Recap: Kamen Rider Drive, Episode 15 – When Will These Feelings Reach You?

>

Both Kiriko and Chase try to grasp the truth. It is too much for Chase and he reverts to his 000 Roidmude form. Belt-san explains that Ride Crosser is the technology used for fusing the Drive and Next Systems. There is no doubt Mashin Chaser was Proto-Drive.

Gou doesn’t care who he is. He attacks, but Kiriko wants him to stop. Chase reverts to his Grim Reaper Mashin Chaser form, punches a distracted Gou and hops on his bike to drive off.

Brain makes his exit as Gou unsuccessfully chases after Chase.

Belt-san admits to Kiriko that Shinnosuke and Gou knew Proto Drive’s identity. She asks if he can return to normal, but Belt-san doesn’t say. Gou, however, says it isn’t possible. Roidmudes are the enemies of humanity.

Kiriko says she would like to believe that there is still hope. Gou tells her to do whatever she wants. He drives off.

Kiriko tells Shinnosuke that humans and Roidmudes can understand each other and that she will prove that with this case. They return to Rira and update her, but she tells them she doesn’t need their protection anymore and she runs back to her apartment.

Kiriko has a clue, but Shinnosuke gets a call.

At the apartment, Rira digs out a picture of her and a man. “Have you always been watching over me?” She holds the picture to her heart when someone knocks at the door.

It is Kiriko, who asks directly if Rira knows who the monster is.

Shinnosuke meets Otta and he deduces from the blue-bodied injuries of the victims, the hooded figure must be the perp. Shinnosuke sees another tarot card in the cell, the Chariot card.

Gou arrives at Rira’s apartment, but the manager comes running to say Rira and Kiriko are gone! They decide to split up. As the manager runs, Gou takes out Turn and Stop Signal Bikes to help search, but they don’t seem like they could be of much help.

The hooded monster watches from above.

At a nearby park, Rira admits to Kiriko that she knows who the monster is. She explains that the man is her savior. Literally. He was a fortune teller who saved her when she was about to commit suicide by jumping into the ocean.

Over at the SID, the team tries figuring out the significance of the tarot cards. Being the fortune expert he is, Chief Jun recognizes the cards as being from Nikaidou Hiroki, a popular fortune teller. He disappeared a year ago.

Rira relates to Kiriko how her career had taken off. But while she and Hiroki were in love, Rira buried herself in her work and newfound popularity. Spending less time together, Rira thought maybe Hiroki fell out of love with her until she believed he was happy with someone else. But now she believes he has returned as the hooded man protecting her.

Rira insists on meeting the man, but her manager arrives and refuses. He forcibly grabs Rira by the hand. Kiriko tries to get him to ease up. Rira breaks free and runs, but the Heaviness arrives.

The hooded figure swoops in and slashes at the manager, turning him blue like Rira’s fan earlier. Kiriko aims her gun and Gou arrives.

Gou henshins and fights the hooded figure. Using the Turn Signal Bike, Gou manages to stop the hooded thing from escaping and deactivates the Gravity Shift.

But before Gou can deliver a finisher, Rira runs over and grabs his arms, allowing the hooded figure to escape.

Shinnosuke arrives and they find another tarot card: The Heirophant. Rira says it means “meddling.” Rira insists on meeting with the hooded figure, maybe Hiroki, face to face.

Kiriko has no problem with allowing her as she wants to use this opportunity to prove humans and monsters can understand each other.

“You’re still on that?” Gou asks. “You’re just confusing this Roidmude with Chase.”

Meanwhile, Brain is zapping at Chase. He says Chase is a defect like 096. But Heart stops him. Medic suggests they reset Chase once more. Brain says he already erased his memories, but Medic insists they try her method.

Heart gives her the go-ahead.

Across town, Shinnosuke and Kiriko go to Hiroki’s apartment and talk with the landlady. She tells them she saw how Rira’s manager order Hiroki to leave Rira. Which may explain why he disappeared.

Shinnosuke finds a key in the apartment. With Kyu’s help, they find it is a key to an apartment registered under Rira’s name. They go investigate and find a table of tarot cards. They assume this is where the Roidmude is staying.

Shinnosuke reads through a diary he has found and the shocking entry gets him into top gear.

Next morning, Shinnosuke, Kiriko, Gou and Rira meet by the seashore.

