Igadevil's Kamen Rider Page

What's ahead in 2012

contact@igadevil.com (Paul "Igadevil" Sullivan) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 18:05:19 PST

We're just a couple weeks into 2012 (and not 1976 as I seemed to think), and there's already a lot of things in the world of Kamen Rider that I'm really looking forward to this year:

-Kamen Rider x Super Sentai: Super Hero Taisen, the movie that brings Kamen Rider & Super Sentai together at last (well, together again after Decade and that one bit from JAKQ vs. Goranger, a billion stage shows, etc.) Featuring the return of Kadoya Tsukasa/Kamen Rider Decade in a starring role, as well as what's likely to be a cast of thousands. Will it put every other mega-team-up to shame or it will be a gigantic mess of a film? Either way, I'll probably love it. It has Isogin-Jaguar in it, it's got to be pretty good.

-Catching up with Eiji, Ankh & the crew this month in Kamen Rider OOO WONDERFUL: The Shôgun and the 21 Core Medals, last year's OOO feature film, out on DVD/Blu-ray now. Dunno when I'll actually get my copy, but expect to hear my thoughts about it on over HJU Radio.

-The DVD/Blu-ray release of Kamen Rider x Kamen Rider - Fourze & OOO: Movie War MEGA MAX later this year, featuring the original 7 Riders (including, at last, proper dark-helmet Rider 2) fighting Sadondas & Ginga-Ô. Also I think some other guys are in it. Likely due this spring.

-Kamen Rider Fourze continuing every week (barring golf, marathons or holidays.) The show started off well and has really kicked into high gear lately with the arrival of Meteor and a general raising of stakes (how is the school still operating after episode 18?) I'm very excited to see where it goes from here, as well as the eventual summer movie.

-Tons of new S.H.Figuarts coming this year, including Fourze in various forms, good 'ol regular Den-O Sword Form, and more Ryuki guys. Topping my list of course are the classics: Skyrider, Stronger & V3. Also on the way are a host of exclusives, most notably the just-announced Kamen Rider Nadeshiko.

-March will see the release of S.I.C. Kamen Rider ZX, who finishes off the original 10, and looks killer from the pics. I've decided to scale back on S.I.C. after that, aside from future main Riders or Shôwa remakes if they do any, so this feels like a good note to end on (for now, anyway.) A Gills & Another Agito (!) two-pack are next in line, along with more exclusives (Joker) if you're interested.

-There's a couple Blade-related high-end items coming out this year. The online exclusive Rouze Card Archives is basically what I've been spending years trying to find: good versions of all the Rouze cards in one place. Also coming is Medicom's 1/6 RAH Kamen Rider Blade, the last main Rider needing a RAH/PBM! figure between Rider 1 & OOO (barring the 90's guys, and I can wait for them.) His corresponding tie-in figure is RAH Kenzaki. Also this year: PBM! Fourze!

-More Astro Switch releases! Despite looking like ink cartridges, these things have been a blast for how innovative they can get, with each one trying something a little different for the "switch" aspect. I've got the first 23, so that's (presumably) over halfway there! A bunch of Rider Switches are coming in the next few months as well, and despite their inherent goofiness, I'm all over those.

-The continuing hunt for stuff I missed in 2011 or earlier. Last year I was able to snag a few of my grails (including the Hyper Hobby Exclusive Medicom RAH Kamakiri-Otoko from years ago, and Ohtsuka-Kikaku Kamen Rider BLACK from waaaay back.) This year the list is shorter, the items rarer (or pricier), but that's part of the fun. It's sort of nice being able to finally put some collections to rest, since others (like Figuarts) are getting better and more expansive all the time.

-Kamen Rider Spirits entering its 11th year. The story's still going strong (under a slightly different title and in a new magazine, but the same story) and it consistently delivers. When it's finally finished, I think Spirits will rival Ishinomori's original for importance and influence on the franchises' future comics... assuming anybody feels they can follow it.

-Hopefully, the HG Heroes series will continue, because it just feels wrong having no Gachapon Rider figures. Also hopefully, the HG Heroes series will improve over time and actually last, and not end as prematurely as the superior DG series did. I miss DG so, so much.

-And of course, the debut of a new Rider series towards the end of the year! At this point I can't even fathom the idea of Fourze being anything other than the current Rider, but it'ls going to happen eventually. Who knows where they'll go next...

Finally, a couple things coming up on igadevil.com in 2012! The first couple months of this year are going to be pretty busy for me offline, so updates will be sporadic until around April. But here's what I've been working on lately:

-The second annual Ishinomori Week! It's likely going sometime in February, and will be an actual week this time as opposed to, um, four days. Things will be a little different since not all the shows I'm covering have actual Ishinomori comic counterparts (or are even full shows) but they all had his hand in them. And yes, one of them will be Robot Detective, which I had meant to include last year and never got to because of some reason that I swear was not my fault... okay it was all my fault.

-I'm already planning out a couple other themed weeks, assuming the above doesn't go up in flames. A fan helpfully suggested a video games week, which is one I'm interested in doing if I can figure out a good way to go about it. There's two others I probably won't get to until late in the year, but they're going to be a lot of fun, and one of them will finally give me an excuse to review ESPY.

-I'm commited to doing more episode reviews this year. Finishing Kuuga (45 episodes to go!) V3 (40 episodes!) and Decade (uh... most of them.) I will mostly focus on those, though there's a couple other assorted specials or episodes I'm interested in getting to in text form. And on the flip side...

-Rider Break! I'll be recording Episode 3 in the next one-or-two days, and try to get it out soon. I'm also hoping to get episode 4 done around the second weekend in February. Until the spring, episodes will be a little more irregular, but I'm hoping for 2~3 a month. I would then like to make it a weekly thing if possible, though it might take a while for that to crystalize. Thanks to everyone who has been tuning in so far and giving feedback and suggestions.

Speaking of which, we're on itunes now! Also, as I mentioned on twitter, I'll redo episode 1 at a smaller file size for easier listening. Since episodes are about an hour long, I'll try to keep it well under 100 mb from now on.

-There's another audio project I've been thinking about for a few years that I'll try to finally get around to this year. More on that as it develops, but it should be a lot of fun (and more informative than my usual nonsense.)

-There's a couple things from last year I need to get to (along with, well, everything above) including a Riders' Legend restrospective and a look at the very first Rider team-up. The latter I'll actually probably do as a podcast episode though I've got a text version I started to write last year, so that'll likely go up along with it. Team-Up Weekend, or something, I dunno.

-Profiles! I haven't forgotten about those, it's just a matter of getting organized with all that information and pictures, but with any luck, by the end of 2012 igadevil.com will somewhat resemble the site I've always pictured it being.

-Finally, my long-suffering story Kamen Rider Sigma will be back at last in 2012. Not for a while, but I will be posting updates now and then, and reposting the original 9 episodes. My goal this time is to at least make it to episode 13, the point of no return (because I'm pretty sure my legions of wonderful fans will hunt me down if I leave them hanging after that one.) Stay tuned for more on that, and believe me, nobody is more happy to see that return than me.

So we've got a packed year ahead of us, and I just realized I've got a ton of stuff to do. Back to work! And have a happy and prosperous 2012!

Igadevil's 2011 In Review

contact@igadevil.com (Paul "Igadevil" Sullivan) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:27:15 PST

As we put 2011 behind us and look forward to another year of new Rider shows, movies and merchandise expressly designed to take our money, it seems fitting to think back on everything that happened during the past year, and make a sort of "Best-of" list. Well hey, everybody else on the internet seemed to do one, so why not.

What separates this list from all those other ones is that this is the look back on 2011 solely for Kamen Rider, which celebrated its 40th Anniversary this year and put out more movies, merchandise and content than ever before. Also it's the one written by me. So let's get cracking! But first, a couple ground rules for how I'm going about this:

As per the egotistical possessive in the title, this is my own version of a 2011 retrospective. So I can only speak from experience on this one. If it was announced in 2010 but came out in 2011 and I saw it in 2011, it counts for 2011. It it came out in 2010 in one format (i.e. theaters) but another in 2011 (i.e. DVD) it depends on if I saw it or not (so for instance, I consider W FOREVER to be a 2010 movie since that's when I saw it. I didn't see Movie CORE until 2011, so that's fair game.) If it came out in 2011 and I didn't see it, I can't count it (i.e. OOO WONDERFUL & Movie War Mega Max.) Because that would just be unfair.

Similarly when it comes to merchandise, I can only make a judgement based on what I bought this year. So even throw around words like "Top" or "Best", it's based on my own experience.

Finally these are just my picks! That doesn't mean that everything else sucked and should be consigned to the scrap heap of history. It's simply what I enjoyed the most. By all means, let me know your own top picks for 2011. Also, if you want to get some alternative takes (beyond Kamen Rider including Sentai & Ultraman, which also celebrated anniversaries this past year) check those out here, here and here.

So Let's Go!! Rider List! First up, shows & movies.

It still amazes even me, but OOO turned out to be one of my favorite Rider series of all time. Everything about this show just worked for me: the characters, the story, the action, the designs, the comedy, the drama and the themes. I think it's Kobayashi's best Rider series and I put it up there with Agito & Blade as my favorites of the Heisei era. I get that it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I'm sorry: I just loved this show start to finish.

Picking a favorite episode was fairly challenging, because there were a lot of great ones. Almost every episode had something stand-out about it, be it a fight scene, a comedy bit, a story element or just some great character interaction. But ultimately if I had to settle on one, just one, it would be episode 42. This episode has basically everything I like in Kamen Rider rolled into 24 minutes. It's action-packed. It's funny. It's intense. It's even a little creepy, particularly in the scenes with Maki explaining what's happening to Eiji. OOO & Birth get to save a ton of people, and there's the showdown between OOO & major creep Lefty (Ankh-Lost.) All the regulars get a lot to do and there's a great sense of inevitability about Shingo. The poor guy won't be around forever.

The ironic thing is that one of my favorite things about the show, Ankh, is barely in this one. But in that classic Rider way, his presence is felt throughout. His return at the end actually came as kind of a shock and leads into one of the show's wildest cliffhangers. Despite being part of a continuous story, this is one of those stories I could sit down and watch any time and never feel too lost.

It's episodes like these which are why I'll never be able to stop watching Kamen Rider.

Runners-up:

Kamen Rider OOO episode 28

While the build-up 999th episode was a blast, it's the actual 1000th episode of Kamen Rider that gets the best jokes. Be it the continual meta wackiness of the OOO cast making a Kamen Rider movie, OOO fighting off a legion of assorted henchmen old & new, or the image of Gotô headbutting Kazari, it was an unabashed celebration with a surprisingly poignant message at the end. It also features Kôgami sitting around watching every Kamen Rider series at once, like I sometimes do. Completely off-the-rails in every way, few other Rider episodes make me smile as much as this one.

Kamen Rider Fourze episode 13

So far Fourze has been a pretty enjoyable ride with a great opening story, but it was in the 13th episode that the show went from pre-launch sequence to the blast-off. Everything felt ramped up, with the arrival of a new potential enemy, focus on an old enemy and signs of redemption for a past enemy. The usual Fourze silliness was offset with a more serious side, dealing with themes of power, addiction and corruption. The revelation at the end was one of the best kind, rewarding eagle-eyed viewers (well, assuming you're good at anagrams and can read Japanese) and confirming their suspicions whilst still coming as a shock. And there's henchmen. The concluding part of this story was great too. I think Fourze is shaping up to be a pretty good one.

Let's get it out of the way upfront: Are the W RETURNS flicks better-directed? Probably. Are OOO WONDERFUL & Movie War MEGA MAX likely going to be the better 2011 films all-around? Maybe. Does the Super Sentai 199 Heroes movie have a better balance of logical plotting and unrestrained fanwank? Possibly. But at the end of the day this was still the Tokusatsu film I had the most fun watching in 2011, and one of the best theater-going experiences in recent memory, with a crowd that was really into it (at least, by Japanese standards, which means slightly more noise and applause than usual.)

This movie was everything I wanted it to be. Riders everywhere, Time-travel wackiness, throwbacks to the original series, Ankh, tons of monsters, big heroic moments, cameos, massive battles, an instrumental of "Let's Go!! Rider Kick", Ishinomori heroes getting inexplicable cameos, flying motorcycles, the Great Leader kicking ass, and Sasaki Isao as a scientist. Continuity is thrown out the window, but nothing new there; in my head it all just works itself out at the end anyway (because it's Den-O time travel, that's why.)

If I had any changes, I just wish it had been longer! Also it's always nice to get more original cast members involved, but I'm not complaining when a movie gets Fujioka, Sasaki & Miyauchi on one side and Naya, Shibata & Iizuka on the other. Plus tons of guest stars and the biggest crowd scene in Rider since 2003.

It's big, it's loud, it's crazy and it runs continuity over head-on, then backs up over its mangled body to do it again. The movie defeats its main villain with a giant shining 40. It has the Shônen Riders being pretty badass, for goodness' sake. It is complete, self-indulgent celebratory insanity, and I love every second of it.

Runners-up:

Kamen Rider W RETURNS: Kamen Rider Accel

Kamen Rider Accel is a character that really won me over during the course of W, so I was eager to check out his own spin-off movie. And it's a good one. Loaded with action, action and more action, it's an action-packed action-fest. Also: action.

But there's also a pretty good story to it, with our hero constantly on the move and growing increasingly more desperate. The stakes are high and the violence is cranked up, but it always feels purposeful. It does what the best spin-offs do, which is build off of the original and continue to develop a world. I wouldn't want to live in Futo, but it's a nice place to revisit from time to time.

Plus there's a lot of action.

Kamen Rider W RETURNS: Kamen Rider Eternal

Truth be told this was a strange movie. It's wonderfully directed and the action is top-notch (and, like Accel, there's plenty of it.) NEVER are a great bunch and it's fun to see them again, but it didn't really add a whole lot to Eternal or NEVER that changed my opinion of them. Well okay, we learned that if Kazu becomes Eternal, he becomes a repaint version without the cool cape or the bandolier-style maximum slots, basically making him 2011's Power-Down Gills.

Don't get me wrong, it's still a great film. The NEVER actors have good chemistry, the guest stars are all top-notch, and pitting bad guys up against REALLY bad guys gives us something to invest in. It's an intriguing origin story for NEVER. I just think if the movie told me anything, it was just a reaffirmation of why Eternal is a really good evil Rider.

It is kinda weird watching it knowing how Izumi will meet his end though.

A big part of the success of OOO to me lies in the clawed hand of its anti-hero (or anti-villain?) Ankh, played with absolute perfection by Miura Ryôsuke. To put it simply, Ankh is what I thought Momotaros would be back in 2007. Admittedly, I like how Momotaros turned out, but it was fun actually seeing my own early idea of him brought to life at last: a villain who, against his better wishes, has to be the hero's ally.

While it's hard to call Ankh a villain now, I think that during the series, the writing never completely forgot that that's what he basically was. As a result we got a standoffish, prickly character who reveled in being cold or uncaring, but it didn't just feel like empty hot air or secondary-Rider-is-a-jerk-style shenanigans. With Ankh it felt real, like he really did think having to lower himself down to working with Eiji was a huge pain in the butt. To Ankh, Eiji is basically a tool used to further his own ends, and when he achieves them, he turns against the people who came to view him as a friend... except of course after everything that's happened to them during the series, it would be impossible for it to not have affected Ankh in some way.

Not only was he a great dramatic character, but a very funny one as well, with the humor coming from his rocky relationships with other characters (particularly Eiji & Hina.) He practically steals the show in Let's Go Kamen Riders, which is no easy task. Fittingly enough, he hates Momotaros. Throughout the series Miura did a terrific job (as did his costars, especially Watanabe Shu) when it came to giving the character weight and making him feel like a living, breathing person (or well, Greeed.)

When it comes to supporting characters in Kamen Rider, there are a lot of great ones, but there's a few that really stick with me, going beyond just "another guy in that show" to a truly memorable, likable character that you want to see more of. And Ankh's now one of them. I'll look forward to seeing him again in 2012, at least in two more movies.

Runners-up:

Date Akira & Gotô Shintarô (from Kamen Rider OOO)

I had to put the two Birth-users together because, really, it's hard to say which one I liked more. This isn't like some other multi-ID Riders were there's a definitive version (i.e. to me, TheBee is Yaguruma, IXA is Nago, etc.) No, either one of these guys is deserving of being Birth, though speaking chronologically Gotô holds the title at the moment.

One thing that really helped the transition was that Gotô was around basically the whole series, and he had been Date's sidekick for so long that when he took over, it felt like something he'd worked hard for, rather than just finding the belt in a trash bin or something.

The characters also complemented each other so well. Date was lively, upbeat and a breath of fresh air among secondary Riders. Gotô went from being that funny angry dude with the bazooka to a real hero and ally to Eiji. Together they made a great comedic double-act (which OOO excelled in) and I think Kamen Rider Meteor's got a tough act to follow.

Nozama Tomoko (from Kamen Rider Fourze)

Fourze features a character who is a cute girl with heavy eye make-up that looks at Kamen Riders on her iPad. There really isn't any way I can say no to that.

I know, I know, technically it came out in 2010... but I didn't see it in action until 2011, when it had its in-show premiere, most of the merchandise came out, etc.

In general I liked all the OOO costumes, which surprises me too. A Rider with over a hundred forms? It shouldn't work, and yet they found a way. Admittedly the full combos look the best, but even the mixed-up ones have a charm to them. The best one though, is also the one that kind of broke the rules. TaJaDor features a different helmet than the usual OOO Taka head mask, but I don't mind. It adds to the regal look of the design and anything that reminds me of Apollo Geist is okay in my book.

Plus, given that this was the form tied directly to Ankh, it felt right. There should be something special about this one. It's also notable among additional forms because the connection to Ankh gives it more importance than the usual "mid-series upgrade". It's not just an evolutionary step to the purple dino-guy, but an extremely powerful form in itself.

Putting all that aside though, it's just a great costume, with the use of red and black. It's one of the few other forms/upgrades/whatever that I actually could see being a main Rider form too.

Runners-up:

Kamen Rider Meteor (from Kamen Rider Fourze)

Although we haven't seen to much of him yet, this guy's suit immediately won me over. The star-chart design of the body suit is cool. I like the belt. It's big & chunky, but like that's anything new. The helmet's also go that cool thing going on with the visor over the eyes, if I'm looking at it right. I still don't know how I feel about the character, but on a purely visual level, I like this Rider a lot.

Kamen Rider Fourze Base State (from Kamen Rider Fourze)

One of my rules when it comes to Rider costumes is that even if it looks weird in the pictures, I'll still wait to see it in action. That's definitely what won me over on Fourze, although I actually did kinda dig him from the neck down before the show started, and after one episode I was sold on the rocket-shaped head once he started headbutting guys. The various add-on modules, which could have been a complete mess, work in a sensible (well, fairly sensible) manner and don't look too out-of-place. I'm going to look forward to getting some Fourze figures in 2012, I'll put it that way.

A perfect fusion of old and new, taking the design sensibilities of classic Shocker monsters and merging them with the intricate design of OOO's villains. The gas mask-style face is even a nice nod to the Shocker soldiers in the revamp movies (if you're going to reference something from THE NEXT, might as well be them.) And he's got snakes! A nice reference to Gelshocker there. Shocker Greeed was a serious threat and he looked every bit the part.

Also, canon warriors, chew on this tidbit: Shocky has a golden belt buckle like the other post-episode 67 monsters, so either the previous 66 episodes took place over a a span of seven months, or the Mole Imagin didn't do their research when they time-traveled.

Runners-up:

Ankh (Lost)/Ankh Greeed Form (from Kamen Rider OOO)

Combining the two since, let's face it, it's the same costume with a couple altered bits here and there. There was always a bit of uncertainty going into finally seeing this character realized onscreen. What true form could possibly live up the floating hand we'd all come to love? Well, somehow, they found a way. Sharing design similarities with his fellow Greeed as well as standing out (since he's special) both the Ankh body with a mind of its own and his eventual "whole" Greeed form made for a memorable design that figured into some great sequences (see elsewhere on this list.)

Ika-Jaguar Yummy (from Kamen Rider OOO)

A wonderful callback to the original series' Isogin-Jaguar, who is probably the most-documented monster in the original series since he features in the episode Ishinomori wrote & directed. For real, we have more photos of that guy's concept, creation and behind-the-scenes filming that just about anybody from the early days.

The new version is loaded with great design touches referencing the original character (down to even having white boots, which is getting really esoteric) as well as Shocker in general (the belt buckle, the rib cage on the chest.) And still he fits in with the other Yummy monsters from the series. Like Shocker Greeed, he's a great fusion of old and new, which kinda sums up 2011 in general, come to think of it.

This one was tough. I was almost going to go with my first runner-up, but ultimately I decided that while the Double Riders have fought and will fight again some day, there's only ever going to be one battle like this. Starting in episode 46 and continuing into 47, the beachside throw down between Eiji and Ankh and their respective transformed states is one of the most gripping, intense and savage fights in the series.

It's especially gutsy in that it has the show's hero becoming as dangerous a monster as the guys he's been fighting all series long. Serious shades of Kamen Rider Blade there. The emotional intensity runs high as the two men who have come to be somewhat-tenuous friends finally, really duke it out at last. But the show doesn't end there...

Runners-up:

Double Riders vs. Shocker (from Let's Go Kamen Riders)

I know, I know. It's a fight between 70's guys that takes place in the 70's. But it was filmed and released in 2011, so there you go. It's really tough to not go with the final All Rider fight scene as the best one of the film, or even the huge Shocker HQ assault that follows this. This one wins out though because it's the one fight scene I was hoping we'd see, but also the one I thought we were least likely to get. Also it's basically an original series Rider battle filmed in 2011. There's even trampolines! The Double Riders appear to save our main cast of kiddies and kick some serious ass. If you'd told me this was happening a couple years ago, I'd have wondered why you weren't working for Toei.

Ultimately, I guess this one also just comes down to the fact that it's my favorite Riders. Some people say their favorite moment in the whole film is when W appears, others say it's when Kabuto points skyward, so I guess this is mine. Really, the rest of the movie could have been Chiharu and the kid from Kuuga episode 25/26 rapping for 50 minutes straight, and it would take away nothing.

Terui vs. Everyone that isn't him (from W RETURNS: Kamen Rider Accel)

As I mentioned, Accel's V-Cinema experience has a lot of action, with one of the best fight scenes coming almost a half-hour in. Running out of time, low on allies and without any super-powered help, Terui has to beat up a room full of thugs, including a leggy woman in a cheongsam. If you don't think there's enough non-transformed human-on-human action in Kamen Rider these days... I think this movie is for you.

Okay, if you put aside episode 42, the finale, and all that stuff with Ankh from the last few episodes... the standout scene of the year for me was the climax of episode 30. Up to that point, Doctor Maki had been that weird guy with the doll on his arm, a quirky, eccentric but mostly-harmless character. He's just the dude Kazari's exploiting for his own ends or Date's getting his gear from. All that changes as we delve into his seemingly-innocent back story... which takes a seriously dark turn here.

The entire sequence, showing just what he did as a child and leading into him casting aside everything left in his life to join the Greeed is nothing short of phenomenal. It goes to a place we all kind of never really think we're going to see in Kamen Rider any more, but oh yeah. They went there. From this point on Doctor Maki turning out to be the show's big bad really didn't seem like that much of a stretch anymore.

Runners-up:

Urban Legend Riders (from Kamen Rider Fourze episode 2)

It's small, it's brief, but Fourze including a couple past Riders via grainy video footage goes a long way in building the show's universe. It's also the best introduction of the Kamen Rider name in a 2000's series IMHO, making it the final touch to Fourze's origin story. Time will only tell if this will lead anywhere on the series, though at least we know it pretty much does in the movies! While we had an inkling Rider 1 was going to appear somehow due to leaked pics, I was not expecting this little sequence at all to come when it did, and it was one of the biggest surprises of the series so far.

Changing of the Guard (from Kamen Rider OOO Episode 38)

While it's ultimately something of a fake-out, the dramatic "death" of Date and his protégé Gotô taking up the Birth mantle was one of my favorite moments in the series. As I mentioned before, it felt well-earned and even somewhat overdue. While I'm glad Date didn't really die, they stopped just short of making us think he had, making Gotô's debut as a Rider (well, not counting that one time) all the more dramatic.

And now onto the merchandise!

It's big, it's clunky, it has way too many buttons and things to be a realistic piece of equipment for use in battle... and it's a ton of fun. While they might look like ink cartridges, I was completely sold on the Astro Switches early on and have been amassing a collection already.

The belt itself comes with the initial four and works with everything released since. As this is a "the sounds are in the belt"-type belt, it's easily hackable, which is pretty nice if you don't have all the Switches... though if you bought the belt, you're probably going to get a bunch of them anyway. The sound effects are great and there's plenty of them.

So popular that it was hard to come by for a while, I've heard that it's finally being restocked across Japan. If you like Fourze at all, it's definitely worth picking up.

Runners-up:

Unfortunately, I didn't buy a whole lot of DX toys this year (thanks terrible exchange rate!) and most of those that I did buy were from 2010, like the DX OOO Driver. I don't have any Birth or Meteor DX stuff I ordered in-hand as of this writing. So mine's a pretty wacky list, I'll admit.

DX Sound Capsule Gaia Memory EX : Gaia Memory Complete Selection 2 (from Kamen Rider W)

More commonly known as the T2 Gaia Memory set, this is the one piece of W merchandise I really, really, really wanted in 2010, and we finally got it in 2011. Sold as an online exclusive, it features Capsule (or Gachapon)-style versions all 26 T2 Memories plus a bunch of extras from the series and its spin-offs. While it's pricey, I think it was worth every penny. There's something extra-cool about the T2 Memories in my opinion, and as goofy an idea as it is, the Shinigami Hakase Memory is pretty awesome. I passed on the Dopant set, but this one I had to have.

OOO Medal Holder (from Kamen Rider OOO)

It's a hunk of plastic that holds more hunks of plastic (and/or metal) but it's still a pretty nice toy, replicating Ankh's version as seen on TV accurately enough. Fully-loaded up with all the full combos, it looks pretty great. I have a soft spot for toys like this so of course I'm excited about the upcoming Fourze suitcase Switch-holder thingy.

I can admit upfront that I'm probably in the minority here. 2011 saw so many great Figuarts releases that it's hard to narrow it down to just one, so I think most ended up going with just whatever character they like the most. Or Kamen Rider Knight. For me, it was a pretty tough choice between Amazon & Rider 1, as both were releases I'd been waiting on for literally years. And now that we finally have them both, well... ultimately I picked Amazon Rider, for one simple reason: I own a lot of Amazon figures, and this is the best one.

With Rider 1 (and Rider 2) there's room for debate, with the various Medicom and Ohtsuka-Kikaku versions. Their Figuarts are great, but Figuarts Amazon is the best-ever rendition of the character by my count, capable of numerous poses and loaded with accessories. The only thing missing is his bike!

Even among Figuarts I think he's a big evolutionary step. The chest armor looks a bit strange in the package, but upon opening him up I decided it's such a great idea that I wish they'd done it with some other figures including the Double Riders. The moveable chest pieces allow for a greater range of poses, since his arms can cross his chest more easily. The opening jaw was pretty much a must, and they pulled that off. I'm also impressed with how they did the eyes, which could have just been red blobs but instead go the extra mile and use clear parts (with Amazon, it's actually harder to tell sometimes.)

The inclusion of various versions of his belt and Condorer, as well as two scarves and the combined GiGi & GaGa bracelets make this the most fully-loaded Amazon yet. The effects parts simulating the Dai Setsu Dan are a welcome addition and probably my favorite such parts yet.

And he's got a killer-looking box. I like this figure so much I even bought the special edition amazon.jp version, which features a plainer-looking package but an additional Amazon-specific sticker for Tamashii stages.

This is the sort of Amazon figure I always wanted as a kid. It may be about two decades overdue, but it was worth the wait.

Runners-up:

S.H.Figuarts Kamen Rider Knight (from Kamen Rider Ryuki)

So good, I bought two, though not by choice. The original Knight I ordered months ago apparently got lost in the mail (or is taking for-freaking-ever) so just to be on the safe side, I bought another one for a bit more, but at least it got here. If the other one ever shows up, expect to see him wind up as contest fodder. If it doesn't, I will never, ever use SAL again. After finally getting the damn thing and opening it up... I can't say I'm disappointed.

A lot of people chose him for their Rider Figuart of the year, and it's not hard to see why. It's the best Knight to date, improving on all past versions in this scale, though I'd argue the Figma might not be quite as outdated as some think. Because I am insane, I bought all the regular Dragon Knight Figmas and plan to buy all the Ryuki Figuarts as well, so when both series have released all 13, I'll compare them and see who really did Kanzaki's gang the best. At the moment though, Ryuki & Knight stack up pretty well against their Westernized counterparts.

S.H.Figuarts Kamen Rider 1 (from Kamen Rider)

As mentioned, the only reason Hongô didn't take home the gold this year is that there's a lot of good Rider 1's out there (some of which came out in 2011.) But he's still within a hair's distance. After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, he finally got his due this summer and I was not let down. Packed with plenty of hands, an extra scarf, a Shocker sword and Rider Kick effects parts, it's the Figuarts Rider 1 I've been waiting for. Rider 2, also released this year, is pretty nice as well. But then, so were 99% of the Figuarts released in 2011!

2011 saw another giant leap forward for Rider Kaijin toys with the Figuarts Greeed. All of them are pretty spectacular-looking (when I started writing this, I hadn't yet gotten Mezool and Lefty) but if I had to pick my favorite, it's the first one out. Uva is one of the best Figuarts ever made in terms of detailing. This is an exclusive that feels justly deserved, being at a a level of quality that would be harder to put out on a widespread basis, but is worth the time and additional cost of preordering online.

It's the best Uva toy yet (though that's slim pickings) and despite only coming with a base and a couple alternate hands, is probably my favorite monster Figuarts release so far. Hopefully 2012 will see even more, be they new or old (please make an Ikadevil Figuarts, Bandai. I'll buy 2. No, 5. No, 10. No...)

Runners-up:

S.H. Figuarts Skull Crystal (from Kamen Rider W)

The original S.H.Figuarts Skull is a great figure. So it stands to reason that this updated 2011 edition would be as well. With some added accessories and a nice matte finish, it's definitely a worthy upgrade (though I'd still recommend the original if you're on a budget, since he should be cheaper now and is still holds up great.)

While I've heard the 2.0 version had some hip problems, I couldn't tell from mine, who's standing around just fine. I feel pretty average when it comes to Skull compared to most people (I'm convinced Toei could make a movie called Kamen Rider Skull Gets Hit By A Bus and at least some contingent of fans would call it the best movie of the year) but I'll admit, he's always pretty cool in toy form.

Kamen Rider G Den-O (from Kamen Rider Den-O)

Nobody's more surprised than me. While I enjoyed Eve's freak-out at the end of Episode Yellow, this is overall a character and a design that I'm pretty apathetic towards. But the Figuart still looked cool, so I gave him a shot. Who would have thought he'd turn out to be one of my favorite purchases of the year?

I can't really explain it. Is it the slim, almost too-light feel of him? Is it the way I can try to replicate his pose on the back of the box, and it somehow looks perfect? Is it the accessories, including two versions of his weapon (which I forgot he even had)? I dunno, but if there was a sleeper hit of the year, it's this guy. I think a lot of people overlooked this one, and somewhat rightly so, but if you can pick him up for not too much... I think he's a fun figure, and certainly looks good in a gunfight showdown with Diend.

I held off on buying the Project BM! OOO for a long time, as this has just not been a great year for buying expensive Medicom figures with the exchange rate (see below.) Finally, near the end of December I found one for the right price, and he's my favorite 2011-released Medicom almost by default.

He's everything I want out of a Medicom OOO. While not meant for the level of posing as a Figuarts or Figurise version, he does what he should do. He looks great, has all the right accessories, and fits in just fine with the rest of my Medicom collection.

Perhaps some day, when we're magically back to levels of there being almost 200 yen to the dollar, I'll go and buy all the other 2011 Riders released this year. Assuming I own a warehouse to store them in.

Runners-up:

As I said, this has just not been a great year for buying expensive Medicom figures with the exchange rate. And of those I did buy, they were either a couple years old (my own Holy Grail, Kamakiri-Otoko) given to me as gifts (RAH DX Kikaider & Hakaider) or I didn't get them in-hand until 2012 (the 2011 edition New Rider 2.) Well, there was DX New Kamen Rider 1 version 2.5, but I consider that a 2010 figure since he's a re-release of the version that originally came with the Medicom New Cyclone.

Picking my favorite S.I.C release this year was really tough. There were only a couple sets this year, but they were all fantastic. In the end, I felt the last release was the all-around strongest, giving us a fantastic figure with just the right amount of S.I.C. charm. Supes manages to be both decently-priced while still being packed with accessories, a great sculpt and the new style of body we'd just seen with Skyrider. He's not like any other Super-1 figure I own, which is always a plus when it comes to S.I.C.

While Skyrider, Super-1 & ZX all looked a bit wonky in the early photos, after obtaining two of them in hand I'm prepared to say that they look much better in person. I think the main stumbling block for a lot of people was the heads. For me, I think they look so friendly! Not exactly the emotion S.I.C. is meant to convey. But really, once you see them in the plastic, I think the heads are fine. A bit misshapen, but that's normal for this line. Truth be told the only thing I'm still kind of iffy on is the return to ball-pegs for the hands, but so far those have worked out okay.

But back to Super-1, he lives up to his name. The various hands alone are great, wild reimaginings that are still easy to identify. The chains on the default Super Hands are so cool, I actually like them as much as the original costume's tassled gloves. The Elec Hands are probably my favorite, looking like a cross between hypodermic needles and electric coils. The only accessory I'd really say he's lacking is the Bigass Sword™, but we had the HDM version this year to cover that.

Able to pull off most of Super-1's signature poses, this is a great release and I can't wait for ZX in a few months to complete my S.I.C. collection (until OOO comes out, anyway. Then Fourze. Then eventual remakes of 1~Amazon & BLACK.)

Runners-up:

S.I.C. Skyrider (from New Kamen Rider)

Supes just edged out Skyrider because he comes with more stuff, whereas I felt with Skyrider could have used a few more accessories. An extra, longer scarf (something the Figuarts looks to be correcting) and more hands, anyway. And I would have liked the Crossbow 'o Doom from the finale, but that's stretching things.

