Kamen Rider Fourze: Review: Two Sides To Friendship

This episode is where Fourze really starts to show what kind of show it’s gonna be. It’s the first part of the JK arc, and honestly it’s a good switch up. So far Gentaro has been on this mission to befriend everybody at Amanogawa High literally, but he straight up tells JK he doesn’t want to be his friend yet cause he can tell JK’s thing is fake. And he’s right. JK throws these big parties; everybody knows him, but it’s all surface level. He got no real links.

And then you got the fight stuff which was actually fire. This is the debut for the Elek Switch and man, that thing is chaotic. Every time Gentaro hits the Unicorn Zodiarts, which turns out to be Nitta, this dude from JK’s class who JK basically burned, Fourze gets shocked back himself. I like that they made the new power have a real drawback. Plus we see Kengo finally get Miu integrated into the Rabbit Hutch properly. She still trying to figure out her role as leader but she’s pulling up for the team now.

The best part though is how they flip it at the end. Gentaro actually starts to respect JK’s ability to bring people together and decides yeah, I want to be your friend. Then at the karaoke party, JK straight up betrays him. He had his boys pickpocket the Elek Switch off Gentaro while a girl distracted him. And then JK looks him dead in the eye and says his whole friendship idea is dumb. That scene hits because you realize JK and Gentaro both talk about friendship, but JK’s version is using people, Gentaro’s version is actually showing up for people.

Overall, “Two Sides To Friendship” is a solid setup episode. It ain’t the biggest fight episode, it ends on a cliffhanger with Gentaro getting washed by Unicorn after losing Elek, but thematically it’s one of the realest ones so far. It shows Fourze is not just about space gadgets, it’s about what friendship actually means when it’s easy to be fake. Easy 8/10 for me, can’t wait to see Gentaro bring JK back around next episode.