History

The Kamen Rider Series originally began under the title "Masked Hero Project". Produced by Toru Hirayama (平山 亨 ,Hirayama Tōru^?), the series spent nearly five years on hold while Hirayama worked on other shows and searched for a proper character designer. In 1969, Shotaro Ishinomori, who was a known face in tokusatsu at the time, was approached by Hirayama to have his Skull Man manga adapted for the Masked Hero Project. Originally the project was rejected due to criticisms that it was too violent for the timeslot it was given. After the duo reworked the story and designs, the final Kamen Rider design, a grasshopper, was chosen by Ishinomori's son. This drawing would go on to become the original Kamen Rider 1, after some modification.

Kamen Rider premiered on April 3, 1971, to lower than expected ratings, and verged on the brink of cancellation. During the filming of episode 10, Fujioka Hiroshi, the actor of Kamen Rider 1, was thrown off his motorcycle during the filming of a stunt. Crashing into a telephone pole, he shattered both his legs. Toei then went through many methods to have Hongo appear less and less until episode 13, when Ichimonji Hayato was introduced. Until episode 52 when Fujioka Hiroshi returned, Ichimonji Hayato was Kamen Rider 2 and the star of the show. Upon his return in episode 53, Hongo became the main character once more. Both Kamen Riders 1 and 2 would go on to appear in every show in the first half of the Shōwa era. The continuous run from April 1971 to January 1976 distinguished itself by featuring the recurrent mentor character, Tobei Tachibana (立花 藤兵衛 ,Tachibana Tōbee^?).

After a four year hiatus, the series returned to television broadcast in October 1979 for two years. In these new shows, the role of Tachibana was replaced by a similar character named Genjiro Tani (谷 源次郎 ,Tani Genjirō^?). Airing in 1984, the Kamen Rider ZX special, Birth of the 10th! Kamen Riders All Together!!, became the last project in the franchise to be produced by Hirayama.

Kamen Rider BLACK was the first series that neither indicated nor hinted at any relationship with its predecessors. Kamen Rider BLACK was the first show in the franchise to feature a direct sequel, Kamen Rider BLACK RX, the basis of Saban's Americanized Masked Rider. RX's finale showed the ten previous Riders return to help BLACK RX defeat the Crisis Empire, this is the last time any Rider from a previous show would appear in another series. Kamen Rider BLACK RX was the final show to be produced during the Shōwa era, its broadcast spanning from the Shōwa era and into the beginning of the Heisei era.

Overview

Kamen Rider SPIRITS (仮面ライダーSPIRITS ,Kamen Raidā Supirittsu^?, trans. Masked Rider Spirits) is an ongoing manga adaptation of the popular Kamen Rider franchise. The focus of the story is on the original ten Kamen Riders with shifting focus on main characters.

 

Synopsis

Following the end of the Kamen Rider Super-1 television series, Kamen Rider Spirits begins by following the lives of the original Kamen Riders in various stand alone stories. The manga then introduces the tenth Kamen Rider, Kamen Rider ZX, ignoring the events of the Birth of the 10th! Kamen Riders All Together!! television special. The manga also ties up loose story ends from the various TV series, such as how Riderman survived the Pluton Rocket Explosion and why Stronger's partner, Tackle, was never acknowledged as a Kamen Rider.

 

Arc summary

Kamen Rider Spirits is composed of three different arcs, each focusing on different Kamen Riders. The first arc is composed of several stand alone stories that focus on the original nine Kamen Riders who, no longer a team, have all gone their separate ways. After discovering suspicious activity going on all over the world, the Kamen Riders realize that a new evil is rising.

The second arc of the manga, known as Kamen Rider ZX: Forget Memories, focuses on the new Kamen Rider, Kamen Rider ZX, and gives the character a new origin story, ignoring his origin in the Birth of the 10th! Kamen Riders All Together!! TV special. The second arc also introduces the Badan Empire, the story's main villains.

The third section of the manga, known as Kamen Rider ZX: Dragon Road, focuses on Kamen Rider ZX joining the original nine Kamen Riders and facing the evil Badan Empire together.