenshiro on Twitter earlier in 2020 and saw that he posted a lot about One Piece (which I was actively catching up on at the time) and things in the tokusatsu genre. Eventually I noticed that he had posted about a small group of folx who ended up getting together on Tuesday nights to watch Sentai together. I managed to quickly, and very temporarily, overcome my social anxiety and asked if it would be possible for an invite to this group. Kenshiro had a “the more the merrier style” approach to this group and I was welcomed in with open arms. Thus beginning a journey that has lasted six months and is still going today.

I think it’s wonderful that you managed to overcome your social anxiety to get into the group, but don’t social interactions overwhelm you regardless?

Though I was able to get an invite into the server and start enjoying these watch parties with the crew, the social impact was still quite overwhelming. On any given night that we were watching Sentai shows there were between 14 and 20 people all typing (we mute our mics when we watch) at the same time and the wall of text that forms while there are four to six different discussions going on about the show was really overwhelming at first. I struggled to really feel like I belonged even though people were engaged and encouraging me with everything that I was talking about.

That all changed when Ex-Aid started up Rider Time on Thursdays. When I first joined up we were watching intermittent episodes of both Carranger and Gokaiger on Tuesdays and it was a blast. Carranger, the series that Power Rangers Turbo was based on, was easily the most 80s nonsense I’ve seen in a long time with multicolored jobber baddies that ended up being completely over the top and I loved every second of it. Eventually though we moved towards watching Gokaiger, a pirate themed anniversary season of Sentai, in its entirety. Once we moved to the stick to a single series and watch it all the way through it only made sense that someone would start up a different night for us to watch Kamen Rider.

This was originally an effort spearheaded by Ex-Aid to further the scope of the tokusatsu shows that we were watching as a group. We were running Sentai on Tuesdays, Kamen Rider on Thursdays, and Ultraman on Fridays. It was a wonderful time to have such an incredible community to surround myself with even if I was a little bit intimidated by the amount of interaction on some of the busier nights.

It sounds like a really nice time. How did you manage to overcome your social anxiety though?

Oddly enough, it came pretty natural to me when I started actually plugging myself into the Thursday night crowd. When we first began the Thursday night watch parties it started off with Kamen Rider Drive. This was a series that I had tried to get into before but never really managed to enjoy so I was a little hesitant to go through it because I didn’t think I’d enjoy it. Since we were only watching 3 episodes a week I figured I could carve out an hour and a half of my time to watch some stuff with like minded individuals even if I wasn’t the biggest fan of what we were watching. Guess what, it turns out that my gut reaction to the series was completely wrong and now I absolutely love it and am excited to revisit it when the show is a little less fresh in my mind.

The first few times I tuned in on Thursdays I was a little bit shy. I didn’t say much, I didn’t want to really engage because of the smaller atmosphere, and I sure wasn’t willing to divulge anything going on in my personal life to this new found group. Within two weeks that all changed. I began to joke around with people and participate in the call and response type stuff that we now do during opening and endings even if it’s just typing in all caps the English lyrics in the opening song.

I think the small environment really did wonders for my anxiety because since I wasn’t heavily invested at the start if I felt like I butted heads with any of the group I could have just politely backed out and stopped watching with that small group. By having this group of four to six other people instead of the routine fifteen to twenty that we were drawing on Tuesdays, in time, I felt much more comfortable putting myself out there and letting my voice and opinions be heard. In a very short time, I managed to get very comfortable with this small group and even was more confident and open during the Sentai streaming on Tuesdays with the larger group as well.

Though I absolutely adore the entirety of this community that has been built surrounding both One Piece and tokusatsu shows as a whole, I particularly enjoy the time that I’ve spent with my very own Kamen Rider Club!

Kamen Rider Club?! Frankly that sounds a little childish when worded like that.

It kind of does, doesn’t it? It is what we in the Thursday night crew call ourselves. It is also a reference to what the main cast of Kamen Rider Fourze call themselves. One thing that this weekly gathering of the fans has taught me it is that its okay to enjoy childish things. I’ve even bought myself some of the toys that have come from various Kamen Rider series as I have seen them during our very own show and tell segment where we all showed off our collectibles and various toys. So while yes show and tell is a bit of a childish thing to do it brought joy to our little group. The amount of serotonin I have generated in the last few weeks by playing with the aforementioned toys is astounding. Getting in touch with my inner child and remembering that it is actually rather fun to play pretend has been a real delight.

As adults, we often work ourselves day in and day out to take care of mundane tasks that are essential to our survival. We wake up, go to work, come home, make or order some dinner, eat, and then get ready for bed. I’ve chosen to add finding happiness in doing the things I wasn’t able to do as a kid to the list. Staying up late to find that next save point in a game, buying toys neither myself or my family could afford as a kid, watching nostalgic b movies that brought me some joy as a child, and following along with all the tokusatsu shows my heart can desire are just a few ways I’ve managed to embrace my inner child and cater to my own personal and emotional needs in doing so. There is nothing wrong with being a little childish from time to time. Doing this has introduced me to so many people that I never would have met otherwise.

It really does sound like you’ve managed to build yourself a group of friends here. Isn’t it pretty cool what can happen when you trust that others aren’t going to have your worst interest in mind.

You’re right. I let some people in and was actually surprised with the results. I absolutely adore this little crowd I’ve got. They have all done so much for me without ever realizing it and I am beyond appreciative. Ex-Aid started the KRC on Thursday nights and drops some incredible trivia all over the place. OOO and I have a ton in common and they are an absolute delight to talk to. I am always excited to see them pop into a conversation on the Discord because we tend to have a similar line of thought and form of humor we do have some differences in personal taste that account for unique perspectives and I absolutely love hearing about them. Epsilon and I both are not afraid to make lewd jokes about what we are watching. Tastefully of course. … Most of the time. Epsilon has also offered to be a conversation partner as I continue to get back to my study of the Japanese language! Zi-O has managed to convince me to revisit series I had otherwise written off because I didn’t think they would be of interest, but they managed to sell me on them so I now have an expansive list of series that I want to watch and a planned order to revisit them. Kiva and I aren’t particularly close as I haven’t done much to actually talk to them, but I’m excited to see things develop more in that regard because they seem like a really fun person to talk to. Finally there is Chaser. They are our newest member of our Thursday night group and they have managed to have me laugh so hard I’ve done spit takes. I appreciate each and every one of our little Kamen Rider Club more than words can ever say.

Quick aside and mushy feelings bit here, but if any the KRC are reading this I want you to know that you all have absolutely made 2020 better for me. We’ve had an incredible amount of laughs together. We’ve seen each other through being both happy and sad. Frankly, you all have reminded me that I do have people who I can call friends on days where I didn’t think there was anyone who wanted anything to do with me. I appreciate you, I absolutely adore each of you, and words can not express my gratitude for the warm welcome that I have received into this lovely community. You all have helped me grow as a person in ways that I didn’t expect going into this group. Shaking off my depression blues and finding confidence to embrace my love of these silly kids shows has been in large part thanks to you all. I love you all. Thank you.

