All the Shout-Out Theme Naming uses the Showa Riders' civilian names — so why is Tomoko Nozama named for Kamen Rider Amazon instead of Daisuke Yamamoto? It's a Continuity Nod to Kamen Rider Decade, where Amazon never gave his civilian name at all. It's most likely a reference to Kamen Rider Amazon's actual series, where he went as bAmazon through all the series, since he didn't know his own name until much later.
Gentaro is the only one without a Shout-Out Theme Naming but Kengo and Yuki do. Kengo is named after the first Kamen Rider while Yuki is named after Riderman. Now factor in that Fourze is the titular (and thus first) Kamen Rider of this season and uses weapons that manifest on his limbs. Meaning Fourze is a three in one Shout-Out to previous riders.
It's much more than that; some of the other characters (Miu, JK, etc.) have names that are also based on other Riders. It also ties in with the series honoring the previous riders as Urban Legends.
Gentaro is not named for Kamen Rider Stronger because Stronger did not air on the network now known as TV Asahi (the spot went to Goranger instead), but on TBS.
The data on past Kamen Riders that Tomoko shows our heroes in #2 are an apparently random assortment that does make some sense.
The first Kamen Rider, not just forthe obvious reason but for the start of the original Shared Universe.
Kamen Rider BLACK RX represents the actual post-Showa era that encompasses Black and the DTV movies Shin, ZO and J. Black RX remains the most popular of that era.
Kamen Rider Kuuga represents the Heisei era, specifically the "Decade 10" named for the original lineup Kamen Rider Decade would have homaged before plans to reconnect the Showa seasons as well.
And finally, Kamen Rider Double represents the post-Decade era, the point where the fate of the franchise is literally up in the air. Will it go for 10 more years? Will it hit another era first? Will it wind up as DTV again? Who really can say?
The switches thus far handed out by the Scorpion Zodiarts were both to be used for jealousy and resentment. In mythology, the scorpion that the constellation was created to honor was sent by Apollo due to his jealousy towards Orion.
Which loses a bit of credence when the first switch we see it hand out is Orion.
Or it could just be irony.
Or it's the fact the original post so pointed out. Apollo sent the scorpion to kill Orion it's fitting that the first Zodiarts and Horoscopes Zodiarts seen were those two.
It's also worth noting that using Zodiarts Switches enough will get the Switcher hooked. Thus, Scorpio had begun destroying Orion's switcher's life by giving him the Switch.
The Switches handed out by Libra aren't a grudge, something mentioned by Kengo. Instead, it seems his thing is people who felt they're victims of injustice, like Perseus believing people did him wrong by distracting them from his art. He doesn't have an outright grudge again one person or a group, he just has a very precise Berserk Button and lashes out at anyone who presses it by distracting him from his art. This is inline with Libra, who is the "scales of justice".
Some viewers might call Nitta/Unicorn an idiot for not taking the opportunity to talk Gentaro into helping him kill JK together, after Gentaro sees JK for what he is. As we learn later, Nitta had already thought out a more thorough Break the Cutie fate for him.
#7 lends some credence to this, he's seriously trying to get Miu back before his father talked him out of it. Possible Calling the Old Man Out on the way.
Pretty much all confirmed by the end of #8.
Fourze's States are supposed to represent "dream jobs" for kids (Elek is a construction worker), but putting Elek alongside the switches that debut alongside it (Beat, 1 Thumping sound - fairly obvious. Chain Array, Spike, 2 Both are often seen on the costumes. Smoke and Winch 3 For special effects.) leads to all of them representing a dream job - RockStar.
Works for Fire States too. It has burners across it's body, its weapon looks like a fire extinguisher and the episode it's introduced in involves witches which are known for brewing potions a method alot like cooking. Yep Fire States is a chef. Or there are the Flash switch and Gatling switch and the Hi-Hackgun making it a soldier, while the Shield Switch gives the police element to it.
So what about Magnet States and Cosmic States?
Magnet States is a scientist, and Cosmic States is an astronaut.
After their respective episodes, the Switchers are not seen since then. In episode 8 Gentaro mentions that Miura is still in the hospital. Which means that the other Switchers are hospitalized as well. Oh, and they don't just get hospitalized if the aftermath for Miura is any indicator.
There's a reason for the dorky-looking conehead helmet - it's to accommodate the pompadour without messing it up.
That's really logical, that means if Kengo used it the head would be normal?
Recently unveiled pics of Kamen Rider Meteor seem to hint at another case of a helmet accommodating Anime Hair.
As mentioned several times in the main article, Fourze stands out as the most Hot-Blooded and manly Kamen Rider series in recent years, thanks to writer. So why JK? Because Leeron.
Nozama says she has no place to belong thus implying she has no friends. Remember who she's named after?
Also, she's the weirdest one of the group. Before Shin came along, Amazon was the Black Sheep of the Kamen Rider Franchise.
Other similarities between the Kamen Rider Club and their Showa Rider namesakes:
Kengo would certainly be taking on the Zodiarts singlehandedly if not for his unexplained illness - likewise, Takeshi Hongo may have remained the only Kamen Rider in existence if not for Hiroshi Fujioka's Game-Breaking Injury.
Shun and Ichimonji Hayato both pride themselves as ladies' men (this goes back to before Kamen Rider: The First mind you).
Miu and Yuki starting out at odds with each other is mere child's play compared to V3 and Riderman back in the day.
JK's finger salute, not only does it represent the letters J and K, but begins with him crossing his arms. In an X.
Elek States uses only Shock and Awe while Fire States has both Playing with Fire and Making a Splash. Elek Switch is #10 while Fire Switch is #20, when you take out the 0 you get 1 and 2 the number of elemental abilities the switch gives to its user.
So by extension there'll be 3 abilities when Switch #30 comes out, and 4 when #40 comes into play.
Jossed: Switch #30 is N-Magnet (which only works with #31, S-Magnet), and Switch #40 is Cosmic. They do both have states of their own (Magnetstates and Cosmicstates), but no elemental powers.
The Zodiarts Fourze faces every week seems to have a link with it's switcher.
Their appearances is also a bit of Fridge Brilliance as well as mentioned below their link description.
Orion's Switcher is hunting down Shun.
Orion looks big and tough looking, perfect for fighting Shun.
Chameleon's Switcher is blending in Miu's group of friends.
Chameleon looks male making people believe it couldn't be a girl.
Unicorn's Switcher was on his high horse on Revenge.
With its face off it kind of looks like a knight, again going with the high horse.
Hound's Switcher is acting out of revenge against his father, whose catchphrase is two letters off of Bad Dog. The chain motif it has also evokes the image of a dog on a leash.
The chains as mentioned as he wanted to be off his father's leash.
Altar's Switcher uses her power to believe she's a witch, using her Zodiarts form as her alter ego.
Altar looked like an old hag, witches are often(stereotypically) depicted as old woman.
Witches traditionally burn things at an altar.
Pyxis's Switcher is obsessed with Yuki, always going in her direction. He's also very manipulative, and has the ability to manipulate any object he can see. In other words, he wants to assume direct control over them!
The Pyxis Zodiarts looks a lot like an insect, he bugged Yuki for most of that time as well as those other girls but after becoming a Zodiarts he became a real creep(creepy crawly)
Perseus's Switcher hates distractions when he's painting so he's in hot pursuit to stop it!
Perseus held onto Medusa's head so he could effortless defeat any enemy in his path, which is what the Switcher is doing; using the head to shut up any and all noise.
Also, the Zodiarts is shark-like, and sharks keep pursuing their prey until it captures them.
Also, Soushi being an artist seems hardly the physical type, but consider that it requires him to make very precise strokes, applicable to both brush and sword, while his other hand carries something with an important secondary function, applicable to his paint palette or the Medusa petrification power.
The Lynx Switcher proclaims himself as Kengo's rival. In other words, he suggests that they're fighting in a game of cat and mouse.
Nonomura is the cat who actively wants to capture his unsuspecting victims (mice).
Dragon's Switcher hates outside help, or people he believes that are dragging the track and field members down.
Jin is shown to be very hostile about people getting help and as the Dragon Zodiarts is very slow due to him being made out of steel.
also, that thick armor of his is very useful in shutting out any outside help.
