Kamen Rider Black Sun

is a Japanese tokusatsu web drama series and reboot of Kamen Rider Black, serving to commemorate its 35th anniversary as well as the franchise's 50th anniversary overall. The series premiered on October 28, 2022 with all ten episodes releasing at midnight in each countries' specific timezones. 
==Production==
===Development===
An adult-oriented reboot of a Showa-era Kamen Rider had been in the planning stages since 2019 in preparation for the franchise's 50th Anniversary in 2021. Director Kazuya Shiraishi had expressed interest in joining the potential project after hearing about the plans from Taisuke Furuya, one of Toei's producers. Shiraishi was later offered the role by Shin-ichiro Shirakura and decided to tackle Kamen Rider Black. 
A trademark for the film was registered on March 4, 2021, around one month before any official announcement was made, and a countdown timer was displayed on the franchise's official website, revealing three unrevealed projects. On April 3, 2021, a press conference was held to reveal these three projects, with the second project being Kamen Rider Black Sun. It was introduced by Toei content director Fumio Yoshimura, who after giving a brief history on Kamen Rider Black's popularity, stated it was the final project that franchise creator Shotaro Ishinomori had worked on before his death. 
In regards to being the show-runner, Shiraishi expressed his anticipation of rebooting a popular entry of the Kamen Rider series without diminishing the franchise's 50-year long legacy. However as he had never worked on a Tokusatsu project before, he was assisted by veterans in the genre such as Shin Godzilla director Shinji Higuchi for concept designs, and Ultra Series director Kiyotaka Taguchi for special effects direction. 
On November 21, 2021, the production staff unveiled concept designs for the show, including artwork for Black Sun, Shadowmoon, and a redesigned Battle Hopper.https://mobile.twitter.com/KR_BLACKSUN/status/1462240346054746116https://tokusatsunetwork.com/2021/11/tamashii-nation-online-2021-kamen-rider-black-sun-panel-announced/https://tamashii-nation.tamashii.jp/station/kamenrider/https://hobby.dengeki.com/news/1402571/ 
===Writing===
Shiraishi himself rewatched Kamen Rider Black and began developing the overall story with head writer Izumi Takahashi, focusing on the mellow and tragic friendship between Kotaro and Nobuhiko while pitting them against contemporary social issues. 
===Filming===
It was reported in March 2022 that filming had wrapped due to some actors having confirmed they finished shooting their scenes.https://mobile.twitter.com/KR_BLACKSUN/status/1498606474225872899https://www.instagram.com/p/CbRdUijrnEK/
===Post-Production===
On October 9, 2022, several actors were announced to have joined the cast.https://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2022/10/09/heroes-are-reborn-in-kamen-rider-black-sun-trailer
==Plot==
Creation Kinghttps://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0B8TH6BBS - the pinnacle of Kaijin. At the end of his life, the elected Century King will inherit his power.
The year is 2022. It is an era of chaos, half a century after the government announced the coexistence of humans and kaijins. Aoi Izumi, a young human rights activist calling for the elimination of discrimination, meets a man named Kotaro Minami, the one called "Black Sun", who is a candidate for the next Creation King.
The truth about Creation King and the Kaijin hidden within 50 years of history, and another imprisoned Creation King candidate, Shadowmoon, AKA Nobuhiko Akizuki. His encounter and reunion with Kotaro will eventually break the status quo within society.
==Characters==
===Kamen Riders===
Kamen Rider Black Sun 	Kotaro Minami
Kamen Rider Shadowmoon	Nobuhiko Akizuki
===Debatable Riders===
Mantis Kaijin	Aoi Izumi
===Allies===
*Shunsuke Komatsu
*Sachi Komatsu
*Shigeo Komatsu
*Nick
*Koumori
*Kujira
*Nomi
*Yukari Shinjo
*Oliver Johnson
*Rino Kawamoto
*Hideo Kawamoto
*Misaki Izumi
===Villains===
====Gorgom Party====
*Creation King
*Darom
*Bishum
*Baraom
*Bilgenia
*Kumo
*Anemone
====Others====
*Shinichi Donami
*Michinosuke Donami
*Isao Nimura
*Wataru Igaki
===Neutral===
*Kazuya Kurokawa
*Soichiro Akizuki
*Kozo Minami
==Episodes==
==Cast==
*: 
**Kotaro as a younger man from 1972 is portrayed by 
**Kotaro as a child is portrayed by 
*: 
**Nobuhiko as a child is portrayed by 
*: 
*: 
*: 
*: 
*, : 
**Shinichi from 1971 is portrayed by 
*: 
*: 
*Secretary General: 
*: 
*: 
*: 
*: 
*: 
*: 
*: 
*: 
**Darom from 1972 is portrayed by 
*: 
**Bishum from 1972 is portrayed by 
*: 
*: 
*: 
*: 
*: 
*: 
*: 
*: 
===Suit Actorshttps://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/542232818785320960/1078991708433432687/Screenshot_2023-02-25-18-47-19-85_a252b927494330cdc2c8ba3b3f952e5e.jpg===
*Kamen Rider Black Sun: .Uchusen Vol.180
*Kamen Rider Shadowmoon: 
*Mantis Kaijin: 
==Staff==
*Director: Kazuya Shiraishi
*Script: Izumi Takahashi
*Art Director: Tsutomu Imamura
*Concept Visuals: Shinji Higuchi
*SFX Director: Kiyotaka Taguchi
*Moldmaker: Kakusei Fujiwara
*Character Design: Daisuke Kobayashi
*Costumes: Daisuke Iga
*Photography: Hajime Baba
*Lighting: Masayuki Nishimura
*Audio Engineer: Kazuharu Urata
*Audio Director: Yujiro Miki
*Concept Artist: Katsuhiro Fukuzawa
*Stunt Coordinator: Hiroyuki Yoshida
*Editor: Hitomi Kato
*Sound Effects: Kenji Shibasaki
*Visual Effects Supervisor: Shun Carlos Fukushima
*Executive Producer: Shin-ichiro Shirakura
*Planning Producer: Daisuke Furuya
*Producers: Haruhiko Hasegawa, Hironao Mukuki, Masahiko Sato
*Production Studio: Kadokawa Daiei Studio
*Created by: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company, "Kamen Rider BLACK SUN" PROJECT
==Music==
;Ending Theme 
*"Did you see the sunrise?"
