Well now, this wasn't something I was originally planning to do. While I was making my way through Ultra Q, I realized I wanted the next review to be more in-depth and praise-worthy.
Kamen Rider Black is a series I've largely avoided reviewing because quite frankly it seems everyone and their mother who knows about Kamen Rider has heard the praise of this series, and I doubt I could add anything to the discussion. Nevertheless, it had been a while since I watched the series and if I'm gonna watch something, even a re-watch, I usually end up reviewing it. Most of my reviews have been Ultra of late, so I figured some Rider would be nice and if I was going to review Rider it was going to be a series I love and wanted to rewatch.
Part of what sets Kamen Rider Black apart from others in the Showa era is its continuity or lack thereof. All prior Rider Shows had some form of connectivity even if it was very loose in some regards. Usually, with returning characters like Tachibana, past riders, or Shocker reinventing itself into Destron, Black Satan, or the Badan Empire, etc. There was an attempt at a reboot of sorts with 1979's Kamen Rider, but that eventually changed and is now more familiar as SkyRider. The last Rider series before Black was 6 years prior with Super-1, while the last time the Riders appeared on TV was 3 years in 1984's Birth of the 10th special introducing ZX.
So with Black, it was decided to cast all the aside and start from fresh. There's no acknowledgment of past Riders at any point in the run, allowing the series to stand completely alone.
Story & Characters.
Kotaro Minami/Kamen Rider Black.
(Tetsuo Kurata) (Jiro Okamoto, Suit)
Kotaro has probably one of the more unique origin stories of all the Showa riders. While he is athletic by virtue of being a soccer player and motorcycle racer, he isn't anything special. He has an understanding of science and mechanics, perhaps more than most, but again nothing extraordinary. Kotaro was simply born at the wrong time. Birthed under a solar eclipse, Kotaro inadvertently caught the eye of the series' antagonists; Golgom. At age 3 his parents mysteriously died in a plane crash and he was taken in by Soichiro Akizuki, an archeologist, colleague, and friend of Kotaro's Father.
At 19, Kotaro would be kidnapped by Golgom and modified with cybernetics, mutated with a grasshopper form, and given a mystical gem as a source of power: the King stone of the Sun. He is saved by his adoptive father before Golgom can wipe his mind.
Both the series and Kotaro as a character are very back to basics for Kamen Rider. Ishinomori noted on the production that he wanted to go back to the essence of Kamen Rider, something I believe they accomplished wonderfully with the series overall and with Kotaro in particular.
The actor who plays Kotaro, Tetsuo Kurata, was handpicked by Ishinomori himself out of a whopping 8,100 candidates. The man certainly knew what he was doing. Kurata has a wonderful charm about him and delivers a perfect balance of both love and intensity in Kotaro. He's incredibly caring and kind-hearted, able to put on a smile for others, and typically selfless in his actions. But he is also full of resentment and anger, not so much with what was done to him, but what Golgom has and is doing to others, most notably his brother who was also kidnapped.
Nobuhiko Akuzuki
(Takahito Horiuchi)
Soichiro had a biological son, Nobuhiko. Born the same day as Kotaro and under the same eclipse. He and Kotaro grew up together and, like Kotaro, Nobuhiko is modified and given his own King Stone: the Moonstone. He would spend a good portion of the series within Golgom's clutches, injured and in a coma due to the intervention mid-surgery resulting in complications. Several stories would revolve around maintaining Nobuhiko's vitality and eventually bringing him out of his Coma in a horrifying way.
Kyoko Akizuki & Katsumi Kida
(Akemi Inoue & Ayumi Taguchi)
Kyoko, as you may have gathered by the name, is Kotaro and Nobuhiko's sister, while Katsumi is Nobuhiko's girlfriend. They round out the supporting cast for the series, serving as a core for Kotaro's humanity and helping provide a sense of normalcy within the small cafe Kyoko manages.
While Kotaro's identity as Kamen Rider Black and his modifications are kept secret from them, they aren't gullible and even suspect Kotaro is the Rider early on due to injuries he's sustained. Likewise, they are fully informed of Golgom by Kotaro, knowing full well they have Nobuhiko and were responsible for Soichiro Akuzuki's death not long after Kotaro escaped.
Surprisingly the series stays their hand at putting the two in danger too frequently. There's a shocking amount of restraint shown involving them except for key episodes where it's either simply incidental or in other cases there is a major focus on them, especially Kyoko.
