Kamen Rider 555

**Kamen Rider 555** (仮面ライダー555（ファイズ）, *Kamen Raidā Faizu*?, officially **Masked Rider Φ's**, also read **Kamen Rider Faiz** or **Phi's**) is the fourteenth entry of the *Kamen Rider Series*. It is a joint collaboration between Ishimori Productions and Toei, and was broadcast on TV Asahi from January 26, 2003 to January 18, 2004.

It aired alongside *Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger* for Super Hero Time 2003. And it was the first series to use TV Asahi's current logo. The catchphrase for the series is "Racing Instinct." (疾走する本能, *Shissō Suru Honnō*?).

## Plot

The Smart Brain corporation, the world's most powerful corporation, is trying to take over the world using Orphnoch, the "next stage in humanity's evolution", to covertly kill off the human population. In pursuit of this, they develop three suits of power armor, called Rider Gears (each for Delta, Faiz, and Kaixa), to find and protect the Orphnoch King, who can fix a defect within Orphnoch DNA which causes their genetic structure to break down, leading to death.

The Rider Gears are stolen by Hanagata, the Goat Orphnoch and former chief of Smart Brain. He sends them to his foster children (dubbed the "Ryuseiji", after the school they attended) so they can stop the Orphnoch from achieving their goal. However, Rider Gears were designed to be worn by Orphnoch, and humans are unable to activate the systems without undergoing genetic modification.

A young loner, Takumi Inui, is unwittingly drawn into the conflict between the Orphnoch and humans and becomes Kamen Rider Faiz to save the life of Mari Sonoda, one of the Ryuseiji. Smart Brain begins targeting him in an attempt to retrieve the Faiz Gear. However, there is division amongst the Orphnoch, as those who wish to co-exist with humans rather than kill them, begin resisting the Smart Brain, who in turn targets them as well. Most of these "renegade" Orphnochs are either killed, remain neutral or begin siding with the Ryuseiji against the Smart Brain.

When the Tokyo police discover the Orphnoch are behind a series of bizarre murders, they begin operations to defeat the creatures, largely unaware of the various factions involved. They even begin performing experiments on captured Orphnoch in an attempt to find ways of destroying them, though this does not go well. The Orphnoch King eventually awakens within a young boy named Teruo Suzuki, whom Naoya Kaido and Keitaro Kikuchi saved and befriended. Now, it is up to the holders of the Rider Gears to band together and fight for humanity's survival.

## Characters

### Kamen Riders

 Kamen Rider Delta | Shūji Mihara (Other Users)

### Allies

#### Kikuchi Cleaning

* Mari Sonoda
* Keitaro Kikuchi

#### Rogue Orphonochs

* Yuka Osada
* Naoya Kaido

#### Ryusei School

* Hanagata
* Rina Abe
* Kyosuke Tokumoto
* Shoji Inukai
* Kiyotaka Nishida
* Takahisa Shindo
* Haruko Kamijo
* Asami Ito
* Ken Arai
* Yuki Kawachi
* Shingo Ota
* Saya Kimura

### Villains

#### Smart Brain

* Kyoji Murakami
* Smart Lady
* Eiichi Toda

#### Lucky Clover

* Kitazaki
* Saeko Kageyama
* Itsuro Takuma
* Aki Sawada
* Mr. J

#### Orphnoch

* Arch Orphnoch
* Hanagata
* Wolf Orphnoch
* Dolphin Orphnoch
* Crab Orphnoch
* Horse Orphnoch
* Crane Orphnoch
* Snake Orphnoch
* Rose Orphnoch
* Squid Orphnoch
* Dragon Orphnoch
* Lobster Orphnoch
* Centipede Orphnoch
* Crocodile Orphnoch
* Spider Orphnoch
* Stingfish Orphnoch
* Elephant Orphnoch
* Ox Orphnoch
* Mantis Orphnoch
* Cactus Orphnoch
* Owl Orphnoch
* Scarab Orphnoch
* Snail Orphnoch
* Equisetum Orphnoch
* Flyingfish Orphnoch
* Armadillo Orphnoch
* Toadstool Orphnoch
* Scorpion Orphnoch
* Worm Orphnoch
* Sea Cucumber Orphnoch
* Rabbit Orphnoch
* Frog Orphnoch
* Stinkbug Orphnoch
* Swordfish Orphnoch
* Rhinoceros Beetle Orphnoch
* Stag Beetle Orphnoch
* Octopus Orphnoch
* Pigeon Orphnoch
* Barnacle Orphnoch
* Okra Orphnoch
* Sloth Orphnoch
* Frilled Lizard Orphnoch
* Bat Orphnoch
* Coral Orphnoch
* Butterfly Orphnoch
* Giraffe Orphnoch
* Longhorn Orphnoch
* Pelican Orphnoch
* Wild Boar Orphnoch
* Slug Orphnoch
* Mole Orphnoch
* Moose Orphnoch
* Lion Orphnoch
* Elasmotherium Orphnoch