The Pegasus Switcher as a winged being ascends into something new.
Pegasus was a symbol of poetry in the Renaissance which relates with Kijima being part of the Rakugo club. Also the "ascending" adds onto Kijima changing from a regular Zodiarts into a Horoscopes.
The Cygnus Switcher is said to be a hero, but due to its action it's more of a black swan.
Cygnus is white on the front, but you can also see bits of black on his backside representing how its impact as a hero is nothing more than a facade when no one is looking. This is also a reference to Eguchi's split personality and how the Ugly Ducklings learn that making him become Cygnus was very stupid.
Coma's hair can separate to create copies of the Zodiarts. They're split ends.
Split ends are caused by putting too much heat or stress onto the hair; Yayoi's having so much stress about the concept of graduating and it's those emotions that made her able to activate her Switch.
Musca wants be be as free as a fly.
Scorpion looks male and has a masculine voice because Sonoda betrayed her own humanity (scorpions are commonly associated with betrayal)
Likewise, Libra wields a staff with chains on either endnote It's called a khakkhara, which is a staff used for prayer just like the crossing bar on a balance (the parts that tilts when things are added to the dishes), he also has a second face on the back of his head(it's easy to miss if you don't notice) invoking the roman god Janus, the Roman God of beginnings, ends, and transitions(as the role of switch distributer transited to him.). The second face also can signify that he's two-faced referring to his personality as a good principal and his personality that he uses with Sonoda.
Virgo is based off a goddess named Dike (it's pronounced "dee-kay") who's the Goddess of Justice. This motif is used with the giant axe Virgo wields and how she's stated as the judge and executioner of the Zodiarts.
Cancer Zodiarts is only shown just to fill in a role for the Horoscope, mirroring how he was supposed to be used as a distraction against Hercules while Hercules himself was off to fight the Hydra. However while Hercules was able to kick its ass easily, it's so far been a difficult job for Fourze.
The Aries Zodiarts has the power to put people to sleep. He is also based upon a sheep.
Tomoko's room is shown to have many insects in #10. After watching the episode, it becomes noticeable that she wanted to go into a metamorphosis just like the insects she admires.
Tomoko was the one to introduce the concept of "Kamen Riders" to Gentaro. Looking at the above it makes perfect sense that she'd be a fan of insect themed superheroes who can often change forms.
In Episode 7, Tomoko deleted a picture of her with her ribbon off slightly (and subsequently deleted every other picture off the school mainframe). Makes more sense when you see how she reacts to Gen and Yuki seeing her without her make-up and screaming "They saw my face!" while running away from them.
Those who watched #7-8 for the Breakfast ClubHomage may have notice that Gentaro and Yuki really don't fit as the "criminal" and the "princess" respectively, but they're there - Miu, who gets some focus during this arc anyway, is the "princess", and the Hound Zodiarts is the "criminal".
While one sees Shun being a jerk by trying to deny Miura becoming a Zodiarts in #2, it becomes more obvious that he doesn't want to tell anyone that it was his fault that Miura became this way. In #8, he has to tell Gentaro that his father tells him what to do, and that whenever he does something everyone gets angry at him. In other words, he didn't want Miura to be even more upset at Shun than he already was.
One of the earliest fan complaints about the Fourze system was the overly goofy-looking implements - switches are not only classified by shape, but have red arrows to indicate which way they face, and black arrows to indicate which way to turn. It's an idiot-proof system, just right for an Idiot Hero.
There's a real life component as well; air pilots and astronauts have their equipment over-labeled because when you need to make split-second decisions regarding life and death, you don't want to get bogged down by confusion.
Other fan complaints involve how the Fourze Driver looks really outdated, like it would have looked cool in the 90's, but looks like junk now. Then you realize that while the series takes place in 2011, the Fourze Driver was made by Kengo Utahoshi's father 17 years ago... in 1994.
In Episode 2, we learn that there's an urban legend about masked heroes in which they are called Kamen Rider. Now back to Kamen Rider W, the urban legend might have also spread in Futo City. Citizens of Futo notice the similarities between W and other riders, which explains why they call him "Kamen Rider" instead of "Mysterious Half and Half Bug Man" or something.
Amanogawa may just be in or near Fuuto, considering that OOO was in W's movie, and Fourze was in OOO's movie, and Yuki and Kengo were seen walking past Hina and Shingo in OOO's last episode. It also helps that the Ugly Duckling Society MEETS IN THE BILLIARDS PLACE NEXT TO THE NARUMI FREAKING DETECTIVE AGENCY!!
Ohsugi's advances on Sonoda seem hilarious when you think about it. However, when you find out that Ohsugi's crush is Scorpion Zodiarts, it takes on a whole new meaning. Said Zodiarts doesn't know about feelings of love and is probably just leaves the scene because it makes no sense to her.
Sonoda being the Scorpion Zodiarts is a bit of fridge brilliance. There are several times when the Scorpion Zodiarts appears but similtaneously(a scene that would roughly be at the same time) Sonoda is nowhere. The devs thought of everything.
It's also worth noting that a scorpion is an animal that typically stays hidden until it strikes, by which time it is already too late. Considering Sonoda's covert role as the Scorpion Zodiarts, it makes sense.
Also, take a look at the scene where she asks if Ritsuko's the one who started the fire. She's not in disbelief; she's just trying to see if the Altar Zodiarts is getting any stronger and using the Switch for their own wicked needs. She wouldn't have known that herself (well aside from the students confessing it) if she was there when Altar Zodiarts started the fire.
And remember her being in school on a Sunday in #7-8? She was keeping an eye on Kamen Rider Fourze AND the Hound Zodiarts (Who was Satake's son!)
While not explicity shown in the series, it also makes sense because of how nice she is. Nobody would go to Ohsugi with a personal problem, he'd either just laugh at them, shout at them, or give them extra homework to help 'distract' them from it. But Sonoda, she's incredibly gentle, sweet, supportive and kind, always listening and always being there for people. In other words, she's gathering information and using her sweet personality to draw in scared, hurt, angry people that she can target later.
Miu in episode 12. Her being cautious about Yuki telling the chairman about the Rabbit Hatch is a bit of brilliance in and of itself because she isn't just concerned about her friends but it also shows some genre savvy because if the ordinary Zodiarts are students then the higher ups are most likely the school faculty. It was subtle foreshadowing that everyone missed.
Well we're not sure if Miu did know about it; she just asked why the hell Yuki would risk telling the director about their secret base.
It's fridge brilliance for the writers not the character but they had used to character to bring it about
When one sees Sonoda's name, it seems so obvious that it was just a scrambled sign that screams that she's Scorpion Zodiarts., but there's another reason for that. She wants to have a name that doesn't sound so obvious as if trying to blend in with people in the school. This also extends to both Hayami, who's name relates to him being Libra Zodiarts, and Kamen Rider Meteo who's code name is Ryusei (aka Meteor). Since they're all not human, having human names casts off lots of suspicion from them.
That only works with Meteo, the other two are considered human unless explicitely stated otherwise since being a Horoscope doesn't make you automatically an alien. Once human yes, not human to begin with no.
I figured out a reason why Makise was never expelled from school. Scorpion Zodiarts observed him and considered that he'd be a great host for the Zodiarts due to him being very unhinged, and thought he'd be perfect to help enhance the Zodiarts strength.
After seeing how Miura got free from his Zodiarts addiction, I compromised a list as to how the others would be able to free theirs:
Tamae: With the thought of Miu telling her to try her best, she's holding onto a promise to Miu when they see each other again.
Nitta: His fencing lessons and Gentaro's kindfelt words will help him move on and I'm sure he'd want to have a clear mind as he goes into multiple fencing touranments.
Teruhiko: He'll have lots of help from his father seeing that Satake has learned how he was harming his son more than helping him.
Ritsuko: Gentaro mentioned that he'd find some activities that could help her out, and she could probably use her own ESP should things go wrong.
Makise: gets the idea to harangue the Horoscopes for a new Switch just so he can evolve into a Horoscope himself, then turns into an Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain as he takes on Fourze and fails repeatedly. Maybe the Pyxis Zodiarts gets other types of weapons on his arms as he tries a different approach each time.
