HurricaneDragon
Member
Personally, I see a lot of similarities to Haruto, actually. He's got a lot of likeable traits stuffed in there, and they do show up sometimes, but they're just... not the focus of the show for whatever reason. I mean, remember how in his profile before the series, it mentioned how one of his defining traits was that he was a car otaku? That took weeks to really get any attention in the show beyond the fact that he has a bunch of toy cars around, and even then, that wasn't really acknowledged as a part of his dorky side like it was in later ("later" as of this writing anyway, so "later" with 23 being the most current) episodes.
I think one of the biggest problems is that the whole idea with him is that he's not always "in gear," but really early on, once he decided to fight, he... kind of was. He accepted his role, said the mysteries didn't matter because he knew what he needed to do, and was ready to go. This happened again once he and Mach worked there stuff out, and again with Chase, and again and again. They keep making him find this resolve that, really, he's had, and it feels a little forced since it's kind of clear it's just to go along with the whole "All you need is drive!" (drive being motivation) theme they're pushing for the show. I do think him getting stumped or getting put out of gear by cases has worked decently sometimes, but as far as development goes, that aspect has been hit or miss, at least with me. It feels like he's had to repeatedly go through the same mini-character arc.
That said? I... have actually not at all gotten this "it's Mach and Chase's story" feeling that you guys have been. It's always felt like Shinnosuke's to me. Second Riders always get focus for a little bit after their intro, that is absolutely nothing new - gotta sell their toys. Likewise, Chase is a pretty integral part of the story as a whole for a lot of reasons, including his conflict with Shin and all that. The events may be more Chase-centric at the moment, but that's really how, Gaim aside, new Heisei shows tend to be a lot of the time. The villains "drive" them, so to speak. Older Heisei (and Gaim) has your Riders and their personal dramas and their own plots moving things along, but the newer guys are often just put into situations/stories where they can't drive things as easily because their stories rely on the actions of reacting to what the bad guys do - Drive is a perfect example.
He's a cop and has no way to track down Roidmudes if they don't do anything, so if they're not committing crimes, he's not in a position right now to just go chasing them unless they come to him. So just because events aren't focusing so much on our hero, I don't think that makes him not the hero. If anything, it's more believable to me if the world doesn't revolve around them the entire time and they're intrinsically involved in every little thing.
Anyway, all in all, he's not going to go down as my favorite Rider ever or anything, but I like him and I don't think he's a badly written one or a bad character.
I think one of the biggest problems is that the whole idea with him is that he's not always "in gear," but really early on, once he decided to fight, he... kind of was. He accepted his role, said the mysteries didn't matter because he knew what he needed to do, and was ready to go. This happened again once he and Mach worked there stuff out, and again with Chase, and again and again. They keep making him find this resolve that, really, he's had, and it feels a little forced since it's kind of clear it's just to go along with the whole "All you need is drive!" (drive being motivation) theme they're pushing for the show. I do think him getting stumped or getting put out of gear by cases has worked decently sometimes, but as far as development goes, that aspect has been hit or miss, at least with me. It feels like he's had to repeatedly go through the same mini-character arc.
That said? I... have actually not at all gotten this "it's Mach and Chase's story" feeling that you guys have been. It's always felt like Shinnosuke's to me. Second Riders always get focus for a little bit after their intro, that is absolutely nothing new - gotta sell their toys. Likewise, Chase is a pretty integral part of the story as a whole for a lot of reasons, including his conflict with Shin and all that. The events may be more Chase-centric at the moment, but that's really how, Gaim aside, new Heisei shows tend to be a lot of the time. The villains "drive" them, so to speak. Older Heisei (and Gaim) has your Riders and their personal dramas and their own plots moving things along, but the newer guys are often just put into situations/stories where they can't drive things as easily because their stories rely on the actions of reacting to what the bad guys do - Drive is a perfect example.
He's a cop and has no way to track down Roidmudes if they don't do anything, so if they're not committing crimes, he's not in a position right now to just go chasing them unless they come to him. So just because events aren't focusing so much on our hero, I don't think that makes him not the hero. If anything, it's more believable to me if the world doesn't revolve around them the entire time and they're intrinsically involved in every little thing.
Anyway, all in all, he's not going to go down as my favorite Rider ever or anything, but I like him and I don't think he's a badly written one or a bad character.