**Artist: Chogakusei
**Lyrics & Composition: Kenta Matsukuma
**Arrangement: Scrambles
==Marketing==
The project was announced on April 3, 2021, the 50th Anniversary the franchise and was originally reported to have been developed as a film, but several sources later confirmed this as a series instead. A press conference was announced on October 4th and took place on November 19.https://www.cinematoday.jp/news/N0126294.amp.html?__twitter_impression=truehttps://youtube.com/watch?v=uHqGEdxxm70&feature=youtu.be
On December 5th, 2021, a full replica of the redesigned Battle Hopper was put on display at the Yokohama Hot Rod Show.https://mobile.twitter.com/KR_BLACKSUN/status/1462240346054746116https://tokusatsunetwork.com/2021/11/tamashii-nation-online-2021-kamen-rider-black-sun-panel-announced/https://tamashii-nation.tamashii.jp/station/kamenrider/https://hobby.dengeki.com/news/1402571/ On March 18, the film’s official webpage unveiled the full costumes for Black and Shadow Moon, as well as the reveal of the Road Sector motorcycle.https://www.kamen-rider-official.com/blacksun/news/7/ 
On June 12, 2022, a visual was released.https://twitter.com/KR_BLACKSUN/status/1535781428104863745 On July 12, 2022, a visual was unveiled with the catchphrase, .https://twitter.com/KR_BLACKSUN/status/1535781428104863745 On June 16, 2022, a short teaser trailer was revealed during a Bandai Tamashii Nations interview with Kiyotaka Higuchi while also unveiling the completed design of the Black Sun S.H. Figuarts toy.https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=StaLve2rfZo&feature=youtu.be 
On August 29, 2022, Toei released a trailer.https://youtu.be/VUrVNgi4g7E On October 8, 2022,, a trailer featuring new footage as well as the show's theme song was shown.https://youtube.com/watch?v=iyDt017Vhfg On October 12, 2022, a trailer was released.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lV5ppyigAUg
An early screening of the first two episodes was shown at the Tokyo International Film Festival on October 25, 2022.http://ukiyaseed.weebly.com/ukiyaseeds-other-blog/kamen-rider-black-sun-to-debut-at-the-tokyo-international-film-festival
==Release==
*All ten episodes of Kamen Rider Black Sun premiered on October 28, 2022 in each in countries' respective timezones on Amazon Prime Video.
Black Sun Release Poster Kotaro.jpg|Kotaro Poster
Black Sun Release Poster Nobuhiko.jpg|Nobuhiko Poster
==Notes==
*Kamen Rider Black Sun is the second reboot TV series to be oriented towards a mature audience. The first was Kamen Rider Amazons, which was also distributed through Amazon Prime Video.
*The year this series premiered marks the 35th anniversary of Kamen Rider Black, this series' original source material. 
*As part of the build up to the series, Bandai made a crowdfunding campaign for a remake of the 1987 DX TV Power Henshin Belt called the "DX Henshin Belt King Stone".https://www.kamen-rider-official.com/blacksun/news/2/ Since the old belt responded to flashing from a CRT TV, the remake comes with a special DVD of Kamen Rider Black episodes to activate the infrared sensor during Kotaro’s transformation scenes. The crowdfund was successful gaining 140% of its intended goal with almost ¥28 million in funds.
*In an interview with Variety, Shirakura joked that Black Sun's adaptation of Kamen Rider Black was Toei's "payback" to Saban's Masked Rider, which had failed both critically and commercially.https://variety.com/2021/film/global/toei-kamen-rider-1235009716/
*This series contained multiple real-world references, such as , , , etc.
===Differences from Kamen Rider Black===
*Unlike the original TV show, Kotaro and Nobuhiko are just close friends instead of adopted brothers. They were not reconstructed by Gorgom, but were turned into Kaijin by their own fathers when they were children.
*Nobuhiko Akizuki retained his sense of self after being turned into a Kaijin and wasn't forced to fight against Kotaro from the beginning.
*In the original show, Gorgom was a cult centered around the Century King and sought out world domination. In this interpretation, Gorgom was a political party aiming to benefit the lives of the Kaijin and sought to seize the Kingstones from the Century Kings. However, they were hypocrites by working with those who wished to harm their kind such as Prime Minister Dounami and turned a blind eye to those suffering in order to maintain a false peace.
*Black Sun uses attacks more in line with Kamen Rider Amazons, tearing his targets apart while using the Rider Punch and Kick only in the final episode. Black in the original series on the other hand used his Rider Punch and Kick every episode to defeat the monster of the week.
==External links==
*Official website
*@KR_BLACKSUN
*US Prime Video
*Prime Video
==Navigation==
hi:कामेन राइडर BLACK SUN
Category:Kamen Rider Series
Category:Reiwa era
Category:Web series