Kaiju no Kami Reviews - Kamen Rider Black (1987) Series
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- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2024
- Thirty years ago, Kamen Rider Black took to the airwaves on Japanese television and became one of the biggest hits at that point in the Kamen Rider franchise. Not only was this the first show to be set in its own universe, but Kotaro had to deal with the evil forces of the Gorgom Empire on his own without a secondary rider to help him. Is this series well worth its notability or should Gorgom have wiped Kotaro off the face of the Earth? Watch to find out.
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Kamen Rider Black is by far my favorite series of the Showa era. Amazing and dark story, it has my favorite soundtrack and it screams '80s from every angle, the opening theme is still one of my favorites of all time. It's dark but not depressing, I also like how it focuses on the bikes, I think that in the Heisei era only Kuuga had a huge focus on the bikes, after that they were almost toys with funny looks like in Ryuuki. RX is so disappointing after Black. Great review.
Thanks. glad you enjoyed it. Also great to hear from another person that loves Black.
Yeah, that's why black is alot of people favorite show kamen rider show. Its just simply amazing with great rider and creature design, effects and music (The opening is one of my top 5 favorite), and of course with good story and characters. I am happy to see that you're not disappointed at black.
So good job with your review. It was informative and I would recommend first time kamen rider watcher to see your review video before watching them.
That is the hope and why I try to avoid putting in as many spoilers as possible so that new fans don't get spoiled.
Actually, Kamen Rider Black IS set in the same universe as the previous Showa Era shows. It's direct sequel, Kamen Rider Black RX even featured previous Riders and had them team up with Black RX (who is Black, but upgraded) in the series' finale.
Yes and no. I will go into more details when I review Rx, but originally Black was set in its own universe, hence why no one even knows the name of Kamen Rider until Black. Hell, Toei even set it in its own universe in Decade.
The show that introduced the greatest KR villain ever; Shadow Moon. What makes him so good is that he starts out as Kotaro's step-brother Nobuhiko Akizuki, someone Kotaro was close with. Unlike Kotaro, who used his powers for good, Nobuhiko was corrupted by his powers and was consumed to the point where he was controlled by Shadow Moon. A tragic villain who was turned into a monster against his will.
I really wonder what it must have been like for audiences back in 88 to have what they thought was going to be their secondary rider end up being the main villain of the show.
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork And I don't think it was Shadow Moon redeeming himself in RX so much as it was actually Nobuhiko. Think about it, even after RX, he's still the bad guys despite formerly being the kind-hearted Nobu (with the exception of Nobuhiko Tsukikage. Seriously, his name's a BIG spoiler if you translate his last name).
I think it was the writer's way of showing that Nobuhiko still had a speck of humanity in RX. My theory is that Nobuhiko had finally found a way to fight off Shadow Moon's influence and regain control enough to help Kotaro even though he was nearing his death. This time permanently for Nobuhiko since he reverted back.
@@Caine7ify I don't think he was corrupted by his powers. I think he was either brainwashed or just given a whole new personality/possessed. In his first appearance as Shadow Moon, He said he did not remember the name Nobuhiko. This says to me Possessed, since at one point the Armor is gone and Nobuhiko comes back to himself for a few seconds
@@DarkSilverHedgehog I believe the Creation King, who is kinda the big bad in Kamen Rider Black briefly reverted Shadow Moon back to Nobuhiko using his powers. It's possible this somehow caused Nobuhiko to regain his humanity when the Creation King ordered Shadow Moon to remove the Kingstone from Minami Kotaro but he refused for some reason.
When he was a kid, a pair of epileptics killed the director's parents by gouging their eyes out. Since then, he swore to take revenge on all people with epilepsy by constantly showing rapid flashing lights in his shows, until he was banished from Japan after the broadcast of Electric Soldier Porygon. He was last seen directing the final episode of The Problem Solverz.
Ok, that probably didn't happen, but it's the only reason I could come up with as to why this show wants your eyeballs to fucking melt.
lol That's quite funny. Do you like this show?
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork I tried, but my eyes blew up from all the flashing lights.
I haven't seen it yet.
The lights were, no joke, part of the toy-marketing-campaign behind Kamen Rider Black. The Toy of the Belt would actually react to, for example, the henshin-sequence on screen which is why the show has a lot of flashing lights in it.
@@horaciosiNah. That's just you.
Great coverage of Black. You explained things that I didn't understand when I originally watched it in Japan (no subs). Thanks!
Glad you enjoyed it. :-)
In a way Shadow Moon resembled MadGalant,Juspion's villain.Not only because of the rivalry with the main character,but originally their visuals were made for the hero (but refused).
Shadow Moon was also the first "rider" with Metal Hero elements.
But Shadow Moon was way more explored than MadGalant.It's a shame because his fights with Juspion (like the one when his arm was cut off ) were awesome,but without the tension and tragedy between Black and Shadow Moon.
Yeah, that was the biggest issue with Juspion and Mad Gallant, there was no true tension with the characters to really make their rivalry feel epic.