We do get the nice display stand though, and the figure itself is so good that I'll even buy it again if they come out with a brighter-colored post-power-up version as an exclusive. I like Skyrider that much, you see. This was probably the most underrated S.I.C. of the year, but it's one worth adding to the collection and along with Super-1 serves as a great "trial" figure for those new to S.I.C. and wanting to try one out.

S.I.C. Kamen Rider W CycloneJoker (from Kamen Rider W)

Of all the W releases this year, the first one was my favorite. Packed with parts to display him several ways, it's almost like he's 3 figures in one: regular W, a split-apart Rider Kicking version, and the Xtreme version. There's also the whole form-changing side-swapping aspect to it, if you're into that and have other W figures. While the S.I.C. detailing and redesign makes him look a little less symmetrical, I kinda dig that. S.I.C. should sort of "ugly up" the TV designs, making them more twisted and comic-y. This release did just that, and was a fun figure to boot.

The MG Figurise line seems to be at a bit of a standstill right now, and that's a real shame. The first truly wide-release Kamen Rider model kits in some time, these things are great, merging Bandai's plastic model technology with Kamen Rider to create some pretty cool figures once completed.

Accel turned out to be my favorite 2011 release, because I think this line works best with his more robotic, armored look. All the others look pretty good, but Accel looks great. Cast largely in appropriate colors (with stickers or painting directions for the details) he's a blast to make and looks awesome when finished. While the bike mode transformation thing is not something I'll probably ever do, just the fact that they included the parts for it is a nice bonus. Once completed he can pull off a ton of poses with help from the included display stand, making this probably my favorite regular red Accel figure yet.

I'm hoping this line keeps going. Birth or Fourze in this style would be fantastic.

Runners-up:

New Kamen Rider 1 (from Kamen Rider)

There were two versions of Rider 1 this year: the original, and the modern latter-half-of-the-series version. While both were good, you never forget your first time, and the silver boots & gloves version was it. Admittedly, this is the harder one to make since he has the stripes on the sides, which are both extra parts that require additional stickers (or painting, as I did.) But once completed, he looks awesome, and was the first Figurise to make use of a new-style body that allows for a greater range of poses. Like I said, there were a couple great Rider 1 toys this year, and this was one of 'em.

Kamen Rider OOO TaToBa Combo (from Kamen Rider OOO)

The one and only OOO so far, I really really really hope he's not the end, because anyone who has built one of these can tell you it seems like Bandai was going some place with the design on this, allowing for the various pieces to be removed (and switched accordingly should other full combos come out.)

Probably the toughest Figurise I made, and that's largely because I painted everything, the completed figure features fold-out claws, interchangeable feet (with the "grasshopper legs") and his sword, which you can even load Cell Medels into. Like all Figuriseseseseseseses, he demands a bit more time than some other Rider figures, but that makes the end result all the more satisfying. You worked hard to make this guy and you earned it.

For the last figure category, Figma leads the way. While the Dragon Knight Figmas are sort of being overshadowed by their Figuarts cousins these days, I think they're still worth picking up if you like the characters enough & have the dough. Even if we never see any more Rider Figmas, the 13 (or 14) that we got still raised the bar for the Ryuki crew, blowing away their R&M and Sôchaku-Henshin predecessors. And those are still pretty great figures too!

Admittedly, as often seems to be the case, I lucked out and all 13 Riders held together pretty well. I heard horror stories of Raia falling the pieces, but mine's okay (on the flip side, if anyone out there has a stable S.I.C. Leangle, I envy you, since mine basically collapsed into a broken mess as soon as he was out of the box.)

Choosing my favorite was both pretty hard and pretty easy. Pretty hard because, at least as of this writing, Figma Scissors, Verde & Odin (okay, okay, Incisor, Camo & Wrath) are the three greatest versions of my favorite evil Riders from the series, and picking between them is like trying to choose between your three favorite restaurants after fasting all day. Pretty easy because IMHO the best Sôchaku-Henshin Ryuki character was Femme, and Figma Siren upgrades on that in every possible way.

From the sword (with alternate blades) to the cape to the detailing on the figure itself, this is an amazing release. Maybe it's just me but since Figma has a long history of doing female animated characters, I feel like they kinda got this one down the easiest, really playing to their strengths. If female Riders haven't really gotten their due onscreen, I think that on the rare occasions we do get toys of them, they're almost always grand slams. Figuarts Femme has high expectations to meet.

Runners-up:

S.I.C. Kiwami-Tamashii Kamen Rider Agito Ground Form (from Kamen Rider Agito)

The pint-sized S.I.C. line is still in my "if it looks cool, I'll get it" category rather than "I must have them all" (this changes when they release one of the first 10 Riders.) But I'm still committed to picking up the main Riders anyway, and Agito here is my favorite release so far. Modeled after the updated with-bike S.I.C. Agito, he looks great and the way they incorporated the extending horns into his head is how every Agito figure should do it. If you're on the fence about this line, give Agito a try.

HDM Kamen Rider Super-1 Normal Version (from Kamen Rider Super-1)

Yeah I know, not one that'll make anybody else's list. But 2011 saw the release of another stellar HDM Candy Toy set featuring PuToTyra, the Hoppers, V3, & Kamen Rider Super-1 (an Elec Hands version of him was also the secret figure of the set.) But the important thing is the regular version of Super-1 in this set was him with the giant sword from the last episode used in battle against Satansnake. And I have a real affinity for that scene, mostly because it's tantamount to Mr. Hand-to-Hand Martial Arts Master Rider going "You know what? To hell with it, I'll use that sword."

It's just a small, fixed-pose (but very well-detailed) figure, but now I've got Supes on my desk, sword in hand. And that's the whole point of buying these things to me.

I've gone on about this release to great length before, so I'll keep this brief. I still can't believe we finally have this, but here it is, and it got the best DVD/Blu-ray treatment it's likely ever going to get.

The special itself looks great, but the extras are what really make this release awesome (the Blu-ray version, with the extra disc.) Two newly-recorded interviews, a linear notes booklet, a storyboard booklet, and the extra disc with the cut-down Ultraman-only & Kamen Rider-only versions. All stuff that would appeal most to completists, of which I am one when it comes to anything classic Rider. So yeah, someone at Bandai Visual or whatever it's called now can apparently read minds.

It's exactly the release I wanted and they picked the best year to release it. Perfection.

Runners-up:

Kamen Rider THE MOVIE Blu-ray BOX 1972-1988

The classic Rider movies got their Blu-ray release in 2011, looking probably the best they ever will. At 8 movies for a decent price (if you pre-ordered, and it can still be bought on amazon.jp at a good discount) this was a pretty solid set. Hell, for 8 Riders alone I would have shelled out.

It just falls short of being the year's best home video release though because I think the older DVD version felt a bit more deluxe. That had the "theatrical" TV episodes (which aren't essential at all, but nice from a historical perspective) and better extra booklets, plus an audio CD of vintage record stories. Again, completist-fodder there, so if you just want the all-new classic Rider movies in the best quality you're likely to ever get, go for the Blu-ray. It's a great set.

Kamen Rider W RETURNS: Kamen Rider Eternal Blu-ray

Eternal's odyssey got a stellar release, with a nice making-of-feature, the director's take on the action continuity, a trailer, and if you got the first release, Ganbaride cards and some Ishimori Pro art cards. I'm a sucker for external extras (see: the original Rider & V3 DVD boxes) so this one was right up my alley.

I made a conscious decision starting with OOO to just buy the final CD box sets at the end of the series and anything not included on them (like the simultaneously-released Let's Go Kamen Riders soundtrack.) If the final CD boxes are going to be like this one, that seems like the way to go.

This is what I think a final box should be: everything is organized, the disc art is great, it's got everything I wanted and there's some nice extras. In this case we have a DVD with music clips (though you could argue that's a required part of the set now) the requisite booklet and a "surprise" bonus CD. All in all, a worthy purchase.

Runners-up:

COMPLETE SONG COLLECTION BOX 20TH CENTURY MASKED RIDER

2011 also saw re-released remastered "Blue-Spec" versions of all the classic Rider songs from the original series up to Kamen Rider J. While I've got all those in various forms, having them all in one place in top-notch quality (with karaoke versions!) was an offer I couldn't refuse, so I sprung for the deluxe box set. Also released in individual series-specific volumes so you can pick and choose, but come on, I would have just bought them all anyway.

KAMEN RIDER BEST 2000-2011 SPECIAL EDITION

Whether or not these are the best songs from the Heisei era is up for debate, but the supposedly fan-influenced CD/DVD combo is still a pretty good sampling of songs and themes from various Rider series (the pre-2000 version is nice, but I'd just recommend getting the above set if you're going to go there.) There's a regular version, but I'd recommend the Special Edition which is a bit more in price but gives you more in return.

For all the talk I just did about toys and CDs/DVDs, it's the books that I probably buy the most of in any given year. And 2011 produced some real crackers. King of them all was this bad boy, which is basically exactly what it sounds like.

Primarily text, it features over 7,000 entries and definitions, covering stuff from the original series all the way up to OOO. From the well-known to the obscure, it's basically the ultimate Rider terminology book, and will be a great help to this site in 2012. Definitely one of those purchases that separates the casual fan from the hardcore fan from the "I need help" fan from the "No, I need a second edition" fan.

Runners-up:

Character Encyclopedia: Kamen Rider Encyclopedia Shôwa Edition AD1971-1994

While I still think Toei has some weird ideas about dating, this deluxe volume covers everybody before Kuuga (and before you ask, there were plenty of books covering everybody from Kuuga~onward in 2009/2010.) Packed with tons of great photos, information and statistics, it's a Kamen Rider tome in the mold of the old-school Terebi-Magazine deluxe books, the kind I would covet as a kid (and arguably still do.) If you want the ultimate guide to the classic Riders, at least until I write my own, you can't go wrong with this one. Hopefully a second volume featuring the Heisei crowd will come out some day. Hey, I'd still buy it.

POPEYE Special Edition Kamen Rider the40th Collection (Magazine House Mook)

These things have bizarre names, don't they? Relatively inexpensive, this mook (magazine-book) features every single Rider from 1971~2011 with tons of great pictures and all the essential info. But what really sets this volume apart is some of the stranger aspects, like its weird trivia. Ever wanted to know how many times in the series some Riders say their catchphrase? How about how much combined bike riding time Rider 2 has over 98 episodes? The number of times we see Riderman's full transformation scene?

It's all in here, plus a really wacky article on how Kamen Rider has influenced fashion ("influenced" I should say) and a nice look at Kamen Rider's popularity around the world (Dragon Knight is praised; Masked Rider is forgotten.) Rounding it out is interviews (including stunt guys) coverage of then-new toys and merchandise, and an early look at the also then-new Fourze. For around 10 bucks, it's worth picking up for a nice guidebook that's got everybody and then some.

2011 saw a fair share of comic releases and reprints, but few were more exciting than this: Ishinomori's original Kamen Rider manga in its entirety, bigger and better than ever before. The lavish two-book box set features the comic printed up in glorious B5, which makes it the largest version I have in terms of page size. It's like reading an American comic book! Sort of!

Also, around half the pages are in color (replicating the color insert pages of the original comic run)and fit in smoothly with the B&W stuff, presenting the comic in a new-yet-classic manner. A bonus color illustration book rounds out the set. In short, this is pretty much the definitive version of Ishinomori's comic, and was a must-have for me. Hands-down, it was the best comic release of 2011.

Runners-up:

New Kamen Rider Spirits Volume 4 & 5

I didn't get a chance to read the updated version of Muraeda's The Men Who Made Kamen Rider in 2011, though I'll be talking about it sometime in 2012 (and updating/finishing that "Secret Origins" thing.) So the two collected volumes of his still-ongoing New Kamen Rider Spirits will do (the "New" was added when it switched magazines and did a flashback storyline, but otherwise it's the same story that started in 2001.)

So 10 years on, where are we? Well, Volume 4 & 5 are pretty much Super-1, Super-1 & more Super-1. Other Riders all pop in and out, but 2011 was mostly the year of Supes, diving into his childhood, his history with Master Genkai & Benkei as well as Doctor Henry. Man, Ulf never looked so good! There's plenty of Dogma/Jindogma fightin', and volume 5 has a lot to do with Benkei's older sister Yoshitsune, who is a butt-kicking badass, even by Spirits standards. But then, badass older sisters are cool. Spirits continues to rock, though I feel we're getting closer and closer to the epic finale...

Yamada Goro's Kamen Rider (Volume 1~3)

Reprinted for the first time in years, all of Ishinomori contemporary Yamada's Rider comics fill out 3 decently-sized volumes, and they're a blast. Yamada's stuff is more sane than a trip through the Sugayaverse, though he still gets wacky in ways that the TV series would have shaken their heads at. Kamen Rider teaming up with Isaac Asimov? Well, it's not really him, but I can't imagine the foreign biochemist/robotics expert guy with the same last name being based on anyone else.

The books run all the way up to Super-1, and there's some fascinating stuff to be found. Yamada's take on V3's origin is even more violent and apocalyptic than the TV version, blowing the hell out of Tokyo and killing Kazami's family in the process... and this is within the first few pages! Also of note is his take on Tackle, which is brief but really good, and I dig the idea of spiritual Tackle haunting/guiding Stronger later on.

Skyrider & Supes get the highest page count which is okay by me, since I've read proportionately fewer comics starring them. All in all it's more of the usual 70's comic wackiness, but if you're going to look into any writer from the time period other than Ishinomori, give Yamada a shot.

And that brings us to the end, with my final pick of 2011:

It's impossible to talk about 2011 without reflecting on the tragic events of March 11th Earthquake & Tsunami. Japan faced one its worst crises in years, leaving the northern part of the country in ruins and thousands dead, injured or missing, and countless more without food, water or electricity. It was like something out of a monster movie, only the damage and death was real, and the monster was something that couldn't be fought or contained. It was a painful reminder that even a country as advanced and modern as Japan isn't safe from the wrath of nature.

The rest of the month was a pretty dark time, but with the darkness there's always light. The international outpouring of support came fast and the country pulled itself together. The recovery and rescue work began, but with it came the need for moral support. And that's where my top moment comes in.

In a time when average people had to become heroes, Japan looked to its fictional heroes for comfort, and some amazing stuff happened. Tokusatsu actors pulled together with messages on their blogs or on Twitter. Some volunteered in the aftermath to help out (including Skyrider himself, Murakami Hiroaki, a Tohoku native whose hometown was hit hard.)

At home and abroad, fans got involved. Even if we were thousands of miles away across the sea, this still mattered to us. There was art, there were donations, there were words of comfort and concern. Small in the grand scheme of things, but every little bit helps. The Super Hero Time fund raised over $8,200. Never have I been more proud to be part of something. When I traveled to Japan at the end of the month, the friends I had there were not only touched by me making the trip, but by the thoughts and support of everybody else around the world. We did good, guys.

As most probably know, Ishinomori's hometown was another hard-hit area, with the museum (that I never did get to see) taking a lot of damage. But as that famous image shows, Kamen Rider still stood strong against the devastation. And so did Japan. Let's hope 2012 turns out well for them and the rest of the world.

So that's my take on 2011. Thanks for reading!

Coming Soon: What I'm looking forward to in 2012.

Rider Break! Episode 02

contact@igadevil.com (Paul "Igadevil" Sullivan) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:33:04 PST

In This Episode!

* Oh no, not another one...
* Very brief thoughts on Fourze episode 14 & 15.
* More great questions from fans, none of which are answered very well.
* An off-the-cuff stream-of-consciousness rundown of the various Christmas-themed Rider episodes.

Listen here:

Or download here

Episode Notes!

* Music used includes:

"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" by the great Gene Autry
"Let's Go!! Rider Kick 2006" by Fujioka Hiroshi Get it on amazon.jp
"Kamen Rider Christmas" by Mizuki Ichiro Get it on amazon.jp

* The out-of-context sound byte during the break comes from New Kamen Rider Episode 12. As sound-only, it just makes me laugh for some reason.

* The JNP DVD releases mentioned in this episode can be bought at Generation Kikaida.

* I probably pronounced August's last name completely wrong. Check out more of his work here.

* Once again, I mention Rising Sun Tokusatsu. Check them out!

* Also check out KITsubs, who are doing a great job on some of the best Rider series ever.

* This episode faced a few technical difficulties and an entire segment of recording was accidentally saved over at one point. I had gotten a very good e-mail question about secondary Riders and who's worthy of joining the ranks of the main guys, and I had given a pretty thorough answer... but alas, over half of it got junked. I feel terrible about this and I will make it my priority to answer this question in full in the next episode.

* All the feedback from last episode was very helpful. For the time being I'm going to try and keep this to short one-man episodes, though I absolutely would not mind getting 1~3 other people in on an episode some day. I'm also experimenting with a smaller bitrate. It might go down in the future, depending on what works best. I would like to ideally have something that loads quick for everyone whilst also still sounding good. I tried 192kbps this time and that's still admittedly pretty big, though at a lower rate I thought I sounded a bit too tin-canny. Any suggestions or help on the technical side is appreciated. Also, if anybody knows an audio recorder and editor that doesn't crash as often as Audacity, please let me know!

* Timestamps:

00:00 - Yet again, don't have your speakers up too loud
02:39 - Brief thoughts on Fourze 14
05:52 - Brief thoughts on Fourze 15 (told you they were brief)
08:22 - Questions from readers!
23:44 - Break. Hey, it's closer to the middle.
24:21 - Like a half hour of rambling about Christmas episodes begins.
59:30 - This song is so goofy, but I love it.

* As always, let me know what topics you'd like to hear in future episodes, and I'll put them on the roster! If I ever do another one of these, that is (though I think I probably will.)

* And don't forget to check out HJU Radio #31 & the HJU Radio/Fwooshcast crossover special over at Henshin Justice Unlimited!

Thanks for listening!

The Nightmare Before Christmas

contact@igadevil.com (Paul "Igadevil" Sullivan) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:34:11 PST

It's the Friday before Christmas, and I need something to review
So what the heck guys, an episode of Masked Rider will do.
After all, there is a holiday-themed installment of that infamous show
It's called "Ferbus' First Christmas"... sounds very promising, I know.

After a preview that basically spoils the entire plot
We get the title card that a light just can't seem to spot.
Slow-motion faces and Japanese stock footage come next
And television's most creative lyrics help set the context.

Right off the bat we meet our heroes of the Stewart clan
The all-demographic family, with Dex, our alien main man.
And of course there's Ferbus, the little furry guy
Alas Yoda he is not, for he is definitely no Jedi.

Dex wishes for his grandfather the king to come on down from space
But grandpa's busy leading a planetary rebellion of his entire race.
So he gets all emo about Edenoi as back into the house they go
But the 'rents gives him a present, a whole friggin' player piano.

Hope you like terrible singing too, because they're having a ball
No wonder General Ja-er, Count Dregon wants to slaughter them all.
I'd forgotten that Sabanized Gedorian also speaks in rhyme
Whatever the case, the villains agree that it's now evil time.

Dex abuses his telekenetic space-bug powers, but I digress
Fuzzball deactivates the security systems (huh?) which makes sense I guess.
You can see why Ferb is so hated, why fans speak of him with rage in their voice
I'd still say he's better than Chiharu, but that's a pretty tough choice.

There's a strangely philosophical line about the nature of Saint Nick
But before I actually start praising this show, things go up in flames real quick.
The bad guys plot to literally capture Santa and destroy childrens' dreams
Not exactly Nazi Werewolves, though not half bad as far as evil schemes.

Back at the homestead Dex sets up a quaint little town
And screams like someone just kicked him in the junk whilst he's down.
This teleports in some insects to whom our hero is apparently endeared
And now suddenly ZO & J's giant bug friends don't really seem quite so weird.

The bad guys finally get their butts in gear, thank God
And they send down the Maggots, Masked Rider's original comedy goon squad.
But first we must endure more singing as tender as uncooked mutton,
As well as Dex's ability to master the VCR fast-forward button.

Wait, what the hell? Time-travellers on Christmas Eve?
No, it's just carolers, as much as I hate to believe.
Furbutt gets smashed into a wall but alas, does not go splat
Seriously show, couldn't you have just given Dex a talking genie cat?

Next Mom reads from a certain poem as the kids sit on the floor
Suddenly this review just got very meta, like a Decade Movie War.
I guess you really have to have someone there to narrate over Hairball's reign
As the little bastard reminds us why he (and the show) are held in such disdain.

Santa teleports in to start kicking some evil alien invader rear
...okay so I'm exaggerating a bit, but it beats what actually happens here.
Instead, the Maggots bust out and hijinks ensue
The family awakens but there's little they can do.

Dex awakens and becomes Masked Rider to deal with this task
And I hate to go on a tangent, but there's something I must ask.
Does anybody else think it's weird how RX's belt now becomes his face?
All I can say is, they got some nonsensical technology up there in space.

So after all that build-up, what's our Rider's big hit?
Something like a Kingstone Flash, and that's pretty much it.
The bad guys haul ass, and Santa prepares to make haste
Furby gets a cookie for doing jack, and our time has gone to waste.

But what's this? Can it be? Has Dex's wish really come true?
Grandpa shows up on Earth, and all physics or logic, he will now screw.
He uses his head beam thingy to slice the turkey for a Christmas meal
Ultra Seven should probably take him to court, but that's a whole 'nother deal.

Seriously Masked Rider, you could have been so cool,
When you appeared over on Power Rangers, it seemed like you would rule.
But that was before the Stewarts, Ferbus or silly alien screams
Your series proper just felt like an unending series of really bad dreams.

I swear upon all that there is, never again will I review this show
Except for maybe that episode featuring AMAZON!, but not the one we know.
This is the territory of people who know adaptations as well as the source
Whereas I barely know the difference between an SPD & a Mystic Force.

I'll just stick with the original stuff and end this review here
For 'tis the season for family, friends, good will and holiday cheer.
So I leave you, dear reader, with these parting words if I might:
Merry Christmas to all, and to all, just stick with Dragon Knight.

(Stay tuned for Rider Break! episode 2, coming in the near future.)

40 Years of Terebi-Magazine

contact@igadevil.com (Paul "Igadevil" Sullivan) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:34:26 PST

2011 marks not only the 40th Anniversary of Kamen Rider, but also of Terebi-Magazine, the monthly children's periodical that's been with Rider almost since the very beginning. It just celebrated its own anniversary with two special issues containing a pair of DVDs that are pretty much just old footage with some new narration, but they're still a blast. But first, some history:

Also known as "Tere-Maga" for short (or Tele-Maga if you prefer), the very first issue came out way back on November 1st, 1971. As is common for magazines, they're always cover-dated for the following month, so it was the December 1971 issue. Published by Kodansha, it was intended as a sort of counterpart to the already-established Weekly Shônen Magazine, with greater emphasis on TV show coverage in addition to comics.

Terebi-Magazine's history of Rider comics is a whole topic in itself, and one I want to get to some day, though the magazine's probably always been best known for the TV stuff, spread out between color full-color pages and the halftone section usually found in the latter half of an issue. In the early days, this was the source of a lot of the great off-screen details, including one of the several versions of Rider 2's origin, hundreds of facts about the Riders and Shocker's inner workings, and much more over. It also featured some great full-page splashes like those seen here (reproduced pages from the very first issue, included on a CD-ROM with the Masked Rider Limited Box. I do actually have some physical issues as far back as 1979.)

Despite starting a couple months later than Kamen Rider, Terebi-Magazine has always had a particularly strong link to the program, devoting space each month to the many Rider series over the years, even when Rider wasn't on! It was a particular lifeline for Rider during the ZX period and the barren 90's, featuring one of the longest-running SD Riders comics. The only time it didn't cover the new Rider show was with Kamen Rider BLACK, which I believe is due in part to the fairly convoluted way in which Kodansha's rights were handled on that one, though I don't know all the details offhand.

Terebi-Magazine is not without rivals, particularly in the form of Terebi-Kun (which started a few years later as is still going strong, topping Terebi-Magazine in sales supposedly) and the now-defunct Terebi-Land. Both those magazines got exclusive coverage to BLACK, though by the time of RX everything was back as it should be. Interestingly, the rights shenanigans don't end there. Terebi-Kun has always seemed to have cornered the market on Ultraman coverage, something I remember Terebi-Land infamously lacked, though for my money Terebi-Magazine had the best Tiga/Dyna/Gaia-era coverage of 'em all, with some particularly good trading cards. 'Kun is also the magazine that features those wacky "What If?" articles by the way, such as the one that made us think Kabuto would fight Dark Kabuto in New York City. I'll be doing a post on Kuuga's soon, which is a fascinating glimpse at the days before we knew just what the heck Ultimate Form was.

Regardless of all this, Terebi-Magazine can and does include BLACK in their Rider coverage, so it's not like he's banned from the magazine or anything. They also still cover Ultraman as freely as anybody else now, so I gather than both 'Magazine & 'Kun have sort of come to an agreement with the companies on who exactly they can feature in their pages.

These days most know of Terebi-Magazine & Terebi-Kun as being one source of the monthly 'spoiler' pics that get leaked online, as well as sometimes carrying much-wanted extras like special O-Medals or Astro Switches. The whole concept of the furoku or appendix item actually didn't come along until some ways into the magazine's publication as a way to sell more copies. Nowadays, it's basically an expectation! Over the years Terebi-Kun has upped its game on the level of bonus items, so of course Terebi-Magazine has done the same. The January 2012 of issue has a Fourze figurine and in February, a Faiz Rider Switch. Not too shabby!

I've been an on-again off-again buyer of both over the years, starting in the early 90's with subscriptions from a local Japanese book store. Things got complicated when I actually moved to Japan, as keeping huge stacks of magazines around just wasn't feasible (especially with buying Hyper Hobby, Figure-Oh, and others) and a rather traumatic moving experience meant I had to consign most of them to the trash. And that's like, 3 year's worth (I saved the best ones though.) As a result I'm not a regular follower like I used to be, though I'll pick up an issue if it comes with something really cool.

It's also worth mentioning that it is Terbi-Kun that has featured the mail-in certificates for the Rider Hyper Battle Videos/DVDs/whatever, whilst Terebi-Magazine eventually got Sentai. Both magazines have started including DVDs with their regular issues as well, such as a great Rider one earlier this year in Terebi-Magazine. It's just a short half-hour clip-show thing, but it's still cool how they dig through footage old and new to teach each generation of kids about the show's history.

For the 40th Anniversary issue of Terebi-Magazine, they went all-out (kinda) and included DVDs with the November & December 2011 issues, as well as special anniversary cards. Split into a "Gold Disc" and "Plantium Disc", the former comes with Ganbaride cards of Rider 1 & Fourze, and the latter with Dice-O DX cards of Akaranger & GokaiRed.

That right there should be something of an indication of what we're about to get into Despite being called the "All Heroes: Best 5 in Everything", it's pretty much Toei-centric. So no Ultraman, and none of those other company's guys. I don't really have a problem with that, and both issues do include an insert booklet that gives coverage to the Ultras and everybody else, all the way to Godzilla (from his team-ups with Zone Fighter.)

As for the discs themselves, it's basically a series of clips divided up into different categories, where they choose the Best 5 of something. I imagine the choices were made by the Terebi-Magazine staff, as they range from expected to seemingly arbitrary, and in the best kiddie mag tradition would probably be completely different by next year (these are the people that gave us STRONGEST RIDER EVER!!1!, remember.) So let's take a look. The Top 5 aren't listed in any particular order, but the first 3 have moving clips while the last two are generally consigned to still photos, so I gather there's some kind of ranking to them.

Also, one of the narrators is none other than Kivat himself, Sugita Tomokazu! He attempts to stick in every single character catchphrase he can think of.

Tere-Maga 40th Anniversary DVD - All Heroes: Best 5 in Everything Gold Disc

* Kick Power

Kamen Rider 1
Kamen Rider V3
Kaiketsu Zubat
Kamen Rider Stronger
Kamen Rider Ryuki

Can't argue with Rider 1 or V3, who both have a ton of kicks between them. Zubat was an interesting choice since I always thought the Zubat Attack looks more like he's just kind of landing on the guys. Like, instead of kicking them with his feet, the sheer terror of having Zubat jump on your ass Mario-style is enough to knock people into unconsciousness (hitting your head on concrete doesn't help either.) But hey, it's Zubat, so I think we can accept this.

Stronger has some pretty powerful kicks (potentially one of the strongest ever, natch) and Ryuki is an interesting choice, since I bet 9 out of 10 fans would pick Kuuga, Agito, or someone newer when it comes to kicking strength. But 'ol Shinji made the cut here. The only real odd choice to leave out for me is Super-1, but he shows up on Disc 2 so I guess they didn't want to have any repeat guys.

* Punch Power

Denshi Sentai Denjiman
Kamen Rider 2
Jûken Sentai Gekiranger
Kamen Rider OOO SaGoZo
Gosei Sentai Dairanger

No arguments from me. Rider 2's always been the strongest puncher out of the original three Riders and still ranks pretty high in the grand scheme of things. SaGoZo's a force to be reckoned with as well. To top them I think you'd have to include Nago's time punch from Kiva, which didn't really appear to do much but I'm sure it like altered the timeline somehow so legwarmers could make a comeback.

The Sentai choices are interesting, and I'll leave it to the experts out there to debate Terebi-Magazine on this one. From the clips, Gekiranger looks pretty formidable. I always liked Denjiman's big silver mitts, but then, I always liked a lot of things about Denjiman. IC wills it so.

* Top Speed

Engine Sentai Go-onger
Skyrider
Kyojû Tokusô Juspion
Kamen Rider Faiz
Kamen Rider Kabuto

Go-onger's sure to be somewhat controversial. Faster than Carranger & Turboranger? Apparently somebody thinks so! Kabuto was a given, and I'm actually surprised at how much talking they do about Faiz before showing the you-know-what. Like, even regularly, Faiz is a speedy guy. Auto-Vajin also gets a shout.

I'm really glad they remembered Skyrider, though curiously it's his flight and Rider Kick that they talk about, rather than his super-duper speed from episode 28. Hey, why not. I don't know a whole lot about Juspion, but judging by the clips they use, he's pretty fast on his feet against a giant dragon.

* Sword Masters

Samurai Sentai Shinkenger
GoseiRed
Kamen Rider BLACK RX/Biorider
Kamen Rider Blade
Akumaizer-3

Once again, I have to wonder what the Sentai fans think of this. The whole Shinkenger team is included, though ShinkenRed gets the most screen time with his BIG sword. In the Goseiger's case, it's just the red guy though, since he's got the blade of the bunch. RX and Biorider come in kinda tied, which makes sense I guess, as both are pretty skilled with their respective swords and they happen to be the same guy.

Blade deserves to make the list, since I think out of everybody in Rider he uses his sword the most. Akumaizer-3 is the wildcard of the bunch, but good on Terebi-Magazine for including them. Zabitan alone is pretty awesome, and combined they're like the Three Musketeers, if they were demons from Hell that had an airship.

* Hereos Who Fight With Unusual Powers

Mahô Sentai Magiranger
Kamen Rider Amazon
Himitsu Sentai Goranger
Chôriki Sentai Ohranger
Kamen Rider Hibiki

Yeah, sounds about right. Magiranger have their magical rocket brooms and, as the clips show, acrobatic powers? Goranger of course have the famous football 'o doom, which we see turn into everything from a boat to a butterfly to an egg. Ohranger's on the list because of the origins of their powers, though I always thought their weaponry seemed pretty down-to-earth. My Sentai pick would be Battle Fever J. Some dance to remember, they dance to kick some evil butt.

Amazon & Hibiki are the two Riders I would have picked as well when it comes to unorthodox fighting. Yeah, there's Shin & Gills, but let's be fair now. If anybody graduated from Amazon Rider University with full honors, it's them.

Tere-Maga 40th Anniversary DVD - All Heroes: Best 5 in Everything Platinum Disc

* Insect Heroes

Kamen Rider BLACK
Inazuman
Jûkô B-Fighter
B-Fighter Kabuto
B-Robo Kabutack

Depending on how you look at it, this is either a great honor for BLACK, or they just couldn't think of another category to place the poor guy, so here he is. Head of the bug-men pack. I like that they do spotlight his transformation from Batta Kaijin and give Battle Hopper some screen time, emphasizing the particularly insectoid nature of the character. Inazuman (and Sanagiman) is a welcome addition, particularly since it seems like the fact that he is a moth is often overlooked. I did find it funny that all the footage they use comes from episode 11, the one Ishinomori directed & co-wrote. So it's not exactly the most conventional choice of clips, with scenes like Inazuman's funky "teleporting punch" maneuver, and the part where he blows up Emperor Bamba. For context, that's the main villain of the show (he gets better though.)

The B-Fighters are all expected since, hey, they look great, and they're insects. Kabutack probably wouldn't be many people's 5th choice, but I guess they had a 1-Rider-only mandate or something.

* Detective Heroes

Tokusô Sentai Dekaranger
Uchû Keiji Gavan
Robot Detective K
Kamen Rider G3/G3-X
Uchû Keiji Sharivan

Now I know what you're thinking. And don't worry, they're on the disc, but in different categories. As for what we've got: Dekaranger & any Space Sheriffs were a given (or should that be a Gavan? Okay maybe not.) I like that Sugita's co-host (the cutesy one who's obviously the less-informed of the two) asks if Gavan and Dekarangers know each other.

Hikawa's inclusion was the big surprise for me, since he's a great cop, but I never really thought about him being in the same sub-group as the above. But there we are! As a big Robot Detective fan I'm glad they gave K his due, even if his method of solving crime usually just means "beating the crap out of evil robots". But then, don't they all? That reminds me, there was something I was writing about Robot Detective that I need to finish one of these days...

* Ninja Heroes

Ninpû Sentai Hurricaneger
Denkôsekka Gôraiger & Tenkû Ninja Shurikenger
Henshin Ninja Arashi
Ninja Captor
Nija Sentai Kakuranger

Man, poor Jiraiya. I'd say his exclusion is due to the fact that they split the Hurricaneger guys up. I know they're technically not all on the same side at first, but aren't they generally considered to be a cohesive thing now? In any case, I was expecting them and Kakuranger. Arashi is a very welcome addition as well, though Ninja Captor actually surprised me. They're definitely among the loudest ninjas out there, cruising around in a big party wagon that has collapsible ramps they jump off of to attack baddies. Stealth? Who needs it? That's a great show though. Where else are you going to see Ban Daisuke and Ushio Kenji on the same superhero team? Maybe my personal version of heaven or an alternate universe where everything is awesome, but that's about it.

And I know what you're thinking. Where's ZX? I'd have been more shocked if he had made the list because that would mean someone actually remembered that he's Rider's preeminent ninja. Well, at least S.I.C. remembers!

