Kamen Rider, translated into Masked Rider, is a superhero and Japanese icon. The Kamen Rider series has been so popular that it has sparked numerous Rider sequels both in Japan and US since its creation in 1971. Kamen Rider is a Japanese tokusatsu, meaning special effects live action show, think Godzilla, or Power Rangers / Sentai. The first Kamen Rider series and a few subsequent ones, were created by Shotaro Ishinomori. It typically follows a hero who rides a motorcycle and fights to save the world, usually against an evil organization, though there have been many alterations of that storyline over the years. I will showcase each series, from the current Kamen Rider Fourze soon to be Kamen Rider Wizard, back o the original Kamen Rider over the next few weeks.
There have been two great Kamen Rider era’s, the Showa era which ran from 1971 to 1989 and the current Heisei era from 2000 to present. I love the Kamen Rider franchise for its depth and meaning. The tragedy that most of the heroes have to endure, would be more than most can stand, from losing your loved ones, everything you held dear, to being forceful changed and altered. Just like with any show, its harder to get into the earlier classics than it is to get into the more modern ones, mainly due to special effects and period differences. There have been several movies since the beginning that have brought all of the riders together to face a common foe, most recently in Kamen Rider × Super Sentai: Super Hero Taisen.
I’m looking forward to displaying all of the Kamen Rider Series and I’ll rate them all individually.