The most famous kamen rider showed in Brazil. There was the RX too. It's one of my favorite Kamen Rider ever.
Really? Is this the first series to hit Brazil then?
Kaiju no Kami Yep, the series was a success there.
No, but I believe that Kamen Rider was the second or the third to achieve the highest popularity in Brazil. Juspion was the first to achieve more popularity, I think so..
Nice.
Black is also the first Kamen Rider I saw on local TV here in Indonesia, back in early 90s.
and remained my favorite kamen rider ever (along with black rx), with Kuuga as 2nd favorite.
It's exciting for Kamen Rider black RX to be a follow-up to Kamen Rider black, to see our main character be reborn
I have mixed feelings on it, but I'll get into that when I review the show.
Kamen Rider Black is from far the best of Kamen Rider series. The story, the atmosphere, the villain (Shadow Moon), everything in this serie is awesome. Excellent Review.
Thanks. :-) Did you watch this one as a kid too?
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork Sure, my friend. After each episode, I used to play as Kamer Rider Black. lol. I would always want a Shadow Moon action figure but it was very expensive. In my childhood there was a golden age of tokusatsus in the Brazil.
Makes sense. Being that you said you live in Brazil I'm sure that means you know of Juspion, which just came to the US for the very first time this year and I have reviewed. :-)
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork Yep, and I have watched your review. Juspion did a enormous sucess here. Almost everyone remeber him.
I just got thru watching it last night to celebrate it's 30th anniversary. It's still one of all-time favorite Kamen Rider series. Love the review by the way and i must add in the episode "The Restored Organism Mecha" the character Morita in the episode was played by Ryosuke Sakamoto Shirou Gou/Red 1 in Choudenshi Bioman. I do enjoy other Riders and even the Showa Riders, i have to say Minami Kotaro is my main favorite in the Showa Era despite i have other favorites too.
Ah, I thought that dude looked familiar. Sometimes there are so many actors in these shows that I could just do a whole hour long video of who appeared in what series. :-)
my favorite music from this show is simply called Henshin, its kinda the right mix of action packed yet a little somber, even starting like a warriors entrance into battle
I think I know which one you are referring to, and yeah, that one is great too. The whole show is great in its music though.
This was a good review. I love how straightforward you are with your scores, using the 5 star system instead of the 10 point one.
Also you're spot on with the show! Sure , there were some issues with it but it didn't take away my enjoyment and appreciation of the show since there wasn't a lot of Kamen Rider shoes back then as they are now and during the Heisei Era.
I figured since most Sentai teams are 5 rangers, I would go with a 5 star rating. :-) It initially started as a joke with Zyuranger and I just stuck with it. lol
The Baku is a yokai that looks like a tapir, that swallows dreams, so you'll see monsters based on it in many tokusatsu shows
Yeah, someone explained that earlier on (it may have been during the Changeman review).
You forgot the Whale Mutant as one of Black's allies, which was a rarity a monster as a Rider ally at that point, the first and last time being done in Amazon.
Actually, I left that out due to spoilers.
My first toku ever. My childhood Hero. Kamen Rider Black is my Favorite Toku show. Not because it was the first, but because I really love the overall vibe of the show. The Villains are legitimately threatening, Kotaro doesn't always win, Despite having some sort of back up, most of his fight with Golgom was done by his lonesome and despite his losses (which is a lot), he still fought the good fight. This show even impacted me on how I go about in life. When things get tough, I always try to remember how despite everything Kamen Rider Black is going through, he still fights win or lose.
Thank you for reviewing this series.
Glad you enjoyed my review. Do you have a favorite episode or monster?
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork Bishium. She has that scary/beautiful vibe.
My favorite episode is the Hellshooter episode
The mutants were scared of black lol
Ironically that plot point in the second move actually cryologecly takes place before that episode which had a similar plot.
lol
Great call on Dyna-Blue! I wouldn’t have recognized him with such short hair! And Dynaman remains my favorite Sentai show. which absolutely zero people would agree with me about, but it’s FUCKING insane! Every single shot ends in a zoom lens or an explosion! You can’t say that about next year’s Bioman, or anything that followed! It’s just amazing, as was Black, a few years later!
Right now, I'd say Dyna is my favorite from the 80s, but I haven't really seen Flashman yet (nor the ending to Dyna), so that could change.
I want to guess the amnesia plot was an attempted reference to the Kamen Rider Black manga, which starts with Kotaro being discovered with total amnesia in the sewers of New York, and he gradually pieces together his life story by going on a globe-trotting adventure with the crew of a paranormal investigation reality show. Yeah...
As cool as that would be, I doubt it since they always use the amnesia plot.
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork we did see an evil future version Kortaro in the Manga series too though.
my first kamen rider series was truly amazing the monsters and villains were cool and I liked how a few of them kill people makes it more epic the fights were pretty good and the effects great for its time the ending was sad
Agreed.
yeah many of the new ones feel to tamed
The best Kamen Rider is Kamen Rider Black !
He's one of my favorites.