Outside of our usual Thursday crew there are so many more people in this community that have put a smile on my face and some joy in my heart, but there is one other person that I would like to take a moment to express some gratitude for. Scipio was one of the first people I actually felt comfortable bantering with in the Tuesday community before the creation of our Rider Time segment on Thursday. They had an incredibly warm and friendly demeanor about them and naturally I didn’t mind bantering with them during the Sentai watch parties. After a while I followed them on Twitter and recently I reached out to them there and they were willing and able to listen to me when I was feeling overwhelmed about the state of chaos in my life and that alone solidified my feeling of being appreciated inside of this community. Thank you Scipio for taking the time to support a stranger and make them feel like they are a part of something bigger.

I’m so glad that you managed to find these people. It seems like they are really helping you in a lot of ways.

They truly are. The joy of it is that they aren’t even doing anything special. They are simply treating me like a comrade and that alone has done wonders for my self esteem. This year has been among the most challenging in my entire life for a myriad of reasons and just having this community to be a part of has honestly saved my life. I don’t know where I would be without them, but I do know that I would be a lot worse off.

So to wrap things up here for today I want to challenge my readers to do two things. Firstly take a moment to appreciate the people in your life that make you happy. If you feel inclined to tell them how much you appreciate them that’s great. If you just take a moment to reflect on it that’s great too. Secondly, I want to challenge everyone to embrace the things that might embarrass you if you talked about it to your friends with more conservative interests. Embrace the wild things that you enjoy. Don’t let anyone take the joy that these things bring you away. Finally as a reminder to all of you, you are stronger than you think, you are beautiful, and by goodness you are worth it. Lets go into this week ready to kick some butt and join some fandoms.

[friendshipstates]

Lucky Friendship (Drabble)

Gentaro sips his tea slowly, every so often looking across the table at Alice Yotsuba. She always seems to know when something is bothering one of her friends. That’s why he’s the only other one at her tea table right now.

“Well, Gentaro...” Alice sets her tea, even as her butler pours a fresh cup. “How are the plans going for the ten year reunion?”

So that’s what it’s about. Gentaro sighs. “They tasked me with setting the whole thing up, because, and I quote ‘If there’s anybody from the school that can bring everyone together, it’s you.’ So I started by sending out invitation to the alumni from that year and...”

He takes a small stack of postcards from his bag and hands them to Sebastian, who brings them around the table for Alice to read. She scans through each one.

“The common thread in these responses seems to be that they would only be willing to attend if the reunion was not at the school itself.” Alice hands the letters back to Sebastian.

“And that’s completely understandable. That year traumatized a lot of people. A lot of the student body is still in therapy to recover from what was done to them, and what they did to other people.” Gentaro finishes his cup and politely refuses a refill, instead taking a cookie from the platter in front of him. “I still remember the words of the first student who I fought as Fourze. ‘I want to go back to school, but I can’t. Because that’s where the Switches are.’”

“You need a change of venue then?” Alice offers.

“I do. But the school doesn’t have the budget to move it elsewhere.” Gentaro shakes his head.

“When do you want to hold the event?” Alice presses.

“A month from now, but I don’t know how I’m going to pull this off.” Gentaro breathes slowly. “It’s a lot of responsibility they put on my shoulders, and I get the feeling the school board doesn’t care if the event gets canceled.”

“Sebastian, please inform the band ‘Fiendish Future’ that we are moving their concert in a month to Yotsuba Arena B. Arrange a contract with Sweet Memories catering service to Arena A for that day, starting at 7PM and going to 11 PM. And make another contract with Quiet Cabs to book a fleet of designated drivers for that evening.” Alice says with great authority.

Gentaro looks up with  a start. Alice is doing that “Richer Than God” thing. “Alice, I can’t ask you to do this for me..”

“You didn’t ask. But isn’t one of your tenets of life to help your friends however you can? I am just helping a friend. What you do emotionally, I can do financially. All the arrangements will be made by the time you leave the mansion, Gentaro. You will have that reunion. You will see your friends. And you will help them achieve the closure they so desperately need. That is what this is about, isn’t it?”

Gentaro’s smile returns. “Yeah, it is. It’s about showing them that they can graduate from the pain caused by the school. That their friends are there to watch them take hold of a better life.”

Alice finishes her second cup of tea. “Then leave the names of the students with me. I will send the invitations personally, and ensure that everyone who wants to come, can. You don’t have to do everything by yourself,Gentaro. I thought you would have known that from your time in the Kamen Rider Club.”

“Thanks, Alice. You’re a lifesaver.” Gentaro rises and she follows suit.

“Correction. You are the lifesaver. Every one of those students has you to thank for setting them free from the Horoscopes’ hold. I’m just here to make sure you can follow through on saving those lives. Have a good day, Gentaro. And do come back for tea sometime.”

“Gladly!” He takes the dishes he used and sets them on the tray offered by Sebastian and heads out of the manor, a great weight lifted from his shoulders.

[venus-says]

Kamen Rider Movie Wars #1-#6

So... what is all this stuff?

When I decided on starting my Kamen Rider watch I was determined to watch as much as I could, everything seemed okay but there was always a huge problem: the movies.

I didn't know where to look at for information so most of my research was done in the Wikia and if you visit the Kamen Rider Wikia you'll see that the way they list the movies IS CONFUSING AS HELL so I set my mind in watching only the stand-alone movies and any extra released after the show ended that wasn't part of any crossover project.

I decided to do this way to try to avoid spoilers of the previous series that I haven't watched, not necessarily because I didn't want to know what exactly happened in those series, but because I didn't want to have a certain impression of a Rider before I could watch their own show and don't be so judgemental about it before actually knowing that character and the set of extras that'll orbit around it.

But then we cut to 4 months later and I'm watching a video on youtube about W and they comment about how in the crossover movie they explain the events of Beginning Night and I go "shit, these movies DO have necessary information, I think I'll need to watch them orz", so here I am.

Before I go talking about these movies let me just say I think they're all pretty stupid. Like, even calling them movies is a low move, they're extended episodes of each series that converge on an awful CGI battle scene at the end, it's not a lot of fun considering the thing that sells the movie usually don't last longer than 30 minutes. I think the thing that just really pisses me off is how they aren't very considerate of people who didn't watch these movies and they'll usually bring up in the show events that only happened in the movie to the show itself, don't explain them, and expect that the audience will already know what the things they're referencing means. I know it seems like a dumb complain since I'm watching these seasons after they aired so I can watch the movies in the proper time if I want to, the thing is I shouldn't need to watch a movie to understand a thing that happened in the show, the movies should be extra material. And I'm not saying these movies shouldn't be canon, but they shouldn't be integrated with the main continuity in a way that would exclude people who didn't get the opportunity to watch said movies to understand them.

But that's enough for my rant let's get to these movies.

Movie War 2010

So, for the original Movie Wars, I watched only the W's portion, I didn't watch either the Decade part or the conclusion because of the reasons I mentioned up there.

This movie was more or less just a huge flashback, this is also the movie that pisses me off the most because it introduced Skull and the Lost Driver that are things that would become key elements not just for the show but also for their movie and well I already made a huge paragraph about this issue so I won't repeat myself.

I honestly don't remember much about it, but as many problems as I have with this whole set up, I enjoyed this movie. Huge part of it was because Skull was there and he's cool as heck, I'll admit, but I had fun. Though nothing will change my mind that this should've happened in the show not isolated in a movie.

