Kamen Rider Series

The Kamen Rider Series (仮面ライダーシリーズ, Kamen Raidā Shirīzu?, translated as Masked Rider Series) is a metaseries of Japanese tokusatsu which generally features an insect-themed motorcycle-riding superhero who fights supervillains referred to as kaijin (怪人?). The franchise began in 1971 with a show titled Kamen Rider which followed college student Takeshi Hongo and his quest to defeat the world-conquering Shocker organization. Over the years, the popularity of the franchise has grown and the original series has spawned many television and theatrical sequels. The cultural impact of the series in Japan resulted in astronomer Akimasa Nakamura naming two minor planets in honor of the series: 12408 Fujioka, after actor Hiroshi Fujioka, known for his portrayal of Takeshi Hongo/Kamen Rider 1, and 12796 Kamenrider, after the series, itself.

History

Shōwa era

Produced by Toru Hirayama (平山 亨, Hirayama Tōru?) and designed by Shotaro Ishinomori, creator of Cyborg 009, Kamen Rider premiered on April 3, 1971. Initially intended to be an adaptation of his Skull Man, Ishinomori and Hirayama redesigned the main character to resemble a grasshopper, supposedly chosen by his son. The hero Takeshi Hongo, portrayed by actor and stuntman Hiroshi Fujioka, was described as a transformed human (改造人間, kaizō ningen?), or cyborg. During the filming of episode 10, Fujioka was thrown off his motorcycle during the filming of a stunt and shattered both of his legs. His character would be phased out until the introduction of another transformed human in episode 13, Hayato Ichimonji as portrayed by Takeshi Sasaki, was introduced. The return of Fujioka and his character Hongo in episode 53 united the two actors and characters, as both Kamen Riders 1 and 2 would go on to appear in every show in the first half of the Shōwa Kamen Rider Series. The continuous run from April 1971 to January 1976 (Kamen Rider, V3, X, Amazon, Stronger) distinguished itself by featuring the recurrent mentor character, Tobei Tachibana.

After a four year hiatus following the finale of Kamen Rider Stronger, the series returned to television broadcast in October 1979 for two years with The New Kamen Rider (featuring Skyrider) and Kamen Rider Super-1. In these new shows, the role of Tachibana was replaced by a similar character named Genjiro Tani (谷 源次郎, Tani Genjirō?). The broadcast of yearly new shows ended briefly in the 1980s, punctuated by the airing of the Kamen Rider ZX special, Birth of the 10th! Kamen Riders All Together!! in 1984 which became the last project in the franchise to be produced by Hirayama.

In 1987, Kamen Rider Black premiered and was the first series that neither indicated nor hinted at any relationship with its predecessors. Black was also the first show in the franchise to feature a direct sequel, Kamen Rider Black RX, the basis of Saban's Americanized Masked Rider. RX's finale showed the ten previous Riders return to help Black RX defeat the Crisis Empire. Kamen Rider Black RX was the final show to be produced during the Shōwa era, its broadcast spanning from the Shōwa era and into the beginning of the Heisei era. The manga Kamen Rider Black acted as a novelization and reimagination of the Black/RX series' continuity.

Heisei era

Being completely absent from television during the 1990s, the franchise was kept alive mainly by stage shows, musical CDs, and the Shin, ZO, and J movies, though many fans classify the movies as part of the Showa series as they treat Ishinomori's passing the pinnacle of the Showa era. Toei announced its new project, Kamen Rider Kuuga, in May 1999. Kuuga was part of a Kamen Rider rebirth that Ishinomori had worked on in 1997, planning for a leadup into the 30th anniversary. However, Ishinomori died before he could see these shows materialize. During the summer of 1999, Kuuga became publicized through magazine ads and commercials. On January 30, 2000, Kamen Rider Kuuga premiered, introducing rookie actor Joe Odagiri. Kuuga was followed by the anniversary series, Kamen Rider Agito, which began several trends throughout the Heisei Series: multiple Kamen Riders (Agito featured 4: Agito, Gills, G3, and Another Agito); the ending theme playing during the climactic scene instead of the end credits (this would be briefly broken in Hibiki with Akira Fuse's songs); and the relationship to Honda for the Kamen Riders' motorcycles and other motor vehicles. Following Agito, Kamen Rider Ryuki began the relationship with the record label Avex Group and its artists to perform theme songs for the series, such as ISSA of DA PUMP for 555, Nanase Aikawa for Blade, YU-KI of TRF for Kabuto, and AAA for Den-O, as well as the introduction of the group RIDER CHIPS, deemed the official band of Kamen Rider.

