40 Years Of Henshins: A History Of Kamen Rider

ZeroVX · Sep 22, 2010

What can be said of the Kamen Rider series? Well, quite a bit actually. Chances are at least 90% of you viewing this thread have no clue what a Kamen Rider is. You may have a general impression from the picture above, but not a solid concept. The other 10% of you can probably guess, especially if you were a big fan of Power Rangers as a child and have a solid memory.

Yes, this series is connected to Power Rangers, or rather the series it was adapted from, the Super Sentai series, in that it's produced by the same company, Toei. Are they similar? Yes. To those not familiar with the series, it's basically Power Rangers, except in focuses on one central hero instead of five (usually), and there are no giant robots. Sadly. But it makes up for it with more martial arts battles and more serious characters and stories.

Now, that's not to say Power Rangers can't be serious at times. But even when the general plot is a serious one, like in In Space or Time Force, there's still an air of light-heartedness to it. It's repressed considerably in those series, but it's there. The same applies to its original series, Super Sentai, but that series is generally even goofier. And that's also not to say that Kamen Rider is always a serious, dark, story-driven series. Many of the later series have plenty of silly comedy moments, even with the more serious story arcs. Basically, it can either be a serious, dark, compelling story-based show, or a campy, cheesy, over-the-top show. Either way, it's entertaining.

At any rate, I decided that, since the 40th anniversary of the show will be taking place next year, I wanted to take some time to introduce many of you to the series. I'll be doing a basic synopsis of each show in chronological order, talking about each rider, their basic characters, the villains, what aspects of the show are introduced and/or altered, basically anything I think will be important. And don't worry, there aren't as many shows as Power Rangers or Super Sentai, so this won't be a fifty-page thread or anything like that. I'll also talk about the two American adaptations of the show, one of which you may remember, and the other you probably know nothing about.

Why Kamen Rider? I don't know. I've always been a fan of Power Rangers, I knew of Super Sentai because of it, and I also knew of Kamen Rider through Super Sentai. One day I just decided to get information on it, and here we are. I've become a big fan of the series, but I've always been into cheesy monster fights from Japan, so maybe it's just me. But who knows, maybe I'll get some of you into it as well. Hope to hear from you as I take you through 40 Years Of Henshins.

ZeroVX · Sep 23, 2010

The original Kamen Rider series first began in 1971, and it set the standard for just about every show that followed in not only the Kamen Rider series, but other, similar series as well, not the least of which Super Sentai and Ultraman. Weird outfits, silly poses, messily choreographed fights, and the monsters exploding after they're defeated. All that started here, but not right off the bat. But I'll explain that in a bit. First, the plot.

The story revolves around Takeshi Hongo, a college student who rides motorcycles in his spare time. He's challenged by a group of bikers to a race, but this turns out to be a trap, which lets him get captured by Shocker. Shocker is a terrorist group who, unsurprisingly, want to take over the world. They performed a ton of genetic experiments on their soldiers, with even their foot soldiers being stronger than the average human. But naturally, they also modified some of their members into monsters, who are essentially the main enemies that Kamen Rider faces. Their leader is called the Great Leader, who appears in one form or another throughout the Showa period.

After Shocker kidnaps Takeshi, they perform cybernetic experiments on him, hoping to turn him into their next big soldier. However, his college professor, Professor Midorikawa, who originally chose him for Shocker's experiments, has a change of heart and sets him free before he can be brainwashed, but he's still a cyborg. Before long, a spider monster find the two and kills Midorikawa. The monster then kidnaps his daughter, Ruriko, and Takeshi transforms into Kamen Rider and chases after him. The two eventually fight and Takeshi wins, destroying the first of many Shocker monsters.

A number of aspects of Kamen Rider were started here, so let's go over a few. The first two are in the name of the show. "Kamen" means "Masked" in Japanese, meaning all of the Riders have to cover their faces, and this is always the case. While normally the Rider covers their entire head, there are a few instances where the cover isn't complete. The other part is, obviously, Rider. The main Rider of the series typically rides around on a motorcycle, although there are some series that change this. Another aspect started here was the Rider's finishing move, a jumping kick to the monster called the "Rider Kick". Just about every series has at least one Rider who does some variation of this as a finishing move, though even the first series had other moves as finishers. Another part I'd like to mention is the scarf, which mainly existed in the Showa Era, but appeared later. This was probably just because it looked cool, and later Riders wouldn't use this as much. One other thing I should mention is the design of the mask for the Rider. The first few Riders would use insects as their design, and this is considered to be the traditional look for a Rider. Even when the design is based on a completely different concept, they will usually have big bug-eyes on it, I guess for more visibility.

Now, another part I should mention is the transformation sequence, referred to as "henshin" in the series. Those with a small understanding of the series know that this usually involves silly arm movements and jumping around, but strangely enough, the first few episodes of this series didn't have one. See, Takeshi wore a belt that was his transformation item, and it was wind-powered. Therefore, to activate his transformation, he would start the belt while driving on his motorcycle, thereby generating enough strong winds to get the belt working. I actually like this as it's a solid explanation for how something in a fictional setting works, which is always important. Oh, yeah, I should also mention that the transformation item being a belt is another aspect that was started here, and would usually be the transformation item in other series.

So, the first few episodes establish not only the status quo for this series, but for future series as well, as well as other tokusatsu series. Main character interacts with other characters, minor conflict is created, monster appears, hero transforms and destroys the monster, minor conflict is resolved, wash, rinse, repeat. This has been done to death countless times, and older fans of Power Rangers will probably know what I'm talking about. We're introduced to a few minor characters as well, the most notable being Ruriko, who blames Takeshi for the death of her father, and Tobei Tachibana, Takeshi's racing mentor and a recurring character throughout the Showa series.

Surprisingly enough, this established pattern would be interrupted by real life. Hiroshi Fujioka, the man who played Takeshi, was an actual motorcycle rider and did a lot of his own stunts. While filming the tenth episode, Fujioka wound up shattering his leg. Producers quickly scrambled to find a replacement for him while he recovered, which led to Takeshi in storyline finding a successor for him. This led to the introduction of the second Kamen Rider, Hayato Ichimonji. Like Takeshi, Hayato is kidnapped by Shocker to be turned into a cyborg and to fight Kamen Rider. Takeshi manages to rescue him just before he's brainwashed, but like Takeshi, Hayato is now a cyborg, and by default, a Kamen Rider. Takeshi decides to go overseas to fight Shocker in other countries, leaving Hayato behind to protect Japan.

It was Hayato who actually started the transformation sequence aspect of the show, waving his arms around which somehow generated the necessary wind energy for his belt to work. Don't ask me, it isn't really explained. At any rate, Hayato was the main character for most of the first half of the series, destroying Shocker's forces left and right. He was assisted by a new minor character, Kazuya Taki, an FBI agent who usually helped him take on the foot soldiers. Later on, Takeshi came back and the two Riders teamed up for a while, but the show eventually focused on Takeshi again, who gained his own transformation sequence.

Just to give you a break from the text, here are both Riders' transformation sequences.

Takeshi
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Hayato (second one in)
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Also, both Riders would get a few upgrades in terms of costumes, mainly because before them, it was really hard to tell them apart. But at the end of the series, it was much easier. Here are both Riders.

Kamen Rider 1 is on the right, who wore silver gloves and boots and had two stripes down his outfit. Kamen Rider 2 is on the left, wore red gloves and boots, and had one stripe down his outfit.

I should also mention that there were a couple of movies, but they were basically longer episodes of the show, so nothing really worth mentioning. Around the 90th episode, Takeshi defeats one of the generals of Shocker, Ambassador Hell, and destroys their main fortress, which leads him to think he's finally beaten them. However, the Great Leader rebuilds the group as Gel-Shocker, and also releases the Shocker Riders, evil Riders for Takeshi to face. They manage to defeat Takeshi, but Hayato returns, and the two heroes team up and defeat Shocker once and for all in the last few episodes.

Before I finish, I should mention that this series was remade into a movie back in 2005, titled Kamen Rider The First. The movie essentially modernized the series and made it more realistic for a new generation of fans. I can't really comment on it since I don't know that much about it, but I might watch it and give it a review in the future. We'll see what happens.

The original Kamen Rider series innovated a lot of things, and for good reason. It was ridiculously popular for its time and, in many ways, gave Japan a true superhero. America had guys like Superman and Batman for years, so it was important to them to finally have a superhero they could call their own, and Kamen Rider was just the start. As I said, this eventually led to the creation of both Super Sentai and Ultraman, which have become synonymous with Japan's pop culture in their own rights. Kamen Rider was the first, and in many ways, the best. Unsurprisingly, it's the longest running series, going from 1971-1973, with 98 episodes and three movies, which would be unheard of today. Naturally, fans wanted more, but there was only so much producers could do with the original duo. So, they had to start a new show, which I'll talk about next time.

Edit: Oh, yeah, you guys want to see the Rider Kicks, don't you? Well, sadly, the best I could find is from one of the newer video games, but it should still give you a basic idea.

Kamen Rider 1
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Kamen Rider 2
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ZeroVX · Sep 24, 2010

After two years of the original Kamen Rider show, Toei was confronted with a dilemma. On the one hand, they couldn't keep using the same two characters, as they would get stale doing the same thing they'd been doing for 90+ episodes. At the same time, they couldn't start with a blank slate, as people had gotten attached to the original show. So, they decided to start a new show, but keep connections to the previous one strong. This led to the creation of Kamen Rider V3, which in some ways actually became more popular than its predecessor.