Movie War Core

The next one in line is Movie War Core, I had more fun with this one but this was still pretty bad.

W's portion of it was pretty decent, seeing more of Skull was great, and it was also nice seeing what would lead up to the events in the Accel movie. My biggest problem here is that Akiko never seemed so against the Kamen Rider before so it seemed a little off that she would freak out like that only now, but oh well, it was still nice seeing Skull, I wish we had a movie exclusive to him he's so cool he deserves it (I know it's probably late for me to ask for this, just let me leave XD).

Sadly from that moment on the movie got really boring. I wasn't interested in the attempt of reviving Nobunaga plot, I feel like things were happening way too fast in that, and also Kamen Rider Core was just awful as a final villain, I hated that.

Movie War Megamax

The Fourze x OOO movie is probably my least favorite of the bunch. I really didn't buy that thing of a Kamen Rider from the future coming out of a black hole after meteors were falling, the implication that the medals weren't destroyed in OOO's final battle kinda weakens the ending of the series and the fact they didn't explain Ankh being back just shows how this plot wasn't very well thought. Also, the Kamen Rider from the future coming back at the end just to give OOO the Super TaToBa medals was very dumb, that form also doesn't look good either.

And the Fourze portion was awful because they decide to "give" Gentarou a "girlfriend" and that was just the most stupid plot EVER. They gave the girl a rider form but even that they screwed up, it still baffles me they made the girl attack with her butt. I know this is a show that has primarily boys in mind but you don't have to make every female character like that, especially in a live-action where real people have to act that with their bodies.

Gosh, I hate this movie so much.

Movie War Ultimatum

The next movie wasn't as bad, it was just way longer than it should've been. I watched the director's cut and that is almost two hours, that's absurdly long for a movie where not a whole lot happens. This movie was also pretty weird to watch because they did a whole bunch of homages to older tokusatsu, and while having those didn't make the movie any less good or bad it was still off, you could tell those weren't creatures that originated in this world/franchise. I also wasn't really here for this time travel concept, especially in here it was done in a very messy way, it wasn't cute.

But you know, for the part while I was still paying attention I enjoyed it. The Fourze cast is way more bearable when they're not stupid teenagers, seeing them as adults was quite fun, I like how it started like an actual action movie with Ryusei and that girl from the Fourze movie doing some spy work, and I also like to see that he and the goth girl still have their thing. Gentarou as a teacher looked like a mess, but I like that they put him to be a teacher, it makes a good amount of sense for his character. The students were also a bit interesting so watching Fourze was actually fun for me for the first time! But once again Fourze was there being nasty and doing a whole bunch of close-ups in the girls' tights during the fighting while one of those two was supposed to be a teenager in school and that's just gross. Nadeshiko also comes back for this afterward and ew the butt attacks came back, she even jumped at a monster once where it looked like she was reverse cowgirling him and that was very uncomfortable to watch.

The Wizard portion was quite decent as well, I like the concept of the "farm of monsters", I wish they had used more of these smart ideas in the actual show, Poitrine was fun and I like the reveal that in the end, she was actually the Donut Shop keeper, but I think this portion was longer than it needed to be, especially considering they don't do much. But I guess this is the best way to describe this movie. The joint part was pretty bland, but I like that they had a good amount of out of suit fighting, that kept my attention for a while.

Fateful Sengoku Movie Battle

This was an odd one, kinda like Core this one had a decent first portion and a meh one for the current season but overall it was still pretty bland. It was good seeing an actual epilogue for Wizard, I wanna complain about jetpacking in this plot because Haruto was in Brazil for some reason and then in the next scene he was in Japan again, but he has a teleport spell so I can't call them out. But it sure was funny to see they randomly put a Rider on Brazil for the second time in this movie series. The thing of using a 3D pen to make another Koyomi and make her the villain was a fun twist, but I feel like it wasn't used at its fullest.

The Gaim portion was just awful, I didn't care for this parallel world where they revived a Sengoku battle, I feel like this is one of the things that works better with people who actually have knowledge of Japanese History, but I believe that even if you have knowledge this would still such because we're in those Gaim early days where the characters aren't very likable yet so it's really not enjoyable to watch.

This movie also introduced crossover power-ups and Holy Jesus, this is probably one of the worst ideas this franchise has ever made because none of them look good. And speaking of things that don't look good, they ruined a very good design Bujin Gaim had going on for it in order to make him this weird CGI flower thing that doesn't look good, neither intimidating, it was just awful.

Movie War Full Throttle

Last in the list is the Gaim x Drive movie and while this isn't the movie I disliked the most, this is the movie I less cared about, this is the movie I less remember about, which is weird because I watched it twice. I think my problem comes from the villains for this movie, I didn't buy the idea of this apparently alien race defeating an actual space god and capturing another one, I also didn't care for their designs they were pretty bland. But this movie gave Gaim an actual closure so I guess it wasn't so bad. The Drive portion was weird because it seemed very disconnected from the plot. I like this story and I like Lupin's design, but this should've been, if not an actual episode, a TV special, especially considering they give Krim's backstory about how he ended up being in the belt and nothing can change my mind that this should've been explained in the actual show.

Ironically enough, the part of the movie I remember the most is when Gaim and Drive use each other's powers and they get in those awful crossover forms. Again, this idea was a mistake, Drive's hat looks like a fucking trash can lid, it's awful.

Just like these movies. I had fun at moments, but I'm not gonna lie, I wish I could have those hours back, these movies aren't good, they completely drained my energy. I think I'm gonna wrap up for now, what are your thoughts on the movie wars, let me know in the comments. I'm gonna try to be happy again now. I'll see you guys tomorrow for the second Drive review.

[writingpaperghost]

I think I'm going to give a little snippet each of my two other Rider roleswap AUs. This is the Fourze one, since I want to maybe get a bit more of the W one before I show anything.

Everything about Amanogawa High School was too bright; its students, its faculty, even its uniform, with its bright blues and reds. Amanogawa was where you went when you wanted a bright future – when you wanted to go to the stars. In that regard, Ryuusei Sakuta was horribly out of place, he had no desire to go to the stars, and his new uniform felt more like a prison compared to his old, dull, uniform back at Subaruboshi. Though he’d shed Subaruboshi’s brown uniform for Amanogawa’s bright blue and red, he wasn’t happy about it.

Amanogawa was a step towards the stars, and Ryuusei wanted nothing more than to stay on Earth.

Where Jirou was.

As he walked past the gate of Amanogawa, his new school, he checked his watch. He still had plenty of time, but he couldn’t help but feel a bit anxious. His parents thought that a change of scenery would be good for him, leave behind his problems at Subaruboshi. Ryuusei begged to differ, though, as now he had to start at a new school and deal with the fact that his best friend was in the hospital showing no signs of waking up.

“Make sure to make a few friends,” his mother had told him when she’d seen him off that morning. The last thing Ryuusei wanted to do was make friends, at Amanogawa of all places. Not when he was more worried about the friend he already had.

The homeroom teacher of class 2B seemed nice enough, Ms. Sonoda. He didn’t get to talk with her much, before class, not that he particularly cared to. He wanted the next year or so to go as quickly as possible, so he could go back to Subaruboshi. The bell rang and the class began to quiet down.

