KR Drive 28 released

[Yaiba]

http://wiki.tvnihon.com/wiki/Kamen_Rider_Drive_28

I kind of like where this is heading. It feels like something changed in the background, they're trying to move things forward instead of just MOTW fillers, and the SCD (even the Chief) has suddenly become super competent.

No matter Drive wins or loses this battle, he will still lose Go. That's really clever, 001. Though I still find it difficult to sympathies with Go, because they never build him as a family person until last episode.

And here's no way that Chase, in any state of mind, would do that. I know we've gone pretty dark in this last few episodes but that scene was just a total wtf moment

At the preview they act like we know Shinnosuke's father like forever, but we really only heard about him 3 - 4 episodes ago.

This Nishihori Kouya is everything. He was in episode 0, episode 11, the special type TV-kun, the special type Tokujo, and now his daughter is here. That's a lot of involvement for a minor character.

[VerusMaya II]

I can see Chase doing that stuff. He's little more than a robot following his programming "in debt -> return favor -> slate clean" and therefore doesn't care what the favor itself is.

That said I really don't give a shit about Go now that he's whiny-angry, but I have a feeling part of this is a difference in culture. I think Japan puts more weight on familial legacy (and therefore mistakes / sin) than here in America at least. Children generally don't carry the faults of their parents; each person is an individual and allowed to break free. Oh well. Hurry up and either kill him off or turn him evil so he can stop getting in the way.

[PHurricane]

Nope. Nope, nope, nope. The more they focus on Gou, the less the story is making sense and the more I’m losing interest. I didn't think it was possible for Rider to create a character I loathed more than Kusaka, but Gou is giving him a run for his money. And if they follow through with that tease and have Gou align with the Roidmudes, after he’s spent nearly every episode whining about how much he hates the Roidmudes without hinting why (until dropping the bombshell that Banno is his dad and Kiriko has no idea, despite being in the Roidmude-fighting business up to her eyeballs), I think I may throw something. Watching Rider should not make me this angry.

And that guy from the police department needs to be dropped in a fiery pit full of rusty spikes. His antics are so unbelievably unprofessional. If you want to create an anti-Rider cop who the audience is supposed to hate, take a lesson from Agito.

[ViRGE]

I figured the girl was the monster. But the fact that they tied this into the Drive specials and made her the deranged psychologist's daughter, I did not see that coming. It's a bit underhanded since there weren't any hints, but it was effective. It works really damn well with the "sins of the father" theme going on, since she became the monster her father was, and now Go is facing the same path.

Overall I really liked this two-parter. I'm still not all that sympathetic to Go, but now we have proper character motivation. After that soft reboot we're finally getting a real story that has ups and downs, and more importantly is consistently moving along. I'm actually watching the show out of excitement and wanting to see what's next, which is not the case 10 episodes ago. And despite my fears of this being a fluke, it looks like things have been set in motion for the next several episodes. The next Go two-parter (which really makes all of this a four-parter), Chase getting his memory back, and of course the obligatory Drive ultimate form upgrade. It's just a shame the series started out so poorly. If it had been like this since the start, it damn well could have been on the path for one of the best Heisei series.

Meanwhile, what was up with Gen and Rinna?

And that guy from the police department needs to be dropped in a fiery pit full of rusty spikes. His antics are so unbelievably unprofessional. If you want to create an anti-Rider cop who the audience is supposed to hate, take a lesson from Agito.

He got choked out by Chase. I'm rather happy with that myself. And I'd argue that he's not an anti-Rider cop; he's an anti-Rider boss/bureaucrat. He has power, and he abuses it immensely.

I can see Chase doing that stuff. He's little more than a robot following his programming "in debt -> return favor -> slate clean" and therefore doesn't care what the favor itself is.

I have to agree. I don't see Chase participating in a fake attack against Nira to be all that hard to believe. Heck, it gave him something to do other than brood and fight, so that's wonderful.

[Connie_Edogawa]

thoughts on the episode:

I can tell we're starting to shift (pun not intended) into serious mode for the story, but it's still not super interesting to me just yet. I'm watching, and I don't hate it or anything, but it doesn't quite hook me to the point that I NEED to see the next episode immediately. Gaim was amazing at doing that, which is why, while this isn't a bad season (and we've definitely had worse), it doesn't feel as strong to me. had Gaim not happened and we got this immediately after Wizard, it'd probably feel like a stronger show, especially in direct comparison to Wizard. Drive just has the unfortunate position of being directly after a show so good it's tough to live up to the standard it set.

Chase, I know you're acting and all, but I expected you to at least be more serious than this. your actions in Roidmude mode are so similar to the Special Case Squad's usual antics that it feels at odds with your normal behavior.

other than that, I kinda wish I'd paid attention to when this went up for QC because I noticed a couple of things.

1) this isn't anywhere near a big deal, but Kiriko saying "it is my fault." at one point about Go feels stilted. why not "it's"?

2) when Go uses Rumble Dump for a tire change, you translate it as "Reckless" but the belt is saying Araburu, which means, basically, "Rumble" or more specifically to shake roughly. the thing with the Mach Driver is that, based on videos I've seen of people messing around with the toys, it just uses a japanese version of part of each shift car's name, usually. like type speed is "hayai (fast)" for example.

[Uzur9]

See as we are about half done with Drive... What is the Roidmudes plan again?

[wisdomcat]

So the series is taking a hard turn in its plot (no pun intended). Its still not enough to keep me going for this show though. As a successor to Gaim, the writers are just throwing whatever to keep the show going. I'm so tired of Go as a character, I have no clue what the writers are trying to do with his character.

[HarryFA1]

Hey now, we don't know that Chase was really choking him out, maybe he was just using the Vulcan neck pinch, maybe, hopefully.

I love how they keep making callbacks to the stupid copycat pirate. Trust me honey, it's not that hard to surpass someone who calls himself "the Copycat Pirate".

Go as a villain? Awesome, can't wait! Remember kids, if nobody likes your hero, make them a villain! It worked for Decade...sort of...

Really enjoying the show now that we're delving into more of an overarching plot, which I would have appreciated a few episodes earlier but I digress.

[xPrimexTimex]

Man, shit hit the fan real hard this episode. They broke Go. They literally broke Go. It would have been more powerful if they broke Shinnosuke, but you can't get it all. I would have dragged out the reveal a bit longer just to really confuse Go and make him question everything, that way his outburst is more pronounced. Sadly, I feel like they're wasting all this great drama on Go. Go just isn't that likable, so watching him get broken isn't that big a deal. If Go had more character development then it would have hit harder.

As it stands, it looks like we're turning a corner (pun intended) and I like it. Hopefully the story is in high gear (pun intended again) from now until the end.

[Catastrophe]

Are they implying at the end that 001 copied Go's dad?

Shit is hitting the fan. I love how Chase goes along with the whole set up attack. Especially that fist pump at the end.

[ViRGE]

Are they implying at the end that 001 copied Go's dad?

It would make sense. But he doesn't have vision-dad's crazy hair...

[takenoko]

Do we seen Professor Banno in the Krim flashback from way earlier? I'm guessing we don't, but I thought we knew what his face looked like at some point.

[Alessar]

If Go turns out to be a roidmude who copied the real Go and then forgot, well ... it's such a blade runner ripoff but it might pull this stupid plot out of the dumpster so I'm putting that out there. But what I think is really going on is they want him to get killing mad so they can fuse him forcibly with one of the new gen cores -- he might not need to stay fused once it imprints off him. It would be a strong parallel with Chaser too, except going in the opposite direction.

[takenoko]

If there isn't some kind of Blade Runner type twist, I will be super disappointed. I mean, considering the setup at the beginning, it's kind of expected.

[MVZ-800]

I like how, out of nowhere, everyone's dad is involved now.

Shinnosuke's dad was killed on the job.

Go's dad invented the Roidmude.

The girl who was fused with the MOTW's dad was the criminal from the extra Drive materials.

Kiriko's dad is Go's dad.

WHO'S DAD IS NEXT?!