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Kamen Rider Fourze


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Kamen Rider Fourze (仮面ライダーフォーゼ) is the 13th Heisei-era Kamen Rider series and the 22nd overall. Its name signifies the 40th anniversary of the Kamen Rider franchise. In addition, the Fourze suit uses an astronaut motif to celebrate the 50th anniversary of manned space flight. The series will be directed by Koichi Sakamoto (veteran Power Rangers fight choreographer) with a screenplay by Kazuki Nakashima (Gurren Lagann) and creature designs by Kia Asamiya (Silent Möbius, Hades Project Zeorymer).

The show's not yet out, but tokusatsu fans have lashed out against Fourze's suit design. On paper, it's probably the worst Kamen Rider design, but I'm not gonna fully judge it until the first episode airs.

Kamen Rider Fourze premieres September 4 on TV Asahi, replacing Kamen Rider OOO. But before that, Fourze will make his debut this Saturday, August 6, in the movie Kamen Rider OOO Wonderful: The Shogun and the 21 Core Medals. In the meantime, check out the official site.

TV Asahi's Official Kamen Rider Fourze Site

(Sorry, no videos. Toei is on a copyright rampage.)

Edited by areaseven
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The last few designs to me have been rather uninspiring. Everytime I look at Fourze I just start thinking of condom commercials. I don't know if that's just random or not, but every damn time I see him I feel like i need to buy a pack of trojans!

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  • 3 weeks later...

KamenRiderFourze.jpg

Kamen Rider Fourze (仮面ライダーフォーゼ)

Ishimori Productions/TV Asahi/Toei Company, 2011

So, any bets on whether or not Saban or Adness will pick this up?

Directed by Koichi Sakamoto (Power Rangers, Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior)

Based on Kamen Rider originally created by Shotaro Ishinomori (Cyborg 009, Android Kikaider)

Running Time: 25 minutes per episode

Not Rated (suggested TV-PG). Contains martial arts violence.

"UCHUU KITAAAAAAAAAA!!!!"

Cast

Sota Fukushi as Gentaro Kisaragi/Kamen Rider Fourze

Ryuki Takahashi as Kengo Utahoshi

Fumika Shimizu :wub: as Yuki Jojima

Rikako Sakata :wub: :wub: :wub: as Miu Kazashiro

Maria Yoshikawa :wub: as Tamae Sakuma

Arisa Fujisaki :wub: as Jun Shigeno

Justin Tomimori as Shun Daimonji

Shiho as Tomoko Nozama

Shion Tsuchiya as JK

Yuka Konan :wub: as Sarina Sonada

Takushi Tanaka as Chuta Ohsugi

Shingo Tsurumi as the Red-Eyed Man

Synopsis

Gentaro Kisaragi is a newly-transferred student at Amanogawa High School, hoping to make friends with everyone in class. But when mysterious monsters called the Zodiarts attack the school, he puts on the top-secret Fourze Driver and changes into Kamen Rider Fourze to battle them.

Lowdown

It's the 40th anniversary of Kamen Rider, and THIS is how to celebrate it?!?

Apparently, Toei ran out of good ideas for a Kamen Rider anniversary show, but then got word that 2011 is the 50th anniversary of cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin's space flight. So the execs must have thought, "How about mixing Kamen Rider with an astronaut motif? It worked with James Bond 007 in Moonraker, right?" But it doesn't stop there. Another group of execs decided to throw in high school drama elements, as that's what teenagers all over Asia watch. The end result is Kamen Rider Fourze, a show that clearly has no idea what it is.

Many of the Heisei-era Kamen Rider titles have been criticized by viewers (mostly the Showa-era purists) for casting emo losers as the protagonists. This one, however, goes in a different direction. Taking center stage is a dork who tries too hard to be a bigger dork just to get some attention. Just look at him - he dresses like the stereotypical delinquent student with the '50s hairdo, yet tries to be the nice guy at the same time. The high school itself is a mixed bag. Why would a Japanese high school try to look American, with its group of American football jocks and cheerleaders?