“Everyone, we have a new student, through the exchange program with Subaruboshi High School.” Ms. Sonoda introduced Ryuusei, and now all eyes were on him.

It was fortunate, or unfortunate for Ryuusei, that Subaruboshi had recently begun an exchange program with Amanogawa. That program was the only reason he’d found himself at a different school, now. He had the grades for it, but it was his parents who’d practically forced him to apply. It was just his luck that Ryuusei was the one chosen.

“I’m Ryuusei Sakuta,” He hated that he had to be here. “Let’s get along.”

“You can take the empty seat there in front of Utahoshi.” It wasn’t like Ryuusei knew who that was, but it was easy to tell where she was referring to. There was only one open seat in the classroom, after all. He supposed that made the grouchy looking boy behind it Utahoshi. Not that it mattered much, Ryuusei figures as he heads to sit down. He’s not here to make friends.

The girl beside him smiles, “I’m Yuuki Jojima,” she seems too friendly for Ryuusei’s liking. Ms. Sonoda begins to talk, though Jojima doesn’t seem to pay her much mind. “I can show you around-“

“Please pay attention, Jojima,” Ms. Sonoda called out. Jojima winced a little, but turned her attention towards the front with a small frown.

The next few hours went by quickly enough, Ryuusei let the instruction hold his attention more than much else. It was still far too long for his taste, and he was relieved when lunch finally came. He had intended to make a beeline for the cafeteria, but was stopped by Jojima.

“Let me show you around,” Jojima insisted.

Ryuusei hid his grimace with a polite smile, “No thank you, I’ll be alright.”

She frowned just a little, before that smile returned, “Amanogawa’s got some interesting groups, you’re new here, so you’re probably not going to fit in with anyone…”

“I’m not too worried about that,” Friendship isn’t needed here anyway.

“Come on,” Jojima grabbed his wrist and began to drag him out of the classroom, barely giving him any time to protest further. He sighed, deciding it would probably be best to let her do what she wanted.

At the very least, she waited until he had gotten lunch to launch onto her explanation of Amanogawa’s cliques. “You’ve got the popular kids, the football jocks, the nerds, the delinquents, the occult goths…” She listed, gesturing to each group. “And then you’ve got groups like them. I don’t even know what they’re deal is.” She gestured to where Utahoshi sat with another girl, who appeared to be something of a goth.

“All schools have their in groups of some kind,” Ryuusei responded. That was true even of Subaruboshi, though perhaps not as noticeably as here. Amanogawa appeared to allow a lot more leeway in their dress code. Well, Ryuusei had read the handbook, he knew for a fact their dress code was very lenient, not even requiring the school uniform. His parents had simply insisted he had to wear it, to his own dismay.

“Maybe…” She frowned a little again, before looking at the time. “Ah! Sorry, I have to go, I’m supposed to meet with someone!”

Ryuusei shrugged, “It’s fine.” He wants her gone, anyway. Something about her smile was starting to get on his nerves. She was way too earnest.

Oh, and that odd pair of Utahoshi and the goth had disappeared. They, like Yuuki, must have had somewhere else they’d rather be. Then again, so did Ryuusei, unfortunately for him, he just couldn’t go to where he’d rather be.

[sailor-cresselia]

HEISEI GENERATIONS FOREVER

I’M GOING TO CRY

OKAY?

I’M GOING TO FUCKING CRY.

Spoilers for Kamen Rider Heisei Generations Forever below the cut.

also this got really long. Like. 3.8k words long. I am SO SORRY, Mobile Users, I know read mores don’t always work. Just. SCROLL.

20 MINUTES IN AND MY HEART HAS ALREADY BEEN BROKEN MULTIPLE TIMES.

Memories coming and going for everyone - just - just!

Sougo as a smart, smug, asshole.

Tsukuyomi as a ditz.

Then! Then!

Sento and Ryuuga saving a kid from Another Double – who’s design I LOVE, btw.

But Grease and Rogue leap out over the crowd. They remember, when they shouldn’t. When no one should remember them.

When Kazumi Sawatari and Gentoku Himuro shouldn’t remember each other. Shouldn’t be able to become Riders at all, because here they never were exposed to the Nebula Gas that the Rider System requires.

Gentoku forgetting, returning to the stiff, formal, son-of and assistant-to the Prime Minister.

Misora remembering – the cafe’s a bar, and then she forgets. Again.

YA SURE KNOW HOW TO KILL MY HEART, TOEI.

The kid – Shingo – being found by Sento… who doesn’t get the chance to transform. Who looks… he looks like he’s been brainwashed.

A boy who ‘draws Riders to him’. Him and Sougo go to Fuumen – FUUMEN!

TOEI YOU ARE ACTIVELY HURTING ME. Because Another Double shows up… and it turns out. It turns out Shotaro gave the owner of the Fuumen ramen cart the Double Ridewatch to hold onto for him.

And now we’ve lost Geiz, too.

Nobody remembers Sougo – and smartphones don’t exist. Not enough that a small child would know about them.

The first episode of Kuuga airs tomorrow.

Just- hng. Some part of the brainwashed Sento holds out enough to send the Machien Builder to find Ryuuga. To find his partner.

But when he and Sougo get to where he and Tid are.

Tank and Tank.

Just one word.

“Transform.”

And he attacks.

AHAHAHA YESSSS! Ataru points out the “Same Actor Issue” with regards to Kouhei Takeda having played both Otoya and Kazumin THANK YOU I was hoping that would happen. I didn’t think it would but THANK YOU.

IMAJIN NO. No ominous comments about how ‘it might not end well’!

...Shingo. Shingo… Tid brought you here from the past, didn’t he? From the day before Kuuga aired. That’s why you don’t know what a smartphone is. He brought you forward from your little brothers birthday. And you met him here – where he’s 18, and contracted with an Imajin, in order to meet Riders.

I don’t even know these two and my heart’s breaking for them.

...was. Was that Ataru in Another Den-O?!

Okay, yeah, Sento was faking being brainwashed. No surprise there.

BIG surprise that Ataru contracted in order to meet Riders… because he wanted to escape from reality. He’s not worried, because it’s all just a delusion.

Because his older brother disappeared the day he was born. His brother Shingo.

Whoops.

Ataru latched onto Den-O SO HARD that he summoned an Imajin into his world – his world, where Riders are fiction. And that Imajin is trying, but he’s reached his limit. And Tid cares not for what world he’s in, as long as it’s correct.

...it makes sense that sento isn’t torn up about being fictional like sougo is. he’s already been there – twice, even. sento kiryuu was made up in his own world, and no one from the new one remembers he exists. this is nothing new to him.

…

OKAY FOR THE RECORD. I wrote that BEFORE the scene in the rain.

But…

It doesn’t matter if it’s reality or fantasy. They’re Kamen Riders. They do what must be done.

Don’t worry, Sougo. You’ll understand.

Riders always do, in the end.

Also, the bugster virus grunts stand out so badly against all the other mooks. Waste Yummies, Dustards, Ghouls, Inves, numberless Roidmudes, Ganma, Bugsters… It’s. Actually really nice seeing all of these old suits in action. I can’t even say why, but. I really enjoy that.