## Rider Gears

The equipment used in the series to transform is referred to as *Rider Gear*. It was created to be worn by the Orphenoch to protect their Orphenoch King. Each Rider Gear contains a belt known as a Driver used to form armor that protects the wearer and amplifies their strengths and abilities. The armor's theme is based on a letter from the Greek alphabet, and contains the letter somehow within the aesthetic design. The Gears also have a method to input command codes, a cell phone number keypad for most, which can activate armor and various weapons. The sound effects of a dialing in any of the Rider Gear phones were later referenced in episode 17 of Kamen Rider Kabuto.

The TV series focused on three sets of Rider Gear: *Faiz Gear*, *Kaixa Gear*, and *Delta Gear*. During the TV series, Hanagata, the foster father of the Ryuseiji and former chief executive of Smart Brain, attempted to create several new Rider Gears, using two lost people to test out the first two. The two belts failed to create Rider armor, resulting in the wearer’s deaths. When Itsuro Takuma of Lucky Clover wore the third one it disabled him for a few seconds before it dissolved. The fourth dissolved without ever being worn. The Kamen Rider 555 movie, *Paradise Lost*, introduced two additional sets of Rider Gear: Psyga Gear and Orga Gear.

### Naming Conventions

Each set of Rider Gear is code-locked, in addition to being only usable by Orphnoch. These codes, input through the phone of each Gear, are a set of numbers that relate to the theme of each Gear. For the Faiz Gear, the code is 5-5-5, or "fives", phonetically similar to the word Faiz. For the Kaixa Gear, the code is 9-1-3. In Japanese, 9 is "Kyuu" ("K" or "Ka" sound taking ) 1 is "Ichi" ("I" or "Ii" sound) 3 is "San" ("Sa" sound) Thus "Ka-i-sa" ("9-1-3"). Delta Gear's phone was voice-activated, yet nonetheless also was coded with 3-3-3, a reference to the Greek letter delta, a triangle.

The Japanese pronunciation of Psyga's number uses the same method as Kaixa: 3 is "San" ("Sa" sound), 1 is "Ichi" ("I" or "Ii" sound, similar to Kaixa's name ) and 5 is "Go" ("Ga" sound, taken from the letter "G" in Go ), thus: Sa-i-ga ("3-1-5"). The Orga Gear, patterned after Greek omega, the final letter, is code-locked to 0-0-0.

### Live Stage-Show

A live stage-show of Kamen Rider Faiz featured three unique riders named Alpha, Beta, and Gamma.

