You I do like that the internet exists, it has connected us for better or worse, allowed for a quicker collection of information, and has allowed for other kinds of entertainment and creators to rise outside of the normal avenues. But of course it has its downside, it feels like if you go against the grain of certain ideas you find yourself being a pariah for it, information could be miscontrued, and those new means of entertainment, can make watching certain shows a bit of a pain. Kamen rider as most toku's has had a variety of specials throughout its life like most toei toku's and by the gods this was the first season I watched where there was tons of extra content in regards to specials outside of the show, the most prolific was the Secret missions a group of specials that all led up... sort of to secret mission type tokujo, I say sort of because the last part of the puzzle type lupin actually released after the big reveal of the answer sooo, oops. But Type Tokujo is also a notable first for certain creator, the 4 part mini series marked the first time that Yuya takahashi, the man who would helm the entirety of Kamen rider Ex-aid and be the head writer of reiwa's first series Zero-one, got his start in rider with this special. The other notable special I wanted to talk about with this actually came out long after drive had finished his drive on telvesion (hah, hah, ah I am hilarious.) Kamen rider Brain, which saw our resident villainous butt monkey become the hero of his own two part story. We have a lot to talk about so let's get reading.
TYPE HIGH SPEED
A drive for more refine taste
The drive crew faces their greatest threat yet, piracy, a roidmude has been making fake copies of the popular Televi-kun magazines (the monster,) and if that was not bad enough he has even copied drive and even taken his own equipment and partner to attack him. With this great crisis on their hands, so in order to destroy this complete monster who preys on innocent children, drive must make him stand out even further in order to deal with this threat.
Like with the previous specials, High speed is short but it has a lot of fun with what it has to offer, its short but it does well with the concept as the fake drive ends up ruining the heroes reputation. I like the high speed form as this gaudy form and how its acted up in order to differentiate and how its just a paint job, it is arguably one of the funnier moments in drive when they realize that, all in all a simple story done well. High speed also just looks flatout amazing with that color schemes
SECRET MISSION TYPE TOKUJO
Go demanding an answer to who ate his sandwich
When Go wonders how the members of the Special investigation unit were chosen, Mr. belt tells them the answer to this question lies in an old case, the death of Professor Masahiko Odagiri, this case will delve into the past regarding Krim and the first introduction of Professor Banno.
This special helps to give out a lot more backstory on the other SIU members besides the main group, with a lot going towards Kyu and his past, its nothing major, just how they ended up here in this place. The mystery is fairly solid all things considered, their are numerous threads to follow that feel they could go somewhere without feeling like some specific red herring. It is a bit light on the action for some but I feel it works here in comparison to the other specials, as it does give time to expand on its mystery rather than just a singular short episode and fight. I also feel that is arguably the midpoint of the seasons, considering where drive would go following this special and what it brings up, while not fully setting up what would follow, stuff like Banno's introduction to Brain's ascension back to being a threat rather than the butt monkey of the group are examples of what may come soon to the tv. By all account like the rest of the specials, its not a necessary watch, nothing about the special has a lasting effect on the series canon. But it is a solid mystery story that an have you guessing a bit throughout it.
TYPE LUPIN
Sayonara, Lupin
Following the end of Movie war full throttle, Lupin had been challenging Shinnosuke with numerous petty challenges much to his chagrin, and has recieved his latest challenge and finds that it is far more dangerous compared to his other challenges.
As a final send off to Kamen rider lupin, this special does well in giving the character a send off, I do wish we were given more besides a sendoff special and the fact that it had to fit in to the whole type tokujo thing, even though this special came out after that. But it is nice to see the lupin outfit one last time (Seriously so much effort into one suit that only has two outings, so disappointing.) And seeing them now fighting on the same side is quite interesting. Honestly, the last moments of Lupin are actually a little sad, even if he didn't get a lot of time in the sun, but it felt like he had been more of a character than most movie exclusive characters, he actually had a personality, motivations, and a tragedy behind, it just made me wish we got more of him besides full throttle and type lupin.
KAMEN RIDER BRAIN
April fools now brought to life
At an unknown location, Brain awakens to find himself back in his body and tied to a table, the organization that has captured him goes by the name of Mu, an organization that intends to make use of Brain's... Brain to assist them in conquering the world, but as these evil organization's go, theirs's one scientist who has a change of mind about it and in this case it is Crystal pepsi... I mean Crystal Peppler. Peppler helps brain escape. Also Mu clearly didn't study the evil organizations of the past they give him the transformation ability before his conversion and now Brain has become Kamen Rider...Brain (Must've thought really hard about that.) Now Brain stands against Mu and the amalgimation of past monsters and evil riders in order to become a true hero.
Let's get this first thing out of the way, Shota Matsushima's reprisal of Brain is arguably the best part, playing up the comedy in this short nd he is clearly enjoying what he is doing, that also goes for the returning Chris Peppler who is capable of giving some more to do as he is not just acting for a talking belt, if their is any reason to watch this comedy, they make it fully worth it. But their in lies the specials strength and weakness, its entirely a comedy, so your enjoyment is going to come from whether or not you find most of Brain funny, and its a 50/50 split on what jokes I enjoyed and what I didn't enjoy. Again what I find funny may be different so your mileage will vary, since the special does a lot of showa parody, some jokes will fly over many heads because of that.
Also for drive fans who are hoping for a contunation of plot points brought up by Kamen rider Heart&Mach, this is entirely a fluff piece, nothing of major importance does happen here outside of the ending which does tease a continuation of the story (Go would play a role in Zi-o summer movie Over quartzer, but that's continuity is rather inconclusive, and the drive arc didn't appearently have much outside of Chase showing up doesn't have much of the drive cast showing up.) So for those who want something expansive then this may not be for you
Lastly in terms of aesthetics, I think Brain's rider form looks great, like with heart their are clear nods to his roidmude form, from the cape to how the top of the helmet looks like a brain, it looks really great for a retool, as with one of these specials we do get a couple of old evil riders with classic favorite suits like dark kiva and Duke, to new one's like Dark ghost and Another Para DX. to the outright bizarre choices like Kamen rider poseidon, because this was clearly one that was missed. Kind of wish the selection was a bit more off the wall, it feels like it could've been a lot of the evil genius riders could've been used rather than just personal favorites.
All in all, Brain is perfectly fine like most of the other specials, its focus on comedy may turn off those who prefer the darker elements of Drive and it really is just the comedy in this special. Of these, well I would reccomend all of them since in the case of Tokujo you kind of have to watch the others to get a potential idea of the answer (even though you couldn't get the full answer until after the main dish) And Brain is just a fun watch just for Shota and Chris's performance. But above all else, it gives hope to all potential april fool's jokes that they too shall rise to the level's of Brain.
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