You can tell the connections between the two series are very strong just from meeting the protagonist. Shiro Kazami is a college student who likes to ride motorcycles in his spare time. Gee, doesn't that sound familiar? He witnesses a murder committed by the new evil group, Destron. They're supposed to be a group separate from Shocker, but the comparisons are obvious. The Destron members see Shiro and move to eliminate the witness. Shiro is attacked at his home by a monster, who kills his entire family right in front of him. Just before the monster can kill him, Kamen Riders 1 and 2 arrive and save him. Shiro is pissed to say the least and wants revenge on Destron. He asks the Kamen Riders to turn him into a cyborg like them, so he can fight alongside them, but they refuse, not wanting to drag someone else into their dangerous profession.

The two Riders then head out to fight Destron, but are quickly outnumbered and can't match up with the stronger monsters. Just when it seems like the Riders are finished, Shiro arrives and saves them, but is mortally wounded in the process. Realizing that they have no choice, the Riders take Shiro away from the battle and turn him into a cyborg to save his life. They're attacked by Destron again immediately after the surgery, but Shiro jumps in and becomes Kamen Rider V3. V3 kills the monster that killed his family, while the other Riders fight another monster who has a nuclear bomb inside of him. The two officially name V3 as their successor before taking the monster outside of the city, just as the bomb goes off. Somehow, the shockwave doesn't decimate everything within a 100-mile radius, but it does presumably kill off the other two Riders, leaving V3 as the new protector of Japan.

So within the first episode we've introduced a new character, killed off his family, turned him into a Kamen Rider, and killed off the predecessors. It's quite a bit to take in all at once, but it sort of fits the concept of V3. He was supposed to be better than the first two Riders in every way, and it does work. V3 was built to have 1's skill and 2's power, and also had "26 Secrets", weapons and attacks that he had to discover on his own. He also had more Rider Kicks than the other two, which I'll show you rather than try to explain.

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Sadly, those are the only two I can find. The other one I was going to show was similar to the older Rider's kicks, but instead of a somersault V3 does a corkscrew spin in mid-air.

V3 being better than 1 and 2 can even be seen in his transformation sequence, which is sort of a combination of the previous two.

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At any rate, the series falls under the same conventions the previous set, with V3 destroying a new monster every week. The minor characters that assist V3 are fairly interesting. Tobei Tachibana reappears and helps mentor V3, much like he did with the previous two Riders. Another character is Junko Tama, who helps V3 during battle from their base of operations. Junko has a romantic interest in Shiro, which he is aware of, but he refuses to get involved with her, worried that she'll become a target for Destron. There's also the Boys' Kamen Rider Squad, a club of Rider fans led by Junko's younger brother Shigeru, who help out V3 from time to time. There's also Ken Sakuma, an Interpol agent who helps out V3 against Destron for a few episodes, filling the same role as Kazuya from the last series.

About halfway through the series, Kamen Rider 1 and 2 return alive and well to help V3 out even more. A few more episodes later, a new character is introduced, Joji Yuki. Joji was originally a member of Destron who was accused of being a traitor by one of the monsters. Joji was to be killed by being lowered into a vat of acid as a punishment. He managed to escape, but at the cost of his right arm. He replaced it with a cybernetic fake, which had a number of attachments for battle, and became Riderman. Riderman may very well be the earliest instance of an anti-hero in pop culture, not just in Japan. He viewed the monster that accused him of treachery as his enemy, not Destron. He also originally wanted to defeat V3 to regain his good favour with Destron.

The reason Riderman is so devoted to Destron is because of the Leader. When he was a boy, he was abandoned by his parents and was considering suicide. The Great Leader found him however, and adopted him, earning Joji's unfaltering loyalty. Even after learning of Destron's intentions of world domination and allying himself with V3, he can't bring himself to see Leader hurt. He even takes V3's Rider Kick to protect the Leader, saying he couldn't let his savior be killed in front of him.

It's pretty obvious that Riderman is not the typical Rider. Sure, he covers his face and rides a motorcycle, but there are a few differences. For one, he doesn't cover his entire face, leaving his mouth visible. Second, he doesn't really have a transformation sequence. He puts his helmet on and the costume just sort of forms around him. Third, he never uses a Rider Kick as his finisher. This is due to the fact that he's not a full cyborg like the other three, but only has a cybernetic arm. He makes up for this by having multiple attachments for his arm, which are activated by cassettes. Sure, why not? The downside to this, though, is that his finisher is kind of lame. He uses his main arm, the Rope Arm, to grab the monster and throw it, which causes it to explode. Somehow.

Riderman and V3 continue to fight Destron until the second-to-last episode, when Riderman goes through a number of Destron troops to prevent a rocket containing plutonium from destroying Japan. He does so by entering the rocket and blowing it up in mid-flight. It's one of the most dramatic moments of the series, and it's capped off by V3 tearfully declaring Riderman to be the fourth Kamen Rider. Riderman's death spurs V3 on to finish off Destron, defeating their main general as well as the Leader, who was revealed to be a living skeleton.

The series aired from 1973 to 1974, with 52 episodes, two movies, and a remake movie in 2007, much like the previous series, titled Kamen Rider The Next. It was better than its predecessor in the sense of character development. V3 wasn't fighting Destron purely because he was a hero, though that was part of it, but also to avenge the death of his family. Riderman was an anti-hero who was originally an enemy of V3, but became his ally, which made him a popular character, despite his late appearance in the series. I think this was also the base idea for other characters in other series, most notably the Sixth Ranger archetype for Power Rangers/Super Sentai. These character were definitely the main factor in the show's popularity, though the action and fights were obviously a factor. Some might disagree, but I feel that Kamen Rider V3 met the expectations the previous show made and even surpassed them. In short, an excellent series.

ZeroVX · Sep 25, 2010

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So, Toei has managed to create two smash hit TV shows and garnered a huge fanbase. It's safe to say that the fans are pretty loyal, so now they can make a new series with new characters and not have to worry about backlash, right? Well, not so much. Sure, it was clear that Toei wanted to do a brand new series, and since their last series was a success with only marginal appearances by the first series, it would make sense that a new one would do fine on it's own. But that wasn't the case with the new show, Kamen Rider X.

The story's protagonist is Keisuke Jin, the son of a robotics scientist, Keitaro Jin. Keitaro is working on a robotics project for undersea exploration, which attracts the attention of this series' evil organization, G.O.D. (stands for Government Of Darkness). Rather than try to negotiate for the plans, G.O.D. sends a monster to the Jin family lab, who attacks the two and steals the plans. Both of them are on the verge of death, so Keitaro decides to turn his son into a cyborg (called a Kaizorg for some reason) so that he can fight G.O.D. and protect the world. The operation is a success, and Keisuke becomes Kamen Rider X, but his father dies of his injuries soon after. Keisuke transforms and hunts down the monster who attacked them and kills it, starting a conflict with G.O.D.

At first glance, Kamen Rider X doesn't seem to be that different from the previous Riders. The only main thing was that he was based on a water strider, whereas the previous Riders were all based on grasshoppers. But that's not the issue fans had. First off, he didn't act like the previous Riders. In fact, he didn't even call himself Kamen Rider X, but rather "The X-Rider". It may seem like a minor thing, but fans didn't like it at all. Also, notice the staff-like object he's holding? That's the Ridol, which became his main weapon. Some fans didn't like the fact that a main Rider was using a weapon for fighting more than just fighting hand-to-hand, which the previous main Riders had done. The Ridol also played a part in X's finishing move, the oh-so-creatively-named X Kick. He jumps up and spins around the Ridol like an acrobat in the circus, before making an X shape with his body in mid-air, then finishing with the kick. But what really upset the fans was that X didn't really have a transformation sequence, at least at first. Instead, he said "Set Up" and put the suit on manually.

Of course, the producers weren't idiots, (at least not this time) and could tell that the fans were upset, so they gave X a transformation in the last third of the series, but it was pretty bland. He just made an X shape with his arms before copying Rider 1. Also, they started bringing the previous Riders in for more marquee value, but it didn't work. Although this inadvertently showed that Riderman survived the rocket explosion from the previous series. Whoops. But the point was, fans already gave up on the series and ratings dropped.

Speaking from a personal viewpoint, I can think of one other thing they messed up. The producers actually had quite a bit of potential with a couple of minor characters. Yes, Tobei Tachibana returned again and started running a coffee shop, and there were a couple of characters there, but the more important ones were Ryoko Mizuki and her twin sister, Kiriko. Ryoko was an Interpol agent who was working undercover within G.O.D., and was turned into a cyborg herself by G.O.D. But, more importantly, she was Keisuke's fiancee. Doesn't that seem like an important plot point? So, naturally, she needs to be killed off 8 episodes in! It doesn't make any sense at all. This is a character with an important attachment to the hero, and they don't go anywhere with it. The same with Kiriko, who could've provided moral support for Keisuke after Ryoko's death, but she gets killed off too! In the same episode as her sister, no less! Just a ton of wasted potential.

Anyway, as expected, despite all this happening, X eventually defeats the leader of G.O.D., King Dark, and destroys their headquarters. Kamen Rider X did not turn out well. It only ran throughout 1974, had 35 episodes and two movies. The series was trying to establish itself as separate from the previous two, but seemed to go a little too far and wound up as a completely different concept, which turned off fans and ruined the good will Toei had built up. But at least it couldn't get worse. Right?