Thanks for the review, i llike the fact you show video clips, explained the plot and pointed out the mistakes.
Glad you enjoyed it. Unless it's a Quickie review, which is for movies currently in theaters or something, I feel that a review needs to have clips to highlight the positives and negatives.
The first kamen rider series with a Sequel, and the beginning of the many form riders also the darkest kamen rider series not since ichigo
Kind of. A direct sequel, yes. However, all of the other Showa series before it were kind of sequels to each other since they all take place in one universe.
Kaiju no Kami true, but it did introduce the first and badass dark rider
one of the few series we saw monsters kill people
I don't know, even Ryuki, Agito, Kuuga, Blade, Kiva, and W had monsters kill people.
yeah I know they did some more then others but its slowed down over the years and less intense I mean monsters not killing dulls things
Gotcha.
good job! keep up the good work! you are original!
Thanks. :-)
my favorite kamen rider of all time back in the 90s in our country it was very famous and il was dubbed in our language long live kamen rider black henshin !
Was that also Brazil?
Yet another great review. I was so excited for you to review this. It's the first Kamen Rider series I ever saw one of my favourite Toku shows. Also, out of curiosity, have you seen any of the other showa entries and if so what did you think?
I've seen the first 21 episodes to the original and liked what I saw and then Black Rx, which I felt was all right. For the others, I've only seen the first episodes sans V3.
I think the original is pretty good too. V3 and Stronger I found boring. I really liked Amazon and Skyrider as well. Also, if you're interested I found a company that released Gavan on DVD with English subs.
I've actually got Gavan fansubs that were ripped from the Blu-Rays, thanks though.
You're welcome. Also, would you ever consider reviewing the original Kamen Rider series?
Seeing as I now have the whole thing fansubbed, yes. The problem is with it being 98 episodes it is going to take a long time before I would get through it.
Thanx for the review. Luv Kamen Rider Shadow Moon. Villains were awesome , generally, in Black. Effects were great. Mutants were great.
Glad you enjoyed the review and the series.
Hey I love your reviews! Was wondering what Super Sentai series you're gonna review next if you plan on doing another one. The only ones I've watched so far are Hikari Sentai Maskman and Chojin Sentai Jetman
Megaranger will be next as the DVD set comes out next week. I hope to have that out sometimes around Thanksgiving. I'm also currently watching Goggle V and Dynaman (waiting on the rest of the fansubs to finish Dyna).
Good review on Kamen Rider Black! That said which do you prefer? Original or new Kamen Rider?
Well my favorite is Blade.
would love to see a "what if" story, where it was Shadow Moon who escaped instead of Black... XD
That could be interesting.
The Tapir thing has to do with a japanese yokai, if I'm not mistaken. Its the same thing the pokemon Drowzee is based off from.
Yeah, they also had one in last week's Lupinranger episode. It's just funny as I never realized tapirs were associated with nightmares before.
The Brazilians' first exposure to Kamen Rider, one of the biggest Tokusatsu successes there, they even got its sequel, Black RX.
That's pretty cool. It's interesting learning what series were popular in what countries.
Kaiju no Kami Oddly enough, the last episode of Black didn't air there, so they just did reruns of episodes with the false promise that they would broadcast the last one.
Aw that was pretty heartless. :-p
I heard that happened with the last four episodes of Spielban!
Here in Brazil Black was broadcasted in 1991,with it's sequel RX broadcasted in 1995 at the same time as Saban's Masked Rider (that one just in cable tv).
Strangely for market reasons they changed the show name for "Blackman",but inside the show he was named Kamen Rider Black.Gavan had the same problem.
Yes the sound track is amazing, I don't think was ever a track that annoyed me. Top notch
Same.
Can't believe were getting this on Blu-Ray next year from Discotek Media.
Totally.
Even till this day n modern times shadowmoons design still looks badass n my opinion.
Also i prefer batter hopper over his other bikes and for what u said about the bike it would've been awesome if his bike can physical shapeshifter into a regular bike kinda like how chalice did his n blade.
Agreed on both accounts.
Honestly(though it woud'nt happen)i would've love to see a team up between w and black.
That would be cool too.
If i'm not mistaken, Black and Joker (Shotaro's Rider form without Philip, using the Joker Gaia Memory by himself) battled each other in a Super Hero Taisen movie. That's the closest we ever got of said team-up, at least for now.
The most badass henshin ever!
:-D
1:56 It was originally suppose to set in its own universe, seperated from other Showa Riders? Black RX kinda retcon it to share with the previous Riders now.
I know. I'll be going into more detail on it when I review Black Rx.
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork that was because the franchise was getting canceled..... again..... anyway interestingly that FBI guy said at the end of his first appearance that Kotaro isn't alone in his battle. Shinta Reviews has an interseting perspective on it and he said that it might allude to the other Riders and others willing to help out even if we didn't get to see them in this season. It makes you wonder if at that point if the developers were already considering putting it into continuity and decided to do so as the show was getting canceled again thanks to a parody called Kamen No Rider turning the franchise into a laughing stock.
