Highly anticipated projects have been announced following the special Kamen Rider live event held for its 50th Anniversary.
The new official projects were announced at the event by Toei President Osamu Tezuka, who spoke along with staff from the Kamen Rider franchise. Another key attendee was Shinichiro Shirakura, a fan-favorite producer that has worked on many Rider shows including Ryuki, Blade, Kabuto, and even Zi-O.
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The new projects are Kamen Rider Black Sun, a reboot of the 1987 series Kamen Rider Black, and Shin Kamen Rider, an upcoming movie written and directed by Evangelion’s Hideaki Anno. The anime series Fuuto PI will also premiere in 2022. All of these are part of a ‘Grand Schedule’ developed as a celebration of this special anniversary.
The Legacy of Kamen Rider
Kamen Rider has always been a significant Tokusatsu show that, over many recent years, has run alongside Super Sentai in Japan. Known for having a darker and deeper aesthetic in both story and lore, many Sentai fans also are great fans of the Rider series. Shotaro Ishinomori created it to be primarily a singular, motorcycle-riding toku hero instead of a team like in Super Sentai.
This concept has evolved over the years, with many different Riders from the Showa era to the current Reiwa era. What makes this show even more thrilling is that other riders that may be featured in the same series are not always on the same side as the main protagonist, which adds a lot more suspense to the show, along with the brilliant themes and plots that each show may have. The series currently airing is Saber, a storybook-infused, sword themed series that shows just how much the series has changed compared to the first ever Rider.
The first project announced was Black Sun, which will be a remake of the 1987 series. This rider was the eighth instalment of the series and is known as a monumental series from the Showa Era. Black Sun will be regarded as the next evolution of the franchise, as well as the latest live-action series. This show will debut in Japan during Spring 2022 and will be directed by Kazuya Shiraishi, a Japanese filmmaker that is known as a ‘Dark Hero’ of the film industry. The magnificent logo that was created for the new series was produced by calligrapher Souun Takeda.
The next product announced was Shin Kamen Rider, which will be a special project from Hideaki Anno. Anno is known for productions such as Neon Genesis Evangelion as well as Shin Godzilla, which was released in 2016 and was also distributed in North America by Funimation. This is expected to be a darker retelling of the original series, and is set to be released in March 2023. The effects of Coronavirus have pushed back the production by about two years.
Alongside these great announcements was the huge reveal that Fuuto PI, a renown manga that is a sequel to the Kamen Rider W (Double) series, will be made into an anime. W was a Heisei era series that is loved by many fans and was released after Kamen Rider Decade. It is known for being regarded as one of the best seasons, and it includes two characters that transform in to one rider. This anime will continue the story of Philip and Shotaro after the events seen in the live-action show.
These shows are causing a lot of hype for Kamen Rider and, as its Western fanbase has proven their desire for more Rider content, hopefully these fans will also be able to enjoy these new projects when released. For such a big anniversary, it is fair to say that fans are going to be excited for the future of this Tokusatsu hero franchise.
What do you think of these Kamen Rider projects coming soon? Which project are you looking forward to most and which series is your favorite? Let us know in the comments or on social media and keep following The Illuminerdi for Tokusatsu news and features.
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Source: Gizmodo
