KAMEN RIDER FOURZE (2011-2012) - CHARACTER

Gentaro Kisaragi  

(如月 弦太郎, Kisaragi Gentarō) is a second year student in Amanogawa High School, who has a delinquent Yankee-like appearance wearing a short jacket over a T-shirt and baggy pants, with his hair in a pompadour, rather than the clean cut uniform worn by other AGHS students; but is actually really friendly and wants to make friends with people in the school. He is willing to go the extra mile and do bizarre things to get to know someone he wants to befriend better. He puts friendship above anything else and values every friend that he has, to the point of crying hard whenever he hears a sad story of someone he considers a friend. He also has a special handshake he does with his friends and is commonly used when Gentaro makes a new friend. The reason he does so is because he wants to see that person he befriends smile, which is the best feeling one could have. He is generally very earnest and very thick-skinned, as well as not being very perceptive and at times, can actually be very dense. He is also prone to say things other people have a hard time comprehending, due to his unique and bizarre view in things. These quirky qualities are seen by others around him to be both annoying shortcomings and unusual strengths.

Gentaro lives with his grandfather Goro Kisaragi after his parents died in a traffic accident when Gentaro was in third grade. His parents had a job that (as Gentaro stated) went above both his and his grandfather's head, but they always were proud when their son made friends. His father also told him that he needed to keep his friends close because they would eventually help him out in the long run.

Gentaro is shown to become increasingly adept in using the Kamen Rider Fourze system as the series progresses. He is shown to only be able to use conventional fighting moves, and has to rely on Kengo's advice on which Astroswitch to use in battle situations early in the series. As he gets increasingly used to fighting the Zodiarts, he learns how to devise strategies on the fly (though they do not always work and Kengo still needs to be around most of the time) and is seen to be using and changing Astroswitches more often. He is shown to be very resourceful with the use of Switches as he learns how to utilize each one in unusual ways, such as using Limit Breaks of Launcher, Gatling and Fire Switches together to form a long range Limit Break finisher, and Limit Breaking the Rocket and Drill Switches twice when he cannot finish Scorpio off with just his usual Rocket Drill Space Kick. When he has difficulty with properly using a Switch, he will take the time to understand it as he did with the Hopping Switch, ending up capable of using it as a weapon instead of just a tool.

After reuniting with childhood friend Yuki Jojima, he tries to befriend loner Kengo Utahoshi, who goes out of his way to avoid him. When he slights Miu Kazashiro, Shun Daimonji begins to deal out "punishment" until a strange creature Yuki identifies as a Zodiarts appears. Gentaro begins to fight off the monster until Kengo arrives in the Powerdizer exo-suit, managing to keep the creature at bay, but leaving him physically drained. Kengo and Yuki head to an abandoned part of campus where they enter a locker that transports them to a lunar base known as the Rabbit Hutch. He prepares to use the devices left behind on the base, until Gentaro appears, having followed them into the locker. Gentaro takes the device from Kengo, who is still too tired to fight back. Gentaro faces off against the Zodiarts, but Yuki shows up to advise him on how to use the device he stole from Kengo. Gentaro activates the strange belt, transforming him into Kamen Rider Fourze for the first time. With Kengo's instruction, Gentaro is able to defeat the Zodiarts, and he is begrudgingly allowed to keep the Fourze Driver in order to battle the Zodiarts menace. To cement his new friendship, Gentaro forms a Kamen Rider Club, with Yuki and Kengo as its first members while taking up the title Kamen Rider.

During his second and third school year, Gentaro as Fourze would fight against the Zodiarts and their more powerful counterparts, the Horoscopes, gaining various Astro Switches along the way. He also meets another Kamen Rider who seeks the Aries Zodiarts, Kamen Rider Meteor. While their overall goals were different, Gentaro would see Meteor as a strong and powerful ally. When an exchange student from Subaruboshi High School, Ryusei Sakutaasks to join the Kamen Rider Club, Gentaro at first refuses as he saw through Ryusei's act in the fact he wasn't being himself in front of the club. He later accepts Ryusei into the club when he reveals a small part of his personality.

Eventually, the Kamen Rider Club learns that Ryusei's old school was infiltrated by the Horoscopes and heads there to deal with the situation. As Gentaro transforms to confront the Aries Zodiarts, he learns of his abilities and eventually manage to overpower him. However, just as Kamen Rider Fourze is about to finish the Zodiarts off, Kamen Rider Meteor intervenes and executes a Limit Break, followed by a one-inch punch on Kamen Rider Fourze, sending Gentaro into critical condition. Seeing Ryusei's blatant insubordination, Tachibana shuts down the Meteor system, effectively canceling Kamen Rider Meteor's transformation and revealing Ryusei's identity to the Kamen Rider Club. Gentaro dies shortly thereafter in front of all of them, after commending Ryusei for finally being true to Gentaro and to himself. However, with Tachibana's advice, Kengo managed to resurrect Gentaro with the Cosmic Switch using the bonds of friendship forged along thus far, gaining access to Cosmic States. With this new-found power, the Aries Zodiarts proves to be an easy opponent and is defeated shortly thereafter.

Gentaro once again displays the lengths he is willing to go to help a friend when the Capricorn Zodiarts, Tojiro Goto, shows up and convinces JK to reform their rock band named "Gene God", using the Capricorn Zodiarts powers to improve their musical talents as well as easily enthralling their audience. JK chooses to live his dream and quits the Kamen Rider Club, which results in Gentaro losing the use of Kamen Rider Fourze Cosmic States. Refusing to give up on a friend, Gentaro goes as far as to travel to JK's hometown ask JK's now-fisherman father to teach him the song JK heard growing up, just so that he can snap JK out and reminds JK what it really means to chase one's dreams. Regaining JK's friendship shortly thereafter as well as the Cosmic States, Gentaro proceeds to make short work of the Capricorn Zodiarts.