As for the fights, it's considerably weak compared to the last 10 Kamen Rider titles. There's just absolutely nothing you haven't seen before in the action sequences here. I already mentioned that the Fourze Driver is the worst henshin belt ever, but after seeing the Fourze suit in action, I got really nauseous. The Astro Switch gimmick is simply one of the dumbest ideas in tokusatsu history. Who wants to be caught dead with a radar arm and a drill leg? It actually makes Kamen Rider Decade look good.

But there is one reason to actually watch this show: hot Japanese chicks. If you've ever wondered what one would look like in a cheerleader outfit, you're in the right place. And the homeroom teacher is a real MILF.

In short, Kamen Rider Fourze is in the running for worst Kamen Rider show. Hell, if not for the cheerleaders, I would've given this show an F. Be very grateful, Fourze.

Who knows how many times Shotaro Ishinomori rolled over his grave?

Rating: D+

Links

TV Asahi's Official Kamen Rider Fourze Homepage

Toei's Official Kamen Rider Fourze Homepage

References

JEFusion

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I feel this like this Kamen Rider in a general sense with GTO Yankee + Nanoha's YOU"RE GONNA GET BEFRIENDED + Cromartie High.

Though I have to say I did have as a male a DAMN! reaction when the cheerleaders came in.

Cliques felt like castes.

As for the protagonist Gentaro well... Despite being the girl's childhood friend I have a feeling he's not an Earthling.

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A7 i totally disagree with you.

Well except the fight that wasnt amazing, though I thought it was funny. And the cute girls, though I preferred Yuki to the cheerleaders.

i had a blast watching this. It was light and fun, and i totally had a grin on my face the whole time. I admit, in all the pics i had seen i hated the Fourze suit, and in many ways i still do. But the show itself overcame that, and i could see myself really getting into this show.

I like that your big logic break was "Why is the Japanese school so American?" Not "How did they walk to the moon on a bridge of light" or anything :D

This had all the fun that made me love W so much, though its a different kind of fun. i never liked OOO's, and i think a lot of that was that I didn't like Eiji or Ankh a lot, but so far i like all three of our leads and can't wait for episode 2!

edit: Also his Henshin is AWESOME!

Edited by Scream Man
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Now that I've hand a chance to watch more than episode 1, it's not that bad. Okay, the suit ain't my cup-o-coffee, but the show works. And yes, I'll give VF5SS that much, it was an epic pogo stick. It's entertaining in a good way. It's fun.

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And here's another video review of the worst henshin belt ever made. But here's a surprise - it's reviewed by none other than our good friend Peaugh!

If it wasn't so expensive I would totally get that. The Chunky clicky-ness of it is really nice. And that countdown... mmm. :wub:

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Also it's a good thing Peaugh is doing Tokusatsu toys now. The only other alternative is that shithead from CDX

Actually, Peaugh has been doing Super Sentai toys for the past couple of years (right around the same time he started reviewing Macross toys). Fourze is his first dive into Kamen Rider toys.

There are other alternatives for tokusatsu toy reviews other than CollectionDX, such as Soundout12, ShukuenShinobi, zeronxepher, DOSMrider and Jedimon2005. TF reviewer ballmatrix also does toku toy reviews, but his knowledge is crap as he often uses Power Rangers terminology. And then there's CCLemon99, who probably has the largest toku toy collection on YouTube. Unfortunately, he's a complete shithead to his viewers and he merely buys the newer toys to tell people how much he hates the current shows.

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  • 3 weeks later...

good, a real female rider with hopefully a large part...unlike what's her name I already forgot in Decade.....huh how'd that happen? I liked Decade. Oh right, the gorgeous girls of Fourze won me over there's a complete shock!

I think that's actually the only reason I'm even watching this show right now is just to see the girls!

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5 episodes and I am loving the show! Its gloriously fun and lighthearted, the Henshin sequence is awesome and the music and characters ae great. There's almost nothing about this show i hate. Hell, even the suit looks better in motion!

SO in for the long haul!

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