It's hard imagine these days, seeing as how almost every year entails a new show about costumed heroes, sometimes modeled after bugs, or different animals. But their have been points in Kamen Rider's history, where it went a while without a show. Unlike its sister show super sentai, which has been airing a new show each year non-stop, since its revival from sentai to super sentai in 1979. Kamen rider has had a few hiatuses. Following the completion of Kamen Rider Stronger, the franchise went on a four year break but returned in October of 1979 with... Kamen Rider, and intended continuity reboot of the franchise that would have no connection with what was considered the first phase of Showa. That whole reboot aspect didn't last long, the ratings for the new Kamen rider were in decline and the original 7 riders were brought back in, either through returning actors, vocie actors trying to mimic the original actor's, or both, which helped to boost the ratings back up. The following year saw the release of Kamen Rider Super-1 which made use of Kamen rider V9 concept that was also meant to boost ratings. But after that, that was it for a while. Following the completion of Super-1, Toei wanted a new series that kids could jump into and that would become Space Sheriff Gavan. With the exception of a Special which was intended to generate interest in a new show starring the 10th rider ZX (prounced Zed Cross) didn't take off, Kamen Rider sat out most of the 80's.
But that all changed in 1987 when Kamen Rider Black, what many fans consider the pinnacle of Showa era Kamen rider, for its far more dramatic story, characters, atmosphere, tone. Its considered a sacred cow to some people, a show with no imperfections. That was followed by the only sequel series to any Kamen Rider, Kamen Rider Black RX, considering how there are almost no sequel series, you can tell you how well it went, the lighter tone and continuation of story many felt was told in black made it in the eyes of many an inferior show, while its hatedom is far less than what it use to be, its considered a disappointment. Despite that it did have good ratings...but not to the extent of a Parody of Kamen Rider, Kamen Norider, which made the brand seem so stupid and farcical no could take it seriously. there were plans apparently for a follow-up to Black RX, but that didn't happen and Kamen Rider sat out most of the 90's.
Now that's not to say interest was entirely dead, in the early parts of the 90's, the series longtime creator Shotaro Ishinomori did try to get a new show made in a similar way to his attempt to get ZX, in this case movies, Shin Kamen Rider: Prologue was Ishinomori's original vision for the franchise and was his favorite Kamen rider, but the series never made past prologue likely due to how terrifying the film was. The following two Movies ZO and J were closer to what the showa era had done before hand, but likewise due to lack of interest, creative differences or a myriad of other issues, none of these became full series and the 90's would see no full Kamen rider series.
The bad news for fans kept rolling when on January 28, 1998. Only three days after celebrating his 60th birthday, Shotaro Ishinomori, the mangaka who created Japan's first superhero team in Cyborg 009, an influential figure in Japan's pop culture, passed away due to heart failure.
But he would leave behind one final project for his beloved bug-eyed superheroes, one year after Ishinomori's passing, Toei had annouced a revival project for Kamen rider that Ishinomori had been working on prior to his death starting in 1997, it would not only be the lead up to Kamen Rider's 30th anniversary, but would herald Kamen Rider into a new Millenium as it would begin airing at the end of January 2000. The heisei era of Kamen Rider was about to begin.
(God, this intro is already a couple of paragraphs long, lord help me.) Okay, technically Black RX and the trilogy of pilot movies did come out after the ascension of Emperor Hirohito to the Throne and the beginning of the Heisei era, but most people consider Kuuga the true start as it is the first series to have only a little invovlement of its late creator, Ishinomori. Kuuga is also notable in that its the only major Contribution that soon-to-be veteran Super sentai Writer, Naruhisa Arakawa, to the Kamen rider Franchise, having only written a single episode of Black and writing only a singular arc for the start of Heisei's second phase, Kamen Rider W. Kuuga was a success, if it wasn't I probably wouldn't be writing this, but now 21 years after it exploded onto the scene. revitalizing a franchise, does Kuuga still hold up today after years of technological advancements, refinement in writing, and the toyetic apocalypse likely making some people rather cynical.
