Kamen Rider Ryuki   (Info resources: Jill's Ryuki Wing and Henshin Online)
By JC

Introduction

13 decks were made for 13 warriors to battle the Monsters of the Mirror World. By a twist of fate, one of these decks has fallen into the hands of a web journalist named, Shinji Kiddo. With it, Shinji transforms into Kamen Rider Ryuki to protect the lives of the innocent. There are 12 others out there who also possess the power of the Kamen Rider; some of them good, but others... evil. There exist 13 men and women who are to determine the fate of the world. 13 who are tasked to hold back the dark tide of the Mirror World. Shirko Kanzaki, the Creator of the Decks makes only one thing clear: the 13 Riders must battle to the last, for in the end... there can be only one.

The Story

Shinji Kiddo is just your average ordinary guy. Bills to pay, wishes he had a nice car and always trying to please his surely editor, Mr. Okubo, at the online news paper he works for called, The ORE (Open Resource Evolution) Journal.

While investigating a recent rash of disappearances, Shinji stumbles upon a mysterious deck of cards, found at the scientist Shiro Kanzaki's apartment who has himself vanished under, as of yet, unknown circumstances.

Faster than Shinji can say, “Henshin!” he finds himself apart of a secret war, as one of 13 warriors fated to battle each other to the last called, Kamen Riders. In addition to fighting each other, they also battle the Mirror World Monsters, demon beasts whose only purpose is to seek out and devourer the defenseless.

Teamed up with the seasoned rival and dark loner Kamen Rider Knight, Ren Akiyama, Shinji struggles to find out the secret behind the creation of the decks and the Monsters of the Mirror world; all while trying to stop the senseless in fighting among the Riders who seek only The Prize won by being the Last Rider to survive. Can he do all this, survive to the end and still get in his latest story to the impatient Mr. Okubo so that he can finally move out of the office and get a place of his own!?

From the creator of Timeranger comes the latest installment in the Kamen Rider Universe: KAMEN RIDER RYUKI!

My Opinion

Kamen Rider Ryuki seems to pull directly from Highlander and Digimon Tamers. Tamers in that there are several Riders who have their own monsters and by using a deck of cards can in act upgrades and special attacks and Highlander in that there’s that “Fight until only one survives” plot element that they have going. Stepping back from the campy-ness of Sentai, Ryuki embraces its story with complete and utter seriousness. Reason behind this is that the hot guys in the show have attracted the 30-something women demographic who watch it with their kids. So it's written and directed to pander to adults, but aimed.... for children, which is fine by me. The ability of a kid to follow a coherent and developing serious plot bereft of any comedy relief I feel is far too underestimated. This might be why in latest ratings reports Ryuki’s beating out Hurricanger. That and the adult demographic they’re pulling in which definitely can’t be hurting any.

Action’s awesome. One of the things that’s turned me off to most tokusatsu and other Kamen Rider series is that their fight choreography was so… lumbering and impromptu. I was used to the hyper-kinetic quick cuts and camera tricks used to pull of impossible moves that I expect from a martial art super hero. Sentai seems to hit the bulls-eye every time with their fight scenes, but with the toku I’ve seen, either what I’m seeing is the actors getting encumbered by their own outfits or just more “realistic” fight choreography that just doesn’t entertain my eye. I’m a kung fu/kick-flick fan and I expect my fight scenes to be all the action you’d expect from Jet Li on a sugar rush. Kamen Rider Ryuki does not disappoint in this respect. There are flaming dragon power kicks, excellently used camera tricks blended in perfectly with CGI special effects and the costumed stuntmen seem totally at home in their respective costumes as if it was an extension of their own bodies.

The special effects come off looking pretty cheap, but at the same time what I have to admire about them is that they’re used with expert precision. You can tell with blaring ease that the scene where Shinji makes "contract" with his Dragon is pretty cheap CGI, but in the hands of the director it comes off perfectly. Watching these "cheap" special effects in the hands of this director is akin to that seen in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon where Chow Yun Fat wielded only a stick against the Green Destiny. The director truly shows that it's not the size of the budget but how you use it and he uses it like a true master storyteller.

Final Word

Kamen Rider Ryuki is perfect for those of you whom are curious about the Kamen Rider mythos and are looking for a good series to easily introduce them to this 20 year old franchise.Kamen Rider purists would argue over the fact that Ryuki is a pretty drastic departure from the traditional one man Kamen Rider. In this series, there are 13 and not all of them are good. In fact, the main character Shinji is the only one so far whose choice to transform is completely selfless. All the others just want to survive to the end and/or win The Prize.

Kamen Rider Ryuki also panders to the surprising amount of female viewers in Japan, who sit down and watch the show with their children (Good job, mothers of Japan!). So ladies, Ryuki has been loaded to the brim with a multitude of hot bishonen goodness for your viewing pleasure. Worry not fellas, while not quite as many or blatant, there are a couple ladies in the mix so that you get your respective ogle on. One of them even happens to be a Kamen Rider who appears later in the series.

For those of you new to the Kamen Rider world, but familiar with such American aired shows like Digimon Tamers or Highlander, this series willimmediately make you feel right at home. Those of you die-hard fans beware. If you don’t like your Rider series where the hero shares the mantle with others and has a metal grill over those trademark grasshopper eyes, you might not be the happiest fan in the world. But, if you’re able to go in to this alternate Kamen Rider universe with an open mind, you should be in for a more than enjoyable ride.

That’s about it from me, except for a little technical rating on a 5 point scale on the quality of the DVD. Video gets a crisp number 5, sound quality gets a 4.5 (Simply because I personally lack a decent surround sound system to judge any higher) and the subtitles get an admirable 4, but degrade to a still easily acceptable 3.5.

This series has made a Kamen Rider fan out of me and has left me curious to find out more about Kamen Rider’s traditional beginnings. If you couldn’t tell, I highly recommend checking out Kamen Rider Ryuki. I hope that you all enjoy it as much as I did.

“I am willing to transform to protect the innocent.” -Shinji Kiddou
<< Keith "JC" Hayward >>