… Kazumin’s out.

… … Ataru’s had enough of a world with Riders. He’s done. There’s no such thing, after all.

The contract is complete.

The Riders are gone now. But the mooks might not be.

Be careful what you wish for.

Hey there, Woz! Been a while!

Hey there, Sento. Glad you found your kouhai… and that you didn’t blank out when you two left Ataru’s house.

Because I was right. Shingo’s been pulled out of time.

That’s what Imajin are all about, aren’t they? Changing time. (I have not watched past the first two episodes of den-o but that’s the impression I’ve gotten from hearing about it. Shush.)

And Ataru can’t have a brother that went missing if the brother never went missing in the first place. Which is where Tid, the Imajin, and Another Den-O come into play.

Sure, The World of Ataru is ‘reality’ from one perspective, but The World of Riders is reality from it’s own perspective, just like The World of Build. Sento, you’ve done this, don’t dismiss the world you live in now as fiction quite so easily.

(Tsukasa will be disappointed in you. … if everyone else doesn’t beat him up first, for some of the stunts he’s pulled.)

So… since the Double watch came from Ataru’s world, it can act as a link to there from the Rider’s world.

Actually, I really like how much of W they’re working into here. I know it means we most likely don’t get a W arc, but still. Fuumen, and the watch being handed over by proxy – namedropping ‘Sho’. Another W has three faces – Cyclone, Joker, and CycloneJoker. Cyclone’s eyes light up when he uses the tornado attacks, which is a great nod to both how he’s using one side, and to how Philip’s half lights up when he speaks. I mean, the green tornados alone are neat!

(I didn’t think I’d missed the lens-eyes, because they’re creepy, but come to find out, I had! Huh!)

THING IS. I’m a LITTLE pissed about THIS. I get you haven’t been given much to do today, Woz. And I ADORE all of the W references. But the Library is PHILIPS domain. It’s his to explore – his, and Wakana’s, and those who he allows in. Sokichi Narumi, when he was just a tool for Museum, when he got a chance at freedom. When he got to be Philip. And Shotaro. His Partner. Who saved him from himself in there – When the library was BURNING because he was losing himself to Fang, when he was terrified and lost and this is where he is supposed to be.

… Sorry, I have a LOT of W feels, and this movie is hitting a LOT of them right now.

… Basically, Woz, I tolerate you now, but this is December 2018 you, who I tolerate a lot less. Get out of there.

OH, THIS IS INTERESTING THOUGH.

The book is labeled Masked Rider Den-O. Not Kamen Rider. The series has been writing it as ‘Kamen’ when using the roman alphabet since W.

Before that, it was translated into English whenever it was written like that. So it would be accurate to have Masked Rider Den-O, but not, say, Masked Rider Fourze.

Huh. Nice touch.

~Archival footage from Den-o!~

... Woz how did you get that rail pass out from the library?

(Philip would LOVE to know, that seems like it would be a REALLY handy trick, if he could bring even just. Like. Segments of a book, or pictures, or some such. It’d be SO MUCH EASIER to show Shotaro stuff that way, instead of having to copy it out onto a whiteboard.)

… A lot of the time, Another Double sounds like two people speaking in unison.

… can two people be one Another Rider? Could Tid have. Like. Fused some dudes? This is. A valid question right now.

I mean, we never did find out Who Another Double is.

! !! !!!

LUNA!

THIS IS FINE.

(It’s not fine, but only because I hate the Luna memory)

!!! !! !

AH. So. That’s. ONE way to have things happen out of order. Have a watch shoved into your chest after seeing yourself as that Another Rider.

Ataru latched onto Den-O SO DAMNED HARD that he summoned an Imajin, warped time, and became Another Den-O.

Kid… That’s brutal.

Purple Imajin’s lost hope… but Sougo says that they’re not alone.

Tid shows up at the site where the Arcle was found. At the tomb of the first Kuuga. That… if this is the world of Ataru, that shouldn’t exist here.

But he uses the Arcle – still worn by the first Kuuga – to make the Another Kuuga watch.

That’s terrifying, but makes sense. The watches only need the power of the rider, after all. Doesn’t matter which version of the Rider, as we’ll see in Hibiki months down the road and two weeks ago.

TID OW WOAH DUDE

I MEAN

You’re a bad guy but! I’m sorry for you right now! That looks OBSCENELY PAINFUL.

And VERY Time Mazine sized.

Enough to knock Sougo’s Time Mazine into the Another Denliner… which crashes upon arrival in December 2018, scaring ‘Everyday Schoolboy Sougo’ spitless, while carrying Tid as we have known him to this point. Also of note: Another Den-O is posing like Momotaros. That’s a nice touch.

Oh! Hey! I just realized! I like the Purple Imajin’s speech and all, and the exposition’s great, VERY in line with Den-O, but I just realized.

Sougo’s at a point in time where he hasn’t been born yet.

I doubt this’ll do jack all to history, but still. It’s kind of funny.

(Also, hey, Toei, you couldn’t have remembered that Rider used to start in January back during the Fourze and Faiz arc? You had Faiz disappear during an episode that took place in February, thanks to an event in, like, November. I’m still salty about that.)

Cut to 2018.

Sento and Ryuuga step into Tid’s vault.

(brb, snorting with laughter at the bugster stuck in an idle animation on the floor)

Sento’s already altered the world once, and nobody should have remembered him. But one idiot was stubborn enough to remember him. So… who’s to say that can’t happen again? The world has never made sense. Science and physics, chronology and sequence, reality and fiction… all of that went out the window ages ago, as far as he’s concerned. So why not mess around a little more?

Rabbit and Rabbit!

Cross-Z Magma!

““TRANSFORM!””

(cue Build fight music)

I love my boys.

I also love the two busted time mazines basically piggybacking off of each other.

A train whistle sounds.

Oh, Tid. Of course they keep coming back.

You’ve got someone who knows them pretty well right by your side.

AHAHA YESSSSS

YOU’RE FACING THE WRONG WAY BUT YESSSS

‘Sup, Momotaros?

Oh, hold on-

‘Sup, Team Den-O?

Like beats Like. It takes a Rider’s power to defeat an Another Rider.

And the base of ‘imajin’ is imagine. To think up, to dream.

Or, in some cases.

To remember.

Urataros, if you and Ryotaro are going to use the line “Ai to Seigi to” I expect SOMEONE to do a Sailor Moon pose! SOMEONE NEEDS TO!

She is the senpai for EVERYONE HERE. She’s from 1992, after all, Mr. 2007.

Okay, sorry, Moon Fan comments aside.

Sougo gets it now. It doesn’t matter anymore if they’re real or not.

Because here? In this moment? They’re real enough.

I’m willing to bet that under that mask, Sento’s grinning, because he can tell that his junior’s caught on.

Misora – kind, sweet, Misora – guiding civilians to safety, even though she’s a civilian herself… wondering where Sento and Ryuuga are.

They’re a bit busy elsewhere… but Kazumin and Gentoku? They’re available.

Welcome back, Kamen Rider Grease and Kamen Rider Rogue.

Cries for help from two young boys – the right age bracket for right now.

Level Up!

Kaigan!

