Drive 07 discussion post

[zaluzianskya]

Episode 7 is out! You can find Over-Time's subs here.

We get to learn more about how Roidmudes work, which is cool. The mechanic of copying forms and memories is reminiscent of the Worms in Kabuto, except apparently Roidmudes have to kill their target to copy them.

There's more of Tomari and Hayase too, and Kiriko gets a Big Damn Heroes moment.

Comments

[falkner]

Okay, crazy theory time, but my first thought after watching the episode was what if Kiriko is confident in putting herself in front of Shinnosuke to protect him because she knows Chase can't kill her, because she's actually a roidmude? The real Kiriko perhaps did end up dying during Global Freeze, and her being a roidmude is one of the reasons she can't be Drive. Also, Brain nicely explained to us this very episode that roidmudes do copy all of their target's memories as well to stabilize themselves, so that's why she still reacted that way with the painter roidmude.

And that scene with the flowers kind of confused me, did Kiriko want to visit Hayase as well but Shinnosuke told her it's better she doesn't? Do we even know if she knew or not Hayase before the accident?

[zaluzianskya]

I've seen some speculation that Kiriko is a Roidmude, which could work if only humans can be Drive! On the other hand, Chase is apparently using tech based on Proto-Drive, and... is he actually a Roidmude? Come to think of it, I don't think that's been 100% confirmed. But there are differences between Drive and Proto-Drive, and that could be one of them.

Then again, I could see Kiriko jumping in front of Shinnosuke like she did even if she is human.

Yeah, I'm not sure what's going on with the flowers and why she's so upset with Shinnosuke. I guess we'll find out. (Speaking of finding out, I'm sure I read some kind of interview somewhere that said Drive was only going to have single-episode arcs, but the entire series so far has been using the standard Neo-Heisei two-episode arc format. Not complaining since I don't think it's a problem, but the contradictory information is confusing...)

[falkner]

Didn't one of the early Drive interviews specify Chase isn't an actual roidmude? I believe what was mentioned is that he's an android. Both Toei's website and TV Asahi's website seem to support this by listing him separately from the roidmudes.

And even if I think Kiriko would try to protect Shinnosuke, the current situation is pretty much her jumping to certain death followed by Chase simply attacking Shinnosuke again. I don't think Kiriko is that stupid. Or maybe yes. Why isn't next week already, I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS )o)

[zaluzianskya]

I don't think I saw that interview! That would make sense since he hasn't actually been seen in a Roidmude form.

Hm, if Kiriko is a Roidmude then it's true Chase couldn't kill her, but he could still turn her back into a Viral Core, right? In which case there wouldn't really be a lot she could do. (Tire Koukan: Type Kiriko!)

[reka]

And as a friend of mine keeps saying, Chase also has a transformation item.

Turning a Roimude back to Viral Core is kind of an identity death, so even if Kiriko's a Roimude her life is still kind of on the line.

I don't think it's that she's a Roimude, but I don't have any evidence to say either way.

[g_uava]

As of the episode featuring Kiriko's backstory, I'm going back and forth on the 'Kiriko is a Roidmude' theory.

Mr Belt has stated that "Kamen Rider" is what the Roidmudes call their enemy and if ProtoDrive is really an enemy of the Roidmudes, that would raise more questions as to why ProtoDrive would rescue Kiriko. It is possible that Kiriko became a Roidmude after encoungering the painter Roidmude but that would be super convoluted.

On a related note, my initial theory was that Mr Belt and Kiriko are renegade Roidmudes. However, when rewatching the flashback when Mr Belt was still a human, Heart is the one who was sent to kill him and not Chase the Roidmude hitman. The key to what Mr Belt and Kiriko are should lie in the backstory of how they formed their alliance, information which Shinnosuke could have probbed them further for in these episodes.

As for whether Kiriko knew Hayase, I'm guessing that she does since she has a lot of information on Shinnosuke's activities and visiting his ex-partner should be one of them. I haven't read much speculation on Shinnosuke's past, but as of late I'm thinking that before the Global Freeze, Shinnosuke and Hayase could be an (in)famous duo in the force. Perhaps that's how Kiriko heard about their partnership, and why Shinnosuke is given a lot of leeway for his slacking.