I've always found Black and Black RX to be the most interesting of the Kamen Rider shows, since the others look either really lame and wimpy, (Mostly the earlier ones) to overly flashy and boring (Any modern Toku, pretty much) so it was interesting to see this review. I do hope you end up doing a RX review at some point in the future, since it's a direct sequel and also the one that got adapted for the US.
My plan is to review it sometime next year, probably over the summer depending on how busy I am.
This series made kamen rider famous all over the world. And it still is my favorite kamen rider series character wise and story. When people asked me abt kamen rider, hes the only one who popped out in my head.
Nice. I am excited I get to meet the actor next month at PMC.
My first Kamen Rider as a kid growing up in the 90's. I may be biased, but I still consider this as the best of all the Riders in the series.
Makes sense. It's my second favorite.
what's the song called around 6:10
I don't know honestly. There seems to be a lot of songs from the show that seem to have gone untitled when I look them up.
Black Hole Message
KRB is the epitomy of Kamen Riders.
Did you see the announcement about a remake series?
heh kinda late to watching this review lol, as someone whose super new to the Rider franchise, my friend online was VERY adamant i start on ANYTHING Rider with this one, i originally wanted to start on RX lol, cause i wanted to see how much Saban's Masked Rider screwed THAT up (and after since watching RX, it was pretty bad such as the infamous Skyrider declaring he was Amazon in the 10 riders scene, showing how important the age of internet has become to make sure facts and scenes are properly translated lol). But my friend insisted i start on Black since it was the the first one and man i just had a blast watching it, while i do agree on some of your points like Shadowmoon sure as heck taking his time showing up, it was still one of the best tokusatsus i have ever watched, and like i said i watched RX it wasn't as good but i still really enjoyed it, Tetsuo Kurata really has alot of range as an actor though i think i read he preferred the serious Black over the more comedic RX, still all the same you hear all the stories about how much he worked HARD for the role and you can really see him shine, i definitely need to watch more Riders, but i doubt any of them will be as cool as Kotaro lol
Yeah, Kotaro is a bad ass. I hear Kurata has a steak house in Japan. That would be pretty awesome to go to some day.
yes its called the Billy the Kid steakhouse in Tokyo, but i think i read there are multiple ones, so if you want to happen to meet Kurata go to the Toyo-cho locaton
Avalon64 I recommend: OOO, DEN-O, EX-AID, BLACK, BUILD, DRIVE, W and the Originals.
lol i already said i watched BOTH Black and RX, but yeah now you see the problem where to go next, just so many choices i was thinking of trying something different next and watch Kuuga after im done watch the sentai i currently am watching
Haven't seen this show yet looks interesting good review😊
only257 oh dude its awesome. Some would say its the best of the whole series
Uhhh dooo it!!!!!! It’s so fucken good
I think there was an episode where road sector cannot drive on unstable ground or sand
I can't remember at this point.
The worst thing about black is that you remember that it being better , than when you were watching it
I'm going to have to disagree there as it is as good as I remember every time I watch it.
Kaiju no Kami it could have also been that i was watching v3 black drive and ghost at the same time that was the most toku i watched at the same time
Or Black could just not be for you. :-)
I know the feeling of watching a lot at one time though. Last year, I was watching Dynaman, Changeman, Bioman, and Winspector all at the same time.
I do wonder...what if Kotaro had become the Creation King? I mean he wasn't brainwashed like Shadow Moon and (presumably) the previous Creation King...so theoretically he could have used those powers for good...like bitch slapping the Crisis Empire and any other Toku villains within five seconds. Then again...they do say that absolute power can corrupt absolutely...
Good point, but I think he would have to give up his heart in order to become the Creation King.
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork One other thing I wonder about....while the Creation King, the High Priest's and the monsters were all killed...a few of Gorgom's human members, specifically those affiliated with the EP Party seemingly never faced justice for their crimes. Yes they have lost their chance at getting a longer lifespan by becoming monsters, but their still some of the most powerful people in Japan and with their resources they could try to make Kotaro life hell, like maybe trying to get at him through the Sahara family? Then again maybe they decided to cut their loses...though if Shadow Moon had all his memories when he appeared in RX he probably would have tried too force them to help him rebuild Gorgom.
10:20,are you sure they weren't upgraded by Unicron? (WAIT! Wrong show. Sorry.)
Funny you should mention Resident Evil. Noboru Sugimura wrote for Black and then he went on to get to Capcom to make Resident Evil legendary. I really hope this series gets the remake treatment like Kamen Rider Amazons.
So have you heard of an anime called Zeorymer?
lol
You also missed a big chunk of time with Sugimura working Zyu-Oh and the three Metal Hero shows before joining with Capcom. :-)
I have heard of Zeorymer, but have never watched it.
Zeorymer has music that sounds like its from Kamen Rider Black RX. You just needed to shout 'Orega taiyou no koda! Kamen Rider Black...RX!!' when the robot appears with his theme bursting in.
Still,KR Black reboot would be sick.