Or on the opposite side of the coin, he actually succeeds in becoming a Horoscope and instantly becomes a Knight of Cerebus. Considering his obcession with women, this becomes Fridge Horror when you think about one of the myths surrounding Taurus, one of the possible remaining Horoscopes Zodiarts he could become...
Gentaro having Water and Elec switches at once in #13 would surely have led to one devastating finisher, but it doesn't exactly spring to mind for him. This IS Gentarowe're talking about.
Why does the Scorpion Switch already have the symbol if all the other switches look the same? Because it evolved with its user who originally had a normal Zodiarts Switch!
Libra Zodiarts disguising Sonoda as Gentaro is a bit brilliant itself. He hid the truth using a lie by disguising a villain as a hero. Libra is the Scales, in other words balance.
Plus, Gentaro's actor was free to film that scene, considering it was his suit actor in the costume, and not him.
Toku purists who dispute the involvement of Power Rangers director Koichi Sakamoto would do well to remember that Fourze is space-themed, making the large amount of Wire Fu relevant for once. Zero gravity anyone?
Gentaro's most used switches seem to be the Rocket and Drill switches. The Drill switch is obvious to most people, considering what other anime the writer has made, while Rocket seems like it only fits for the space theme. However, the Rocket switch has similar origins as the Drill switch.
Not to mention, one of the finishers original Riders always had a drill kick.
Why did the Lynx Switcher go for JK out of all people? Because JK is the information broker; he has connections to just about everyone in school. If JK ever leaked word about this whole thing, then Nonomura would be expelled without a second thought.
The shapes on Fourze and his belt may seem like just simple shapes, but the order of them relates to how they are drawn: a circle is one line in a loop, a cross is two crossed lines, a triangle is three connected lines, and a square is four connected lines, thus, it makes perfect sense for switches #1, 2, 3, and 4 to be a circle, cross, triangle, and square, respectively
So far every Horoscope that appears is in reverse order of how the zodiac they represent are lined up through the year. Scorpio, Libra, Virgo. If Ryusei wants the Aries Zodiarts, he's going to have to wait for five more generals.
Ryusei is looking for the Aries Zodiarts which he believes will help save his best friend. The constellation Aries is associated with the Winged Ram that saved Phrixos and his sister Helle from being sacrificed and carried them to the land of Clochis. The ram was then sacrificed and it's fleece(the Golden Fleece) was presented to the Clochis King and protected by a dragon until the Argonauts retrieved it. The Golden Fleece was said to have the ability to heal people and grant eternal life.
Tomoko telling Ryusei that Riders are supposed to be heroes is very ironic when you see just how evil some of the pre-Double riders are and that they aren't heroic at all. Now note how all the riders from Double up to Fourze have been heroes, not a single rider was downright evil, Eternal was Driven to Madness, and Core and Poseidon can be considered more monster than rider at best. This just adds to the irony and builds on the fact that the post-Decade riders are now taking place in the same universe.
Even after Wizard and Gaim premiered this still holds water. Fueki was trying to save his daughter, while Orma was in another universe. Gaim, due to what was going on by the end, is considered another universe entirely. Then you have Gold Drive to break that.
The Pen switch's ink being able to solidify into something that actually sounds metallic is rather easily explained if you're halfway familiar with how spacecraft are built - it's plain old carbon, a material known for being used as for writing and processed into a "space-age" polymer used in everything from bike frames and golf clubs to, well, spacecraft.
It's been established that Fourze is an Homage to Kamen Rider Super-1 by virtue of being an astronaut Rider but it actually goes a bit further; the Module Change System is pretty much the natural evolution of the Five Hand System that Super-1 had.
The only aspect of Super-1 that Fourze doesn't represent is being a master of kung-fu. Enter Kamen Rider Meteor, Bruce Lee Clone and Bare-Fisted Monk extraordinaire.
Gentaro now has Magnet States. Gentaro gathers friends to himself like a magnet, he's a literal Magnetic Hero. Why did this take so long for someone to point out?
Not only that he's also a Chick Magnet cause both Tamae and Ritsuko wanted to go to prom with him and even Miu was going to ask him out.
In episode 20 Ryusei seems upset that the Dragon Zodiarts might evolve, despite the fact that his entire plan hinges on getting someone to evolve into the Aries Zodiart. The big difference in this case was that Dragon was actively trying to kill Meteor. Considering how strong Dragon already was, having him evolve into a Horoscope would pretty much be a death sentence for Ryusei.
In episode 22, Pegasus couldn't land a kick on JK for this reason alone: due to replicating kickboxing moves he wasn't prepared for JK to go down breakdancing to dodge and thus couldn't predict his movement!
It goes beyond that - actual martial artists who have had the formal training would develop the instincts needed to adapt to such an opponent. This clues us in that Pegasus isn't Haruka, but Kijima, who merely copied her style without going through the proper training.
There might be some head scratching to be done when you think about the fact that Makise never had his Star of Rebirth form, even when attempting to murder at least twenty girls for turning him down, and yet Kijima, who just picks up his switch off the ground, not only has his Star of Rebirth form, but become a Horoscopes as well. There are three ways to go about this:
First is that Makise's episodes happened long before there was any revelation about a "Star of Rebirth" and is thus a writing mishap.
Or second, it could be the fact that Scorpio was the one who gave Makise the Switch. Scorpio, unlike the other Horoscopes, never focused on finding people who could potentially become Horoscopes, but rather handing out switches to those who want revenge.
As insane as he was, Makise was a straightfoward monster. He bothered all those girls, and then tried to kill them without even trying to hide who he was or work on an elaborated plan. Kijima, on the other hand, was a Manipulative Bastard that was proud of his skills in lying, For the Evulz. Makise may be a psychopath, but in his mind, he believed he was wronged and deserved vengeance. Kijima knows he is wrong, and simply doesn't care.
People seeing Shun being sidelined by Meteor means that he's going through Badass Decay. There are some ways to explain why Shun won't get to fight so much:
1) CGI cost. Inbetween Shun using PowerDizer and Meteor's debut, it was used in at least four episodes (#10 to stop the Lunar Witches, #11 to kick Pyxis's ass, #12 to launch Gentaro to the moon and stop a bus from crashing and #14 to save Gentaro and JK and to get its ass whupped by Scorpion Nova.) They may be saving Power Dizer for bigger jobs—preferably he could be of good use against Cancer Zodiarts since Fourze's Magnet States won't phase it.
2) Character Development. Shun isn't the social type. Notice how he just sits back as Yuki tries to convince Kengo to return to the KRC in #19 and how he doesn't say so much in other episodes. He's not used to having lots of friends due to his father's teachings on treating everyone as pawns and is trying his hardest to at least get into social interactions (like in #23 where he tells the others that he has big feet).
3) The writers want us to remember that Shun still has feelings for Miu. He notes that he'd do anything to help Miu in #21 (to the extent that he acts as bait for Pegasus Zodiarts). However while he's going to be playing Dogged Nice Guy to her, Miu doesn't have her mind focus on romance due to her jobs as Club President.
and 4) Shun is graduating. March means graduation for the school and once Miu and Shun are gone, so are the Club President and Power Dizer user. They can try to put lots of fight scenes for Shun but it won't stop the fact that he's going to leave Amonagawa High for a college (remember that comment about Shun meeting up with the career councilor in #21?)
Ok here's one for ya. Why is the #11 Switch, Scissors, on Fourze's left arm? Because it's a reference to Kamen Rider Scissors from Ryuki.
Why is the Cancer Zodiarts weak against prolonged exposure to fire? Well, how do you make a shellfish meal?
Same goes for freezing him in ice.
Why is Cygnus Zodiarts, after the switch is gone and everything, shown to be quite healthy when several former Zodiarts have been mentioned as being sent to hospital? Because Eguchi's split personality means that his evil half has taken all the damage and side effects. It may purely be psychosomatic though, but the effect is there.