Oh, I guess I should mention this before I finish. The monsters of the previous two seasons were mainly based off of animals. The first show had monsters with extremely creative names. Who would shudder in awe of monsters with the names "Spider-Man" and "Bat-Man"? V3 mixed things up with animal monsters with some sort of cybernetic enhancement attached to them. This resulted in monsters like Scissors Jaguar and Chainsaw Alligator. Which...actually sound ridiculously awesome, now that I think about it. X was, again, trying to go in a different direction. For the first half, the monsters were based on various characters from Greek Mythology, such as Posideon and Atlas. The second half reintroduced the animal concept, but also mixed them with infamous characters from various points of history. This resulted in one of the most ridiculous monsters in the history of tokusatsu, not just Kamen Rider. Ladies and gentlemen...

[YOUTUBE]H3SzmfZ6F24[/YOUTUBE]

Starfish Hitler.

ZeroVX · Sep 26, 2010

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The fans reception to Kamen Rider X was not very good. They didn't like how the series strayed from what was already considered established in terms of what a Kamen Rider should be. Because of that, X got very low ratings, and didn't last anywhere near as long as the previous two seasons. The fans wanted a "traditional" Kamen Rider show. So, naturally, the producers went in the exact opposite direction and created a show that seemed to have even less to do with Kamen Rider than its predecessor. Some might have trouble believing that, but that was the case, which led to the creation of Kamen Rider Amazon.

The story revolves around Daisuke Yamamoto. When he was a child, his parents were taking him on a plane ride, when it crashed in the Amazon, killing both of them. Daisuke was found by a tribe of Incas and raised by them, becoming a total wild child. One day, the evil organization Geddon, led by the Ten-Faced Demon Gorgos, attack the tribe searching for something called the GiGi Armlet. They kill all the members of the tribe, save for Daisuke and the elder. The elder infuses the Armlet onto Daisuke's left arm, which will kill Daisuke if removed, before dying himself. The Armlet allows Daisuke to transform into Kamen Rider Amazon and fend off Geddon, killing one of their monsters. He eventually makes his way to Japan, where he's taken in by the Okamura family, who knew his real parents. He builds a friendship with the young boy Masahiko, while also having to earn the trust of his older sister, Ritsuko. Also, Tobei Tachibana returns. Again.

There are a number of problems with this new Rider. First of all, he doesn't use a belt to transform. By this point, that was an established aspect of a Kamen Rider. He has a belt, yes, but it's more for decoration than anything else. Second, he doesn't say "Henshin" when he transforms. Instead, he cries out "A-MA-ZON", which is sort of a minor thing, but again, established aspect.

[YOUTUBE]uxaNGaqNueA[/YOUTUBE]
(Sorry for lack of sound)

Third problem is the design. It was the first one to not use an insect of some sort as the base. It instead uses a lizard as the design, most likely a chameleon. It does keep the big eyes, and later series would prove that this wouldn't be such a big deal today, but back then, it was not a wise move at all. Fourth, he doesn't use a Rider Kick as his finisher. Granted, he does have one, and he did occasionally use it to beat the monster, but most of the time, it was non-existent. Which did sort of make sense when you stop and think about it. Daisuke was raised in the jungle, away from modern civilization. Unless there was some martial arts master living with the tribe, Daisuke would have to use his survival instincts to fight. Meaning he would scratch, bite, and roll around. His finisher was the "Dai Setsudan", which can mean "Big Cut" or "Big Slice". He would chop the monster using the sharp ridges on the gloves he was wearing, usually resulting in a lost limb or two.

And that was another problem with the series. There was gore. Well, 1975 TV gore, but still, it was there. Amazon would commonly chop off limbs or slice wounds into the monster, usually resulting in it becoming a fountain of strangely-coloured blood. Very rarely would the monster explode, which was, again, expected of a Kamen Rider series. It got so bad that parents actually complained about the content, and the ratings wound up getting even worse than Kamen Rider X. Suffice to say, Amazon was not doing well.

So, at the halfway point of the series, Amazon defeats Geddon and kills Gorgos. However, the Garanda Empire steps in and takes over, led by the "Ruler" and possessing the GaGa Bracelet, the GiGi Armlet's counterpart. Naturally, the Ruler wants the GiGi Armlet so as to gain both of their powers, but Amazon quickly puts a stop to that. A monster Amazon spared earlier in the series tries to help out, but he's killed off by another monster. Amazon goes berserk (well, moreso than usual), and annihilates the monster. The final battle against the Ruler is just one long curbstomp. Amazon gets possession of the GaGa Bracelet, making him stronger than before. Amazon just takes the Ruler apart, the Ruler doesn't even get a shot in. And when I say he takes him apart, I mean that quite literally. Both arms get chopped off and it ends with a decapitation. Most one-sided fight ever.

Kamen Rider Amazon is without a doubt the black sheep of the Showa Era Riders. It was completely different from what had already been established as what a Rider should be. That and parent complaints resulted in this being the shortest Kamen Rider series to date, with only 24 episodes running from the end of 1974 to the beginning of 1975, and one movie. But the weird thing is, for all the complaints fans had back then, the current generation of fans seem to like it a bit more. The series had some ambition, and a new version of it showing up in the Kamen Rider Decade series (which I will explain fully when I get there), seem to indicate that the series is getting a little more respect. I can see why, oddly enough. One thing I liked about it was that Daisuke didn't speak for a number of episodes, leaving a narrator to talk about what was happening for most of the show. It gave it that old-school nature documentary feel, which I actually enjoyed. It fit the theme of the series, of the true nature of the jungle and survival in the wild. Amazon seemed like just another animal of the jungle, fighting for its own survival and the survival of those it cares about. The problem that this series had was that it bore the name Kamen Rider, and while later series would twist the concept even more, at the time, it was not a "true" Kamen Rider series.

ZeroVX · Sep 26, 2010

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After the failure of both Kamen Rider X and Amazon, Toei was in trouble. Ratings had dropped considerably, and the fans were clearly upset. They kept wanting a "traditional" Kamen Rider series, like the original and V3 had been. So at least this time Toei listened to them and tried to make a more "traditional" series. Whether it was or not is up for debate, but the end result was Kamen Rider Stronger.

This story focuses on Shigeru Jo, who is a member of this show's evil organization, Black Satan. Wow, they certainly aren't subtle, are they? Keep that in mind as we continue. Shigeru is a former football athlete who was asked to join the group for their experiments, wanting strong humans for a better success rate or something. And surprise surprise, these experiments are to turn people into cyborg monsters. Shigeru agrees, but it's all a trap. Before this happened, Black Satan had killed someone Shigeru viewed as a mentor, and he wants revenge. Black Satan successfully operates on him, giving him the ability to turn into Kamen Rider Stronger. He immediately resists the brainwashing they placed on him and escapes, bring a woman named Yuriko Misaki along with him.

I have to say that Stronger is without a doubt the silliest looking Kamen Rider, by far. We're back to using an insect as the base, this one being a Rhinoceros Beetle, but he looks like a walking cartoon. The ridiculously big bug eyes just look ridiculous, and the large shoulder pads seem out of place, even if they do reference Shigeru's football background. And speaking of Shigeru, he's very different in terms of personality when compared to previous Riders. The other Riders were all reluctant heroes, being forced into their situations due to outside forces, and as such, taking things very seriously. Shigeru, on the other hand, is very willing as a hero, and as such, is much more outgoing. He strikes poses a lot more than the last ones, and gives long dramatic speeches as well. He even has the S symbol for Stronger placed onto his regular T-Shirts, almost like he's bragging that he's a big hero.

Stronger's main power is electricity, drawing on it for his attacks and having sparks fly out whenever he transforms.

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His finisher was the traditional Rider Kick, but for some reason, they felt the need to freeze frame each part and add in goofy effects, like rainbow colours emanating from him, or his entire form being replaced with a red blotch. I get that it's the 70's, but it just seems like a dumb idea when no effects worked fine before.

But there were a few things that were introduced in this series that would become much more common in later ones. For instance, Stronger was the first series to have the main Rider gain a power-up state. In the last few episodes, Stronger was given some upgrades, which resulted in the Charge-Up State. The S on his outfit would spin and his suit would change colours. He did get more powerful, but there was a drawback. He would have to use up all the power he gained from this within one minute, or his suit would overload and explode. Damn.

But the much more important aspect introduced in this series was a female character as a sidekick. Remember that Yuriko person I mentioned earlier? Well, like Stronger, she was operated on and given electrical powers. These powers allowed her to transform into Denpa Ningen Tackle, and she assisted Stronger in his battles throughout the series. She wasn't as strong as Stronger, and her finishing move was actually kind of lame. It was called Denpa Nage, and she just waved her arms around, which somehow created a gust of wind that knocked her enemies over. I don't get it. But her introduction also started a very disturbing trend in Kamen Rider. From this point on, any female character who gained powers of any sort would suffer in some way, usually via death. So yeah, Tackle dies about two-thirds into the series, sacrificing herself to save Stronger. It's a powerful moment, not just because she and Stronger were allies, but also because there were hints of a romance between the two. This instantly snaps Stronger to attention, and results in character development, which leads to him getting the Charge-Up state.

Now, you'll have to excuse me as I'm about to go on a rant, but there's an issue I have with this. Despite Tackle being an important character in the show and helping Stronger through thick and thin, she's not considered to be a "true" Kamen Rider, but just an extra superhero. This is flat out bullshit. Particularly because there's no excuse for it. Some have said that she doesn't "look" like a true Rider, but that's a piss-poor excuse if I ever heard one. Just look at Riderman. His outfit was different from traditional Riders, he was given a huge and powerful exit, just like Tackle, yet he is a true Rider. The manga Kamen Rider Spirits tried to say that Shigeru wanted her to be considered "just an ordinary woman" after her death, claiming that's what she always wanted, but again, that's a terrible excuse. Tackle willingly joined forces with Stronger and never considered leaving. She wanted to fight Black Satan as much as Stronger did, so to turn around and say that she always wanted to be a normal person is just stupid. If he really wanted to respect her after death, he would've done what V3 did with Riderman and declared her to be a true Rider.

