Kamen Rider

Kamen Rider (Masked Rider) is a long-running Japanese Tokusatsu television series. It is first installment in the popular Kamen Rider Series. It is aimed at children. There is also a manga. It is about a superhero who rides a motorbike and wears a mask. The original airing consisted of a total 98 episodes and were broadcast from April 3, 1971 to February 10, 1973 on MBS and NET (now TV Asahi).

Story
The series takes place in a world plagued by Shocker, a mysterious worldwide Terrorism organization formed by remaining member of the Nazi Party. To further its plans for Hegemony, Shocker recruited its agent through kidnapping, turning their victims into mutant Cyborg and, ultimately, Mind control them. However, one victim named Takeshi Hongo escaped just before the final brainwashing. With his sanity and moral conscience intact, Takeshi battle Shocker's minions as the grasshopper-themed cyborg superhero Kamen Rider. Another victim of the cyborg process, freelance photographer Hayato Ichimonji, became Kamen Rider 2 after Kamen Rider, who eventually renamed himself as "Kamen Rider 1", saved him from Shocker's brainwashing. Assisted by motorcycle race team manager Tobei Tachibana and FBI agent Kazuya Taki, the Kamen Riders fought in both solo and partnered missions against Shocker and its replacement organization, Gelshocker.

Cast
 Takeshi Hongo: Hiroshi Fujioka
 Hayato Ichimonji: Takeshi Sasaki
 Kazuya Taki: Jirō Chiba
 Tobei Tachibana: Akiji Kobayashi
 Ruriko Midorikawa: Chieko Maki
 Hiromi Nohara: Yoko Shimada
 Shiro: Jo Honda
 Yuri: Wakaki Oki
 Mari: Linda Yamamoto
 Michi: Katsumi Nakajima
 Goro Ishikura: Yasuharu Miura
 Emi: Emily Takami
 Mika: Yoko Sugibayashi
 Tokko: Machiko Nakajima
 Naoki: Tomonori Yazaki
 Mitsuru: Yoshikazu Yamada
 Yokko: Yoshida Nakada
 Choko: Mimy
 Narration: Shinji Kanae

Staff
 Creator: Shotaro Ishinomori
 Scriptwriters: Masaru Igami, Shinichi Ichikawa, Masayuki Shimada, Mari Takizawa, Hisashi Yamazaki, Takao Nagaishi, Masahiro Tsukada, Ikurō Suzuki, Takeo Ōno, Fumio Ishimori, Kimiyuki Hasegawa, Kimio Hirayama, Minoru Yamada, Gorō Oketani, Shotaro Ishinomori
 Directors: Kōichi Takemoto, Itaru Ohita, Hidetoshi Kitamura, Minoru Yamada, Issaku Uchida, Katsuhiko Taguchi, Masahiro Tsukada, Shotaro Ishinomori, Atsuo Okunaka
 Composer: Shunsuke Kikuchi

Songs
 Opening themes
 "Let's Go! Rider Kick"
 Lyrics: Shotaro Ishinomori
 Composition & Arrangement: Shunsuke Kikuchi
 Artist: Hiroshi Fujioka/Koichi Fuji, Male Harmony
 Episodes: 1 - 13 (Fujioka), 14 - 88 (Fuji)
 "Rider Action"
 Lyrics: Shotaro Ishinomori
 Composition & Arrangement: Shunsuke Kikuchi
 Artist: Masato Shimon
 Episodes: 89 – 98
 Ending themes
 "Kamen Rider no Uta" ("The Song of Kamen Rider")
 Lyrics: Saburō Yatsude
 Composition & Arrangment: Shunsuke Kikuchi
 Artist: Koichi Fuji, Male Harmony
 Episodes: 1 – 71
 "Rider Action"
 Lyrics: Shotaro Ishinomori
 Composition & Arrangement: Shunsuke Kikuchi
 Artist: Masato Shimon
 Episodes: 72 – 88
 "Lonely Kamen Rdier"
 Lyrics: Mamoru Tanaka
 Composition & Arrangement: Shunsuke Kikuchi
 Artist: Masato Shimon
 Episodes: 89 – 98

Legacy
The Kamen Rider original series famously spearheaded launched the "Second Kaiju Boom" or "Henshin Boom" on Japanese television in the early 1970s, greatly impacting the superhero and action-adventure genre in Japan. The famous "henshin sequence", in which the title hero performs ritualistic poses and shouting a keyword to transform into his superhero form has since before a staple in Japanese pop-culture, inspiring superheroes and magical girl genres. Kamen Rider went to later produce a great number of spin-offs which remain in production today. Several Kamen Rider series were aired in Japan after the first Kamen Rider finished. After Kamen Rider Black RX ended production in 1989, the series was put on hold.

There were three movies released as the 1990's "Movie Riders", which were Shin Kamen Rider: Prologue, Kamen Rider ZO and Kamen Rider J. After the original creator Shōtarō Ishinomori's death, the Kamen Rider franchise had continued in 2000 with Kamen Rider Kuuga. As of 2025, thirty-five Kamen Rider series have been made, with the newest bring Kamen Rider Gavv which in premiered September 2024.

As of 2005, a remake of the Kamen Rider series was made and reimagined with Kamen Rider The First and continued with Kamen Rider The Next released in 2007.

As of 2021, stating from Kamen Rider: Beyond Generations, Hiroshi Fujioka's son, Maito will portray Takeshi Hongo's younger-self.

Other websites
Website at Igadevil

Category:Japanese science fiction television series
Category:Science fiction television series
Category:1971 establishments in Asia
Category:1971 television series debuts
Category:1973 television series endings
Category:1970s establishments in Japan
Category:Teen television series
Category:1970s Japanese television series debuts
Category:1970s Japanese television series endings
Category:Japanese-language television programs
Category:Japanese children's television series