Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Drive & Gaim: Movie War Full Throttle

Lore & Background

The final segment, Movie War Full Throttle, sees Gaim, Ryugen, Zangetsu Shin, and Drive confront an army of Inves and Roidmudes. ZZZ Megahex creates a copy of Kaito Kumon that fights alongside Megahex, not against him. With help from Heart, Brain, and Chaser, Drive and Gaim combine powers using the Shift Fruits Car and Drive Lockseed to become Drive Type Fruits and Gaim Drive Arms. They destroy ZZZ Megahex, then attack Planet Megahex's core in the Tridoron, destroying it and deactivating all creations. The film ends with Kota and Mai driving away in the Tridoron, and Lupin's consciousness surviving in a Bat Viral Core.

Reader's Guide

Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Drive & Gaim: Movie War Full Throttle is significant as a crossover event that bridges two concurrent Kamen Rider series, introducing Kamen Rider Mach and featuring a shared antagonist, Megahex. The film expands the lore of both series by connecting the Roidmude technology of Drive with the Helheim Forest and Lockseeds of Gaim, culminating in a combined power-up form. Its three-part structure allows each series' story to develop independently before converging, a hallmark of the Movie War tradition. The film also explores themes of identity and sacrifice, as characters like Mr. Belt and the Kureshima brothers face personal losses. For fans, it serves as a milestone in the franchise's annual crossover films, showcasing the collaborative storytelling and toyetic transformations that define the Kamen Rider Series.

Did You Know?

• The film introduces Kamen Rider Mach, the secondary rider of Kamen Rider Drive.
• Yūji Ayabe of the owarai duo guest stars as the antagonist Megahex.
• The film features a combined form called Drive Type Fruits and Gaim Drive Arms, achieved using the Shift Fruits Car and Drive Lockseed.
• Megahex is a hive mind from Planet Megahex, with its ship serving as a portal to the planet.

The Line Between Hero and Adversary

The Kamen Rider franchise has never settled on a single, airtight definition of what makes a Rider a Rider. In the 2023 entry Kamen Rider Gotchard, the in-universe text The Great Path of Alchemy traces the title back 120 years to the Alchemist of Daybreak, a figure who clashed with Malgams—beings born from broken alchemical rules—and whose legacy was passed to those whose hearts matched his kindness. Yet other voices in the franchise paint a broader picture: Riders as guardians of Earth's peace. Complicating matters further, many Riders from the Heisei era onward carry malicious intentions, prompting commentators like Shin-Ichiro Shirakura to argue that a Rider's true marker is the bond tying their power to the very villains they oppose. Kamen Rider Wizard formalized this through the Cross of Fire, though it acknowledged some Riders only weakly fit the theory. University of Tokyo scholar Haruka Tsutsui captured the tension perfectly, describing a Rider as a being perpetually straddling the boundary between monster and human, never fully at home in either camp. It is precisely this definitional friction that has, at times, pitted multiple heroic Riders against one another.

The Art of Transformation

Nearly every Kamen Rider, regardless of era or allegiance, shares a core toolkit of abilities. The act of shifting from civilian identity into armored Rider form is triggered by a Henshin Belt—sometimes called a Driver—often paired with a signature pose and the shouted command Henshin. Beyond the belt, Riders typically carry optional weapons and can cycle through multiple combat forms. Their primary mode of transportation is the Rider Machine, most commonly a motorcycle. The franchise's most recognizable finishing technique is the Rider Kick: a diving strike reserved for when an opponent has been worn down by earlier assaults, delivering enough force to detonate the target upon impact. What distinguishes the eras is how these mechanics evolved. Shōwa-era belts drew on wind energy and required the Rider to physically stimulate the belt's internal workings through poses, then leap into the air to complete the shift, often landing on elevated surfaces to preserve their secret identity. The Heisei and Reiwa generations, beginning with Kamen Rider Ryuki in 2002, replaced that physical ritual with external devices slotted into the belt, which announce their own names and transform the user automatically. Many later belts layer in jingles and melodic phrases, a design choice that has proven remarkably effective at driving toy-line sales.

Shōwa Roots and the Weight of Cybernetics

The Riders who debuted during Japan's Shōwa period—spanning from the franchise's 1971 launch through the era of creator Shotaro Ishinomori's 1998 passing—carry a distinct and often burdensome origin. With the notable exceptions of Kamen Riders X, Amazon, Super-1, and J, their enhanced abilities were implanted by the very malevolent organizations they would later oppose, applied through cybernetic surgery. The first ten of these figures, sometimes called the Ten Veteran Kamen Riders, initially turned to heroism as an act of vengeance for loved ones slain by their respective enemy factions, though Hayato Ichimonji, known as Rider 2, was the exception until his later battles alongside Hiroshi Tsukuba as Skyrider to avenge Neoshocker victims. Their transformation belts ran on wind energy, and the physical demands of the process—poses, jumps, landings on high ground—reflected a mechanical, almost industrial aesthetic. Over time, cybernetic upgrades granted them alternate forms. Yet the unwanted superhuman strength left them fundamentally at odds with ordinary society. As the original grudges faded, many Shōwa Riders developed a deep weariness toward the endless cycle of combat, finding themselves with no one left to avenge and no clear cause to fight for.

A New Era of Neutral Power

The Kamen Rider franchise paused after Kamen Rider Black RX wrapped in 1989, resuming only in 2000 with Kamen Rider Kuuga, two years after Shotaro Ishinomori's death. Since that revival, the series has run without further interruption, spanning both the Heisei and Reiwa periods of Japanese history. A significant philosophical shift underpins this modern run: driven by concerns over occupational discrimination and the increasing centrality of technology in everyday life, post-Shōwa Riders no longer receive their powers through cybernetic surgery. Instead, their abilities stem from mystical or technological sources that are inherently neutral—tools that can be wielded by heroes or villains alike. This neutrality has a direct narrative consequence: many of the lead antagonists in post-Shōwa seasons are themselves classified as Kamen Riders, blurring the line between protagonist and foe. The transformation process also evolved. Where Shōwa belts required wind energy and physical activation, the 2002 entry Kamen Rider Ryuki introduced external devices that, once inserted, speak their own names and trigger transformation without any pose or jump. Subsequent belts expanded on this with melodic phrases and jingles, a feature that has consistently boosted the commercial performance of associated toy products.