Kamen Rider Drive overall thoughts?

[Artisan]

I don't expect anyone to read something this long and rambling.

Oh ****, sorry. How inconsiderate of me. I'll keep them nice and short from now on.

tl;dr version:

First half is balls.

Second half so much better, but several plot points are inconsistent and Medic is arse.

Is that better for everyone?

 

[Sentaifan'07 Xman]

I loved this series. I mean, granted that it's not as awesome as Gaim, but it's definitely better than Wizard in my opinion. And, I actually liked the character of Chase. He's awesome.

 

[DaikaijuSokogeki!]

You see, I don't know if I prefer Drive or Wizard. Kamen Rider Wizard absolutely wasted a brilliant concept, characters and world with some of the most boring plot execution ever conceived in the franchise. However, outside of a few episodes, Wizard never made me feel vehemently angry at it like the entire first half of Kamen Rider Drive did. Wizard had some jaw-dropping moments peppered here and there, but that just makes it all the more frustrating to watch when it slips right back into mediocrity. Drive had a solid second half, but it remains sexist all throughout.

At least there was a fantastic season in between the two of them that reminded me why I like Kamen Rider.

 

[LaZerwolfX]

For me; Drive was a sort of anomaly of a series. Characters such as Brain, Go/Mach, and Banno completely made this show for me. Brain is just the meme-iest meme ever, Go was the best upset to the current secondary rider trend in recent years and there are few rider villains as gleefully and ludicrously malevolent as Banno. These characters along with Mr. Belt the predictably beloved Chase gave this series a sufficiently stronger voice for me than Shin and the rest of the major cast. The first 1/3-1/2 of the series felt like it was stuck in park and it wasn't until these characters were allowed to have a greater presence in the show that it was really able to peel out and get on track. But by the end I'd say that Drive is a great example of a show being able to vastly improve during it's run.

 

[cobabooy]

For me Drive was a fun ride. Most people hate its first half but not me. I have to admit though, the show was pretty boring during the period after Mach debut until before Type Formula debut. I really don't like how Chase was brainwashed over and over again by Medic, thankfully, his character was saved after he became a Rider. The show first few episodes was okay, and then came the Volt trilogy which was awesome, too bad it was followed by some poorly done two parters until Type Formula's debut. After that, the show went full throttle until the end and I love it.
For me, Drive is a good Rider series, once again, the Riders represent justice, hope and freedom, which are the true meaning of Kamen Rider back in the Showa days. I give it a 7.5/10

 

[SquidKing]

Oh ****, sorry. How inconsiderate of me. I'll keep them nice and short from now on.

tl;dr version:

First half is balls.

Second half so much better, but several plot points are inconsistent and Medic is arse.

Is that better for everyone?

:169: much. Thank you

 

[HurricaneDragon]

Overall, I quite liked it once it got going. It's got quite a few episodes that I still go back and watch parts of, which is a pretty damn positive review in itself for me.

Unfortunately, virtually all of those episodes are past the last 20s. The show just took way too long to start getting good. People gave Gaim flak for its slow start, but it did so with purpose and precision to develop into what it became - with Drive, it had to abandon what it was early on and become good. In a way, this actually leaves me with a stronger impression of Drive. Gaim I expected to be good, and it ended up great. With Drive, it broke through my expectations and really pulled me in, in some ways a lot more than Gaim did with its somewhat more personal plots (particularly Gou's).

... and I think, when all is said and done, I like Shinnosuke more than Kouta, though I quite liked both of them. Gou was great from start to finish though - I never understood the hate he got. He saved the show for me, frankly.

 

[Solari]

I got the Drive character book vol.two, and there's a (end of series) character relationships chart
I put the image in the hide tag.(it's also on tumblr)
[hide] [/hide]

 

[Photon]

Right, and what was that part to play?

That's what I'm thinking too. Where the hell did that part go? Chase was kept alive by Brain for what?