Kamen Rider Dragon Knight Name Changes

Above are the thirteen riders. Here is the official website. In Downloads, there is cool AIM icons and wallpaper of atleast the Dragon Knight and Wing Knight. For those not familiar with Kamen Rider Ryuki, here is an easy guide. All the Contract Monsters have the same names!

Premieres January 3rd on CW4Kids
Special Sneak Preview this December 13 at 9:30am

Here are thirteen name changes. Kamen Rider Ryuki, Ryuki literally means "Dragon Knight." So there is that translation. Kamen Rider Knight becomes "Wing Knight" because of the bat wing. Kamen Rider Scissors becomes Incisor which is similar. Kamen Rider Zolda's name is derived from the Russian word, "soldat" meaning "soldier" or "mercenary". So 'Torque' comes from left field. For me, is that they wanted a generic name. Kamen Rider Raia, since his contract monster Evildiver is a mantaray, then 'Kamen Rider Sting' makes sense. Since Kamen Rider Gai is based on a rhino, and is all about brute force, 'Thurst' makes sense. Kamen Rider Ohja translates to be Cobra or King Snake, 'Kamen Rider Strike' is sort of generic but also goes along with it. Kamen Rider Tiger becomes Kamen Rider Axe for some reason (well, he does carry an axe) and Kamen Rider Imperer becomes Spear, Imperer is based on Impala, a cousin of the Gazelle. Kamen Rider Femme, where Femme means 'Female', 'Siren' is an interesting choice The Siren is a Greek mythological bird-woman hybrid creature, since her contract monster is a swan, it makes sense. Kamen Rider Verde, where 'Verde' means Green in Spanish, 'Camo' refers to camouflage to chameleon so that makes sense. Kamen Rider Odin, where Odin is the chief god in mythology, Wrath is an interesting choice. Kamen Rider Ruuga became Kamen Rider Onyx. Onyx is a black stone.

Meet them all here
Seems that 9 out of 13 will be Caucasian, while 2 are Asian, 1 Latino and 1 is African-American. Maybe one is Italian or Latino, who knows.

Cate Blanchett and Jay Leno discuss Power Rangers

Cate Blanchett was on the Tonight Show tonight promoting her new movie with Brad Pitt and they were discussing her children's like of the Power Rangers. And that she was 'going' to be one of the Rangers. She wasn't sure which one was female, she said sometimes the female is pink or yellow. Jay, of course, was not sure. So they brought up an old picture of the original MMPR (above) and tried to figure out which one was female. She said the 'yellow one' had 'man boobs.' Jay said he saw no gender in the Power Rangers, that they were all the same. ::sigh:: Cate had mentioned the Black Ranger going to jail but that is very incorrect. Walter Emmauel Jones is in no legal trouble, if that is the one they are talking about. Do your research!

UPDATED
In July of 2009, Walter Emmauel Jones was arrested for driving under the influence in Alabama. Is Cate Blanchett psychic?

Scott Bailey is Kamen Rider Ohja???

Now in the following weeks, we are getting more and more info on "Kamen Rider Dragon Knight" with pictures and such as it will be premiering on CW4Kids in January. Now I got the shock of my life today to find out Scott Bailey (best known to soap fans as Sandy Foster in "The Guiding Light" and to everyone as the centaur in those Old Spice commercials) will be playing James "JTC"/Kamen Rider Strike, the equivalent of Kamen Rider Ohja. Kamen Rider Ohja was the most dangerous of all the Kamen Riders in Kamen Rider Ryuki. Least to say, he was a serial killer and psychopath, sadistic and homicidal. I highly doubt he will be the same, but perhaps he will just be 'evil.' Oooh, the cast just gets hotter and hotter.

On another note, William O'Leary is also in the cast. He played Tim Taylor's brother Martin 'Marty' Taylor in "Home Improvement," he looks a lot like Doug Stanhope and I thought Doug was William. Hah.

My Scott Bailey Gallery

UPDATED DECEMBER 7, 2008

Related: Eye Candy: Scott Bailey | Scott Bailey's different halves in Old Spice website

Kamen Rider Decade: Pink, Magenta or Red?

The upcoming Kamen Rider for 2009 is Kamen Rider Decade, which will be celebrating their 10th anniversary.

Kamen Rider Decade is said to have the power of past Riders from the Heisei era such as Kuuga, Agita, Ryuki, 555, Blade, Hibiki, Kabuto, Den-O, and Kiva. There will be cards he uses with each Rider on it. Heisei refers to the point in time we are now in Japan.

Now there is much debate over what color Kamen Rider Decade is. Many say he is pink. Since culturally in America, pink is currently regarded as a feminine color, American fans don't like the notion that his color is pink. I have said it once and I have said it before, regarding a color to a gender is ridiculous. According to the website "Gender Specific Colors," it would seem that assigning color to gender is mostly a 20th century trait.

Kamen Rider Raia of "Kamen Rider Ryuki," also known as Kamen Rider Sting in the American adaption "Kamen Rider Dragon Knight," has been brought up in the conversation of pink Kamen Riders. He was not be a traditional shade of red. Indeed, he was like a light red, what I like to refer to as 'raspberry red' but some regard as magenta.

Kamen Rider Decade's color scheme is most likely based on the bug above, which I can not find its name.

Pink was once a color associated with masculinity, considered to be a watered down red and held the power associated with that color. Red was related to the color of blood, which was what people wanted in the outcome of their victims in war. In 1914, The Sunday Sentinel, an American newspaper, advised mothers to “use pink for the boy and blue for the girl, if you are a follower of convention.” Blue was related to being the color of the sky and girls at the time were regarded to be close to the sky and angelic, blue was considered a fair and danity color. The change to pink for girls and blue for boys happened in America and elsewhere only after World War II. Since the 1940s, the societal norm apparently inverted so that pink became appropriate for girls and blue appropriate for boys, a practice that has continued into the 21st century. No one knows why exactly happened to cause this or to change it. Today, with the effects of advertising on consumer preferences, these color customs are a worldwide standard.

So to me it doesn't matter if he is indeed pink, I think it is and it is just as fine. He's 'masculine' or 'strong' as ever. (I put those terms in quotations not mockingly, but in quotations to note the notions we attached to such a term.) The thought that red is connected to blood and power for masculinity could be another key to why most Kamen Riders are red and majority of Sentai leaders are red. Other reasons, of course, are because of Japan's country's color is red and red is associated to power, strength, and triumph. I had one art teacher that would refuse to acknowledge Pink as a color, she considered a shade of Red, she said it was just Red. So if she heard this conversation, she wouldn't know what all the fuss was about.

Related Links:
JeongMee Yoon's research
Google Answers on Pink

Kamen Rider Dragon Knight Cutie #4: Tony Moras

He played the spoiled and stuck-up Richy Preston / Kamen Rider Incisor in "Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight." Not much more is known about him.

Richy was manipulated by General Xaviax to 'vent' Kamen Rider Dragon Knight and Wing Knight in order to earn his lost riches once again.

Incisor is based on Kamen Rider Scissors from of course the source of the show: Kamen Rider Ryuki. He only lasted one or more episode, Scissors died at the hands of his contract beast. Richy lasted two episodes and a half as he was 'vented' along with his beast. He was sent into a void where he will trapped for all eternity.

Toripter is a boy!

It's a boy! Before, I wondered about Toripter's gender and even though he is voiced by a woman, he is male. Evidenced by Episode 38 where the villain's spell (some toxic water) makes all males that come in contact with it, freeze like a mannequin. So Toripter was effected.

Related Topic: Go-Onger: Triptor's Gender?