Original Kamen Rider Appreciation Thread

[Scissors]

Something I personally liked, was that they didn’t try writing Hongo completely out of the show to begin with. They made sure that the character could return at any time, and even made a valid excuse for his disappearance, which would later be used to explain his “upgrade”. I LOVE this way of handling it! Those writers were extremely clever and creative. It must have been a blast working with these guys!
Also, Ichimonji was not supposed to be a "new" Hongo. He had the same heart, but his character was still very different. I personally like Ichimonji better than Hongo. Though I think it is because I watched Sky Rider first, in which Ichimonji had some REALLY good eps, and he was my favourite character in the Spirits manga. So yeah… I may be a little biased about him
:anime:

And while we're at it, I also enjoyed the fact that even though they almost looked the same, you could totally tell the difference between the fighting styles of the two double Riders. Hongo was a swift fighter, using both strength and speed to fight his enemies. Ichimonji, however, was more of a brutal fist fighter, who would just rush into the battlefield and kick the crap out of everyone.
Nigo beating the crap out of Shocker kaijin never fails to amuse me.

In fact, all the showa Riders seemed to their own unique fighting styles. It is a REAL pity that we don't get much of that anymore.

And just for good measure

 

[Tokuboy]

And while we're at it, I also enjoyed the fact that even though they almost looked the same, you could totally tell the difference between the fighting styles of the two double Riders. Hongo was a swift fighter, using both strength and speed to fight his enemies. Ichimonji, however, was more of a brutal fist fighter, who would just rush into the battlefield and kick the crap out of everyone.
Nigo beating the crap out of Shocker kaijin never fails to amuse me.

This makes sense especially when you consider V3 had Ichigo's skill and Nigo's strength.

 

[NeonZ]

And while we're at it, I also enjoyed the fact that even though they almost looked the same, you could totally tell the difference between the fighting styles of the two double Riders.

Actually, I liked how Ichimonji initially DIDN'T look almost the same.

Silver/White strips on the side, bright green chest vest, black and white helmet, red belt... The suit was really distinctive from the one that Hongo used in the first 13 episodes. It was still obviously "The Kamen Rider", but there's no way one would mix up the two suits.

Which reminds me, do you think that if Fujioka hadn't been injured the concept of other Kamen Riders would have been introduced in the series or a sequel series anyway, or do you think the series might have just run its course with Hongo as the singular hero and come to an end at some point as a stand-alone show, as many other human-sized henshin hero tokusatsu of that day did?

The way that they introduced this replacement hero with a different look and identity, without just ignoring the original hero, makes me think that the idea of a new Rider was never too strange to them.

Especially, in Ichimonji's first few episodes, the series shows their differences pretty well. His apparently light hearted attitude, his evil sounding laugh, his profession as a photograph, his henshin call... It's a shame that some of those things are almost forgotten later (like the photograph bit) and he's written in several episodes in the middle of his run, after his initial 6 or so episodes, as a Hongo clone. Although later his personality returns, around the time that Colonel Zol debuts (but not his camera...)

The only real problem with Ichimonji's introduction is that he was saved from Shocker by Hongo, but he only talks about it, it's never shown... Even his flashback stopped before Rider 1 appeared.

Anyway, that's just a guess. Maybe Igadevil can answer that if they've actually talked about it before.

 

[Aoi Kurenai]

Personally I like that every episode isn't filmed like the early ones- there's more variety and creativity as the series passed through so many different hands.

At the same time, I think this does a lot to hurt the series, especially in the second half, while there are some really good episodes there, it does feel like a different show and I really would have liked the tone of the original episodes to have continued throughout the series...though that might have ended up just having it be canceled in the end. Isn't that what happened with Amazon?

 

[Igadevil]

I never thought it hurt the series the way changes in some shows do. Inazuman shifts gears when they let Ishinomori get ahold of it and I think it loses as much as it gains. Or there's JAKQ getting Big One, and I actually don't mind that as much as some!

I always found Kamen Rider went through more of an organic change, but even then I actually don't believe that the first 13 episode are really that much darker than the rest of the series. What really sets those episodes apart is cinematography- it's a lot more experimental, whereas later on they got a bit more of a method down. There's effects and visual tricks they wouldn't have tried later on, in part due to their unpopularity- viewers liked exploding monsters over melting ones, apparently.

But I'd say that the show was still constantly evolving even after the early ones- there's big differences between the Colonel Zol era, the Doctor Shinigami era, and the entire late 50's/early 60's bunch of episodes, etc. It's never quite "it was like this, and now it's this", but more "it's this, then this, then this..." It always still feels to me like new spins on the same show. That's why I prefer it the way it is- same series, but with constantly new angles. But still the same series. On a structural level the first and last episode are worlds apart, and yet the finale still feels true to what they set out to do in the first episode. I think the tone of the series is one of the most consistent things about it, in fact. It's always just serious enough, while also having a sense of humor.

And I think the first 13 are great, don't get me wrong, but I'm glad the show could keep changing. It's like really old early-Hartnell Doctor Who- those early episodes are fantastic, but I don't think the show would have lasted without changing like it did.

 

[Khaiden]

^
And that my friends, is called Evolution.
I have a personal tagline: ''Evolution, not change. Continue to improve yourself without losing your essence''
That's what the original series did, and it's legendary today.

 

[Chronotia Archzenom]

The one Rider show that is spewing off badasseries from start to finish, The ORIGINAL KAMEN RIDER. This is the time when the heroes were severely serious and so does the enemy, the malevolent voice of the Great Leader made a lot of impression in this show. The bike actions as well as the epic henshin poses plus the very first Kamen Rider was ORIGINALLY BLUE which makes it a more win! Even in this form, still the Kamen Rider still kicks Shocker asses with the use of his fists, kicks, chops and so does the tosses (which is absent for a long time until Psyga came in and Kaixa got his ass got handed over). Man! Ichigo and Nigo's Double Rider Kick FTW!

 

[NeonZ]

So... I've just gotten to the point that Rider 1 becomes the main character again... and I must say I didn't really like how they handled that transition, compared to the original Rider 1 vs Rider 2 one.

Hongo acts almost like he never left. He barely interacted with Taki originally, because Taki only arrived after Hongo's actor wasn't able to continue on the show, but they act like great old friends.

Not only that, suddenly he gets a new Rider suit and his own automatic henshin sequence. Previously, besides the 2nd movie, he couldn't just transform at will and he always transformed off screen while staying as the 2nd Rider, but never during battles in closed spaces (like how he didn't just transform when he was trapped in a Shocker based with Shinigami and a bunch of Shocker soldiers) but now he's just like Hayato, but without any explanation in the show itself.

I know that there's a backstory for the new form based on external information, but the tv series gave no explanation for that change. Shinigami also left without any transition at all...

Anyway, I really liked the 2nd movie, I wish they reused old monsters more often. They're mostly artificially created anyway, so it makes sense here. They're always better than random Shocker soldiers too, especially with their really distinctive designs.

 

[Igadevil]

Hongo and Taki are implied to know each other before Taki appears in the series, so in a sense they're old acquaintances. The idea was that some time passed between 52 and 53, but this is only briefly touched upon. Much like Rider 2's origin it's always been left open for viewers to decide how exactly Hongo's recapture and upgrade might've gone (the opening implies this is what happens, since Hongo has his newer clothes there.)

 

[NeonZ]

Much like Rider 2's origin it's always been left open for viewers to decide how exactly Hongo's recapture and upgrade might've gone

Rider 2 at least got a quick flash back in the show itself, not only the opening scenes.

(the opening implies this is what happens, since Hongo has his newer clothes there.)

Ok, that makes sense.