Kamen Rider Drive Ep 1- "Why has my time stopped?"

[toni2212]

Need to wait for the subs, but from what I can analyze is the OP, although a good one, lacks a bit of special feeling to be Drive's OP. It can be used as another anime OP and people will not notice the difference.

Is it Seiji Takaiwa in suit? Seems like he doesn't know how to portray a racecar driver fighting style. Can't blame him tho. no film or series has portrayed a racecar driver in fight scene, because, well a racecar driver is usually seen driving a car. Perhaps it would be wise for Takaiwa to take a different route and try fighting as a police officer instead.

Overall, seeing this episode kinda leaves a hollow feeling in my chest. Still can't believe that Gaim has ended....

 

[Artisan]

Oh lord, it's the Futo police department's cousin, as expected. Main guy in charge is already giving me flashbacks to Rinko's idiotic boss, the exaggerated facial expression of that one chap at the scene of the crime smacks of Shun Makuro, and I would like Kiriko a bit more if she hadn't graduated from the Akiko school of using footwear as a comedic disciplinary weapon. Do you want to have a heavy shoe slam against your cranium and risk the chance of brain damage and/or internal bleeding as well, children? ^_^

 

[KamenRiderBritannia]

not a bad start. but i need to know how he got the dam car in the first place! its really eating at me for the lack of explaination. i know where only 1 ep in but i would have expected it from the initial ep!

 

[Clocktower]

The first episode was a bit too fast paced, but that's pretty standard for modern Kamen Rider shows.

I like the theme and the overall setting of the show, the cop stuff usually tends to work pretty well. I don't really understand why most of the special unit aren't aware of Drive's existence though. What exactly is special about this unit if it isn't the fact they control a Kamen Rider? If their only purpose is for comedy antics inbetween the action, I see them sliding into the background really quickly.

I was pleased to see the belt going back to being a bit more basic again, but the wrist strap and over use of those little plastic cars really kill it, which have obviously been tacked on by Bandai. The collectible gimmick is just really weak here, with it obviously being used to sell toys and not existing for any logical purpose in the show.

 

[Scissors]

I liked it, but as many others have said, it was WAY too fast.
There was so much going on and so much dialogue being thrown left and right. I actually had to pause it sometimes and take notes of what was going on.

I am aware that they needed to show off the suit and the car as much as possible, but then they should have waited introducing the supporting cast until the next episode.
We were getting so many names and characters that only appeared for a few seconds.

I think W had better humor, but this can still improve.

 

[SentaiRiderFan]

Okay, now that the sub is out and I've got a better grasp on this show, I can safely say that I like Drive so far. The Police unit is, at the very least, likable (I expected to hate every single one of them -- especially the chief -- but I don't), and Shinnosuke himself seems to have a lot of potential character development. Plus, I always like badass riders. People have been calling this "another W," but honestly, I see a lot of Fourze (another show Sanjo and Hasegawa worked on together) in here as well, in terms of cast and setting.

Speaking of setting, does anyone else see the Drive Pit as another W cave (I forget if it had a real name)?

Anyway, I'm still not fond of the shift cars acting on their own (not to mention all the stupid car puns, like "his engine has finally started" or whatever) and I'm not sure what Kiriko's deal is, but I'm sure that'll grow on me. What probably won't grow on me is the theme. I like the instrumentation, but the lyrics are really phoned in and that singer is just so bland (and no, I don't care that it's KR Eternal). And, of course, the humor is annoying (though I'd remind you that W's humor early on was terrible, two). It's not all bad, there's just too much of it.

However, the cop theme works a lot better than I thought it would and the action is awesome. Sure, it's episode one and future fights probably won't have as many Tire Changes or monsters, but the quality of the fight choreography means that Ryuta Tasaki is enthusiastic about this (and I'd love to see what Koichi Sakamoto would do with Drive). I'm looking forward to making an MV or two out of this.

A lot of people seem to be complaining about the side cast, and while I see where they're coming from, I would remind them that in the last few years we've had the Kamen Rider Club in Fourze and those guys who hung out with Haruto in Wizard. This could have been much worse. Also, yes, the pacing is too fast, but I'm giving the writers some slack, as this is the first Heisei series to have standalone episodes like this.

So far, I'd give Drive an A-

 

[Toku Prime]

Hey, the police officer girl is using her gun. Already matching the total amount of time that Rinko was competant for :thumbs:

The whole Slowdown thing makes me think of Kabuto, the spinning tyre on the belt display reminds me of Ichigo and Nigo's belts, but overall I think we're kinda back to the Double-thru-Wizard feel. The only way that's bugged me so far though is that the effects for his henshin look a little too much like they're repeating Fourze.

not a bad start. but i need to know how he got the dam car in the first place! its really eating at me for the lack of explaination. i know where only 1 ep in but i would have expected it from the initial ep!

Meh, it's the same writer that did Double, and that show started with them already having their powers and the origin story was left until their part of the Movie War.

 

[Actar]

Man, I still can't get over the tire on his chest... Of all the Riders to come before him, this is one of the few times that I've actually felt that the main gimmick is actually really inapt for fighting purposes. The arbitrary diagonal placement and the general bulkiness of the tires seem to make it hard for him to move in...

 

[Toku Prime]

The arbitrary diagonal placement and the general bulkiness of the tires seem to make it hard for him to move in...

Well it's not really arbitrary. If the tyre was vertical then the suit actor wouldn't be able to bend at the waist, and if it was horizontal it would get in the way of their arms. As it is, the tyre looks like a sash and it means that they just have to change the chestplate of the suit to show the different ones.

IMO it works better than Fourze's modules did.

 

[kuroihikari]

Well it's not really arbitrary. If the tyre was vertical then the suit actor wouldn't be able to bend at the waist, and if it was horizontal it would get in the way of their arms. As it is, the tyre looks like a sash and it means that they just have to change the chestplate of the suit to show the different ones.

IMO it works better than Fourze's modules did.

And you can cosplay it just by draping a tire over your shoulders! :laugh::laugh::laugh: