KR Drive 30 released

[Yaiba]

http://wiki.tvnihon.com/wiki/Kamen_Rider_Drive_30

Another solid episode. Shinnosuke and Kiriko learn their lesson and won't go berserk anymore. The fight between Mach and Chaser is good. But no new information for the robbery. We already know 001 was there, and other things, like Shinnosuke's father covering the girl from the bullet, is the same as told before.

Chase really is the best Kamen Rider in this series.

Why was Heart and Medic surprised about Go? Didn't 001 say last episode that he he's planning to get Go to work for him?

Is 067 actually conscious? He never show himself, all we see is Negishi running around, and the only lines he got is "Open".

I gave Go too much credit. I thought he saw something interesting in the iPad and decided to work with Brain, but it turns out he's just being mind control. Though I don't find him annoying here. Maybe being like this suit him best.

The one thing that brothers me is the mother. A stranger is harassing her daughter so much that she's hiding in the corner, and she just stood there and did nothing. And there really was no need for 001, 002 and 003 to change into their human form to operate on Chase.

[takenoko]

That's weird that Chase decided to lie to Kiriko. I guess you can argue that he learned to not worry people from Tomari, but she's a cop, she deserves to know her brother is mind controlled so she can help him if possible, she deserves to know if he's a threat since she can prepare herself for danger.

Man, that was some amazing timing at the end Chase. The girl ends up not knowing anything other than 001 was at the robbery (she didn't even confirm or deny whether Negishi was the one who shot Tomari's dad, even though it seems to imply that it has. But if he did, then why did he need his memory rewritten?) But that doesn't matter, because Chase's memories allow them to know who 001's identity is anyway. That's bad story telling in the sense that it means the bank robbery storyline didn't matter at all for progressing the plot.

But overall, I'm still digging the plot in mission.

[VerusMaya II]

I would argue that Chase chose to lie to Kiriko because although he learned from Tomari not to worry people (and we already know he has a soft spot for Kiriko in particular), he hasn't yet learned about the emotional effect truth and betrayal has on people. Again, think of him as a robot. "Kiriko worried -> reassure her -> Kiriko no longer worried -> problem solved"; he has no intermediary step where he contemplates the ramifications of his reassurance.

It pretty explicitly shows Negishi firing the bullet that Tomari's dad jumps in front of, unless the camera cut / scene change is going to lead to some dumb retcons. 001 is just chilling in the background. Now, does that mean he wasn't controlling Negishi in some way? Absolutely not. So it's still important to know 001 was there, which Yukari supplied. Chase gave the next piece of the puzzle: who 001 is. So now they know that not only was 001 at the robbery, but Makage was at the robbery. This arc does still matter for other reasons, too, even if you don't buy my explanation above: Tomari has reaffirmed his belief in serving the people foremost and following in his father's footsteps.

All that aside, the fight between Mach and Chaser felt oddly violent, moreso than toku usually does, and I really dug it. When they dehenshined at the end and Chase just yanked Go up by his jacket hood, I was like, YEAH! YEAH!

[takenoko]

All that aside, the fight between Mach and Chaser felt oddly violent, moreso than toku usually does, and I really dug it. When they dehenshined at the end and Chase just yanked Go up by his jacket hood, I was like, YEAH! YEAH!

LOL, you love all the violence!

Good explanation on Chase's reasoning. From a viewer's point of view, I still think that lie will bite him in the ass.

Maybe I was a bit harsh by saying this arc didn't matter. But it does still feel like if their ultimate goal is to catch 001, having that reveal would have been stronger in Yukari's memory. Like, what does having it be in Chase's memory do for the story?

[JujinSan]

So we know that 001 was at the robbery when Shinnosuke's dad was shot and was possibly manipulating things. To what end? why does he need to get rid of the witnesses? On to the roidmude, when did he get a locking abilty? That aside this was another good episode.

[takenoko]

He didn't get a locking ability per say. The Japanese phrasing was like "anti-unlocking" so that unlocking was still the main thing.

[ViRGE]

I think someone brought it up last week, but the MOTW for this two parter was rather absurd, and not in a good way. He practically had the power to control all other powers, which certainly makes him a threat, but it strains his believability, even in a series about monsters and transforming superheros.