Welcome back, Kamen Rider Ex-aid and Kamen Rider Ghost.

Two men in their late teens, early twenties.

Cyclone! Joker!

Welcome back, Kamen Rider Double.

A man in his mid-to-late twenties… possibly with his sons, who are wearing the two latest belts. His inner child calls out.

The startup sound of the Arcle

Welcome back, Kamen Rider Kuuga.

A crowd.

Hanamichi! On STAGE!

Welcome back, Kamen Rider Gaim and Kamen Rider Kiva.

A crowd – larger, with more varied ages.

Hii, hii, hihihiii~

Welcome back, Kamen Rider Agito, Kamen Rider Ryuki, and Kamen Rider Wizard.

Three adults.

Turn Up.

Welcome back, Kamen Rider Blade, Kamen Rider Faiz, and Kamen Rider Hibiki.

Change Beetle

Welcome back, Kamen Rider Kabuto, Kamen Rider Decade, and Kamen Rider Fourze.

UCHUU KITA indeed.

Ta To Ba! Ta-to-ba TaToBa!

Welcome back, Kamen Rider OOO and Kamen Rider Drive.

“Ankh…”

Toei don’t break my heart like this. He caresses the hawk medal. Don’t do this to us.

“Let’s go, Mr. Belt.”

“Okay! Start your engine!”

Hi, Krim. Nice to see you again, too. Ah, man, Shinnosuke’s voice is so subdued.

They didn’t have the same type of partnership, but both Eiji and Shinnosuke lost their partners. This is. Right. This is right, for now. It’s something.

Now. Time to fight.

Momotaros doing his own theme song.

Emu bouncing into the air.

Takeru floating – they’re letting him have powers, letting him have the forcefields that he’s going to prove he has when he shows up in the episode that aired the day before this takes place. To the point of TAKERU CAN MAKE TELEKINETIC TORNADOES THAT IS SO FUCKING COOL! (Further vindication! Takeru gets to be spooky!)

One on one my rear end, Gentaro. Rocket on.

Drumsticks and kicks laced with fire from Hibiki and Haruto, before they and Shinji all set a crowd of mooks alight in a wave of fire.

Shinnosuke getting to use the tires on Type Speed’s boots for once… before… Start up. Clock up! The three speed demons – him, Takumi, and Souji – knock the crowd of mooks aside.

Swords and claws slice through one group, thanks to Kouta, Eiji, and Kenzaki – wait, hang on, his given name is Kazuma? I thought that was his surname?! UGH it’s the Banjou and Ryuuga thing all over again, but before it happened, you know what WHATEVER.

Shouichi and Wataru blasting apart mooks with inherited powers.

Tsukasa on his own… because of course he is.

Likewise for Yusuke.

Sento and Ryuuga struggling against Another Double… but Sougo got that watch earlier today. >:)

Like beats Like.

Er, Woz, this is not the time to IWAE. We’re. We’re in a movie. This. Isn’t in the show, save it for- oh, wait, you weren’t there the first time he used Double in show, were you? Haaaa… fine. I’ll allow it.

...I’d really missed Sougo flubbing the catchphrases. “Tell me about your crimes.” It’s. Close. You’re. You’re almost there. You got the pose better than you did the phrase, anyway.  

Another Double is a bit closer, though, since he thinks you’re half-boiled. And did Shotaro’s stressed out forehead pinch – even though Sho’s usually in civilian form for that, and wearing his hat, it still scans. (HNG MY W FANGIRL HEART.)

Maximum Time Break!

Hahaha! Another Double explodes three times. Once to separate in two, once each for a cloud of green and black smoke for each respective half, and then two massive fireballs. That’s glorious.

Tid, I get that you’re a movie villain, but why are you this dead set on getting rid of the Heisei Riders?

“Where’s Tsukuyomi?!”

“Still fixing the Time Mazines!”

And she’s so FRUSTRATED about it!

Good thing Sento built all of his equipment. Oh man, he’s going to have a field day with this thing. Be careful, you might not get both of them back.

CASE IN POINT. SENTO’S JACKED A TIME MAZINE TO FIGHT ANOTHER KUUGA.

And looks like Geiz didn’t just go to fight Tid when he was in 2000. He made the Kuuga watch from the first Kuuga’s body, same as Tid.

Clever. Like I said. Doesn’t matter which version of the Rider. As long as it’s the same power.

Armor Time!

Kuuga!

It didn’t take long to take Another Kuuga down with that much brute power behind the attacks.

Sorry, Ryuuga, but Geiz just isn’t that excitable. No high fives for you. (I’ll give you one!)

Sento must be absolutely beaming under there.

And Sougo does the thumbs up.

HEY REMEMBER HOW I WONDERED IF TID FUSED TWO DUDES TO MAKE ANOTHER DOUBLE?!

THIS IS WORSE.

THIS IS MUCH WORSE.

Step. Away. From. The. Child.

Let him go.

TID HAS ISSUES.

But! Getting everyone out in to one of The Quarries means.

BIIIIIKE FIIIIIGHT!!!!!

Kudos for the Bakusou Bike jingle, and Faiz’s bike pretty much being a drill. Press F to pay respects for Kabuto’s tires. Wonder how many of those he goes through in a month.

Shotaro, Philip, not breaking out the Revolgarry this time? You did back in Taisen Grand Prix!

...Where are Drive and Hibiki?

Oh, wait, nope, there they are, along with Ryuki.

YESSSSS Ryuuga and Geiz in Geiz’s Time Mazine!

AND LIGHTING IT UP WITH BLUE FLAMES TO KNOCK “ANOTHER KUUGA TWO; CREEPER BOOGALOO” DOWN TO EARTH. Literally.

Twenty Rider Kicks. Straight to the face.

(Okay, technically it’s 22 kicks, since Double is, by necessity, both Shotaro and Philip, and Den-O is presumably Momotaros and Ryotaro.)

And the final three to hit? Zi-O, Build, and Kuuga.

Yesssss.

(Also Gentaro looked so awkward standing with the Drill Module still active. Because DRILL. On the LEG.)

We get a montage of two brothers, growing up together, as fans of Kamen Rider. Mirroring a montage of one boy growing up alone at the opening.

And the speech between Senior and Junior – Sento and Sougo.

Yeah. They were Riders. They always were Riders. The laws of time travel aren’t nearly as rigid as you think, Sougo.

As long as someone remembers. They’re still there.

Why should anything have to change that?

Final notes. Whoever made this movie must love W SO MUCH. Because in the end credits, there’s a montage of shots from every season since Kuuga. It shows the riders themselves, as civilians, their base forms, and their final forms.

The slide for W has two variants. The first has CycloneJokerExtreme at the top, CycloneJoker at the bottom, and Shotaro and Philip preparing to transform in the center. The second – the center photo moves to a different expression from the same exact scene – the same SHOT – Shotaro and Philip looking at each other and smiling. It’s from episode 49. When they were reunited.

There’s some nice care for all of the slides, actually, but most noticeable to me…

The Fourze slide has four pictures –  Fourze base mode, Gentaro in front of an explosion, Fourze Cosmic States, and Gentaro and Ryusei. The last three? Are all from the same episode. The one where Gentaro GETS Cosmic States.

