Kamen Rider is by far my favorite tokusatsu series ever. I love it so much that I NEEDED to do something to celebrate Kamen Rider Decade, so I decided I’m going to write a four part mini history of the Kamen Rider TV Series to share with all my friends at HJU! Let’s get ready to take a trip down memory lane.
Kamen Rider
An evil terrorist organization named Shocker is plotting world domination. In order to build an army, they kidnap people, turn them into mutant cyborgs and brainwash them to do Shocker’s bidding. Unfortunately for them, Takeshi Hongo is rescued right before the brainwashing. He then assumes the identity of the grasshopper cyborg super hero Kamen Rider. In retaliation, Shocker captures freelance photographer Hayato Ichimonji and attempt to turn him into cyborg and brainwash him. But just in the nick of time, Kamen Rider appears and saves him before the brainwashing. They then become known as Kamen Rider 1 (Kamen Rider Ichi-Go) and Kamen Rider 2 (Kamen Rider Ni-Go).
The original Kamen Rider aired April 3, 1971 and ran until February 10, 1973 on the Mainichi Broadcasting System and NET TV (TV Asahi).
Kamen Rider V3
When Shiro Kazami witnesses a murder of a man, he becomes the target of an evil organization called Destron. He saves a girl who has also been targeted by Destron because she found the location of their secret base. The girl, named Junko Tama, is taken to Kazami’s home after she faints. However, Destron finds Kazami’s home and kill his mother, father and little sister. When Kazami returns home he finds not only his dead family, but a Destron agent out to kill him. He is rescued by his chemistry teacher, Takeshi Hongo, when he transforms into Kamen Rider 1. Shortly afterwards, Kamen Rider 2 shows up to help Kamen Rider 1. Filled with feelings of anger and revenge, Kazami begs the riders to turn him into a cyborg as well. The refuse telling him that it’s a hard life living as a Rider.
The Riders enter Destron’s base but become trapped. Kazami locates the base and rescues them, however mortally wounding himself in the process. The Riders decide that the only way to save his life is to turn him into a cyborg. Thus, Kamen Rider V3 is born. Read the rest of this entry »
X-FORCE #11
After Warpath’s shocking discovery last issue, now it can be told… the origin and history of the mysterious man who betrayed the Purifiers, killed a Technarch, and plans a dark future for X-Force and all of mutantkind. Welcome to first century ROME, and meet the man named Eliphas and his Black Queen…the woman the X-Men know as SELENE.
FINAL CRISIS #7
The dramatic finale to the epic, seven-part saga of the DC multiverse concludes with an apocalyptic battle for the soul of humanity that must be seen to be believed! Can the heroes of 52 Earths save the multiverse? And is the only way to save it, to change it forever? Read the rest of this entry »
Brave Seijin, the alien law enforcement officer entrusted En, Kai, Shin, Yoku and Ryu with defending Earth as Brave Command Dagwon. There’s only one problem: En’s the only one who’s got the drive to do anything about it. Getting no support from the other guys, he goes off on his own to investigate a UFO incident and ends up running right into a plot engineered by the alien Zagoss Seijin to turn the city into a floating fortess!
And it looks like the Tokusatsu streak of weenies has been broken with the new Rider… DECADE! Here we have his first henshin and the hero in action for the first time. As far as I can tell it looks like he can call upon the suits of the Hesei era Riders, which is nice cuz Decade’s is about the most butt ugly tokusatsu suit I have ever beheld. Anyway, enjoy and enjoy seeing the toy in action. Looks good, but I’ll stick with my IXA Buckle for now.
Kamen Rider Dragon Knight adds another hottie to its already formidable cast of beautiful women. THE…. Kathy Christopherson that we all know of Guyver 2 fame plays the rival journalist in Maya’s side, Michelle Walsh.
After this, we’ll all be on the same page and next week I start getting to see new episodes along with the rest of you. Let’s Ride!
Natsuki, daughter of the owner of an anachronic, old fashioned photo gallery, has woken up after dreaming that again.
