Kamen Rider

The Kamen Riders, legendary heroes of peace of justice, have always been my favorite group of superheroes. They hail from Japan and are extremely awesome!

The first time I heard about the Kamen Riders was when I was a little boy and watched Kamen Rider Black on TV. Back then, due to a translation error, it was known as 'Kesatria Baja Hitam' which would translate to 'Black Armored Knight'. Despite that, I enjoyed the action. It wasn't until several years later that I would be seeing the new incarnations of the Kamen Riders and decided to learn about them.

The next Rider series to appear on TV in my home country was Kamen Rider Kuuga. For some reason, they skipped Agito and went to show Kamen Rider Ryuki. After that they showed Kamen Rider 555 and now Kamen Rider Blade on TV.

The classic Kamen Riders were actually people modified through cybernetic means, except for Amazon but he was modified too so that counted. They all shared the same distinct characteristic of insectoid eyes and belts that gave them their powers. The classic Riders before Black all wore scarves. I guess that was all the rage back in the 70's.

No new Rider series appeared until the year 2000 with Kuuga's debut and soon the Kamen Rider genre became popular again. Of course, the new Rider series seem to have a lot more gimmicks than before.

Riders all fought against monsters that would threaten humanity. The classic Riders would fight against an evil organization that tried to rule the world. Ironically, some of these organizations were responsible for the creation of the Riders. An example would be Shocker, the first enemy organization in Kamen Rider.

Now, enemy organizations are rarely used. Althought, in Kuuga and Agito the monsters were otganized by a higher power. In Ryuki and Blade the monsters were more or less like wild beasts. 555 allowed the enemy organization concept to be revived.

The most hi-tech Rider series I've seen has to be Kabuto. It was awesome with the Clock Up abilities of the Riders.

Riders also have ultimate forms and upgrades. The first to do this was Kamen Rider Stronger and then Black RX did it too with alternate forms. Kuuga, Agito, Ryuki, Blade, Hibiki, Kabuto and now Den-O also follows the alternate and ultimate forms theme in their series.

The reason I enjoy the Kamen Rider series is because well they're awesome but most of all the themes and the story lines are so compelling. Kamen Rider is an action drama series so they is some drama in the story to move the plot along.

All in all I can only say that I see a bright future for the Kamen Rider series.