Drive has two ‘variants’ as well – in a similar manner to W, actually. The first time, there’s Chase, Shinnosuke, and Gou together, Shinnosuke and Kiriko – from the last episode, no less, as they’re saying goodbye to Krim, and Drive (Type Speed) leaning against the Tridoron. Really puts that “Let’s go, Mr. Belt” line RIGHT BACK IN THE FEELS ZONE, there doesn’t it? Well, the shot of the three riders morphs to the same scene, but all three of them in their armor. THAT is where they show Type Tridoron. I believe that was the first time we heard Spinning Wheel, actually.

Ghost manages to have all three of it’s Riders on a cliff – in civilian form, but still.

Ex-Aid has Emu’s first transformation – both before he activates it, and in his Level One form right after. There’s the first transformation into Hyper Muteki. But his Base Mode shot, for Level Two? Chronos about to get a Gashacon Breaker to the face.

Gaim features both Kouta AND Kaito in all but one shot, which is the one with Gaim on a horse. The others are Kouta and Kaito in Beat Rider attire, Gaim and Baron while the Woman of the Beginning looks on in the background and… Gaim Kiwami Arms versus Overlord Baron… in the final moment of their last fight.

As for OOO? Well, we’re clearly not getting an answer from Toei as to what his official final form is any time soon. Not with Shirtless Episode One Eiji, and TaToBa OOO on a RideVendor as two of the shots. The other two? One is PuToTyra. And the other is TaJaDor… with Ankh right beside him, Greeed arm on display. (Eiji’s final form is Ankh’s Boyfriend and you can’t stop me from believing that.)

I don’t know enough about the other seasons to know how heartbreaking a lot of them are, but. Well.

Over in Kuuga, that’s a transformation in the snow.

Ryuki has a wide shot with thirteen suits.

Blade as a shot with four riders, and one with Blade and Chalice in the water.

I’m not really happy with their choices for Build. Build RabbitTank deciding that he’s going to take Ryuuga with him, Sento and Ryuuga on the bike – at the end of episode one, so they both look awful, Sento in the opening, of all things, and what is quite frankly a terrible shot of Build Genius. They had a lot more to go off of here.

Especially since at least Zi-O has an excuse for poor selection. A close up of Zi-O’s face, a shot of him on his bike on a bridge from the opening, a slightly battered Sougo transforming – not even his FIRST one, mind you, it’s from the wrong angle for that… and OMA ZI-O. I know we weren’t even fifteen episodes in, he didn’t have Decade yet in the timeframe it takes place, but still. STILL.

But I might do a compilation post of all the ending cards, because there was clearly care put into… well, all but the last two, really.

So! In Conclusion!

Not as bad a movie as I was worried about!

There were a lot of nice touches, and I’m pretty sure that at this point, they were working towards un-doing the whole ‘riders were never riders’ situation. Especially given the time placement of this film.

The present day sections take place on December 3, 2018 – literally one day after the first episode of the Ghost arc aired. It was released on December 22, so… about when Sougo was shot into the future by Decade, and the day before he Did The Thing with his belt.

Ghost was allowed to transform. “Oh, right… I’m a Kamen Rider…” And, of course, Decade was there. As Decade.

The next Legend Rider to appear wasn’t until February – with Ryuki, who would never have been a Rider in the first place, regardless of Time Travel interference. He’d already had his adventures undone at the end of his season. After then, every Legend Rider is still a Rider.

As long as someone remembers.

[biomic]

So would you say Zi-O is to Kamen Rider what Super Megaforce is to Power Rangers or is that too harsh?

no. i don’t think anything can match super megaforce’s complete lack of care and passion for the franchise it’s supposed to be tributing

plus, with kamen rider, it definitely softens the blow a little considering we get big crossover movies with returning actors nearly every year now? like, im still mad about the fourze tribute, but we at least got see gentaro again the year before. but crossovers like that are rare in power rangers, and the only Big ones we had before megaforce were power rangers in space and forever red. like, we hadn’t seen tj in a decade, and cassie even longer than that! two rangers from one of the most iconic seasons of the show’s history and. they’re just kind of there in the last episode. nothing about their appearance is special other than that they’re returning actors. and that’s how every returning character was treated, except arguably casey. it’s the biggest waste of potential i’ve ever seen in media, and as much as i dislike zi-o rn it doesn’t even come close

[precurelegends]

(Yet another OC)

(This one came about because of the Into the Riderverse thread I had going with graceful-cure-swan on my Fourze blog.

Name: Shinyu Kisaragi

Age: 16

Height: 5′2

Description: Often seen wearing torn jean jackets, Chuck Taylors, her hair in a pompadour and only begrudgingly the uniform skirt from her version of Amanogawa High, Shinyu is a punk girl. Which makes her other persona quite a shock to those that know her.

When a crisis looms, Shinyu and her friends Miu, Yuuki and Ran take out their Star Switches and transform into Soul Bond Pretty Cure.

Miu is the “Guardian of Bonds Forged By Respect, Cure Crown!”

Yuuki is the “Guardian of Bonds Forged by Love , Cure Wedding!”

Ran is the “Guardian of Bonds Forged by Competition, Cure Rival!”

And Shinyu is “The Guardian of Bonds Forged by Choice, Cure Friendship!”

(There are rumors of a fifth Soul Bond Pretty Cure, “The Guardian of Bonds forged through Compassion, Cure Mercy.” But Shinyu has yet to meet them)

In her heroic form, Shinyu’s outfit is a knee length white dress, covered in silver stars with spiderweb patterns inside them and gold chains that connect them.

Shinyu hates the frilliness of her Pretty Cure outfit, and will try to speed up the fights so she can get back to her normal clothes.  But she will also take the time to care for the victims of her enemies and make sure that they have someone to help them through their recovery. 

---

The girls of Soul Bond Pretty cure fight against an evil organization called Threadbare, made up of alternate dimension versions of Heisei Kamen Riders:

The members of Threadbare are as follows:

Medala: You wouldn’t know it looking at her hobo-esque wardrobe, but Medala is a master alchemist. She created a body for herself from the combined essence of a hawk, a tiger and a grasshopper. Medala creates alchemical duplicates of people, and sends them to devour the original person’s life. The only way to tell a duplicate from the real person is that the duplicates always have metallic gray eyes with an alchemical symbol where the pupil would be. When these Yummy’s are discovered, they grow to colossal proportions. Medala has selected Cure Wedding as her nemesis.

Gaiary: The Threadbare organization created Gaiary from fusing together an archaeologist’s son and the freelance detective who was sent to investigate his disappearance. Because they were now two souls in one body, the connections they had to everyone in their lives was severed, and now, they only have each other. Gaiary has been promised a cure to his condition, if he can make twenty-six souls fall into darkness. To do this, Gaiary forges dark contracts with people, promising them a power to surpass the gods and turning them into Dopants. Gaiary prefers to fight against Cure Rival.

Magis: The greatest power in the universe is hope. Logically then, the way to make a person powerless is to steal their hope away. This red crystalline creature uses evocation, illusion and occasionally necromantic magic to cause people to spiral into despair. Those he breaks become his own pet monsters, the Phantoms, which go out to sow more despair. Magis fights mostly against Cure Crown.

