So here we are once more with another Rider show to watch, recap, and review.  We are coming off the well received and financially successful.  So how does this first episode of Kamen Rider Drive do. Let's find out with episode one "Why Did Time Stop For Me?".  We begin with a recap of the events of the Global Freeze. This is when the Roimudes invaded and started to destroy various cities while time is moving very slowly for the people while the monsters are able to move around normally.  While this is happening our future Rider Shinnosuke Tomari and his partner Akira Hayase are trying to apprehend a couple of criminals.  When the global freeze happens Tomari accidently hits a group of gas tanks that send his partner flying to the ground from a elevated walkway.  The slowdown prevents him from saving his partner from being hit by several metal I-beams.  His partner is injured if not dead by this and we hear from the narrator, Tomari, that his soul was shattered by this event and somebody was out their fighting off the invading force.  We see the Shift Cars, small Hot Wheels like cars, take the fight to the monsters on tracks that appear in front of the little guys.  They manage to destroy multiple monsters before the arrival of their commander Kamen Rider Drive.  

          From here we get the opening where we get a look at The Special Crimes Unit that Drive is a part of, the main villains for now Heart, Brain, and Chase, and Drive's vehicle the Tridoron, a heavily modified Honda NSX-T.  It is nice even though it doesn't seem to hint at anything to come in the series.  The song "Surprise-Drive" is sung by Kamen Rider Eternal himself Mitsuru Matsuoka which is a neat thing to know and the song itself is good and I want to hear the full version when it comes out.  Back to the show proper we pick up six months later where Tomari is driving around town in the Tridoron while explaining how people are afraid of "Slowdown" the name of the effect the Roimudes do on their victims.  He himself seems a bit stuck in the mud as he says and is relaxing on a hill when Kiriko Shijima comes by to arrest him and bring him since his is flaking on his job as a cop.  Tomari tries to run away but gets a boot to the head for his trouble and is brought in so they can get to work.  We soon meet the rest of the S.C.U. as I will shorten it to since that is common among government organizations to use three letter names.  We get Honganji Jun, their chief and a bit of a horoscope fan, Saijou Kyu, their network specialist and the "nerd" of the group, and Sawagami Rinna, the scientist of the group.  We then get a break down of the case they will be a part of much to the dismay of the chief.  Multiple attempted murders have happened over the past week with the Density Shift effect, aka Slowdown, reported to be related to the incidents.  They are being brought in since they deal with this kind of thing and Lieutenant Genpachiro Otta will be their liaison for the investigation.  Tomari doesn't find this choice good since it will make their already wired reputation even worse.  Back at the car he thinks this may be what lets him move on but he is done thinking about it, his catchphrase much like Kouta's "this is my stage now".  A mysterious voice asks him if he is ready to move on and become a warrior.  Tomari wonders who this person is and we find out this voice is responsible for him getting assigned to this unit and getting the car.  We cut away to see another Slowdown happen as a Roimude attack. 

          Back with Tomari we see him discover the voice come from the belt on the dashboard of the car which after removing it attaches itself to our hero.  I will call him Buckle from here on till he gets a official name.  Kiriko arrives to inform him of another attempted murder and they are heading to the scene.  Buckle decides to drive since Tomari wants to remove him from his waist first before heading off.  They arrive to Otta's dismay dressed in helmets with balls on them and other strange looking devices that somebody built in their garage.  They find the victim has turned a dull red color but he is still alive much like the other four.  Otta doesn't believe slowdown exists and leaves the pair to do whatever.  Tomari finds a piece of paper at the scene before a Roimude arrives to attack the police.  He is number 029 and attacks Tomari right off the bat.  As a note all Roimudes are identified by their number instead of having a name except for the leaders.  Buckle summons the three Shift Cars from earlier to fend off the monster and protect the police. 

          Back at HQ Rinna tries to get some info out of the Lieutenant with no results and Kyu tells the "team" that Slowdown denotes the coming of a monster.  Tomari brings in a composite rendering of the monster's human form and goes off to track him down.  Kiriko notes that he may be getting into gear since tightening his tie means he is serious for realizes I guess.  As he runs around town tacking him down we learn he doesn't trust other peoples driving and the suspect has changed hair style and body size since the photo he has been shown.  The monster tracks down another victim that knows him and begins his attack.  Tomari tries to intervene but gets slowed down for his trouble.  Max Flare, one of the Shift Cars, arrives to give Tomari the ability to be unaffected by Slowdown.  Two more monsters arrive to keep Tomari occupied and start their own Slowdown overpowering the Shift Car's effect.  Tomari is nearly killed by Kiriko arrives to fend off the monsters with a few bullets and tell him to get into the fight.  She has a couple of Shift Cars herself to negate the Slowdown.  Shift Speed arrives with the Shift Brace to let Tomari henshin into Drive.  Tomari has a chance to find his old self and he henshins to fight to save the civilian, with that he becomes Drive Type Speed and fights the Roimudes.  "Surprise-Drive" plays in the background for part of this fight and gives the fight a little extra energy as Drive do his best.  Kiriko has to send in her Shift Cars, Funky Spike and Midnight Shadow, to help him out.  The Cars by him some breathing room to do a Tire Change.  This switches out the tire sash on Drive's suit and gives him new abilities.  He equips Max Flare to give his moves a fire effect.  Funky Spike is next with spiky projectiles and a Spike Bear Hug to destroy one of the monsters.  Midnight Shadow is next with energy shuriken and another Roimude goes down.  Drive activates his Rider Kick to finish off the final monster but the number 029 floats away unlike the other two who had their numbers destroyed, 042 and 088.  A ricocheting Kick with Tridoron assistance.  The civilian is returned to normal but another piece of paper is left behind.  Kiriko takes Tomari to the Drive Pit which will act as their base of operations from here on out.  They are secret even to the rest of the team and Tomari wonders if the point was to kill.  We end off with Heart giving what looks like a Shift Car to 029 since he isn't dead and this will give him a new body. 

          Drive opens with a solid episode that gets us introduced to the main cast and gives us some questions to ponder. Roimudes seem to have a two stage destruction with the monster surviving as long as the number form doesn't go boom.  Drive looks great and Tomari seems like smart guy who just needs to find his well drive to move forward once more.  We don't find out much more about anyone else on the S.C.U. team but that is fine since we have plenty of show to develop them.  The action was great and appropriately fast paced outside of the Tire Changes.  One does have to wonder who was Drive before Tomari since somebody was him six months ago.  Chase seemed like a certain choice since he was there six months ago but with news about the secondary rider hitting this past week it is uncertain just who is Chase or Proto-Drive as many people have called him.  This was a good episode overall and does set a great foundation for Drive to move forward with.  This show has a great start and I can only hope that it can only get better from here.  Next week the mystery continues as the three  leaders arrive and Drive is ready to drop the Hammer of Justice. 

          If you want to see the show for yourself check out Over-Time or TV-Nihon for subbed episodes every week or check out http://taima.tv/r/TokuNMecha for Super Hero Time, Ressha Sentai Toqger and Kamen Rider Drive, live at 6:30 p.m. EST on Saturday.  Join the discussion either in the comments or on the forums on the site and check out TGSR Saturdays at 9:00 p.m. EST for both me and my co host Rampant Epsilon as we discuss the show further.