I've noticed that for so many people in EGO, there are very few who have ever heard of Kamen Rider or tokusatsu in general.
What is Kamen Rider?
This is Kamen Rider
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAQk_dj_INo&feature=player_embedded[/ame]
Kamen Rider is a Japanese series that has been around for about 45 years now, starting with the original Kamen Rider series (my avatar is a pic of the original Kamen Rider.) The orignal story was about a young man, Takeshi Hongo, who is kidnapped and forced to undergo a horrible experiment to turn him into a superpowered cyborg by the evil organization SHOCKER. However, before the brainwashing done, Hongo escapes and becomes the Kamen Rider (Kamen = Masked), riding his using super-cyborg kungfu and an awesome motorcycle to fight the evil kaijin of SHOCKER.
Through later series, the show has strayed away from the original storyline to tell seperate stories each year, but they've never shied away from the orginal message: one lone hero who at stands up for the weak and defenseless against the strong and mighty, using the powers of the enemy against him.
Many people will label this as just "Japanese Power Rangers" but the truth is, Kamen Rider is actually older than Super Sentai (the series from which Power Rangers is adapted) and while SS is usually more kid friendly, Kamen Rider rarely is, dealing with themes like rape and general human horror.
So what makes Kamen Rider so good, even after all these years? Is it the explosions, the kungfu, the story, or the characters? Its all of it really, the series has been an almost consistant well of inspiration for story ideas.
So give it a try sometime. I suggest you start with Kamen Rider Faiz and work your way back there. Any info you need on the series can be found on Wikipedia, and the series can usually be found on Veoh.
Also if you like Kamen Rider and would like to know more about tokusatsu, hit us up over at Henshin Justice Unlimited, a haven for all things Toku and geek.
What is Kamen Rider?
This is Kamen Rider
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAQk_dj_INo&feature=player_embedded[/ame]
Kamen Rider is a Japanese series that has been around for about 45 years now, starting with the original Kamen Rider series (my avatar is a pic of the original Kamen Rider.) The orignal story was about a young man, Takeshi Hongo, who is kidnapped and forced to undergo a horrible experiment to turn him into a superpowered cyborg by the evil organization SHOCKER. However, before the brainwashing done, Hongo escapes and becomes the Kamen Rider (Kamen = Masked), riding his using super-cyborg kungfu and an awesome motorcycle to fight the evil kaijin of SHOCKER.
Through later series, the show has strayed away from the original storyline to tell seperate stories each year, but they've never shied away from the orginal message: one lone hero who at stands up for the weak and defenseless against the strong and mighty, using the powers of the enemy against him.
Many people will label this as just "Japanese Power Rangers" but the truth is, Kamen Rider is actually older than Super Sentai (the series from which Power Rangers is adapted) and while SS is usually more kid friendly, Kamen Rider rarely is, dealing with themes like rape and general human horror.
So what makes Kamen Rider so good, even after all these years? Is it the explosions, the kungfu, the story, or the characters? Its all of it really, the series has been an almost consistant well of inspiration for story ideas.
So give it a try sometime. I suggest you start with Kamen Rider Faiz and work your way back there. Any info you need on the series can be found on Wikipedia, and the series can usually be found on Veoh.
Also if you like Kamen Rider and would like to know more about tokusatsu, hit us up over at Henshin Justice Unlimited, a haven for all things Toku and geek.
Last edited:
