Kamen Rider Drive Episode 26 - Where is Chaser headed to?

[bleachjoj]

Drive doesn't need saving. It's been pretty good most of the time.

Well very clearly not everyone thinks so.

 

[Toku Prime]

Urgh, that Captain Nira is starting to really grind my gears. He's like Hojo from Agito with the crazy moments of Dr Maki from OOO. They've taken two characters I hate and combined them into one package. Every time he's on screen my hand starts moving towards the mouse to skip the rest of the scene.

 

[lazycoconut]

Nira is a big ol' pantomime villain and I want to hate him, I really do (especially for what he's done to Shinnosuke. I adore Shinnosuke, although I have a lot of criticisms of the way he's written) but Nira is so OTT I can't help laughing

 

[HurricaneDragon]

I'm... so-so on this one. I feel like Chase was more realistic as a potential hero earlier in when he was conflicted, being the honorable "grim reaper" that was saving his kind from death while still wanting to fight fair and only fight the people killing other Roidmudes off - not fighting humans, just the Kamen Riders. That had potential for a great turnaround and conflicted hero down the road.

But now it's just... "Okay, guess I'm going to kill them without problem now"? The fact his concern is that he might not have the right to be called a Kamen Rider, rather than more obvious things, like is he doing the right thing being one, is... kind of disappointing, to be honest. I mean we all knew he would eventually be one, but for him to just up and switch like this after all the buildup to it makes me wish they had just gotten it over with. He just says "I'm reborn!" and suddenly all that anger he used to feel about his kind getting killed just doesn't exist anymore? They could have still worked that into a Kamen Rider character - and in all honestly, this kind of turnaround from Chase just makes me inclined to agree with Gou. If he can flip just like that and start killing his own kind after all his posturing earlier in, uh, maybe these things are a problem.

Are we sure he wasn't reprogrammed again while no one was looking? :laugh: In fact, the fact that we've now had two good ones on top of a guy like Heart, yet this is the direction we're going in, that just feels shallow to me.

Likewise, the police storyline falls a bit flat with me. Introducing an element for Shinnosuke is great, but this one feels like it should have been one that would have deserved mention way before now, and it makes me feel like they want to knock off Shotaro's desire to be like his mentor in W without any of the work that went into it (that is to say actually having it be an element in the show from the beginning rather than just bringing it up halfway through).

Also, while I suppose it's arguable that not showing us 007 exploding was foreshadowing for him to return, I can't help but find it really lazy that they just reuse the same plot from last week for this week's monster of the week. I appreciate how the episode still mostly focused on other stuff and the monster was used in a different way, but I feel like if they were going to go that way about it, they could have at least had 007 find a different prisoner so we didn't have "let's handcuff the exact same guy" ending two weeks straight. Hopefully that's something they'll avoid going forward, but who knows?

Returning to Chaser for a sec... I really, really liked Machine Chaser's design, but this new form is just kind of... boring? I don't mind that it's minimalistic, but it clashes with his bike, it's too similar to Mach (the white), and the weapon doesn't seem like it's his - which at least worked for a great gag in the episode, but once he starts using it normally, if he does, that's not going to be the same. If it had just been purple, even a lighter purple, or maybe a silver to go with his skulls, I'd probably be okay with it, but... I mean, if you take off the helmet, it would barely look like a Kamen Rider suit, and even the helmet has a funky thing going on like it's trying to hide that it's a Kamen Rider. Is that the point?

On the positive side, Heart is continuing to be a great villain and I'm glad Brain is getting back in on things again, and the police corruption plot at least does have the potential to go somewhere really cool if done well. I'm... hesitant to give Drive the credit since it's starting to slip again, but I guess we'll see.

Urgh, that Captain Nira is starting to really grind my gears. He's like Hojo from Agito with the crazy moments of Dr Maki from OOO. They've taken two characters I hate and combined them into one package. Every time he's on screen my hand starts moving towards the mouse to skip the rest of the scene.

Hojo was done really well considering Agito. He was written for us to feel frustrated with him, but I think that's one of the few cases I can think of where I really did come to love to hate him. Maki I just love though.

As for Nira, now that we know he either is a Roidmude or is in on their scheme (to at least some extent, perhaps just by being their pawn), I actually feel like his behavior makes a lot more sense.

 

[Painted_Outlaw]

it would barely look like a Kamen Rider suit, and even the helmet has a funky thing going on like it's trying to hide that it's a Kamen Rider.

