Kamen Rider Black
By Philip Niņo Tan-Gatue

Introduction

I first saw this hero when I was 11 years old and was on a trip to Japan. At the time, the only Japanese heroes I knew were Bioman and Ultraman. Imagine my shock then when I saw this bug-eyed ebony-clad superhero with the killer bike! I didn't see any episodes in Japan, just some pictures on Terebi Magazine. Fortunately, the series was broadcast in my native Philippines a few years later dubbed in Filipino. It is from these episodes, plus my newly acquired English subtitled DVDs (episodes 27-51 plus the RX preview special) that I make my review.

The year was 1987. The last Rider TV show was Kamen Rider Super 1 in 1980 and the only new Rider since then was Kamen Rider ZX in one tv movie. After the amazing success of Kamen Rider in the early to mid 70s plus a brief resurgence later that decade, it seemed that Ridermania had passed away with the surge of sentai popularity and real robot animation October 4, 1987 came and tokusatsu history was forever changed.

He was the first Rider I ever watched (although I did have a V3 mask as a kid) and he made an enormous impact on me. The music was dark, the bad guys actually LOOKED like bad guys and the monsters were actually scary! The plots didn't seem so childish as with other hero shows and the hero could act! Only a great series could revitalize Ridermania and this was it. (Unfortunately, the crappy sequel Black RX made sure that Ridermania was buried again to the point that not even Shin, Zo or J could bring it back. until Kuuga.)

Overview

Kamen Rider Black (KRB for short) tells the story of Minami Kotaro (Robert in the dub) and his battles against the evil cult Golgom. Now, Kamen Rider origins typically are "motorcycle riding good guy is cyborgized into a bug-faced hero who turns against the bad guys" or the like. KRB offers an interesting twist to the origin. The beginning of the series shows us a dazed Kotaro trying to hide from three Golgom priests, who are combing Tokyo for him. Once they find him, they tell him he is no longer human, and that he must go back with them to Golgom. Kotaro refuses to believe them, and the priests must convince him by knocking him through concrete walls and electrocuting him on a neon sign to show that he is indeed now a cyborg. After being knocked around a few buildings, he emerges from a warehouse transformed into cyborg form for the first time. He then fights off the Golgom priests and makes his way back home. There, he receives a letter from his stepfather Professor Akizuki, who meets him in a rural factory and explains the story to him.

Golgom is ruled by a Century King who dies every 5000 years. This era's Century King has three priests, Bishium the female, the green faced Baraom and the wrinkly (whatsisname), who are at work to choose a successor for him. Golgom's human agents, along with archaeologists Professor Akizuki and Professor Minami are helping them. Minami and Akizuki's sons, Kotaro and Nobuhiko were born on the same day of the same year, on the day of a solar eclipse. Thus, they were destined to become pawns in Golgom's evil plot.

Kotaro's parents were killed in a plane crash, and Professor Akizuki adopted him (the dub calls him Robert Akizuki, although he retains his Minami surname in the original Japanese) and raised him as twin brother to Nobuhiko. He becomes close with stepsister Kyoko and Nobuhiko's girlfriend Kazumi. On their 19th birthday, Nobuhiko and Kotaro are kidnapped by Golgom. It turns out that they were to be turned into cyborgs by the Golgom priests, each being implanted with a Kingstone. Nobuhiko was turned into Shadow Moon while Kotaro into Black Sun. Shadow Moon and Black Sun were to battle each other to the death, with the victor gaining both Kingstones. The victor was to succeed the dark lord as the new Century King and lead Golgom to rule the earth. (side comment: at least Golgom has an excuse for not being able to create more riders, or trying the rider process on LOYAL members and thus saving themselves the headache of rebellion) Professor Akizuki objects to Kotaro and Nobuhiko's minds being brainwashed, however, and he tries to release them both, succeeding in releasing Kotaro but injuring Nobuhiko in his "cocoon". Kotaro then finds the sentient motorcycle Battle Hopper and escapes. Kotaro then remembers and is stunned. "Is this why my parents were killed? Because they resisted?" he asks, "How could you do this?" "When Golgom rules only you and Nobuhiko and those like you will remain alive!" Kotaro refuses to accept, and tries to run away, only to note his path blocked by spiderwebs.