SYNOPSIS
Following a trip to Indonesia, Yusuke Godai has returned to Japan in time for fate to give him one heck of a twist. As his return coincides with an excavation of ruins in Japan, that takes a turn for tragedy when the team at the site is slaughtered by unknown means. The only things left from the site that were salvageable was a stone belt and a video tape showing what had killed the people. But he and his archeologist friend Sakurako can look into the belt, a spider monster begins causing havoc, angered by its attack, Yusuke puts on the belt which then fuses with him and transforms him into an armor warrior that he has been seeing visions of that these unidentified lifeforms called him Kuuga. While initially met with resistance, Yusuke decides to use this new skill of his to fight and protect the smiles of all people now assisting the police as he comes to understand his new power and the mysteries behind the Unidentified Lifeforms and the warrior they call Kuuga."
In a lot of ways, Kuuga reminds me bit of Kamen Rider OOO's, though maybe its OOO's reminds of Kuuga since it came out first but I watched OOO's First before Kuuga and- got of track. But basic synopsis wise the two feel very familiar, Talented young man who travels the world gains powers of an ancient warrior to fight the revival of evil creatures that said predecessor also fought. But the differences do start to form a bit after the basic synopsis, where OOO's read more as a tokusatsu with Drama elements, Kuuga reads more a drama with tokusatsu elements. In a lot of ways it also clearly trying to be a more (ugh, I hate to use this word as a description) real take on Kamen Rider, about as real as murderous monsters in society can get, from how the police respond, peoples reaction to the events and to its main rider.
THE CHARACTERS
Always positive, no matter how bad the situation gets.
In a way, the first episode gives us everything we need to know about Yusuke. A very talented, caring young man willing to do anything in his power to protect the world around him, from the simple stuff like cheering up a child separated from his parent, to the end where he is fighting a monster to protect the people around even at the expense of himself. While he doesn't go through any kind of major character arc throughout it, he makes up for it by being the best hero that anyone could be. This also ties in with the attempt at being a more realistic take on the franchise, so you know how in most Kamen Rider series (Or Toku in general) how a Rider or warrior's introduction is meant to show us how badass they are. Yeah that does not happen in Kuuga, that first fight of his has him struggling throughout and if it weren't for the help of Kaoru likely would've been killed, granted the form is far weaker than what he ends up using, but it sets a precedent with Kuuga, unlike previous protagonist, he's not some Cybernetically enhanced human like a lot of Rider's who preceded him, he is an average guy, while extremely skilled, hopping into a situation far beyond what he has done before. This also extends to his following forms specifically the Dragon and Pegasus forms (the series don't name them, but specials do give them names.) In Dragon form's case, while he has higher mobility, it comes at the expense of his power, so Yusuke needs to find the means of overcoming that weakness (Or more specifically he is told about what to do by Sakurako) the only exception to that is the fourth form he gets and in that case it is far simpler in the you are much more bulky, you have a sword, go smash up the monsters. It also takes a bit of time to get most of the cast to be okay with his attempts to help the police fight the monsters and even they for the initial arc following the first two episodes treat him as a potential threat. While Kuuga is in aspects darker than what came beforehand, it never fully feels hateful of its past tropes for heroes like Ryuki did. Rather Yusuke embraces what made those past heroes so good and thats the strongest point about Yusuke, his positive nature, even in the face of the growing threat and body count that each Unidentified lifeform ends up bringing, Yusuke is always reassuring those around him that everything will be okay and to have a brighter outlook on life. But despite the positivity he brings, he is still angry when he needs to be (really angry). That strength of his makes him arguably one of my favorite main riders, yeah he has no real arc, but being the best he can be makes him a defining Kamen Rider.
In terms of the supporting cast, while he never dons any suit to fight, I consider Kaoru Ichijo the series secondary rider, because even without the suit, he kicks a lot of ass, serving as the liaison between Yusuke and the special force created to combat the ULF's, he's a bit of a workaholic and is dedicated to his work, but man does he do a lot. This series really shows that the people outside of Kuuga are trying to better combat the ULF's and Ichijo is an example of what one can do even if they are not super-powered, the fact that he gets to kill two of the ULF's also really helps with how much I like him, it also is realistic of his relationship with Yusuke, in how he sees him initially as a civilian and slowly begins to trust him and help the science police in fighting, often trying to go out of his way to do what he feels is the best in dealing with each situation. Yeah if these first two are anything to go by, you can tell I really liked this cast.
Can't transform, fights monsters far stronger then him.