Trying to put this nicely, but, have you seen any of the Rider suits from the past.. I wanna say, 8/9 years?
Bandai don't care, dude. :laugh:

 

[HurricaneDragon]

I know some of them (Fourze and Wizard come to mind) have been on the minimalistic side too, but they still worked with the overall costume. This one just... feels like it's some alternate form rather what is supposed to be our base for this Rider. Mach at least works black into his suit to separate the white and red, but if you look at this costume too quickly... I guess he just looks more like a Sentai team's funky sixth ranger (and only because of the helmet - take that away and he'd fit right in with one) than a Kamen Rider to me? The helmet could work with a different suit, and maybe the suit could work with a different helmet, but... I dunno. Maybe I just need some more time for it to grow on me. :laugh:

It's especially weird since they just pulled the Kamen Rider 4 suit that does the "looks like what a person that pilots this type of vehicle wears but is still a Kamen Rider suit" thing really well too.

 

[Afro]

Yeah I agree the color scheme just doesn't fit. It's not hard to believe this design goes with his leaving the bad guys and being reborn a good guy again thing but its gonna take awhile to really get used to it. Yeah the minimalism makes it stand out from the other two but a black suit with dark purple and hard-metal colored armor would look a lot better than the pearl white. Basically should have stuck with his old color scheme. And I like the way the ax looks but that stop gimmick is a real vibe-killer

To be brief I do enjoy watching drive in general but this episode was kinda anticlimatic for me. Chase probably should have switched sides a few episodes sooner because now it felt kinda dragged out. Tbh Heart's acceptance of KR Chase was kinda cooler than KR Chase actually coming into the picture. At this point I'm more interested in seeing more of 001 and why Gou can't tolerate roidmoids in the next episode.

 

[Wing Saber]

Urgh, that Captain Nira is starting to really grind my gears. He's like Hojo from Agito with the crazy moments of Dr Maki from OOO. They've taken two characters I hate and combined them into one package. Every time he's on screen my hand starts moving towards the mouse to skip the rest of the scene.

Nira is the kind of guy you like to punch in the face. Especially since he's nothing but a pawn of 001, to where he wants to make Shinnosuke's life miserable.

 

[Byg4299]

Am I the only one that thinks Chases reform and the the reveal of Kamen Rider Chaser should be saved till next episode? I honestly think there should be an episode dedicated to him choosing which side he should choose on, thus giving his transformation in to Kamen Rider Chaser more impact. Otherwise it is a fairly good episode which introduces some plot elements that i'm anticipating to see how they turn out. On the subject of Kamen Rider Chases suit, first i want to mention that the suit itself is NOT white. If you look at it more closely (see the Detail of Heroes Scans), You will see that it's more of a bluish silver, just wanted to clear that up. As for my opinions, I like it. Of course the colour does not match his bike in anyway shape or form but otherwise i think the more smooth out design gives it a nice contrast to his Mashin Chaser form as well as both Drive and Mach.

 

[HurricaneDragon]

Yeah I agree the color scheme just doesn't fit. It's not hard to believe this design goes with his leaving the bad guys and being reborn a good guy again thing but its gonna take awhile to really get used to it. Yeah the minimalism makes it stand out from the other two but a black suit with dark purple and hard-metal colored armor would look a lot better than the pearl white. Basically should have stuck with his old color scheme. And I like the way the ax looks but that stop gimmick is a real vibe-killer

To be brief I do enjoy watching drive in general but this episode was kinda anticlimatic for me. Chase probably should have switched sides a few episodes sooner because now it felt kinda dragged out. Tbh Heart's acceptance of KR Chase was kinda cooler than KR Chase actually coming into the picture. At this point I'm more interested in seeing more of 001 and why Gou can't tolerate roidmoids in the next episode.

Agreed on all points. I think this same exact suit but painted like the old one might even look fantastic, actually.

Am I the only one that thinks Chases reform and the the reveal of Kamen Rider Chaser should be saved till next episode? I honestly think there should be an episode dedicated to him choosing which side he should choose on, thus giving his transformation in to Kamen Rider Chaser more impact.

That's my main problem - after all the buildup, he seems to have chosen just like that. Maybe they just wanted to get it out there to start selling toys and then they'll retroactively make him think about sides later on, but as it stands, it just feels really wasted here to me.