That just leaves a reason that leave a really bad taste in my mouth: It's because she was a woman. Yeah, that's the only possible excuse I can think of, and how sad is that? A character that had emotional attachment with the main hero of the show isn't given her proper respect because of plain old sexism, and it's even worse when you think of the fact that the actress who played her died of cancer in the 80's. But you know what? I could almost forgive that considering the time period, being the mid-70's and all that. But it's been 35 years since the show was on, and she still isn't considered a main Rider! What the fuck, Toei?! How hard is it to just say at one of your conferences for the next show or movie or whatever "yeah, we're considering Tackle a Rider now"? And you may think that I'm overreacting considering it's just a character on a show, but it's more than that. If Tackle hadn't been created, chances are later female Riders wouldn't exist in any form. Her not getting the respect she deserves is a glaring example of sexism and it simply shouldn't be. It would take just a few short minutes to make the declaration, and people would move on. So why not?

Anyway, now that I'm done, let's wrap things up. After Stronger defeats Black Satan, the Delza Army suddenly appears to fill the void. Stronger takes them on after getting the Charge-Up state, as well as getting help from the previous Riders, making obligatory cameos. Stronger eventually defeats the remaining members of the Delza Army and parts ways with the other Riders, ending the series.

Despite innovating a lot of concepts for Kamen Rider, Stronger wasn't well received. It did do better than Amazon, having 39 episodes throughout 1975 and a movie, but for a lot of fans, it was too little, too late. Many had pretty much given up and stopped watching the series, and as such, ratings continued to plummet. Toei realized that things were too bad to fix right away, so the decision was made to give Kamen Rider a break. No new show was made for a few years, giving the fans time to stop thinking about it, which would make it easier to win them over with a new concept later on.

ZeroVX · Sep 28, 2010

The year is 1979. No new Kamen Rider shows have appeared for the last 4 years. The fans' problems with the last few series have been forgotten, and they are now eagerly waiting a new show. Toei decided to give them what they've wanted for the longest time, a "traditional" Kamen Rider, one very similar to the original. But, would Kamen Rider Skyrider succeed?

The main character is Hiroshi Tsukuba, a photographer specializing in aerial photos, as well as a hanglider enthusiast. One day, while on a camping trip, he meets Doctor Keitaro Shido, a robotics scientist who is trying to escape from this show's evil organization, Neo-Shocker. The two of them are captured by the group, but Dr. Shido quickly forms a plan. He tricks Neo-Shocker into letting him use his robotics expertise to operate on Hiroshi, saying that he could turn him into a monster. Like idiots, they believe him, and he turns Hiroshi into a new Kamen Rider. Hiroshi defeats the group and escapes, but afterwards, his parents are captured and used as slaves by Neo-Shocker. He now has to defeat Neo-Shocker and rescue his parents.

To be honest, calling the show "Kamen Rider Skyrider" isn't completely accurate. The show doesn't actually have a subtitle, and was just Kamen Rider when it first aired. The reason behind this was that the show was originally supposed to be a remake of the original series, ignoring all previous continuity. But the fans didn't take to the idea, and started calling it "New Kamen Rider" to differentiate it from the original show. The producers got the hint, so they started adding references to the older shows. Then, the obligatory appearances of the old Riders happened, and Kamen Rider Stronger gave Hiroshi his name of Skyrider to differentiate him from the others. So, this series is now referred to as New Kamen Rider and Kamen Rider Skyrider, but either answer is correct.

As for Skyrider himself, nothing really makes him stand out from the others. We're back to using a grasshopper design for the suit, so he looks almost exactly like the old Riders. Personality-wise, he's the same as the older ones, lighthearted but heroic. His Rider Kick is pretty much the same as the original Riders, too. His henshin sequence was only slightly different from the older ones. The only thing he really did different was that he could fly, and I can't think of any other series off the top of my head that used that again.

As expected, Skyrider, along with his predecessors, eventually plow through all the monsters Neo-Shocker sends and defeat the Great Boss. The series wasn't exactly that original, but it was a traditional Kamen Rider, which the fans had wanted. The fact that the show lasted for 54 episodes from 1979-1980 and one movie seems to support that. It was successful in that it brought fans back to Toei. Now they just had to keep their attention.

ZeroVX · Sep 29, 2010

http://www.esnips.com/doc/c2ea336a-1aaf-4625-9386-81650670c3cc

Kamen Rider had made a triumphant return and the fans were finally pleased. After Skyrider, Toei was now able to write stories with the confidence that people would be watching. As such, they wanted to write something different, but they had to make sure it wasn't TOO different, or the fans would lose interest all over again. Luckily, they managed to find a happy balance, which led to the creation of Kamen Rider Super-1.

The main character for this series is Kazuya Oki, an astronaut working for NASA. He volunteers to take part in a cybernetics experiment that could allow him to survive in space without the need of an astronaut's typical suit. The operation goes without a hitch, and he's given the codename "Super-1", but before they can go and test it out, the evil organization for this show, Dogma, attacks and kills all of the scientists. Kazuya manages to escape, but wants to avenge the deaths of the scientists. In order to do so, he meets up with a martial arts master, Master Genkai, and after training with him, gains the ability to transform into Kamen Rider Super-1.

I'll say this much: Kamen Rider Super-1 may be the ballsiest Rider yet. How many Riders up to this point managed to become a Rider through tons of martial arts training? I mean, yes, he had surgery like the others, but whether or not that would've resulted in becoming a Kamen Rider on its own is never explained. That leads me to believe that Super-1 is so awesome he forced the cybernetics to let him become a Rider after tons of training. That's how a man becomes a superhero. Can Chuck Norris become a superhero through sheer willpower? OK, he doesn't need to, but it'd still be awesome.

Anyway, Super-1 has a very nice silver design which lets him stand out from the others. At the same time, it looks enough like the older Riders that he doesn't stick out like a sore thumb. You probably can't even tell that he was based off of a hornet rather than the expected grasshopper. The main thing that separates him from the other Riders is the "Five Hands", five sets of gloves that give him different abilities or weapons. The silver ones are his default ones, blue ones control electricity, green ones control hot and cold, gold ones have radar equipment and rocket launchers, and the red ones increase his strength. His Rider Kick isn't anything special, just him leaping in the air, waving his hands and performing the kick. His transformation sequence is kind of fun to watch, though.

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At any rate, at the halfway point of the series, Super-1 defeats the Emperor of Dogma and the organization collapses. It was at this point that the series took a very strange turn. A new group arose called Jin Dogma to take the place of its predecessors, but its methods of fighting were very odd. While Dogma used the expected animal base for its monsters, Jin Dogma used household items for monster designs. This, plus the introduction of the Junior Riders, a fanclub that filled the role the Boys' Kamen Rider Squad from V3 had, seemed to indicate that the series was headed towards more lighthearted and comedic themes. I'm actually not really sure if this had an impact in terms of fanbase, but if it did, it wasn't a significant one. Of course, Super-1 defeats Jin Dogma and gets to lead a new space exploration team.

As I said, I'm not sure how the turn in terms of themes impacted the show, but it didn't seem to be that big a deal. The series lasted for 48 episodes from 1980-1981 with one movie. At the same time, though, it may have had some impact, as Toei decided to take another break with the show. I'm not really sure why, but for whatever reason, Kamen Rider would be gone again for a few more years.

ZeroVX · Sep 30, 2010

Three years had passed since Kamen Rider Super-1 ended. The fans were ready for Kamen Rider to return to their TVs. Toei was on their way to making a big comeback and keeping Kamen Rider in the pop culture for a new generation. This...wasn't it. No, the real comeback wouldn't happen for a few more years. Instead, this is more of what could've been, if this had worked properly. Sadly, we are introduced to a new Rider who is promptly pushed aside in this TV special: "Birth of the 10th! Kamen Riders All Together!!"

Ryo Murasame is introduced as our main character for this special, who is a pilot taking his sister Shizuka along for a plane ride. As the two are flying over the Amazon, they are shot down by a UFO. Now don't worry, they aren't bringing aliens into this. The UFO actually belongs to the special's evil organization, the Badan Empire. They capture the two, promptly kill Shizuka, then perform surgery on Ryo, wiping his memory and giving him the ability to transform into Kamen Rider ZX.

For some stupid reason, Kamen Rider ZX isn't pronounced like it's spelt. It's instead pronounced "Zet cross". I have absolutely no clue why, as ZX sounds just fine, but whatever. What is interesting about this Rider is that he's the first to fall victim to the imposed brainwashing. Almost every other Rider either had someone help them before it took hold, got over it themselves, or didn't have it placed on them. So, you could call ZX the first evil Rider, but I personally don't. Mainly because he overcomes the brainwashing before meeting any other Riders, but also because a later Rider would do a much better job in the role. But let's not skip ahead.

Another thing that makes ZX stand out is his use of throwing weapons, such as grenades and shuriken, which are hidden on his body. He's also supposedly stronger than the previous Riders, though it's never explained why. His transformation sequence is OK, nothing special.

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His Rider Kick is just that pose he does in mid-air while glowing red before doing the kick.

Anyway, as I said, ZX overcomes the brainwashing, regains his memory and escapes Badan. A year passes and Ryo returns, wanting revenge. He attacks Badan as they're preparing a new doomsday weapon, the Space Break System. But before he can arrive, Kamen Rider V3, Riderman, and Kamen Rider Super-1 beat him to the punch, destroying the supplies needed to power the weapon. When ZX arrives, he mistakes the Riders for soldiers of Badan and attacks them, actually getting the upper hand. V3 holds him off and they explain the situation. Ryo meets up with the other Riders as we get a video of a brief history on the Kamen Riders.