## Episodes

*Main article: Kamen Rider 555 Episodes*
1. The Start of a Trip (旅の始まり, *Tabi no Hajimari*?)
2. The Belt's Power (ベルトの力, *Beruto no Chikara*?)
3. The King's Sleep… (王の眠り…, *Ō no Nemuri…*?)
4. My Name (おれの名前, *Ore no Namae*?)
5. Original (オリジナル, *Orijinaru*?)
6. Trio × Trio (3人×3人, *Sannin × Sannin*?)
7. The Power of Dreams (夢の力, *Yume no Chikara*?)
8. The Protector of Dreams (夢の守り人, *Yume no Mamoribito*?)
9. Enter, the President (社長登場, *Shachō Tōjō*?)
10. The Enigmatic Rider (謎のライダー, *Nazo no Raidā*?)
11. The Enigmatic Belt (謎のベルト, *Nazo no Beruto*?)
12. Ryusei School (流星塾, *Ryūsei Juku*?)
13. Friend of Foe? (敵か味方か, *Teki ka Mikata ka*?)
14. Takumi's Spirit (巧の意地, *Takumi no Iji*?)
15. The Fallen Idol ~ φ's vs. χ (落ちた偶像~ φ's vs χ, *Ochita Gūzō ~ Faizu Tai Kai*?)
16. Human Heart (人間の心, *Ningen no Kokoro*?)
17. Takumi, Revival (巧、復活, *Takumi*?, Fukkatsu)
18. Narrow Escape from Death (九死に一生, *Kyūshi ni Isshō*?)
19. Pure White Justice (純白の正義, *Junpaku no Seigi*?)
20. The Beautiful Assassin (美しき刺客, *Utsukushiki Shikaku*?)
21. Accelerating Spirits (加速する魂, *Kasoku Suru Tamashii*?)
22. Masato's Confession (雅人の告白, *Masato no Kokuhaku*?)
23. False Friendship (偽りの友情, *Itsuwari no Yūjō*?)
24. The Door to Darkness (闇への扉, *Yami e no Tobira*?)
25. The Dark Laboratory (闇の実験室, *Yami no Jikkenshitsu*?)
26. Enter, Delta (デルタ登場, *Deruta Tōjō*?)
27. Ryusei School Breaks Up (流星塾分裂, *Ryūsei Juku Bunretsu*?)
28. Dark Clover (暗黒の四葉, *Ankoku no Yotsuba*?)
29. Excellent Bike (超絶バイク, *Chōzetsu Baiku*?)
30. Masato's Trap (雅人の罠, *Masato no Wana*?)
31. Origami Tears (折り紙の涙, *Origami no Namida*?)
32. Intertwined Threads (絡み合う糸, *Karamiau Ito*?)
33. Mari Dies (真理、死す, *Mari, Shisu*?)
34. True Form (真実の姿, *Shinjitsu no Sugata*?)
35. The Resurrection Riddle (復活の謎, *Fukkatsu no Nazo*?)
36. Restored Memories (蘇る記憶, *Yomigaeru Kioku*?)
37. Kaixa's Justice (カイザの正義, *Kaiza no Seigi*?)
38. The Wandering Spirit (彷徨える魂, *Samayoeru Tamashii*?)
39. Faiz 2 (ファイズ2, *Faizu Tsū*?)
40. Proof of Humanity (人間の証, *Ningen no Akashi*?)
41. Capture Commences (捕獲開始, *Hokaku Kaishi*?)
42. Broken Wings (折れた翼, *Oreta Tsubasa*?)
43. Red Balloon (赤い風船, *Akai Fūsen*?)
44. Final Mail (最後のメール, *Saigo no Mēru*?)
45. King's Awakening (王の目覚め, *Ō no Mezame*?)
46. A New President Appears (新社長登場, *Shin Shachō Tōjō*?)
47. King's Appearance (王の出現, *Ō no Shutsugen*?)
48. Masato, Dying A Glorious Death (雅人、散華, *Masato, Sange*?)
49. A Sign of Destruction (滅びゆく種, *Horobi Yuku Shu*?)
50. My Dream (俺の夢, *Ore no Yume*?)

**Movies**

1. *Kamen Rider 555: Paradise Lost* (劇場版　仮面ライダー555　パラダイス・ロスト, *Gekijōban Kamen Raidā Faizu: Paradaisu Rosuto*?)

**Specials**

1. *Kamen Rider 555: Hyper Battle Video* (仮面ライダー５５５（ファイズ）　ハイパーバトルビデオ, *Kamen Raidā Faizu Haipā Batoru Bideo*?)