But it isn’t to let Rira meet the monster. Shinnosuke shows her the tarot cards they found from her previous apartment, though she doesn’t seem to remember it. Shinnosuke then shows her the diary.

In it is says “HIROKI KILLED.”

Rira’s memories come back. They were on this very pier. Hiroki breaks up with her and Rira will not have it. She tries to get over the fence to kill herself, but Hiroki tries to stop her. That results in Hiroki falling over the railing and dying.

Rira can’t believe it. Shinnosuke tries to get her to understand. She insists he is still alive, but Shinnosuke says that feeling is what has created the monster in the first place.

096 assumed her body and took her memories. Rira is beside herself.

Suddenly, a Gravity Shift. The hooded figure has arrived. But it isn’t a man. It is 096 in the body of Rira.

096 goes to its Roidmude form while both Shinnosuke and Gou henshin.

They fight. Gou tag teams with his Shin-niisan to finish off 096.

Kiriko walks over to the guys, but Chase appears. With glowing purple eyes.

It seems Chase has been reset by Medic as he is now more robotic and is back as the Kamen Rider Grim Reaper. He henshins.

Shinnosuke and Gou are both overpowered by Chase. Kiriko yells over to him and tries to get him to snap out of it. She tries to get him to remember how he saved her.

But both Medic and Brain arrive. Brain tells Chase to kill Kiriko. He points at her, Gou yells to stop. Chase shoots at Gou and Shinnosuke dashes over to Kiriko.

Gou charges toward Chase.

Brain transforms into his Roidmude form and helps Chase beat up Gou. Shinnosuke hurries to help.

Shinnosuke tries to use a new Shift Car, but is not feeling so hot right now. He drops the Shift Car, but Gou grabs it.

Gou uses it to send Burn Ups to Brain. Medic quickly whisks him and Chase away.

Gou again tries to convince his sister to give up on Chase. There is no way Roidmudes and humans can understand each other. Kiriko doesn’t listen and finishes picking up Rira’s things.

She walks over and tells Rira that there was one card missing from the deck. Hiroki probably had that missing card and that card revealed his true feelings. The World card, which means everlasting love.

Rira is surprised. Kiriko takes her by the arms and shakes her. Why did Rira give up on him?! Why did she not believe him till the very end? “He’s the most important person to you!”

Rira refuses to believe it, out of guilt.

Watching, Shinnosuke tells Gou that Kiriko will not be changing her mind any time soon.

Episode Thoughts

Ooo! Very interesting.

I am intrigued by this Kiriko-Chase connection. She seems legit concerned about him. Before, it seemed like it was a mix of her crushin’ on the guy that saved her and just owing her life to this hero. Now, especially after this last scene, it seems like Kiriko and Chase are some destined couple. She’ll turn him human again or if he’s a Roidmude forever, she’ll find a way to change him. She believes in him, you know.

Very intriguing. Good extra layer with Gou’s objections as well.

We got a little bit more on the Roidmude idol group dynamics, but I really want to see more development between and from them.

The resolution to the case of the week was interesting too. She basically killed her boyfriend. Ouch.

Solid episode with a few more quirky Drive moments too.

5 thoughts on “Recap: Kamen Rider Drive, Episode 15 – When Will These Feelings Reach You?

  1. Okay, so we are pretty much into the “Chase is brainwashed” arc. I wonder for how long will it last before that point where Chase finally breaks free of the Roimude idol group’s control and unlocks his Rider form (heh, we all know it’s coming, and when is pretty much the only question). Though I kinda noticed that the trade-off is that Shinosuke seems to be getting little character development this past few episodes.

    1. Yeah, especially with Gou’s intro and now Chase+Kiriko, Shinnosuke will probably take a back seat (oho!) for a while. Now that you mention it, I wonder where he can go from here now in terms of story.

      1. I guess that is where that possible twist of Shinosuke himself turning out to be a roimude might come in. It would turn his character upside down in the same way Chase’ character got flipped over his feet after the reveal that he is Proto-Drive.

          1. Haven’t watched it yet, but I think episode 0 is canon, considering that it gives a glimpse of Chase’s time as Proto-Drive (now that we know that he is Proto-Drive). So we might as well consider what happens to Shinosuke’s character in that episode as canon.

Share your thoughts!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Back to top