* Tag Heroes

Chôjin Barom-1
Uchû Tetsujin Kyodyne
Kyôdai-Ken Bycrosser
Kamen Rider W
The Kagestar

The Double Riders are out, since both of them already appeared back on Disc 1. I'm actually surprised by some of these choices, since there's no Kikaider Bros and they couldn't seem to make up their mind on "two heroes" vs. "two guys that become a hero." So we've got Barom-1 & finally, Kamen Rider W (Terebi-Magazine's staff apparently thinks they'd make better tag-team wrestling partners than they do detectives, I guess. Can't say the idea doesn't intrigue me.)

We also have the teams of of Kyodyne & Bycrosser. Kick-butt heroes all around, although the Kagestar is an unusual choice, since he's a pretty effective super hero on his own, but they remembered his partner Bellestar. I guess they picked them since they couldn't include Stronger & Tackle either. Meanwhile, Ultraman fans are grating their teeth over the inclusion of two merging heroes, but no Ace. It's a cruel world we live in.

* Space Heroes

Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger
Uchû Keiji Shaider
Seiun Kamen Machineman
Kamen Rider Super-1
Kamen Rider Fourze

See, there's Shaider! Our final category also includes the latest Rider & Sentai. Bother were a given, though the surprising thing about Gokaiger is that they focus almost entirely on the space battle from episode 1. Like, going by this, you would think they're just a bunch of pirate dudes with a really cool giant robot. Ranger Keys? You what?

Meanwhile, the Terebi-Magazine offices would have been stormed by angry pitchfork-wielding villagers had Supes not made this list, and Machineman's an interesting choice. But I mean, it's not like there's any other heroes from space named "_____man" they could have gone with, am I right?

So there we have it. As of December 2011 both issues can still be gotten pretty easily here and here. For the DVDs and cards alone I'd say they're worth picking up. You get over an hour of Toei superhero action and the December issue at least is a piece of potential history (40 years from now, I'll probably be reviewing the 80th Anniversary December issue with a bonus Neuro-Vision implant chip, at any rate.) All in all, not a bad bit of celebration.

To 40+ more years!

Rider Break! Episode 01

contact@igadevil.com (Paul "Igadevil" Sullivan) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:34:42 PST

In This Episode!

* Igadevil attempts to make a podcast, with disastrous results!
* Very brief talk of Fourze episode 13, a show that is now a week old and everyone and their dog has discussed, so no new insight is given!
* A lot of terrible answers to what are otherwise great questions from loyal fans!
* Promise of me inflicting another of these terrors on you in the near future!

Listen here:

Or download here

Episode Notes!

* Music used includes:

"Let's Go!! Rider Kick 2006" by Fujioka Hiroshi Get it on amazon.jp
"rebirth" by Amano Hironari Get it on amazon.jp

* This is something I'd been thinking about doing for a while, after getting a few requests to do some kind of addendum podcast to my appearances on HJU Radio, which I'm still really humbled by.

* As I mention on the episode, it's still very much a work-in-progress. While I fly solo this time, in the future I would love to have assorted guest hosts or a panel or somesuch, since it's a little more exciting than listening to me drone on for hours. So I tried to keep this one short, and it still wound up being like 50 minutes (with the "break" nowhere near the middle. We operate at the highest level!)

* The name "Rider Break" comes from Skyrider's signature move. I always wanted to use it for something, as way back when it was the name for the section of my site where I just threw whatever the heck I wanted, before the entire site basically became that.

* The site I mention that I almost forget the name of is Rising Sun Tokusatsu. Check them out, they're great guys.

* Timestamps:

00:00 - Don't have your speakers up too loud
02:27 - Brief thoughts on Fourze 13
04:30 - Questions from readers!
13:30 - Inexplicable break and Igadevil trying to be clever by inserting movie trailer that makes no sense without visuals
14:11 - More questions from readers!
50;58 - Thank God that's over with. Enjoy Tachibana (no not that one, the other one. No not him either, the Blade on) singing you out.

* Please go easy on me for the amateurish quality of this, I'm still learning.

* Let me know what topics you'd like to hear in future episodes, and I'll put them on the roster! If I ever do another one of these, that is.

Igadevil vs. Ultraman vs. Kamen Rider

contact@igadevil.com (Paul "Igadevil" Sullivan) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:34:57 PST

Well after being the latest thing you'd see on this site for months, aside from the constantly-rotating banner, I feel obligated to review this thing now that I finally have it, on Blu-ray no less! Just a warning up front: I'm going to be going into detail on this one, since it's one of my favorite Rider-related things like, ever. So if you just want the details of the actual disc itself, that's down at the bottom under And Now The Actual Disc Itself. Shuwatch!

As I mentioned all those months ago, the eventual re-release of this 1993 direct-to-video (and Laser Disc) special was open to speculation for years. I remember earlier this year telling my dad how I was hoping they'd find a way to release it. The Blu-ray packaging even refers to it as a "work of dreams", as if even the disc can't believe that it actually exists! But apparently the cosmos were in alignment of something, and Bandai Visual has brought it back at long last, on the timely occasion of Ultraman's 45th Anniversary and Kamen Rider's 40th.

If you started watching Kamen Rider (or Ultraman) any time after 1999, the release of this special almost seems like some kind of weird armor-plated prehistoric fish that suddenly washed ashore. It's primarily a clip show, but of stuff all predating the big comebacks of Ultraman Tiga and Kamen Rider Kuuga. It even predates some of the early 90's productions for both franchises, those being Kamen Rider J (which came a year later) and Ultraman Powered (which is from around the same time, but this was made before any completed footage could be included.) In other words, an interesting curiosity, but what's the relevance?

That's actually what I found most fascinating about watching it again earlier this week. There's been almost no attempt to change or update the content in any way. It's still got the same old 90's video transitions, the same collection of clips, and the same narration (shared by both classic Ultra narrator Urano Hikaru and Rider's own prolific narrator Nakae Shinji.) The only alteration to content I could find is slightly revised ending credits visuals, which you likely won't even notice if you haven't watched the original any time recently (I dug out my VHS a few months back.)

And truth be told, I've no problems with any of this. I wanted 1993's Ultraman vs. Kamen Rider, and I got 1993's Ultraman vs. Kamen Rider. While the thought of a potential expanded edition or a "Part II" featuring the rest of the Heisei era is pretty tempting, it's a wonder if we'll ever see anything like it. Considering it took 18 years just to get this one out, I wouldn't get my hopes up, but it would be pretty cool (and hey, a couple years ago, how many of us would have laughed off the idea of Toei actually doing an inter-company crossover between Rider & Super Sentai? Not anymore!)

So if you're going to sit down and watch this, you have to do so with the knowledge of what it is: a joining of Japan's two biggest heroes circa the early 90's. As a result Ultraman coverage only runs up to the Australian-made Ultraman Towards the Future (Ultraman Great or G in Japan) and Kamen Rider ZO, which came out April of the same year, making this special kinda notable in that it was the first real glimpse at ZO for those of us outside Japan.

Also notable is that Ultraman vs. Kamen Rider had some money behind it. There's the famous crossover event at the end, but it doesn't stop there. There's a handful of notable guest stars in newly-recorded segments, and this thing actually had not one but two new songs composed just for it (and you only hear the instrumental version of one of them!) In other words, this ain't just a Hero Club compilation video we're watching here.

In true Japanese fashion, the "vs." of the tile is a slight misnomer, as the special compares and contrasts both franchises, but it's all in good fun and not with the intent of proving the superiority of one over the other. Instead the comparisons are actually like a series of nice highlight reels for both series, showcasing notable elements of both. Interspersed with these are several interviews, as well as new footage teasing an eventual confrontation between Ultraman and a giant-sized Kamen Rider 1 (more on that later.) But come on, you know how this is really gonna work.

The clips are grouped together by some kind of comparable theme, i.e. weapons, villains, mecha, etc. First up is "Specium Beam vs. Rider Kick", showcasing the various killing moves of all our heroes. As is usually the case here, Ultraman clips come first, followed by the Rider stuff.

On the Ultra side of things, there's many of the classics, from the signature beams to cutting attacks to more unusual stuff like Ultraman Jack's bracelet that does everything. Also featured is Taro's Ultra Dynamite, where he appears to blow himself up to destroy Kataan-Seijin (Taro survives, but the model of him sure didn't.) You also get to see the end of the classic Guts-Seijin story line from Ultra Seven, wherein Seven spectacularly destroys a UFO full of birdmen that appear to be disco-dancing (it makes a lot more sense in context, trust me.)

For the Riders, there's plenty of kicks (including Amazon's little-seen version and BLACK's seizure-inducing edition) but they also kindly point out that even in the Shôwa era, Riders did more than just kick people. A couple of ZX's weapons are shown, there's some Ridol action, Supes using the Radar Hands as offensive weapons, and Riderman's Rope Arm, where the clip is taken from New Kamen Rider so the Rope Arm looks like the Swing Arm... you know what? Never mind. Shin's decapitation maneuver is included, given the name "High-Vibe Nail". Lastly, there's the explosive climax from RX's mini-movie where he teams up with himself a couple times over.

First up on the interviews is Moritsugu Kôji, Moroboshi Dan/Ultra Seven himself. He's joined by Mitsuta Kazuho, Seven-era director who's also the famous "Fourth Gate, Open!" voice in the Ultra Hawk launching scenes. There's some short talk about filming the series, and Moritsugu is as entertaining as ever, reciting his signature "DUA!" transformation call.

Next up is "Jet V-TOL vs. Cyclone", contrasting the various Ultra support team mecha with the Rider's rides. For Ultra fans, there's a medley of the various "Wandaba" songs, plenty of wacky ZAT vehicles, and an appearance by the UMA Hummer from Towards the Future (which still have one of the coolest take-off sequences, IMHO.)

As for the Rider Machines, we have the first of two musical montages that are almost worth the price of admission alone. Here it's all set to the "Kamen Rider Praise Song", which probably only trails "Let's Go!! Rider Kick" and "Lonely Kamen Rider" as my favorite song in the entire franchise. They picked some of the best clips for this, including Rider 1 vs. Shocker Rider 1, Stronger driving circles around Black Satan, Super-1 pursuing Machroller up a flight of stairs, Skyrider's Rider Break, and much more. If you want to see old-school Rider bike action at its finest, look no further (well okay, there's still a lot more, but this is a good taste.)

Following this we have Miyauchi Hiroshi and Orita Itaru, a longtime Toei director with plenty of Rider credits to his name. As with the Ultra interview segments, they're also surrounded by vintage merchandise plus posters for the then-new VHS & LD releases. There's some talk about the trials of filming (you'll never look at that scene in V3 episode 2 again the same way now that you know the bike had some problems) and Miyauchi talks about his signature standing-whilst-riding Henshin, which is a good reminder of why Miyauchi is the man.

Following this we have "Kaijû vs. Kaijin", wherein Ultra monsters are contrasted with those of the Riders. There's heavy emphasis on the original series for both, though on the Ultra side of things we also get all of Seven's capsule monster buddies busting their asses for great justice. The Rider clips are like a Greatest Hits for Shocker, showing some of the most memorable and gruesome deaths they inflict on their victims. As a kid the Torikabuto scene used to scare the crap out of me, which is exactly as it should be.

Other highlights include some Destron action, the famous scene from later on in BLACK that is like the father of every Kuuga and Agito police massacre ever filmed, and some nice stuff with the monsters of ZO. It all ends with another great montage of various evil laughs from assorted lead villains, including the Neo-Organism back when it was a legitimately-creepy stop-motion thing.

After that it's back to Miyauchi & Orita. There's some discussion in regards to Miyauchi's thoughts on participating in a new Rider production were he ever asked. Took them long enough! All this makes me somewhat regret that Kamen Rider didn't return to TV a few years earlier, since Miyauchi here, whilst visibly older, looks like he's still got the moves. These days his age is showing a lot more, though I think for less-action-oriented scenes and voice overs, he's still got it.

After that it's "Henshin vs. Henshin", and to change things up the Ultraman and Rider clips alternate one after another in quick succession. As a result, since there were less main Ultras at that point than Riders, they skip over a few to keep it equal. In a real first, Shin Kamen Rider gets a special position as his comes last and is by far the longest. Hey, they paid good money for those special effects, they're gonna show them off. I guess it says a lot about my childhood that this sequence never bothered me much, but Torikabuto melting a dude? The stuff of nightmares.

Next up we have "Great Fierce Battles vs. Great Turn-arounds". By the latter I think they mean 'turning the tide of battle', since it's all Rider fights where despite seeming overpowered at first, our heroes turn things around and proceed to mop the floor with evil. Basically it's a collection of major battles for Ultramen & Riders alike.

First up there's several incarnations of Ultra arch-nemesis Baltan-Seijin (including his son, Baltan-Seijin Jr.) Following this is a very short glimpse of the Double Riders' rumble with the Shocker Riders, but even as a wee lad who had yet to watch the original series in full, I knew these guys were badass. Rather humorously it jumps right from the end of episode 93 to that of 94. After that it's Ultraman Jack's famous defeat by (and later rematch with) Knuckle-Seijin and his bodyguard monster Black King. It's one of the most intense two-parters in the series and kind of a landmark episode for the Ultra series in that it not only features regulars getting killed off, but also basically created Ultra-continuity by bringing back the original and Ultra Seven to help out.

Continuing the epic Rider reversals-of-fortune is BLACK vs. Shadow Moon (including Battle Hopper's big moment) which then segues into BLACK RX vs. Shadow Moon. RX sometimes takes heat for how it handles (or bungles) its links back to BLACK, but I gotta say I always thought the RX vs. Shadow Moon stuff was pretty great. The climatic fight shown here is one of the best parts. After that it's Ace & the gang vs. Hipporito-Seijin, who I hold a particular affinity for since his toy inadvertently got me into Tokusatsu in the first place. In addition to seeing the Ultra Bros. turned into statues, there's the first-ever glimpse of the Ultra Father. The epic battles are rounded out with ZO against Doras, which includes the big Red Doras scene which has that awesome music.

Next up is one of my favorite parts of the special, featuring an assortment of random, strange and always out-of-context clips all framed by an old-fashioned TV set. There's various Rider Kaijin battle cries (with onscreen captions no less.) There's Ultra monsters being strange or silly. And of course, there's Fake Skyrider being a public enemy #1 and tormenting children. Evil rules! One of the most interesting clips features a weirdly-voiced BLACK RX. It's actually from a movie called Right-bend Dandy (I think, I haven't seen it.)

It's back to the Ultra interviews after this, where Moritsugu talks about his thought process behind how he played the role of Dan. The legendary Seven finale is also touched upon- you basically cannot do any kind of Seven retrospective without it, and this ain't the last time we'll be seeing it in this special. Also, how ironic is it that I have met Moritsugu twice now (hence the famous quote) but not gotten to Miyauchi yet? Some day...

That segues into the last clip show segment, "Message from the Stars vs. Lonely Rider". First up there are a couple of moments from some Ultra finales, including Ace, Returns, and of course, Seven. Good luck figuring out what the heck is going on in the Ace one without proper context, though it's got a good message from the kiddies.

Jack's departure from earth features a recitation of the 5 Ultra Oaths, and as I mentioned, the Seven finale is something special. You have to really watch both episodes to appreciate the full scope of the situation, but they included the best part right here. The music alone gets me misty-eyed every time.

The Riders get something a little different. It's another montage, set to "Lonely Kamen Rider", and as great as the bike one. What's different about the clips selected is that virtually none of them are from finales (though Skyrider's comes close.) Instead they're all particularly dramatic or defining scenes, ranging from Ichimonji's moment of self-doubt in episode 31 of the original to Yuuki's famous arm-rip in episode 44 of V3. The importance of Tackle & Nobuhiko are spotlighted, and they picked simultaneously one of the best shots from Shin Kamen Rider, and one of the more infamous (let's just say Shin bared all long before Zanki did.) The X clip does make me laugh though, because I imagine anybody watching this who hasn't seen X yet will wonder what the hell that's all about. It all ends on ZO's memorable homage to the original Rider transformation.

There's one more interview segment: the epic meeting between Tsuburaya Noboru (Eiji's son) and Ishinomori Shôtarô himself. There's lots of discussion about the creation of heroes as well as past and future projects. There's an interesting mention of taking Ultraman to China, and it's great to see the two creative titans get along so well. Some interesting trivia: This isn't the only time in 1993 that Ishinomori and Tsuburaya would collaborate, as Ultraman and Booska (another Tsuburaya creation) would go over to appear on an episode of the Ishinomor-created Shushutorian, one of Toei's "Fushigi Comedy Series".

The final part of the special is the one we've all been waiting for. It's time for Super Battle: Ultraman vs. Kamen Rider. It's only a couple minutes in length, but they are an epic couple of minutes. The plot is about as simple as it gets: a giant monster called Gadoras appears in Tokyo, awakened by the evil plans of Shocker's Dokusasori-Otoko (a sort of beefed-up version of the original Sasori-Otoko.) Ultraman shows up to fight the giant monster while Rider 1 arrives on the scene to battle the cyborg mutant. Although the good guys are victorious, thanks to a little plot-convenience, the defeated monsters merge into the super-powerful Sasorigadoras. Rider 1 evens up the odds by first driving right through Sasorigadoras and then growing giant (because Rider 1, that's why) and the two heroes defeat the monster in a spectacular battle. Cue happy ending.

For what's essentially a direct-to-video production, this segment looks great, even now. Cash was clearly spent on the suits and effects, and the miniature work is virtually movie-grade quality, with some incredible shots (street-level views, inside-building views, etc.) Amemiya Keita apparently was involved in this, and it shows. There's even a nifty shot combining footage from the original Ultraman and Kamen Rider to show Hayata & Hongô transforming together.

There's two interesting facts about the sound track and effects. The sound effects are largely culled from archival material, including all of Rider 1's lines. This works really well, and has always made me wonder why they don't do this more often. I know you gotta pay those voice actors, and for characters with actual lines of dialogue like Rider 1 & 2 in All Riders vs. Daishocker, it makes sense to record new stuff with different guys. Though if Toei can outright reuse old footage in a 2011 movie, I wonder why they shy away from reusing audio? Unless it's a royalties thing.

Also notable itself is that the soundtrack uses some music from Ultraman 80, Kamen Rider BLACK, and music from Ultraman Towards the Future, including some that never made it into the final show but is included on the soundtrack CD. Since that show has some of the best music ever, it really helps give everything a majestic feel.

Putting on my fanboy hat, I think that this is probably the best modern Rider 1 costume, even topping the 2000's stuff. The proportions of everything look just right, like it really is the 70's costume with everything tweaked to perfection. The Dokusasori-Otoko costume is also great, reminiscent of Nirasawa's take on Sasori-Otoko from a Hobby Japan issue around the same time. He predates the Shocker Greeed as a new post-1972 Shocker monster, and like Greeedy has a golden belt buckle, so you can place this post-episode 67 if you care about that kind of thing.

Maeda Hiroshi, who would go on to play Rider 1 in THE FIRST & THE NEXT, does the suit acting here. Interestingly the Ultraman suit actors are guys who normally play monsters in Rider & Sentai shows, and suit-acting for all the monsters is Miyazki Takeshi, action director for all Rider shows since Agito (and most of the movies.)

And I love how at the end, the entire city is trashed, but who cares about that, right? Ultraman & Kamen Rider rule! Following the ending credits, there's some nice bonus shots of Ultraman on a giant-sized New Cyclone (with appropriate decals) and Rider 1 doing the Specium Beam pose.

And Now The Actual Disc Itself

First off, if you actually read all of the above, congratulations, you are awesome. Now onto the specifics of the Blu-Ray itself.

Given that this was originally a VHS/LD release from the 90's, before much of the archival footage used had been digitally remastered for DVD, I think that this is probably not the most extensively-restored picture you'll ever see. Don't get me wrong, it's still worlds beyond the VHS I have, but don't go in expecting a spotless crystal-clear picture on the old footage. I don't think we'll be seeing that until the actual individual Blu-Ray releases of all the shows/movies (if even then.)

The new (for 1993) footage though, while shot on video, does look great, and the final film sequence is pretty much exactly what I wanted. All told, I think it's safe to say that this is the best that Ultraman vs. Kamen Rider will ever look, and I've no problem with that. I watched this on a decent-sized screen and it looks fine.

The extras on the disc on the other hand are another matter altogether. Newly-shot 15-minute cross-talks with Kurobe Susumu & Fujioka Hiroshi (a press conference-style one and another smaller, more personal conversation between the two) look amazing. It's like they're in the room with you! This is great stuff. We're kind of used to seeing Fujioka being the most commanding presence in the room, but he's actually sort of humbled to be next to the original Ultraman.

Kurobe's always great and every bit as interested in hearing Fujioka's comments as Fujioka is to hear his. There's a real sense of mutual respect between them and it reminds you that, ultimately, it doesn't matter whose show is more popular or more widely-discussed by fans. Both will forever be an integral part of Japanese pop culture.

I was particularly happy to hear both share their memories of mutual coworker Kobayashi Akiji, Captain Muramatsu in Ultraman and Tachibana Tôbei in the early Rider shows. Kurobe still called him "Cap" right up to the end, and Fujioka relates how he wasn't just "Oyassan" on the show, but in real life as well. All in all the combined half-hour with these two is a blast. For guys who are getting up there in age, both are still as lively as ever (and Fujioka apparently stopped aging at some point.) I don't know if this special has ever been (or ever will be) subbed, but it'd be pretty cool to see these segments done at least.

Also included with the Blu-Ray (and DVD version) for the initial release is a linear notes pamphlet, and a nice booklet with the storyboards for the Super Battle portion. The spirit of cross-promotion continues even into the ad inserts, which cover both Rider & Ultra products. Also, did anyone watch that animated version of Tezuka's Buddha? After seeing the trailer like a bajillion times when I was last in Japan, I'm kinda interested in checking it out.

The Blu-Ray release also comes with an additional DVD disc, featuring the simultaneously-released "cut down" versions of Ultraman vs. Kamen Rider, divided up into an Ultraman part & a Rider part. Basically you get big chunks of the footage used for either series, no interviews or newly-shot stuff, and a couple additional scenes not seen in the combined version. There's new narration too, and on the Rider side of things more Gelshocker screen time. I gather these were originally sold as like lower-priced digest versions aimed at the kids (since some of the more objectionable Shin stuff is left out.) So if you wanted just the Ultraman stuff or the Rider stuff, this was the way to go, with only hints of the crossover nature as a framing device. These are interesting, though definitely meant for the completists.

All in all this was definitely worth the 18-year wait. I love this special, and Bandai Visual gave it about as good of a release as we're likely to get. While it's tailor-made for fans who enjoy both franchises, it makes for a pretty good sampling of the older days of both if you're only familiar with one or the other, or only the newer incarnations of both. Highly recommended.

I also have to note that as a Towards the Future fan, it's great to finally see that getting some attention. Now if it could just get a full-series release.

Ultraman vs. Kamen Rider on DVD/Blu-ray

contact@igadevil.com (Paul "Igadevil" Sullivan) — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 21:18:53 PDT

After 18 years, the original crossover between Japan's two biggest heroes is finally coming to DVD and Blu-ray on October 26! Featuring assorted clips from the original series right up to the newest incarnations (albeit circa 1993, so it's Kamen Rider ZO and Ultraman G/Towards the Future) this special also features interviews, assorted oddities (an RX scene you won't see in RX) and a nice compilation of various classic Rider villains laughing it up, plus a few GREAT musical montages. And of course, there's the cherry on top: the iconic team-up between the original Ultraman and Kamen Rider 1 in a newly-shot sequence that features possibly the most onscreen property damage in Rider history (though it's a typical day at the office for Ultraman.)

The special's release on DVD was uncertain for many years, due to its collaborative nature, and there is word that some alterations may be made for the new release. However, there's also a new special feature: a cross-talk between Fujioka Hiroshi and Kurobe Susumu (the original Hayata/Ultraman.)

I'm thrilled this thing is finally coming out, and in time for both franchises' 45th and 40th anniversaries to boot. Ultraman vs. Kamen Rider was one of the first Kamen Rider-related videos I watched next to episodes of the original series, so I think it's pretty solid all-around, and features some of the greatest scenes from both franchises. It's a good primer for the older days of both (given that this is pre-Tiga & Kuuga.) And most importantly, it has the scene of Fake Skyrider being a total jerk and attacking children with ice cream cones.

More promo pics:

http://journal.mycom.co.jp/articles/2011/06/25/hero/
http://www.daily.co.jp/gossip/article/2011/06/25/0004205836.shtml
http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/movie/89176/full/
http://www.chunichi.co.jp/s/article/2011062401001066.html

Some thoughts on the CORE War

contact@igadevil.com (Paul "Igadevil" Sullivan) — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 20:13:06 PDT

Now that it's out on DVD and Blu-Ray, let's take a little time to talk about last year's Kamen Rider x Kamen Rider - OOO & Double Featuring Skull: Movie War CORE, the follow-up of sorts to the 2009's 2010-dated Decade & Double feature (see what I did there? Did you? Well okay... it was technically a triple feature. Silence!) as well as being the third movie OOO has appeared in... and his own movie hasn't even come out yet!

Overall, it's pretty good, though if I had to miss seeing any recent Rider movie in theaters, I'm glad it was this one. It sort of felt like they did this more for the sake of starting up an annual tradition, which is commendable, but neither story had the same must-see quality of the previous one of these (which, say what you want about the quality, at least had a strong selling point: "Decade's real ending, Double's real beginning!") This was more along the lines of "Inoue-san demanded we let him write something Kamen Rider this year, and we still have all of those Double actors around, so why not?"

Kamen Rider Skull: Message For Double

Skull's portion was pretty cool, with some good action and clever allusions back to the TV series (the library scene complete with a suspects board!) Plus 'lil Shôtarô!

The villains are particularly nifty. I did think it was a bit weird that the bat lady already looks rather villainous even before she becomes a monster, but that's Futo for you. The Spider Dopant was especially cool, with his visible stunt man eye! Nasty powers too. I don't entirely get how Bat's "control any machine" extends to "create giant CGI tentacles out of a truck", but hey, why not. They're good bad guys and a nice throwback to the age-old "Spider & Bat" thing. Spider's human alter-ego was pretty easy to figure out in advance, but that's not a bad thing: it was nice seeing my suspicions confirmed rather than a total 180 (Surprise! It was that guy walking down the street in the title card shot!)

Diving into the pre-history of Double is a lot of fun. The Gaia Memory experiments were kind of strange: I was expecting deranged scientific testing as opposed to what appears to be a Gaia Memory cocaine party, but it's decidedly weird and evil when you think about it enough.

And yet, it all feels oddly abridged, like this is what would have been a Skull DTV had they waited a few months, but instead they stuck it in here because Toei wanted a winter movie. A lot of stuff I thought we'd see the origins of was already around, some stuff I thought would be important was absent, and Akiko's pseudo-Dickensian trip back in time was a kind of strange framing device. The whole thing felt more like the bridge between the series and some as-of-yet-unseen story rather than the tell-all origin of how Sôkichi hardboiled his first egg (or case.) Perhaps a director's cut will flesh things out a bit more.

Still, there's plenty of great bits (Bat & Spider Dopant's demises, Melissa's revulsion at what's now happened to Sôkichi) and the use of the fan blades towards the end was stellar. Skull's enjoyable as a once-in-a-while kind of hero and works well in these half-movies. Good flick.

Although I'm still not sure about Melissa. Was she just a case of inexplicable reused actress, or is the implication that she's Akiko's secret biological mom?

Kamen Rider OOO: Nobunaga's Desire

OOO's part of the movie feels pretty weird, though I'll chalk it up to Eiji and friends being stuck in the Inoueverse.

The whole Nobunaga thing was bizarre, like doing a story where someone resurrects George Washington, then has him make a killing as a software designer, but it turns out he's also a werewolf! It's a cool idea in principal, but the execution is strange. It doesn't really feel like an OOO story, despite all the talk about rebirth and desires and all that. It's like Kôgami just needed something to do over a weekend so he strung together a bunch of TV Tropes pages and said "We'll do that."

There's also not nearly enough Ankh, though I'm happy to say the next movie (chronologically) will rectify that. Ankh is seriously one of the best parts of OOO; you want to keep him in the action as much as possible.

The fights are pretty good and it's cool to see some of those old combos again. I do find it funny how a really big deal is made out of SaGoZou, who at that point was the big new thing (well, until the end of the movie.) The new movie-original monster is different, and I liked that those black core medals have a monstrous counterpart to them now.

Birth's involvement is mixed. Being so used to Date on the show, he's sorely missed here, and Birth feels more like one of those anybody-can-use-it pieces 'o tech rather than the full character he is on TV. Given that the big B was still pretty new at this point, this is one of those things which I think probably worked best in context at the time of the movie's release. See also: Double's cameo in All Riders, back in August 2009, was exciting stuff. It didn't matter that he stops the movie cold and beats the stuffing out of Shadow Moon. He was new! Shiny! Exciting! Then a month later he's become old hat and is getting beat up by a giant walking dinosaur head. S'how it is.

As for the continuity, all I can say is, who cares? I'm going to just start counting everything from now on and blame inconsistencies on how messed-up Ryuki/Kabuto/Den-O/Kiva/Decade have made the timeline and it all fits in somewhere via hypertime. But don't even try to work out the specifics of that because it only leads to madness. Kamen Rider movies have been taking a crowbar to the continuity trash can ever since Gilgaras showed up in Kamen Rider vs. Shocker despite Zanjio then appearing in the TV series as revived monster (and as one in a movie which also featured Kamakiri-Kid, who has TWO first appearances), so I see no reason to start worrying about it now.

If nothing else, just blame the inconsistencies on 1) how early this was made in OOO's run and 2) a writer unfamiliar with the material. That's really the only way you can explain this one. Trying to fit it into the series timeline will make your head explode, and yet the idea that there exists a whole deviant version of the OOO universe just so Eiji and a resurrected Oda Nobunaga can wear matching underwear is too depressing to think about. So I say it happened, but they were all high at the time, and Doctor Maki forgot what side he was on for a while. Also Date was in space or something.

Overall, not terrible, but not OOO firing on all cylinders like the TV show routinely does.

Movie War CORE

Tons 'o fun. Core is a big silly CGI villain with the personality of a doormat, but he still kicks Ultimate D down the stairs with a broken bottle in his eye, douses him in gasoline, and lights a match. And mission success: I want that EX Medal set now with the Memory Memory (which ties with Blade Blade for greatest name ever.)

The Riders have great chemistry and Shôtarô's reaction to Ankh is why crossovers like this are worth doing. Being a Chiyoko fan, I approve of that ending too. And Akiko's wedding was actually pretty sweet with ghost Sôkichi, although that must have looked weird as hell from everyone else's point of view. And it was nice that she learned something from this whole fiasco: Kamen Riders are necessary because otherwise, we'd all die. Hurray!

And oh yeah, nice to see how Terui finally tied the knot, since many of us have seen the poor guy facing a marital crisis before we even saw him get married!

Doubtless there will be another of these, though I have to say I think it'd be interesting if they ditched the multi-act thing and just had a full-on crossover. An entire movie of two Rider show casts hanging out and fighting bad guys? Sounds good to me. Either that, or in the next one, the Toei logo is somehow involved in the final battle.

All in all, not the best Rider movie, but still pretty fun. Once again, like Den-O, I always enjoy Double in the movies, and despite being saddled with some strange writing, OOO pulls through as best it can. Don't worry, they made it up to Eiji and Ankh with the next one.

Give Me Wheels

contact@igadevil.com (Paul "Igadevil" Sullivan) — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 09:58:29 PDT

At long last, Kuuga returns! And so does Igadevil.

Kamen Rider Kuuga Episode 4: "Dash"
Written By Arakawa Naruhisa
Directed By Watanabe Katsuya

Once again, this review will probably be on the shorter side. Much of this episode is action and the pacing is some of the quickest the series will ever see. At the halfway mark, Godai and Ichijô are already on their way to get the bike! The ending fight also takes up a good chunk of the episode, and that's several minutes free of dialogue that isn't Gronginese or Kuuga enthusiastically revving up. Not surprisingly, this is one of my favorite Kamen Rider episodes of all time.

After the last episode dropped a whole bunch of new characters and locales on us, this one really just sort of puts everything in place, setting up the series status quo once and for all. While there's still twists, turns and character introductions aplenty, this is the point where the basic one-sentence hook for the remainder of the series is established (Kuuga lives in Tokyo and fights evil monsters with a bike, a cop, and a girl who's really good at deciphering things.) It does also feature the proper debut of Kuuga's all-essential Rider Machine: the TryChaser 2000, but more on that later.

Kuuga manages to not get shot full of holes while Ichijô is finally sent off to Tokyo, ignoring his own injuries because a few cracked ribs aren't going to stop him! The well-being of one's self is a running theme throughout the episode (and the series, for that matter.) And on that subject, we're then treated to a scene of a monster digging a bloody bullet out of her eye. Only at 8 AM Sunday morning, kids!

I think you could say that this is probably one of the shows' most violent episodes. Later on, the series will feature astronomical body counts or Kuuga taking increasingly more savage beatings, but I think for sheer brutality, this one's pretty hard to top. There's yet another cop massacre, the aforementioned bullet scene, bloody claw marks on faces everywhere, and that one poor guy in the tunnel... ouch. There's even death-by-thighs! Speaking of the faces thing and the guy in the tunnel, I always worked under the assumption that Mebio's out to take as many eyeballs as she can, and what we're seeing is as good as the network would probably allow.

The violence is always purposeful though; it builds up Mebio as a serious threat and makes Kuuga's climatic showdown with her all the more potent. If there's one thing the show really excels at, particularly in these early episodes, it's cranking up the tension to near-unbearable levels until Kuuga finally arrives on the scene. There's simply no other way out; it's nonstop slaughter until the man in red shows up. Other Rider series can usually get some of that, though Kuuga has the advantage of being one of the few true one-Rider shows, so he has to save the day because there is literally no one else who can. It also helps that his villains' general method of attack is to go out and tear Tokyo a new one.

Just in case you thought things were getting too serious though, Sakurako literally trips over Godai. I can't remember if I've mentioned it before or not, since it was featured in the first episode, but here's where we return once more to Jônan University, Japan's premiere fictional school, which appears in numerous Rider series as well as Ultras, other Ishinomori heroes, and beyond. Through all the bad times (in THE NEXT, Hongô teaches at Jônan University High School) and the good times (basically, everything else) it's always been there, and now it serves as Kuuga's other regular hangout.