## Cast

* Takumi Inui (乾 巧, *Inui Takumi*?): Kento Handa (半田 健人, *Handa Kento*?)
* Mari Sonoda (園田 真理, *Sonoda Mari*?): Yuria Haga (芳賀 優里亜, *Haga Yuria*?)
* Keitaro Kikuchi (菊池 啓太郎, *Kikuchi Keitarō*?): Ken Mizorogi (溝呂木 賢, *Mizorogi Ken*?)
* Yuji Kiba (木場 勇治, *Kiba Yūji*?): Masayuki Izumi (泉 政行, *Izumi Masayuki*?)
* Yuka Osada (長田 結花, *Osada Yuka*?): Yoshika Kato (加藤 美佳, *Katō Yoshika*?)
* Naoya Kaido (海堂 直也, *Kaidō Naoya*?): Mitsuru Karahashi (唐橋 充, *Karahashi Mitsuru*?)
* Masato Kusaka (草加 雅人, *Kusaka Masato*?): Kohei Murakami (村上 幸平, *Murakami Kōhei*?)
* Shuji Mihara (三原 修二, *Mihara Shūji*?): Atsushi Harada (原田 篤, *Harada Atsushi*?)
* Rina Abe (阿部 里奈, *Abe Rina*?): Rie Kasai (河西 りえ, *Kasai Rie*?)
* Aki Sawada (澤田 亜希, *Sawada Aki*?): Go Ayano (綾野 剛, *Ayano Gō*?)
* Teruo Suzuki (鈴木 照夫, *Suzuki Teruo*?): Kayato Watanabe (渡辺 彼野人, *Watanabe Kayato*?)
* Joji Soeno (添野 錠二, *Soeno Jōji*?): Taro Ishida (石田 太郎, *Ishida Tarō*?)
* Sawamura (沢村, *Sawamura*?): Koji Iwakawa (岩川 幸司, *Iwakawa Kōji*?)
* Hikaru Soeno (添野 ひかる, *Soeno Hikaru*?): Manami Miwake (三訳 真奈美, *Miwake Manami*?)
* Masahiko Minami (南 雅彦, *Minami Masahiko*?): Atsushi Ogawa (小川 敦史, *Ogawa Atsushi*?)
* J (ジェイ, *Jei*?): Kenneth Duria (ケネス・ヅリア, *Kenesu Zuria*?)
* Itsuro Takuma (琢磨 逸郎, *Takuma Itsurō*?): Jun Yamasaki (山崎 潤, *Yamasaki Jun*?)
* Saeko Kageyama (影山 冴子, *Kageyama Saeko*?): Waka (和香, *Waka*?)
* Kitazaki (北崎, *Kitazaki*?): Ray Fujita (藤田 玲, *Fujita Rei*?)
* Smart Lady (スマートレディ, *Sumāto Redi*?): Hitomi Kurihara (栗原 瞳, *Kurihara Hitomi*?)
* Kyoji Murakami (村上 峡児, *Murakami Kyōji*?): Katsuyuki Murai (村井 克行, *Murai Katsuyuki*?)
* Hanagata (花形, *Hanagata*?): Koji Naka (中 康治, *Naka Kōji*?)
* Kazufumi Mizuno (水野 和史, *Mizuno Kazufumi*?): Kengo Ohkuchi (大口 兼悟, *Ōkuchi Kengo*?)
* Tetsuo Itagaki (板垣 哲生, *Itagaki Tetsuo*?): Atsushi Fukazawa (深沢 敦, *Fukazawa Atsushi*?)
* Takako Shimaji (島地 貴子, *Shimaji Takako*?): Chika Nakagami (中上 ちか, *Nakagami Chika*?)
* Teruo's Shadow (照夫の影, *Teruo no Kage*?): Shun Kobayashi (小林 俊, *Kobayashi Shun*?)
* Orphnochs (オルフェノク, *Orufenoku*?, Voice): Katsumi Shiono (塩野 勝美, *Shiono Katsumi*?)
* Arch Orphnoch (アークオルフェノク, *Āku Orufenoku*?, Voice): Hiroshi Yanaka (家中 宏, *Yanaka Hiroshi*?)
* Narration, Driver Voice (ナレーション、ドライバー音声, *Narēshon, Doraibā Onsei*?): Takehiko Kano (假野 剛彦, *Kano Takehiko*?)

### Guest cast

* Chie Morishita (森下 千恵, *Morishita Chie*?, 1-2): Mika Katsumura (勝村 美香, *Katsumura Mika*?)
* Yuji Kiba's Father (木場 勇治の父, *Kiba Yūji no Chichi*?, 1): Shinichi Kase (加瀬 慎一, *Kase Shinichi*?)
* Yuji Kiba's Mother (木場 勇治の母, *Kiba Yūji no Haha*?, 1): Midori Takei (竹井 みどり, *Takei Midori*?)
* Akai (赤井, *Akai*?, 3-4): Katsuyuki Yamazaki (山﨑 勝之, *Yamazaki Katsuyuki*?)
* Eiichi Toda (戸田 英一, *Toda Eiichi*?, 5-6): Shigeki Kagemaru (影丸 茂樹, *Kagemaru Shigeki*?)
* Professor (教授, *Kyōju*?, 7-8): Ichiro Ogura (小倉 一郎, *Ogura Ichirō*?)
* Gorgeous Man (ゴージャスな男, *Gōjasu na Otoko*?, 31-32): Masaki Tachi (舘 正貴, *Tachi Masaki*?)
* Crab Orphnoch (クラブオルフェノク, *Kurabu Orufenoku*?, 41-42, Voice): Satoshi Matsuda (松田 悟志, *Matsuda Satoshi*?)

