Kamen Rider Drive Episode 21 "What Can The Strange Victims Reveal?" Discussion
 

A new fight, a new enemy and a new Form?!

cocktease that is all.

Here's the quick thought after the streaming:

Finally a episode that they did really good after a long solve cases arc.

The Shift Cars went evil because of Medic are really painful to watch, poor the toys.

Medic monster form really didn't work with her voice, Roidmude form is so wicked but her voice sounds so innocent. Finally she's doing something that really "evil", lol.

Damn Toei, you tease us about Formula and it gets 5 seconds onscreen. However, it created a good cliffhanger for the next episode. It is the first time I feel so pump for the next week to watch Drive.

This was actually a pretty hollow episodes. The Roidmudes somehow get upgrades and pose a game-ending threat, but team Kamen Rider has yet another unexplained power-up that we're just hearing about now, and that we only see for a few seconds?

Damn, thats plot point moving from plot point ith no plot to take us there. How did Medic power up Chaser?
What did Brain do to Chaser?
Whats their beef?
Whats the deal with Formula? Why was it hidden, and why does it have allegedly the same downside as Dead Heat?

Even the "mystery" was empty. The humans were killed by the Roidmudes for no reason but to split up team Kamen Rider.

Hey Chaser got to be a threat for another episode, good for him.

I thoroughly enjoyed this episode a lot, the upgrades to Chaser was awesome, and the super slowdown was interesting. I am intrigued with what Brain did to Chaser but I have a feeling it might lead to screwing over Medic. Medic is insane with modifying the Roidmudes but I am happy that she is being used more as a threat. I loved Drive and Mach in this episode they were both awesome, and I liked Mach giving up Type Dead Heat to help out Shinnosuke. That Chaser being used like the main enemy here was great I definitely feel this is the end of the Mashin Chaser arc before he becomes Kamen Rider Chaser. Kyu finding out the Roidmudes' core thing with the internet was cool and I loved Gen learning about Mach and Drive that was a lot of fun. I love the cast a lot and I love so much about this show.

I thought this was a pretty good episode. We got some character development, it looks like Chase's arc is going somewhere and Gou isn't just being goofball comedy relief in this episode.


But I gotta say. Damn, does this show have way too many plot conveniences and they're all so lazily done....I mean, there was no finesse with introducing Type Formula, it literally comes out of nowhere with zero build up. I hate to compare this to Gaim, but Kouta getting Kachidoki was a pretty big friggin' deal. With Drive, it's just like "We're about to die! Oh wait a minute, I have this brand new shift car that I was developing in secrecy that I never even hinted at before and it just so happens to have the capability to fight against Chase's new power!"

Ugh.

Wow... just wow. The freakin Shift Car comes out of nowhere? Again?!

Bullshit! Man they don't care with this show at all, might as well make a complete commercial out of it. Especially after the last episode which was pretty good, this one is just lame and essentially build-up for next week, and I don't think it will actually be worth a whole episode of set-up.

This episode could have been a really great one but had so much that dragged it down. The Type Formula thing was really just lame and uninspired. Would it have been so hard showing Belt work on the Shift Car in the last two episodes or so? It really doesnt feel like something Sanjo would have written since he is always pretty good at intigrating the toys into his shows and give good explanations for why they are here. Formulas introduction is just lazy.

I also get the feeling this episode should have happened much earlier in the series. Most of this comes out of freakin nowhere and there really is no reason why this couldnt have happened six episodes ago.

And pretty much my biggest complaint is the whole thing with Otta seeing the Riders for the first time which is complete and utter bullshit. Not just did all of them know already how Mach looked like since Gou showed them pictures of him but Otta saw both of them and Chaser only two episodes ago. He was there when they fought each other and clearly saw them.

Wow, this episode has so much potential but people seems to not like it, so let's have a little discussion here ;)

I think besides the Formula Shift Car appear suddenly, the rest is quite good. The action is okay, enemy side's finally active. Besides, the show never show us how Shift Cars are made, from beginning to now it just "Here's a new Shift Car, Shinnosuke use it. Here's a new Type body already, Shinnosuke can't use it properly" so this episode changed that way quite a bit.

I would have to agree with you there Kiwami, this super being a toy commercial at this point.

Although I felt there was some good points to this episode I really do feel off with the biggest tease of a form in drive.

Here is hoping that the chase plot is resolved next episode we can potentially get kamen rider Chaser.

I am really loving the set up for the weekend

I don't think any other Rider season I've watched has been that much of a tease with the next form. That was just uncalled for.

For the most part, I thought this was a really good episode. It felt like the show was definitely upping the stakes this week, both in terms of Chase's upgrades and the Roidmudes plan to go all-in on destroying Drive and Mach. The fights really felt important this time, especially when both Riders found themselves needing Dead Heat at the same time. I think the episode really built to a good climax, especially with the mystery of what Brain did to Chase and how it could interfere with the battle against Drive. But then...

This. Just... this. :(

To be fair, from what I've seen of Drive so far (only started watching when they introduced Mach, I've been undeniably prejudice against this show before because of reasons...mostly fatigue), isn't Krim's thing being a secretive bastard who only tells Shinnouske things when he feels it's necessary? Sure, it's still bullshit to only summon it after Gou had to give up Deadheat to help them, leaving Gou at the mercy of Heart and Medic, but at least it's kinda keeping a theme going? Maybe. I'm grabbing at straws here.

He can be secretive, but even Type Wild and Type Technique had some sort of build up. If we hadn't known about Type Formula from magazine scans, then we wouldn't have found out until the very moment Shinnosuke gets it.

