[Jello]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Androzani84

Drive, Ex-Aid, Build, Zero-One: Our hero starts off being dropped into a setting that is already established to the characters in universe, the first few episodes focus on monster of the week action until one of the regular villains faces him down, a feat that takes two episodes and the acquire net of a new power to defeat. Eventually, the monster of the week format is phased out in favour of a recurring our opponent who beats the hero at every turn for several episodes on end. And when they do get put down, it’s not long before another recurring villain makes his appearance, or the defeat doesn’t last. All have secondaries who are turned against our heroes at some point. And most damningly of all, any themes the show might’ve had are tossed out near the end in favour of an “Ultimate Evil Rider” who wants to destroy the world or humanity for no apparent reason, with the emergence of the villain leading to the other villains getting redemption, no matter how unrepentant they were before. And the latter three end on a happy note, with everyone who died being brought back in some form. And all 4 then have post show content which spends as much time saying “our generic omnicidal maniac had SOME redeeming qualities”, no matter how out of place they seem considering their personalities.

...weirdly enough, I feel like Drive is the one that fits the least into this box. The monster-of-the-week was a thing up until like, the last ten episodes if I remember correctly. And Heart's V-cinema simply built on the softer side of him we saw throughout the show, especially in the last episode with his fight against Shinnosuke.

Gold Drive? I... ok, I'll give you that one. I think it worked better with the show's themes that the other three, though.

Also was Chase brought back? And Mach and Drive never fought.