ADACHI WHY HAVEN'T YOU STARTED YOUR ENGINE

[Akurei Nagisa]

YOU'RE GONNA BE LATE TO WORK, ADACHI

My official verdict is: Kamen Rider Drive is just weird. It's weird.

I can't say I totally hate it? But it's fuckin' weird. It's like...Slowdown? Breathing... numbers? The Roimudos aren't noticed by anyone?? Those goofy hats? OH MY GOD BELT-SAN. I'm not sure if I like him or if he's totally insufferable.

Also what the fuck those cars. I...what the fuck, Shift Cars.

It's weird. It's just weird. It's not even charmingly weird like ToQger, but it's also not totally awful weird??

Also Shinnosuke has the highest suckage percentage of any Kamen Rider I've seen to start off. Seriously, three almost-form changes first episode. Three. To defeat one guy. Really? That's pretty lame, bro.

[Yoshino Shurensuki]

Belt-san has expressions. T_T

Also, I refused to download it, so Graham did.

I couldn't really watch it. X_X;

I just.

Agh.

No. @_@ THE TIRE ON HIS ARMOR IS THE REAR WHEEL OF HIS ING CAR.

I can't.

....also, there was way too much English to feel comfortable. >_>; Which is a strange thing to say. But yeah.

[MasterDJ]

I will say this though, I like his design.... without the goddamn tire. Especially after seeing the back of the armor, I think I can like it, but the tires have to go. The tire change gimmick works on mecha, not a dude in a suit.

That said, FUCK YEAH his Rider Kick.

...the belt talking to him will take getting used to. I think Drive's problem here is his placement. Right after the epicness that was Gaim, this was not the best follow up.

[Akurei Nagisa]

Iunno, it was kind of cool Rider Kick, but it also felt almost lazy. > 3>; Like, when was the last time someone had to be bounced around to Rider Kick?! BACK IN MY DAY* we just jumped and we had scarves and actual grasshopper faces, we didn't have no Optimus Prime Tridorons saving our ass when we fucked up and rabble rabble rabble uphill both ways fighting Inves and Shocker and Orphenochs in the snow.

It really all comes back to those tires. And the weird Den-O-esque Shift Car roads. I do not like those at all.

Also the adaptation of JUICY~!!! to tires I could live without. 9____9

*Back in my day | +

I don't have any right to say this, I am a Kamen Rider Noob, yes. > 3< BUT DANGIT I DON'T HAVE TO LIKE THE BOUNCING. GAIM AND DOUBLE AND FAIZ DIDN'T BOUNCE OFF NO TIRES.

[MasterDJ]

Den-O didn't go through three power ups in the debut fight. I don't even think Wizard went that far...

[Akurei Nagisa]

I know, right? x_x; I was all "Isn't this like if Wataru had to use all three Fuestles during his first fight?" Which, notably, he didn't have to do. >_>;

[Crescent]

FULL THROTTLE JUICY

-I can totally dig the police drama vibe, and I'm behind the general tone of the first episode

-That said, general. The first ep seems kinda unsure of where/how to mix comedy and seriousness. I'm hoping this will get sorted out as things progress, as it's certainly not a problem Riku Sanjo had with W.

-Screw you guys, Belt-san is boss >_>

-Excessive form showoff for a first episode, yes. I wonder if this is just a creep based on TOY SALES or if there's gonna be a shit ton of tire changes

-Speaking of the shift cars, when you're in the big-budget first episode and all the CG looks pretty terribad, that's not exactly a great sign.

[Crescent]

Whoops, also meant to comment;

-The suit itself, yes, is indeed pretty cool... just not so much the tire part, that needs to grow.

-I was all like "Yesssss speed base mode and returning to roots in spots, here comes a Rider Kick!" and then there were shitty shift cars and CG and shit ._. I like the notion of using SPEED to bounce around and kick-combo, though am not entirely in love with the execution.

-Whether or not you, or any of us really, are in love with Drive's tone/style, the franchise had to do something like this. You just not going to compete with Gaim. You need to try something different and hope it can be engaging and entertaining in its own way. Not only would trying to follow Gaim with something similar just result in something that definitely wouldn't be as good, but it's also important for the health of the franchise that you don't just fall into a pattern of repeating what works. After W was a big success, elements like the 2-episode arc format became a standard (so much so that it's often associated with W, even though Den-O effectively pioneered it a few years earlier). And come Wizard, the fourth consecutive series to utilize such, shit was just plain stale already and it became a creative necessity that Gaim change that up. You don't want to put yourself into a corner like that.

[Yoshino Shurensuki]

On the note about a 'bouncing around + speed' = "Rider Kick", I'd just like to direct you to Shugo VS Sonny back in PHAETON. >_> His Finisher that took down the Captain. <_< Thank you very much. lol

Shugo: Techically, it was a Rider Punch.

Anubis: A Rider Kick probably wouldn't have broken your limb.

Shugo: You can just shut up. T 3T

[MasterDJ]

My judgment is based on only three clips: the opening, which I'm still trying to feel, the first henshin scene, which I liked up until the tire, and the rider kick, which I actually dug. I'll make a proper call once I see the entire first episode.

[Akurei Nagisa]

Okay so this had potential at the beginning! I mean, Justice Hunter aside, it did!

...then at midpoint it drove off a cliff. T_T;;; I mean, way to kill the main Rider's backstory in one go, guys. And then replace it with more Shift Cars. I just. Also Heart and Brain walking around in kaijin form during Slowdown for no reason. What even.