When I saw Gentaro's shirts, many of them actually relate to the episodes they appear. These include:
A shirt with a green X (#5-6, #22, #29 and #35) where he's going to be double-crossed by people. #5-6 and #35 had him double-crossed by JK, #22 by Kijima and #29 by Haru. More significance on those shirts relate to JK, his Memetic Hand Gesture has him crossing his arms to form an X.
A shirt with the quote "It is better to give than to receive" (#11-12) representing how he's giving his all to help Kengo.
A shirt with a chemistry formula (in #10, #16 and #29-30) that represents how he bonds with other people. The first one was with Tomoko, the second with Motoyama, and the last with Ohsugi-sensei, Ran and Haru. Or he has chemistry with them.
A jacket with a tiger and a dragon on it to reflect the Tiger Versus Dragon dynamic between him and Ryusei when Meteor debuts.
And towards the end of the series, he's got a white one with magic circles on the back... because Kamen Rider Wizard is literally coming after him.
Shun's clown outfit at the end of #25 has another meaning: He states that he was a "Clown for love" but he's also a fool for love. And what else is he doing that makes Miu upset with him? Fooling around.
Meteor Storm has an overall brighter color scheme than the standard Meteor. Why? Because Ryusei is slowly Becoming the Mask and becoming more heroic himself!
Ohsugi-sensei actually is the best candidate for the faculty advisor because of his status as a Butt-Monkey! He's not treated seriously by Hayami at all, and because of that he could become a Spanner in the Works against the Zodiarts. Plus he now knows that the teachers are involved with the Zodiarts attack, but the Zodiarts themselves don't know that! He could easily blend in and go through his own Butt-Monkey business and then easily slip back into the Rabbit Hatch and spread the news!
As of #30, viewers may have noticed a gap in the order of Horoscopes (Taurus and Gemini should come between Cancer and the recently-revealed Aries). Well, at least one has been explained - Aries first appears in Ryusei's old school, Subaruboshi, which is named for a star cluster within the constellation Taurus.
The reason why Tachibana got so disgusted at Ryusei at #31 (obvious one aside) is because Ryusei turned his back on the Anti-Zodiarts Union, went against orders, and effectively said, "I don't trust you or your plans" by teaming up with Aries.
Earlier in the episode, after Ryusei reports finding Aries, Tachibana told him to defeat Aries and take the Switch so he could devise a cure for Jiro. Sure, it was slow, but it was sure as hell cost-effective.
Why was the Aries Zodiarts considerably weaker than the others we've seen so far? Because the others spend most of their time wearing weighted cloaks, which is an actual martial art technique to increase one's power. Aries had been blowing off the Horoscopes and only got his towards the end of the episode, too late for it to do him any good.
Also, he uses his power to slow down bodily functions (aka luring his foes to sleep) to help him fight. Which was rendered useless against Cosmic States. So basically, he was the Squishy Wizard of the Horoscopes.
Gamou being teased as Sagittarius. What's the last horoscope sign of a yearly cycle?
Some may think that Libra's Supernova power is an Ass Pull, but consider this: He's the only Horoscopes who handed out switches in hopes that the switchers become Horoscopes. Rope that in with the whole "Libra is the scales of balance" and the loss of Zodiarts, and you realize that his Supernova basically helps balance things faster (get more Horoscopes).
In the Kyoto arc, we briefly see Yuki in a princess outfit that makes her resemble Kaguyahime, who's famous for flying to the moon on her own just as Yuki always wanted to do. Naturally they're not making it that easy for her.
Why does JK use the Only Known by Initials phase throughout the whole series? It's to distance himself from his former rockstar father who is now a fiserhman. It's his way of rebelling against him and saying, "I want to follow my dreams, old man! Don't stop me!" Once he made peace with his father, he caps off his sayonara to his Milky Night Carnival Radio Show with his real name.
Among the massive amounts of merchandise for this show is a line of Gashapon Astro Switches with their own red LED lights when you press them. Blatant moneymaking gimmick? Not so much if you pay attention to the show, where the switches do flash red just before transformation.
A thing that's been bugging me is that Yuki is always happy and chipper except for when Makise stranded Kengo in the Rabbit hatch. But why is she not like that when there's other serious problems like, Aries Zodiarts rampaging school, or Cancer stealing her soul? As revealed in #37, her happy personality is supposed to help everyone else calm down and also because the attacks were not personal to her and that she knows that things were going to get better because she had Fourze kicking ass. When Fourze has no possible way of beating the Zodiarts, she gets depressed.
Gentaro's choice in cosplaying as Kamen Rider Stronger really becomes masterful foreshadowing, since his story in Megamax mirrors that of Stronger's own story with Tackle (he forms a fighting team with a girl rider, girl rider dies, Stronger/Gentaro gets depressed, but breaks out of that and gains a Super Mode to boot)
Virgo Zodiarts' identity Emoto being discovered by Tomoko makes sense when one considers that both have backwards Theme Naming.
In Movie Wars Megamax, Virgo is fought off when both Fourze and Nadeshiko use their respective Rocket States at the same time. And way later on, in Ep. 41 of the main series, Fourze catches up to Tachibana during their training only when he uses Double Rocket States, which was given to him by Nadeshiko! Oh, and then we find out that Tachibana was Virgo! This just seems too calculated to not be intentional. The writers deserve a congratulations for that one.
Also, the reason Gentaro hasn't used Rocket States since then? He didn't want to, since he was still in mourning for Nadeshiko.
The reason he decided to use it? It was Gentaro's greatest argument about Tachibana's words of becoming heartless in order to defeat the Horoscopes.
Tachibana having Ryusei gun for Aries is odd when you remember that he's also Virgo, and thus have someone fight a group he's a member of seem like a big mistake. However, it is a little genius plan, since the only thing he and Gamou want out of the Horoscopes is their switches. Couple with the fact that he's the strongest of the Horoscopes and it's simply him using Ryusei to further their plans, all while he doesn't get the wiser.
This is also maybe the reason why Tachibana advised Ryusei not to go up against Leo. Leo is equal to Virgo, and so if Leo ever found out through Ryusei that Virgo is going behind their backs, he's as good as dead.
This leads into some Fridge Horror. If Ryusei had followed Tachibana's orders about bringing the switch to him after defeating Aries, Jirou would have NEVER woken up. Think about that... Him killing Gentaro in order for Aries to wake up Jirou was actually the best decision he had ever made regarding Jirou's well-being!
Actually Since Tachibana is still technically a good guy, it's possible that he had a way to permenantly take a switch out of Gamou's hands in a way that wouldn't seem suspicious.
Why does Gamou act shocked when Hayami used the Eye of Laplace on him? Because Hayami discovered a secret that only Gamou and Virgo knew: Gamou being the Sagittarius Zodiarts!
Tachibana's morally questionable actions make sense when it is remembered that he is Virgo. It was established early on in the series that Zodiarts Switches have a negative effect upon a person's personality, thus explaining his position as an Anti-Hero.
According to Tachibana, the odds of a Zodiarts having a good goal are roughly equal to those of finding an artificial satellite lost somewhere in the entire universe. What is the M-Bus?
More importantly, go back to the first episode just after the Moon Base started to explode. You see the M-Bus Space Station, foreshadowing Emoto becoming Tachibana!
Megamax very clearly takes place after episode 14. The Rocket States is shown in Episode 41... Notice the numbers?
Look at the Leo Zodiarts. A large feline-based Kaijin able to use the powers of other Horoscopes by using their switches? Now where have we seen something like that before?
It also makes sense that the king of the animal kingdom can use the powers of a group of mostly animal based monters. (This applies to both series of course.)
Ran is apparently going to become Pisces. What team was she a part of in her previous school? The swimming team.
So, does anyone think Yuki being Gemini was out of left field? I don't. The writers thought it up pretty well: Nakashima focused on her main role in the club as The Heart while Sanjo focused on her goofiness. It's not hard to put two and two together that they were foreshadowing the good and bad of her: Yuki's kind and generous heart, and her out-loud and childish attitude, which are exact opposites of one another!
Also, way back in Episode 12, Yuki meets up with Gamou and they discuss Gamou's book! What was the name of that book? Voices of a Distant Star! It foreshadowed the idea of the Presenters!
