Kamen Rider (1971)
Original title: 仮面ライダー
Kamen Rider is a 1971 Japanese-language action & adventure series created by Go Sakabe and Toshiki Inoue. It stars Shinji Nakae, Akiji Kobayashi and Gorō Naya.
A motorcycle racer becomes a masked cyborg to save the world. Takeshi Hongo, a bright young rider, is abducted by Shocker, a terrorist cult remaking humans into monsters, and rebuilt into a grasshopper-eyed warrior. He breaks free before they can control his mind and turns their own power against them, transforming with a cry and a spin of his belt to battle each week's kaiju. Shotaro Ishinomori's 1971 series launched the entire Kamen Rider franchise and set the grammar of Japanese tokusatsu: the henshin pose, the recurring foes, the lone hero on two wheels.
Quick answers
What is Kamen Rider about?
A motorcycle racer becomes a masked cyborg to save the world. Takeshi Hongo, a bright young rider, is abducted by Shocker, a terrorist cult remaking humans into monsters, and rebuilt into a grasshopper-eyed warrior. He breaks free before they can control his mind and turns their own power against them, transforming with a cry and a spin of his belt to battle each week's kaiju. Shotaro Ishinomori's 1971 series launched the entire Kamen Rider franchise and set the grammar of Japanese tokusatsu: the henshin pose, the recurring foes, the lone hero on two wheels.
When was Kamen Rider released?
Kamen Rider was released on 3 April 1971.
How many episodes does Kamen Rider have?
Kamen Rider has 1750 episodes across 37 seasons.
Who made Kamen Rider?
Kamen Rider was created by Go Sakabe, Toshiki Inoue and Yuya Takahashi.
Where can I watch Kamen Rider?
Kamen Rider is available on Prime Video, Shout! Factory TV (Via Amazon Prime, Amazon Freevee, Pluto TV, Shout! Factory TV and The Roku Channel.
Where to watch Kamen Rider
Stream: Prime Video, Shout! Factory TV (Via Amazon Prime
Watch free: Amazon Freevee, Pluto TV, Shout! Factory TV, The Roku Channel, Tubi TV
Buy: Amazon
Cast
- Shinji Nakae as Narrator (voice)
- Akiji Kobayashi as Tobei Tachibana
- Gorō Naya as Great Leader of Shocker (voice)
- Takeshi Sasaki as Hayato Ichimonji / Kamen Rider #2
- Masaki Terasoma as Shadow Moon (voice)
- Hiroshi Fujioka as Takeshi Hongo / Kamen Rider #1
- Nobuo Tsukamoto as Genjiro Tani
- Rina Akiyama as Mana Kazaya
- Nobuyuki Hiyama as Steam Liner (voice)
- Yuichi Nakamura as Kyousuke Kiriya
- Hideyo Amamoto as Doctor Shinigami
- Eiichiro Suzuki as Narrator (voice)
Similar series
Explore Kamen Rider guides
Kamen Rider in our writing
- Companion guide: Tokusatsu: The Complete Guide to Japan's Superheroes and Kaiju
A few thoughts on Kamen Rider
The masked-hero-versus-evil-syndicate shape carries straight into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, with its mutated heroes and a shadowy foe. For the transformation and duty of a young man handed strange power, My Hero Academia runs the same current. On screen, the Super Sentai lineage that became Power Rangers shares its DNA.
Super Sentai shows from the same tokusatsu tradition as Kamen Rider
Kamen Rider gave Japanese tokusatsu its henshin pose and lone-wolf motorcycle hero, and Toei's Super Sentai line ran the team version of the same formula right alongside it. Himitsu Sentai Gorenger started the whole genre four years after Hongo first transformed, and Dengeki Sentai Changeman, Choujuu Sentai Liveman, and Juken Sentai Gekiranger carried the five-color team format through three more decades.
Solo tokusatsu heroes who fight without a team behind them
Kamen Rider fights alone, no team, no giant robot, just Hongo and the belt, and these shows keep that solo-hero formula going. Ultraman came first with a giant hero standing against kaiju alone, and Space Sheriff Sharivan, Mobile Cop Jiban, Juukou B-Fighter, and Madan Senki Ryukendo carried the masked, solo-warrior format from the eighties into the 2000s.
Ordinary people turned into war machines to fight something bigger
Shocker turns Takeshi Hongo into a cyborg to control him, and these stories run the same trade of body for weapon. The Six Million Dollar Man rebuilds a crash survivor into a bionic agent, Cyborg 009 does the same to nine kidnapped strangers who turn on their captors, and UFO Robot Grendizer and Aquarion send their pilots into battle fused with a machine built for war.