Hero Profile: Kamen Rider ZX

Kamen Rider ZX has the distinction of being the first Rider who didn't star in his own TV series. The character debuted in an self-titled manga series which began serialization on Television Magazine's July issue in 1982 . ZX was then featured in a short radio drama broadcast during a special episode of All Night Nippon hosted by Shotaro Ishinomori on August 14, 1982 commemorating the character's official debut, before making his live-action debut in the TV Special Birth of the 10th! Kamen Riders All Together!!. Kamen Rider Spirits manga tells alternate story about ZX. Murasame is an evil rider of Badan Empire, having his memory wiped off by the evil Badan, Murasame becomes emotionless and fights against the nine Kamen Riders.

When Murasame regains his memory and realizes that his sister Shizuka was killed by Badan, he turns against them and eventually joins the Riders to destroy Badan. However in the manga, he refuses the title of Kamen Rider despite the fact the other Riders bless him with the title. The TV special plot was that Ryo Murasame and his sister were shot down while flying in the Amazon jungle by the Badan Empire and had both of them captured. Later, Badan kills his sister and turns Murasame into a cyborg warrior named ZX and brainwashes him. An accident enables him to regain his memory. Murasame becomes a Kamen Rider to avenge his sister. He mistakes both Kamen Rider Super-1 and Riderman as soldiers of Badan but later fights along with the other Kamen Riders. He later appears in All Riders vs. Dai-Shocker. Kota Nemoto provided his voice in that.

Shotaro Ishinomori

He was born Shotaro Onodera in Tome, Miyagi, and was also known as Shotaro Ishimori before 1986, when he changed his family name to Ishinomori. Cyborg 009, created in 1963, became the first superpowered hero team created in Japan. Skull Man was a manga series created by Shotaro Ishinomori which first appeared in Shōnen Magazine in 1970 and immediately caused a sensation, selling over 1.5 million copies. While the TV series Kamen Rider was still in development, Ishinomori, who created that series with producer Toru Hirayama, made this manga as his own personal version, which the producers at Toei Company Ltd. used as the basis for the show. Several changes in content were made, as this 100-page one-shot story was too dark and gruesome for a children's show. He created Kamen Rider in 1971 produced by Toei Company Ltd. The success of Kamen Rider led to the birth of the Henshin (transforming) superhero.

The cultural impact of the series (Kamen Rider) in Japan resulted in 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. At the end of 1997, Kazuhiko Shimamoto, a young and up and coming mangaka was contacted by an increasingly ill Shotaro Ishinomori and asked if he would do a continuation (though more along the lines of a remake) of his 100-page, one-shot manga from 1970, Skull Man (above). Ishinomori died of heart failure on January 28, 1998 just 3 days after his 60th birthday. His final work was the tokusatsu superhero TV series, Voicelugger, televised a year later. Two years later, the Kamen Rider Series would be revived with Kamen Rider Kuuga. All of the series made in the Heisei period credit Ishinomori as the creator.

His work posthumously awarded him the Guinness World Record for most comics published by one author, totaling over 128,000 pages. A manga adaptation of Kamen Rider was also featured in Shōnen Magazine around the same period. It is also rumored that the late Shotaro Ishinomori was outraged about how Saban edited some Kamen Rider footage (mostly the parts too violent for US children) for Masked Rider.

Human Tackle: The prototype Female Kamen Rider?

Yuriko Misaki/Electro-Wave Human Tackle is a modified human just like the titular Kamen Rider Stronger in his series back in 1973. She worked a bit as Stronger's sidekick and in due course she fell in love with him. She sacrificed herself to save Shigeru from being poisoned by Doctor Kate. In Kamen Rider Spirits manga, Despite Misaki being dead, her story is continued to be told through Shigeru Jo's flashbacks of her. He ends up at Tackle's shrine, where he remembers why she was never given the Kamen Rider tile---because she had already fought enough, and now, she was a 'normal' woman. At first I was insulted by this when I first read that, but I realize they meant she was just a normal person in the end. I think what bothered me was the 'she fought enough,' when can you 'fight enough' in the Kamen Rider world?

The Tentoroh is Human Tackle's motorcycle. This now looks a bit like a Leopard, but it is supposed to be based ona lady bug, like her suit. Maybe because it is yellow, it would be better if it was red.

There is quite a bit of Human Tackle toys, even one part of the Girls in Uniform: Kamen RIder Edition, I'm not going to have them all in this post, but just to show how 'beloved' she is I suppose.

