Recap

The team accompany Kyuu to a signing for his new book. However, they’re shocked to discover he has an exact double!

(No, not that Double)

Zigg’s Thoughts

After Drive delivered its best episode ever last week, hopes were high that it could keep that momentum rolling and parlay it into a run of strong episodes. I’m extremely happy to say that that’s exactly what happened this week, as the show delivered another very different, but still fantastic, episode.

The major difference here is that Drive proved that it can still keep up the high quality of output despite not having a dark, tragic story to anchor itself again. This 22 minutes stuck much closer to the typical Kamen Rider mood. That is to say, extreme silliness and goofy comedy mixed in with over-the-top scenery chewing drama. The difference as opposed to previous episodes is a certain comfort level. The actors seem to have found their footing with their roles and the result is a faster, looser style of performance which is much more suited to the show’s atmosphere.

That’s not to say the episode is without drama, but rather that the drama is in the histrionic style which is more typical for toku shows in general. It’s kind of like opera – ostensibly tragic things are happening but everything is so hammy and bombastic that it’s difficult to feel actual emotion other than excitement. I’ll note that the idea there’s been a Roidmude inside of the Special Division all along could have been a massive twist had it been played later on for ‘straight’ drama. Instead though it’s leveraged effectively for a simple moral here, and while the resulting emotional blow is hardly devastating, it registers and it’s a good little way to introduce the idea that Roidmudes are not inherently bad.

The major plot related development this episode is of course the rise of Medic as seemingly the show’s major villain, or at least the one who is being focused on right now. Kamen Rider is always at its best when the villains start fighting each other as well as the heroes, so dissension in the ranks intrigues me. There’s a nicely cruel overtone of racial purity to her decision to wipe out ‘defective’ Roidmudes and it helps us sympathise with 072, as well as casting Chase in a better light due to the fact that he’s unwilling to do her ‘dirty work’. Revealing her monstrous form at the end is a great tease and it’s a damn good looking one too. Overall a great little slice of action and insanity, and an extremely enjoyable episode. More like this please.

Random Observations

• Gou’s hair is all over the place this episode. Was the production hairdresser off ill?
• We often lovingly (mock) the special effects in Kamen Rider, but the doubling of Kyuu here is genuinely impressive and very difficult to spot seams in.
• I know it only appears for a split-second but you would have thought they could do a little more for Murmur Mansion than a crappy flash animation.
• I’m torn over the ending. Generally lying about people’s deaths is a bad thing (see Kamen Rider Wizard) but it makes a certain amount of dramatic sense in this situation to demonstrate the affection 072 has for Kyuu.