At this point I'm a bit disappointed that Go is still evil. Is it me, or have we just traded one evil rider for another? First it was Chase, then a short break, and now it's Go. Other than Drive not being the one to fight him, I'm not sure how this is much different. An the constant need to fight the evil rider got tiring the first time.

However to the stunt team's credit, the not-quite mirror match was well done. This sort of settles the fact that Go is currently at the bottom of the list for Riders, but after being annoyed with him for so long I'm not going to complain about him getting his butt kicked.:p

Meanwhile I'm still a bit confused about Nira. He is the boss, so why isn't he busting the crew's ass when they pull out the duplicates? Going from him ordering the crew around an episode ago to being unable to do anything to resolve a simple trick is really inconsistent. I get where the writers were going - to show how the crew can still achieve their goals even under Nira's thumb - but this wasn't clever enough. It doesn't really tie Nira's hands in any way.

I continue to be impressed by the locations they are using for Heart's hideouts, but it doesn't help with the fact that Heart and Medic have been unimportant for several episodes now. This series hasn't done enough with the villains, and after looking at the pretty sights you remember that's especially the case for those two.

Man, that was some amazing timing at the end Chase. The girl ends up not knowing anything other than 001 was at the robbery (she didn't even confirm or deny whether Negishi was the one who shot Tomari's dad, even though it seems to imply that it has. But if he did, then why did he need his memory rewritten?) But that doesn't matter, because Chase's memories allow them to know who 001's identity is anyway. That's bad story telling in the sense that it means the bank robbery storyline didn't matter at all for progressing the plot.

You unfortunately raise a very good point here. I realize they can't give us everything at once, and overall this series is still markedly better than pre-Formula, but they're perhaps drawing out some of these plot points by a little too much.

[xPrimexTimex]

I really hated the reveal at the end of the episode. Is 001 the end boss? It sure seems like it, so why spoil his identity this early? Not to mention, there's absolutely no reason for 001 to turn into human form when operating on Chase. I mean, it's not like they're going to kill 001 in the next episode arc. Brain is still alive and he's working with the police, so how are you going to get to 001 if he's even more important? sigh. Now if 001 dies in the next arc I'd be very very surprised.

Episode was good, obvious mind control on Go was obvious (after all, Medic pretty much implied this was the case.) I wonder if Chase will tell Shinnosuke about it.

The only thing that doesn't make sense about the episode arc is why 001 is trying to cover up the bank robbery from 12 years ago. Unless he showed his human form then why does it matter if Shinnosuke & co. find out he was there 12 years ago? If nothing else, why not just rewrite their memories and not throw a lot of attention on yourself? Maybe they'll bring up the robbery from 12 years ago again, but for now it doesn't make sense to me.

[Phoenix512]

I think it's fine that we know who 001 is. I rather have that out of the way and get some nice interactions between him and everyone else.

As for Yukari's memory, I think the point of it wasn't for the reveal of 001's identity to the good guys but to get Tomori's head straight with protecting not getting closer to revenge like Go is. She confirms that 001 was there 12 years ago which is still something. That something will probably be answered in the future.

[Alessar]

I agree with the theory about Chase's (flawed) reasoning and that it will probably bite him in the ass later.

I'm not sure, but I think that the significant clue from the robbery is that 001 was there TWELVE YEARS AGO. Belt-san did a "oh shit no" gasp at that detail. Aren't the roidmude supposed to be newer than that? i.e., is this a revelation that the early models were "gone bad" at the start and they bided their time to revolt while more models were being made?

I feel like the writing on this show is really at the "hack" level. They occasionally do a little better lately and it reeks of someone behind the scene quietly fixing the problems they can. But, some structural flaws are just too big to repair.

[barfmaster]

i wouldn't be surprised if brain ends up being the big bad like wakana ended up being in W

[Catastrophe]

That Mach vs Chase fight was sweet. Even if he has had his memories altered, Gou still acting like a little shit pisses me off.

[Lunagel]

The more I think about it, the more Kiriko's reaction pisses me off. "Oh, he's not being manipulated? Well, he must have some sort of reason for being a total asshole then." I mean, there's trusting your brother, and then there's being willfully ignorant. If he's not being manipulated then you should go over and try to find him and smack some sense into him. If he is being manipulated then at least you know he *can't* come to his senses and you won't try anything stupid.

I'd rather know he was being manipulated than have to think he's just a giant dickhead.