Went to a con earlier this week, and met some guys who also happen to be childhood heroes.
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Sasaki Takeshi- THE Ichimonji Hayato, Kamen Rider 2 himself. Very friendly, and very humble despite the fact that without him, there probably wouldn't be Kamen Rider anymore. Later during the stage talk they did a little reenactment of one of his Henshin scenes, and believe me, that guy can still move. He truly is the man.
Nakayashiki Tetsuya- "Mister Kamen Rider", he's like the Takaiwa of the old shows, playing Rider 1, Rider 2, V3, X-Rider, Amazon, Stronger, Skyrider, and Super-1, among others. You can see him out-of-suit as the villain Tigerroid in the Kamen Rider ZX TV special, and even in cameo in Agito. Awesome guy, I liked that he asked me which Rider I'd like him to sign as- he just assumed that I knew them all! (I went with V3, since that's where he did the legendary "smokestack" scene in episode 4.) He too, is the man.
Okada Masaru- Also played Rider 1 & 2 a times, but is best known for being many of the Kaijin. Among them, Kumo-Otoko (the first ever Rider monster) and the original Terebi-Bae (who sort of got resurrected in the Terebikun Decade DVD.) He is also the man.
Triple Riders!
Shino Katsumi- compared to the other three guys, he's pretty low-profile (and he admitted it) but this guy is someone you've heard a lot- because he's the voice of a ton of characters in the Heisei Rider series, as well as Sentai. He's best known as being the voice of Kamen Rider Sabaki in Hibiki, and Trial F in Blade. He's also usually the voices of the "henchmen"-types, like the Zectroopers, and the Shocker Riders in THE NEXT. And the Decade-o-version of Psyga. I assured him that if I ever write for Kamen Rider, I will have Sabaki save the day somehow. Very cool guy, and yes... he is the man, too.
There were a lot of other guests, including some people from classic Toho Kaiju/Godzilla films, most notably Takarada Akira, from the original Godzilla (and numerous others, all the way up to Final Wars.) I don't have a picture with him, but I did get his autograph, for free, no less, when he
held up the line just to give me one and talk in English for a bit. He is most definitely the man as well.
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