In 2005, Kamen Rider The First was produced. Written by Toshiki Inoue, the film is an original reimagining of both the manga and original television series. Various characters from the original series had their storylines altered to fit the time span of the movie. Masaya Kikawada portrays Takeshi Hongo/Kamen Rider 1 and Hassei Takano (previously Miyuki Tezuka/Kamen Rider Raia in Kamen Rider Ryuki) as Hayato Ichimonji/Kamen Rider 2. This was followed in 2007 by Kamen Rider The Next, an adaptation of Kamen Rider V3, starring Kazuki Kato (previously Daisuke Kazama/Kamen Rider Drake in Kamen Rider Kabuto) as Shiro Kazami/Kamen Rider V3 with Kikawada and Takano reprising their roles.

The year 2007 brought Kamen Rider Den-O, the eighth series, taking a turn from past Kamen Rider series, introducing a Kamen Rider that is completely unsure of himself. The series makes use of a large vehicle, the Den-Liner; a bullet train that can travel through time. This series only had two Riders, Den-O and Zeronos, but they had multiple forms that they could switch between, similar to Black RX, Kuuga, and Agito. Due to the large popularity of Den-O, a second theatrical production, crossing over with the 2008 series Kamen Rider Kiva, was released in theaters April 12, 2008, becoming the top film in its opening weekend and grossing 730 million yen. In addition, Animate produced an OVA titled Imagin Anime that features SD versions of the Imagin that are contracted to Den-O and Zeronos that have been featured in the company's other Den-O products. Finally, a third movie, called Saraba Kamen Rider Den-O: Final Countdown with two more new Riders serves as an epilogue to the series. The third original film was the first for any series. Takeru Satoh claims that this is because of the series' comedy.

The 2009 series Kamen Rider Decade serves as an anniversary series being the 10th of the Heisei run. To commemorate this milestone, Japanese recording artist Gackt was brought onto the project to perform the series' opening theme "Journey through the Decade", and later the film's theme song "The Next Decade". Gackt also jokingly expressed interest in portraying a villain in the show. Also announced in 2009 was a fourth film for Den-O, later revealed to be the beginning of the Cho-Den-O Series of films, starting with the film Cho Kamen Rider Den-O & Decade Neo Generations: The Onigashima Warship. In the March 2009 issue of Kindai magazine, Decade's lead actor Masahiro Inoue stated that Decade was only slated to run for 30 episodes.

Advertisements throughout the months of May, June, and July 2009 built up to the debut of Kamen Rider Double, who first appeared at the 10th Anniversary Project MASKED RIDER LIVE & SHOW event, and was featured in Kamen Rider Decade: All Riders vs. Dai-Shocker. Double is the first Kamen Rider to transform from two people at once. The series premiered on September 6, 2009. Continuing into 2010 with Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Double & Decade: Movie War 2010, Double will run for a full year from September to September, instead of January to January. Also in 2010 is the second, third, and fourth films of the Cho-Den-O Series, collectively known as Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider The Movie: Cho-Den-O Trilogy. Late 2010 brought the series Kamen Rider OOO to television after W's finale, and the year 2011 will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the franchise. The festivities include the Kamen Rider Girls idol group and the film OOO, Den-O, All Riders: Let's Go Kamen Rider, set for release on April 1, 2011.