Besma: Some people are perfectly compatible with each other. These bonds make them stronger when they’re near each other, and even in cases when they’re not, because the thought of the other person being in danger will push their “Match” to legendary heights. Besma is a cybernetic lifeform and a self-proclaimed super genius who uses mad science to break apart the bonds of these “Best Matches” and drive both sides into despair. Besma is most often faced by Cure Friendship, and in a recent misadventure, they were both cast into an alternate reality.

Threadbare works to break apart the bonds that tie people together so they can weaken the Cosmic Web that connects all life. But that’s not going to happen if Shinyu and her team have anything to say about it.)

[dangerouscommiesubversive]

philip, in a gathering of riders (like, post-big fight or random get together, being possessive of shoutaro (consciously or not)

At some point I will need to tell you about the Unified Kamen Rider Cross-Time Discord, which is a running joke between me and my husband.

Anyway, this comes at the end of the fictitious crossover event that we saw the very beginning of in this previous prompt response. Don’t ask me where it fits in any timeline, I have no idea.

For the most part, Philip doesn’t struggle with issues of self-esteem. He’s perfectly confident in himself and his place in the world, in his relationships, as one half of W, one half of Fuuto’s number one detective agency, the voice of the Earth. He knows who and what he is. Shoutaro’s the one with insecurity issues, as if he could ever be anything less than the finest, kindest, bravest, most beautiful person in Fuuto and in fact the world.

(Philip is very certain of this. He’s checked. There is, of course, always room for debate when it comes to subjective judgments, but he’s 99.9% sure that he’s right.)

Philip never concerns himself with his place in the world--unless, that is, there are other Riders present.

If only they weren’t all so...fit. If even one of them was on the small side and somewhat physically frail, he would perhaps feel a bit better about the fact that he regularly passes out in front of them. But no, they’re all taller than him and aggressively healthy, and furthermore they’re kind in a way that makes him irritated with himself for resenting them. In the heat of battle he can ignore it, but it’s terrible to manage when the moment’s crisis has ended and they’re trying to relax and socialize for a few minutes with other people who understand.

This most recent incident has occasioned a larger team-up than usual--there’s Eiji, of course, who’s actually always a pleasure to see, and Fourze at his most enthusiastic, and Wizard, looking even more dashing than usual. Decade also brought a couple of additional friends, apparently from other worlds entirely, and Kiva in particular is intimidatingly stylish. There’s even someone new, whose name Philip hasn’t managed to catch yet, a sort of citrus samurai whose entire transformation mechanism is extremely intriguing.

Everything is loud and messy and complicated, and Philip has a number of lookups to do before they even begin to fight, so of course everyone’s looking at him when he falls less gracefully than usual and gives himself a bloody nose.

“Should we maybe take care of that before we head out?” Shoutaro thinks at him, worried.

“I’ll be fine, I’ve survived worse. There are more pressing concerns.”

“If you say so, partner.”

They acquit themselves admirably in the fight, there’s some cleanup afterward, and then they de-transform and there’s that long moment where Philip isn’t quite W but not quite conscious in his own body again, and he opens his eyes to Kiva crouching next to him and holding out a hand. “You’ve got a bloody nose,” Kiva says, in his incongruously soft voice, “are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” Philip says stiffly, but he does take the outstretched hand and let himself be helped up. “Thank you.”

He can see Shoutaro coming over to him, and that’s a relief, but then his partner’s approach is obscured by the new Rider, who de-transforms, puts away his little fruit device--a Lockseed, Philip will have to look them up later--and says, “Hey, I have tissues if you need them.”

Philip stares at him and feels blood rushing to his face, which of course does nothing to help with the now-sluggish nosebleed. “That would. Ah. That would be very helpful. Please.”

“I tripped during a performance once and took a header down the stage steps, and Mai kinda chewed us out when she found out that none of us had any kind of first aid stuff or even a handkerchief or anything, so I carry them all the time now.” The man smells like oranges. “I’m Kouta, by the way. Gaim. You’re Philip, right? You’re...also W somehow? I think I missed the introductions because I showed up in the middle of things.”

“That’s right, yes, I’m Philip.” Which is useless and repetitive, and Philip curses silently as he’s shaking Kouta’s large, warm, lightly calloused hand.

Thankfully, at that point Shoutaro gets to him. “Hey, partner, I’m sorry, Gentarou had something he wanted to ask me and you know how long that handshake of his takes.” He looks around, to Kouta and Kiva. “Uh, thank you for checking on him, normally it doesn’t go like that.”

Kouta smiles brightly. “It’s cool, I’ve had, like. A lot of bloody noses in my life.”

“Same here. We haven’t met, have we?” Shoutaro holds out his hand. “I’m Shoutaro, you met Philip, we’re W.”

“Kouta. Gaim. Um, do we do name names or Rider names, which is better? I haven’t been doing this for very long.”

Philip takes Shoutaro’s free arm, suddenly intensely disliking the idea of his partner’s hand in that warm, comfortable grip. Shoutaro shoots him an odd look before replying, “Regular names are fine, it gets exhausting calling everyone by a title like that. Where are you from?”

#

He survives another half an hour or so of socializing, distracted from his vague feelings of inadequacy by all of the interesting new things to learn. He doesn’t get a chance to look at Kouta’s transformation devices, because whenever Kouta gets within three feet of him his throat closes up, but he does get a chance to talk to Kiva, who never de-transforms and spends most of the time semi-hiding in a corner. It’s nice to know that someone else is at least somewhat shy, and Philip learns a number of compelling facts about the various non-human sapient species of his world. He keeps one eye on Shoutaro at all times, though, and Shoutaro keeps glancing over at him, feeling worried.

Finally, everyone is exhausted and it’s late and some of them have to teleport home or travel across dimensions, or in Fourze’s case an exam in the morning for which he should have been studying. All Shoutaro and Philip have to do is drive.

Once they’re back at the agency Shoutaro locks the door, turns around, and says, “Philip, are you mad at me for some reason? What’s up?”

Philip feels himself blushing again. Why is he blushing so much today? “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You’re still wearing your driver, partner, I know you’re upset about something. So what don’t you like about that fruit kid? He seems nice, but you kept going tense whenever I started talking to him.”

“There’s nothing wrong with him,” Philip mutters, “he’s extremely pleasant.”

“Then why did you—wait.” Shoutaro’s eyes go wide. “Wait. Are you jealous?”

A long pause before, “Of course I’m not jealous, don’t be ridiculous,” which is obviously a lie.

“Why? Was he hitting on me, did I not notice him hitting on me? You know I’m not great at that.”

“No, he wasn’t at any point flirting with you. He’s just…attractive.”

“I guess?”

The tension goes out of Philip’s body, which is a surprise to him, because he hadn’t realized that he was so tense. “You don’t think he’s attractive.”

“I mean, he’s not exactly my type. Like, he wasn’t really my type before I met you, but also you’ve kind of permanently warped my idea of what’s attractive, I measure everyone in degrees of Philip now and so far nobody’s managed a score as good as yours.”

Philip stares at him and then has to stifle a laugh. “Shoutaro, that’s the most absurd thing you’ve said to me in…” he counts on his fingers, “two weeks.”

“Sure, but it made you smile, that was the point.”