In a strange wasteland, focused on one point, the riders Kuuga, Ryuki, Blade and Hibiki attack. However, on the other side another rider unleashes a far stronger counterattack. Natsuki, full of fear, can only whimper a single word: “Decade…”
Why does she always cry when dreaming this?
Then, a client has come again complaining about a weird photo someone took. It must have been Tsukasa again. This is enough. Natsuki, quite annoyed, tells her grandfather Eijiro: “He’s gonna hear about this!” and storms out in search of Tsukasa.
Tsukasa, meanwhile, was being cornered by some shady guys who were complaining about something. Apparently he’s taken another weird photo. Tsukasa, far from being startled, locks the finder on one of the men and notices something strange.
“Decade… Your world will end today”
What do these strange words Tsukasa heard mean?
So another year has gone by and every year I try to write a detailed review to share with you all. For more reviews and other Tokusatsu related stuff stop by at OSSIA: www.adrienzo.wordpress.com
2008 began as an exciting year for a lot of Rider fans. After a three year slump the news of an incredibly designed Vampire Rider being the star of a series penned by one the greatest Tokusatsu writer, Inoue Toshiki, had me anticipating from day one. Inoue, for the uninformed wrote three of my favorite shows, Kamen Rider Agito, Kamen Rider Faiz and Chojin Sentai Jetman. Although he has been criticized recently for his medicore works such as Kamen Rider THE FIRST and THE NEXT in addition to writing dozens of wacky episodes for Blade and Kabuto, I always defended him. Inoue always shine when he is given a series to write on his own. He’s also the few writers who manages to write almost all the episodes in a series.
Being the 9th installment in the Heisei Kamen Rider era, I am finding it increasingly hard to compare and rank each series. Although during the series run I was considering placing Kiva as my second favorite Heisei Kamen Rider series after Agito but after the ending and a deep look back, I believe I cannot rank shows anymore. Kiva has some pros and cons; some parts of the show are extremely well done while some do drag the series down. This is perhaps my greatest problem with Kiva, the things it does well in, it manages to excel at but the little flaws are also full blown and has affected my enjoyment of the show.
DARK AVENGERS #1
THE DARK REIGN IS HERE!
The start of an explosive new era in the Avengers mythos! Who are the Dark Avengers? Who is the Iron Patriot? The answers will shock you! Brought to you by Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Deodato Jr.
GREEN LANTERN #37
The prelude to “The Blackest Night” marches on with “Rage of the Red Lanterns” part 3! Hal Jordan continues his journey into the deepest depths of Ysmault, unlocking the strange secrets behind Atrocitus’s crimson power and witnessing a bizarre prophecy all his own. Read the rest of this entry »
Jack stood there holding his ribs as the remains of the rabbit slowly burned out. The armor had taken brunt of it and he could breathe with no problem, still it hurt like hell. Maybe a trip to see Freidman wouldn’t hurt. Rachel spoke, “Hey,” and she tossed the staff to him. “You need a little practice with that thing.”
“You think,” Jack hit the end of the staff on top of the belt. In moments he was back in his street clothes. “Almost lost to a rabbit. I’m never going to live that down,” he muttered to himself, Rachel heard it anyway.
“You’re upset because she turned into a rabbit?”, Rachel empathized the word she.
“Hey if she turned into a bull, an elephant, a spider or a cobra I wouldn’t have a problem. It’s just the thought of having my butt kicked by a rabbit.” He turned back to the remains, “But I do feel kinda bad about this one though.”
“Why?”
“Her human form was hot.”
Rachel looked like she was going to say something. Instead she turned around and walked out of the alley, but she did say, “You’re taking this seriously all right?”
“I am taking this seriously,” he told her. “Do you have any idea how many Bug Bunny jokes came to mind when I saw her change? I kept those to myself.” He hurried up after her. Maybe he should have told her the other reason this bothered him instead of that thing. No point in saying it now, she wouldn’t believe it now if he did tell her.