Four spider mutants then try to kill them both, succeeding in hurling Professor Akizuki from a tower. Before succumbing to his injuries, the dying professor tells Kotaro to find Nobuhiko and protect Kyoko. An enraged Kotaro cannot hold it back anymore. Finally accepting what has happened to him, he activates the Kingstone's power voluntarily for the first time. Rejecting the evil of Golgom, he rejects the name Black Sun. He is now the new avenging hero of justice, a new Kamen Rider. Kamen Rider. BLACK!

The Rest of the Series in Brief

Kotaro eventually gains a second motorcycle, the more traditional looking Road Sector. An ancient Golgom warlord Belgenia arises and wants the title of Century King for himself. After finding the Satan Saber, he openly sabotages Golgom's last ditch attempt to bring Shadow Moon back to full health. Despite his efforts, Shadow Moon awakens and kills Belgenia. Shadow Moon then takes control of Golgom. Thus, Kotaro Minami is faced with a dilemma - can he battle and kill his own stepbrother?

Comments on the Series

I have often said that if previous riders (and other tokusatsu shows in general) were the Adam West/Burt Ward Batman, then KRB is like Tim Burton's Batman and Batman Returns (although the other two are like Black RX - a reversion to kiddie show type). I guess KRB was an attempt to "modernize" the rider franchise into the dark hero trend of American comics at the time. John Byrne's Man of Steel series and the Batman year one and two graphic novels comes to mind. To this end, they got rid of some previous rider staples: the elder "mentor" ala Tachibana Tobei, the scarves, and the stupid faceless goons who always chant the evil empire's name. Imagine grunts chanting, "Golgom! Golgom!" Ugh. They did retain the Boy Rider Squad (although in this series they are Golgom orphans trained with guns who rebelled, and only appear in two episodes I think), and funky hand jive transformations and the Rider Kick as a final weapon. Compared to other tokusatsu shows in general, this show was DARK. Just compare the Flea mutant that KRB fought here to the "Fighting Flea" of Zyuranger/Power Rangers and you'll see what I mean. Tetsuo Kurata delivers a magnificent performance as Kotaro Minami, able to show believable emotions as the scripts call for, and able to do some of his own stunts. He also sang the title song, by the way. The background music is one of the most stunning I have ever heard from ANY TV show or movie. The plots, like I mentioned before, are not as ridiculous as what I have seen from Goggle Five or the Japanese Spiderman. Of course, there are some instances where the plots slip a bit, but in general they never sink to cheesy level. On a trivial note, I saw the actor playing Bioman Red One make a guest appearance in one episode, and Susume Kurobe of ULTRAMAN fame (he played Hayata!) played a recurring role in the early episodes as Golgom sympathizer scientist Professor Kuromatsu.

In general, Kamen Rider Black is a welcome deviation from the traditional aim-it-at-the-kids approach. Unlike other shows that tried to be serious, like JAKQ or Metalder, KRB was a hit. No doubt, Tetsuo Kurata was a big reason. He was signed for the sequel, Kamen Rider Black Rx, but in this humble writer's opinion, Rx was geared towards merchandising instead of story and so flubbed compared to KRB. Saban should have gotten KRB instead of KRBRX for its Masked Rider TV series. Then again, if they did, they would have made a mockery of KRB, if that were all possible. Kamen Rider Kuuga tried to bring back the hard flavor of KRB to the Rider series, as with Agito. However, I feel that Kuuga, Agito and now Ryuuki are more geared towards selling toys. With these things in mind, I am stating for all cyberspace to see that in my opinion, Kamen Rider Black is one of the best, if not THE best of the Rider series.

Philip Niņo Tan-Gatue