If true, i hope he gets back to the W level.

I have mixed feelings on Riku Sanjo tbh... I think this would be fun as long as it isn't a two-parter based show... I'm not a fan of that format in W or in Drive, i'd much rather have smth either totally episodic or super serialized personally

For the time being there are writer's I'd rather see than Sanjo, but I would still be curious to see what he'd do with another rider show... It upsets me to realize Drive will be 10 years old next year, but I imagine Sanjo would have some new ideas to share after such a long time lol

As long as it isn't him doing a show that's just "double again" again I'd be curious to see it

Still we've had very bogus head writer rumours around this time other years, so not gonna assume too much until we know for sure

Huh, interesting if true. Wonder if this means we'll get back to the two-parter format that he used as the head writer for Double and Drive (and as secondary writer for Fourze). If this is true, at least.

As for Gotchard himself, he's..... eeeeeeeeh. I'm not a fan that we're going to stick with "animal + [insert second thing]". We've had that since Zero-One, and I wanted something wholly non-animal again. I mean, with the pirate card, it's not strictly animal at least, but still. Like say what you want about how we had a string of non-animal seasons before, but at least they were all distinct and different. Like Ghost's famous people motif and Ex-Aid's video game motif are NOTHING alike.

It worked for Drive and Double 'cuz those were mystery-based shows. If Gotchard is also mystery-based like them, I think it could work. Like what good is a mystery if it was instantly solved in one episode?

Then again, we could have like, arc-based mysteries... that would be a fun take.

The suit so far gives me Kiramei silver vibes

So I've heard! These days, I usually start a new season right before the last episode, and it's coming close to that time.


I am... shall we say... emphatically opposed to a return of the two-part format. That said, I would be very interested to see Sanjo tackle modern Rider's more serialized format.

Yup, this 2000%

Strict two-parters are not my cup of tea at all, I'd lose a lot of interest in this show if it brought them back

There are things I like about Sanjo's writing tho that I'd love to see in a different writing format. I do often like his characters in particular

I...I LOVE THIS!

It's a bit clunky yet it somehow works?! The hopper legs, the open wings on he chest, the steampunk goggles, my goodness it's a feast on the eyes.

To be honest, two-parters aren't really bad in and of themselves. They have their own strengths. For one, it would be nice to see a season where the monsters were characters again like in Double or Drive. With the serialized arc format, there's less of an incentive to make monsters of the week, and more an incentive to make each season a Rider vs Rider one. Like when was the last time we had an actual monster of the week that was a character?

Like I prefer the arc format myself, but it's not like there aren't any weaknesses, either. Sometimes they feel like they drag out some plots that really should've been resolved quicker. Lest we forget that one of the big criticisms is how Daiji's plot was dragged out for way too long in Revice, or how Rintaro's arc had him just lingering the background doing nothing for a while.

Personally I think there really can be a good medium between the two-parter format and the arc format. Like try to work in the strengths of both, I say.

It's funny, on SpaceBattles I had an argument about why two-parters were weak, while here I'm talking about how arc formats aren't always strong either. Though my opinion is still that there's a good medium that can happen between them.

New rumor dropped, apparently Koichi Sakamoto his supposed to be the main director. This ones a bit more up in the air compared to the Riku Sanjo rumor but if it is true then we at least know the action will be flashy as hell.

So far, I like Gotchard's Design!

Very Showa but with extra protrusions to stand out. The helmet having Goggles resemble Ichigo's helmet is nice, and the arrow eyes look pretty good on it. The Driver is nice and simple, and the Card Gimmick more reminds me of Ultraman Decker (funny how their gimmicks overlap from time to time) more than Decade. I'm also especially pleased with the inclusion of a steam train for the base form, which as a whole reminds me of Build, in its theme.

Overall, I'm pleased with what we see so far.