Before launching off on her killing spree, Mebio has a run-in with the other Grongi, and while back in 2000 we had little clue why they seemed so grumpy about her sudden vengeful streak, we now know: the game is about to begin. In a way, it seems kind of odd for the others to call her out given how the Grongi have worked up to this point. I tend to think the whole "game" idea was something that was still developing as the series went into production, and at this stage they could just say that Gumun and Gooma were warming up. Now it's time to get real, where there's another reason to the carnage.

I think the whole idea of the game is an interesting one, though it has some odder aspects later on that I've never quite gotten. But then, that's the point of this rewatch! As far as this episode goes though, while the others go off to prepare, Mebio goes off to snap some necks.

And how trippy is that effect when she's running through the city? While super speed is one of those things I think looks best when done with simple editing trickery (see the recent OOO episodes with the Unicorm Yummy; when he runs into the van they just speed up the video a bit to get across the same idea) given what the scene entails, it's understandable. She is running through the middle of busy Tokyo traffic!

The shot of her running past a conveniently-placed Godai is pretty cool. I joke about it, but from a writing point of view it is the fastest way to get your hero in on the action!

I like when Godai "borrows" the bike (and the helmet- got to send a good message to the kiddies.) This scene serves as a reminder that our hero desperately needs a regular vehicle; he can't just keep running around everywhere, because eventually he'll lose out to the super-fast monsters. He also can't just keep stealing cop bikes, because eventually he'll wind up in jail. Furthermore, if he's going to get a new motorcycle, it has to be able to climb stairs.

By the way, the end of this sequence is filmed around Makuhari Messe, a convention complex in Tokyo I've been to for the Tokyo Toy Show, among other events. If you ever go to Tokyo Disney Land, it's just a few stops away on the Maihama line. I thought it looked familiar!

Ichijô "arresting" Godai is one of those scenes that's always stuck with me; it's another step in their ever-changing relationship. As I said before, I liked the confrontational stuff from the first two episodes, but I actually did enjoy this too. It's early but subtle character growth. Ichijô may not think Godai's head is entirely in order, but he trusts him enough that he's willing to bend the rules if it means saving lives.

Something to consider: What was Ichijô planning to do with Godai originally? Of course we know he brings him to get the TryChaser, but Godai's comments in the car and then Ichijô finding the old note in his pocket seem to make him rethink or at least consider something other than what he originally had in mind. You can probably say he always intended to give Godai the bike anyway and those just served as reinforcement (and a counterpoint to Ichijô's comments at the beginning of the episode.) In a sense Ichijô is once again doing something a little outside the rules here so they have to build it up as a big decision, rather than just have him go "Dude I got your new ride back at HQ."

Speaking of watching 2011 Rider and then going back to 2000, it's fun to see how little things like camera technique have changed. Check out the shaky handheld stuff at the beginning of the episode in the police meeting, or the extended shot of Ichijô's car parking. Maybe we do still see stuff like that and I just don't notice, but it's pretty cool to think about it. Kamen Rider certainly feels much more routinely fast-paced these days, harkening back to the 70's and 80's, whereas I always found Kuuga to be in its own strange era apart from even Agito. The video quality of the early 2000's shows also gives them a weird feel that's not quite like anything else.

This is the point in the review where it gets a little hard to be very verbose, since so much of the episode from this point on is action. I guess I can talk about that, and the motorcycle of course. Otherwise, I don't know what I can do beyond make bikes noises.

A lot of the action is tied into the motorcycle, which I'll get to shortly. But the whole sequence, which is half fight/half chase is a load of fun. God bless all those dilapidated buildings in Japan, huh? The old Riders got good use out of places like the famous Obake Mansion, and now we've got Kuuga driving up the stairs of... um... Neo Geo Agent Metal? I dunno, but it's cool. I also like the continual growth of Kuuga's Rider Kick; it's a little bit different here than it was back in episode 2, and will continue to evolve.

So at last it's time to talk about the TryChaser 2000.

If I'm not mistaken, this is the second non-Japanese manufactured Rider Machine, with Super-1's Harley being the first. Crazily enough though, it's Super-1's other bike that Kuuga's is a spiritual descendant of (after all, Blue Version climbed its share of stairs back in the day.)
The Spanish-made Gas Gass Pampera 250 apparently wasn't the original choice for TryChaser's base machine, but based on this episode alone, I think it's pretty clear they went with the right bike for the job.

As far as debut episodes go, this bike gets a really good one. There's actually only a couple Kamen Rider stories to really get into the origin of the motorcycles themselves. Often times they just come as part of the larger package, with even their creation being something of a mystery.

For instance, New Cyclone had a pretty good debut, though it has to share its entrance with Doctor Shinigami's exit, and I don't need to tell you which event that episode is more known for. Amazon's Jungler and BLACK's Road Sector probably have some of the best debut episodes in terms of how they're built up and then utilized, and Kuuga episode 4 is definitely on their level.

What's remarkable in hindsight is that this episode doesn't even have the iconic red & gold TryChaser look; that's coming soon enough, but at this point it's still got the factory paint job, the "black head" version or whatever they called it.

TryChaser 2000 (or TRCS 2000, if you prefer) is a pretty cool bike overall. I'm not sure if I like it more than its eventual successor, which loses the Kuuga-ish color scheme, but gains the parachute. I will go into great detail about the parachute when the time comes, but needless to say I @#$%ing love the parachute.

But back to the original model: it feels like every recent Rider bike has been of the heavier-style, and while that's cool, I would like to see something lightweight like this again. If nothing else, Decade proved that they can still conceivably do it. I like those big antennae thing on the back too.

As for the name, there's some debate for it being "TriChaser" as in "TrialChaser" (since you know, it was an experimental superbike that eventually leads to the GuardChaser.) Beats me, but since the song is called "Try & Chase", I'll stick with that.

You don't suppose 0318 actually stands for anything, do you?

Also, you've got to love the TryAceller. Not only is it indisputable proof that Agito is a sequel to Kuuga, it's also a piece of marketing genius. You have no idea how psyched I was back in 2000 at the thought of Kuuga taking his bike handle off and bashing it over monsters' heads. Which, admittedly, I don't remember him doing much at all. It did serve as the main source of the Titan Sword's creation, so I guess that counts.

But still, a bunch of the original Mighty Form figures even came with one as their accessory! I thought it was going to be like his weapon of choice, the way Dragon had his rod, Pegasus had his bowgun, etc. I guess my 16-year-old mind thought it would double as a stun baton or something. Alas, I did not pick up the DX version, nor the G3 edition repaint. I know Faiz has a similar idea a few years later and to his credit he did bash monsters with his bike grip sword-thing.

Anyway, the actual unveiling of the motorcycle, followed by Godai's subsequent henshin and the ensuing driving sequence is the point where the episode goes from "merely very good" to "bonafide classic". This scene is so awesome, I'm amazed it hasn't been ripped off more! Everything is just perfect: the pacing, the camera shots, the roar of the engine, the music (especially the music.) It's hard to articulate just how thrilling this was in 2000. If the first three episodes hadn't already done it, this is where the show says it once and for all: Kamen Rider Is Back.

There are many Kuuga moments that often get wheeled out as the definitive one, the best-in-series scene that you post on message boards to tell everyone why they should watch the show. The first Mighty Form transformation, the city-destroying Rising Might kick, the Titan Form freak-out, the unorthodox final battle, etc. If I have to pick just one though, it's the first ride. The hero gets on his bike, transforms and goes off to save the day. It is Kamen Rider in a nutshell.

Now if I have any gripes about this episode, it's a minor, ridiculous nitpicky one, and it's not even really a fault of this episode specifically... but this is the point where people should have started slinging around the term "Kamen Rider". I know, I get that Kuuga's reasoning is the police still don't know our hero from his enemies so he's still #2 & #4 to them... but really, this would have been the perfect way to work it into the dialogue. Even if it was just a one-off thing dropped in by two nobodies or a newspaper headline!

I know there's the theme song and the Terebi-Kun thing (if I remember right) but come on: Sugita (soon-to-be-regular #1) couldn't have come away from that near-death experience still thinking "well that bike-riding guy who speaks Japanese and looks totally different from the other monsters is an ally, but he MUST be one of those monsters!" Maybe they did sneak it in there and I missed it, or maybe one of the W writers traveled back in time to prevent it from happening since that show basically pulled off exactly what I'm getting at here to great success.

It still doesn't detract from the fact that this episode rocks. And truth be told, the dialogue-free last scene is probably better than Ichijô or somebody turning to the camera and namedropping the series title. Instead we get something simple, silent and simply perfect. We've come a long way from the end of episode 1, which this scene is the bookend to.

And so concludes the first episodes of Kamen Rider Kuuga. The opening four are generally the ones I look to when I consider what my first impressions of a show were, and Kuuga's opening act holds up really well. With a kick-off like this, it's no wonder Kamen Rider's still going strong all these years later.

Next Time: The Grongi play a dangerous game, and Kuuga's feeling blue.

40 Years

contact@igadevil.com (Paul "Igadevil" Sullivan) — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 08:44:18 PDT

I wish I had time to do something a little more exciting here, but you'll find out just what I did today eventually (and it was exciting!) But the way I look at it, even though 4/3 will come and go, the celebration continues all year long, and I have a lot of great ideas for stuff in the near future.

I did of course get another chance to see the recent movie again, and when I can find the time I'll do a text review or at least a follow-up of new things I noticed/thought about.

And of course I did watch the first episode. I was thinking of maybe reviewing it along with all the first episodes I haven't gotten around to yet later this month, though between Kuuga and V3 ~~and Ishinomori Week/Month/Thing 2.0~~ we'll just have to see. I'm up for it though. I still need to get around to doing episodes 40/41 like I planned to months ago!

In the mean time, enjoy some of my favorite random odd videos:

Bearded Samurai Fujioka!

22 Years of Rider History! (Yeah I know it's a bit out of date now, but there's some good clips plus Ishinomori)

Great music video set to my favorite Rider song of all (Well, next to "Let' go!!")

Miyauchi & Miyauchi (& Gamu) promote Super Hero Sakusen!

One of my favorite stage show clips. Blade & the guys are in serious trouble, until...

Let's Go Kamen Riders Reviewed!

contact@igadevil.com (Paul "Igadevil" Sullivan) — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 06:42:33 PDT

It's the biggest Kamen Rider movie in the history of forever! But does it pass the Igadevil test? The only way to find out was to get on camera and tell you myself.

I decided to try something a little different this time, and make a vlog-ish thing. The result is not quite what I originally had in mind, but hopefully you'll enjoy it!

The first 19 minutes are mostly spoiler-free, after which I go into a plot breakdown. Though if you want to go into this one with no spoilers at all, I'll just say this: It was good.

One Week Later

contact@igadevil.com (Paul "Igadevil" Sullivan) — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 09:14:46 PDT

Source

Super Hero Time Update

contact@igadevil.com (Paul "Igadevil" Sullivan) — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 17:34:46 PST

It's barely been a day and with under a hundred people, the Super Hero Time donation has already surpassed $2000! That's truly incredible. There are some great fans out there.

Click here for more and how to donate.

I know at this point there's still a lot of uncertainty about whether donations are being accepted by the Red Cross for Japan or not, where they end up going and all that.

This is going direct to Japan and even if nobody's asking for the money immediately, it can't hurt. People have lost their entire homes. If a couple of bucks donated by some Tokusatsu fans helps them in some way, no matter how small, it's worth it.

Doesn't matter how much. Anything will help out in some way. My thanks go out to everyone who's donated or plans to. Even if you can't donate, you can still spread the word. This is a cause worth supporting.

Thanks again. I used to live in one of the hardest-hit areas, and there's still a ton of people I haven't heard from. Friends, coworkers and students. If nothing else, pray for them. I sure am.

I'll try to get back to regular updating this week.

Super Hero Time!

contact@igadevil.com (Paul "Igadevil" Sullivan) — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 20:26:42 PST

As an addendum to the previous post, here's another way you can help out with the relief effort in Japan, courtesy of RRR, CSToys International, HJU, YouTube Toy Reviewers and Renz Media Network Sites.

You can read more about it and how to donate here.

Japan Needs Your Help!

contact@igadevil.com (Paul "Igadevil" Sullivan) — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 10:43:28 PST

Kamen Rider's homeland has given us so much, and now they need all the help they can get. If you're able to, please consider making a donation to your local branch of the Red Cross to help in the relief effort for victims of the recent earthquake and tsunami.

The US donations page can be reached here

Thanks to all who can help out!

Obviously I'm feeling very torn up inside over all this, since it's directly affecting the part of Japan I was living in at this time last year. I've heard from a few friends, but there's many more I don't know the status of. If you're in Japan or the other parts of the world being affected by this right now, you have my best wishes.

Ishinomori Week: Inazuman

contact@igadevil.com (Paul "Igadevil" Sullivan) — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 20:53:55 PST

It's time once again to dive into the now two-week+ long

1973 was another good year for Tokusatsu. Toei-wise, Kamen Rider came to its epic close, V3 fired up. Chôjin Barom-1, Henshin Ninja Arashi and Jinzô-Ningen Kikaider ended, and Kikaider 01, Robot Detective, and Inazuman took their place, though the latter came more towards the end of the year (there's a lot of publicity photos of Rider 1/2, Arashi and Barom-1 hanging out, and a lot with V3, Kikaider 01 and K out there, but not so many with Inazuman.)

Inazuman is the Ishinomori character we'll be covering this time, in both his comic and live action forms. The character's history is a little complicated, as he originated from an idea called "Mutant Z" by Hatano Yoshifumi, a Toei producer of animated programs (including one of the Cyborg 009 animated series) and was originally planned to be an animated series. This changed, and Inazuman wound up becoming a Tokusatsu in the vein of Kamen Rider, Kikaider & co.

Weird bits of Inazuman's pre-history survive on record, such as the earlier, unused version of the Inazuman costume itself. The "NG" Inazuman costume is closer to what the version depicted in the "CM bumper" card looks like, with more ornate gloves and boots, and a different bodysuit. The yellow-accented gloves & boots on this one come closer to the earlier designs and the comic version.

There's also an alternate version of the theme song where the first two instances of "Inazuman" are instead "Mutant" and "Raijingo" in the second verse (it can be heard in the original trailer for the 3D movie, and has been released on song collections.) Furthermore, as pointed out by "Felippe Onodera" in the comments section last time, Inazuman draws from two of Ishinomori's own ealier comics Mutant Sabu and Shônen Dômei (Youth League.) Ishinomori always reused a good idea when he had one; after all, Kamen Rider itself owes a lot to Cyborg 009 and Skullman.

On TV, Inazuman's story is broken up into two series:

Inazuman and Inazuman Flash! I'm covering both in one article because I feel they really are two halves of a single show, a sentiment some guide books share. Kikaider 01 continued the overall story of the original, but each series had its own protagonist and different ongoing plots ("Find Doctor Komyoji" and "Prevent anyone from building a giant death-bot" respectively.)

Inazuman keeps the same lead through both shows, something we'd later see with good old Minami Kôtarô over in the Riderverse. BLACK and BLACK RX are decidedly two separate shows that share the same lead character, but are otherwise very different in story, atmosphere, aesthetic, etc.

For Inazuman, the biggest change between series is who he's punching in the face. Well okay, there's a bit more than that, but I'll get into it later. The shooting scripts for Flash were in fact numbered in accordance with the first series, so episode 1 is episode 26 on the script, and so on. Not to mention the first series does not exactly end with the words "The End", but I'll get to that later. Once again I will be getting into a few big spoilers for both shows and the comic, so be aware.

Yet again we have an Ishinomori character whose comic and onscreen incarnations have a similar starting point, but go down wildly different paths. In the comics, Inazuman is still fundamentally a good vs. evil story, but it's not quite straight-up superhero fare. The comic unfolds gradually, keeping the true threat a mystery until the end and throwing a lot of weird stuff and paranormal shenanigans at our protagonist while he just tries to get on with his life.

The TV show on the other hand becomes almost pure superheroics, especially once the show gets rebranded as Flash, though also features a really great ongoing subplot that kinda becomes driving force as it nears the end.

The world of Inazuman is one populated by mutants, though primarily, being a mutant here is equivalent to being an Esper. Anything weird or paranormal in this story tends to have ESP, and thus gets the mutant classification. In some cases though, being a mutant also extends over into a physical transformation, and when one is not "natural" it can be engineered through science. Mutants are unknown to the world at large, and some mutants themselves don't even realize they possess such powers. One among them is Watari Gorô. Or is it Kazeda Saburô? It's both!

On TV, Inazuman's alterego is Watari Gorô, a third-year college student and soccer club star. His life takes a wacky turn when he helps some youngsters fight off the Neo-Human Empire's Fantom Army. Who are they? A secret society that wants to take over the world of course!

The kids are members of the Youth League, and they take Watari to their HQ to meet the group's leader and mentor, Captain Saraa. Watari learns that he too is a mutant, perhaps the most powerful ever: with the words Gôriki Shôrai ("Summon Mighty Power") he's able to become the armored, pupa-like Sanagiman. Once the energy meter in his belt reaches maximum, he need only call out Chôriki Shôrai ("Summon Ultimate Power") to change to the even more powerful psionic warrior, Inazuman! Because he's the hero, he decides to use his powers for good, and joins the Youth League to battle against the bad guys. And that's basically how it works... for a time.

As far as superheros goes, Inazuman is starts out very unique. Early on, he's basically unstoppable, capable of doing seemingly anything. He has a move called "Reverse Chest" that allows him to instantly undo stuff. Building blows up? Reverse Chest! Dam destroyed? Reverse Chest! (There are other names for it, but this becomes the most commonly-used variation.) You're probably wondering what's up with the "Chest" thing. That is, basically, Inazuman's signature battle cry. It's even featured prominently in the ending theme song. Apparently it has origins in Kyûshû where Watari's supposed to be from. Hey, I believe it.

His powers don't end there though. One of my favorite ones (seen in the opening credits) is Inazuman turning his scarf into a giant yellow chain, which he uses to pull a building back into place. That's pretty hardcore. Of course he has a lot of purely offensive moves as well, punches & kicks and all that, often prefaced by Nenriki ("Psionic".) Later on Inazuman develops a move where he flies through the air shooting laser beams before punching his foe to an explosive death.

As a design, Inazuman's pretty impressive just for how intricate he is. His antennae alone up-close are amazing! Inazuman is based on a moth, and his chunkier, armored Sanagiman form is of course a pupa (I guess that makes Watari the caterpillar?) Speaking of which, Sanagiman is cool, though he eventually becomes used about as often as the Masked Forms in Kamen Rider Kabuto that he inspired (you can also credit him for inspiring Agito's Burning Form, which gave way to the more powerful Shining.) The transformation's neat though, with him literally exploding as Inazuman appears! I also applaud the fact that he's a very unorthodox design, and not immediately "heroic"-looking at first glance. Given that he's another bug-based hero, I do like that Inazuman's different enough from the Riders with a more human-like face, his origin and powers, and of course his preferred method of transportation.

The Youth League give Watari a car called Raijingo, and this thing rocks. It is a car that flies, shoots rockets, has pincers for bad guy-crushing-action, and on top of all that has a giant toothy mouth for chomping down on anything in its way! It also has a kick-ass theme song. It's perhaps one of the craziest vehicle designs in Tokusatsu, up there with Akumaizer-3's flying battleship and ZAT's arsenal in Ultraman Taro. When flying is the most normal of your car's powers, you know you're in another league altogether. This vehicle comes in handy since Inazuman's enemies tend to have their own air force. These bad guys don't mess around.

As for the Neo-Human Empire (alternatively the "New Humanity") they're an organization of evil mutants led by the mysterious Emperor Bamba, who rules over an army of "MutanRobots" which are average, everyday evil mutant people who have been surgically enhanced to become cyborgs. I guess they got to cover all bases! Each one is a combination of some thing or concept plus the "-Bambara" name, i.e. "Akuma-Bambara" (Devil-Bambara), "Hone-Bambara" (Bone-Bambara), etc. Inazuman has some pretty cool monster designs, a particular favorite of mine being a paint-based monster, who looks like something you'd find at the MoMA these days. There's a bamboo-themed guy who's cool too, and how often do you see something like that? Don't tell me, I'm sure there's a Sentai monster themed after it.

I also have to give special mention to the henchmen in Inazuman. I love these guys. They're gasmask-wearing military dudes who use a giant oversized red claw as their main weapon, and they wear funky hardhats/helmets. They also make one of the weirdest, creepiest wails of any henchmen from the 70's. Yaaaaaaaaah, indeed. They're at their best in the first few episodes, when they're sporting brighter fatigues and white helmets/boots. After that they changed the design a bit, darkening a lot of the colors and trading in the big claws for smaller versions, and it just ain't the same. I dunno, but it's sort of neat to see bad guys wearing so much white for a change, rather than black or the darker colors you usually get. Coupled with the colorful Inazuman, they look great in the fight scenes.

Watari is played by Ban Daisuke, who you may remember as that Jiro guy. Inazuman started up around the point Jiro goes AWOL from Kikaider 01, though reportedly Ban had to pull double-duty in filming both for a time. I think the characters are unique enough, though it takes a while before we learn more about Watari (but when we do, yikes. He's had some tough times.) Also I guess joining the Youth League gives you some serious street cred; in episode 24 he walks into a crime scene, just tells the police "I'm Watari" and they let him through, no questions asked.

And you've got to give Ban credit: he manages to look good even with the oversized black Leaguer uniform they gave him for the early episodes. It gets ditched fairly early in the series, but I'll get back to that story later. Let's take a break from the live action show and talk a little about the comic.

In Ishinomori's manga, Inazuman's alterego is Kazeda Saburô, affectionately known as "Sabu" by his friends and family. Here he's a middle school student who loves getting into fights and is generally a lot more of a wise guy than his mature TV counterpart. He encounters a girl named Rion who is a member of the comics version of the Youth League. On TV, they're like the Shônen Riders, only they get more elaborate uniforms and they're basically dropped from the show fairly quickly (aside from the credits sequences.) In the comics, they still have the uniforms, though seem a bit older in age and operate in a more secretive fashion. They're around for the entirety of the comic right up to the last page, and are important allies in Inazuman's fight. Captain Saraa is here just Saraa, a guru-type who's ESP powers are immense (if you've ever seen ESPY, he's basically the old man from the mountain.)

Watari discovers his powers gradually, and it takes some time before the Youth League give him the scoop on everything. The idea of them fighting the Neo-Humanity Empire is basically there, though our intrepid evil organization is in the background until near the end of the comic, but they make their presence known through various weird mutants that Watari & friends encounter. While they aren't the standard monsters of the TV show, there's plenty of oddness: a ghostly woman, a wolfman, killer monks who ride around on flying tombstones, and a gang of mutant terrorists led by what appears to be an evil sea captain. Yarrrr! There's even a moth-lady, albeit briefly, and Inazuman has a strange tendency to encounter naked women who want to kill him. Hey, why not. Like the Blood Wheel Clan in the Arashi comic, it's a very disorganized organization, and a lot of the mutants often appear to be acting solo at first glance.

Inazuman works the same way in principle, though his powers are less strictly-defined (no "Chest!") Sabu becomes Sanagiman, usually after getting seriously injured (one time getting stabbed in the brain with scissors, and another after being shot multiple times right down the middle!) Sanagiman explodes, giving way to Inazuman, who in the comics is implied to be naked save for a speedo-type thingy (and early on, when he turns back, poor Sabu is sans clothes, Hibiki-style.)

As per his name, Inazuman has control over lightning and electricity, and tends to electrocute the hell out of everything evil. His psycho-kinetic powers extend over to Sabu as well, who uses them to pull pranks, cheat on tests, beat up people, harass his friend Miyoppe, etc.

There's a lot more of Sabu's personal and school life, and eventually we meet his mother, though the TV version of that story is probably the more famous and tragic rendition. Sabu meets some other mutants who eventually become allies (after initial conflict) and there's some comedy bits with a dog character who's like the badass cousin of Scooby-Doo. Eventually there's some fourth-dimensional aliens running about, but things really start getting weird when Ishinomori himself appears in the story. He offers up a history of ESP and at one point is apparently drawing the comic as it actually happens. That's so crazy I have to call it genius.

Probably the most famous chapter of the comic is "The Boy Who Carried a Guitar", which features the return of our old pal Jiro! Coming off the end of his comic though, he's not in good shape, haunted by sins past as well as condemned by the "evil heart" he now possesses.

The bad guys take advantage of this and convince him to join them in their quest to wipe out the "old humanity" and bump off Inazuman. This makes for some pretty cool foreshadowing when Jiro tells Sabu about "that I man I met, that man who hates humanity" alluding to the story's ultimate villain. While Jiro doesn't turn into Kikaider, his guitar now plays a hypnotic song, as well as doubling as a machine gun! Fortunately Inazuman talks him down and fries his Obedience Circuit, restoring him to his old self. They part promising to some day fight again, this time side-by-side.

Of course this story got an animated adaptation, exclusive to the Kikaider 01: The Animation DVD set. I have seen most of it via Youtube, and it's pretty cool. Inazuman is given the full animated treatment, sticking close to his comic persona. The animated version even adds some stuff; Kikaider appears, and there's a monster kinda like the first one from the original TV Inazuman. See, Jiro does kinda get a happy ending after all! Ishinomori conceived of this chapter as a way to give some closure for fans who had been saddened by the end of the Kikaider comic.

The story ends with an extensive chapter wherein Inazuman fights seemingly everything Ishinomori could think up; there's even a Giant Robotic Thing in there! The Neo-Humans take Sabu to the moon via UFO, where they perform brain surgery on him to make him into their slave. I guess all Shocker really needed was a crazy lady with a knife and a UFO! The Youth Corps launch a final assault on the moonbase, where we meet the comic's version of Bamba. Here he's a mutated old guy plugged in a giant robot, not unlike the Doctor Noroi/King Dark situation in Kamen Rider X.

Bamba tries to use Inazuman to destroy the good guys, but Saraa shows up. Bamba turns out to be his younger brother! The ending is a bit like the original Kamen Rider comic in that it's not exactly the main hero's finest hour, as Inazuman gets turned good and basically watches as a whole lot of stuff explodes thanks to some psychic old guys, but the ending is fairly upbeat (the future belongs to the youth of tomorrow, etc.) All told, I rather like the Inazuman comic. It's weird, often surreal, and well worth a read.

And it winds up as a very different story than the TV series. While early Inazuman is fairly crazy and upbeat, things take a turn come episode 11. The term "dark" gets thrown around a lot, and I tend to think it's just become a catch-all for saying a show is "staight-forward", "serious", "played with conviction" or "not bordering on self-parody", etc. I think most shows have dark moments or episodes, but I'm not sure I'd say they're dark all the way around. But with Inazuman, you could say "the show gets darker" and I'd probably have to agree.

It is a gradual shift. The Youth League gets dropped fairly quickly, if not in name than in realization; the uniforms are discarded and only the regular 2 or 3 members continue to appear after a time. Watari's roommate and comedic sidekick Marume is stays around, but even his antics become increasingly scarce. It's episode 11 that really becomes the show's turning point though, and I think the title alone should tell you why: "Bara-Bambara is Inazuman's Mother".

This episode is probably best known for the director and co-writer: Ishinomori himself, or rather Ishimori as he was then known. Ishinomori also has an episode of Kamen Rider with similar treatment that I'll have to review on its own sooner or later. Whereas that was more of a celebratory occasion though, I think Ishinomori stepped into the writer's/director's chair for this one because of how important it was, both personally and for the series.

The title basically tells us it flat-out: the episode's rose-based monster is in fact Watari's mother, missing for 15 years. The real shocker is in watching how this revelation comes about. Ishinomori's directing style is fascinating; according to Ban Daisuke, he'd supplement the script by storyboarding out scenes like a comic. He knew exactly what he wanted and the two episodes I've seen him direct are nothing if not stylized. They almost work like a comic. There's random inter-cut scenes, long periods of silence, color filters, extreme close-ups, removed frames, and a general sense of weirdness that's not quite like anything else. In particular the scene where Watari learns his mother is the monster is really rather creepy; it comes sooner than we would expect in any other script and the quick-cut effects to show the transition are kinda disturbing.

I think Inazuman has some of the craziest powers in this episode too. There's a lot of teleporting, and he even seemingly has the ability to punch out henchmen before they can even arrive at the fight scene! It's really high-concept stuff. By the way, watch for Ishinomori himself in a cameo as a scientist's assistant who gets killed by the monster. Come to think of it, Ishinomori had a habit of getting killed off whenever he does a cameo, at least until the 80's. You got to respect that. One of his sons is also playing kid Watari, which is a pretty cool fact I learned thanks to the great subtitled DVD set this show got!

As for the story: for a while Watari doesn't want to believe that his mother is really with the Neo-Human Empire, but the evidence stacks up and it doesn't look so good. Ultimately his mom (Shinobu) comes to her senses and remembers her son, but is cruelly struck down by Bamba (who Inazuman blows up, but the one-armed bastard survives to fight another day.) It's pretty intense stuff and definitely worth checking out even as a standalone; a great storyline with some unique direction by the guy responsible for this very overview!

I would say it does have a definite effect on the series though, as suddenly @#$% gets real and Watari is more driven than ever to destroy Bamba and his empire. With the darker tone comes slightly less of the imaginative powers Inazuman had before; I think he starts to become more of a "traditional" hero, relying on a set list of powers rather than whatever the writers could think up, though to be fair I haven't rewatched a couple of the post-11 episodes in a while, so I'm likely forgetting some gems. The bad guys certainly start getting rougher, and more and more the henchmen start packing heat! This is all leading up to the Inazuman series finale, which is less of an ending and more of a transitional period.

Episode 24 introduces a mysterious robotic warrior who attacks Fantom Army trucks and screws around with their evil "blow up Tokyo with a missile" plans. Unaware of this, Bamba and co. blame Inazuman, and our hero must contend with Ishi-Bambara (a rock monster) and try to rescue Marume, who's been taken for slave labor (and teams up with Marshal Armor! Well, Nakamura Bunya.)

Inazuman defeats the bad guys, but the newcomer has him concerned. This episode marks a few changes to Inazuman himself; he now has an orange scarf (replacing the old yellow one) and new transitions are used when he becomes Sanagiman and then Inazuman (and the Sanagiman one already had a new variation much earlier.) The updated Sanagiman-to-Inazuman transformation is a bit funny since when he becomes Inazuman, the effects are so bright you can barely see him! I guess everybody watching knows by now though. I have a real soft spot for these updated transitions though.

Evil robot guy and several Fantom Army turncoats (who I guess he bribed with coupon books or something) stage a coup d'etat on the Neo-Human Empire; yep, it's another "join us or die!" new-villains-toppling-the-old-ones concept, with the unique twist that they pretty much buy-out the New-Human Empire from within. It's a great way to breath new life into the show, and sets up for the mother of all episode endings. Bamba tries to join forces with Watari, a subplot that's been running for some time (as in episode 11) though there it was him just wanting Inazuman to give into his mutant heritage and join the ~~Dark~~ Neo-Human side. I dunno why, but Faiz reminded me a lot of Inazuman. Here, Big B is getting desperate, as all his guys are inexplicably turning against him (and they do so here, interrupting the conversation.)

Following a cool escape from a firing squad, Watari parts with the show's other regulars for the final time; they don't appear in the next series! Kinda sad, but I think the show prepared us for it by having Watari increasingly operate on his own as things goes on. In exchange for helping Bamba (who'd been locked up with psychic-hindering restraints) Watari is promised that Bamba will take him to dismantle the evil guy's final master plan: sink all of Japan with a tectonic disruptor. Hey, if he can't own it, nobody can.

It turns out to be a rather ingenious trap, and Watari is stuck in an energy-sapping room that even as Inazuman he can't escape from. Our hero uses parts of his own body/costume (!) to construct Zabre, which is basically the ultimate multi-purpose tool and a good way to give Inazuman his "can do anything" quality back. Inazuman busts out and fights Bamba, who becomes the mutant Firey Fighter, but proves no match in the end. Bamba's final moment is so insane it's awesome: he grows giant, appearing out over the ocean, then explodes in a nuclear blast. That's how you make an exit.

Unfortunately, it ain't over by a long shot: the mysterious robot guy shows up, revealing himself to be Udespar of the Despar Army, led by the nefarious Fuhrer Geisel, who shows up along with the other ex-Fantom Army members as the episode ends on a cliffhanger. From the next episode on, Inazuman becomes Inazuman Flash, with new theme songs, new enemies, and a new supporting cast (well, supporting guy) but the same 'ol Watari/Sanagiman/Inazuman at the helm. Like I said, 24 & 25 are less of an ending than they are a transition; if you're going to watch Flash, I'd say they're essential viewing.

Inazuman Flash has no real precedent in the Ishinomori comic (though that sea captain guy might've been a visual influence for Geisel) but did get its own comic adaptations that I have yet to read. For the TV series itself, it's pretty good, though like I said, we're now at a point where Watari's day job is Professional Ass-Kicker. He had some semblance of a college life early on in the first series, but here he basically drives around Japan fighting bad guys, fighting bad guys and fighting more bad guys. It's compelling stuff though, and this is largely thanks to the Despar Army and the show's other new regular, Arai Makoto.

Befitting Watari's full-time hero status, Arai is basically a gunslinging cowboy-ish tough guy with as many secrets as he has chips on his shoulder. At first glance he's amusingly like Tachibana in Kamen Rider Stronger, but younger, meaner and more trigger-happy. He's got a bone to pick with Despar and teams up with Watari to take them down. In a lot of ways, his storyline becomes the main arc of the show; by this point everybody Watari knew and loved seems to be gone, so he's mainly there to drive the flying car; it's the guy riding shotgun with the ongoing dilemma. Long story short, it turns out that Arai is both working for Interpol and not what he appears to be at first glance, and he's got a very personal stake in gunning for Despar.

Despar is really cool, and after the organic-looking monsters of the Neo-Human Empire, their more machine-like cyborgs present a nice contrast (they're called Despar Robots and Robot Warriors, though are supposed to be cybernetically enhanced people like the first show's monsters.) Geisel is played by Ando Mitsuo, which means that yes: Jiro and Professor Gill are facing off once again! Though whereas Gill was loud and larger-than-life, Geisel is played with psychotically tight self-control. His voice can go from a whisper to a bark in an instant, but he keeps his emotions in check for much of the series, though starts losing it (as well as body parts) as the battle with Inazuman intensifies. A really great character with an awesome design, though quite different from how he was originally going to look with a monocle and literally blank face.

