Recap

Shinnosuke realises the series of attacks were not attempted murders after all, and our villains enter the story.

Zigg’s Thoughts

This is a solid-if unspectacular second episode for Drive, establishing some necessary plot points and fleshing out a few more of the details on how this whole setup is supposed to work. Straight off of the bat though, I will say it’s a little jarring to go back to these neatly contained two episode arcs after the relatively free-form Gaim. There are practical reasons for the format (fewer stories, fewer monster suits, easier management) but it does feel like something of a step back. Mini-arcs ensure plot resolution but they also disrupt the writer’s ability to do ongoing character arcs, so it’s a two-way street.

It also doesn’t help that this episode is sort of identical to the first in terms of what actually happens. Shinnosuke is reluctant, eventually kicks himself up the behind and embraces his identity as drive. Then we get a cool fight scene to cap it all off. Pretty much every Rider show does the identity crisis plot multiple times over the course of the run, but doing it in back to back episodes is perhaps laying it on a little thick. Plus, we learn that Shinnosuke’s friend who was caught up in the initial Slowdown outbreak didn’t even die, but is happily rehabbing in hospital. For the life of me I can’t understand why they did this – it significantly reduces the drama of the entire affair and makes Shinnosuke’s motivation and trauma less believable. Perhaps I’m just used to Gaim killing everyone willy-nilly, but it seems an unnecessary concession to the youth of the audience.

With all that said, there’s still much to enjoy here. The idea of a monster hunting only ‘perfect’ people is quite a good spin on the pseudo-vampire idea and gives the necessary murder-mystery veneer to the case, and the visual itself is a nice creepy one. The fight is also pretty good and introduces an important concept to the show. I was initially under the impression that Drive’s Shift Cars were going to be basic states, like Wizard had his elemental forms. The introduction of a new Shift Car so early however strongly hints instead they’ve be Fourze style powerups-of-the-week, used once and then rarely seen again. That’s fine if you can keep them interesting and imaginative, but it does act as a timely reminder that we’re once again watching a show whose core purpose is to move merchandise. I guess we’re still coming back to earth a bit.

We also get our first look at the villains and they seem a solid bunch, although we don’t have much to go on. Heart kicking a bunch of people out of of their car then cruising round like some sort of fabulous pimp is a pretty good sign. It’s difficult to overstate how important strong villains are to a good Rider series and I’m hoping some of the aggressive dickishness we see here blossoms into full on camp evil, as it’d do a lot to liven the show up. As it is, Drive continues moving, but it’s certainly slow and steady rather than rapid.

Random Observations

• There’s no cold open, not even a recap, which is the first time I can remember we’ve gone without one.
• I’m surprised they revealed the belt used to be a person this early, as that seems like the kind of twist you could bank for a while.
• For the record, Hayase survives an explosion, falling off of a high walkway, having a ton of metal pipes fall on him and the subsequent blood loss. That’s…pretty impressive.
• The Tridoron is meant to be an amazing speed machine, yet it’s an auto?
• Terrific little touch from suit actor Seiji Takaiwa – almost dropping the Justice Hunter grid after the initial Tyre Change
• Taikou Katoono, who plays Chase, bears a striking resemblance to Shu Watanabe, who played the titular Kamen Rider OOO. This is pretty distracting to say the least.

Marlin’s Thoughts

I have to agree with Zigg, I don’t like how they handled this revelation about Shinnosuke’s partner. It totally takes the air out of any actual reason for him to be so dramatic about the incident. If it had left him completely crippled then yeah, maybe that would have been traumatic. However, in his current state he seems pretty healthy, hurt left leg aside. It isn’t even in a cast. I hope the talk they had this episode means it’ll not be as much of a plot point, because otherwise it would start to feel very overwrought very fast. Hopefully, as he becomes more comfortable with Drive, he’ll stay motivated permanently.

This show seems tailor made to showing me what Kamen Rider shows are normally about. I’m not saying this is a bad thing, but I feel there is definitely a huge gap between this show and even the beginning of Gaim. The toy promoting is way more in your face, and while I can appreciate that for its cheesiness, it still just makes me pine for the more toned down Gaim. I suppose I must remind myself that even that show started out as kids fighting with extra-dimensional pokemon in order to reserve dancing arenas, but it showed its narrative potential pretty early on, something I just am not seeing from Drive. I’m also a bit worried about Drive’s weapon system. Having him constantly bear hug opponents to do any huge damage seems like a really silly idea in the long run. Part of the reason why I loved Gaim was that, on top of good writing, it had great designs for both suits and weapons. In comparison, Drive itself just looks like a racing car painted rider suit, and his weird attack wheels are really cheap looking even compared to the rubber Banana Spear. Still, it is a bit early to be too judgmental. With the rate they’re throwing out new powers, this show has plenty of time to surprise me.

Random Observations

• I like the wacky band of weirdos in the task force, but I wish their personalities were a little less two-tone.
• For what possible reason would these monsters need attractiveness to power up?
• Hunter’s power quickly redeemed itself after initially looking like it just let Shinnosuke attack with a sewer grate.