@@ZZtheDark the music arranger was Eiji Kawamura. He also worked in Zeorymer was composer and arranger the same year when Kamen Rider Black was in full swing.
Prior to both shows, he is the BGM composer for anime Ninja Fighter Tobikage(Ninja Robots) and his famous BGM for the fans (especially SRW fans) is the Tobikage Kenzan. So hide your wallets, hide your Ranka's, Tobikage has arrive in the battle.
Dude i love the series since my uncle got me into the rider and rangers and well i didn't notice the back side armor was open but the song i truly loved
Don't worry, I didn't notice the backside of the armor either my first time watching the show. :-)
Well fun fact : did you know that the tap in folktale base we could eat nightmares so that’s why Karmin Rider black he was a bit of folklore
Yes, I did learn about that some time ago. I'm not sure if it was after this review for after Changeman.
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork ok
Kamen Rider Black (and Black RX), the modern Showa Rider, and the last.
Yep.
Cool
Yay you finally reviewed it!
Yep. :-)
I liked masked riders as a child I can see why this is addictive I like the suit
Yeah, it's a pretty awesome design.
best costume, best story and best rider!
:-) What's your favorite episode?
I like the finishing theme
The music is just great all around.
Nice Review!
Thanks.
4:53 . I was kinda disappointed with the Salamander kaijin/monster episode. In western legends the salamander IS MADE of fire and is immune to it. And I'm sure they must have done their research so I wonder where they got the idea to write in the script that the Salamander kaijin was afraid of fire. Is there any legends in Japan stating that the salamander is afraid of fire?I looked it up and didn't find any. Also, I see what you did there when you said that you didn't "have the heart to talk about real century king." It was brilliant
I really have no idea about the Salamander and fire.
:-D
Probably Due To The Fact That Salamander Mutant's Design Only Based On The Real Life Salamander That Doesnt Includes Their Features Such As Immunity To Fire
@@ScissorsRave Kinda stupid to choose a salamander among all other animal choices that they can choose from. It's like making a Loch Ness,Kraken or Kappa kaijin that is afraid of water.
Probably Due To Suit Budget And TOEI
Where did you find that show? DVD?
That's the Region 2 DVD set from Japan. I got those when they first came out from Amazon Japan and CDJapan.
I hope one day you'll review Kamen rider kiva.
I'll sooner or later move into covering more Kamen Rider series once I get through a huge chunk of Sentai.
Just started this show today and I gotta say it's awesome.
Glad you are enjoying it.
Here's hoping that Black eventually receive the Kamen Rider Amazons treatment. The original series was already a blast to watch from beginning to the end, imagine how a darker and edgier reboot of it have the potential to be even more awesome. Also, not only is Kotaro one of my favorite riders ever but he has the best Henshin of the entire franchise as well IMO.
If they are going to redo Black, I'd like to see an exact adaptation of the manga done.
That would be really cool, but there's a little problem: doesn't the manga's story takes place in New York? That would certainly require a considerably bigger budget to move the entire production team to film in another country. At the very least, the producers would have to find western actors that have a good grasp and undestanding of the japanese language to play the american characters like Sam, Keith and Jack. Either that or Kotaro's actor should be able to speak english perfectly or the least broken as possible (a far less likely alternative, if you ask me).
The manga takes place in several cities and countries, ending in Japan if I recall. They can easily fake it.
Well, regardless of how Toei decides to handle the reboot, they better get Tetsuo Kurata to make a cameo of some sort. Although i would love Kurata-san to once again portray Kotaro, the only logical way for it to happen is if the new series were a sequel to Black and RX instead of actually a reboot.
I could actually see Kurata either playing that version of the dad or Gorgom's scientist.
regarding the ending theme song "Long2 Ago 20th Century", perhaps we need to feel and imagine being robbed from our youth and hope for the future; four teenager friends lost their togetherness because of fate.. am feeling that today in 21st century; mourning over the ended 20th. So it's IMHO strong enough, accompanying "Toki wo Koero..." (leap/surpass the time) lyric in the opening
INteresting thought. 😀
Tapirs are often associated with dreams in japan
That makes more sense.
Great review! What DVD set of Black do you have there? I’ve been looking for the series in physical form.
It's Toei's DVD set they released in Japan. The first volume came with the artbox to hold all five volumes. Each volume cost me around $100 and they are encoded Region 2.
I got interested in Kamen Rider after seeing The First on a whim and reading Ishinomori's original manga. After that I tried to watch the original series because it seemed like a good idea at the time (it wasn't) and as someone who sat through the entirety of Mazinger Z and loved it I was pretty sure I could handle its age. I didn't dislike it but I also didn't end up watching the entire series and sort of quietly forgot about Kamen Rider for a while.
A few years later I got the itch to check out Kamen Rider again after watching some Sentai and didn't really know where to start. I watched ZO first since it was a short movie and thought that was really fun, if a little by the numbers. I wanted to give another Showa show a try because I really liked the cyborg aspects of Kamen Rider and prefer having creepy, monstrous looking villains. Black seemed like the best fit for what I wanted especially since it wasn't part of the shared universe of the other Showa shows. It turned out to be the right choice because I absolutely loved it. Like you said it's not a perfect show, but for a Showa era tokusatsu it's incredible what they were able to do with it. Had I grown up watching this show I have no doubt it would be one of my favorites of all time.