Naturally, ZX joins up with them, but before they can go fight Badan for real, ZX has to fight Tiger Roid, who is a mutated version of an old friend of his. The two fight and eventually ZX wins, killing off his friend. The Riders all arrive at Badan headquarters and not only fight off the soldiers of that group, but monsters from previous organizations as well. Eventually, the Riders combine their powers to weaken the general, Ambassador Darkness, before ZX finishes him off. Badan is defeated and ZX is the newest Kamen Rider.

Oddly enough, this was actually supposed to be a pilot for a new Kamen Rider show, featuring ZX. But, for whatever reason, those plans fell through, and this was made into a TV special instead. But even that failed, as the special was only aired once, on January 3, 1984. Some take this as sort of an anniversary special, a delayed celebration of Kamen Rider's 10th anniversary. Well, that's all well and good, but that doesn't mean you should introduce a new Rider and then do nothing with him. ZX actually had some potential and could've done fairly well on his own show. The closest thing ZX got to his own series is the manga, Kamen Rider Spirits, which is more of an alternate storyline with multiple differences between the two. After this, Toei would give Kamen Rider another break, but they would make up for it once they returned.

ZeroVX · Oct 1, 2010

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You can probably tell from that intro alone that this isn't your typical Kamen Rider series. Anyway, three years have passed since the ZX special, making this 1987. Fans are, again, waiting for a new Kamen Rider, and Toei decided to end the bullshit. They were going to focus on telling a good story this time, rather than worry about whether or not the series was "traditional". As such, they decided to take a few risks in terms of storytelling, which resulted in the series that some consider to not only be the best of the Showa era, but possibly the best Kamen Rider show ever: Kamen Rider Black.

The story focuses on the Akizuki family: Nobuhiko, his sister Kyoko, and his father Soichiro, as well as his girlfriend, Katsumi Kida. However, the main character is his stepbrother, Kotaro Minami. Soichiro was a friend of Kotaro's real parents, so when they died, he adopted Kotaro. Kotaro happens to have been born on the same day and same year as Nobuhiko, which also means the two were born during a solar eclipse. Those incredibly unlikely series of events are exactly what the evil cult Gorgom is looking for. They kidnap the two and infuse them both with something called a Kingstone. Their intention is to have the two fight to the death, with the winner becoming their king and leading them to rule the world. Kotaro is named "Black Sun", but before the required brainwashing can take place, Soichiro, who had been working for Gorgom for the money, rescues Kotaro. He's fatally wounded in the process, living long enough to tell Kotaro that Gorgom killed his real parents. Kotaro turns against Gorgom, using the Kingstone to transform and renaming himself Kamen Rider Black. He now has to defeat Gorgom and rescue Nobuhiko as well.

One little piece of trivia: The man who plays Kotaro, Tetsuo Kurata, actually sings the opening theme song. Pretty cool. Anyway, there were a few differences between Black and the previous Riders. For one, no scarf. Kind of disappointing, but the fans tend to say that he's so badass he doesn't need one. Second, his outfit in general was quite a change. The previous Riders typically wore bright colours, whereas Black wore...well, black. It's more of a symbolic sort of thing: the previous Riders were bright and cheerful, while this guy is dark and serious. That's a theme you'll notice here. You can also see it in his transformation sequence. It's both simple and unique, showing the pure rage Kotaro has towards Gorgom. It's also evident in his finishing moves. He's not going to flip around and do somersaults before attacking you. He's just going to hit you and be done with it.

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That was the theme of the series in general. It was dark, serious, and not like the previous shows. The monsters this time around weren't just sent out to fight Kamen Rider in the hopes of beating him. Instead, Gorgom would form various plans to kill off certain humans, thereby making their takeover that much easier. The monsters were typically told to specifically kill people, and they gladly did so. Kotaro was different from the other Riders as well. Whereas the others were more passive in their fights, just answering the call whenever it came, Kotaro was extremely active. He was constantly looking for any sign of Gorgom, and came off as very paranoid in some instances. Plus, he had to deal with keeping his identity as Kamen Rider Black a secret from Kyoko and Katsumi. But at the halfway point for the series, things got a lot worse.

At this point, Kotaro had beaten Gorgom's monsters many times, but hadn't been able to rescue Nobuhiko. It became too late soon enough, as the brainwashing that was placed on Nobuhiko was complete, and he became Shadow Moon. Shadow Moon was Black's equal in every sense of the term, and was, in my opinion, the first evil Rider introduced. This quickly introduced a new level of drama to the series, as after Shadow Moon effectively took over Gorgom, Kotaro had to fight his brother almost constantly. Shadow Moon used his own versions of Black's finishers, the only unique weapon being the Satan Saber.

At one point, Black starts a battle with one of the monsters, who is actually reluctant to fight him. Another monster appears and attacks Black for him, actually killing him. This causes a number of citizens to either leave Japan or start worshiping Gorgom, believing that the end has come. Kyoko and Katsumi, who had discovered Black's true identity when Nobuhiko resurfaced as Shadow Moon, both leave Japan. But all is not lost, as the monster who didn't want to fight revives Kotaro and becomes his ally. Black then defeats his previous killer as well as the generals in Gorgom. The monster who aided him, however, is soon killed off.

Eventually, the real leader of Gorgom appears, called the Creation King, who orders Shadow Moon and Black to have their final battle. Black eventually defeats Shadow Moon, shattering his Kingstone but not killing him. He then attacks the Creation King, stabbing him with the Satan Saber and killing him. The Gorgom headquarters quickly explode, with Kotaro escaping, but Nobuhiko nowhere to be found, presumably dead. The series ends with Kotaro riding away, everything from his life gone, unsure of where to go next. It's a very bittersweet ending, one of the most in Kamen Rider.

Kamen Rider Black took a few risks with the series that ultimately paid off, as it is now considered to be one of the best Kamen Rider shows ever. It ran for 51 episodes from 1987-1988, with two TV specials and two movies, and an incredibly loyal fanbase. It was a darker and more serious series than the previous shows, and the fans appreciated it. The show didn't condescend or insult the fans' intelligence, allowing the tragic tale of two brothers forced to fight each other to shine through. The show became so popular that it got a sequel series, but could it measure up?

ZeroVX · Oct 6, 2010

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So, after Kamen Rider Black became the most popular Kamen Rider series of its time and Toei had gained a slew of new fans, they needed to give them more. But they had wrapped up the story to Black very well, and it wouldn't be right to just go against that. So, they decided to start a new series, but bring back the characters from the previous one. Yes, this was a sequel series, the second one in total, with the first being V3 to the original show. Fans' expectations were high, eagerly anticipating the same level of excellent storytelling that they received with Kamen Rider Black. What they got...well, wasn't exactly what they had expected.

Five years have passed since Kotaro Minami destroyed Gorgom. After wandering around for a while, he's taken in by the Sahara family. He gets a job as a helicopter pilot, and even gets a girlfriend in Reiko Shiratori. So, all in all, things seem to be going well for Kotaro. So of course someone has to come along and fuck that up. A swarm of aliens known as the Crisis Empire arrive and kidnap Kotaro. They know of his exploits as Kamen Rider Black and want him to help them wipe out the human race and take over Earth, believing they would take better care of the planet than humanity. Yes, aliens are giving an environmental message in a sequel to one of the darkest Kamen Rider series there is. Just mull that over a bit. Kotaro naturally refuses, so the guy in charge of the original convoy, General Jark, smashes his Kingstone and jettisons him into space. Geez, talk about overkill. But Deus Ex Machina decides to save the day, as the sun's radiation mutates his smashed Kingstone, giving him new powers and allowing him to transform into Kamen Rider Black RX.

An interesting thing to note is that Kotaro Minami is the only man to be two Riders, and even though Black RX is an offshoot of Black, he is still considered to be a separate Rider. A couple of things were quite different with Black RX when compared to previous Riders. His transformation sequence was a bit different from the other ones, but was still a recognizable Kamen Rider transformation.

Also of particular note was that RX didn't use a Rider Kick as a finisher. He did have one, but it was a spinning dropkick instead of an expected Rider Kick. However, it was usually a setup to him just stabbing the enemy with that weird sword-like item, the RevolCane.

But most notable was that this Kamen Rider was the first to have alternate forms. Not like Stronger, who had a power-up form, but different states with different strengths and weaknesses. This would become an expected trope in the next generation of Kamen Rider shows, so it's safe to say this played a big part.

RX had two forms, the first of these being Roborider. After the daughter of the Sahara family was kidnapped (this happened a lot), RX went to go save her. The monster-of-the-week killed a double in front of him, and his immense sorrow somehow allowed the mutated Kingstone to activate the Roborider form. Yeah, I don't really get it either. The Roborider does the typical jerky Robocop walk, so he's much slower than normal, but he's much more heavily armored to even things out. His main weapon is the Vortech Shooter, and if I really need to explain what it does, there's no hope for you.

The other form was Biorider. After another convoluted plan by the villains that involved kidnapping and bait, Kotaro is trapped in a room that can apparently prevent both RX and Roborider from escaping. The anger he's experiencing from being beaten is somehow enough to unlock this form. Yeah, still not getting it. This form is the opposite of Roborider, not being very strong, but much more sleek and agile. Also, he can transform into water. Yeah. His weapon is the Bio Blade, which really makes me wonder why he needed a sword when he already had one.