While the rest of the cast does not have as much importance as the initial, they all do serve the story in meaningful ways, Sakurako translate the ancient text and provides initally help on what each form excels at and soon is one of the primary driving forces behind the myth arc of kuuga, Yusuke's sister Minori, often is at the focus of the more human sub plots ranging from the kids she cares for or how the grongi have effected the lives of people. Shuichi Tsubaki gives insight to the anatomy of Yusuke with the arcle and the ULF. Hikari Enokida serves as the main scientist who are crafting the weapons to fight the ULF, at the expense of her relationship with her son. Which sort of ties in with Jean Michel Sorrel, who alongside helping Sakurako also tries to help Enokida with her familial issues. While Tamasaburo Kazari may seem like the least important one, he often feels like a breath of levity in a series that often times is serious.
Which brings to the point that Kuuga is very character focused, more so than W or OOO's, both series still had stories that while not being fully serialized still came up from episode to episode. Kuuga more is focused on the lives of the people invovled in the fight against the ULF, their stories are just as important as the fight against the ULF.
Moving on to the ULF, or as they are soon revealed to be called Grongi (so I can stop with that Acronym) Were at the time a major departure from what the Showa era had done villain wise. Trading in the terrorist organization and scientific ways of the likes of Shocker, Gorgam and Black Satan. The grongi were a race of creatures less bent on world domination, rather playing a game of who can kill the most to become the new leader. Aside from the first group looking like they walked out of hot topic with their fashion sense, the main striking point about these ancient serial killers is that they speak their own unique language throughout most of the series, and this is where I will bring up subs. If you are planning on watching Kuuga (and why would you not, seriously, stop reading this, its on Tubi, its on tokushoutsu, its one of the few kamen rider series you can watch legally without pirating easily, you no excuse) I recommend a sub that does not translate the language. It not only adds to the mystery but it gets you to see the body language, certain phrases that are reused, how the tone is for the voice to facial reactions. If you are going for a rewatch, then it you can go with the translated text to see if you were close to how a scene played out.
There are very few constants in our world, birth, death, and monsters modeled after spiders being early Kamen rider villains
That being said only a couple of them really have specific plot importance. The leader N-Daguva-Zeba who serves as the final boss and this series example of pure evil and as a evil counterpart to Yusuke, he also has a lot of well done build up around him, we see grongi, specifically Gooma, talking about him and how he is their leader and shows just how much of a bigger threat he is compared to what Yusuke is fighting now. Ra-Barub-De who serves as the judge of the Grongi's game and acts as the nemesis to Ichijou throughout the series. Finally their is Zu-Gooma-Gu, initally defeated in episode 2, he ends up sticking around as the butt-monkey for being beaten by Kuuga and not dying. He keeps trying to get back in to little success and serves to be a joke for most of the series. He is also integral in the inital foreshadowing of Daguva in a way of he gets some of his power which now has the others concerned about the threat he is now, only for Daguva to show up off screen and make it clear that he may have been strong, but the big bossman is even is. While not the most deep villain groups the franchise. The grongi make up for it with the intrigue they bring with them, the level of carnage and how cool some of them look.
AESTHETIC/MUSIC
Don't underestimate him he's still growing
If their is one thing I do really like about Kuuga's suit design for the main rider, its how it shows growth of power through the evolution of suit From rising forms use of white, very lackluster horn and weaker. To the final form full black body with gold lines running all across. In regards to pure aesthetics, Kuuga's design is really solid, I love how each color compliments the black underbody and the gold as an accent gives it this regal look, there's also the minor details really help to define each forms uniqueness from others. Mighty's standard shoulder pads representing its jack of all stat's abilities. Dragon losing the pads showing it as a faster form that lacks the power of the others. Pegasus having a singular shoulder pad as the gunner or archer in the group, and finally titan's more pronouced pads being the big fighter of the four forms.
Mighty Jump, Mighty Kick, Mighty Rider, Mighty Rider.
The arcle looks good to, I like how the gem in the center changes depending on what form he is in and like with the forms, also gets more gold on it as it powersup, though the buttons on the front do feel a little unecesary as he doesn't ever need to push them when he needs to transform, I know it is form more the toys as a way to change the color on the gem but it feels like its their for the toy rather than the series itself.