The first time I started to watch the original Kamen Rider series (eps 1-8), I was thrown off by it and wasn't sure what to think of it. Then I restarted it and appreciated it a lot more, but sadly, I had only made it up to episode 21 because that's where the fansubs I had ended at that time and I have never found the time to sit down and watch the series from start to finish. I'm hoping Shout! Factory releases it on BD sooner rather than later so I can finally do that since I would like to review it.
The best Kamen Rider series of all time.
It's one of my favorites.
Dude the bike was there because of the stupid toy gimmick was going through the roof and battle hopper was probably doing poorly as a toy honestly I thought you would have figured that out but any cool channel just subscribed
You're taking my comment too literal, but glad you enjoyed the review.
THAT GODDAMN ENDING SONG IS LEGIT MY MOST FAVORITE THING IN ALL OF BLACK BRUH!! 🙏😭
Nothing wrong with that. I'm just not a fan of most ending themes.
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork Oh okay, that makes sense and I get that a lot but although I love a lot of ending themes in Toku like most of the ones from the Ultra franchise, Kuuga's ED song, & Hibiki's ED song which all sound fantastic for me personally :D
Do you feel that the quality of this show could help it pass as being from the early 90's rather than late 80's? That's the vibe I get so far.
Most definitely. It would totally fit in with the 90s asthetic. Though, Black could be why Sentai went the direction it did in the 90s.
I can only find fansubbed versions of the first 25 episodes or so unfortunately
nyaa.si/view/715307
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork Thanks man, much appreciated. You gonna do anymore Metal Heroes reviews?
Eventually. Right now Sentai and Ultraman are my main focuses. I had originally planned to review Jiban last year, but the Mill Creek started releasing a ton of Ultraman, so there went that plan.
Black is the goat of kamen rider
Bah baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah :-D
Kaiju no Kami 😃
Kaiju no Kami HENSHIN!!!!
Can you do a Kamen Rider Black RX Review, please??
It's planned for later this year. :-)
Black
This was a season that i know people will go ahead and say its overrated, its not that good but this rider season to me was a rock solid season.
Yes, it could be off putting due to the children plots but i don't mind it as much as i did with Zyuranger. Kotarou is such a badass character and i love how this was mostly a one man journey with recurring side characters, Not to mention the shadow moon story is one of the greatest stories in Kamen Rider, The buildup is just something to truly anticipate while you can feel the bittersweet nature of it. Golgom are also fantastic villains and not to mention that AMAZING OPENING THEME performed by Tetsuo Kurata himself.
5/5
I agree. It's flawed so, but there is a reason it is my second favorite Kamen Rider series.
I reviewed this Kamen RIder Series as well. I enjoyed it. I'm curently watching Black RX and I'm 2 episodes in
Nice.
This Halloween you should do a Kamen Rider Kiva review
I was thinking about it, but since there are BDs coming out of Kiva over the year, I'm going to hold off until someone subs the BDs.
What's BDs?
Blu-Rays.
Kamen rider black is my favorite kamen rider series also kohtaro is WAY MORE BADASS THEN DAIGO FROM Kyoryuger just goes to show that YOU CAN MAKE A BADASS CHARACTER NOT OP
Exactly. I hate Daigo.
Kaiju no Kami me too he makes me almost appreciate takaharu ALMOST
I don't know if this has been answered before, but like Frogs/Toads being related to Ninjas, Tapir's have a history in Japanese culture to do with dreams. There is a Tapirmon in Digimon that screws with dreams, and Munna and Musharna in Pokemon are Tapir and they also have to do with dreams. It's all to do with the lore in Japan
Yeah, that is what I have been told. Thanks.
Kamen Rider Black is a great show. I can see why this is very popular. Watching Black Sun I was hoping it was going to make me watch the original and it did. I ended up watching it soon after. Through out the show I found myself really enjoying it more and more. Gorgam as villians they are what villians in media should be. Evil till the end, will use whoever they can rule and will silence you if you fail them or turn against them. They are probably one of the tex book examples of how to make a villian in a kid show.
Glad to hear you enjoyed it. Did you watch it through the BD Discotek released?
Internet Archive
When is the next super sentai
For review? Probably not until mid to late Nov if I'm lucky.
28:14 What episode is this???
I believe it was episode 32.
And I thought Kotaro can survive being stabbed in the stomach since he's a cyborg.
@@neovoltron25 It's part of a nightmare sequence.
Ah
Also, the outfit Kotaro is wearing is my favorite.
It is nice to hear an opinion from someone more accustomed to the latter versions. I only grew up with the reruns of the classical ones. I tried to get into the new ones & was completely thrown off by how overly serialized & the change of art style of the newer ones. I wanted to see where it started changing & I was recommended to see Black. But then, I think Black is still more related to the other ones from their era. So the changes are either new to the current era, or I picked the wrong series.