Anyway, this plays out like your typical Rider show, which was in and of itself a problem. Rather than the series playing out like its predecessor did, with a deep storyline and interesting characters, it seemed to go back to the traditional Rider stories of the seventies. It didn't help that the series was considerably lighter in tone when compared to Black. Again, fans were expected more of the same, and didn't get it. Not even the return of Shadow Moon partway through the series could help that. But that's not to say this was a bad series that hurt the franchise considerably. It was just a disappointment.

As I mentioned, Shadow Moon returned and he and RX started fighting again. Towards the end of the series, in their final battle, RX used his RevolCane on Shadow Moon's Kingstone, destroying it and turning Nobuhiko back to normal. This allows Nobuhiko to show his new good heart by saving some kids from oncoming lava before being written out of the story via burning to death. Not that this helped his status as a villain. Then, in the last few episodes, the other Kamen Riders show up. Yes, again taking a leaf out of the seventies Kamen Rider book, Riders 1 through ZX all appear to help RX defeat the leader of Crisis Empire. This would be the last time this happened, at least in the TV shows. The final battle is between RX and a giant misshapen head, and RX stabs him in the eye with the RevolCane, with the leader promising that his legacy will live on as he dies.

After the excellent work of Kamen Rider Black, fans were pretty disappointed by the sudden change of pace with Black RX. The series seemingly had gone back to the traditional Kamen Rider style, rather than the intricate storytelling the previous show had used to stand out. That's not to say it was a bad series however, and it was actually almost as popular as its predecessor with the viewers, having 47 episodes from 1988-1989 and one short 3D movie where RX teams up with his alternate forms and Black to fight a monster. It wasn't a terrible show by any means, but it wasn't what fans were expecting. I seriously doubt this had any factor in what would happen, but after this series ended, Toei would take yet another break from Kamen Rider. This would be the last one, but also the longest, and a new Kamen Rider show wouldn't appear on Japanese television for almost a decade. But Kamen Rider would stay in the mindset of fans in other ways, namely a few feature-length movies, which I will get into next time.

ZeroVX · Oct 8, 2010

Wow, this is going to be an interesting review.

Let me try and put you into the perspective for the intention behind this movie. The year was 1992. Kamen Rider Black RX had been off the air for a few years, but much more notable was that it had been twenty years since the original Kamen Rider show had been on. Many of the children who watched the show in the seventies were now grown up, had jobs, and possibly started families of their own. Some of them may even be watching the newer shows with their kids. Toei wanted to give those older fans something, as a way of saying thanks for being with them for so long. So, a Kamen Rider movie was to be made with the intended audience being the adult fans of the original series. As such, they had more freedom than usual, meaning they could show all that good adult stuff, like blood and nakedness. At the same time, they wanted to tell a new story, while keeping enough elements of Kamen Rider than the adult fans would feel nostalgic. What they got was something so far off from what they expected that it, understandably, was hated by everyone. Such is the story behind Shin Kamen Rider: Prologue.

The story focuses on Shin Kazamatsuri, a professional motorcycle racer. He volunteers for genetic tests by his father, Dr. Daimon Kazamatsuri, and his partner, Dr. Giichi Onizuka. The intent behind these experiments is to find cures for deadly diseases, such as cancer and AIDS, by strengthening the human body. What they don't know is that the ISS, the syndicate that's sponsoring them, wants to use the strengthened humans to form their own personal army. But what THEY don't know is that Onizuka has his own plans. He fuses Shin's DNA with grasshopper DNA, hoping to create a humanoid grasshopper monster with which to take over the world. Because hey, he's a mad scientist. It's in the job description. Anyway, the alterations work, and Shin can now transform into Kamen Rider Shin.

By the way, if you're a bit superstitious, like me, you'll probably chuckle at the fact that Shin is considered the thirteenth Kamen Rider.

Anyway, you can tell just by looking at Shin that he is NOT a "traditional" Kamen Rider. First off, no belt to power a suit that he uses when he transforms. Oh no. Not even an armlet or anything like that. No, instead, he mutates into the creature. It's for this and many other reasons that this has been compared to the 80's version of The Fly. And if you've seen that movie and its gruesome special effects, then this will be very tame in comparison. Even so, just to play it safe, I'm not going to show you the sequence. Yes, looking back on it, it wasn't that bad, but I still had to watch it a few times to get used to it.

Another thing omitted from this Kamen Rider is the fighting style. Much like Amazon, he scratches, bites, and just fights wildly. Also, no Rider Kick, at all. He'd be much more likely to punch a hole through your chest than to kick you so hard you explode. And yes, that did happen in the movie. I'll explain that in detail when I get to it. Point being, there was lots of blood and gore, and some nudity too. There's one scene where Shin and his girlfriend, Ai Asuka, swim in a pool nude. Why? Who knows?

Once the experiments are complete, Shin starts having dreams of a monster wreaking havoc. He thinks it's him, but it's actually a telepathic message from Onizuka, who experimented on himself and can also transform into a grasshopper monster. Shin transforms and goes out to meet him, but Onizuka is quickly gunned down by CIA agents. So yes, not only does Shin have to deal with the ISS, who want to use him in their army, but also the CIA, who naturally view him as another threat. The ISS eventually makes their move, attacking Shin and Ai, with one of the agents gunning down Ai. Shin gets pissed and transforms, slaughtering the shooter with the aforementioned punch-through-the-chest. Then the shooter's partner suddenly transforms into a monster, apparently due to failed experiments. They fight and Shin eventually wins by jabbing the razor edges on his wrist into the monsters throat, allowing him to rip his head off with the spine still attached. Yes, Kamen Rider just ripped off Mortal Kombat. Holy shit.

The movie ends with Shin talking to his dying girlfriend, who reveals that she's pregnant. Post-mutation, I should add, meaning that the baby will survive its mother, you know, dying. She gets Shin to promise to take care of the baby before dying. Shin carries the body away as the movie ends. Presumably to watch his dead girlfriend's corpse for when his child is born. Yeah.

Remember how I said that Kamen Rider Amazon was the black sheep of the Showa era Kamen Riders? Well, Shin Kamen Rider: Prologue is the black sheep of Kamen Rider, period. It is so far away from what Kamen Rider is as a whole that people watching it without any previous knowledge of Kamen Rider would be forgiven for any confusion. It's a crazy, bloody mess, with needless gore and violence, and an extremely tragic story. The fan response was what you would expect: bad. Half of the viewers hated it because it was nothing like the Kamen Rider they grew up with, and the other half hated it for the unnecessary violence and gore. There seemed to be very little faith in it from the get-go, since it went straight-to-video rather than appear in theaters, and the fan response was so bad that it canceled any sequels. Yes, as you could probably tell from the title and the ending, there were plans for a sequel. Needless to say, that hasn't happened, and it is extremely unlikely that it ever will. While calling it a bad monster movie and a shameless rip-off of The Fly might be unwarranted, the problem with it was the same with Amazon at the time: It had the name Kamen Rider. To fans, that was just unacceptable.

ZeroVX · Oct 9, 2010

So, after the fiasco with Shin Kamen Rider: Prologue, how do you salvage the reputation you had? You try again a year later! Yes, apparently, Toei thought that the story they had with Shin was golden, fans just hated the look of the movie. So, they tweaked the story they had a bit so it was different enough to be a new movie, changed the appearance of their Rider so he actually looked like a Rider, and give it a second try. It's hard to tell if it worked, but that seemed to be the thought process behind Kamen Rider ZO.

The main character of this story is Masaru Aso, a lab assistant to geneticist Dr. Mochizuki. Just like in Shin, Mochizuki experiments on Masaru by infusing him with grasshopper DNA, allowing him to transform into Kamen Rider ZO. Masaru, naturally, freaks out and runs away into the mountains, where he slips into a coma. Two years pass and Masaru awakes, suddenly overcome with an unconscious desire to protect Dr. Mochizuki's son, Hiroshi.

In terms of appearances, ZO seems kind of bland. Except for around the face and some highlights here and there, he's pretty much all green, which isn't very memorable and makes ZO sort of blend into the crowd. His fighting style seems to be a combination of the traditional Rider, since he has a Rider Kick, and Shin's brutal fighting style, since he kills two monsters off in very nasty ways. Again, no belt, no armlet, no nothing to make him transform, but at least he transforms this time instead of mutating. His transformation sequence, though...

[YOUTUBE]H_27JDYrWUs[/YOUTUBE]

Yeah, it's pretty much an afterthought.

So, after Masaru awakens he fights two monsters as ZO. The first spider-like monster he defeats by stabbing it with its own leg. The other bat-like creature just gets a punch through the stomach. In between those fights, he learns of Dr. Mochizuki's disappearance, and that it was Hiroshi's watch that reawakened him. Sure.

The two eventually find Dr. Mochizuki in a facility, where he reveals that he's been forced to work for his other creation, the Neo Organism, a vat of goo that he accidentally made while trying to create the "perfect lifeform". The goo creates an extension of itself called Doras, which oddly enough looks a bit like Shin. Wonder what they're trying to say? ZO and Doras fight, but Doras absorbs ZO into himself. Just when it seems like all hope is lost, Hiroshi uses his watch to reawaken ZO, again, and he breaks out of Doras. Dr. Mochizuki then sacrifices himself to destroy the vat of goo, and the complex starts to self-destruct. ZO and Hiroshi escape just as it all comes crashing down. The ending shows Masaru leaving Hiroshi with his grandfather before riding off into the sunset.

Kamen Rider ZO wasn't exactly a memorable entry into the Kamen Rider series. It did go to theaters, but it was only 48 minutes long, the story was somewhat rehashed, and the characters weren't very interesting. It was better than its predecessor in terms of fan acceptance, but that isn't saying much. All in all, this one was just there.