Hayami feared Gamou sending him to the Dark Nebula above all else. In #46, he saves Gamou from Fourze's attack, but in doing so is killed by/sucked into the Dark Nebula. How's that for a Karmic Death?
Nadeshiko was complete Foreshadowing about Kengo. Let's see: they're substances that came from outer space, they took the form of human beings—Nadeshiko a girl and Kengo took the form since Rokuro touched the switch—they both need to go back to space, they are related to switches, they both glow blue when they use their powers and get killed off by people who are trying to become gods. Wow.
Not to mention, remember when Kengo said that Nadeshiko was just imitating Gen's actions, and our hero's rebuttal consisted of asking if their friendship wasn't similar? That has a whole new angle to it now, doesn't it?
Taken from the Sagittarius (astrology) page on Wikipedia: the constelation is compatible with Libra, Aquarius and Leo. All three of which, Hayami, Erin and Tatsugami, idolized Gamou, and were the most loyal of Horoscopes to him.. As well, it's element is fire, like the fire on his back.
Why does Fourze only use the State switches in his Final Battle? It's to highlight all of the bonds he made with his friends over the course of the series. Super-Rocket represented his bond with the people closest to his heart (Nadeshiko and Kengo). Elec State represented his bond of accepting people for who they were(As he did with JK and Shun). Fire State represented how open-minded he has become (Shown when he befriended Tomoko). Magnet State represented how he could attract people with opposing mindsets (like Ryusei and Kengo) and Cosmic represents all of the friendship he gained with the Kamen Rider Club.
Considering how he valued Kijima during the latter's tenure (evolution rate notwithstanding), who's to say Gamou's mistreatment towards Hayami (even scoffing off his sacrifice for him) wasn't because he secretly knew Hayami got Kijima placed in the Dark Nebula without his consent/permission.
It's odd considering how Gamou is redeemed despite being the Big Bad and having caused the entire Zodiarts incident for the entire show, but then you realize something... Had the Zodiarts incident not happened, much of the Kamen Rider Club would still be jerks or otherwise just loners, and Gentaro wouldn't have been able to make as many friends as he did. No wonder they were thanking Gamou as Gentaro beat the living crap out of him in the gym and why Gentaro befriended him.
In the final battle, Gentaro and his fellow club members all thank Gamou for all the good his plan did while he's beaten by Gentaro. The Zodiarts Switches run on negative emotions, they were filling the battlefield with nothing but positive ones, which the Astro Switches have been show to draw power from. They essentually created the perfect battlefield for Fourze and the worst for a Zodiarts.
In #26, the song Saite by the Kamen Rider Girls is established to be a song played during the senior graduation. It makes a lot of sense that it would come back for the final fight, since during it, the Kamen Rider Club is talking about how the school is graduating from Gamou's influence.
Tatsugami is an Evil Counterpart to Ryusei. They both idolize their leader after the leader showed them the error of their ways. They were both arrogant fighters before, but after became loyal. The key difference is that Ryusei wants to live to enjoy being with his friends, while Leo is willing to die.
The two people Gentaro has the strongest bond with (Nadeshiko and Kengo) aren't even human ( or in Kengo's case, not originally human). Gentaro's so good at friendship he can befriend things that aren't really living to begin with, and in both cases he makes them "alive", in a sense.
The creators DX Fourze belt had blue and purple lights if they inserted a special astroswitch, like N or S Magnets, Cosmic, and Fusion. Cosmic gets a blue light, while N and S magnets lights up from blue to purple. It's smart, considering red+blue makes purple, though purple would later play a role when the Fusion Switch is introduce. Don't forget, S Magnet and Fusion use the same slot.
When Tatsugami use Haru to lure Ran out, he basically use a fly to capture a fish.
Some of the inter-franchise battles in Movie Wars MegaMax and Super Hero Taisen apparently have their own special significance:
Movie Wars MegaMax - Kamen Rider V3 vs Claydoll Dopant (Kazami Shoro, having lost his own younger sister, against the younger sister of the Sonozaki family) and Kamen Rider Amazon vs Smiodon Dopant (the most feral ones of their respective group).
There are many times that the Horoscope Zodiarts represent their specific sign. These include:
Scorpion (Sarina Sonoda): Loyal but also obsessive. Representing how Sonoda worshipped Gamou and how she went off the brink in trying to kill Gentaro but failed.
Libra (Kouhei Hayami): Diplomatic but also vain. Representing how he's the principal of the school and also how narcisstic he is.
Virgo (Kuniteru Emoto) Helpful and reliable but also cold. Represents how Emoto also moonlighted as Tanabata and that he was a good guy all along, but was also cruel by trying to split up the Kamen Rider Club and sending people into the Dark Nebula without remorse.
Leo (Kou Tatsugami): Confident and loyal but also stubborn. Representing how he works with Gamou and his confidence over his strength, but also how he doesn't care that he's throwing his life away for Gamou.
Cancer (Natsuji Kijima) Adaptable and responsive but also moody and self-absorbed. Represents how he was able to replicate Haruka's martial-art skill as Pegasus but also his Faux Affably Evil personality.
Aries (Tatsumori Yamada): Independent yet moody and short-tempered. Represents how he didn't want to work with Gamou and his intentions to put people to sleep immediately.
Capricorn (Tojiro Goto): Ambitious yet conceited and unimaginative. Representing how he uses his Zodiarts ability to become famous but also to show how vain he is. He also never uses his abilities in battle (for example using the music to make his hippies shield him from Fourze and Meteor's attacks).
Aquarius (Erin Suda): Clever yet stubborn and unemotional. Representing how Erin is intelligent, but also is shown to be cold and possesses a temper involving Yuki Jojima that makes her unable to see the truth.
Taurus (Yuta Suguira) Persistent but possessive. Representing his route into ensuring that no one gets in his way of ruling the school, but also how he's doing it because bullies hurt the girl he loved.
Sagittarius (Mitsuaki Gamou): Independent but unemotional. Representing how he worked hard to meet up with the Presenters, but also represents how he's got apathy issues around other people.
Gemini (Dark Yuki) Energetic and clever yet devious and superficial Representing how she used Yuki's image to make everyone hate her but also shows how she's a cunning trickster and that she hides a sadistic side in her.
Pisces (Ran Kuroki): Accepting and devoted yet indecisive Representing her relationship with her friend Haru and the Kamen Rider Club, yet she's also not good when it comes to decision making.
Gen-chan becoming a teacher in Movie Wars Ultimatum actually makes a lot of sense. Sure, there's no more Zodiarts, that's awesome. But a lot of the students became switchers because of problems that could happen to anyone in high school. Even without the whole Zodiarts angle, they would need support from someone. So now Gentaro can do the opposite of what the Zodiarts teachers had been doing and give them a genuine friend and a productive outlet to help them overcome their issues, the same way he did with the rest of the club! Plus, since it's only five years on, Ohsugi will likely still be there too. The two of them could make a huge difference in students' lives together.
"Teachers are supposed to help their students." Ohsugi-sensei is right. Moreover, he's the only person out of the faculty who knows about the Teachers being Zodiarts. He can prevent another situation like that to never happen again!
There's a dual purpose: When Kamen Rider first came out in 1971, it jumpstarted the "Henshin Boom" on Japanese TV, sparking the creation of new transforming characters who would define the early 70's. In the climax of Ultimatum, it's because of Gentaro that Saburo was able to transform into Inazuman for the first time. History repeating itself, much?
Why was the Cancer Zodiarts' shell so hard for Fourze to crack open? Who was it that defeated the Pegasus Zodiarts?When Pegasus evolved, it is highly likely there were still some Cosmic Energy from Fourze's Super Electromagnetic Bomber left over. Animals of the arthropod family are notoriously known to be adaptive to their environments.
After all this time, it turns out Gentaro does contain a reference to a past Rider. All one has to do is to rearrange some letters in his name and you get Stronger.
Tomoko's power is based on Cosmic Energy. Here are the most prominent times that they were introduced:
#9: She detected that the Fire Switch was to cause the downfall of the Lunar Witches. In #10, Fourze used it to absorb Altar Zodiars' fire power, but Tomoko, being one of the Lunar Witches, also left due to the Switch symbolizing about how one should open up.