(Speaking of Kikaider reunions, Banba was voiced by Iizuka Shôzô, the voice of Hakaider all through both series. I'm slightly bummed we never got a TV-version crossover between Kikaider and Inazuman, but I imagine it would have been hell to shoot, with Ban, Ando and Iizuka all having to act against themselves.)

Udespar's also pretty awesome, and arguably Inazuman's most famous adversary. He's cut from the same cloth as Apollo Geist (who premiered not long after Udespar) in that they're both by-the-book loyal commanders, and yet also possessing the same kind of edge someone like the original Hakaider had, often being the hero's #1 enemy. Befitting his name, Udespar has numerous arm attachments he can use (ude meaning "arm"), even taking a cut from an unused idea for Riderman: Udespar has the Machine Gun Arm! He's got a cool visual look with those 'sad' eyes that contrast with the fact that he is a hideously evil creep. Inazuman Flash has some overall rocking monster designs, particularly the Hakaider-ish Black-Despar, and the gorey Guillotine-Despar. Their henchmen reuse the gas-mask look of the last ones, but trade in miliary fatigues for crazy striped suits and body armor, plus some pointy sharp sticks.

Inazuman, for his part, develops some new powers thanks to Zabre, which as I said allows for a lot of the out-there stuff again. One of my favorites is when he teleports in an early episode; the bad guys wait patiently until Inazuman has fully materialized before noticing. Okay, I know it's supposed to happen in an instant, I just like that he gave them a good 4-5 seconds' notice. Our hero and his gun-toting buddy battle against Despar for 23 episodes, and as the show goes on the stakes keep getting higher. There's also a lot of women trying to kill Inazuman (albeit with clothes this time); even though it doesn't have any women in regular roles, Inazuman Flash has a ton of actresses taking on some heavily dramatic parts, which is cool.

Inazuman and Udespar throw down in episode 7, and the bullet-headed guy is utterly destroyed. But we can rebuild him better, faster, and stronger: which is just what Despar does, albeit as Udespar Alpha and Udespar Beta. These two don't get along very well, with Alpha being the tougher one but Beta having gotten most of the brains. Realizing one Udespar was better than two, Geisel attempts to merge them together again, and for a time they're the super-powerful Gattai-Despar, but technical difficulties force them apart.

Geisel brings in Sadespar, who's arguably the true successor to the original guy (they share the same voice, as does Udespar Beta.) The sadistic Sadespar's really cool looking, a spikey-guy with an Iron Maiden for a chest. He attempts to keep the Udespar twins in line, but following another shot at combining them and their subsequent annihilation at the hands of Inazuman, he takes over as Geisel's right-hand man full-time.

Around this point the concept of Despar City, Geisel's utopian headquarters, comes into play, as well as just what's been pushing Arai along: the search for his wife and daughter, who it turns out are in Despar's hands (3 guess where.) As I said before, things start going badly for Despar and Geisel manages to loose an ear at one point! Did I mention this show is fairly gory? As if having a guillotine monster wasn't indication enough, let's just say the final battle is an eyeful. The production team behind Flash were able to get away with quite a bit, and the show's writing (largely done by prolific writer Uehara Shôzô) has a real sophistication to it.

The finale's pretty good, with a touching reunion, some interesting details about Geisel and Mizuki Ichirô attacking someone with a pickaxe! Inazuman's story ends on a happy enough note, though it's a long, grim way to the finish line. The final episode also underwent a few changes from its original draft, which ended on more of a downbeat (and somewhat meta) note with Watari losing all his powers in order to defeat Geisel, and then wandering alone through a city bereft of everything he knew (the idea being that once Watari stops being Inazuman, he's able to leave the show.) This was vetoed in favor of something a little more upbeat and down-to-earth. At least that's what I've heard; I don't know all the details about this original ending, but I'd sure love to know more.

There is a movie for Flash, but it's just the old enlarged-episode routine (12 if you're keeping track.) The 3D movie for the first series is amazing though; like Kikaider's the 3D is only in certain parts and even then used fairly sparsely. There's some great fights though, including an opening battle royale where Inazuman fights like everybody from the first show. Story-wise it's interesting in that I think it's one of the earliest examples of an "alternate universe" movie. With most of the older Rider movies, I usually just overlook the differences; it's pretty silly to create an entirely new timeline for Kamen Rider vs. Shocker just to explain why the Shocker soldiers suddenly have different uniforms and Gilgaras is there. With Inazuman's though...

It's basically a different version of episodes 24 & 25. Inazuman has a showdown with Bamba/Firey Fighter yet again, Despar usurps control from the Neo-Human Empire, the whole shebang. There are differences; Udespar is absent, his role filled by Missile-Despar, and the TV regulars outside of Watari don't appear. All in all though, it fulfills the same role, bridging the first series and Flash, albeit with bigger action scenes than ever. It's a run ride, and premiered a couple days before the TV version aired, which makes it eerily similar to some of the Heisei Rider movies.

So that's Inazuman. As mentioned before, the first show is available on DVD with subtitles thanks to experiencing its own little revival in Hawaii (it's the Ban Factor at work) and they did a great job of it. The only downside is only half the story has been given such treatment, and it's hard to say right now if we'll ever see Inazuman Flash get a similar release. It's pretty much a must-see if you're going to dive into Inazuman's world though, so let's keep our fingers crossed and hope. If nothing else, maybe a fan group will pick it up eventually; it's one of the most interesting shows of the 70's, if not ever.

One last thing: these shows have great music; I consider Watanabe Chumei to be one of the finest composers to ever grace Tokusatsu, and he turns in great work here (he also did Kikaider & 01, so yeah, he's responsible for that Bijinder theme.) As mentioned Raijingo's theme song is one of my all-time favorites, and has a particularly interesting use in episode 24 of the first show; listen carefully, you'll hear the lyrics "Geisel Despar" an episode before they are named in the show!

"Gôriki Shôrai!" "Chôriki Shôrai!"

Ishinomori Week: Kikaider 01

contact@igadevil.com (Paul "Igadevil" Sullivan) — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 22:29:56 PST

At long last! It's time for another round of

In case you haven't been keeping up on Twitter, I've been in rough shape physically the past few days, so Ishinomori "Week" is getting a bit of an extension. Hopefully I'll finish up by this weekend and get back to the regular All-Rider diet next week. And a big thanks to all you leaving comments and questions, I'll try to get to them all as soon as I can!

Okay, there is another reason this one's taken me so long, and that's because when I first came up with the idea to cover some of the other Ishinomori Tokusatsu heroes, the two I most wanted to talk about were Arashi, and this one. It's one that I have some of the strongest feelings on, so there's a lot I have to say here. It's going to be a bit longer than usual and cover more ground, so there's spoilers a'plenty, so please be aware.

In this installment, we're looking at the follow-up to 1972's Jinzô-Ningen Kikaider...

Kikaider 01! Like its predecessor, 01 exists in comic, live action TV series and animated (this time direct-to-video) forms, and all three are unique. The animation is closer to the comic, but it deviates more than the first Kikaider animation did, and the live action series is practically a whole 'nother animal despite a similar starting point. I'm going to do things a little differently for this one and talk about the comic and animated versions before diving into the more famous Tokusatsu incarnation, though as usual the comic ran alongside the show, and keep in mind that the animation didn't come along until years later, post-Ishinomori.

Technically, Kikaider 01 doesn't have his own self-titled Ishinomori comic, but rather appears in the last few chapters of his then still-ongoing Jinzô-Ningen Kikaider comic. There are serialized 01 comics, but done by different artists that tended to stick closer to the simultaneous television series story while using Ishinomori's style as a base. I mentioned Henshin Ninja Arashi having one of these, as did the first Kikaider. Truth be told, almost every Tokusatsu creation Ishinomori had a hand in has multiple comic series, and many of the shows have comics by other artists, but not Ishinomori himself (this is true of a number of the Riders.) So what's the deal with that?

With Ishinomori being involved directly in the production of the shows, not to mention having his own non-Tokusatsu manga to create, it often fell to understudies and others to pick up the slack and create the serialized manga for the weekly/monthly children's magazines. Guys such as Yamada Goro, Tsuchiyama Yoshiki, and the always-popular Sugaya Mitsuru took on the task of handling those, though they often attempted to follow both Ishinomori's designs and the TV show's universe, which sometimes makes for some odd comics (i.e. Sugaya's version of Tachibana Tôbei looks like the bald, mustached butler guy from the Ishinomori comic, rather than the TV version. His character is essentially TV Tachibana though!) Actually, even with the primary Ishinomori Jinzô-Ningen Kikaider comic, he reportedly had a few understudies helping to complete it. Given how long it runs, I can imagine he needed the help.

As I mentioned last time, the part of the comic roughly around where the first TV series ended has Kikaider saving Doctor Komyoji (brain intact) and destroying Dark. Professor Gill is mortally wounded and has his top men perform some emergency surgery. And wouldn't you know it, they can't save his body, but they can save his brain, so Hakaider lives once again. Whereas he had previously been more of his own character, this version of Hakaider is quite simply Gill with a new body. Saburo does show up very briefly, but he discards further use of that identity and is thereafter simply Hakaider (outside of the story, the character in all his incarnations is usually referred to as "Gill Hakaider" or "Boss Hakaider".)

His top three comrades join him as the bowgun-toting Red Hakaider, the whip-wielding Blue Hakaider, and the staff-slinging Silver Hakaider, together forming the aptly-named Four Hakaiders. After some monkey business with some mushroom guys and a Kikaider-vs.-Hakaiders rumble, the actual main story of the 01 portion of the comic gets rolling when Jiro finds himself drawn to a temple, where hidden within a statue of Buddha is his "older brother"— Ichiro, alias Kikaider 01.

Ichiro lacks even an incomplete conscience circuit, and is thus more reckless and impulsive than his 'bro. In a weird way he's actually more emotional than the level-headed Jiro, being kind of a smartass. Unlike his brother, he's also solar-powered and requires some time in the sun to recharge his batteries. Ichiro has been in the care of Fuuten, a disciple of Komyoji, and has been stored away until needed... and he's needed pretty quickly. The Four Hakaiders are in pursuit of a woman named Rieko and boy named Akira, who is in fact the son of Professor Gill!

Akira has on his body the schematics for a massive nigh-indestructible robot, the "Giant Devil" Armageddon. The Kikaider bros. join forces to protect Akira from the Hakaiders, but the brainy foursome aren't the only ones aiming to build themselves a giant weapon 'o doom. The mysterious organization Shadow also enters the fray, and they've got some seriously freaky hardware at their disposal. Giant Robot Crabs, Giant Robot Stingrays, Giant Robot Octopi... you get the idea.

The Hakaiders have a little trick of their own: they can combine to form Gattaider, a mega-monstrosity who gets his butt whupped by Shadow's Giant Robot Clam. Don't worry though, they get a rematch with Kikaider and 01, but are utterly destroyed and there's only enough spare parts left to ensure that Gill Hakaider survives. Shadow then takes center stage and its top guns, the cycloptic Shadow Knight and conjoined-robots Zadam engage our heroes as the story continues. Actually, if you've seen the live action show or the animation, most of this should sound more-or-less familiar, with a few noticeable differences, but I'll get to those later.

Where things in the comic really start to go down their own path is that we take some time out to catch up with the Komyoji's, who make tracks given how dangerous things are getting. Mitsuko (who has always had a "thing" for Jiro) bids a tearful farewell, and Komyoji is apparently good as new even after having his brain taken out, put into a killer cyborg, and then re-inserted all in the space of a few days. There's a cool scene where Jiro and Ichiro have a melancholy jam on their instruments (Ichiro plays the trumpet) to send off their creator. Unlike the TV versions, who use their instruments as a way to herald their arrival, the comic guys play them whenever they're expressing "sadness" or the android equivalent thereof.

Hakaider decides that for the moment, the Kikaider Bros. are the lesser of his problems and forms an uneasy alliance with them, bringing with him Rumi, Professor Gill's daughter and the other half of the plans that Shadow needs to complete that giant robot (an earlier incomplete version ended up going nuclear.) It's kind of interesting to see the even-eviler Gill Hakaider on the side of good, though if you think it's going to last I got a bridge to sell you.

Following a bit where a grumpy Ichiro and Rieko go off alone, Jiro completes the third Kikaider brother using Komyoji's blueprints: Rei, alias Kikaider OO (Double-O). In another one of those weird familial twists, Rei is both the "oldest" Kikaider, but the actual youngest brother in terms of completion. While a powerful fighter (more so than Kikaider or 01) Rei lacks a conscience circuit like Ichiro, and more than that lacks almost any kind of emotion, basically driven by logic and programming. He's got the personality of a doormat, but he looks cool, and beyond the comic he's been pretty important in kicking off a very famous toy line.

The Kikaiders need all the help they can get. Rieko, who turns out to be an unknowing android in disguise (created by Gill to look after his children) is killed during a battle with another Giant Shadow Thing. On top of that, our heroes encounter another femmebot— Mieko, alias Bijinder, a Shadow agent who shows up to stir up some trouble. She convinces Hakaider to join in a coup against Shadow, fights with Ichiro (and drives him a bit loopy) and does a lot of talking with Rei about what it means to be a robot and all that.

Jiro deduces that she's not all that bad and she ends up turning against Shadow for real following an encounter with her "brother", Waruder. Unlike the others, Waruder doesn't really have an alternate mode, he's just a human-looking guy with a laser gun hand and a flying rock ship (long story there.) While the three Kikaiders and Bijinder deal with that situation, Hakaider grabs the kiddies and drives off...

Things all come to a head when the robotic foursome discover the completed Armageddon robot, but after being captured, the terrible truth comes out: it's not Shadow's making, but Hakaider's! Well, I guess you kind of saw that coming, but what he does next is where the fun stops.

Let's backtrack a minute though and talk about the animation. It's essentially an abridged version of the comic, though changes a couple big things. There's no Waruder, and Hakaider is the leader of Shadow from the get-go; they're more like Dark 2.0 than a separate entity. Shadow Knight gets a bigger role, and Zadam a smaller one. There's less gigantic robotic sea life aside from in the first episode, where Jiro's already got Rieko and Akira with him (and in the anime, Gill only has the one son, with no daughter.) Gattaider generally comes off looking a little more impressive since we didn't see him job to a Giant Robot Clam before the fight with the Kikaider bros, but he goes down the same way and the other 3 Hakaiders sacrifice what's left of them so that regular old black Hakaider may live.

OO shows up completed by Fuuten to defeat Zadam, and Bijinder's got a whole new back story where she's the "sister" robot to Rieko, who's death is considerably darker than even the comic (Hakaider does the deed, and the whole "pretending to be on Kikaider's side" thing never happens. He's a baddie start to finish.) Bijinder's turn to good is influenced by that, and a bit more clear-cut than in the comic.

Both comic and cartoon do agree on the ending, though they go about it in slightly different ways. Captured by Hakaider, Jiro is horrified to learn that "Obedience Circuits" have been placed in 01, OO and Bijinder, making them mindless robot slaves. There's one in him too, though Hakaider didn't have time to remove his Conscience Circuit, but is interested to see what will happen as good and evil struggle within him anyway. In the comic, since Hakaider's basically doing this solo, he uses the Armageddon to destroy the remnants of Shadow, which is led by some unseen black blobby thing (more on him in the live action show.)

In the cartoon big H is the boss of Shadow, so Shadow Knight & co. are all chillin' like villains as the Armageddon "God" starts trashing the city. On the side, it's at this point that I think they used up most of the budget for the animation, because the last episode infamously cuts a few corners, with static fighter jets and Hakaider inexplicably morphing into some weird-looking muppet as things progress. As I understand it, the DVD box version has some improved, redone animation, but I haven't seen it myself to confirm.

Jiro manages to get free by lying to Bijinder that he's turned to the ~~Dark~~ Hakaider side. Hey, it is supposed to be a sort-of retelling of Pinocchio! I guess. The circuits in Jiro's body fight and he develops a so-called "evil heart." Kikaider then makes his way up to Hakaider and the tragic final act plays out. In the comic version, he destroys 01, OO and Bijinder with the super-powerful eye lasers that having an "evil heart" have given him, and then kills Hakaider when the latter tries to shoot him. The giant robot explodes, and a tearful Jiro takes Akira and Rumi away into the distance.

The animation adds in a weird bit where Bijinder gets possessed by the "ghost" of Rieko or something, and gets shot by Shadow Knight (who gets shot by Hakaider trying to stop him.) Already horrified that he might have killed his son, Hakaider then has to deal with crazy red-eyes Jiro, who destroys 01 and OO, then kills Hakaider in an especially nasty way: he squishes his head until his brain pops, all the while tearfully exclaiming how he has now and truly become human by committing such terrible deeds. From there are on things are pretty much the same as the comic, except Akira (who had been taken by Bijinder) is found by a little girl, and Fuuten watches as Jiro walks off alone. And in case you ask, yes, Bijinder's decimated body is also reading Pinocchio, because hey, wouldn't you?

The animated version really goes for the emotional gut punch. I remember watching it open-mouthed, not believing what I was seeing (and I saw it before finishing either of the other versions.) It's kind of hard to say exactly how I feel about it. It's unpleasant, like falling headfirst into a muddy river, but at the same time you kind of have to admire how far they're willing to go. The animation gets pretty good at the end; I guess the budget went there. What puts it over the top for me is the music, which is beautiful, but relentless in trying to make you feeeeeeeeeeel something. I guess it was successful in getting me to pick up the soundtrack when I saw it cheap at Mandarake.

The comic is tragic, but it's a lot more understated, and Gill/Hakaider's end is brutally quick. In the anime, it goes on so long you practically start to feel sorry for the guy as he's as shocked as the audience at what's going on! This is what I mean about comic/animation Kikaider being more of a fable. It's not a "Yay! The hero has won!" kind of ending. It's a dark, tragic, twisted sort of end where you just don't know how to feel, with the protagonist having to do some terrible things and being punished with the eternal torment (well, not "eternal" but that's another story.) The final shot in both versions has Jiro walking off alone, with the narration asking that even though Pinocchio became a real boy, did he truly find happiness? And then the animation throws in one more close-up of Jiro crying. It sucks to be Jiro!

Of course, one thing should be evident from reading all that: 01 gets screwed! Seriously, in the comic it's one thing, but the animation is even called Kikaider 01: The Animation. But he's cut down as ruthlessly as anyone else. Ultimately it's still the Jiro show. Ichiro is a supporting character, something that I think even sort of carried over onto the TV version, at least for a time.

The live-action Kikaider 01 series is a strange animal. It's become one of my favorite non-Rider Tokusatsu series, maybe even edging out the original Kikaider, though it's also got its fair share of problems. Chief among them is it takes a while before it really figures out what it wants to be, though once it does, it's genius. The stuff before that is still pretty good though, and sticks to less of a formula than the first show. You never know what'll happen next in 01. One thing though: it's clear that they never intended to go the way of the comic, even though the premise is similar.

Kikaider 01 kicks off 3 years after the original ended. Like in the comic, Hakaider now has Gill's brain, he and his remaining Dark forces reorganize into the Hakaider Corps, and he's backed up by Red, Blue and Silver Hakaiders. There's also the Androbots, who are among Tokusatsu's most-abused henchmen ever. They're after Akira, aka Gill's son, who is being protected by Rieko, his mysterious guardian with a penchant for disguises.

So far, pretty much like in the comic, though the Hakaider Corps in general are a lot more disorderly and with no sign of Jiro around, they run rampant like the super-powered motorcycle gang that they are. They also are found of proclaiming "Heil Hakaider!" Red, Blue & Silver are pretty interchangeable on a personality basis; they're all evil creeps! I'll hold off on really getting into Gill Hakaider for the moment, but in the early episodes, where he's calling the shots, he's basically trying to channel Gill despite being played and voiced by different guys. He even plays Gill's flute on occasion!

That whole "build-a-giant-deathbot" storyline is present, so with things reaching critical mass, Kikaider 01 is awakened from a statue all on his own to save the world. And he is... very different from the comic/animation one. The visual details are the same: solar-powered older brother of Jiro who plays a trumpet and wears red and blue rather than yellow and blue. The big difference is that this Ichiro has a complete conscience circuit, making him immune to the problems Jiro often faced. He's a lot more confident in his mission and immediately takes to Akira like an older brother. He a rational and level-headed, unlike his comics counterpart. It would be easy to say he's less interesting without all those flaws, but the Tokusatsu Ichiro/01 has a secret weapon, and its name is The Ikeda Factor.

Ikeda Shunsuke was the actor who portrayed Ichiro/01, and I can't think of anyone else who could have played it the way he does. He throws himself completely into the role, playing Ichiro as everybody's "older brother". As crazy as this show can get, he is the glue that holds it all together and makes it work. I was particularly impressed on rewatching to prepare for this how his relationship with Bijinder works, but I'll get to that later. Ikeda has a couple of Tokusatsu roles, and he always brings it whenever he turns up, even when he's just a supporting player. Tragically, he passed away in June 2010, but he left us with some great memories, both on and off screen. He was well-known for his enthusiasm and kindness with fans in and out of Japan, and speaking from all-too-brief personal experience: Ikeda was every bit as cool in person as you've heard. Check out August Ragone's memorial for more.

As for 01 himself, it's another winner. While the asymmetrical look of the original Kikaider is probably more visually striking, I quite like the 01 costume, with the electronic part-gauntlets. He really does look more complete, and yet slightly older. Since I'm sure people want me to bring it up, here you go: Kamen Rider Double Heat Trigger Form is kinda-maybe-sorta a reference to 01 (their colors are on the same side; Kikaider's are the opposite.) I think 01 has one of the coolest Henshin scenes in all of Tokusatsu, up there with any of the Riders. He also has one of the best moves in Tokusatsu: while his signature Blast End is neat, the 01 Driver is amazing. 01 flies through the air, spinning around, and punches everything in his way, accomplished via a POV shot where the cameraman goes ballistic. Any time 01 pulls this out, you know it's going to be awesome.

Jiro turns up in episode 3 to lend a hand, which is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, it's great seeing the Kikaider bros. in action together, plowing through Hakaiders and henchmen left and right, and the original guy has every right to be involved seeing as how this is all unfinished business for him. Plus Ban's basically always fun, and has some super chemistry with Ikeda (just watch any interview with them together.) On the other hand though, Kikaider becomes a semi-regular until the mid 20's, and is around for a lot of the early episodes. While this does make for some great fight scenes and lots of Jiro and Ichiro being badass best buds, it does in a way detract from Ichiro getting to be his own guy. He's always "Jiro's older brother" or "the other Kikaider" through and through.

What I mean is, while it's great to have Jiro around, the show is less Kikaider 01 and more Super Kikaider Brothers. Having the old guy and the new guy running around together all the time that early on in the show kind of hinders the new guy's street cred. I think that whenever you involve older heroes in a show, it's best to either keep their appearances rare until later on, or just not feature them until at least about 20 episodes in. New Kamen Rider did the latter, and that show's cameos rock the casbah. Skyrider had time to establish himself before Stronger comes a-knockin'.

V3 does the "keep their appearances rare" thing, and that really worked. The Double Riders are there for the first two, then they ~~get blown up~~ go on a world tour until well into the 30's, only making an occasional "appearance", usually through some other character or item. This gives V3 breathing room to establish himself as more than just "what happens when you cross the skills of Rider 1 with the strength of Rider 2". He's a hero in his own right.

I will say that at least 01 still makes Jiro look good, which is one of the traps you can fall into when making a past guy a semi-regular, re: Kuuga in Decade (who I generally liked, but it's hard to say he was treated well in that show.) Kikaider kicks a ton of butt in this show! But again, at some cost to 01. For what it's worth, Ikeda puts in the effort so Ichiro's always watchable, but it's hard not to get the feeling that the camera needed to be pointed in his direction more than it was.

Not to mention it's a full boat already with all those Hakaiders running around! As in the comic and animation, they don't have human forms (no sign of Saburo at all here.) What they do have is the ability to become individual monsters: Red Centipede, Blue Gator, Silver Shrimp, and Black Dragon. And if those aren't sounding slightly familiar, then now's a good time to go review Faiz(keep in mind, the Japanese words wani and ebi can also mean crocodile and lobster respectively.) And yes: Rose Orphenoch's clear dome is an intentional visual allusion to the big H's.

They can also become Gattaider, who's less physically imposing than his comic/cartoon counterpart, but I think he's a greater threat, and he's one of the only villains in Tokusatsu that I can think of whose shoulder pad doubles as a weapon. Unlike in the other versions, when Gattaider gets blown up all the Hakaiders survive intact, though not for much longer. Blue & Red get totaled in episode 9, and Silver buys the farm by the end of 10, leaving only Gilly.

This is around the point where the show slowly begins figuring out how it's going to do things, with the introduction of Shadow. The Hakaider Corps are cool, but they by nature must lose to 01 and Kikaider on a regular basis, which in a way kind of diminishes Hakaider as a whole. In the original series he's Public Enemy #1, but with four of the guy running around, something has to give. The whole "turn into monsters" idea is cool, though each one gets to do that once and then there's Gattaider, but we're about 8 episodes in, and you can tell they couldn't keep that up forever. I'll get in-depth about Gill Hakaider's characterization later, because for everything I've said about him so far, what he becomes in this show is something kinda incredible.

Shadow make their entrance via Shadow Knight, who in the live action show is *awesome*. He'll get kind of pushed to the side later on and die fighting 01 rather ingloriously, though in the early days, he is a beast. In his debut episode alone he single-handedly whups the Hakaider Corps and pulls crazy stuff like walking in and out of photographs, and all whilst wearing a top hat. Bad. To. The. Ass.

Shadow in the live action series is generally better defined than in the comics or animation too. They're basically reheated Dark leftovers with some interesting new sauce poured over. They eschew the giant robotic things in favor of a mix of more humanoid creatures inspired by traditional Japanese ghosts and monsters, and repainted/retrofitted Dark monster costumes (which were obviously Toei trying to save some yen, but actually work pretty well given the whole recyclable aspect of the robots in the live action Kikaiderverse. I was impressed by how they took a few of them and made them even cooler!)

Even their henchmen, the Shadowmen, are ripped off wholesale from the Androbots, though given that they last longer and have that cool half red/half black look going on, they're rightly more famous. Shadow also has a boss, the aptly-titled Big Shadow, who only appears as a mysterious image on a screen early on, then is eventually revealed to be... well, some guy. Big Shadow's exact nature remains a mystery to the end, but he's basically one bad due and is fond of exclaiming "Wonderful!" and "Very Good!" in English. Like you do.

Of course Shadow also wants to build that there Giant Devil Robot guy, so they move in and manipulate things in the background while the Brothers Kikaider and the Hakaider Corps rumble. About a dozen episodes in the Hakaider Corps is destroyed and Shadow is in control. They basically give Hakaider an ultimatum: join us or die! Big H wisely chooses the former, though ends up becoming a rival to Shadow Knight for position of the Number 2 guy. Early on Shadow Knight still pwns him at everything, and one of the best moments in the series comes when Hakaider needs to be bailed out by Shadow Knight in his big red convertible. In the old days, villains had great rides.

After getting a power-up from the ghost of Professor Gill (because Tokusatsu) Hakaider is more on the level though, and manages to beat out Shadow Knight in the eyes of the Big Shadow (who it's quickly established can boss around even Hakaider.) In another deviation from other versions of the story, it turns out Professor Gill had another son, Hiroshi, who is under the care of Misao, a pickpocket. Shadow eventually manages to capture both boys and creates the Giant Devil Robot (as it's called here.) Whereas it was an unstoppable menace brought down only by Jiro's ultimate sacrifice in the comics and cartoon, the immobile live action version gets blown up real good by Kikaider an 01's "Double Brother Power". Undaunted by this failure, Shadow presses on, though as the series progresses they become less about the robot and more about just trying to raise a little hell in general. Shadow's ultimate goal is world domination, accomplished like so:

1) Create some kind of super-duper ultimate weapon or evil scheme
2) Kill like ten million guys
3) ????
4) Profit!

To add to the fun Shadow brings in Zadam, the conjoined-twin robots who, like Shadow Knight, has a beefier role in the TV series. Zadam is basically the ultimate yes-man/men to Big Shadow, but he is/they are responsible for one of the best characters in the show later, so you got to give him credit.

The mid-to-late 20's have some real insanity. Episode 23's monsters have one of the most confusing powers I've ever seen, and 25 marks Zadam's debut, which also features Kikaider 01 going to the moon! The way he manages to escape is something special. 27 is Shadow Knight's finale (which also has an exploding kappa robot) and 28's a personal favorite, with a mermaid robot that even Hakaider approves of.

Episode 24 is pretty important though as that's where we learn Rieko's secret, and witness her tragic demise. While the animated version is more emotionally-charged, I think her death in the live action show is more heroic, sacrificing herself to save her friends. Misao then takes charge of both boys, which works rather well since she's basically like a big kid herself. This is around where Shadow just sort of gives up on trying to get the kiddies every week, and concentrates on different plans. As a result Misao, Akira and Hiroshi don't add much other than comic relief, though there's some episodes where Misao appears solo and makes for good support to Ichiro (this is one of those Tokusatsu where there's less than 5 good guys running around total at times, so everybody pitches in a little bit more.)

Speaking of comic relief, I almost forgot to mention Gunta: he's a photographer and the show's attempt at recreating the magic of Hanpei. This doesn't really work though and he's out before episode 20. I think the big issue is that he's basically given the same routine every time he appears: Gunta stumbles upon a fight scene or the Hakaiders/Shadow up to no good and freaks out/faints/has his camera destroyed/etc. Hanpei was part of the plot, serving up the laughs while also occasionally being brave and helping Jiro. He kept things from getting too serious even when they got pretty dang serious (i.e. the final 3-parter.) This poor bastard's basically a walk-on cameo. I do get a few laughs out of Ichiro's earnestness whenever he crosses paths with Gunta, but it's not hard to see why the character was dropped. New Kamen Rider tried a similar character years later, and it didn't work there either, though that show makes up for it with the magic that is Gan Gan G.

As we exit the 20's Ban Daisuke had to go off and star in Inazuman, so the show finally becomes a one-Kikaider story, though two other major characters are introduced that really raise the game. In fact, while 01 is the star, a certain female robot turns up in episode 30 and gets nearly equal billing. But first, let's talk a bit about Hakaider, who's still around and will be to the very end.

I think it's fair to say that most Kikaider fans prefer the original show's Hakaider. He's the more complex, nuanced version and the whole "evil version of Kikaider" idea is played to its fullest. His rise, fall and the brief-but-badass time in between are some legendary TV, and it's not hard to see why the character has basically transcended his origins to become every bit as popular as Kikaider, if not more so. By contrast, Gill Hakaider is a more 2-D villain, in a lot of ways the very thing the original despised: cruel, cowardly, scheming and willing to play any degree of dirty to get what he wants.

Once he's in with Shadow he goes out of his way to irritate everyone, but he's ultimately loyal to the same cause so he's content to be part of the crew rather than the bossman. Whereas his comic counterpart deceived the heroes and led to their ruin while simultaneously bumping off his rivals, the TV version buys more into the "allies through shared hatred" mentality and decides to throw in with Shadow. It means getting to kill those damned Kikaiders, so why not, right? And to me, that's kind of what makes him work.

Admittedly a big part of it is my introduction to the character. The first I saw of the original Kikaider was actually the last 3 episodes and the movie; by contrast I started 01 from the beginning and was already a good way in when I reached his debut in the original series. Any time you have some kind of a series, franchise or something with multiple parts/installments/whatever, everybody will have their first-something, their favorite-something, and they'll also have the something that's "their" version of it (usually a combination of the above.) For instance, my first Rider series is the original, and it's also my favorite, and I love Hongô to bits, but "my" Rider is Ichimonji, because it's while watching him that the show really sunk its teeth in and never let go.

Or another example for the original show, the Double Rider costumes. A lot of people prefer the original "old" style Double Riders, but for me it's the new silver & red versions that are what I think of when I think Rider 1 & 2, because I have the strongest memories of them. That's how they looked in all the later appearances, many of which I saw as a kid before even finishing the original show. I like the old ones of course, but my immediate mental image of the Double Riders is how they looked towards the end of the first series/V3 and beyond.

What I'm getting at here is, even though I'll admit the original Hakaider has a lot of strengths and is rightly admired, 01's version is definitely my Hakaider. Everything the character stands for; my whole idea of what Hakaider is; all that comes from the Gill-brained version. While the original is more distinctly an anti-hero, Gill Hakaider is a straight-up villain. But he's the ultimate Kikaider villain, even if he isn't the big cheese. And he takes a beating as the show goes on, both literally and as a character, but that's part of what makes him enjoyable: he can fall so far, yet stubbornly keep trying to claw his way back up.

It helps that unlike the comic and cartoon, but more like the first live action show, he's really his own character. Even Gill's ghost practically admits it. Hakaider in 01 is one of the best villains in the saga because he's the meanest; he's a heartles bastard who revels in causing chaos and committing acts of evil like it were going out of style. This is especially true later on, having lost the Hakaider Corps and ditching any dreams of being top dog (since Big Shadow holds that position) Hakaider is content to basically be a jackass to everyone and everything that moves.

He picks fights he clearly can't win, just because he can. One episode has him engaging in a Shadow plan that involves hoarding fruit (which will also be turned into bombs!) He does decidedly un-Hakaider stuff, like teleportin' around and turning into whatever human form he feels like. One of my favorite moments comes in an episode where he devises a killer kimono scheme. Part of this involves selling one to a kid trying to buy his sister a kimono, but lacking the necessary funds. Hakaider (disguised as a woman!) sells him it for everything he's got. So not only does his evil plan continue, but Hakaider just scored some pocket change for the next Shadow beer run. I love this guy.

Okay, after that long tangent, let's get back to the show, and the introduction of arguably its second-most important character after 01, Bijinder.

Bijinder shares the animation/comic origin story of being a robot created by Shadow, and she fires lasers from her... well, not her eyes. The designs are roughly similar. Obviously on paper Bijinder looks more streamlined, but I actually have grown quite fond of the costumed version, thanks to some great body language. The similarities end there though. First off, this version of Bijinder also plays a harp which doubles as a bow & arrow. And those are some POWERFUL arrows, let me tell you.

She's also got a flower theme going on; they play a part in her appearance and she apparently has extensive knowledge of them (episode 45.) When she first appears, she lacks a conscience circuit, and thus is right in the middle of the whole good-and-evil deal, able to be pulled either way. Though actually, with Bijinder it's handled rather uniquely, as only her robotic transformed self is capable of willingly engaging with 01.