I think this is the first time Krim just outright introduces a helpful piece of weaponry mid-fight like that.

And even Type Dead Heat got proper build up during its introduction. We saw it earlier in that episode and then it got used later.

Formula just shows up out of absolutely nowhere.

I actually think that maybe the formula reveal would have been better if it was completely out of nowhere, and no one not even Steinbelt knew about before hand.

I think the one thing I got out of this episode is that it made me actually LIKE Gou.

I would wholeheartedly agree that how they've introduced not just Type Formula, but most of the power ups have been just sloppy writing.

I also had a thought during/after watching. I get that supposedly Shinosuke is supposed to be a 'gear head', but we really don't get that sensation at all from anything out of the Drive universe save for just some references. I mean, he's a cop. Character wise, he doesn't seem like it if the shift cars weren't there. It's like they just slammed together W with Carranger.

I'm not mad, it's just an observation. Obviously the whole point is to sell toys. And fish sausage.

Also, it's official. Chase is the Mary Sue of KR Drive. Please put us out of our misery and either make him a good guy, or just leave him out and give us more Medic. Or perhaps make Heart something more than a Japanese Elton John that hulks out.

It's possible we get a. If backstory on Formula but in the a second half of this arc. Not better but forced by the two part format

For me that really wouldnt change anything about it honestly. The Shift Car still comes out of absolutely nowhere, was never hinted at and had absolutely zero build up in the episode. Telling the audience afterwards how Steinbelt build that thing isnt really going to do anything to change that.

I liked this episode and thank god that chaser finally was kicking ass and that heart fought again. The only real downside that I saw was type formula not being hinted at all then being shown in the end but if you think about it krim was hiding it from shinosuke so it's understandable.

The only thing that would make this better for me would be an episode that tells us how Steinbelt invents/builds the Shift Cars and shows us... something. Something that makes me believe it actually was a good choice to work on them in secret and don't tell anyone about them until it was absolutely necessary. But I don't feel like the show could deliver this.

And what makes this even more annoying is that it wouldnt have been all that hard to build up Formula and still have the same payoff we got this episode. Just have Steinbelt earlier in the episode when they are in the Drive Pit say that to destroy Chase and the other Roidmudes Shinnosuke has someday to become more powerful. Then just have Steinbelt look to the side and show Shift Formula hiding under one of the benches but never fully reveal it.

There done. We know that Steinbelt is working on something and when he tells Shinnosuke about it during the fight against Chase it doesnt completely come out of freaking nowhere.

It's incredibly lazy writing. This is pretty much the same way Kiva handled new power-ups and that is never something you want said about your show.

The only thing that would make this somewhat okay for me is if Kaixa would just drive up on his Bike and throws the new Shift Car against Shinnosukes head :lol

The worst part about it to me, and I didn't even realize this until AgileSiamang7 brought it up, is that Krim pretty much had Gou give up the only thing he possesses that is even remotely capable of taking on Heart and Medic for absolutely no reason. Forget secrecy, you have two guys right now that can potentially lose their lives just because you decided to not tell anybody what's going on.

And the set-up was all there. They had the opportunity to have Shinnosuke make a tough moral decision. They could have said Type Formula has the ability to destroy Mashin Chaser and Shinnosuke has to decide whether or not he's prepared to this. He takes Type Formula, but can't do it, which has Chase question why he won't kill him when he had the chance. That would have been great development for both Shinnosuke and Chase and would have worked perfectly considering Krim suggested for him to do this. But nope, they just opted for the transparent toy commercial method.

?

Neither Belt-San nor Shinnosuke know who Gou is fighting, they only knew Mach was using Dead Heat. You could argue that it must have been a strong enemy because he used Dead Heat, and that Medic was around since Chase said "Medic set the stage for us" but they didn’t knew he was against two generals and for all they know, Mach could have won the fight and send Dead Heat after he didn’t need it anymore.

At least that's the impression I'm getting from all of this.

Yeah, they didn't know he was fighting Heart as well. But even still they got their asses handed to them the last time they fought Medic, and that was together. Yeah Dead Heat is more powerful than either form they were in at the time but still.

Well technically Steinbelt can connect to the "Body Shift Cars" and see through them so he should have been able to see who Mach was fighting at that time.

Do you guys think chase will die in the next episode?
Hope not

Considering we will get Kamen Rider Chaser in April I doubt that.

I dislike the fact that in the preview they use the phrase the final confrontation between chase and drive when there are already toy stuff hinting towards Kamen rider chaser.

Although this could mean the last time they fight with Chase in his current form.

Well it would be there final Battle since the way this show is handling the term Kamen Rider once Chase turns into one hes going to be one of the good guys.

Makes sense with that.

Even though it pains me to say it, I think that the Break gunner is going to be destroyed as they need to facilitate the use of mach driver for chase.

So hes gonna be proto drive again

Nah he's gonna be Kamen Rider Chase, an entire new rider.

Actually Scans show him just being called Kamen Rider Chaser. That, and said Scans show a different shaped head from Proto-Drive in his silhouette.

Hope in the next episode, the fight between Drive & Chaser will finally end!

When that happens, I wanna see Chase be placed in stasis and maybe be sent to Harley to fix him into his original programming.

I sure wish for another Roidmude general after Medic right now.

I really hope that all of this makes Krim reconsider keeping so many secrets. Maybe he will come to a realization that it almost got both of his Riders killed. I feel like that's the only way to justify his stupidity in this episode. By turning it into a plot point towards his character development.