The Special Crimes Unit is also just dumb. The Captain needs to do his fuckin' job. T 3T;;;;;

I'm gonna give this five eps total. If I haven't seen an upswing by then, I'm dropping it like its name was Decade.

OH YEAH, the TWO-EPISODE FORMAT is back. >____> That's not exactly a great sign either, now is it?

[MasterDJ]

T_T;; This is not what I needed to hear. So basically we're doing the "SHINKENGER WAS AWESOME...the hell is Goseiger" method. Lovely. Call me when the second Rider shows up.

[Crescent]

VEGAS BEST RIDER FORM EVER >_>

http://i.imgur.com/Snc5c7w.jpg

Also check out Belt-san's mad bling

[MasterDJ]

...*facepalm*

[Akurei Nagisa]

Okay, Vegas is the absolute worst Rider form ever, bar none, and Justin is a big liar. >_____________> BUT this was, shockingly, a better episode than 2! Not a good episode of Kamen Rider, necessarily, but like...this week had actual stakes and a coherent plot that almost didn't dovetail into another episode! It was decent!

PROS:
-Shinnosuke questioning things again, actually showing his character for more than a glimpse
-Weird internet guy being actually weirder than the rest of the incompetent SCU/Officer Dumbfuck being escorted offscreen early
-The Roidmudes were an actual threat and kind of creepy
-Actual backstory and non-shitty exposition well I never
-Shinnosuke being as displeased/horrified by Dream Vegas as anyone with a brain would be ("What kind of special attack goes bust?!")
-Machine Chaser's transformation is some decent dark-Rider stuff

CONS:
-Dream Vegas exists and just ugh ugh ugh no
-We still don't have any idea what the Roidmudes even want or what they really are
-Kiriko reduced to trembling waif by encounter with Roidmude who attacked her + given standard "Rider saved me" love interest backstory and generally robbed of agency
-The two-episode arc format is back and here to stay, folks, get used to it (again)
-They're shotgunning Tire Changes at us with wild abandon
-Machine Chaser's design would be a lot more effective without all the junkyard-engine parts sticking out of his left side
-DREAM VEGAS AAAAAAUUUUGGGHHH WHY WHO AUTHORIZED THAT, THEY'RE THE WORST

So I still don't have high hopes, but I'm less likely to drop the show in single digits; it seems like maybe it was just a rocky start and they're finding their way now. There's still time, though! Maybe they'll fuck up Episode 4 spectacularly!

[Crescent]

-Was Chase Proto-Drive????? Belt-san made that reaction when he first appeared.
-I'm worried about Kiriko following the standard leading female route, yes. (Standard being quickly becomes useless aside from maybe some sort of plot element; the Exception being maintains an influential presence and then becomes a God >_>)
-Still being kinda hopeful about the two-part arc, but it's kinda seeming like we're getting that in disguise x__x Don't wanna jump to conclusions after 3 eps, though
-Uggghhh the shift cars and CG

[Akurei Nagisa]

GOOD:
-We had a tiny sliver of Roidmude backstory fed to us (the Promised Number)
-Shinnosuke's character continues to bloom and he almost has a catchphrase?
-I did really like that part about being the face of justice, that was cool
-Good question, Brain, why do only the weird ones evolve?
-Also the "copying real people" as a disguise kind of grows on me

BAD:
-Kiriko's character decay seems to have begun early
-Adachi consoles a matchbox racer in the dramatic rain
-CG overuse and now DRIVESPACE for in-car transformation
-Chaser is really not that compelling and why do they call him the Grim Reaper if he doesn't kill them???
-The matchbox racer's friend returns to be deus ex machina of the episode
-that fucking fat guy oh my god why
-Why can't anyone on the SCU be actually competent?
-Full form change next ep, five eps in T_______T

FUCKING WHAT:
-The Steering Sword
-Seriously the steering column of his goddamn car is a sword?!????! And TURN! TURN! U-TURN!!
-Dimension Cab ;_;
-DREAM VEGAS: EVEN WHEN IT WORKS ;____;
-GOOD BUDDIES DA NA 8D and really all of Mr. Belt's announcements in this episode just had me laughing at inappropriate times or just "WAT"
-Rinna what the fuck are you doing??

[Yoshino Shurensuki]

There's a reason I told Graham I refuse to download Drive. He has to spend the time doing that on his own computer. >_>;

[Akurei Nagisa]

X_X; IT'S NOT THE MOST REWARDING TIME I'VE SPENT, I TELL YOU WHAT

I...gaaaahhh, I really do think I might be dropping this next ep. I just...I can't follow this! I don't know where this show is going! It can't strike a balance with its mood, it throws form changes and tire changes at us like it's going out of style, it keeps just...AAAAAAAAAA. X_______X;

Look. If I was to make a harsh criticism of Wizard, it would be that it's the Kamen Rider show where basically nothing happens until way too late. You know the Wizard formula, because Wizard has the formula down. It's all Phantoms, Gates, wizards, magic, HOPE, BRING U HOPE, fight fight fight shiny finisher HOOOOPE victory. This is bad in that the story takes way too long to progress, but at least you know what's going on.

Drive? You don't. Drive keeps moving its goddamn goalposts, and you never have any idea where they're going to be! X_X You don't know what to expect next episode, and it's not because of clever storytelling (like, say, Gaim), it's because the show LEGITIMATELY WILL NOT FUCKING TELL YOU.

[Yoshino Shurensuki]

Still gonna stick to my "old men in a back room with drugs and booze tossing ideas out" theory that someone decided would be a great way to plan a series. >>;