Pure, undiluted ultimate power, only for special occasions
The grongi look reasonably terrifying. Humanoid creatures that's face are represented by their animal, A neat twist is that the elite members of the tribe also have form changes akin to Kuuga's 4 forms, like with Kuuga's it is an example of storytelling thorugh costumes that the threat is also growing. Alongside that is also in the usage of the explosion that follows the death of Grongi, yeah those things that happen after a monster or are hero is brutally beaten up and serves as a final flair after a battle, yeah they are treated as fairly serious especially as they become bigger and actaully potentially cause destruction, it continues Kuuga's attention to aesthetic to help tell its story.
Our villains Ladies and gentlemen, cold blooded killing machines, got all of their clothing idea's from hot topic, don't worry the stronger one's look less like edgy garage bands
Which also carries over to the action set pieces, Kuuga plays many of its fights are rough, very quick with very few punches or just a singular hit ends it, if you are coming from later series, Kuuga can come off as rather aged (not helped by some of the dated CG) but at the end of the day, Kuuga is not wanting to focus on fight scene, its focus is on its characters and their growths. Despite that, when Kuuga wants to go all out on an action scene they can be visually spectacles, by episode 2's end, we have Kuuga full transformation to the backdrop of a burning church. If you sometimes tire of cityscapes or abandoned warehouses for action set pieces, Kuuga does well to spice things up.
Musically Kuuga is going more for ambience to help with its ambience. Its opening theme has this build up from its constant bass line and drum beat before exploding into a more rocking chorus where it picks up and it is really good, it not only works as an opener but also just as a song that exemplifies that Kamen Rider, after years of dormancy is back in a big way. In another way that Kuuga differs from most of the Heisei era, it also has an ending theme, a much more calming, relaxing piece that closes out each episode, while it can serve as a bit of whiplash after a more serious moment, it does well as an ending piece to an episode.
Much of Kuuga's insert theme's also are rather ambient and meant to build atmosphere or a more fist pumping kind of songs for fights. They do lend well to giving the show its unique atmosphere, that being said it does sometimes just go out the ear unless you are actively listening to the songs. Every song fits the scene it is in, but I have issues remebering some of them unlike with OOO's songs like Time Judged all and Tighten up
FAVORITE EPISODES
Episode 1-2: I know it might be weird that some of my favorite episodes are the first two, but they do a perfect job of giving us an introduction to this world. Yusuke's positive attitude and desire to fight to protect the world's smiles. Kaoru perfectly complimenting his character with his more serious personality and ethic giving the duo perfect chemistry, the full introduction of mighty form with the buring church in the background is striking and it is a great introduction and return of kamen rider.
Episode 27-28: This was one of those episodes that gives us a focus on the civilian side of how life with the grongi game's the worries they have, how they feel escpecially since they were just there and just missed out on the incident at the time, and the way that they find out the Grongi of the week's method is actaully pretty interesting and of all of the first kills one of the rising forms get , I do like it the most of them with how he tosses her into the sea.
34-35: So if you have already watched Kuuga you already know about this two-parter, it is arguably one of the defining episodes of the series and honestly, I really don't want to talk about it in regards for spoilers, like seriously, if you haven't give Kuuga a chance, unlike a majority of the series I have talked about this is legitimately available to watch with supporting the official release without having to go to a piracy website. All I will say is that Go-Jaraji-Da still stands as one of the most terrifying monsters this franchise will ever create, his method of killing varies vastly even from the rest of his kin making him one of the most memorable Grongi created, and that climax of 35...chills every time I watch it.
The face of nightmare fuel, whih says a lot about him compared to literally every other villain
CONCLUSION
This will probably sound very pretentious but their are very few shows like Kamen Rider Kuuga, a show that hits every bell for a successful revival while also carving out its own identity from the previous series. It can be a bit slow for some and the action may seem on the weaker side, but Kuuga knows what it wants to be, for example it cuts out its climax fight right at the end in favor of having Yusuke go around talking to his friends (I was originally thinking of that as my sample for least favorite, but taken with the context of the show, it really works) The characters feel like real people, the villains are terrifying and cool the atmosphere is spectacular, and the music is outstanding. I cannot recommend enough going and watching Kuuga right this very instant, its the kind of show that may likely never come around in our lifetime. Okay now I am sounding pretentious.
FINAL GRADE: S
That's actually it, Kuuga only had the television series, their were a few specials here and there but they were more recaps then anything else, a movie for Kuuga was planned but budgetary issues had it canned making it the only Heisei Kamen rider with no movie whatsoever. Which depending on your opinions toku movies could be a good thing
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