### Suit actors

* Kamen Rider Faiz, Centipede Orphnoch, Wolf Orphnoch: Seiji Takaiwa (高岩 成二, *Takaiwa Seiji*?)
* Kamen Rider Kaixa, Horse Orphnoch, Goat Orphnoch: Makoto Ito (伊藤 慎, *Itō Makoto*?)
* Kamen Rider Delta, Auto Vajin: Yoshifumi Oshikawa (押川 善文, *Oshikawa Yoshifumi*?)
* Crocodile Orphnoch, Rose Orphnoch, Arch Orphnoch: Jiro Okamoto (岡元 次郎, *Okamoto Jirō*?)
* Crane Orphnoch, Lobster Orphnoch: Takeshi Mizutani (水谷 健, *Mizutani Takeshi*?)
* Spider Orphnoch: Naoki Nagase (永瀬 尚希, *Nagase Naoki*?)
* Snake Orphnoch: Hideki Hato (葉都 英樹, *Hato Hideki*?), Keizo Yabe (矢部 敬三, *Yabe Keizō*?)
* Dragon Orphnoch: Jun Watanabe (渡辺 淳, *Watanabe Jun*?)

## Songs

Opening theme
* "Justiφ's"
	+ Lyrics: Shoko Fujibayashi
	+ Composition: Kazuto Sato
	+ Arrangement: Kōtarō Nakagawa
	+ Artist: ISSA (of DA PUMP)
	+ Episodes: 2-49

Ending theme
* "Dead or alive"
	+ Lyrics: Shoko Fujibayashi
	+ Composition: Katsuya Yoshida
	+ Arrangement: Akio Kondo
	+ Artist: Shinichi Ishihara
	+ Episodes: 2-20
* "The people with no name"
	+ Lyrics: Shoko Fujibayashi
	+ Rap Lyrics: m.c.A.T
	+ Composition: Cher Watanabe
	+ Arrangement: RIDER CHIPS
	+ Artist: RIDER CHIPS featuring m.c.A.T
	+ Episodes: 21-32, 39
* "EGO ~ eyes glazing over"
	+ Lyrics: Shoko Fujibayashi
	+ Composition & Arrangement: Cher Watanabe
	+ Artist: ICHIDAI (of ROLL DAYS)
	+ Episodes: 33-38, 41-48
* "Justiφ's -Accel Mix-"
	+ Lyrics: Shoko Fujibayashi
	+ Composition: Kazuto Sato
	+ Arrangement: Kazunori Miyake
	+ Artist: ISSA (of DA PUMP)
	+ Episodes: 40, Movie

## *Lost World*

The S.I.C. Hero Saga side story for *555* published in *Montly Hobby Japan* magazine was titled *Kamen Rider 555: Lost World* (仮面ライダー555 -ロスト・ワールド-, *Kamen Raidā Faizu -Rosuto Wārudo-*?). It serves as a prologue to the alternate story that was *555: Paradise Lost*, and features the new character Riotrooper Ver. 2 (ライオトルーパーver.2, *Raiotorūpā ver.2*?). The story ran from October 2005 to January 2006.

Chapter titles
1. Faiz (ファイズ, *Faizu*?)
2. Kaixa (カイザ, *Kaiza*?)
3. Delta (デルタ, *Deruta*?)
4. Psyga (サイガ, *Saiga*?)

## Video game

*Main article: Kamen Rider 555 (video game)*
A video game based on the series was produced by Bandai for the PlayStation 2. It was a fighting game which featured many of the characters from the TV series. There were several modes of gameplay for either a single play and two players. It was released only in Japan near the end of the TV series on December 18, 2003.

## External links

* *Kamen Rider 555* at Wikipedia
* *Kamen Rider 555* at Japanese Wikipedia
* *Kamen Rider 555* at TV Asahi