All of these sick days have thrown whatever plans I had out the window, including any themes for Saturday Night Showcase. I know I jut did a bunch of Kamen Rider shows and that I was going to do a series of old shows but Toei Tokusatsu World just dropped the first episodes of two of my favorite series in the franchise, one from the Showa and one from the Heisei era of Riders. (That refers to the era in Japan as decided on by the current emperor. Long story, but I talked about it in my tokusatsu primer.)
While Saban’s Masked Rider, a “Power Rangers” style rework of Kamen Rider Black RX and a couple of movies, had a lot of issues–thanks in part to parent groups giving Fox the business over Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers–I never really hated the show. I thought it had a lot of potential. While looking into the series I learned it was a sequel to Kamen Rider Black, and I found a fansub of the first few episode. I immediately liked the show. It feels like something I would have watched in the 1980s, the show having premiered in 1987. Kotoro Minami’s parents are killed and he is raised by a friend of the family who treat him as another son and brother. However, he’s about to learn some dangerous secrets involving his adoptive father and ties to an organization called Gorgom. These secrets will lead him to fight evil as…Kamen Rider Black!
Turn on the closed captions for English subtitles and enjoy! I know I will!
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