You're right about it being rushed, but I'd just write that off as Sanjo not quite having the hang of single-part episodes just yet. It'll definitely get better as time goes on. My big problem is that it almost felt like they assumed the audience knew who everyone was (though that could just be because, well, raw).
I got the impression it was written the way it was because it's a two-part episode. Dump everything now, then slow down and take it easy next week - at least I hope that's the idea.
Anyway, I'm... rather disappointed, honestly. I can't think of a weaker first episode for Rider offhand, to that end. The pre-opening sequence was really strong and the premise, setting, and concepts are all really cool. On the other hand, the cast is doing absolutely nothing for me and we're basically just being told everything and being expected to accept this huge dump of info right off the bat. I can only hope part of the plot of this show, or at least the next episode, is explaining some of the various mysteries they've laid out here (namely where the hell all the equipment is coming from and why it has to be a secret, among other things that should be obvious) and maybe Drive ultimately questioning this role that has been forced on him with no explanation, maybe, because I sure am questioning it.
Wasn't too fond of the action either. I like the suit a lot, but the implementation of the gimmicks really fell short. I feel like it definitely could be done well (not unlike how Meteor Storm was really stupid initially but then sort of pulled it off as the show went on), but right now it just comes off as forced... which is really sad considering how natural the show about
fruit armor made its gimmicks and the like come off in comparison.
They've laid down a lot of groundwork and the basic stuff here has a lot of potential, but at the same time, I almost feel like Gaim was just a fluke and we're going right back to where we were when Wizard ended - overtly two part episodes (at least this one is flowing into the next one better than many of Wizard's often did, but we'll see how long that lasts), side characters (sans at least the lead girl here) being written to be irrelevant right from the get go, and so on. Just throw in a random victim to only matter for two weeks and never appear again and we'll be perfect.
Yeah, I'm being really pessimistic, but I guess you could say this episode gave me... whiplash. :thumbs:
Oh, the random (and maybe not even intentional?) Kuuga homage was nice. I wouldn't pay it mind normally, but given we have a cop and sidekick duo doing the thumbs ups, I have to wonder.