#16: She's the only one—minus Yuki who wasn't there at the time—who sensed the potential of the Pen Switch. Remember the idiom The Pen is mightier than the Sword?
#20: She carefully predicted the location of the NS Magphone with her snake skin, underground.
Throughout all of Fourze's run, Movie Wars included (save for Poseidon, who was more of OOO's Evil Rider instead), there has never once been an evil Rider in the show. Not even in the summer movie, where the Big Bad, or at least the final confronted enemy, is going to be a Rider, no exceptions. The show makes it a strong point that not everyone is downright evil and that Riders fight For Great Justice, and not out of self-gain, revenge, or any evil goal that second Riders and movie Riders had. Having a villainous Rider with a villainous goal would have defeated that point entirely. Though how you interpret the Ironmen, the Super Galaxy King, or even Sagittarius is another story.
Most of the people who activated an Astroswitch during the Fourze Movie had at least some connection to the Switch they were using. In the order of the Switches...
Kengo Utahoshi (Rocket): The person who gave Gentaro the switches to test out.
Toshiya Miura (Launcher): The first Zodiart Gentaro took on and thus launched his career as a Kamen Rider.
Mitsuaki Gamou (Drill): The last Zodiarts Gentaro took on, and his eventual defeat involved the Drill Switch.
Hiroki Makise (Radar): His Zodiarts form involved radar-like abilities.
Ritsuko Usaka (Magic Hand): Her Zodiarts form involved magic.
Mari Yamamoto (Camera): She was a photographer.
Fumihiro Nitta (Chainsaw): His Zodiarts form involved blades.
JK (Elec): The episodes that focused on him joining the KRC also marked the debut of the Elek Switch.
Junta Abe (Beat): He was a part of the Glee club.
Teruhiko Satake (Chain Array): His Zodiarts form involved a chain for a weapon.
Tomoko Nozama (Fire): The episodes that focused on her joining the KRC also marked the debut of the Fire Switch.
Inga Blink (Flash): Her actress was previously Cutie Honey in Cutie Honey The Live, who's transformation call was "Honey Flash"
Tamae Sakuma (Stealth): Her Zodiarts form was Chameleon, who could turn invisible.
Takashi Satake (Hammer): His harsh, no tolerance nature could be like that of a judge, who are known for their gavels.
Ran Kuroki (Water): She's a swimmer and her eventual Horoscopes Zodiarts form involves water.
Yayoi Tokuda (Pen): She's the president of the newspaper club, which involved writing.
Miu Kazashiro & Shun Daimonji (N Magnet and S Magnet): Both are together, much like the Magnet Switches.
Haru Kusao (Net): His defeat involved the use of the Net Switch.
Soshi Motoyama (Stamper): He's an artist, and stamps are usually art.
Yuki Jojima (Cosmic): She's a huge fan of space.
Also to note, Kengo gets the number 1 switch, as he now considers Gentaro his best friend. The others in the Kamen Rider Club, being Gentaro's closest friends and allies, press the switches that allow Gentaro to go into his more powerful forms.
The Leo Constellation is the closest to the sun. Who represents Leo and who represents the sun again?
The show's constant use of American high school tropes: a reference to the first superhero to be a high school freshman, and whose Japanese adaptation is credited for being the predecessor of the tokusatsu genre?
Most of the Zodiarts have at least some kind of animal motif to them, particularly the Horoscopes, even if they're not animal based in actuality. Why? Because the Switches hyper evolve the user. Orphnochs were also animal based.
It would make sense for the five Horoscopes that precede Sagittarius (Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, and Scorpio) to follow him akin to a leader.
As is the first and last Horoscopes to be treated more as a Monster of the Week to be the first and last of the Zodiac (Aries and Pisces).
The division between the "generals" and the "monsters of the week" are split evenly in six.
A rather subtle bit of fridge is made by analyzing the Horoscopes robes.
Scorpio, Cancer and Aries have similar a robe designs, and they can be argued to be the more vile of the Horoscopes.
Likewise, Capricorn, Aquarius, Taurus and Sagittarius can be considered well intentioned if misguided to WIDELY varying degrees.
Virgo has a similar design to Gemini. Considering that Virgo is Emoto, who leads a double-life as Tachibana, it makes perfect sense.
Only Libra, Leo and Pisces are the only ones who have unique designs.
Libra has an eye-like shape in the center of his robe, hinting at him gaining the Eye of Laplace as a supernova.
Leo has a unique motive that is different from the rest: he only lives to serve Gamou and is willing to die for him as a result.
In general for Libra and Leo, their unique robe designs can hint at the fact they are among the last of the Horoscopes at the end of the series, along with Gamou.
Pisces has no robe in the first place, as she never allied herself with the Horoscopes.
Since this series, along with the previous series, is the 40th anniversary of the Kamen Rider Series, there are 40 Astroswitches (including the Fusion Switch) made by OSTO. As such, each switch represents a year (All except for the Chainsaw Switch) that a Kamen Rider series or movie (except for the Scissors Switch, the Chain Array Switch, the Spike Switch, the Winch Switch, Gatling to the Stealth Switches and the Pen to Schop Switches) has aired alongside a Super Sentai (except for the Rocket to Radar Switches) series and a Metal Hero series (except for the Rocket to Scissors Switches and the Schop to the Cosmic Switches) from 1971 to 2010:
So a student gets a Zodiarts switch, causes trouble, Gen and the KRC track them down... and then usually the Zodiarts transforms back into a student to taunt them for a while. Why would they do this? Isn't this leaving them vulnerable? ...that's exactly the point. Fourze or Meteor can whale on a Zodiarts and it'll just be a regular fight, they can even kill a Zodiarts in 'Last One' mode and the human student will be totally unharmed. But they couldn't do the same to a human, they're fleshy and soft and fragile. Thus turning back into a human actually avoids a potential fight, because the heroes would be too afraid to hurt them. Ironically, by making themselves more vulnerable, they're protecting themselves!
I don't know why no one mentioned this before but the fact that the switchers in last one may never return to being human, rendering themselves as monsters and their bodies to rot(coma but still) is frightening enough now factor in that there is the possibility that they could end up destroying their human body with the power they get as a Zodiarts.
Confirmed in #10 (in intent at least, it's averted just in time.)
Makise was also going to do this in #12 and that's just the tip of the iceberg. See below for details.
Also consider if they permanently become a Zodiart that means Fourze and co. will have to stop him/her at some point and if their origional body is gone.....that basically means they'll have to be killed.
Guys, it got worse. A flashback in #15 shows how Sonoda-sensei became Scorpion Zodiarts. She used a switch on Last one phase, and then cosmic energy destroyed her human form and made her become the Scorpion Zodiarts and her human form is just a skin. In other words Fourze will have to eventually kill his homeroom teacher.
Actually since she can't transform without the switch, that may not be a problem.
Also, she was broken down into Cosmic Energy, absorbed into the forming Horoscopes Zodiarts, and became solid again. Yeah.
Every new member of the Kamen Rider Club does the special handshake with Gentaro once they join in. Who was the first? Not Yuki, but Doctor Maki in the OOO Net Movies...
When exactly does that take place in continuity? The club didn't get established until Gentaro defeated Orion Zodiarts and Tomoko told about the Kamen Riders. Yuki did it because it was her and Gentaro's special handshake they made when they were younger.
And the Net Movies aren't canon anyway.
If Gentaro didn't save JK from Nitta, what exactly was Nitta going to do with him? Aside from the humiliation, there's always the fact that Monoceros Zodiarts has that giant sword on him...
With the events of #11 revealed if the Kamen Rider Club doesn't find a way to get Kengo out of the Rabbit Hatch, he'll die and no one except them will know about it.
In #12 Kengo mentions that his father died alone in the Rabbit Hatch...so where's his body?
Odds are it was incinerated in the explosion.
Kengo said that his father worked on the Fourze driver alone so it's implied that he survived the explosion and died alone in the hatch.
Then who gave Kengo the switch to the Rabbit Hatch the only other person who could have possibly known about it is...Oh, Crap!.
Slightly less horrifying (and possibly slightly more foreshadowy) as it's implied in #32 that Tachibana is who sent Kengo the switch that got him into Rabbit Hatch...
Hiroki Makise, the Pyxis Zodiarts, is full of Fridge Horror. A Psychopathic ManchildStalker with a Crush who was already extremely screwed up before even getting his switch. And to think, this lunatic is still in high school!
Let's elaborate why he's this way: he sends Yuki WAY too many letters (to the point that they overflow her locker), gifts, voice mails, emails, etc. He has no idea when to stop.
Next, we need to consider the Stalker Star Map that JK found. There must be at least 20-30 girls that he has pictures of and that many girls that he was going to send to their deaths. Consider that he's been stalking those girls before going onto Yuki(and remember the look he gave to Miu in the beginning of Episode 12) that means he's been doing this for a very long time.
Finally, let's give way to his diary. At first, it seems a bit creepy when he shows a picture of him and Yuki as a couple watching the stars...but then you see the picture of him being happy at seeing a bus about to crash and killing other girls who stood him up also makes it worse. Then also, he must've had other diaries with entries on him doing other...'activities' with his crushes and Yuki was just the latest...
There's also the fact his ability to manipulate any object he can see includes people. Let that sink in, a Psychopathic ManchildStalker with a Crush who has the ability to manipulate people into doing things against their will....
You forgot to mention that he's doing it with his own mind power. The bus that he was going to use to kill those girls? It wouldn't stop unless someone had magnanimous strength (ie Shun in Power Dizer). In other words he was practically unstoppable.
There were also two 'What if' situations that occurred. If Makise returned to his room and found JK snooping around, JK could've either been killed on the spot (through any vile and wicked method Makise thought was appropriate) or become one of the people that was going to die in the bus crash. Also if Shun didn't stop the bus in time, that bus would've fallen on top of him and not only would the girls die, so would he. Meaning that if Makise wasn't so intent on killing all of those girls, he could pretty much kill anyone he disliked!
You know what scares me? He has more Fridge Horror than anything else so far in this series. ONE guy who was seen in two episodes brings out THIS.
It gets even worse. He activated the Last One stage in the bus and Gentaro fished him out of it. If that bus crashed, his body would be gone...and then he'd be free to wreak his havoc as the Pyxis Zodiarts.
Also, he calls Gentaro "bad boy", just like Satake did in #7 and #8. This means that not only has he been in Satake's special detention classes before (probably due to his stalker tendencies), but not even Satake could control him and he's been able to get out of detention scot free.
Or he was watching Yuki while she and the others were in detention...
How about this? This guy has stalked over 20 female students, and yet he has not been expelled from the school up until then! That means that no one had the guts to tell the teachers to get the guy out of the school!
A bit of Fridge Horror comes to mind about what those girls did to him afterwards, granted he deserves most of it but worse/best case scenario is that we will never see him again with an vague comment about what happened to him.
Another bit? When someone whose already reached the Last One stage of their switch gets a new one, it jumps directly to Last One and unlike Miura, Makise probably won't have any hesitation to flip it the moment he gets it...
People who were once Zodiarts get withdrawal from the Switches. Just look at what happened to Miura in #13. Can you imagine if the other switchers (Tamae, Nitta, Teruhiko, Ritsuko or Makise) got that screwed up?! And let's put emphasis on Makise people...
If Tomoko had use the switch in episode 9-10, she would probably suffer from the same withdrawal and therefore unable to join Kamen Rider Club. Now think of the implications of her not joining the club. In episode 12, nobody would realize about the locker and Kengo would be dead in Rabbit Hatch.
The drug withdrawal problems are so horrible not only to the Zodiarts, but to the ones they love. Miura's girlfriend was crying at the sight of him going crazy but what about everyone else? What's gonna happen to Satake when—after finally getting some closure with his son—can only look on in horror as his son gets into drug withdrawals?
Another thing, whose to say the withdrawal and addiction won't cause one of them to kill their human body so they can't have the power taken from them again?
and those that don't kill off their own body can become Horoscopes.
The school faculty, up to and including the principal, being in on a conspiracy that turns your fellow students into monster that try to kill you when you defend their target. Granted the Kamen Rider Club doesn't know this but that's what makes this even terrifying, they don't know who to really trust.
Well we don't know if all of the faculty is in on this. For all we know Ohsugi might be the only one that's actually a normal teacher.
That wouldn't be too surprising, since Ohsugi is the Butt-Monkey of the series.
I wonder what is more horrifying, Ohsugi is the only teacher the KR club can trust or that he's the only teacher they can trust. Also don't forget about Satake.
Speaking of Ohsugi, what would happen to him if he eventually finds out the love of his life is a bitch who works for the Big Bad and is technically not human? I mean, if he ever finds out, he can easily be killed by Sonoda.
Of course if he does find out and she is never made aware, we'll have a whole stretch of Ohsugi stuck in Heroic BSoD. That would wear pretty thin.
Or him freaking out every time he's sees her with her wondering why.
Now that Ohsugi has learned that teachers are related in the Zodiarts attacks, one has to wonder what happens if he connects Sonoda's relationship to the Zodiarts as well.
Matoyama may slowly become someone full of Fridge Horror. His only Berserk Button is stuff that gets in his way of painting...but look at the damage he caused! A baseball player accidentally threw his ball up above and knocked some paint over, and got petrified! Also, he leveled a building down because it got in his way of his view of Mount Fuji!
Not to mention that he's apparently evolving into a Horoscope...
If Matoyama didn't snap out of it in time back at the elementary school, he would've turned a group of kindergartners into stone.
Sooner or later, the KRC is gonna have to face off against students who have become Horoscopes. Sure they may try to save the eight individuals, but we all know that some of them aren't gonna be saved so easily.
And now it's happened...
We know Red-Eyes founded the school and named it Amanogawa, a deliberately space-themed name. What's the name of the kindergarten in #16? Hoshinoko, meaning 'children of the stars'. Did he have a hand in that as well?
It's specifically stated that a Zodiarts must rid themselves of their humanity in order to evolve into a Horoscope. Kijima didn't have to do anything in order to evolve into Cancer, and from his personality, he didn't have much humanity to give up.
Made worse when you consider all that Makise, a Fridge Horror goldmine, did, yet he never began to evolve. Consider what that says about Kijima.
For that matter which Horoscope would Makise be if he did evolve? What happened if Makise was able to get his Star of Rebirth to shine?
To answer your question though this would be a Wild Mass Guess but fridge logic dictates he'd be Taurus considering his attitude towards women.
As of #27, it seems quite likely that Kijima is worse than Makise.
People who've used the Zodiarts Switches have had very bad problems. Miura was hallucinating on seeing Switches everywhere, Motoyama become angered quickly and Eguchi had a Split Personality inside of him. This leads me to wonder what else is in store for future Switchers.
The Ugly Ducklings functioning more like a cult than a club. Tomoko noticed it but the viewers really don't see how fucked up they are until Toriizaki forces Eguchi—who just recently knew that he was a Zodiarts—into becoming Cygnus all while everyone is chanting his name. Thankfully the group disbanded after that.
Moreover, They didn't realize that they harmed one of their own members and all of them are just looking up in awe at the Zodiarts and kneeling down in prayer. If you thought the other Zodiarts represented the idea of Teens Are Monsters, look at these guys—they were praising a fucking lunatic and probably would've died if Fourze didn't come in.
The simple fact that Cygnus was a Split Personality of Egunchi generated when he first used the switch and he didn't even know it! A person can be a Zodiarts but have no idea they are!
A meta-example: Everyone who sees this show thinks that the person who penned it is gonna have stuff go crazy and everything's gonna be all hunky-dory since it's all about friendship, right? Wrong. Once we hit #11, we start to piece together and realize that this series can be really terrifying when one really starts delving deep. We have: a monster who wants to kill women for dumping him (Makise), the majority of the teachers trying to kill students and one student actually in on this, the normal teachers don't understand what's going on, anyone who's free from the influence gets addicted to the Switches like it was a drug, the switches can change you into something nasty (Motoyama and his anger issues, Eguchi and his split personality), and the fact that anyone could become a Zodiarts and this little happy funtime sunshine series becomes seriously messed up.