Mari, her human counterpart, is in fact kind and good-hearted, but lacking the ability to choose her own path, has no choice but to follow Shadow's orders. This is a million miles away from the Mieko of the comic, who is as different from Mari as Mari is from Bijinder (underlined by the fact that when transformed, a different actress does her voice, and her personality changes considerably.) She's also got a nasty weakness: Zadam created her with the intent to destroy 01, so her body contains a nuclear bomb! The bomb goes off if the third button of her jacket is undone, and Shadow's remote pain circuit in her will only switch off if said button is also undone. This leads to some unintentional humor where poor Ichiro has a flailing Mari in his arms, telling him to unbutton her shirt. To be fair to the show though, it plays this straight-faced, and Mari's agony is up there with Jiro's from the first show.

Early on Ichiro is able to install a partially-completed conscience circuit in her, at least on the level of Jiro's, which lets Bijinder more actively choose what side she'll be on. And yes, I said choose. Something I really like about Ichiro/01 later in the show is how he relates to Mari. Despite the fact that they meet as "enemies", Ichiro is never too quick to fight her once he realizes she's basically a good person deep down. He actively encourages her to join him in fighting Shadow and treats her as a real a equal, but he lets her make the final call. This pays off at the end, but until then a big subplot of the show is Mari/Bijinder trying to figure out what she wants to be. And enemy? A friend? Neither? It's compelling stuff. And to think viewers saw this story unfold at the same time as the Riderman saga over on V3. 1973 had some rockin' characterization.

Bijinder is my favorite character in the show, and a lot of that's owed to Shihomi Etsuko, who plays Mari. Then a relative newcomer to Sonny Chiba's Japan Action Club, Shihomi appears in some of his films and would later go on to star in the Sister Streetfighter series which I've decided recently I need to go watch. 01 was her first big starring TV role, and despite relative acting inexperience, she is really rather awesome in it, a nice contrast to the larger-than-live veteran actors around her. She makes Mari's innocence and struggle feel real, while also making many Shadowmen explode. Mari's no slouch in the fighting department! In the fights, Shihomi is noticeably intense, bringing a real sense of professionalism. This is helped by some incredible background music; I think the theme for Mari/Bijinder is one of the best pieces of music from any show ever.

I don't think it's an exaggeration to say she's one of the strongest female characters in Tokusatsu either. It's easy to point at the old shows and say "ho ho ho, the sexist old 70's!" but I think that undersells the fact that some of the older stuff actually have some remarkable characters who happened to not be men. Tackle for sure (and I think Bijinder even edges out the big T) and Tama Junko are high on my list, but there's others. And speaking as someone who has watched a lot of Tokusatsu made after that, I think female characters have always been a case-by-case thing, rather than specific to an era.

Back to Bjinder though, the show's not afraid to give her hell, but it does so in a way that you could see any male character enduring the same, and I like that she's often able to prove people's assumptions about her wrong. She's consistently able to beat up anybody, including Hakaider, and the only times she needs 01's help are when, were the tables turned, he'd need the same (and sometimes he does.) Even when there's the requisite "somebody falls in love with Mari" episodes, it's handled quite skillfully, as her non-human nature coupled with the guy's issues (he hates robots, as Hakaider killed his father) make for a really quite poignant end to the storyline that has you feel for Mari. By the by, the guy who falls for her is played by Sonny's younger brother Jiro (no not that one!) You may know him better as Taki in the original Kamen Rider!

The other major player to enter the game is Waruder, in episode 37. And he is completely different from the comic version. Okay, they're both robots, but that's it.

Waruder is fascinating, a standout sort of character even for his type (the lone wolf/badass/guy-in-the-middle/etc.) He is basically the original series' Hakaider, but dialed up to 11 and with a totally different moral grounding. He is a samurai assassin hired by Shadow to take down 01. Where he comes from is never revealed, which is kinda cool; the only other detail we get about him is that he has some swords that have been passed down in his family for years. Heck if I know how that works!

Waruder is a crazy design, but it's grown on me. At first glance he looks like he's got a soup bowl on his head, and the permanently-sad-looking eyes are a nice statement about the general attitude of the character. He's armed with a sword and an extendable chain-thingy, and has a sweet bike too (as everybody does. Bijinder doesn't use hers until the finale, but she's got one too. With guns!)

Being a samurai-for-hire (or a ronin, I suppose) Waruder has an interesting moral code. He ultimately aims to destroy 01, but he wants the fight to be fair. Like the original Hakaider, he isn't keen on anyone getting the job done before him, though whereas that Hakaider would be perfectly willing to kill anyone who got in his way if he deemed it necessary (as he does to many a Dark robot) Waruder's a bit more complex. Lacking a conscience circuit, he's unable to tell right from wrong, but whereas Bijinder had Mari to fall back on, Waruder has no human form, so he's constantly trying to figure out where he stands. He does good deeds, but he's also gunning for 01's head. He and Hakaider don't get along at all, as the latter's methods offend Waruder's sense of honor (kind or ironic, that.)

Additionally, Waruder starts to fall for Bijinder, though given that they're on opposite sides of the fence over 01 (Bijinder and him are basically friends by the time Waruder arrives) he realizes it's not meant to be, though their relationship takes some neat twists.

The whole "can't discern good from evil" thing is part of what makes the character so cool (along with great voice acting and dialogue) as it leads to some interesting plot lines. Waruder has cynophobia, an abnormal fear of dogs, and thus Shadow starts killing off dogs before he arrives so he can get the job done (this leads to a rather darkly hilarious scene in which Hakaider bemoans having to do such a lowly job, yet simultaneously revels in it.) That seems like a weird weakness to give a character, but when you actually find out Waruder's reason for fearing dogs, it's pretty clever.

Another episode has Shadow creating a gun that makes living copies of anyone (out of their shadow, natch) which are stronger than the original, and the complete opposite. Though they only live for a brief time, they're tough customers. 01's and Bjinder's are of course traditional evil doubles, but Waruder's is different. Waruder's double is like him incapable of telling right from wrong, so he fights the good guys and bad guys. That's a pretty cool twist.

As 01 enters the homestretch it's clear the budget went to Bijinder and Waruder, so the Shadow monsters 'o the week start getting really bargain-bin. I guess they ran out of old suits to reuse (the Blue Gator suit from earlier gets recycled as like 3 other monsters later on) so we have monsters-of-the-week that are guys in scuba suits with motorcycle helmets, astronauts, ninjas (of course) and samurai warriors with big straw hats. There's even Satan! And it's not the Arashi one!

Despite the lack of new monster suits and the plot basically boiling down to "robots fighting each other and exploding" I think later 01 is a masterpiece of character writing. The story is basically driven by the characters, with no giant robot plan MacGuffin anymore (Akira and Hiroshi? Who?) it's all about watching 01, Bijinder, Waruder, Hakaider and the rest of Shadow struggle with themselves and each other. It's great stuff and the last 5 episodes in particular are really strong. 42 had the double-making gun, 43 & 44 are the ones with Chiba Jiro guest-starring and Hakaider's fruity adventure, and 45 is Waruder's finale.

It's a pretty awesome episode. Things get intense as Shadow sends its own samurai robot dudes after 01, who has been marked with a special chemical that lets them find him wherever he runs. The "Bijinder-has-a-bomb" storyline is resolved as Waruder removes the bomb, but to do so must use some of his own parts and thus doom himself. Things get resolved and our heroes defeat the bad guys, but Waruder still has to settle his duel with 01 (they've fought a few times until now, but it always ends inconclusively for either side.)

You can probably guess who wins, but it's a surprisingly poignant end, and Waruder is rarely better than in this episode. Another of my favorite scenes in the series occurs here, where he has a surprisingly emotional moment, expressing frustration at his inability to choose one side or the other, but the show doesn't pull any punches. Waruder from that point on has basically realized his number's up. I like that they never really conclusively make him a hero or a villain. Bijinder obviously turned good, but Waruder's an enigma right up to his last scene. I think he's really about as close to a true anti-villain as I've seen in a Tokusatsu

The live action Kikaider 01 series ends with episode 46, which is one of the best "done-in-one" finales I've seen. It does everything it needs to. Jiro's back at last, only after a long absence it feels like a really big deal again. He's definitely playing second to Ichiro, but is treated with all the "special guest star" bravado he should be. Kikaider 01, Kikaider and Bijinder join up for one last battle royale with Shadow, who have kidnapped Doctor Komyoji!

Yup, the Kikaider's creator returns, something the comic and animation never followed up on. I rather like that, since it all began with him and he gets an important part in the end. Shadow is defeated, Hakaider & Zadam are blown to bits (multiple times!) and Big Shadow blows up as well. Basically everything blows up, though unlike the other versions, our heroes come out of it all pretty well.

And here's where I think I'll once again be in the minority. As much as it may seem I rag on the comic's end and the even-more-emotional animated finale, I do like them. A good bit of tragedy never hurts. But like I said last time, the live action Kikaiderverse is my favorite, and I think its overall message hits deeper than the other versions. A lot of it has to do with the closing moments of the Kikaider 01 finale.

It's practically the antithesis of the comic and cartoon ending, where a lone Jiro walked away from the audience, the narration wondering if becoming human is what he really wanted after all. Here, we've got Ichiro, Jiro and Mari coming together, joining hands for one last shake, then walking towards us, united, as the narrator reminds us that they will always be nearby. Bit of a difference there! But the scene before has Doc Komyoji telling Akira, Hiroshi and Misao what the live action show's message is once and for all: he believes that our mechanized heroes, deep down, desire to live as imperfect humans rather than perfect androids. It might not be something they can ever really have, but as we see them together at the end, we know that in their own way, they've already got it.

And that to me makes the whole difference. It's the culmination of what the live-action version of the Kikaider story is all about. Jiro's "more human than human" inadequacies are what made him different from the Dark hordes. Ichiro might be artificial, but the compassion for his friends has always been real. Mari, in the end, made her own choices and followed her own path. They may be robots in form, but they're as human as can be in spirit.

With a lot of fiction, and especially Tokusatsu, I tend to respond emotionally to the more subtle stuff. That definitely holds true for the last scene of Kikaider 01. It closes out on a positive note, but it's not afraid to be just the right amount of bittersweet either. While the animated version is more overt in trying to wrest some emotion out of you, I could never really get that invested in it. If anything, it just feels more weird to me than sad; it's not bad, but it leaves me feeling fairly neutral. Same goes for the comic.

The live action though? Yeah, I think I have something in my eye whenever I watch those closing moments. To top it all off, they use my favorite song from the series. So yeah, it's up there with the last scene of the original Kamen Rider or the "reunion" scene from the finale of Stronger. It manages to be a lot of things at once: uplifting, melancholy, satisfying and even just a little badass (check out Ikeda's "nothing's gonna stop us now!" look.) Truly a great send-off to three great heroes.

And that's Kikaider 01. Like seemingly every other Ishinomori character at some point, there's often been talk of a revival (Kikaider Axel anyone?) but so far, no dice. There is that darker re-imagined Mechanical Violator Hakaider movie, which is worth a watch, though it's really more of it's own thing with some nice visual allusions to the original. And there is of course S.I.C., which may be dominated by Riders now, but started off as a line of statuesque figures based on a darker, re-imagined Kikaider & company, including OO. There's also a comic called Kikaider: Code 02 which is... wait for it... a darker, reimagined version of Kikaider! Wherein Jiro often looks like a girl. Interesting story though, and the stylized art does grow on me.

I dunno, but I think if Kikaider ever does return, I'd dump the darker re-imagining thing and do a third sequel in the spirit of the originals, but set in the present. Hell, give me a million bucks and the rights to the Kikaider franchise and I'll do it right now! On the other hand, given that we're minus one brother, it just wouldn't be the same, and in a way I think the Kikaider story ended on the perfect note. Besides, if you ever want to see Kikaider or 01 in action again, the whole thing's been subbed on some great DVD sets!

So that's the end of the Kikaider story, at least on TV. The comic and cartoon story haven't technically ended yet, but that's a thread we'll pick up on next time.

"Where ever there is evil, I will go. Where ever evil appears, I will come. I'm the champion of justice...Kikaider 01!"

Ishinomori Week: Jinzô-Ningen Kikaider

contact@igadevil.com (Paul "Igadevil" Sullivan) — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 20:15:40 PST

After an impromptu break, it's time for another installment of

1972 was kind of a landmark year for Tokusatsu; thanks in large part to Kamen Rider kicking off the "Henshin Boom" plus the literal return of Ultraman in 1971, super heroes and special effects series were all the rage once again. The number of Tokusatsu programs more than doubled from the previous year, and the remainder of the decade would see plenty more one-offs as well as the formation of long-lasting franchises (it's kind of amazing to think about now, but there was a time when Super Sentai basically didn't exist.)

Over the course of the year, viewers could tune in to see the conclusions to the previous year's shows (Return of Ultraman, Mirrorman, Spectreman, and Silver Mask) plus see the rise of a host of new series: Chôjin Barom-1, Henshin Ninja Arashi, Iron King, Rainbowman, Kaiketsu Lion Maru, Emergency Order 10-4 10-10, Thunder Mask, Triple Fighter, Assault! Hyuman, and the always-popular Ultraman Ace. The entire year was covered by the original Kamen Rider of course, and for all the Godzilla fans out there, this was the year of the Gigan.

There was one other show, and that's what we're talking about this time. I think most people have heard of it, if not already seen it:

Jinzô-Ningen Kikaider is arguably Ishinomori's most famous non-Rider, non-Sentai Tokusatsu creation. Certainly it's the most well-known outside Japan, thanks in no small part to the phenomenal story of its success in Hawaii (and, I'm told, success in parts of California.) And even if you haven't seen the live-action show, you've probably at least heard of it by reputation, or are familiar with the much later animated adaptation. And maybe you've even read the comic!

I have to take a moment to address one of the long-standing disputes of this series: the title. I'm not exaggerating when I say I've seen fans get into heated debates over whether the title of the series and name of the main character is Kikaider or Kikaida. As I understand it, when the show aired in Hawaii, it was titled Kikaida, and as a result a lot of the fans who grew up with that version prefer that. When romanizing the name, Japan generally goes with "Kikaider" as the elongated "aa" of キカイダー is usually romanized as an "er" (just like in ライダー, or Rider.) Also, the name is supposedly a combination of Kikai (Machine) and the English word "Rider", so there's that.

So which is right? Heck if I know anymore. Call him Kikaida, call him Kikaider, call him Fred if you want. For purposes of this article I'm going with Kikaider since I feel that was probably the original intention (an earlier version of the character was to have been called "Zero Diver", and probably not "Zero Diva".) Also Toei is pretty insistent on the show's "official" English title being "Roboman Kikaider"! But I don't see any problem with the "Kikaida" spelling and I think there's really no right or wrong way. And of all things to get stuck on, a two-letter difference shouldn't be one of them. And now that I've spent a whole two paragraphs on that, let's get on with this!

Kikaider tells the story of Professor Komyoji, a brilliant scientist, robotics expert, and creator of our titular hero. Forced against his will to work for the nefarious organization Dark, Komyoji secretly constructs Jiro, an android (Jinzô-Ningen) with three prime directives: 1) Protect Komyoji's children 2) protect everything else that is good and true and 3) kick some serious Dark butt. Able to "Change!" into his super-powered self, known as Kikaider, and armed with a smooth ride known as Sidemachine, Jiro takes Komyoji's daughter Mitsuko, busts out of Dark HQ, and the story begins! At least on the TV version.

Ishinomori's comic has the same basic principle behind it, although when it opens Komyoji has yet to actually be properly captured by Dark, but he's practically under their thumb and Jiro/Kikaider serves the same basic function. After that things get a little more complicated, so let's stick with talking about the TV version for the moment.

An accident in the lab during the big breakout results in Komyoji escaping, but getting amnesia in the process. After saving his son Masaru and fighting off Dark's Grey Rhino King and Converse-wearing henchmen (the ever-popular Androidmen), Jiro and co. embark on a nationwide search that is the main story for a large chunk of the series. They get some help from Hattori Hanpei, a bumbling P.I. and descendant of the legendary ninja, who provide's the show's comic relief (and occasional moments of surprise badassery.) As Kikaider, Jiro takes on the colorful new Dark Robot monsters left and right, destroying each in turn with his signature killing move, the Denji-Endo (Electro End), which is so powerful it cracks the TV screen!

However, there's some interesting aspects to Jiro that hinder his seemingly-unstoppable potential. Lacking a complete "conscience circuit", Jiro is not always fully in control of himself, a fact that Professor Gill, Dark's insane leader, often exploits. Gill has a sonic flute that he not only can use to command his legions, but to influence Jiro as well, since he is, in a roundabout way, a Dark robot. Due to having a partially-completed circuit, Jiro can usually resist total submission, but he experiences great agony (and on some occasions, can be made to do things against his will.)

This usually provides an ideal opportunity for Dark's hordes to beat up on him, but there's a catch: should he be able to block out the sound and compose himself long enough to become Kikaider, he's then immune to the tortuous effects of the flute. As an android, Jiro often has a hard time dealing with and understanding humans and their emotions, though he has his moments. The one everybody always talks about it That Time Kikaider Cries, but my favorite comes in episode #34, with his heartfelt regret at being unable to save a Dark Robot's child (long story there.) One of the underlying messages of the live action series is that it's Jiro's faults which in fact make him more human; he comes to accept the way he is, and passes up the chance to have his conscience circuit completed.

Jiro is brought to life by Ban Daisuke, who is one of those Tokusatsu powerhouses like Miyachi Hiroshi with a number of heroic roles under his belt. Armed with his trusty red guitar (which he uses to announce his entrance/sometimes swing like a Louisville Slugger) and clad head-to-toe in primary colors, Jiro exudes a lot of cool just by turning up in a scene. Kikaider is, quite honestly, one of the best costume designs ever at least in terms of concept.

The execution's good too, but I think to really appreciate it you need to check out the close-up cleaned-up "hero" version of the suit with the more leathery-looking body and insanely-detailed head, or the comics/animated renditions. The exposed electronics are a great touch, a reminder of how Kikaider is incomplete, and there's of course the meaning behind the diametric color scheme (in that there's good and evil in us all.) Another early title for the show was even "Jinzô-Ningen RedBlue"!

Kikaider has some great enemies too. Professor Gill is played by Andô Mitsuo, and he's one of the classic big league baddie actors who also turn up in weird small non-baddie roles. Case in point: in Kamen Rider episode 49, he plays a guy who gets eaten alive by a walking anemone-man. As Gill, he is totally off the wall, though his best stuff comes in the 3D Kikaider movie, where he breaks the fourth wall like nobody's business. Dark's robot hordes may look a little less threatening than some other Tokusatsu enemies out there, but they've got it where it counts, and some of them are infamously sadistic. Personally I think that the chunky, organic look is part of their charm, and what really sets them apart from the robotic villains from some later shows.

One early aspect of Dark I find interesting that sadly seems to get dropped by the wayside is that they're as much about scoring some bank as they are about taking over Japan/the world/etc. and destroying Kikaider. The main idea behind the Dark robots is that they're to be sold off to foreign powers for their own agendas, making Dark a sort of high-level arms dealership. Professor Gill may be crazy, but even he knows that you can't run an evil organization without cash.

At first glance, Jinzô-Ningen Kikaider seems like a fairly episodic show. The plot of a basic episode is that amnesia-afflicted Komyoji will turn up somewhere, followed by Jiro & friends, though they will rarely actually cross paths thanks to dramatic irony. Dark turns up as well; they want the Komyoji kids and Komyoji if they can find him. Jiro will drop by, fight, endure the flute-thang at least once per episode, then as Kikaider he'll defeat the enemy. Wash, rinse, repeat.

This isn't to say that the show is boring though; it's anything but. The ongoing story is interesting enough and there are enough variations in the plot-of-the-week to keep things fresh. For instance one week our heroes might encounter a relic of the past, another Komyoji-created robot (or in one case, his "original" elder son!) Another might have them intervening in a larger Dark plan, often by accident. The advantage of working to a formula is that the show lulls you into a sense of complacency, so when it pulls out the rug, you're in for a jolt.

Things really kick into high gear towards the end, but let's backtrack a bit and talk about the comic version and the animation. As mentioned earlier, the comic follows the same basic outline as the live-action series, but things really start to differ once Kikaider is activated. On the original TV show, Mitsuko had also been captured by Dark and knew of Jiro/Kikaider right off the bat. In the comics, she and Masaru are as free as their father, but following an explosion at the lab, he and Jiro disappear and it's not 'til later that our main man cross paths with the Komyoji children (their father pretty much vanishes from the comic for a long stretch, rather than being the constant fixture he was on the show.)

The comic is a good deal darker than the live-action show in some ways. Komyoji's wife was in fact a Dark spy, and really only had the kids as part of her cover story (the animated version dials this up to 11 when she actually appears to reveal this. In the comic, Mitsuko gets a big info-dump courtesy of a recording-bot thingy.) Like all Ishinomori comics, the violence is a bit more intense than even what you'd get on TV, though the TV show ain't no slouch in that department either. It's certainly not afraid to show Jiro committing more heinous acts when under Gill's control. Oh yes. Poor Jiro.

Comics Jiro is a heckuva lot more conflicted than his TV persona, who seemed to basically have his objectives clear even if his conscience circuit wasn't. This Jiro spends chapters wandering around, trying to understand just who he is and why he was brought into this world. He still exists to fight Dark, but he's got to figure that part out along the way. He generally tries to avoid Mitsuko and Masaru for long stretches, fearing the threat Dark (and he) poses to them. Hanpei does show up, but has a considerably smaller role than in the live action series (he does get a sidekick though, and both play an even bigger role in the animation.)

Gill's flute has a nastier effect on him as well; often prompting him to violence against Mitsuko and others. This happened on TV, but Jiro is usually aware enough at the time to fight back, and always horrified at what he's being forced to do (there's an awesome scene later in the series when Jiro, already a wanted man, is being commanded to kill a little girl, and Ban goes the distance to show you how hard Jiro's struggling to resist.) In the comic, he basically gets murderous red eyes and goes into KILL-KILL-KILL mode, making him a little harder to trust. He's not quite Hayate in the Arashi comic, but Jiro's hero street cred takes a beating when done in manga form.

And if you think it sucks to be Jiro in the comics, the anime goes even further, though not totally wacky until the very end, and since that's technically 01 territory I'll hold off on that for the moment. The actual 13-episode original animation more or less sticks to the comic, though removes or changes some stuff. For instance the Silver Bear storyline. In the comic, Mitsuko gets mad at Jiro over the outcome of that, whereas in the cartoon it was Masaru. In the comic version Jiro then flies off to America to fight some robot dinosaurs, and then there's a lengthily chapter where Doc Komyoji returns. Around that point, in the animation, we get the aforementioned "Mitsuko and Masaru's Mother" episode, which lays out some of the back story that the comic already established much earlier.

To talk briefly about the animation, I liked it okay, though as you'll probably deduce after I cover Kikaider 01, the live action shows are my favorite version of the Kikaider universe. Ishinomori's comic is pretty good, but like his original Henshin Ninja Arashi it's kind of a stretch to call it a superhero story. Kikaider the comic really feels more like a modern fable (well, 70's fable), which shouldn't be surprising given how heavily it's influenced by Pinocchio. His Conscience Circuit is even called "Jimminy!" (or Gemini, depending on who you ask.) There's still robots kicking each other's metal butts, but it's all a bit more straight-faced about it. The live action show is at its heart pure escapism; the comic and its animated adaptation on the other hand want to remind you just how ugly the world can be.

On the original TV series, Jiro is the hero, and the story is about his battle against Dark (and his own shortcomings) and his struggle to reunite his "family". In the comic and cartoon, Jiro's role as the hero is often up for debate, as he's caught between his desire to do good, and the reality of what he is beneath his synthetic skin. Both of those latter versions are a bit more upfront about their messages on technology, humanity, and free will. The comic even lays out Asimov's Laws of Robotics at one point! By contrast the live action version handles it more subtly, always giving top priority to the action and face-value story.

It's around this point that the stories of the original TV show, the comic, and the animation all kinda converge in a way, with the introduction of Kikaider's most famous enemy: Dark's ultimate weapon, Hakaider! The black leather-clad gun-slinging cyborg is arguably as great a creation as his nemesis, and eventually got his own re-imagining in movie form (which is fascinating in its own strange way.) Hakaider has several major factors going for him: 1) He looks cool as hell, with that exposed brain and emotionless-yet-sinister face 2) he's got an interesting moral code, making him not-quite a straight-up bad guy, and 3) he uses a gun so powerful it can shoot holes in practically anything and he cruises around on a motorcycle called White Crow. Rockin'.

On the moral code thing, Hakaider's deal is that he's created to be the ultimate anti-Kikaider, and is obsessed with destroying him (and he lets everyone know it.) However, he's not a bad guy in the traditional sense, as he has no aspirations beyond the destruction of Kikaider and isn't interested in Dark's usual nonsense. In fact, he looks down upon them with disdain, and will interfere with their schemes if it jeopardizes his ability to destroy Kikaider, or he simply disapproves of their actions (for instance, he dislikes cowardly tactics such as hostage-taking.) While the various Kikader versions generally agree on the major points, they do vary in some ways and I think the live action show actually gives him the most fully fleshed-out characterization, especially when it comes to this moral code.

To make matters worse, that brain in Hakaider's noggin is in fact Doctor Komyoji's! This makes things difficult as Kikaider cannot destroy Hakaider without killing any chance for the now-recaptured Doc to return to normal. This also sets up an interesting Freudian situation where Hakaider is both Kikaider's "brother" (Komyoji was forced to help build him) and his "father" (since he's got Komyoji's brain.) Even more crazily is how Hakaider is also a character in his own right, with his own "human" alter-ego of Saburo. In the comic/cartoon, the sunglasses-wearing Saburo has a whistle with which he can control Jiro even more effectively than Gill, making him rob a jewelry story for kicks at one point. On the live-action show, he generally uses this just to announce his presence, Jô Shigeru-style, but he also knifes a monster every now and then.

Having a human brain has its drawbacks though, as Hakaider requires regular blood transfusions to keep him going, and his high level of independence coupled with his own code of honor cause him to clash with Dark more and more. As a result, Professor Gill soon realizes his favorite new toy is turning against him. Once more the live action version, the comic and even the cartoon all take different paths here. In the comic, Hakaider succeeds in literally disarming Kikaider and brings him to Dark HQ, but is betrayed by Gill for not following his orders to the T (he was supposed to have Jiro kill Mitsuko, but oddly, relents.) In the animation Doctor Komyoji's brain overpowers the programming so Hakaider has a face turn, though Gill prepared for this and mass-produced some totally robotic ~~Shocker~~ Hakaiders that overpower the original.

In the show, a Dark Robot succeeds in blowing Kikaider to pieces, and here's where I think things get really cool. Now lacking purpose, Hakaider goes nuts, attacking Gill and demanding to know more about why he was even created if his whole purpose is now scrap metal. It's a pretty neat twist; the guy obsessed with destroying Kikaider now realizing that with the one thing he wanted gone, there's nothing left for him to do. As in the other two versions, Hakaider eventually falls, but Komyoji's brain is returned to his body, Gill and Dark are brought down by Kikaider, and it's a happy ending from there... or is it?

The comic actually pretty much keeps going, even showing us that things ain't over when a critically injured Gill orders his top men to save him by any means necessary. The next chapter features some weird mushroom people, and then we launch right into the Kikaider 01 stuff. The animation has more of a cool-down period for its ending, and the live action show ends fair and square, even if the very next week the sequel would come along. The original series can be watched pretty much as a standalone, though if you've made it through the show, you're probably going to want to see the second half of the story anyway!

Fortunately, doing so is a lot easier than is used to be, as Kikaider (or Kikaida, I should say) is licensed in the US on R1 DVD, fully subtitled, along with the sequel series, plus Inazuman and some other show with a bug guy. Check it out at generationkikaida.com.

As for the comic, of the 6 collected volumes it's traditionally broken up into, the stuff pertaining to the original series ends early on in volume 4, so of course you'll want to keep reading. As for the cartoon, my suggestion is to at least check out the original 13 episodes. The later four episodes... well, I'll talk about those next time as we continue with the story of Kikaider 01.

"Change! Switch On! One! Two! Three!"

Ishinomori Week: Henshin Ninja Arashi

contact@igadevil.com (Paul "Igadevil" Sullivan) — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 20:06:01 PST

At last, it's time for igadevil.com's first ever annual

January 25th marked what would have been the 73rd birthday of Ishinomori Shôtarô, and I don't think I need to tell you who he is. Although he's sadly no longer with us, Ishinomori's legacy lives on today, and as far as I know he's still the Guiness world record holder for most comics created by one author, with over 128,000 pages (thanks Wikipedia!) That's a lot of comics, that is. And many of them live a simultaneous life on television and the movies, as animation or live action (and sometimes both.)

For a while now I've always wanted to get around to at least briefly touching upon some of his other co-creations with Toei and producer Hirayama Tôru, because while Ishinomori's most critically-acclaimed and famous stuff is his long-running comic series like Cyborg 009, Sabu to Ichi Torimono Hikae or Hotel , it's the series that also exist as Tokusatsu that I find particularly fascinating, especially when it comes to the differences (and similarities) between comics and the show.

Now obviously, I could cover the original Kamen Rider, BLACK, and that one weird "Kamen Rider EX" anthology that's about Amazon and the unmade movie, but I'm going to hold off on those for the moment since I talk about Kamen Rider 99.9% of the time on this blog anyway, so they'll get coverage at a later date. Instead, for the next 5 days I want to focus on a few of my favorite 70's Ishinomori-created shows that all have some unique links back to Kamen Rider. Why only 5? Because I'll need something to do next time I do this!

First up, a character that'a probably less well-known than the rest I'll be covering this week, but he's really grown to become one of my favorites over the years:

Henshin Ninja Arashi is a 1972 series that started up almost a year after Kamen Rider began, and just a few days after Toei's other big early 1972 hero, the non-Ishinomori creation Chôjin Barom-1. I say "early 1972" since that summer would see a certain red and blue guy come along, but we'll talk about him later.

There are a couple of "period drama" Tokusatsu out there, with the three most famous probably being Toei's earlier effort, Kamen no Ninja Akakage, P-Production's Kaiketsu Lion Maru (and sequels/revamps) and this one. Akakage is a pretty cool show and one of its principal cast members plays a similar role in this series. Being from the late 60's, it's part of the pre-Rider, pre-Ishinomori Holy Hirayama Trio (along with Giant Robo and Captain Ultra.) All three shows are notable in their own ways, and would leave a lasting legacy: stock footage of their special effects scenes would get recycled for years, from the famous "Toei Splash" to the "Toei Gas Station Explosion", you'll see bits of them turning up for at least the next decade.

P-Pro's Lion Maru has a dude who becomes a lion-man (of course) and is often compared with Henshin Ninja Arashi, as they feature similar concepts. He also beat Arashi to TV screens by a matter of days. Both shows do have a lot in common, with some clear advantages over each other. Lion Maru's arguably got the best finisher, plus his horse flies! (these period drama heroes generally ride horses.) There's also the legendary Tiger Joe, an intriguing anti-hero with a kick-ass costume. I think it's also regarded as a bigger success since it spawned a sequel and an updated version years later.

For my money though, Arashi has the cooler villains, Toei's usual level of action and fight choreography, and Kamen Rider influences all over the place. Both have rockin' theme songs, but I think I like Arashi's slightly more.

That's all good then, but just who is Arashi, and what's his show about anyway?

Henshin Ninja Arashi is set in the Edo period (1603-1868), a time of relative peace and stability in Japan after many years of war and bloodshed. Enter the Blood Wheel Clan, a secret society that has existed for ages in the shadows. Led by the mysterious Majinsai, and using their Kenshin-Ninja, guys who have mastered the art of turning into a half-man, half-animal monster, they make a bid to smash that peace, spreading fear and chaos throughout the land. And since they're backed up by like a bajillion ninja henchmen, even the fiercest warriors are no match for them.

Hayate is a young man born into a family that has been under the Blood Wheel Clan's thumb for generations, and with help from his dad, undergoes a secret ritual which grants him the ability to become the transforming man-animal ninja known as Arashi! Unfortunately his father is killed so it's now up to our man Hayate to travel Japan and route out the Blood Wheel Clan wherever it raises its ugly mug. He's assisted by the Iga Ninja (no relation) Tatsumaki and his equally ninja-skilled kiddes Kasumi and Tsumuji.

Arashi is pretty cool. He's got a magic sword which plays a role in his transformation and is used to slice and dice enemies, either normally or through some unique special attacks. He throws feather-motif shuriken, and rides a horse (of course.) Later in the series he gets some really wacky powers like a laser beam attack, but when you're going up against Satan (!) in a UFO (!!) you're gonna need those. The fights in Arashi are pretty wild, and unique even for the time since there's a lot more swordplay than usual. The show's loaded with crazy ninja tricks as well. Let me just say that I've never, ever seen teleportation done like it is in the first episode. Also, in a kind of unusual twist, Arashi is voiced by a different actor than Hayate in some episodes (and from 19 on, for the rest of the series.)

As his journey progesses, Arashi encounters new friends and enemies, including a whole new variety of villain alongside the Kenshin-Ninja forces: the Seiyô Yôkai, or roughly "Western Monsters". Yes, Majinsai decides to outsource! With his own flora and fauna-based cronies consistently failing, and his right-hand man Gaikotsu-Maru not being much more help, the armored entity brings in the Demon Master, who summons famous fictional monsters from abroad.

Arashi goes up against a veritable tourist group: the Mummy, the Wolfman, a Japanese-style Frankenstein, Medusa, the Sphinx, the Gorgon (apparently different from Medusa, go figure) and the Tarantula, among others. Even Dracula gets in on the action (I think somebody at Konami really liked this show.) There's even that famous "Japanese-Western" monster, Backbeard, who in this series is a giant one-eyed head that shoots lasers. I love this show.

Eventually Arashi even fights, as previously mentioned, Satan himself! Played by Amamoto "Doctor Shinigami" Hideyo himself, no less. He's actually the main baddie near the end of the series.

On the good guy side of things, there's a secondary hero who appears later on, which is kind of unique for the time; some kick-butt ninja girls, a comic relief guy played by Ushio "Ambassador Hell" Kenji, and even Hayate's mom, who plays an important role in the last few episodes.

