A difficult case faces the team this week and Otta has a personal connection to it.  Let's see how they fare in episode 18 "Why did Lt. Otta chase him?".  We start with a group of extortionists being attacked by an unknown Roidmude calling himself Judge.  A TV Report drops some exposition about other attacks and Rinna seems a bit too happy that her gear was on camera.  With the Chief still out and Kyu taking time off as well Gou has to be the tech expert this week as he tells the team about a revenge request website called Judge Time.  The people being attacked have a lot of request directed at them through the site and Otta seems to know a bit more and heads off after declaring he will solve the case.

          We cut to Otta visiting his old mentor Tachibana Shingo.  He informs Shingo about the current case and Judge's return.  Shingo whishes him the best in his investigation since he is retired.  Tomari after following Otta gets a free drink and a lot of flashbacks for his trouble.  Otta tells him about how five years ago Judge was assaulting people by request.  Everything is the same as it is now except for the whole Roidmude situation.  Shingo and Otta were on the case and were close to an arrest but the suicide of their main suspect and a written confession closed the case.  Shingo believed that the culprit was still out there but without any evidence to back it up and two years later Shingo retired.  Otta is willing t bet his career on this case because if he cannot solve it he will quit the force.

          Back at the station the team figures out the next two targets Tenkawa Angel Real Estate, land sharks, and Black Candle, a local gang.  Gou looks into the Black Candles but only finds them beating up a civilian which he heads in to help the poor guy. Tomari and Otta manage to be on scene when Judge attacks but the Roidmude is quick to knock out Otta with his taser  gauntlets and Tomari transforms to engage Judge.  He proves to be a bit too much for Tomari and with a few tricks with his Kendo stick the Roidmude heads off in a hurry since his job is done.  Gou makes a new friend in the form of the civilian who persuades him to participate in a video series about being a hero. Gou only agrees to this after being chewed out by Kiriko who arrives a bit too late.  Colorful Commercial is sent to keep an eye on Gou.  At the station the team regroups and with Rinna making a new backpack and electrical resistant vest will give Otta the chance to enter the fight kind of.

          Meanwhile Gou repeats his catchphrase for the cameras which totally doesn't give away his identity.  Neither will the spontaneously composting subway that passed nearby.  Back to more important things we find out that the man who took a nose dive off a bridge had a few dying words. "His button" was all he could say and it lead Otta and Shingo on a hunt for the smoking button.  They then have a quick conversation with the man's sister Okajima Akie.  She says her brother would not commit suicide since he was not that kind of person and they were going to see a concert that day.  We get a quick look at somebody in a hood and Shingo as a message from Judge is read on a news program and we check in with Heart and crew as they decide to let Judge continue to operate since they need to learn of the emotions that he is acting on.

          The next day the team finds out about Black Candle challenging Judge to come to fight them.  They prep to head out but Gou beats them all there and is on scene to engage Judge as Mach.  Gou initially has the upper hand but Judge's swordsmanship is just too good for the daredevil.  The rest of the team arrives and Otta charges Judge but is quickly dispatched with a few well placed strikes.  This cause him to have a case of flashbackitis which knocks him out for a bit while Tomari goes to fight Judge in Type Speed form.  Even with Mach's help Judge is too strong for the pair and he easily overwhelms them until Tomari decides to give Dead Heat another try.  This evens things up a bit and sends the Roidmude back on his heels.  Chase soon arrives to break up the fight and gives Judge the opportunity to leave.  Otta soon finds out that Judge is Shingo or at the very least impersonating him.  We end the episode with Chase using the Ride Crosser to against the Riders and Gou charging Chase because that is the smart thing to do.

          This week gave Otta a chance to shine but I feel the bulk of his development is to come next week.  All this week was setting up the mystery and introducing all the faces involved.  That took up a lot of the episode and could leave some viewers felling that this did not have much too it.  For me it felt well enough although having the sister pop in this episode probably could have been held off till next week.  Judge showing himself as Shingo is not surprising but adds a new wrinkle to this case as one wonders why he has that identity.  Chase using the Ride Crosser was a nice moment but will probably be a short lived one as I am sure the situation will be resolved in the first five minutes of the next episode.  Overall this was a good episode, that while not one of the better episodes of this show does set up next week's episode to be one.  Speaking of next week as the Ride Crosser goes one on one with the Tridoron, Chief returns from his vacation, and Tomari attempts to unravel this complex web that has been weaved for five years.

          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 as we discuss the show further.