Also; doesn't anyone feel as the Switchers are parallels to what humans do in real life? Here's what we got for all the Zodiarts:
Miura (Orion): Gets attacked and bullied by jocks and snaps/gets drug withdrawal
Tamae (Chamaeleon): Jealous of one girl's fame, gets rid of competition
Nitta (Monoceros): Decides to massacre an innocent without anyone noticing.
Teruhiko (Hound): A double life revolving around attacking people in an order to 'break free'
Ritsuko (Altar): Accusations that lead to arson
Makise (Pyxis): Absolute stalker and psychopath
Motoyama (Perseus): Very short fuse and absolute perfectionist
Nonmura (Lynx): Jealous of people smarter/better than him
Nomoto (Dragon): Goes around attacking people for fun/minor control freak
Kijima (Pegasus/Cancer): A complete sociopath who doesn't give a shit and becomes even worse later on.
And beforehand, she has a big stubborn and rebellious streak.
In the first episode, Yuki notes that she hasn't seen Gentaro since their third year of primary school. A summary for Episode 27 states that Gentaro lost his parents around that same time and now lives with his grandpa in his motorcycle shop. This could mean that Gentaro's oath on making friends could be a coverup for all the trauma he's went through in the past...
Probably not; according to the episode, even when his parents were alive he was in the habit of making lots of friends, which his parents fully encouraged.
Kijima, Kijima, Kijima. #27 has made him the second scariest Zodiarts aside from Makise because he steals the souls of people and snips them up, thus taking away their life force and rendering them in a permanent coma state!
What makes this even scarier is the fact that he forces people into a "comedy of hell" routine where they need to make them laugh to spare their lives. If they do make him laugh, he gives them a Zodiarts Switch. If not, they lose their soul! And he soon gets the souls of the Kamen Rider Club!
Worse? We can't be sure his previous Switcher wasn't selected like this! Even worse? We have no idea how many people have won. There could be who knows how many Zodiarts running around no one even knows about!
A Zodiarts only evolves into a Horoscope if they abandon their humanity. This makes the fact the Switchers become progressively worse as they go scarier when you realize you're basically watching their humanity slip away as they slowly progess towards completely giving it up!
Libra Zodiarts was hanging out in Ryusei's old High School in #30; this means that Amanogawa High won't be the only place that rampant Zodiarts can be found...
It's more the case of him checking up on the Amanogawa transfer student that went there. It was the Zodiarts Ryusei was looking for, the Aries Horoscopes. What makes things worse is the fact that it is implied that he took over the whole school when he got there. It's also stated that he only clicked his switch once before he evolved. That's right, he INSTANTLY evolved
Considering that that school follows the Theme Naming of Amanogawa and Hoshinoko (Subaroboshi, the Japanese name for the Pleaides cluster) this makes another location possibly belonging to Gamou...
If Ohsugi-sensei went on his plan to show the Net Switch to the principal, that would've meant very bad things to the Kamen Rider Club....
The idea of Aries Zodiarts putting you in an eternal sleep is an And I Must Scream moment. Aries is the only one who can wake you up and your life depends on how good of an actor you are and you have to keep up with this masquerade every single day. Now take in advance that you are forced into roles that you don't like, nor that you're actually capable of (the PE teacher as the English teacher and judo members as scientists) and just one slip-up will screw you over. Plus, this 'sleep' could be like near-death and if Aries wasn't so kind as to leave you asleep, he'd probably kill you and you'll never, ever, ever, ever ever wake up again. Sweet dreams everyone.
In a meta sense, Kazuki Nakashima was the writer of Tengen Toppa Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann in which one of the main character dies in the middle of the series with his best friend taking over as main protagonist. Episode 31 has the inverse due to Kengo—the one originally meant to be Fourze—alive now that Gentaro—who is currently Fourze—dead. Unless Kengo miraculously gets better in one episode, there will no longer be a Kamen Rider Fourze.
He flat-lined. Unlike Kamina, who had a bad case of being stabbed and bleeding, Gentaro flatlined from a punch. Not to mention Kengo still has the driver, so its likely they find someone strong enough, he uses Elek and zaps Gentaro back to life.
The Aries Zodiarts was defeated in outer space. Unlike Scorpion who re-entered Earth's atmosphere and only exploded on impact, this means Aries was briefly exposed to the void of space in human form. While Fourze probably saved him with the portal back to Earth, this may explain why he's in a coma.
Kijima being sent to the Dark Nebula in secret. Seems harmless enough, Kijima's dangerous to Our Heroes, etc. But he's also the first Horoscopes that isn't an adult but a student. Presumably with parents at home. Whose son went out for Spring Break and NEVER CAME HOME.
And also, said parents probably didn't know that their son acted nice and sweet with his rakugo puns and not notice he was a complete sociopath...
Capricorn Zodiarts whole music schtick is outright horrifying. Prolonged exposure turns people into zombies and they act similar to Miura in Episode 13 and he shows no qualms about making people like this as long as he gets lots and lots of fans and become famous. Imagine what would've happened if he did become a super star and people listened to his music...
Libra was given another chance after getting the power to identify the best candidates to become Horoscopes. That's all well and good (for him, anyway), but what about when all the Horoscopes have appeared? He's probably only delaying his own sentence...
And he's not doing a very good job at that. Once he got his Supernova, 2 new Horoscopes (Capricorn and Aquarius) have appeared, with a third one (Taurus) in the wings. At this rate, he'll quickly be able to get the last two (Pisces and Gemini) finished, and then he'll be done with.
It's also probably why we're seeing too much of Leo recently. He's keeping an eye on Libra.
The Legendary Riders are trapped in Core Medal and Astro Switch forms, and when Fourze and OOO release them, they were well aware of what happened to them.
Had Gen not noticed the briefcase when he did, they could very well have been imprisoned like that forever.
Tomoko got sent into the Dark Nebula. Tomoko got sent into the Dark Nebula where both Scorpio and Cancer Zodiarts reside.
The only comfort is that a Heel–Face Turn Taurus is there as well.
......if Tomoko knew Taurus was no longer a bad guy, that is. But at least Meteor joined in the next episode.
Well, at least they had their Switches removed from their possession.
So those who got Dark Nebula'd were only sleeping safe in the M-bus. But what would happen to them now that Emoto is gone?
Two conclusions come to mind, and both of them are not so good, either: Either they would stay in a trance forever, averting No Ontological Inertia in relation to Virgo's death, or they will soon wake up from their slumber. Kijima coming back...Yay?
Is no one mentioning that had Gamou told Emoto not to do so that both Goto and Erin would've also been stuck in that situation?
The show ends with no sign that the three people trapped up in M-Bus ever got back or if they are still stuck up there, and given that these three people are Horoscopes, much like Gamou and Tatsugami, it can be assumed that they dissolved into Cosmic Energy.
As would the people not stuck in the M-Bus. Goto, Erin, and Yamada come to mind.
Nothing happened to Ran or Yuki yet as of the show's ending, so this is unlikely.
This show, had it not been for its setting about friendship, would be considered one of the darkest entries of the series. It has the largest amount of monsters (9) and they're all human that transform into these monsters. The police can't do anything about it, There Are No Therapists in this world and their hope relies on a group of kids who hang out together in a club. Also, many of these monsters are teachers and they do not give a shit about making their students, these students that they're supposed to protect, into these abominations. Not to mention that these switches grow powerful with stress and anger which a teenager can easily go through. If Gentaro wasn't a Messianic Archetype and a Magnetic Hero, he wouldn't bother trying to give talks to these students about friendship—he's The Pollyanna in a Crapsack World.
Gentaro just killed his buddy without remorse! In Ultimatium, he threw the Fourze Driver into a lava pool just to encourage his student. Later, the Fourze Driver is acknowledges as Gentaro's friend. Granted, it may come back to him when time comes, as noted by Kengo, but please put yourself in Fourze Driver's shoes. Even when it's not a supposed living thing. Do you like getting burned in magma by your friend?
What makes you say that the Fourze Driver is gone for good? The world of Tokusatsu is a strange place, and miracles often happen. So this may not be the last time we see the Fourze Driver in the future.