ZeroVX · Oct 15, 2010

First of all, before I begin, I'd like to apologize for taking so long between reviews. Apparently my college decided that, since my mid-terms were coming up, that NOW it was going to be difficult. Which is fair, of course.

Second, I'd like to apologize for a couple of errors I made. I originally said that Kamen Rider X was the first Rider to not be based on a grasshopper. That was a mistake. As it turns out, Kamen Rider V3 was the first, being based on a dragonfly. Also, Skyrider wasn't based on a grasshopper either, but rather a locust. The grasshopper base wouldn't actually be used again until Kamen Rider Black, so that one's on me. Sorry guys.

After Kamen Rider ZO, Toei was probably feeling a bit frustrated. ZO had done better than Shin, but still didn't do very well. Interest in the series was declining, so they decided to try one more time with a movie, before focusing their efforts on a new show. They tried to make it a bit more like the shows in terms of story and characters, in the hopes that it would be enough to attract some fans and do a better job. Whether it worked or not is debatable, but it did result in something unique for the series, something that would set Kamen Rider J apart from the others.

The main character of this story is Koji Segawa, an environmentalist reporter. If you just got a sense of deja vu, you're not alone. He's investigating the pollution near a lake with his friend, Kana, when she's kidnapped by one of the monsters of Fog, an alien group who have come to Earth to eat everybody. Nice. Koji tries to save Kana, but gets killed in the process. Well, that was a short movie. I'll be back soon to-oh, wait, wait, he comes back. Yeah, apparently the spirits of the Earth revive Koji and give him the mystical J-Power, allowing him to transform into Kamen Rider J and save the planet. Standard stuff.

If you got Kamen Rider ZO and J confused with one another, no one would be surprised. The similarities between the two are blatant and show what little thought went into their designs. The only major difference is that J has light green highlights instead of ZO's gold. Unlike ZO, he does have a belt, and his transformation sequence is a little better.

[YOUTUBE]C7uhkjR1Jhc[/YOUTUBE]

He uses the traditional Rider Kick, so besides those, there isn't much to set him out from the crowd. Except for one thing, but I'll get to that in a minute.

So Koji hunts down the members of Fog and starts taking them out, to save both his friend Kana and the planet. He demolishes all of the high ranking generals, one of which is ironically named Agito. You'll get it when we move a bit further along. For the record, the fights are still pretty messy, one example being J punching a monster through the eye so hard that his brain explodes. Jesus. After destroying the last of the generals, he comes across the being known as the Fog Mother, who also serves as the fortress for her "children". Fog Mother absorbs J and Kana, intending to drain their energy and start over again. However, J absorbs the energy from her and the Earth, allowing him to escape her and become a giant.

Yes, just like in Ultraman or Power Rangers, Kamen Rider J becomes a giant, which is called the "Jumbo Formation". This is what I was referring to when I said there was something that set him apart from the others. And after executing a giant Rider Kick to the fortress, he shrinks down to normal size, rescues Kana, and bails as the Fog Mother explodes. Happy ending for everyone important.

In all honesty, Kamen Rider J falls under the same category as its predecessor: It's just there. The movie was extremely similar to the last one, even down to the character designs and the fights. The only thing that set J apart from the other Riders was that he could grow into a giant, and that's pretty much all anyone remembers him for. Kind of sad that he only survives because of a gimmick. After this, Toei threw their hands in the air and gave up on movies for a while. It'd still be a few more years before the next Kamen Rider series would come along. However, one year after Kamen Rider J, something else would appear that...well, I wouldn't say that it HURT them, but it definitely didn't help them at all.

ZeroVX · Oct 18, 2010

[YOUTUBE]X-MoF-nVI4Y[/YOUTUBE]

I have not been looking forward to this, at all. Not just because it's crap, although that does play a part in it. No, it's because this crap was disappointing, particularly to me. This was the closest thing I had to a Kamen Rider adaptation when I was a kid, and even though I knew nothing about the show's origins or the origins of Power Rangers, a show similar to Power Rangers was something I really wanted to see. And it was done by Saban, the people who brought Power Rangers over and made it a hit! How could they screw this up?

Well, they clearly did, and I can't ignore it. I've put this off long enough. Let's just get into the crapathon that was Masked Rider. But before I begin, I need to help put some of you into perspective.

The year was 1995. Japan hadn't seen a new Kamen Rider show for a few years and Kamen Rider J had already been out for a while. Nothing would happen there for a bit longer. On our side of the planet, though, things were a bit different. If you didn't grow up in the 90's like I did, then you need to understand: Before Pokemon exploded onto the scene, Power Rangers was the go-to thing for kids. It was everywhere, toys, video games, comic books, movies, and obviously, the TV show that became synonymous with the early 90's pop culture. I still have some MegaZord toys I collected from my childhood. Not the original one, sadly, but the point is, everyone I knew was into it. The show had already been on for two years, and Saban realized that they found a goldmine when it came to adapting Tokusatsu shows for us. So, they decided to do it again, with Toei's other notable show, Kamen Rider. Since Black RX was the most recent show they had, they decided to grab that and run with it. But, like with the original Power Rangers, the plot would be original, and just use Kamen Rider scenes for battles and such.

Saban introduced the renamed Masked Rider in the first three episodes of the third season of Power Rangers. The Rangers travel to the planet Edenoi to protect it from an attack by the villain of Masked Rider, Count Dregon, Dex's uncle. They meet up with Dex, the prince of Edenoi and the Masked Rider. By the way, the king of Edenoi, Dex's grandfather, is the one who created Alpha 5, and as such, it's Alpha's homeworld, hence why the Rangers are there in the first place. Also, apparently, Count Dregon and Lord Zedd, the villain of Power Rangers at the time, were old rivals. Don't get used to the connections, because they won't be referenced ever again. After Dex teams up with the Rangers to fend off Count Dregon, the Rangers return to Earth to properly start their new season, while Dex's grandfather says that he needs to go to Earth to protect it from Count Dregon. This would lead into his own spinoff show, which debuted a week later.

You can probably tell from that intro alone how bad it was. The cheesy voice-over explaining Dex's origins just screams bad 50's serial. The sad part is that we're supposed to take it fairly seriously. Plus, the whole backstory made Dex to be a rip-off of Superman, which is pretty bad considering Black RX already had connections to Superman, what with drawing power from the sun and all. But, let's continue with the plot. Dex crash-lands on Earth and is adopted by the expected politically correct multicultural family. And yes, I realize that this was in the mid-90's, before everyone started shitting themselves when it came to PC in the post-9/11 world. That should also indicate how bad this was. But seriously, the husband and daughter were white, the wife was Asian, and the son was black. Make your own jokes here, because I don't know if I could get away with any I'm thinking of. At any rate, he's also accompanied by his pet, Ferbus. Dead serious, they tossed in some weird furry duck thing to appeal to the little kids, I guess. He did nothing, basically. Insanely enough, the guy who played in the Ferbus suit was Verne Troyer. Everyone has to start somewhere.

A couple of things I should add: Edenoians are humans that evolved from insects rather than humans. Don't even try to ask how that works because I have no clue whatsoever. Also, they have psychic powers, indicated by a crystal embedded in their forehead that they can hide. Sure, why not? I mention this to explain what exactly Dex is doing in his transformation sequence.

[YOUTUBE]a7tnmH-hWpI[/YOUTUBE]

Laaaaaaaaaame. The whole "press-your-fingers-against-your-head" thing was so cheesy you'd get lactose intolerant from looking at it too long. The actual transformation wasn't so bad, though. I'm all for doing something different if it works. I can look at both the Power Rangers' and their Super Sentai's transformation sequences and appreciate them both, if they're done well. But the part before that was lame as hell.

So, what else did they screw up? Well, there was the other forms for RX, renamed as "Super Gold" and "Super Blue". I really don't need to say more, because they says it right there. Also, of course, Dex has to go to high school, which of course leads to such exciting storylines as "will Dex's sister make it onto the cheerleading squad?". And I'm not making a joke, that was a story. And they had to toss in some minor characters as well, including the comic relief duo of Patsy and Herbie. Not they could ever copy the comedic genius that was Bulk and Skull, but you can tell they certainly tried to.

But the shit really hit the fan when they brought in the other Riders. Yes, somehow, they tried to bring in the Showa Era Riders, just like in RX. Only problem was, they got their names mixed up. Aside from 1, V3, and ZX who got their names changed completely (to Warrior Leader, Warrior Commander, and Z-Cross respectively), everyone's names were mixed up. X became V3, Amazon became Riderman, Stronger became X, Skyrider became Amazon, Super-1 became Strongman, and 2 and the real Riderman weren't named at all. Apparently this was due to some mix-up with the audio and visuals, where they were supposed to announce their names in chronological order, but the video didn't match up, but you know what? That's why they do this thing called EDITING!

And speaking of editing, this show is notorious for it's terrible editing job. Multiple times one could see Kotaro Minami fighting instead of Dex, which is terrible as they look nothing alike. What, did they think that if Dex wore the same clothes that we wouldn't notice? On top of that, Saban incorporated scenes from Kamen Rider ZO and Kamen Rider J into the show as well. And I don't mean they tossed in a monster or two, no, you could clearly see ZO and J fighting in the show. Go back and look at the three Riders yourself. Do they look anything alike? I didn't think so.

