Greetings and salutations, my tokusatsu fans! With three movies down, and with just one more to go, Hideaki Anno’s Shin Japan Heroes Universe is coming to a close with Shin Kamen Rider. While the movie has been out in Japanese cinemas for over a few months now, we here in Malaysia and the rest of the world are finally able watch the conclusion on the big screen this July. So, before you watch the movie, here are somethings you should know about the franchise and Shin Kamen Rider.
The Kamen Rider franchise has been around in Japan for over 50-years at this point and has become apart of the many Japanese spandex wearing heroes; the like of which include Ultraman, Super Sentai, Metal Heroes, yes Godzilla (probably). The creation of Shotaro Ishinomori, a manga artis with works that include Flying Phantom Ship, Sarutobi Ecchan, the popular Cyborg 009, and the antihero Skull Man. It was Ishinomori’s love for cyborgs and antiheroes which led to creation of Kamen Rider. The first Kamen Rider series simply titled “Kamen Rider” sees our protagonist Takeshi Hongo, was experimented on by the evil terrorist organization, Shocker, as part of a mutant-cyborg army. Fortunately, before the process can be completed, Takeshi managed to escape and now wages a one-man war against the organization as the grasshopper-themed cyborg hero, Kamen Rider.
The series proved to a hit with audiences, especially to kids -even if the level of violence wouldn’t fly with today’s audience- it spawned many follow up shows over the years with subsequent Kamen Riders having their own monikers to differentiate themselves. Many of the recurring Rider tropes have been carried over the years such as the theme motif, transformation device, power granted from technology or magic, an evil organization or entity, and the ride machines (the bikes or car).
Despite all the success, the franchise’s popularity began wane by the late 80s and throughout the 90s, with Kamen Rider Black RX being the last full-length series which ran from 1988 to 1989. Then there’s the occasional movies, tv specials, drama CDs in the 90s keeping the franchise on life support- its safe to say the Kamen Rider brand was all but dead at that point. But all that is about to change with the Heisei era.
The Heisei era marked the revival period of the Kamen Rider franchise with the announce of a new Rider series in a decade, that series being Kamen Rider Kuuga set to released the following year. On January 30th, 2000, Kamen Rider Kuuga hit the television screens as series protagonist Yusuke Godai (Joe Odagiri) takes on the role of the titular hero. Just like the first Kamen Rider, Kuuga kept the Rider traditions of the Henshin device, ride machine, insect motif, the Rider Kick. The revival shoe proved to be very popular with audiences, and it too, spawned many follow up series to this day- with the latest being Kamen Rider Geats into the Reiwa era.
Unlike the Showa era series, its successors, the Heise era shows strayed away from the episodic approach to storytelling and focused on a more overarching plot throughout the series. it still had the same monster of the week format but was strengthen by its writers coming from Japanese Drama backgrounds- think of Jetman from Super Sentai. This meant story and plot was given more significance, albeit simplified for younger viewers and the stories were considerably darker than its Showa predecessor.
Another notable departure of the Heisei era Riders is they often seen at odds or fighting one another than harmoniously working together (at the start) This can be first seen in Kamen Rider Agito, but is better exemplified in Kamen Rider Ryuki with a total 13 Riders duking it out in a battle royale. Additionally, the return of dark/evil Kamen Riders like Shadow Moon from Black has given them much more depth to their characters helped to create drama and improve toy sales.
Now, as for Shin Kamen Rider, as mentioned before, this is the final movie in Hideaki Anno’s Shin Japan Heroes which began all the way back in 2016 that comprises of Evangelion, Godzilla, and Ultraman. Just like Shin Ultraman was meant to be an anniversary movie, Shin Kamen Rider too was to celebrate the franchises’ 50th anniversary but was delayed due to the pandemic- regardless, the movie is hero now, and we can finally watch it.
Once again, Hideaki Anno takes on the task of director and penning the script for the movie, a modern, mature and darker retelling the of the classic 70s Kamen Rider show. As for the cast, actors Sosuke Ikematsu and Tasuku Emoto will be portraying Takeshi Hongo and Hayato Ichimonji respectively, as Kamen Rider Ichigo and Nigo. As for the role Ruriko Midorikawa, daughter of Dr. Hiroshi Midorikawa and Ichigo’s companion goes to actress Minami Hamabe.
The story of the film goes as follows: College student and motorcycle enthusiast Takeshi Hongo is abducted by the evil organization Sustainable Happiness Organization with Computational Knowledge Embedded Remodeling, otherwise known as “Shocker”, and converted into Batta Augment-01 as part of their plans for world domination. Before they can brainwash him to do their bidding, he escapes and uses his new enhanced abilities, renaming himself Kamen Rider, to wage a one-man war against Shocker.
Now, if you’re really interested in watching this movie, get your tickets here on the official TGV website, with the earliest screening being on the 5th on July. If you’re on the lucky few who managed to get yourselves tickets to the Fan Screening Event on the 6th of July, do enjoy yourselves. If for some reason you’ve missed out on these dates, do not fret, you can head down south to Singapore to catch another fan screening on the 8th, and 20th for the regular screening. And if you still missed out on all those, do not fret, for this movie will be made available for streaming on Amazon Prime later this month. Well everyone, see you at the movies.
Di sini, saya akan senarai tajuk anime terbaru yang di tayangkan di negara Jepun untuk musim sejuk (WINTER) 2024 yang akan berlangsung dari bulan Januari hingga Mac 2024
Assassin’s Creed is back with its latest entry in the franchise, Assassin’s Creed Mirage. A promise of a return to form by embracing its roots focusing on stealth. Here’s my review on the game after spending 30 hours on it.
Hey the vampire hunters! Netflix is back with another season of Cast;evania, this time with a new protagonist, Richter Belmont. But before we watch the upcoming series, let’s catch you up to speed