Recently in Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Double & Decade: Movie Wars 2010, she serves as Tsukasa's "Guardian Angel". She fights the army of Riotroopers by herself and protects Natsumi from Bee Woman. Despite having the civilian identity of Yuriko Misaki, it's implied she is an A.R. World Tackle by Alice Hirose.

In Decade's World of Net short titled, "Petition! Kamen Rider Tackle!!", the history of female Kamen Riders are highlighted. Natsumi is insulted to find out there is only '2' female Riders, they only mentioned Femme and Larc and did not include Shuki or Amaki. Funny enough she is told she met Larc in Diend World, but they met Amaki way eariler than that, in the Hibiki World.

In the short, Stronger arrives requesting the title of Kamen Rider be given to Tackle, its disputed if she is a Kamen Rider or not by mysterious Narutaki---who says she isn't a Rider because her face is exposed but then it is clarified that Riderman has his face exposed and that he is considered an official Kamen Rider (I like that this point is stated upon). Tsukasa and Natsumi go with Stronger to petition for Tackle, only to discover that she is already the head of the division of Toei that declares heroes Kamen Riders---which doesn't clarify if she has been officially declared or not. I don't think Alice Hirose was used for this short.

Kamen Rider Girl: Kanna Mori

Kanna Mori is a 22 year-old Japanese fashion model and actress from Toyama Prefecture. She is best known as Natsumi Hikari in the Kamen Rider Decade. She was Kamen Rider Kivara in the spin-off movie.

Pictures from Kamen Rider Heornies group in Facebook.

Metal Hero Influences in Kamen Rider

I had this idea before, that I was going to do in N0n-PR/SS Week but either I forgot or was going to do for this week. Anyhoo, when Metal Heroes (which was used to be adapted in VR Troopers and Big Bad Beetleborgs) ended in 1998, the Kamen Rider Series itself has adopted many of the Metal Hero Series' traits in the Heisei Era (Kamen Rider Kuuga started this in 2000). Let's look at some of these.

Armor
Kamen Rider X looked armor like, but the Kamen Riders didn't start to adapt large armors until the Heisei Era. Above is the most armor-y looking ones, being the Kamen Riders in Kamen Rider Kabuto. The power-ups for the main Kamen Riders were heavy armor and so were the series of Blade, Kabuto, Den-O, Kiva, Decade and Double (I mean the regular Kamen Riders). Fellow blogger Sean Akizuki equates the Power Ranger Battlizers with the Super Blue Beet in B-Fighters. So in a way, B-Fighter and the other Metal Heroes inspired Kamen Rider. Microforever says: "Masked Rider Blade series design was more like the old Metal Hero, with heavily armored Riders along with heavy motif of playing cards designs."

Super Heronies
It is true Human Tackle was the first super heronie in the Kamen Rider franchise, but she wasn't officially a Kamen Rider (something debated in a Kamen Rider Decade Web special short) but the official female Kamen Riders didn't appear until later---after Metal Hero ended in 1998. The first as I have mentioned before was Femme in 2002, I will be covering Tackle i the next post. As I have mention before Metal Heroes had quite a few super heronies, even more than Kamen Rider so far.

More Serious and Complicated
Kamen Rider was serious enough, but there were so goofy moments like in Super-1 when the Jin Dogma came along. It pretty much remained serious in the Heisei era, sure there was some comic relief and kid-like characters and blue-collared humor, but the Kamen Rider series is arguably much serious than Super Sentai. And I heard Skyrider was made because Amazon and Stronger were considered too complicated in plot. But pretty much every Heisei series is complicated and that is much like Metal Heroes. Well, Metal Heroes did get less serious and more juvenile afterward with B-Robo Kabutack and on. But I think Kamen Rider has kept the tradition of the more serious one.

Related: http://henshingrid.blogspot.com/2010/09/heronies-in-metal-heroes.html

Kamen Rider Week

The first themed week I did was Non-Power Ranger/Super Sentai Week, and I then put up a poll for five themed-weeks for readers of this blog to choose from. There was Kamen Rider Week, Mecha Week, Girl Power Week, Villain Week, and Allies Week. 90 of 391 votes for Kamen Rider Week, the highest votes, so I decided to go with Kamen Rider first. Again, I am hoping there is no new Power Rangers news on this week. For Non-PR/SS Week, I was originally going to cover Kamen Rider, but then decided to do the week, so here we go.