Drive's Kiriko : one of the worthiest female Rider heroic characters of the franchise

[live jetabare]

Kamen Rider is a franchise targeting mostly a male audience. As such, the heroes transforming into Kamen Rider are almost all male (the few exceptions being Tackle in Stronger, Marika in Gaim (and in that case, she's more of a villainess), Mayu in Wizard (and she changed into a generic suit), a a few one time changes in other shows). Moreover, when there are women in the supporting cast, they seldom have a major active role (unless they are villainesses).
That's why, it's pretty refreshing to have a character like Kiriko in Kamen Rider Drive (and Rinna in a lesser extent). Kiriko is without a doubt the second most important character of the show after Shinnosuke (third most important, now that her brother , Mach has come), she's also involved in the fights, being an useful help to the heroes, being able to shoot and kick ass ... in fact, if the franchise was less sexist, she should have been a Rider as well. She's a good cop, serious, and a great partner to Shinnosuke (she was a little over the top in the first episodes, but as Shinnosuke's goofiness was toned down, so has Kiriko's annoying behaviours as well). Rinna also has great strength as a character, and as the scientist of the group, she's pretty useful as well.
In fact, Rinna and Kiriko combine the strength of one of the best female characters of the Rider franchise, Sumiko Ozawa, and Kiriko is much more prominent in Drive than Ozawa was in Agito. And her importance is similar to Yoko Katagiri's in Jiban : the badass female cop who is giving important support to the main character, thanks to shooting skills and kicking ass.
One can only hope that the Rider franchise is gonna have more fun female characters like that (and if the franchise at last allowed women to be full time Riders, but that's perhaps a little too much to ask)
Your thoughts?

 

[Dr Kain]

I will agree that it is nice to see Kiriko do something, but she is still written pretty generically and poorly. It's like Toei does not know how to write female characters in these shows.

 

[SentaiRiderFan]

I will agree that it is nice to see Kiriko do something, but she is still written pretty generically and poorly. It's like Toei does not know how to write female characters in these shows.

You say that like it's an opinion.

 

[Yoona]

Spoilers ahead:


For what she is, Kiriko is... fine, I guess. She's serviceable as a heroine. There's nothing wildly offensive about her, she's likable, and she serves her purpose as the heroine well enough. What bugs me about her is she could be a lot more. For starters, there's no good reason she can't be Drive and there's no good reason she can't be Mach. There's no good reason she can't fill Mr Belt's role as the inventor. She's just... there. Aside from being the token female protagonist, she doesn't really have any plot-specific reason to exist (other than to be saved by Shin or by Gou or by Chase). This kind of lazy writing always niggles at me, but it niggles a little more in Kiriko's case because I think we'd have a much tighter, more compelling narrative if Shin didn't exist and Kiriko took his place as Drive (for example, it would add a really intriguing layer to the entire Chase/Drive conflict).

But I guess that would sell less toys.

 

[raden238]

I agree with most of what you guys said. Kiriko is a good heroine and worthy of the Kamen Rider title. But she still is a badly written character. Yes she helps in the cases and kicks ass but she basically turning into comedic relief. Many toku shows have a problem where they have an ongoing gag early on in the show and then suddenly drop it. In this case, Kiriko's displeasure for smiling. She started of as strict watcher over Tomari, all serious and now shes just a another female character having a love interest with funny moments. If they gradually had Kiriko open up to Tomari and gradually tone down the seriousness throughout the show it would be better. They can learn of each other and gradually become stronger partners.

Also you guys pointed out that for whatever reason she can't be Drive or Mach. Which is also bull because whats really preventing her?? Is she a robot does she have a medical condition?? We don't know why and we may not get an answer. Shes certainly fit and athletic enough to be a Rider.

 

[lazycoconut]

I agree with most of what you guys said. Kiriko is a good heroine and worthy of the Kamen Rider title. But she still is a badly written character. Yes she helps in the cases and kicks ass but she basically turning into comedic relief. Many toku shows have a problem where they have an ongoing gag early on in the show and then suddenly drop it. In this case, Kiriko's displeasure for smiling. She started of as strict watcher over Tomari, all serious and now shes just a another female character having a love interest with funny moments. If they gradually had Kiriko open up to Tomari and gradually tone down the seriousness throughout the show it would be better. They can learn of each other and gradually become stronger partners.

That's exactly what they're trying to do, but badly. The show is trying to have Kiriko soften and open up more. Unfortunately this has the effect of making her seem more "generic"; almost any time we get a tough, stoic woman in Kamen Rider or Sentai, it leads to her becoming (as you said) comic relief and/or a love interest so that she's not too threatening to audiences.

Also you guys pointed out that for whatever reason she can't be Drive or Mach. Which is also bull because whats really preventing her?? Is she a robot does she have a medical condition?? We don't know why and we may not get an answer. Shes certainly fit and athletic enough to be a Rider.

I think it's too early to say we won't find out why. If Sanjo thought that a single line of dialogue in an early episode was sufficient foreshadowing for a plot point in Kyoryuger, I'm sure he can remember to explain why Kiriko says she isn't able to be a Rider.

 

[145zzz]

Kirko does henshin into Drive, albeit only in the special eps that come with the Blu Ray (Skip to 44 seconds):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWwMtCjgpgk

Also it explains where this image is from:

So at least they'll show her henshin into Drive and hopefully fight in the suit.
Even though it's not in the main show, it's still shows that they are trying.

 

[live jetabare]

Hello
Thanks again for your interesting comments, and it's nice to see such discussion
You're pointing out very relevant issues that Kiriko has, and it's obvious that there is obviously wasted potential there.
Indeed, she suffers from the fact that she isn't a Rider, and thus, overshadowed by her male partners, and the more Rider appear, the more she risks losing focus.
The thing is, Kamen Rider is so frustrating when it's dealing with female characters that someone like Kiriko feels like fresh air, even if there are flaws in the writing.

 

[MonoBlack]

Should I start watching drive, then? I always want to see good female characters.

 

[Actar]

I will agree that it is nice to see Kiriko do something, but she is still written pretty generically and poorly. It's like Toei does not know how to write female characters in these shows.

Toei barely knows how to write any character.