Continuing his quest to bring Chase back, Gou visits Rinna at a secret lab in the United States where she introduces him to Hypnos, a being created by Professor Banno many years ago to help with his research. Though Gou is initially wary of him, Hypnos believes he can help restore Chase’s core by entering Gou’s dreams to collect traces of Chase’s radio waves which will help in restoring him.
After some reluctance, Gou agrees to the procedure and enters a dream world created by Hypnos. Still able to communicate with Hypnos while he works in the background, Gou is surprised to find himself on what he considers a date with Chase. They enjoy a theme park, go to the movies and enjoy some purr-purr ice cream. Hypnos explains that this is all a manifestation of his deepest desires.
Gou thinks the idea of a date with Chase is absurd, but accepts that it’s all part of him just wanting to bring him back. While enjoying their ice cream, Chase admits he has feelings for Kiriko and asks who she might like. Gou doesn’t want to hear about it. But also understands that he cares about Chase and perhaps once he is able to revive him, he will treat him more like a human instead of a Roidmude.
Just then, explosions can be heard nearby. They are shocked to see Banno rampaging. Hypnos does not know why this is happening either, but he is able to help Gou and Chase henshin. They battle Banno until he summons hundreds of Roidmudes to attack.
Gou and Chase are forced to dehenshin. But Gou can no longer contact Hypnos. Rinna is able to connect through to him and relays that his physical body is now injured and in pain in addition to losing communication with Hypnos. She does not know how to pull him back out of the dream world.
Gou tells Rinna about Banno before they are suddenly transported to a new dream. They find themselves in a forest where Hypnos returns, saying he had to reboot to get out of the dream and reset. Rinna tells Hypnos to let Gou wake up. But Hypnos has lost control of the system controlling Gou’s state and does not know why.
Hypnos updates that he has recovered 68% of Chase’s waves and can now carry him through Gou’s dreams. Gou suspects that Banno may have prepared this exact scenario in order to use Hypnos to resurrect himself. Hypnos assures Gou that he has good intentions, but Gou says it is entirely possibly Banno was able to manipulate his system in some way.
Hypnos apologizes, but Gou says he does not have to. He trusts in Hypnos.
Gou tells Rinna that he will get himself out of this dream and asks her to bring him the 13th volume of Almost Goddess manga.
Banno finds them and twists Hypnos to his whim, Hypnos asks why Banno would be so cruel as to create Roidmudes with human features and make them suffer through his experiments. Banno is angered by his creations, Roidmudes and a mere AI like Hypnos, having the gall to defy him when they are supposed to be his tools.
Banno thanks Hypnos for bringing them all to this point and then proceeds to delete him.
Gou says he trembled a bit after Banno was destroyed, but he also realized that some people do not deserve grace and Banno is one of those people. Banno just laughs and vows to kill Gou.
Gou protects Chase from Banno’s attack, remembering what happened when Chase died for him. Gou tells Chase how distraught he was after that moment. It was the first time he ever cried that loudly.
“You cried for me?” Chase asks.
Gou says he won’t let Chase sacrifice himself for his sake, even in a dream. Gou vows the two of them will fight and survive.
Banno transports them all to hell using Hypnos’ power he absorbed. He continues to taunt Gou and explains how the program to resurrect him was always part of Hypnos from the beginning. He backed himself up just like Krim Steinbelt. And Hypnos’ every move was unwittingly all according to Banno’s keikaku.
Gou just laughs at Banno being an “arrogant idiot”. He and Chase are able to henshin as Hypnos returns. Rinna was able to delete Banno’s recovery program and bright Hypnos back.
Gou had figured out Banno’s plan from the start and was able to relay this to Rinna using the manga’s plot. Hypnos thanks Gou for believing in him. Gou says they both just have horrible parents.
Hypnos helps Gou and Chase combine into one body: Kamen Rider Chaser Mach. And together, they are able to destroy Banno for good.
Hypnos disconnects Gou and Chase and says Gou can wake up now.
Before waking up, Gou has Hypnos bring him and Chase to the river. They reminisce about what happened that day when Chase hit him and they almost lost Shinnosuke. Gou says he realized Chase was a true Kamen Rider then.
Gou tells Chase that Kiriko and Shinnosuke married and they’ve become a family. Gou credits Chase for making that happen after he beat him that day. Chase says he is happy for them.
Gou tries to tell Chase that he is his best… “I’ll say these words to the real one.” Chase says he should.
Hypnos wakes Gou up as Chase says farewell with a hope they meet in real life.
Gou wakes up and Hypnos thanks him for his life. Hypnos says he will analyze Chase’s data now. He believes thanks to the intervention of Banno, they will be able to proceed the right way.
Hypnos notices Gou is sad. Gou says he’s just very tired and asks to sleep for five minutes.
Rinna laughs and says maybe Gou will meet Chase again. Hypnos wishes Gou “sweet dreams”.
Drama Thoughts
With Nitiasa taking the week off, I decided to check out something I didn’t even know existed until a week or two ago. And it is this CD drama of Kamen Rider Drive! And it was also because I stumbled upon a discussion saying it was confirmation that Gou was gay and in love with Chase. What?!?! Lol
I mean, I obviously witnessed the bromance evolve in real time back in 2014-2015. (2014-2015?!?!?!?!) And since then, I know Gou’s been finding a way to bring him back.
But in watching… I mean, listening! to this drama, it was fun and brings back positive memories of Drive. Which is interesting because at that time, Drive was a disappointment for me. I felt like it missed so much potential and dropped the ball a lot. But little did I know that in the coming years, I would have to suffer (strong word, but properly descriptive lol) through other lesser seasons of Kamen Rider. lol
Anyway, apparently the fact that Gou, deep down in his mind (and heart?!) desires going on cute dates with Chase is confirmation that he has feelings in more than just a bromantic way. Not to mention becoming one body in his dreams. Lol And that’s cool if that’s really the case. It’s fun and it can definitely be a bit of fanservice.
But the drama itself I think had all the best parts of the season. Kind of taking the idea of Banno’s insanity and “What makes someone human?” discussion in a succinct and clear one-hour story. Focusing on Gou and Chase is also great as it perfectly encapsulates what should have been the development for our Roidmude idols. That journey to becoming human and feelings and emotions and all that.
Gou and Chase’s relationship was a good evolution to depict that kind of story. And this CD drama was able to not necessarily offer anything new, but be a nice way to remember the season itself.
It was also very interesting to listen to the drama instead of watching it. Though of course me having to read subtitles, I still had to “watch” in a way lol
Overall, it was a fun drama special that captures the best of the season itself. And I’m glad to have been alerted to it this past few weeks.