Are you referring the Heisei era of Kamen Rider? Because the series has gone through multiple changes over the years.
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork
I hope you understand that I am not accustomed to some of the terminologies. But if that's what the newer ones are known as, then sure. I was confused by the Heisei ones because I only grew up watching the classic ones. I wanted to see where the change happened. I was hoping by watching that series 1st, it will help me transition into watching the Heisei ones easier. Do you have any particular series in mind?
Gotcha. Japan names its eras based on the emperor ruling the country at the time. The Rider series from the 70s and 80s are called the Showa era because the emperor used that as his reign. The series from 2000 through 2019 used Heisei as that is what Emperor Takehito called his era. The current era in Japan is Reiwa, which started in the middle of 2019.
For Heisei series, I definitely recommend Kuuga, Agito, Ryuki, Blade, and Hibiki. Kuuga and Ryuki have been legally licensed in the US and can be watched on Tubi for free or purchased on Blu-Ray.
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork
I'll watch them in that order, then. I think my 1st Heisi was either Agito or Ryuki. 1 of those with 3 riders. They didn't even fight, just a girl went to perform at a concert & a dude baking a cake.
Thank you.
As a 90's kid, I was exposed to and infatuated with Power Rangers before Saban turned Black RX into Masked Rider (I was amused when I found out that Kamen means "Masked"), so Super Sentai has always been of more interest to me than Kamen Rider, but I decided to look into the series that became the "other Saban toku" (not including VR Troopers or Mystic Knights of Tir Na'Nog)...And then found out that Black RX is a sequel and went back for Black.
I have to be honest, being fed nothing but 90's Sentai so far, I found the choreography and shot continuity of Black strange and underwhelming (though, Black's final episode showing all of the Riders that came before it made me appreciate that the series has been improving in choreography since it started and that it's not fair to compare an 80's show's fights to shows from the mid to late 90's)...But what I found even stranger was just HOW FREAKING GOOD the production values were! I don't think that any of Black's Mutants compare to some of Sentai's monsters but, again, I only know mid to late 90's Sentai, so that's not fair (and I'll always be biased towards the Dora Monsters), but the sets! Oh man, the sets! Zyuranger, Dairanger and Kakuranger all use the same theme park for half their episodes and only broke a total of one or two props between them, but Kamen Rider Black is making entire warehouses just to tear them down, dingy apartments for the sake of one fight, and so many windows to jump or be thrown out of! I was always under the impression that the sheer number of costumes, explosions and episodes Toei's series required meant they always had to cut costs in terms of sets and props, but Kamen Rider is outshining series almost 10 years newer than it! It was so perplexing to see sloppy-looking fights juxtaposed with fantastic sets they made themselves! And to be fair, there are a few fights that I thought had good set pieces and moments to them and the emotions you were supposed to feel when watching the big moments were never hurt by any perceived inferiority to 90's Sentai (which I imagine means that people who grew up with Black probably thought it was the best thing ever).
I don't really have an ear for music, but Black has nothing but great tunes as far as I'm concerned, so it must be doubly-great to get a tone-deaf person like me and it used a lot of its songs in great ways (including "20th Century" popping up in scenes like Kyoko and Katsumi missing Nobuhiko and...Nobuhiko finally making Minami realize he's beyond saving). The acting in all of the characters is also top-notch, with Minami's intensity in battle always winning me over, but still being a nice guy when he wasn't surrounded by Golgom.
Although characters like Mara and Kara and a good number of background mutants were just scenery, I don't think there's a bad character in Black who's an actual character. The Golgom Priests don't touch the likes of Bandora and Shadam in my opinion, but they were always intimidating and sold the vile and far-reaching nature of Golgom very well (as did the human conspirators featured in early episodes); Burgenia was a great mid-stage villain and I loved his descent to greedy bumbling clashing with Minami's growth in power and how their feud, with Minami slowly but surely going from running away from Burgenia to defeating him (before Burgenia ran off and got killed by Shadow Moon); Shadow Moon was tragic and terrifying at the same time and might possibly have the best final moments I've seen of a Toei villain (and that IS including the 90's Sentai that I love and keep comparing Black to) and Creation King isn't a bad addition despite him not becoming a true presence until the finale; Ryu of Interpol was such an exciting addition of a powerless human that could still help (albeit, not so directly) and he and Kyoko and Katsumi did wonders to play up on Minami's humanity (as well as having their own that I always thought was well-done)...And then there's Minami, Kamen Rider Black, himself. A man who was forced to crawl through a mile of crap, had to fight his own brother and got nothing for it in the end...but never gave up, never caved in to pressure and ALWAYS let Golgom know what they were doing is wrong. As someone who watched his dad fight his corrupt labor union and company in a lawsuit he was told had a 96% chance of loss for him and soldiered on with it and won anyway (despite feeling similarly empty-handed like Minami), seeing Minami clench his fists every time he had to psych himself up to transform (as I imagine the skin underneath his Kamen Rider armor is his own skin, mangled by the transformation and the slow uncurling of his fingers showing he's in pain even before the enemies hit him) and always resolving to go through with it anyway always spoke to me and I daresay I related to him, which I don't often say I do with even characters I love. He may not have the most elaborate character development in fiction, but his unyielding commitment to good and courage in the face of overwhelming odds and cruelty will always give him a high place in my heart (as well as that one episode where he took time out to improve his Rider Punch and Kick through training rather than just acquiring them mid-battle)...And Battle Hopper broke my heart, heh heh!
