Does Kamen Rider really need to be "Kamen Rider"

[Black Ranger RX]

Okay.., I've just learned a few things..

- Kamen Rider doesn't have to be an insect headed superhero. The original Kamen Rider having originally to be a skull head and Amazon being a lizard..

- Kamen Rider doesn't always have to ride a bike. Shin Kamen Rider being one example as I heard he never had a bike. Why the word "Rider" is used I don't know but I guess some Japanese shows don't live up to it's name (DragonBall being another example).

- Kamen Rider doesn't have to be a cyborg, upon hearing rumours that Ishinomori Shoutaro actually wrote the story of Kamen Rider Faiz (which is actually a hero transforming into a suit using a cellphone like device).

So, if Kamen Rider doesn't need any of these rules, then..



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What, ultimately, is Kamen Rider?

 

[Xarin]

Side note: DragonBall always had dragonballs, from beginning to end.

The first was the search for it, the second was the safe gaurding of the world in general, the last was a repeating search to bring about a full circle .

As for Kamen Rider, it's got nothing to do with the motif.

It's just about a Rider ( the first with his cyclone ) who wore a mask/helmet. It was just a cowinkidink that it was a grasshopper, a good motif for a unique rider. Dont think too hard about it..

The rider part of the name comes from the first series, it's just a franchise name now, because they are all belonging to the kamen rider name, but they dont have to be the same exact formula.

Dont make too many threads like these without thinking about it hard first.

anyway, time for school

 

[Kenro]

Okay.., I've just learned a few things..

- Kamen Rider doesn't have to be an insect headed superhero. The original Kamen Rider having originally to be a skull head and Amazon being a lizard..

- Kamen Rider doesn't always have to ride a bike. Shin Kamen Rider being one example as I heard he never had a bike. Why the word "Rider" is used I don't know but I guess some Japanese shows don't live up to it's name (DragonBall being another example).

- Kamen Rider doesn't have to be a cyborg, upon hearing rumours that Ishinomori Shoutaro actually wrote the story of Kamen Rider Faiz (which is actually a hero transforming into a suit using a cellphone like device).

So, if Kamen Rider doesn't need any of these rules, then..



<<

>>


What, ultimately, is Kamen Rider?

Well if you look at it it's in the name. He's a Masked Rider. It can be anything really as long as he's got a bike and where a mask is. It's an extremely flexible title. You can say Kikaider is a Kamen Rider, he henshins, where’s a mask, rides a bike. It can be anything really.

 

[Black Ranger RX]

Well if you look at it it's in the name. He's a Masked Rider. It can be anything really as long as he's got a bike and where a mask is. It's an extremely flexible title. You can say Kikaider is a Kamen Rider, he henshins, where’s a mask, rides a bike. It can be anything really.

Not sure about Kikaida. I've never seen the series yet but I heard he's actually a robot who disguises himself as a human, so his "mask" is actually behind his actual face (sure he rides a bike), where as Kamen Rider (used to be) an existing human who's body was reconstructed to be a cyborg.

 

[MattComix]

Well, I've always felt like that ideally there should be some respect for history and tradition going on there even when you are innovating it. Especially when it's a hero or various incarnations of a hero with a long history who is beloved all over the world to one degree or another. Also there's just a matter of identity. Besides, if he doesn't have a bike then it makes the "rider" part really nonsensical and silly IMO. Ishinomori or not.

I'd prefer that more often than not the name Kamen Rider be associated with heroic characters rather than just being a prefix for anybody in the show who can henshin. This heroic aspect is for me a bigger deal than wether or not they are cyborgs.

The bug motif is for me again, an issue of identity. Like Ultramans giant size and silvery face or a sentai teams rainbow line-up. I feel like it shouldn't just be any idea for a henshin show that Toei has that isn't sentai getting filed under the Kamen Rider brand because it sells regardless of wether the concept, it's motifs, etc. actually fit that name and what goes with it.

 

[Kyusaku]

Kikaida wasn't human, ever. He was an android, so no he doesn't wear a mask. The title Kamen Rider has no insect references, the original design concept was based on a grasshopper and overall mainly used insects as concepts. I can't really confirm that whole Faiz thing.

The main reason TOEI continues using the name is because it's a money maker. "Kamen Rider" is a household name that most people young and old are familiar with. Some people watch it purely because of the title. It's like how people buy items related to a show just because it has the name or something. Or how some elections are won because a candidate has a name of a former elected official.(Eddie Murphy starred in a film that mocked this ideal, it was called "The Distinguished Gentleman")

Even if the series goes quite off the mark from the original concept, the production company has a right to keep the name because they hold all the licensing titles, distribution rights, copyrights. Why create a new name when they can just bank on a franchise that has already developed a strong fanbase. TOEI has done this before, Dragonball GT was created by TOEI alone, Toriyama refused to work on the project. However, Toriyama had no say in the matter because TOEI had all the licensing and copyright titles.

Ever since Ishinomori's death, the line has been blurred when it comes to Kamen Rider. It was his concept, only he can truly answer. If he were still alive, I imagine he'd give some kind of vague description as a vision for the youth to look up to and imitate his strong moral values. He'd probably never go into specifics as to design and story qualities.

 

[ryuuseipro]

Kikaida wasn't human, ever. He was an android, so no he doesn't wear a mask.

Kikaider and Masked Rider were, essentially, the same character. (Kikaider, as The Fugitive from Hell in 1969, was basically supposed to be made first, but story got sidetracked by the "Sports Boom" and Toei's plans to revive the "masked hero" genre, and ultimately became Masked Rider (the android was changed to a cyborg, and the cyborgee, scientist/athlete Takeshi Hongou, was a product of the "Sports Boom" of the late 60s, which was basically overshadowed by this series overnight). So upon the success of Masked Rider in 1971, Kikaider was made the next year.

 

[MattComix]

The main reason TOEI continues using the name is because it's a money maker. "Kamen Rider" is a household name that most people young and old are familiar with. Some people watch it purely because of the title. It's like how people buy items related to a show just because it has the name or something. Or how some elections are won because a candidate has a name of a former elected official.(Eddie Murphy starred in a film that mocked this ideal, it was called "The Distinguished Gentleman")

Even if the series goes quite off the mark from the original concept, the production company has a right to keep the name because they hold all the licensing titles, distribution rights, copyrights. Why create a new name when they can just bank on a franchise that has already developed a strong fanbase. TOEI has done this before, Dragonball GT was created by TOEI alone, Toriyama refused to work on the project. However, Toriyama had no say in the matter because TOEI had all the licensing and copyright titles.

I really don't think anybody is denying their *right* to do it. Yes they own it and they can call a guy with a henshin-kazoo on a golfcart a "Kamen Rider" if they feel like it, but it is more than a little mercenary of them to do things that way. I think that is what's being challenged when people object. Not their ownership.

 

[aniking_8]

During Kamen Rider Kuuga they wanted to make the motorcycle a big part in the series and they did like in orginal kamen rider but later on it doesn't really matter even though they use it sometime like in Ryuki in battle, Kabuto used it as well, and Den-O use it to operate Denliner sort of but is not the same way anymore.

 

[x1xBladex1x]

Well some of the series actually stick to the whole "Kamen Rider" thing, but then other don't.

& From all the ones I've seen they were masked & rode something, therefore they are Kamen Riders.