As if often the case, Ishinomori's comic version (which like his other comic adaptations, was written and published almost simultaneously with the series) varies quite a bit from its TV counterpart, though the general storyline is the same. Major characters like Hayate/Arashi, Tatsumaki and his kids, Majinsai and Gaikotsu-Maru are all present, though Hayate's basically on a solo journey after the first chapter, and the main villains only appear sporadically.

It's in the characterization where things really start to differ. On the TV show, Hayate/Arashi is your standard-issue 70's badass, albeit in the Edo period. He's a likable guy, but he never lets you forget that priority one is saving lives and kicking monster butt. However he's still got a lot of interesting qualities, particularly the fact that his lineage has long served the very guys he's fighting, so at times he feels a little conflicted about the Blood Wheel Clan, despite knowing them to be evil. It's a theme that would be revisited with Riderman and explored even more in Kamen Rider V3.

In the comics though, he's almost a completely different character. He still travels Japan fighting evil and turning into a katana-wielding avian every now an then, but in Ishinomori's manga, Hayate is a considerably darker, more morally-ambiguous hero. While the show has the whole "you killed my father, prepare to die" aspect to it, in the comic that is almost entirely what drives our protagonist along. Comic Hayate is committed to wiping out the Blood Wheel Clan for what they did to him, even if it means doing some pretty unpleasant things, as often is the case.

For instance, in the third chapter of the comic, Hayate encounters a woman who possesses the ability to become a fox (the story is based on the legend of Kuzunoha.) Now settled down and living with her husband and child, it wouldn't seem as though she poses any threat... but almost instinctively upon encountering Hayate, the two have to fight (Hayate earlier fought with a monk who was visiting her to remind her of her duties to the clan.)

After spending some time with her family, Hayate decides he can't bring himself to kill her after all, despite this being his original intent. But, having been already injured in the earlier fight, and realizing that she can never live peacefully anymore, the woman rushes him as he walks away. Although the end of the story is left ambiguous, the implication is that she either killer herself, or forced Hayate into killing her, and he's not exactly happy about it as the story closes.

In fact, this is something I notice a lot about the Blood Wheel Clan members in the comic: they're not always straight-up villains. They're not very nice people and they still want to kill Hayate, but you sort of feel sympathy for them because Hayate isn't so much a hero fighting the good fight as he is a damaged man on a quest for vengeance. Hayate too is often forced to make some tough choices, such as in the sixth chapter, where he for all intents and purposes has to fight and kill his own mother. Remember this story idea for a later series I'll be talking about.

However before you think that the comic basically just has Hayate having to make harder decisions than his TV counterpart, I also have to get back to the "darker, morally-ambiguous" thing. He's kind of a bastard sometimes, such as in the eighth chapter where he encounters a group of Otter-Men that plot to blow up Osaka Castle by swimming through an underwater tunnel beneath it and setting explosives in the basement. Were this plot done on TV, we'd probably get a scene where the bad guys rise up under the castle and Hayate is already there waiting for them, ready for a fight, and he'd save the day. Not here though! What's Hayate's method of dealing with the situation?

He waits until they go into the tunnel to set the explosives. He beheads the one guy they left on guard duty, then blocks the tunnel off with a boulder, trapping the rest of the Otter-Men under the castle... and oh yeah, they already lit the fuse and it's too late to stop it. In a two-page spread, part of Osaka Castle goes kaboom. Hayate, looking on, reminds us that he has just one goal: eradicate the Blood Wheel Clan.

That's pretty hardcore.

You've probably noticed that I keep on talking about Hayate, but not a whole lot about his beaked alter-ego. That's because Arashi doesn't actually appear that much! Hayate is content to do most of the damage himself, only becoming Arashi often times to deliver the killing blow. Over the course of the whole comic there's plenty of accumulated Arashi action, but if you just take it a chapter at a time, you won't see the big bird nearly as often as you'd think. One thing I found interesting was that for all the dirty business Hayate does, Arashi seldom steps outside of the boundaries of the TV incarnation. In other words, in the comic Arashi really is like a mask, the super-heroic identity Hayate assumes because he's such damaged goods on his own. We kinda need to see him become Arashi to remind us periodically that he's the story's hero.

When Arashi does turn up, he looks awesome. As often as we remember Ishinomori for his great ideas, I think he was also a fantastic artist. I mean look at this:

(Sorry about the scan quality, but my Arashi comics aren't very scanner-friendly.)

Truth be told, Ishinomori's Henshin Ninja Arashi manga is an interesting read. Of all the comics of his I've read, I think its hero is the most removed from his TV persona, despite still having many similarities. It's a strange story, less a tale of good vs. evil and more one man on a quest for revenge, with a killer twist at the end and a rather bleak message overall. Oddly, the TV series pulls a completely different twist with the same character!

What's really fascinating is that there's not just one Ishinomori Arashi comic, but two!
Published almost simultaneously from what my sources say (the first one started slightly before the TV series, and this second one began with the show.) Known as New Henshin Ninja Arashi, this version sticks a little closer to the TV show. Hayate's a much nicer guy and there's more Arashi action. The baddies are definitely bad, and they're closer to their TV counterparts in design. The ending is just plain weird though, the Henshin Ninja Arashi equivalent of a "Silent Hill UFO ending". Literally.

Of course there's also another comic by a different guy (as was often the case; most of the Rider comics were not illustrated by Ishinomori directly, and many of his shows feature multiple serializations.) But this is Ishinomori Week, remember? Not much more I can say about that version as I haven't read it yet! But it's on the to-do list if I can find any of it.

So you're probably wondering what the heck any of this has to do with Kamen Rider. Well, if you've ever wondered what Kamen Rider would be like if it were set in feudal Japan and the hero was a bird-man instead of a bug-guy, Henshin Ninja Arashi is that show. Perhaps more than any other Ishinomori hero, Arashi has a lot in common with the Riders, both on a story and production level.

Story-wise, it should be pretty obvious: the hero fights an evil organization that killed someone close to him who also served as a connection between the hero and evil organization. He was "reconstructed"(Arashi uses the same terminology when describing the transformation ritual) and works on similar principles as the enemies he fights. His heroic alter-ego is a mask to conceal his identity from the world at large and even some of his closest friends, though is arguably done for dramatic flair as well. He has his trusty steed, his signature killing move, and his Henshin phrase and pose.

On the production side, that's where Arashi really stands out. Aside from Ishinomori and Hirayama, the series also shares a number of the same directors and writers as the original Kamen Rider, chief among them is Igami Masaru, aka Igadevil's Favorite Rider Writer. I need to do a mega-post on him some day. The music is composed by Kikuchi Shunsuke, also of Rider fame. Nakamura Bunya, a prolific Rider stunt actor who you may know out-of-suit as Marashal Armor, was the primary suit actor.

Rider alumni are all over the place. Aside from Amamoto and Ushio, the series is narrated by Nakae Shinji (the narrator for many of the old Rider series) and Majinsai is voiced by none other than Naya Gorô, better known as the voice of the Great Leader! Stylistically, I think it bears the strongest resemblance to Rider, especially the original series, out of all the other Ishinomori/Toei creations. Not bad considering there isn't a motorcycle in sight!

And now I should probably address the thing that a lot of you have been thinking: "Why does that guy look like the Oni Armor from Hibiki?" That's simple: the Oni Armor's design was inspired by Arashi! Okay you probably knew that, but there's a cool story in this.

For years there's been murmurings of an Arashi revival, and at one point Amemiya Keita was even rumored to be interested. Long before the Hibiki we know now was conceived, there was a point where Blade was going to be the last Rider series, and a new hero would take over the following year. A new hero... or a revival of an old one. Henshin Ninja Arashi was one of the names tossed around in the beginning, though the idea of making a sequel/spin-off to that disappeared fairly early in the game.

However, members of the Hibiki staff were clearly fans. The Oni Armor is intended as a direct homage to Arashi. The Hibiki movie features yet more shout-outs: Hitotsumi is pretty obviously based on Majinsai, and the movie-original Makamou are adorned with a logo almost identical to the Blood Wheel Clan's! I don't recall offhand if it was actually mentioned in the movie, but supposedly the name for the Makamou 'organization' in the movie is in fact "Blood Wheel Clan" using slightly different Kanji. That may have just been a production bit though. (And yes, I know that the more literal reading of the name is "Blood Wheel Political Faction", but c'mon. They're a ninja clan, and you never saw Majinsai appearing on any TV debates or anything.)

That does raise a few intriguing ideas. Hibiki's movie is set in the Sengoku, or Warring States period of Japan, predating Arashi. Who's to say the Blood Wheel Clan weren't a Makamou-aligned faction and Arashi was a legendary figure in Takeshi history? Also, Majinsai is secretly the Great Leader! Okay, that might be pushing things, but the idea of all the Ishinomori characters inhabiting a shared universe has been alluded to in JAKQ Dengekitai vs. Goranger. I can buy Arashi as being in the same 'verse as the Kamen Riders, anyway.

Also, Arashi is the only Ishinomori hero to my knowledge to get in on a TV special with Kamen Rider 1, 1972's Henshin! Henshin! Arashi & Rider. I've never seen it, but both Fujioka and Nanjô Tatsuya (Hayate) were in it, so yeah, it's one I'm always looking out for.

Henshin Ninja Arashi is a 47-episode series (with a "movie", a blown-up theatrical version of episode #6) and the comics (both of them) are 12 chapters each, though if you're looking for the most recent reprints, the first series is split across two volumes. I'd recommend the series easily; the whole period drama aspect sets it apart from a lot of other Tokusatsu out there. Also it has great fights and badass monsters that want to eat us all. You can't go wrong with that combination. As far as I know it has yet to be subbed, but it seems like more and more of the classic stuff is getting picked up every year, so I'm hopeful.

The comic is a slightly more acquired taste, though if my summarization sounds intriguing than I'd check it out. The Otter-Men story is so unbelievable it's worth reading for that alone.

And of course I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the S.I.C. set, which was sort of influential in getting me to check out the manga in the first place. A lot of people overlooked it so it's probably not too hard to find for cheap. In fact, on amazon.jp it's barely over 10 bucks as I write this! If you can score one for $40 or less, I'd say go for it. While it's a bit more geared towards display than play, it's still two great figures plus a nifty display base. Definitely my favorite S.I.C. release of 2009, and that was a great year already. Plus there's a spoiler for the comic!

Oh and totally random trivia: Apparently there's some visual influence from Arashi in the design of Kamen Rider Odin. I'm going to guess it's the thingy on the center of their heads.

"Fukeyo Arashi! Arashi!! ARASHI!!!"

Tokyo I'm On My Way

contact@igadevil.com (Paul "Igadevil" Sullivan) — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 20:32:39 PST

It's funny to think about now, but when I first watched this episode the whole idea of them going to Tokyo from Nagano was completely lost on me. The plot hinges on it. And it's in the episode title no less! Admittedly it was a long time ago and there was no Wikipedia. I didn't have many guidebooks outside of Terebi-Magazine and my Japanese was rudimentary at best, but that fact went right over me.

Although now, I'm pretty sure almost all the Nagano stuff is actually shot around Tokyo. Go figure.

Kamen Rider Kuuga Episode 3: "Tokyo"
Written By Arakawa Naruhisa
Directed By Watanabe Katsuya

This is a different sort of episode, though not the first nor last of its kind. Whereas the first two were arguably done-in-ones that were also a linked story, and the first act of a greater, series-spanning storyline, Kuuga's third outing is definitely a Part 1. After knocking the audience out of their chairs with the previous episodes, this one pulls back a bit and really concentrates on setting things up for the fourth episode. It's a lot of world-building, character-introducing and situation-creating to set things up for where the series will go from here. We're out of the Nagano trial period, and into the Tokyo real deal.

Despite that, it's still a rocking good time that builds to a great cliffhanger. This'll be a shorter review than the last two, but there's a lot to talk about, including several new cast members!

There's Godai's sister Minori (or I guess I should say Yûsuke's sister, but you know what I mean.) I like her, and she's probably by my count the first sibling of a main hero to last beyond one episode, unless you want to count adopted siblings (and out of them, the most famous one was turned into Shadow Moon!) That was novel in 2000 and it still is now, even though we've had a couple Riders with on-screen family in the years since.

I've always felt that having the hero's family around can be tricky, but can also make for some great stories, as the overriding desire is to place them in danger. And few things make the hero fight harder than his or her loved ones in danger, right? Just giving them that much more personal stake can really elevate things (for instance, Kiva might not have been nearly as exciting if Taiga was actually just Wataru's dentist's neighbor.)

It's interesting how the show does take that route, but in an abstract way. The danger to Minori (and everybody else not featured in the action scenes) is touched upon in the dialogue, but also shown to us via nameless extras getting massacred. There's sort of a "It could be you" thing going on. Like I once said, the Kuugaverse is not really a place I'd want to live.

I also need to mention her place of work, the Wakaba Nursery School. I've got some choice words about that place later in the series and a certain storyline that goes on there, but at this point it's all smiles and sunshine. The kiddies are cute and Godai even gets another chance to juggle!

Meanwhile, there's a heckuva lot of weird guys walking around Tokyo too. Even by Tokyo standards. These are yet more Grongi in human form, and here's where the show does some really cool new things with its baddies.

In the same way that the old Riders got plenty of mileage out of the "evil organization" idea, I think Heisei Kamen Rider series have basically recycled the "ancient race", "monsters that walk among us in human guise", "monsters-of-the-week that desire little more than killing/eating people" and "they prey on human weakness/desires/wishes/whatever for evil" tropes a lot. And then there's the big one, the idea of the "villain race" where the name covers a whole species rather than an organized group.

For instance you can say that Faiz fights against Orphenochs, but it's trickier to say that the Orphenochs are the villains of the series, because there's also a lot of good ones (in the main cast, no less!) Contrast that with an old show, where you can usually say that whoever the Rider is up against are unquestionably the villains, and those few exceptions that switch sides are traitors. You could make that argument with some more recent series as well.

The Grongi are unique in that way, which probably comes about because they're doing a lot of those ideas for the first time, but also building off of the evil organizations of the old show. So there's no dilly-dallying around: the Grongi are evil and they want to eat us all! Or kill us, anyway.

Getting back to the ancient race thing though: If you were to make a timeline of the singular Riderverse, you'd have a lot of different guys stomping around in ancient times and something like 3 or 4 origin stories for humankind. Someday I'll elaborate on how I could see them all fitting together, but let's stick with the Grongi for now, and what this episode does with them.

It's pretty cool how they introduce the "monsters of the week" for the next couple episodes, but only in their human form, so we're left to wonder what they really look like (okay, the tattoos do kinda give it away.) We also get some good characterization about them: one guy is fascinated by modern language and communication. Another takes an interest in this "money" concept. Yet another decides that all these new noises are driving him crazy. It's a good way to establish that these are indeed ancient dudes who have woken up to a world very different than the one they left behind. But they're figuring out ways to blend in (mostly) and make the best of their situation. It's the 2000 equivalent of Ankh discovering the internet and Apple™ products.

And it's all done with very little dialogue on their end! Fortunately other characters pick up the slack, and we get some good bits like the blood sample scene, which adds a creepy new detail to the Grongi. See, they are kinda like kaizô-ningen in a way.

There's a big chunk 'o police meeting in this episode, but it's good stuff. The cops go over what they know so far, and there's some nice hints at some future Grongi. Ichijô says what we're all thinking about the #2/#4 thing, but lacks the proof to convince everyone else. As a side note, I have my own feelings about the whole "Unidentified Life Form #4" moniker which I'll talk about next time, but it works here. At this point, nobody knows who to trust and a white Kuuga and a red Kuuga may as well be two different guys.

And continuing the namedrop from last time, the TryChaser 2000 appears at last! Well not quite, it's on a video and it it lacks the distinctive color set o' Kuuga, but that's cool how they hinted at it here. The whole idea of it being a prototype police vehicle is pretty cool and I can't think of a whole lot of other Rider Machines with such an oddball origin. I always like when the motorcycle has a storyline built around it, like in Amazon or Road Sector in BLACK. In my opinion the Rider's bike is practically a character in the show, so you should give it a spotlight episode or at least an origin story.

And as one thing is hinted at and revealed, so is another: Godai's place of work and stay, the Pore-Pore. It's the "Amigo" of the series! The Rider always has to have a place to crash, so here it is. Even if it isn't open, and we don't see the proprietor (though we do hear him, in one of the episode's funniest scenes.)

In addition to the other Grongi glimpsed earlier, there's two more important ones introduced this time. The first is the Rose-Tatooed Woman, who is our "Colonel Zol" of the series. By that I mean the big-league bad guy, second only to the top man and around to give us an identifiable face and voice to lead the Grongi. Although she's not so much handing out orders as keeping them all in line as the game is about to begin.

She has an awesome entrance and first episode. We see only a glimpse of what her Grongi form might look like, and it's one that with hindsight is all the more teasing. Her rapport with Gooma is established immediately (in that she often takes out her frustrations on him.) And there's her interesting relationship with Ichijô, which I couldn't exactly call a rivalry. But knowing where it'll all end up, I'd say she is his nemesis in a way, even more than Kuuga's.

Also, she'll go through a few costume changes as the series goes on, though I gotta say I like the original one the best. It's the red feather boa; I just dig the color association thing.

I have to point out though, if it's 4:10 PM when Ichijô first encountered her, how long was he running after her anyway? In the next scene it's night, then when the Grongi meet up it's only 5:03!

My theory there is either scenes do take place a little out of order (so the Grongi stuff is happening before/simultaneous to that) or the warehouse sequence is just intentionally shot kind of weird like that, with the sudden grainy filter and earthy tint. It looks creepy as hell and coupled with the music cranks the tension up to maximum (broken by the great ringing cell phone moment.) Or it could just be it gets dark around 4:30 at that time of the year. Or Ichijô is somehow channeling Snoopy in "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown". Your guess is as good as mine!

Oh yeah, and more music not heard on the soundtracks during that chase scene. I guess we should be so lucky people have found the stock music from shows like Decade. I theorize a lot of the Kuuga stuff was originally produced in-house, but just never released. Drag, man. I'll get back to this in episode 6.

The other big addition to the cast isn't a long-lasting one, but she's important: the episode's monster, Zu Mebio Da. First appearing as a woman in short-shorts. The Grongi are pretty fashionable villains.

And isn't that the most pathetic biker gang you ever saw? Two guys? Also you have to admire the guts in the one who gets killed. If the big angry rhino guy didn't scare him, nothing will. Not a pleasant way to die either.

Mebio is cool. I like the sort of-not quite Egyptian look she has, something that the next series would revisit, and then some. She's awfully broad-shouldered for a female monster, but then again Kamen Rider has a long history of obviously-dude female monsters so I'm not gonna complain. She's a tough mama! I think her best bits are next episode where she goes on a literal killing spree, though the kicking that biker was great.

And you can just tell that poor Godai needs a bike soon, with him running for the train.

Things really kick into gear around the 18:30 mark. Heroes and villain all converge on the same area. We're even introduced to a pair of soon-to-be-regular characters with such little fanfare, you'd think they're just more fodder (which one of them almost is next time.) The show's awesome soundtrack really directs things here; I love that "Grongi Resurrection" theme.

Once again I have to wonder what kind of a story the staff spun to get Odagiri on board for this show; if he had any concern about being an action hero, guess what? In this episode, he gets slammed into walls and I'm pretty sure that's really Odagiri taking some of those bumps! I have to applaud him for that.

The fight's pretty good, though it's mainly serving to lead into the next episode. I haven't talked about him before, so I'll do so here: Tominaga Kenji, the suit actor for Kuuga, is pretty awesome. While Takaiwa would go on to become the Nakayashiki of this generation (in that both guys do suit acting for a ton of lead Riders) Tominaga does some amazing stuff with Kuuga that's not quite like anything else. What really stood out to me, especially on this viewing, is simply how animated he is. Almost kind of jumpy, like he's always on edge. One thing this show does really well is make me believe that it's Godai in the suit, while for some other Riders they do sort of adopt a different persona when transformed (although usually for an in-story reason.)

I like the cliffhanger. It's not really a "WILL KUUGA DIE!?" sort of thing as it is a story revelation. He realizes that everybody's pointing their guns at him too, and he's not exactly in a position to tell everybody to hold their fire. This plays nicely into what'll happen next time.

Overall, a solid episode. The really exciting stuff happens in part 2, but the opening act wasn't half bad either.

Next Time: VROOOM VROOOM!

Seeing Red

contact@igadevil.com (Paul "Igadevil" Sullivan) — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 07:55:14 PST

Kuuga continues! And so do the spoilers, but if you haven't watched this yet... go do that, then come back here.

Back? Okay.

Kamen Rider Kuuga Episode 2: "Transformation"
Written By Arakawa Naruhisa
Directed By Ishida Hidenori

This episode achieves something remarkable: it is simultaneously a part 2, a complete story on its own, and another chapter in a larger, series-spanning saga. While every Kamen Rider episode manage to be at least one of those, it's rare to find one that manages all three, and to do so as well as this one.

It's continuing story threads from the premiere with Kuuga's continual evolution, the fall-out from his first battle and the rematch with Zu Gumun Ba. It lays groundwork for what's to come by establishing new aspects of Kuuga, the Grongi, and where the characters are heading from here. It also just tells a great little tale in the vein of the old shows about a mysterious church, a sinister figure and a hero finding his purpose.

For anybody writing a Kamen Rider story, this episode is a good bar by which to pace yourself. Because if you can achieve even a fraction of the excitement that this does, you're on the right track. Even in its slower, quieter moments, it always had me completely enthralled.

I think a lot of that can be attributed to the direction. Ishida's one of the grand old men of Kamen Rider now, having directed some episodes of every series since Kuuga plus a bunch of 90's Metal Heroes. I read that he was originally slated to start with episodes 3 and 4, but the show was rushed into production so he wound up on the opening two. Supposedly things got so intense that at one point on episode 1 he had to have his hand-picked assistant director step in when he collapsed. I can believe it, because you don't get television this good without breaking a few eggs.

Fans talk a lot about writers, actors, and suit actors, but I think the directors are one of the most critical parts of how any show or movie turns out. Ishida also directed Missing Ace and God Speed Love, and there's definitely a visual flair to them, with at least one big "trailer fodder" set piece action scene each. It's not hard to see why Kuuga episodes 1 & 2 were recut into the "movie" version, because they're already very cinematic in a way.

Take for example the opening scene, which is one of the best of its kind ever in Rider. It's not exactly a new idea, but it's executed with such brutal swiftness, it might as well be lost footage from the 1971 show. And they cut it at just the right time too. I still can't believe this was on at 8 in the morning! It's kind of what the opening moments of THE FIRST went for, though of course nobody can watch that scene anymore without thinking about what it would be like if Riku and Eijirô hung out.

So the great direction from last time continues here, but I think the writing (or the editor) deserve a lot of credit too. It really moves. We pick up with Godai having to face the tough questions from Sakurako and Ichijô, and this is what I'm talking about when I say that with the right material, Odagiri can bring the magic.

Godai's nonchalant reaction to becoming Kuuga is strikingly different to many past (and future) Riders, and very telling of his character. Odagiri plays it with a sense of casual wonderment so that no matter how much others worry about him, you always kinda feel like he's right: it will all be okay. He's really good in this episode, isn't he? I like that face he makes after licking the salt (?)

I also need to point out that this is where the "bomb disposal interrupted by a bear" line comes from, because I'm fond of referencing that.

Ichijô does some namedropping in this episode, hinting at a future character Godai needs to go see, plus a certain TRCS-2000. I like his little overeager cop buddy Kameyama. Most importantly though is that almost from the first time he appears in this episode, Ichijô's stance on Godai (and Kuuga) is established: that he really doesn't want him putting his life at risk and he needs to stay out of police business.

Over the course of this episode, this stance will get demolished, but it's a gradual thing. I like how they're practically shoving each other out of the way before the first fight scene, and the confrontation in the hospital is great stuff. It's a million miles away from the "Stay out of my way or I will destroy you!" bitchfests of some subsequent Rider heroes. There's real weight here and it's not just rampant egos at war. Ichijô is right, but so is Godai.

This is what I meant last time with liking the slightly more antagonistic relationship of the early episodes. Obviously it couldn't go on forever, because for the show's message to work Ichijô and the police HAVE to come to trust Kuuga. Throughout the series Godai fights a battle on two fronts: against the Grongi, and later, against himself. Having him still get dogged by the police later on in the series would have just gotten in the way, so it's important to start the ties of trust this early on. Even if it takes a while before everybody's on the same page, through Ichijô, Godai has an authority figure he can count on. He's got a way in to the hearts and minds of others. This is demonstrated considerably in the next few episodes.

Although the episode title is mainly referring to the big moment towards the end, it's also a theme of the episode itself. In the beginning Godai and Sakurako discuss the nature of him transforming into Kuuga, with her worrying about it being a one-way thing and him explaining how it was tied into his motivation to fight (also note here how Godai implies he dislikes "that feeling".) It's further explored with both Kuuga's next progression, and through the first Grongi to take on another form.

Watching this episode now, it's funny to think that the Grongi assuming human form (or should that be humans assuming Grongi form?) is now an accepted, practically expected thing. We're so used to it that it was kinda weird in Decade to not see Gamio running around as some character actor for a bit. But here, where it's all being done for the first time, it's really interesting. On first viewing, I think most people could probably figure out that the priest was going to turn out to be the bat guy. I did, but that's because of Kamen Rider V3 (I'll get back to this later.)

It's still an effective twist though and it adds another layer to the villains that will be kicking into overdrive next episodes. They walk among us! The actual transformation scene later in the episode is cool, a blend of practical effects and CGI that's pretty great-looking really.

Zu Gooma Gu, the aforementioned bat guy, is the main monster this time. Like Gumun before him, he's classic. I'll get more into Grongi design in a future review, but I remember being pleased in 2000 that they were really going for a back-to-basics approach with the villains in this show. There's been a lot of bat guys in Kamen Rider, but I think the best ones are those that hew closest to what Kômori-Otoko laid down: you gotta have the wings, and you gotta drink the blood (or at least the bite.)

Having the luxury of foreknowledge of what's to come, I'm not sure how I feel about Gooma surviving to become the show's target for abuse. His ultimate fate is pretty cool and builds Daguba up as an even bigger badass than we thought, plus he's a great source of dark humor. Who doesn't love seeing him get smacked around? On the other hand though, while he's a weird creepy little guy later on, in this episode? He's downright chilling, and could have worked just as well as a one-off.

Part of that is the setting, which I'll get to next, but another part is that he's just written and acted as a real heavy threat here, which he won't really be for some time after this. I suppose ultimately I'm torn between having a good villain go out on a high, or keeping them on past their expiration date to where they become increasingly desperate and even nastier than ever (which is ultimately what happens.)

The church helps a lot. I love that church. Love the idea of it, love the way it's shot, love how they utterly demolish it at the end. Apparently the second episode of a series usually gets a slight budget increase to help bring viewers back after the premiere and then keep them around for the rest of the series.

It sorta makes sense if you think about it, since that's where they roll out the big CGI beastie or effects-laden battle that always seems just a bit more ambitious than usual (Personally I think with Decade they managed to spread that out over 1, 2 and 3.) So the story goes, for Kuuga, it was spent on burning the set down!

I mentioned how watching V3 made me guess the priests' identity (well that, and him speaking in Grongish.) This is because of course V3 pulled a similar trick in its own second episode. It isn't the only example though, so I think this is less a case of OMG HOMAGE FTWBBQWUTGENIUS!!1! and more of using an old Tokusatsu standby (the priest is a monster!) Sometimes there's references, and sometimes it's just stuff that comes with the territory.

Back to the church though. The scene where Godai investigates is awesome. Again, if you were going to teach a college course on writing Kamen Rider episodes (you may want to use my book, coming out in 2014!) this would be something to highlight. It manages to be both scary and funny, which I think is one of the best combinations you can pull off. The "light" bit (screencapped earlier) always gets a laugh from me, but it also doesn't undermine the threat. This scene is intense, especially with the payoff shot at the end.

And there's a mid-episode fight! That might not seem like a big deal now, but I'll be bringing it up again later in the series. I've commented before that I sometimes felt like Kuuga was a 45/60-min show in a 23-min show's body. It really has so much story to tell that in a couple episodes, the fighting is only just squeezed in at the end, or reduced to barely more than Godai transforming through a Kuuga form or two before the end credits roll. The battle at the end of one episode/beginning of the next becomes the mid-way fight... of the story. Every now and then though, an episode manages to get in two or more fight scenes, as seen here. In some cases the fight runs nearly the length of the episode, though broken up by a clip show.

This is where Growing Form really begins to show its limits, and sets things up for the climax. Godai realizes that the white-armored guy he's becoming isn't the red-armored guy he keeps seeing. Ichijô's pretty much had it up to here with Godai, and is putting himself at risk to stop the monster single-handedly. And then comes the part where Sakurako attends the archeologist guy's funeral, and Godai sees the crying girl. It's one of those defining moments, where the hero realizes what he's fighting for and makes his mission statement (though that's coming up a bit later.)

Something I really like about this is that Godai is, essentially, an outsider. While it's clear he has some significance because the belt called out to him, that significance is left very open to interpretation. But Godai doesn't really have a personal stake in things beyond the fact that the Grongi were trying to kill him and his friends and he knows someone who knew the guys that got killed in the first place, and it's not even his fault they're dead. But it does become personal because of his empathy. The sight of one girl crying hits him hard, and makes him realize just how serious things are, but they do it in a way where it's not so much "Godai learns a lesson" as it is "Godai is moved to action". This goes back to what I said about both him and Ichijô being right.

This is important because, as was hinted earlier, Godai would prefer not to keep on fighting. He just wants to go back to being a regular adventurer. But he's gotta do what he's gotta do. Keep that in mind as the series progresses.

The 15-minute mark is where this episode goes from great to flat-out incredible. Ichijô busting into the church with a shotgun has become another of those all-time favorite moments, and a really defining one for the character. Even though he's injured and way out of his league, he still goes in, guns blazing. I kind of take this and Taki's church-going experience from the first chapter of Spirits to heart when coming up with my own action scenes, because they're both strong ones. I guess it's something about churches.

I've already mentioned Gooma's transformation and the fire (which even Ichijô catches, giving us a real Taki-ish moment) so let's cut right to the three big things about the rest of this episode:

Godai's transformation, which follows the great moment where his motorcycle explodes (!) and he tells everyone exactly why he's fighting. The actual Henshin scene is of course iconic, as all the first transformations tend to be. I've always liked Kuuga's pose, which manages to have a little bit of Rider 1, and a lot of originality. Having the belt appear before the arm movements was actually kind of a unique idea at the time, and it's practically standard operating procedure now! As a holdover from last time, we still get the piece-by-piece CG transformation where Godai's already fighting as he changes.

I dig the sound effects of Kuuga's belt, and lament to this day that I didn't get the 1/1 size version, or even the original DX one. The Legend Rider version I do have ain't that bad, but I wouldn't say no to either of the other ones if I saw them at the right price.

And next... the design. I said I'd talk about this, so I'll do so here, at least for Mighty Form. To understand how I feel about Kuuga's basic look you have to again go back to 2000. In the days before it seemed like every other Rider was some impossible-to-define insect that was actually really a shark or a pumpkin, Kuuga managed to both stick out and yet feel like a return to form. Keep in mind that the three Riders prior to Kuuga were Shin, ZO and J. Shin was, and still is, the odd man out of any group photo, even though he's one of the most grasshoppery of them all. ZO & J were Ishinomori and Amemiya taking the original Kamen Rider idea and playing around with it as in more armored, 90's looks.

Kuuga comes along and, while being the first beetle in some time, also brings back a few things dropped with the last 3. He's got an actual, separate Henshin Belt. He's got the little O-Signal dot on his head, which ZO & J dropped (and which drives me nuts, since basically every other Rider ever has some version of it. Even Hibiki has his golden Oni face thing!) His mouthpiece (or "crusher") is a return to the Rider 1/2 style, rather than the segmented V3 style sported by the last two.

He also keeps a couple of their additions though. That armory look/feel, with the kneepads and hand-pad thingies. And still no scarf, though I don't really hold that as a critical design element. Basically: I love it when it's there, I don't mind when it's not, and when I design a Rider I put one on because it just feels right.

Long story short, I liked Kuuga's look then, and I still like him now. I'm especially keen on the chest armor for Mighty Form, which is sort of like an update of the Double Riders' chest armor. While I generally like all the basic Kuuga forms, Mighty stands out as my favorite. Growing basically being a white, short-horned and orange-eyed version makes sense and I've got a soft spot for that one too since he's used in some great fight scenes.

And then of course there is the big fight, which is every bit as good now as it was in 2000. It helps that they use that music again. Zu Gumun Ba swings in and joins the fun. I sort of wish that Kuuga had engaged in more 2-on-1 fights, because given that we're going without henchmen for this series, they're a good way to raise the stakes. Especially so here, where it's only thanks to timely intervention from Ichijô that our main man prevails. I like that moment where everyone just stops and watches Ichijô pass out before resuming with the brawl.

I tend to think this fight was partly inspired by the original Rider comic where Rider 1 takes on Kômori-Otoko and Kumo-Otoko comes back for a rematch, though that's probably just me being a comics fan. Also I don't know if Kuuga stabbing Zu Gooma Gu with a giant cross would have gotten past the TV-Asahi people.

We get our first Rider Kick too, though it's done in such a unique way that you'd be forgiven for not realizing it happened until Gumun begins to go nuclear. It's kind of like a Rider Kick in reverse, where Kuuga boosts himself away from the monster. We'll see a further evolution of it as the series goes on, culminating in that infamous city-destroying kick, but I'll talk about that when we get to it.

And to top it all off, we end with the moment that pretty much single-handedly launched Kamen Rider slash fiction, with Ichijô waking up on Godai's shoulder. This episode really does have something for everyone, I guess.

Next Time: It's 150 miles to Tokyo, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses.

Hit it.

Upcoming Updates

contact@igadevil.com (Paul "Igadevil" Sullivan) — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 20:04:29 PST

I've been working on a ton of stuff lately for the new year, and here's a small taste of what's in the pipeline:

Kamen Rider Kuuga - I'll continue with episode #2 this week, once I get done watching it again for like the third time. If you thought I liked the debut, wait for this. I'm going to attempt to get through all of Kuuga by the spring, and then move onto another Heisei series. Possibly finish Decade or finally get to Double.

Kamen Rider V3 - Yup, I'll be picking up where I left off with #13 to go along with Kuuga (I'd like to be regularly reviewing one old show and one... uh, less-old show all year long.) Get ready for more two-fisted action, suspense and a lot of gushing about how great Junko is!

