The Kamen Rider Series (仮面ライダーシリーズ, Kamen Raidā Shirīzu, translated as Masked Rider Series) is a metaseries of manga and tokusatsu television programs and films created by manga artist Shotaro Ishinomori. The various Kamen Rider media generally feature a motorcycle-riding superhero with an insect motif who fights supervillains often referred to as kaijin (怪人). The franchise began in 1971 with the Kamen Rider television series which followed college student Takeshi Hongo and his quest to defeat the world-conquering Shocker organization. Over the years, the popularity of the franchise has grown and the original series has spawned many television and theatrical sequels, and 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.

History

Shōwa era

Kamen Rider (仮面ライダー, Kamen Raidā, Masked Rider) is a tokusatsu superhero television series and weekly science fiction manga created by manga artist Shotaro Ishinomori. It debuted on television on April 3, 1971, and ran until February 10, 1973, airing on the Mainichi Broadcasting System and NET TV (now TV Asahi). The manga adaptation was also featured in Shōnen Magazine around the same period. The series has evolved into a franchise with many subsequent annual iterations. The cultural impact of the series in Japan resulted in astronomer Akimasa Nakamura naming two minor planets in honor of the series: 12408 Fujioka, after actor Hiroshi Fujioka, known for his portrayal of Takeshi Hongo/Kamen Rider 1, and 12796 Kamenrider, after the series itself.

Story

The series takes place in a world plagued by Shocker, a mysterious world-wide terrorist organization. To further its plans for world domination, Shocker recruited its agents through kidnapping, turning their victims into mutant cyborgs and, ultimately, brainwashing them. However, one victim named Takeshi Hongo escaped just before the final brainwashing. With his sanity and moral conscience intact, Hongo battled Shocker's minions as the grasshopper-themed altered human (改造人間, kaizō ningen) superhero Kamen Rider. Another victim of the altered human process, freelance photographer Hayato Ichimonji, became Kamen Rider 2 after Kamen Rider, who 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 successor organization, Gel-Shocker.

Kamen Rider 1 (仮面ライダー１号, Kamen Raidā Ichigō) is a fictional henshin superhero character featured in Japanese tokusatsu. He first appeared in the television series Kamen Rider, the first in the famous Kamen Rider franchise of tokusatsu programmes. The primary protagonist of the series, Kamen Rider 1 is a motorcycle-riding superhero modeled upon a grasshopper. One of the most recognizable and iconic characters in Japanese entertainment, Kamen Rider 1 is as easily distinguished as the series itself.

In the original series, he was portrayed by Hiroshi Fujioka, who also performed most of his own stunts. He was briefly replaced by Rokuro Naya in episodes 9 and 10, due to Fujioka's motorcycle accident during a stunt. Later, he was portrayed by Masaya Kikawada in the film Kamen Rider The First and its sequel, Kamen Rider The Next, as well as making a cameo of the character on the Cyclone in an episode of Kamen Rider Kabuto. In the movie, Kamen Rider Decade: All Riders vs. Dai-Shocker, Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Fourze & OOO: Movie War Mega Max, Kamen Rider × Super Sentai: Super Hero Taisen and Kamen Rider × Super Sentai × Space Sheriff: Super Hero Taisen Z, Rider 1 is voiced by Tetsu Inada. Kamen Rider 1 appeared again as a main character, alongside Kamen Riders Den-O, New Den-O and OOO, in the 40th anniversary film OOO, Den-O, All Riders: Let's Go Kamen Riders, Fujioka reprised his role as the voice of Kamen Rider 1.

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 a Japanese tokusatsu television series. It is the 13th installment in 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. 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).

Story

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.