I'd be lying if I said I like KR Black as much as Zyuranger, Dairanger and Kakuranger, but that's probably largely just because it wasn't shot as well and not because of the story or characters themselves, which I imagine might be the reason KR Black Sun exists. Sorry to leave a novel of a comment on this video, but your video did help condense all of my thoughts and feelings on the show to make me realize I liked it more than I thought I did.
I actually t hink Black has some of the most realistic looking monsters of the entire franchise. I could actually see those things being real animals.
My favorite monsters are from Dairanger, but yeah, the Dora Monsters are very iconic.
Funny enough, the writer for Zyu, Dai, and Kaku also wrote the last third of Black while the composer for Black also did the music for Dai and Kaku.
@Kaiju no Kami I think you have a point about the Golgom Mutants feeling more real and I'm just used to monsters having more to them. Unrelated, but Kamen Rider monsters where you can see the actors' eyes are unnerving, heheheh!
Oh, wow, really? That must be why Black hit so hard for me, thanks for letting me know!
Shin Kamen Rider is the GOAT.
Bahbah. :-D
😆😆 there's no other Season that's anything like it
Well that's because Shin isn't a season. It's a movie. Yes, I know, I'm being a smart ass. :-p
😆😆😆 touche' and yet it's on of a kind
You start to realize VERY Quickly if you watch Showa Era riders that if they had STARTED with the brain then none of this lore could have happened
They make a joke about that in an episode of Miss Kuroitsu and the Monster Development Department.
IMO Road Zector should have just been an armor upgrade for Battle Hopper
Yeah, that would have made more sense, though I think it is because Shadow Moon was originally supposed to get one of them.
Get it Megaranger USA DVD
Already got it. Just finished Disc 4 today.
that Tapir Mutant, apparently i looked it up and it is a reference to a japanese creature called a Baku, being a Tapir involved with dreams, what made me look it up is i saw a friend make a picture of it and it was a tapir dream eater, soooo yeah
Yeah, I finally got clarification on that aspect not too long ago, which helped it all make sense.
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork yeah, like seeing a kappa monster in more then yokai fighter rangers
What's your top 5 Kamen Rider series ?
Blade, Black, Agito, W, Gaim.
13:13 LOL
If Black (the suit, not the series) was adapted by Saban, who would he be? Dex's father?
You mean if they had done it after Rx? Probably, or an older brother.
Kaiju no Kami To be honest I really don't wanna think about it
He'd oughta be an older brother but in my opinion,he'd be someone else and that KR Black woulda been like VR Troopers in terms of the tone. A lot more serious and stuff. Or maybe like Batman TAS if Saban Brands was smart.
This reminds me I really need to get back to watching Kamen Rider Black at some point since I only got up to episode eight on my first attempt of watching the series. I was watching Metalder at the same time at the time and I ended up being more into that series than the other and to this day still remains my only non-Sentai Toku series I watched all the way through and it also is very the first Showa era series I managed to finish altogether. I also need to get back watching Kamen Rider Amazon as well since I only managed to get up to episode 12. At least, I’m slowly but surely been getting into Kamen Rider Kuuga on which I’m already a quarter though it.
Cool. Kuuga is a good show, though I do have some issues with the ending.
Kaiju no kami So now that you reviewed Kamen Rider black are going to do black rx you can't review kamen-rider-black-rx without reviewing Kamen Rider black what's the theme song for both series or both
Yes, I'll do Rx sometime next year. I've got a couple of Sentai series planned to review first and hopefully I can actually make it through Solbrain, but we'll see. Hopefully by the summer I'll do it.
Kaiju no Kami the Sentai isn't going to be boring as bioman right
I hope not, but since I haven't seen Goggle V before, so I can't say for sure. Solbrain though, makes Bioman look exciting.
Kaiju no Kami and makes ninninger look good
lol
so kaiju no kami
are you gonna do kamen rider amazon(the original one) review?
Some day.
Imagine if there was a reboot of this rider series set in the universe of KR: The first/next... the visuals alone would make David Chronenberg himself reach for the barf bag!
Ha! That reminds me, I really have to review The First at some point...
If you don’t notice , Kamen Rider Black is very much like Devilman.
How so? I know little to nothing about Devilman.
Best Kamen Rider ever , period.
:-)
I want ask I’m confused when does katsumi finds out kotaro is kamen rider black
Officially? Sometime in the 40s I believe.
What had happened behind the scenes.
No idea. I've never found anything that talked about it.