Kamen Rider episodes #40 & 41 - The classic two-parter that brought back Rider 1, brought in Doctor Shinigami and brought Kamen Rider into its second year! I'm going to jump around with the original series and will likely do some of the earliest episodes come April.

Rider's Legend Restrospective - If you thought Ryuki gave us the first Kamen Rider Trading Card Game, guess again. I'll take a look at the early 2000's game that might not be as famous as Rangers Strike or Ganbaride, but it's probably the only one that allowed you to deploy the acid pool that Yuuki Jôji lost his arm to against that Gorgom-aligned old rich guy from BLACK!

Ishinomori Week - To celebrate the big man's birthday, I'm going to talk about a couple of his other heroes, both on the page and ton TV, and how they relate back to Rider.

Kamen Rider OOO - With all the other stuff going on, I'm not sure if I'll do full episode reviews of this one, but I'd like to still talk about it. I'm behind the rest of the world in that I only got around to watching it lately, but 5 episodes in and I like it a lot. Maybe I'll just go with covering the series in chunks.

Some Super-Duper Secret Projects I Won't Talk About Right Now! - But we should be seeing glimpses of one soon.

That's it for now. Thanks to everybody who's been sending me well-wishes, thank-yous or just following my stuff. It's because of all you guys that I keep on going. The latter half of 2010 was a real bust, but I have hopes for 2011.

***

Top 5 Discontinued Rider Toy Lines

contact@igadevil.com (Paul "Igadevil" Sullivan) — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 19:58:07 PST

Everybody raves about the DX electronic toys, S.H.Figuarts and S.I.C., and if they're like me, they also rave about Digital Grade figures. But every year, a veritable mountain of Rider merchandise gets made, and for every successful, long-lasting line, there's plenty more that get canned after a few sets, if even that many.

Sometimes they just run their logical course; I don't think anybody was really counting on more FFR figures after 2009. Sometimes they just mutate into another line, like how in 2002 Sôchaku-Henshin essentially became R&M, then went back to Sôchaku-Henshin again a few years later (and eventually became Figuarts.) Or the Rider Hero Series and the Hyper Detail figures, which have seen more rebrandings than just about anything. Sometimes, you get a new line that actually finds success and sticks around for a while, or is just a really great on-off idea, and sadly gets axed before its time.

I'm going to mainly focus on the latter category for this list, with my own five favorite Rider toy lines that aren't around any more, though they really ought to be. Plus, some runners-up!

Honorable Mention: Rider Kaijin Series

The standard soft-vinyl versions of the Riders have been around forever, recently going through a rebranding and becoming the Legend Rider Series figures during 2009/most of 2010. The OOO guys have kind of gone off an done their own thing, dropping the Ganbaride card and all, but the major change from RHS (losing the boxes in favor of being sold loose or in bags, like the Ultra Kaiju Series) has stuck.

While nearly every Rider has been made by now, with the baddies it's a different story. Since 2000, there's been a good spread, but after making plenty of Grongi and Orphenochs, a few great classic villains, some Unknown and Undead and a bunch of Mirror Monsters... 2006 basically had squat. Things got a little better after that, but this is still a line that really could use a shot in the arm. Lately it seems to be on Exclusive Life Support. You could get Peacock Undead and Ucaworm, but only if you sent away for them. The upcoming Greeed figures are a good sign though, that at least somebody knows the facts: Rider villain toys do sell.

Honorable Mention: Soul of Sofubi

The super-duper RHS upgrades were going great for a time, though wound up being a victim of collateral damage courtesy of Kamen Rider THE NEXT. No really, do you remember those pricey boxed versions of Rider 1, 2 & V3 (plus 1 & 2 in the style of the first movie.) They were okay, but it was the Lawson-exclusive set that had what everybody really wanted. A nice last gasp, but still the last one. Considering the rate they came out at prior to that, and the selection (Riders! Other Toei Heroes! Uh... more Riders!) We likely won't see any more of these, which is a shame, because there's a Skyrider-shaped gap in my collection. And no BLACK or RX, which I cannot believe.

Honorable Mention: Motion Revive

One of the "Candy Toy" sets that most are probably familiar with, because they rocked. Sadly seemed to have retired though, right before Decade oddly. I mean, if ever there was a time to have a toy line with various Heisei Riders. I'm gonna blame Narutaki for that one. This almost made the top 5, but truth be told since nearly everyone in them has or will eventually be made into a Figuarts, I decided to spotlight some older favorites. So on with the list.

5. Minna No Advent: Kamen Rider (Heisei Rider Edition)

What:
A 10-day advent calendar with Heisei-Rider themed goodies!

When:
2010

Why:
If you grew up in my house, you'd know that the Christmas Countdown Calendars are a big deal. For years my dad would painstakingly design, illustrate and create a new one (eventually using Photoshop which, in those days, resulted in computer-crashingly huge files.) Filled with all sorts of Tokusatsu goodies, as this was in the days before I could do online shopping and getting stuff from Japan was always a big deal. Many a High Grade set came from those calendars. So when Bandai announced that last spring that they were coming out with their own mini-countdown calendar of sorts, I was pumped.

Now, to be fair, this is one line that's still so recent it's hard to conclusively call it "discontinued"... but I'm not getting my hopes up. It's been almost a year with not a peep about any more. The initial wave (Heisei Kamen Rider and classic Gundam) was pretty promising, though clearly it didn't take off. The almost $30 price tag probably wasn't too enticing, and not surprisingly these languished on shelves before being clearanced off (they're about 10 bucks on Amazon.jp currently.) Not to mention that if you're not familiar with the whole concept of advent calendars, it probably just seems weird. You just wanna open the box and get the thing already!

And it's too bad, because really, this was a pretty cool idea. I can only really comment on the Rider calendar (which I bought a couple of when they were cheap) but I like it a ton. Contained within are a key chain, cell phone strap, charm, stickers, tatoo sticker, magnet, pin, and several mini-figures. There's multiple varieties and you never know what you're going to get (well, you do if you've already opened one since the prizes are always in the same place, but the actual kind you get is randomized.)

For the more discerning buyer who wants a billion joints and every accessory possible, it might seem like something to skip. But if you just want some goofy little Rider-themed trinkets, you couldn't do much better. It all comes in a nice, well-designed box and everything can fit back in where it came, so it's economical if nothing else.

Perhaps most frustrating to me is that this is clearly labeled as being the "Heisei Rider Edition" which means that, yup, they were probably planning one for the older guys, that we will now never see. @#$%!

How To Bring It Back:
Either bump up the number of prizes or lower the price. I think that was the real problem with the first bunch. A full-month 30-door set for 30 bucks? Now you're talking.

As for the prizes themselves, I love what we got, but a good way to lure in more buyers would be to have more must-have items. Ganbaride cards, a Gaia Memory, a Core Medal!? Or maybe do a whole calendar of S.H.F. accessory pieces everybody would covet. The possibilities are basically endless.

4. Kamen Rider Battle

What:
A Candy Toy series with miniature Riders and notable advesaries!

When:
2000~2001

Why:
Candy Toys have recently started getting more love, with the Sentai Mecha ones that, with some additional work, can become faithful recreations of the larger, pricier toys. But I'd be willing to bet there's fans out there who were buying stuff back when Kuuga and Agito were new, and even they don't remember these.

The imaginatively-named line is sort of an offshoot of a similar thing that Ultraman had, though to be honest those figures were (initially) better-painted and a bit more high-quality. These are basically cheap, rubbery little versions of Rider 1, 2, V3, Kuuga, and the Agito crew... and they're freaking great.

Only 3 sets were made, but they covered all the basic Kuuga forms (plus a Rider Kickin' Rising Mighty, and Ultimate in the "BURN" pose.) There were a bunch of Grongi, including N Daguba Zeba back in the days when Daguba toys were few and far between. There were the initial Agito forms, G3 & Gills, plus some Unknown (BOTH Turtle guys!) The classic Rider guys have all since been done in bigger sizes, but I'll always say yes to another Ikadevil figure. Heck, toys of the villains are so rare these days, it's kind of amazing to believe these ever existed.

They're small, they're goofy and I can see why they'd get passed over for bigger, plastic-ier lines, but they're every bit as good as the shows they were inspired by.
Plus they weren't blind-boxed, and everybody likes that.

How To Bring It Back:
Bump up the paint and quality a bit, and they could be the next (little) big thing. I wouldn't even mind if they just stuck to this year's guys, cuz I can always use some figures of the Greeed.

3. Medicom RAH220 (Old-style)

What:
Medicom's smaller, cheaper and more "toylike" line of 1/8-scale figures!

When:
Uh... the late 90's-ish

Why:
Technically, this is one of those lines that reinvented itself rather than flat-out ended. After a few years' break, it came back as RAH220 DX, smaller versions of the 1/6 DX figures Medicom started making back around 2000. While those are great (though sadly, they stopped at Stronger it seems) there's a few things their predecessors really had going for them.

One was the price. Especially back then, when the bigger 1/6 figures were commanding what seemed to be astronomical rates, these were a breath of fresh air. A reasonably good smaller-sized Medicom figure for under $40? Yes please.

Next, the selection of characters. Admittedly, if you're not a Rider fan, you got screwed, but this is Medicom we're talking about. They love them Riders, what can I say. But as far as what we did get, it's pretty magnificent.

While they never got beyond Amazon, the old RAH220 line managed to do all 3 main versions of Rider 1, both version of Rider 2, V3, Riderman, X-Rider, Amazon, a bunch of Shocker Combatants, the Destron Combatant, the original 11 Shocker monsters plus Saboteguron and Zanjio, the original 4 Destron Kaijin, post-resurrection Apollo Geist, and the Kumo-Jujin from Amazon. Phew! Plus a bunch of Kikaider guys.

And yes, they're clunky by today's standards, especially when stacked up against their DX successors. Just as the old 1/6 Medicoms often pale to their DX counterparts, these guys look and feel like a bunch of rusty old Pintos next to a gleaming new Jaguar. But there's still the variety to consider. You think Tokageron will ever get another RAH figure again? And the old-style V3 wins out in the accessory department, even including the V3 Hopper! The flying thing, I mean.

The Apollo Geist, the only RAH version of his second incarnation that I know of, is also arguably one of the best RAH figures ever made. This is especially impressive given the old 220's occasional breakage problems. I apparently am the luckiest man alive in that I've yet to have a QC issue with any Medicom figure that wasn't already used/banged up/damaged... with the exception of these. In fairness though, it was only one of the earliest ones, and some later 220's has sturdier stuff in their bodies.

But the old guys have one more trick up their sleeve. While the boxes for the DX versions are okay, with the flat black backgrounds and clean layout, the older versions range from impressive to heartbreakingly beautiful. I'm not kidding.

With art by the always-talented Sugahara Yoshihito, these things were collectors' items on their own. The Riders always had good box art, but it's the baddies who really blew us all away. If you own one, you know what I'm talking about. The Destron box art was my person favorite, with the Tarot-card theme inspired by episode #43. If you're one of those fans who keeps things in the boxes, you might want to track some of these down, because the boxes themselves are practically worth the price of admission. I also like Kumo-Jujin's Incan-motif box, which is loaded with nods to Geddon monsters.

The old RAH220 eventually died off in part because, and I hate to say this, the Hakaider Squad. No really, the pricey 4-figure Toys 'R Us box set sat on shelves for years, and pretty much every time I've gone to Japan I've seen it at some point. Not having a 220 Kikaider 01 probably had something to do with that. While I do love the DX upgrades, this is one of those times when the "inferior" older versions actually have a lot more merit to them than you'd think, and it's worth remembering.

How To Bring It Back:
Give DX a kickstart and gimme my 220 Skyrider already! Bring back the amazing box art for future releases and come out with some of those Kaijin again. I don't care if they're exclusives, I'm game.

2. The Rider Machine

What:
Candy Toy model kits of those things the Riders sometimes use to get places!

When:
1999~2003

Why:
A strong contender for the best Rider Candy Toy series ever. Kicked off in '99, they were basically just small plastic kits of the original Rider bikes with a painted rubbery figure. Rubber pieces for the wheels plus clear parts for the lights, windshields, etc. Snap the pieces together, put some stickers on, and presto. A miniature Rider Machine!

The second set added Kuuga, plus X-Rider, Amazon and Stronger, and that was great as well. But it's with Part 3 where this series really took off. The 3 Agito bikes (plus that crazy Slider mode) might have been a smaller scale than everything that came before, but we didn't mind. They looked great, and that was G3-X on the bike (unlike seemingly every other Guard Chaser toy.) Filling out the set were re-do's of Rider 1 and 2 on the old Cyclone/Cyclone Custom, but with some new twists. Better, whiter plastic (unlike the off-color of the first set.) More paint instead of all the stickers. The figures somehow seemed just a little bit better. I have a lot of Cyclones in my collection, and the The Rider Machine 3 one is among the best.

This level of quality continued with Part 4 & 5, where we got a remake of V3 from the first set. An EX set completed the remakes of the originals with a New Cyclone, plus newer, improved versions of the X-Rider, Amazon and Stronger from Part 2. And then...

Well, 2004 had "The Blade Machine" featuring guys from that series and a similar idea, but it just wasn't the same. The tires were now plastic, the figures all out-of-scale with what had come before. True, that had been the case with some of the earlier ones, but it was usually with good reason (you kind of HAVE to make Jet Sliger a different scale for this to work.) But really, after that, this idea of doing high-quality bike kits kind of faded away.

I can understand why, since these were really only Candy "Toys". They're really small, inexpensive models rather than straight-up toys. They were great for painting up or super-detailing, because the sculpting was all there, and a cheap alternative to those impossible resin cast kits. But for the kid who just wants something they can take out of the box and play with, I can see how it wouldn't sell. And yet, it did, for 5 sets plus a "best-of" kind, making me wonder. Was it perhaps just a timing thing? Around this time we were getting those "Machine Chronicle" Gachapon sets after all.

In my opinion, the motorcycle is one of the most integral parts of Kamen Rider, so take any chance you have to celebrate it. Other heroes happen to drive motorcycles sometimes, but that is part of Rider's DNA. It's a defining aspect. So make all the toys of it you want!

How To Bring It Back:
The old molds are so good, they could just mix a few of them in with some new guys, and maybe market it at a slightly older audience. With the success of those plastic Double models, there's a market for it, I'd say.

Check out the complete line-up here.

1. Rider Kaijin Meikan

What:
A candy toy series with small, fixed-pose figures of Riders & monsters.

When:
2003~2004

Why:
The Meikan (Directory/List) series has been around for years, but it's with the big red guy and his family that it found the most success. There's a whole book about it, no less. By my estimation, every single episode of Ultraman and Ultra Seven has been covered, plus a lot of Ultra Q, Returns, Ace, and beyond.

Comparatively, Rider's had a hard time. While it's true that they do still make Rider Meikan sets (you know that one that had the Shocker Rider scene, the King Dark scene, and the Stronger debuts scene? That was one of 'em) they're much more disorganized than the Ultra ones were. We get a set here or there, but there's no real schedule to them and they tend to be different themes every time. One year it's "bikes", then "famous battles", then "famous scenes, some of which are battles", etc.

Back in '03 though, Bandai attempted to recapture the success of the ongoing Ultra sets with the Rider Kaijin Meikan series. Focusing on the original series, the first set had Rider 1, Rider 2, plus some famous baddies.

If you still don't know what a Meikan is, I'll try to explain. Smaller than a Gachapon figure, but no less detailed, with a display base often showing the monster's name (or episode title) on it. Again, to the articulation 'n accessory-minded buyer, they don't offer much of either. But if you want a kickass little statue that can fit on your desk and will cost you pocket change, they're super. They're also one of the few lines every to pull off both blind-boxing and chase figures because of how they were sold in the cartons. I literally got the chase figure for Part 3 for a few hundred yen, rather than the few thousand the same shop was selling it for loose.

The first Rider Meikan set was great, the next two even better. Alas, they only seemed to do the major players before folding, while Ultraman (and Seven) went the whole 9 yards with "Complete Specials" and "Special Editions". When you've made a toy of Seven's 'Robot Commander' character, you've basically won the race.

Admittedly, you probably have to be an original series fan to really care about this line. But as I am, I do, and I want it back!

How To Bring It Back:
I don't mind that they didn't do every original series guy so much as I just wish they were still doing somebody. V3, X & such would benefit a lot from a line like this since few others will ever do toys of their bad guys, but the Meikan series? I'd bet on it.

With the anniversary year upon us, now's as good a time as ever. I'd even happily take an all-Riders set with newer guys if it meant just kickstarting the line back up again. Igadevil needs his Canary-Cobra figure!

***

He's Back In Business

contact@igadevil.com (Paul "Igadevil" Sullivan) — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 08:00:36 PST

About 2 years ago, I decided that I would rewatch and review 2000's Kamen Rider Kuuga in its entirety, mainly to tie in with Decade and the whole Heisei TV Series Anniversary thing. Of course, this idea got sidetracked for about... well, 2 years. But now, 2 years later, here we are again.

I needed something to review to launch the big 2011 return of igadevil.com, so what better than the show which inadvertently doomed it in the first place? (I'll tell that story another time.) So here it is, 2 years in the making...

Igadevil takes on:

Kamen Rider Kuuga Episode 1: "Revival"
Written By Arakawa Naruhisa
Directed By Ishida Hidenori

Next to the premiere of the original series, this is probably the most important episode of Kamen Rider ever made. That's not hyperbole, by the way. The openers of V3, New Kamen Rider and BLACK come pretty close, but all of them had it easy compared to the feat that this little 23-and-a-half minutes of TV had to pull off.

Certainly it can be argued that there are more important episodes to the overall mythology of the Rider series— Rider 2's debut in the original series is up there, since it not only gave us the first other Rider, but the first "Henshin!". Episodes #40 and 41 of the original series, which I'll be reviewing soon, are rightly famous as the first-ever Rider team-up (and first bout of Rider-on-Rider violence!) And there are a bunch more, many of which are, not surprisingly, in the original series.

And you could say there are better episodes, or even better first episodes. Though for my money, Kuuga's first outing is still one of the best. The rest of the series is another, very mixed story, but as far as the debut goes, it's pretty much perfect. It does everything it needs to do, and then some.

Okay, but why is it important anyway? For that you've got to look at the historical context. If you started watching Kamen Rider any time past 2000, it might seem strange to consider a world where it wasn't on TV. These days, it's a regular institution as Super Sentai has been for ages. In the mid-to-late 90's though, it's a different story.

On the one hand, it's not like the years between BLACK RX and Kuuga were a blasted wasteland where Kamen Rider was all but forgotten except for being remembered as the show with the silly little bugmen crashing bikes into each other. It really didn't go through the "wilderness years" that some franchises experience.

It was still ever-present in the public mindset, though like the Ultras basically are now, it was playing second-fiddle to the big guys on TV, only coming out with the occasional movie or video. Even if you put aside the 90's Triumvirate of Shin, ZO and J, the decade or so between Rider TV series was still plentiful on that most important of scales: merchandising!

Again, much like the Ultra franchise during its breaks, Kamen Rider kept coming out with stuff even when there was no new, regular show on TV, and remained a constant fixture in the kiddie magazines. Comics played a bigger role than ever here, and you could write pages on the significance of the SD Riders project alone (something I'll do later this year.)

1998 was a benchmark; even with the passing of Ishinomori, it was here that the gears that would become Kuuga began grinding, and the original series Playstation game, crude as it may seem now, was essential in getting people really, seriously thinking about Rider again. Heck, at one early point it practically was going to be an all-new Rider story itself! 1999 saw the revival of the Calbee Cards that were Kamen Rider's lifeblood in the beginning, adding fuel to the nostalgic fire. And then came the new millennium...

In other words, Kamen Rider never really went away, it just took a coffee break. When Kuuga debuted, everybody was primed and ready, but you still had a generation of kids who'd never known Kamen Rider beyond the printed page or dad's pricey Laser Discs.

Sure there were repeats (although by then, mostly on cable/satellite/web/whatever) but there's just something unique about seeing new, never-before-seen Kamen Rider for the first time on TV. After years off the air, could Kamen Rider come back and make it big once more? Could it win over those kids with a Rider to call their own?

What I'm getting at is, had Kuuga stumbled, we might not be watching OOO these days. There are a couple pivotal moments in the history of Kamen Rider, at least in real-world terms, and this was one of them. There was a lot riding on this one to ensure that it wasn't just going to be a one-off, but the big return to TV that Kamen Rider deserved.

So it's probably a good thing that this episode is very good. No, make that great. Prior to writing this I actually went ahead and watched the next three episodes, and I think they all hold up really well. I'll get into this more in future episodes, but I kinda prefer how Kuuga started to how it eventually turned out. There's a simplicity that comes with not knowing what the hell's going on during these early episodes that I really like. We're right there alongside the heroes.

Also, if for some reason you have not watched this over-10-year-old-show yet (which has been subtitled now IIRC) you may want to stop here since there's spoilers out the wazoo from here on.

But let's stick to just the first episode. The pre-credits scene is still one of the best ever because we never really get all the details there. Godai has the occasional flash of ancient Kuuga, but otherwise, we never do quite get the whole story. How the heck did all those Grongi survive to be revived in the present (well, 2000) day? Seeing as how Kuuga appears to use his original forms and weapons, and we all know what those tend to do. Where is that big fighting taking place anyway? There's a lot left to interpretation.

Does Kuuga only temporarily beat all the Grongi, then let himself be stuck in the sarcophagus to keep them sealed away, because that's how it's supposed to work? Was he in danger of becoming THAT THING which we'll be getting to much later in the series? And who's hand is that!? I love it.

The actual opening credits are great. I prefer the early-series version to the slightly artsier variations to come. Yeah they probably look better, but there's something special about the early music video-ish cut-and-paste look to these. I like the not-in-the-show fight sequence, which goes all the way back to the days of Rider 1 and 2. And then there's the song, which is still probably my favorite opening to come along since Kamen Rider returned to the airwaves. It's an insta-classic.

Oh, and how weird is it to see the credits continue onto the show? I had forgotten about that. I don't think it's been done since aside from special occasions, first episodes and that one of Decade with the abbreviated opening, etc. Much like how the show tells us locations and times (so weird!) it's Kuuga doing things just a little differently than everybody else.

I might as well address the elephant in the room that is Odagiri Jô. By this point, just about every bit of rumor, speculation, fan theory, out-of-context quote and fact (or not) about Odagiri's opinion of Kuuga/Kamen Rider/Tokusatsu in general has been discussed a hundred times over on a hundred internet forums (well okay, maybe like a dozen and most of them Japanese. But still.) At this point, I really have nothing to add, mainly because I really just don't know!

All I can say is that I do have the Terebikun Kuuga book where he mentions hesitation before auditioning, because he didn't think he had the same kind of physical prowess as guys like Fujioka, but after hearing from the staff about the kind of character Godai would be, he was convinced and signed on. And I gotta say, the staff must have told him a pretty good story, because in episode 1, Godai gets his ass kicked! You can almost see Odagiri thinking "What have I done?" as Zu Gumun Ba slams him into that fence.

But we really have to just put all that aside and focus on Odagiri as he was in the series. And there, he's good, oftentimes great. I'm inclined to give the writing as much credit for making Godai work so well. Some actors can work wonders even when the script fails them; others are more tied into the material. If it's good, they soar. If it isn't, they can only really go through the motions.

I think Odagiri falls more into the latter group, because of some later episodes where he's lost as the story around him obsesses on poorly-acted bullying and family draaaaaaaaaama rather than fighting bad guys and making people smile. Luckily, Kuuga's generally written well enough that he still looks interested in what's going on around him. He makes you believe in Godai, to put it one way.

I'll say this: Godai has one of the best introductions of any main hero in a Rider show, ever. It perfectly encapsulates what he's about: protecting the smiles. It introduces his two big trademarks: the thumbs up, and the juggling. The latter is more representative of his quest to become a jack-of-all-trades sorta thing, but as a character trait in itself I like it.

Ideally, we instantly like and trust the guy as soon as the scene ends. It works for the series. Good-natured, likable heroes up against seriously bad bad guys. It's one of those things that basically never fails. Oh, and Godai's one of the few Riders that we actually know the birthdays to. And his blood type!

There are two other major characters introduced in this episode. Sakurako is great, of course, and crucial to our understanding of the show as things go on. I think she's the sort of character you can't really comment on much until the show's over, because her contribution on an episode-by-episode basis appears to be "sits in front of a computer, explains plot." But viewed in whole, she's really Godai's main source of moral support, and this is a show where the main character pretty much has everybody who isn't evil as his moral support eventually.

And then there's Ichijô. I @#$%ing love Ichijô. He is literally like Taki: The Next Generation. I think his series-defining moments come in the next 3 episodes, but he's already showing signs of greatness here. I don't think there's really been a character quite like him since. Hikawa's an obvious suggestion, but I think he's far more representative of what characters like Ichijô have become: the other guy sidekick... who becomes a Rider. Same deal with Kagami. Onodera is sort of like the ultimate version of this trope: he's already a Rider, and Kuuga, no less! Maaaaybe Momotaros and Ankh, but they're really different beasts altogether.

He's also one of Rider's best cops. Ozawa and Hikawa are up there of course, and everybody knows I love Scissors even if he isn't exactly a "good" cop. After Faiz though, things just seemed to go downhill (especially *in* Faiz, where the police were either faceless antagonists or barely able to tie their own shoes.) And don't get me started on Double's. I grew to like the backscratcher guy kinda, but his sidekick was godawful. Terui's cool, but he's so outside-the-box it's amazing he didn't get suspended. And once again, I'd have trouble considering Ankh to be a cop, even if he happens to wear one now and then.

But back to Ichijô. He immediately forms a great comedic relationship with Godai. I hate to keep harping on this, but once again this is where I kinda like early-Kuuga over what's to come: once Godai and Ichijô get all buddy-buddy, things cool down a bit. It's in keeping with the theme of the series (where there are very few truly "bad" humans and people generally get along, unlike most of what would follow Kuuga.) But I do miss that prickly relationship they have early on, with Ichijô downright thinking our hero is out of his gourd half the time. Their initial meeting is one of the best bits of comedy in the series.

The music rocks, with a soundtrack that ranks highly in my book. The theme played during the helicopter battle is basically the unmatched-throughout-the-series Kuuga action theme, and it makes me a sad puppy that Decade never made use of it (though I can understand why.) Though I am a little miffed that some of the tracks are missing from the BGM CDs. And unlike the stock music used in other Rider series, these are original pieces! I'm especially thinking of the heroic-sounding Kuuga theme from the very end of the episode. Unless I missed it, it's not on either soundtrack CD. What gives?

Speaking of music, I'm gonna hold off on talking about the "special edition" movie versions of episodes 1 & 2 for now, but those had a couple of sound effect and music changes to better match with the latter half of the show. Honestly, I prefer the original broadcast version, with the non-screechy Grongi music and Daguba's creepy deep voice (the movie did have the real Daguba kid from the end of the show, but it just ain't the same.)

And speaking of Daguba, let's do that now.

I love shadowy early-series afro Daguba. The pointy white anti-Kuuga guy he turns into might be more visually striking, but once again, there's something about this early version that clicks with me. Like the Great Leader before him, he's purposefully kept hidden from the audience, mostly. We know of him, but we don't really get to know him until the end. In the time between then, it's up to the viewers to imagine why he's the king badass. We're given the occasional scrap of info, but it really is one of the biggest (and best) plot threads of the series: just who is Daguba, and where is he now?

The show does a great job of building him up as a serious threat, with him single-handedly slaughtering a whole research team and resurrecting a ton of evil guys like he does it every day. In retrospect I kinda wonder why he doesn't destroy the belt when he has the chance, but I can buy that it's either 1) indestructible in that state 2) important to the bigger game or 3) Daguba doesn't feel the need to bother. Or 4) it would end the show real quick!

Maybe a combination of the above, though I have to wonder if at this point, they really knew what Daguba's final form would turn out to be. I could swear that some book out there has what the early Daguba's face actually looked like, because I know for sure I've seen it, and it's very different from the final reveal. Then again, if you own the Kuuga Collector's Box like I do, and you've looked at the production art, you know that early on, there were a lot of ideas as to how Daguba would end up looking. Some of which wound up inspiring his lupine counterpart in Decade.

The Grongi: There's a lot more to say about them in future episodes, but we do get a lot of the basics in this one. One of the most distinct things about them is their origin, being an ancient race and all. I partly attribute that to the general trend in some mid/late 90's Tokusatsu to have ancient civilizations/races (Ultraman Tiga, the Gamera trilogy) in the same way that I think Agito has the culmination of the Tokusatsu Psychic (90's Godzilla and Gamera know all about those.) But as we'll eventually learn, there's a twist coming up that puts them closer to the old Shocker & such Kaijin than you'd think at first.

I love the idea behind their language. It's dealbreaker for some fans, but me, I always loved watching the Grongi stand around jabbering away having no clue what was going on. That might come from watching raw Japanese shows even back in the days when my Japanese was, shall we say, suspect.

But it also again ties back to the older shows, particularly the original. One of the coolest and most subtle touches of Shocker (and others) was that they had their own writing system. They don't really dwell upon it in the shows, though I'd bet a cookie that Hirayama has written about it in a book somewhere. It's a logical idea for a secret organization to have their own secret code, and it's a logical idea for another civilization to have their own language.

I also appreciate that it actually has basis in Japanese and if you really really want to, you can make sense of it. The Undead had their own language, though I think it really was meant to be indecipherable jargon, and really played a much smaller role in the big picture. The Grongi's language is part of their whole characterization though, and something to keep an eye (or ear) on as we progress.

This episode's star monster, Zu Gumun Ba (or Xu, depending on who you ask) is awesome. If you're going to bring Kamen Rider back after a rest, of course you roll out the Spider guy early on, if not first. I'd have to say that Gumun is probably the truest successor to the original Kumo-Otoko, moreso than THE FIRST's Spider. Namely, he looks and feels like a literal human/arachnid hybrid, rather than an S&M club escapee.

The giant spider web is a classic moment, one of those visuals that you don't forget easily. While Ryuki and Hibiki would take things a step further size-wise, I think Kuuga's got the scariest spider-monster since the original.

Scary of course, because the show takes him deadly seriously as he rampages through downtown Nagano! The body count in this series often borders on ridiculous. I mentioned back in my Kuuga World review for Decade how this series is not one I'd want to be a resident of. It was really kind of eye-opening to watch the first few episodes of OOO, then go back to this.

While I love that show, I got to admit that it feels a lot more 'Sunday morning' than this, even in its own opening day massacre. There, it's all a bit more artful, contrasting the song "Happy Birthday" with the Greeeds kicking ass. It's more about the whole picture than just the violence. Here, it's the opposite. Wanton death and destruction, and it revels in its own brutality. Kuuga had a good way of making you root for Kuuga even if he does at time seem to engage in overkill (see: the Rising Forms) because the bad guys are so bad, nobody else can stop them.

Although he has a heckuva job cut out for him. I'll wait to talk about what I think of Kuuga's design(s) next episode, but it was brave of them to open up with our hero in his weakest state. After all the pre-publicity ads and photos showing Mighty Form, episode 1 has Kuuga spend the duration as the barely-better-than-human Growing Form, aside from that flashback pre-credits scene. Growing lives up to the name, being pretty much a Godai who can at least stand toe-to-toe with Gumun, whereas everybody else gets killed almost immediately. But he's still so much less than he will soon be.

I must mention the Henshin, which blew us all away in 2000 by being unlike anything else up to that point, at least in Kamen Rider. Although he gradually shifts towards something more conventional, early on it's that piece-by-piece thing that really sells the idea that it is Godai under that armor. It's a cool idea and in a weird way kinda reminds me of the original, original Rider transformation where he'd have the suit, but not the mask, while driving really fast on the bike.

I've always loved the big fight in this one. It too is sort of unlike anything else, in the same sort of way as the fight in the premiere episode of Hibiki (much-maligned as that is, I like its almost balletic feel.) It pulls off the unique trick of clearly putting Kuuga at a disadvantage, and yet he's still throwing his all into it.

He doesn't win the fight so much as simply survive it, but it still comes across as heroic. I like that they do try to stress the fact that these guys are super-powerful, pushing trucks and destroying concrete walls. Every once in a while Kamen Rider does that, and I think it's important, because if I were writing a Rider series, (s)he would be breaking stuff all the time in the fights.

And then there's the helicopter. I need to talk about this one for a bit. Even in 2000, the CGI looked rather hokey. For the movie version, they did tinker with this effect as I recall, as it was something everybody would often pick on.

But you know... maybe I've just turned into a bitter old bastard, or lost the true meaning of ~~Christmas~~ Tokusatsu or something, but... I don't really care. Special effects aren't why I watch Kamen Rider, which is why I adore every oddly-proportioned doll, weird superimposition shot or CGI blob of evil that comes along. The chopper looks fine to me.

Yes it's obviously a CG model, but they intermix it with the real one enough that I know they still went the distance. The only time bad effects really bug me is when it's something I know they could have done better practically that they did with CGI or greenscreen and it looks worse for it (i.e. a Rider Kick. Guys jumping off of trampolines always look the best, IMHO.)

Under modern scrutiny, a lot of Kuuga's effects aren't that great, but they said the same thing in 2000 about older shows' effects. And guess what? In 2025 they'll be talking about how cheap and cheesy Double or OOO look, if they aren't already. But screw those future guys with their hoverboards and Neuro-Vision 3000™; Kamen Rider's about more than that. In the end, I admire the imagination. And there's a lot of that in a fight scene where two guys slug it out on a police helicopter over Nagano.

Besides, how cool is that fight? It's true edge-of-the-seat stuff and one of the best fights in the series. I know I keep going back to this, but as my dad said, the first four episodes really are 5-star stuff. It's really some of the closest Heisei Kamen Rider has ever come to keeping the pacing and sensibility of the older shows, just in the 21st Century. It's as good an opening as we could have asked for to herald the return of Kamen Rider to the airwaves.

And hey— an ending credits sequence! Virtually unheard of these days, and weird even by Rider standards (of 2000) as it featured no fighting nor even the hero slowly walking towards the camera. I like how it makes for an effective cool-down after the intensity of the show itself.

I could go on about this episode forever. It really is every bit as spectacular as it was the first time, and I could probably watch it a couple more before going mad and raising my own army of ancient guys. Other episodes of Kuuga, well, I think I'll probably go against popular opinion on those, but right here, right now, it's perfection.

And that's a great last scene.

Next Time: If I make a Top 10 episodes list, this just might be #1.

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