But quite possibly the biggest offender in the whole show was the plot. And you know what? TVTropes explained it far better than I could, so here you go, quoted from their Masked Rider page:

"The setup MMPR and the pre-Earth scenes of the Masked Rider premiere left them was a doozy: Dex is a resistance fighter, battling his own uncle (and therefore the son of The Obi Wan, King Lexian.) The Dex of Power Rangers was battle-hardened and paranoid. His world is said to be dying, already beyond saving, by Lexian. The Rangers come to Edenoi and win one battle, too little, too late. The villains follow them back, Dex follows them back... the ingredients for a truly awesome and epic story taking place on two worlds (with occasional Ranger involvement, perhaps) were right there. What did The Powers That Be say? "Screw that, let's make a sitcom with the odd monster fight.""

That sums it up perfectly. The three-parter with the Power Rangers showed how serious the situation was on Edenoi and that it was already beyond help, Dex was just going after Dregon to prevent it from happening again on Earth. That would've made a great show if they did it properly. Obviously, they didn't, instead dumbing it down to the supposed dumbass American kids. And remember, this was based on Black RX, which was already dumbed down from Black, so to dumb it down even more is an accomplishment in itself.

But, in all honesty, none of that was what killed the show. It wasn't the terrible editing, or the addition of crap, or adapting poorly, or the terrible plot. No, what killed this show in the end was very, very simple:

No one cared.

When I first saw the episodes introducing the Masked Rider, I was pumped, especially when I heard he was getting his own series. The character was cool, the design was awesome, and the fact that he was considered to be on par with the Power Rangers was amazing. I wanted to see more of the character, but I still wanted to see the Power Rangers as well. So I start watching the show.....and no Power Rangers, as indicated above. That, and the fact that the show was way too kiddy for me (and I was like, 5 or 6, so infer from that what you will), and I stopped watching the show almost immediately after it went on the air. I imagine I wasn't alone in that aspect. Fans were expecting more Power Rangers, and didn't get them. As such, they didn't watch, and the show failed. THAT is what killed Masked Rider.

So, the show ran from 1995-1996, and after that, disappeared for good. Apparently, Shotaro Ishinomori, the creator of Kamen Rider, was so pissed with the adaptation of one of his shows that he forbade anyone to allow another adaptation by anyone. Recently, however, that rumoured ban has been lifted, as another adaptation was made last year by a different company. Not only that, but now that Saban has the rights to Power Rangers again, there are rumours that they're going to give a Kamen Rider adaptation a second try. Whether or not anything comes of that remains to be seen, but I doubt it'll do well if it happens, if only because of how poorly this one did, which may make viewers hesitant to give the show a chance. At any rate, after that show, we wouldn't get a Kamen Rider for years, but back in Japan, a new Kamen Rider show was in the works. A new millennium was on the horizon, and Toei would meet it with a new generation of Kamen Rider.

ZeroVX · Oct 20, 2010

[YOUTUBE]VpeoYLS06Vc[/YOUTUBE]

That tagline says it all. "A New Hero, A New Legend". Over a decade since the end of Kamen Rider Black RX, Toei was ready to start again and bring Kamen Rider back to its former glory. Sadly, Shotaro Ishinomori passed away before this show aired, but it's said that he worked on it extensively as he did with the previous shows. The intent was simply to get people back into watching the shows again, so they created one that was relatively safe and simple, but different enough to stand on its own. The end result was a show that some consider to be the best of the new generation, although that is debatable. Regardless, the series would be reborn with the introduction of Kamen Rider Kuuga.

The main character for this story is Yuusuke Godai, a very simple character. We learn everything we need to know about him in his first scene, which shows him cheering up a kid who's lost at an airport. That right there paints him as the nicest guy ever, which is his whole character in a nutshell. He meets up with his friend Sakurako Sawatari, an archeologist who's researching the newly-discovered Linto, said to be an early tribe of humans. While the two of them are at Sakurako's office talking, the rest of the crew at the dig site are suddenly killed by some shadowy monster. Yuusuke gets a vision of the monsters and heads over to investigate, but runs into Kaoru Ichijo, a police officer assigned to the murder investigation. Later, he gives a strange belt found at the site called the Arcle, and asks him and Sakurako to translate the text on it to find any connections to the attack. The next day, at the police station, another monster suddenly appears and starts killing people at random. Yuusuke gets another vision and puts the Arcle on, transforming into Kamen Rider Kuuga. He chases the monster off, leaving the police confused as to what's going on.

Not only is Kuuga the first Rider of the Heisei Era, but he also has the unique distinction of having the most forms of any Rider to date. Counting all the upgrades he gets, he has a grand total of eleven forms, and that isn't counting the new form he gets in Decade. This form is called the Growing Form, which he's stuck in very early on due to not knowing the proper transformation sequence. Later on, he also reverts to this form when he's used up too much power. This form's finisher is the Growing Kick, a standard Rider Kick that only has a third of the strength of the traditional move.

The red form there is called the Mighty Form, which becomes his standard form after he learns the transformation sequence. It's your expected hand-to-hand fighter, balanced in all attributes. This form's finisher is the Mighty Kick, which is your standard Rider Kick, with the added awesomeness of his foot being on FIRE. The other picture there is the Rising Mighty form, which I'll explain in a bit.

The blue form is called the Dragon Form, which is more lithe and agile than the Mighty Form. The downside to this, obviously, is that he's physically weaker, but he makes up for it by having a staff as a weapon. What's interesting to note is that Kuuga can make a staff out of any stick-like object he can find, which sort of hints at his true origins later on. This form's finisher is the Splash Dragon, which is him jabbing the end of the staff into the enemy's chest. The other form there is the Rising Dragon Form.

The green form is called the Pegasus Form, which heightens Yuusuke's senses to extreme levels. This makes it much easier for him to detect enemies from a distance, or ones who are hiding in some form. The problem is that the sensory overload to his brain only allows him to use the form for a short period of time, before reverting to his Growing Form and being unable to use Pegasus for at least two hours. This is why he uses the bowgun there to snipe enemies from afar, but he needs an actual gun to create the weapon first. These are the reasons why Pegasus Form doesn't get used much. This form's finisher is the Blast Pegasus, a bullet created from compressed air that is usually a one-hit kill. The other form there is called Rising Pegasus.

RH%2B19%2BKamen%2BRider%2BKuuga%2BTitan%2BForm.jpg

The purple form is called Titan Form, which is more heavily armored, making his strength and defense increase, but making him much slower. He uses a sword as his weapon here, which can be formed from anything with a handle, typically the control handle of Yuusuke's motorcycle. The finisher in this form is called the Calamity Titan, which is him impaling the monster through the gut with his sword. The other form there is called Rising Titan.

So Yuusuke takes it upon himself to fight off the monsters, which are known as the Gurongi. The Gurongi were a tribe of creatures that existed alongside the Linto in ancient times and went to war with them, which almost wiped both tribes out. Now, years later, they've returned to take part in a competition among themselves to see who can kill the most humans. That's pretty twisted, but the reasoning behind it is even more so. They want to get the humans to fight back to force them to become like the Gurongi, full of hate and wanting to cause chaos and destruction. No idea why, but the Gurongi REALLY hate the Linto.

Not only does Yuusuke have to deal with the Gurongi attacks, but he also has to earn the trust of the police, who initially believe that he's one of the Gurongi, even when he constantly saves them. But, after forming a friendship with Kaoru, he manages to get the police on his side. Sakurako and her colleague, Jean Sorel, work on translating the various Linto texts to help Yuusuke with his mission. There's also some various misadventures with Yuusuke's friends and various acquaintances. Standard stuff.

Halfway through the series, Yuusuke receives a near-fatal injury, but of course recovers, and this grants him the "golden power", which unlocks all the aforementioned Rising Forms. Basically they give the normal forms a temporary power-up, as well as changes their finishers a bit. Rising Mighty uses the Mighty Kick with electricity around his leg, Rising Dragon's staff has blades on both ends, Rising Pegasus can shoot multiple bullets, and Rising Titan's sword is not only longer, but he can sometimes bring out a second one.

We then meet the high-ranking tribe, which have their own alternate forms that seem to be based on the Kuuga forms. This indicates that Kuuga was actually of Gurongi origin, rather than the believed Linto origins. This also hints that Kuuga could turn evil if he gets too powerful. This is brought up again when Kuuga gains the Amazing Mighty form, which is like Rising Mighty but black instead of red, while fighting the main general of the Gurongi. After defeating him with a dropkick version of his Mighty Kick, the leader of the Gurongi appears and basically curbstomps him. Yuusuke has no choice but to access the Ultimate Form, but is able to gain control of it and not turn evil. Because he's the main character, he has to.

Rather than the final battle be a flashy, special effects bonanza, it's a straight-out slugfest between the two. It gets even worse when the two are so worn out that they revert to their weaker forms, and they're still going! Blood is splattered everywhere, and the Gurongi leader is laughing the whole damn time! It's freaky as hell. But Yuusuke manages to win at the last moment. He decides to travel the world afterwards, and we see him entertaining some kids in Cuba as the show ends.

[YOUTUBE]_wxKbdIhhWc[/YOUTUBE]
(For the sake of convenience, all of Kuuga's forms and attacks)

The return of Kamen Rider had to be done in the same way the original show was done. Establish a status quo that's good in its own right, and something that future shows will follow. Kuuga did just that and more. The characters were simplistic, but likable. The subplots weren't annoying and unnecessary, but actually showed how the monster battles were affecting people. The fights were entertaining and made the villains look evil. All in all, the show was excellent, and is considered the best of the Heisei Era, if not one of the best ever. So if they've peaked already, there's nowhere to go but down, right? Not so much, as the next series was on par with this one, but in an entirely different sense.

40 Years Of Henshins: A History Of Kamen Rider

ZeroVX

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