Golgom
Like Kotaro, part of the initial appeal with Golgom is their reboot status and lack of baggage. Golgom is a separate entity and in no way connected to Shocker, nor are they a Nazi Militia. Instead, they're an ancient mystical cult. I suppose if Neo-Nazis as villains were all the rage in the late 60s and early 70s, it only makes sense for the contemporary villains of the 80s to be fringe cultists from within.
Golgom's ultimate goal is to overthrow humanity with their race of mutants and select a successor to their aging leader, the Creation King, an almost godlike being who rules over the cult.
The ritual requires that two men born under an eclipse be modified, each given a King Stone as a source of power and do battle to the death, the victor taking the other's stone and becoming the new Creation King imbued with his power and ruling Golgom for 50,000 years until the cycle starts anew.
I have little doubt they took inspiration from real-world examples such as Aleph/Aum Shinrikyo. Cults and fringe groups were nothing new for Japan, but it was an increasing issue since at least the 70s and they truly came out full swing in the mid-80s with a lot of them being doomsday focused. Many of these groups are still around. You may even be familiar with Happy Science, a "New religion" founded in '86 that Kamen Rider Fourze actress, Fumika Shimizu, became a part of back in 2017. Interestingly, Golgom would also be the last time the Kamen Rider franchise had a secret underground society of this exact nature, most likely due to the '94 and the more infamous '95 Sarin attacks carried out by Aum Shinrikyo.
As such, it should come as no surprise that Golgom still operates like Shocker. Taking advantage of people in desperate situations, manipulation, sewing general chaos by exploiting the worst in people, flaunting connections to famous individuals for recruitment, etc. There are certainly parallels to be made and it only stands to reason, given that both groups are largely dedicated to wildly insane ideas and ultimately about taking freedom away from humans. Even some terminology could be interpreted as being very much in line.
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For those that don't know, a Black sun is a symbol that gained prominence in Neo-Nazi groups by former SS officer and occult leader; Wilhelm Landig. Although the usage here could just be coincidence. |
But unlike Shocker, Golgom's experiments on humans and the like are often a secondary stratagem as most of their monsters are simply humanoid creatures that are ancient and already in existence rather than being mutated humans. Even those humans that undergo experiments are seldom mutated and rarely are they ever utilized. This places their mutants near the bottom of the hierarchy. In contrast with the prior series, the monsters are not treated as officers or captains in charge of foot soldiers. Golgom has no regular foot soldiers and the monsters are the main muscle. Rarely speaking, the vast majority simply grunt and squeal like Shocker Combatmen.
This mysterious being of murky origins is not heard
from in much of the series and even more rarely seen, but his presence is regularly acknowledged. Despite being near the end of his reign, the
Creation King still has a degree of power and makes himself known at
opportune times, even pulling various strings behind the scenes to make
sure a successor is chosen before his life ends. However, the majority of Golgom's operations fall on high-ranking loyal servants.
The rest of Golgom's hierarchy consists of three priests each representing an aspect of Earth, Ocean, and Heaven, just as Kotaro and Nobuhiko are Sun and Moon. They comprise of:
The last of whom you may know as the voice of Hakaider and the first voice of Don Horror.
Early episodes with Golgom plots are conceived either by the priests (primarily by Bishium throughout the series) or for the earlier episodes their human underlings who wish to become long-lived mutants themselves.
Kuromatsu is a renowned scientist and university professor. His main forte for Golgom is genetically modifying humans with the promise of furthering their careers, often resulting in horrifying abominations which he takes a sick pleasure in creating.
And yes, that is Shin Hayata, and yes he did in fact play a mad scientist role in Winspector as well.
Sakata is a political leader and largely focuses his efforts on making use of various artists from painters to the musically inclined, while Omiya is a powerful CEO who funds Kuromatsu's research and is a part of Sakata's political party.
Now before I go any further, it's worth addressing is the opening two episodes of the series because they will help provide context. I will go on record of saying they're among some of the best in Kamen Rider and Toku in general. From a creepy horror atmosphere both stylistically and tonally to knocking out the basic setup and character dynamics briefly and concisely, just about everything in these episodes is brilliant.
Rather than the usual introduction and lead-up, the series is more nonlinear by throwing us completely into the fray. If you go in blind you won't know it's Kotaro running from the Golgom priests, it's just a man in danger from a mysterious force. There's a mystique that captivates the viewer.
In between the chases and action, there are short flashbacks of what lead up to this point, with Kotaro and Nobuhiko being operated upon by the Golgom priests only for Kotaro to be saved by his father, while Nobuhiko is injured and left behind.
The entire chase through the city is one of the most visually stimulating parts of Kamen Rider Black and with good reason, the first episode took a full month of filming with 10 days dedicated to just the city scenes. But the rest of the episode is also quite moody, a sort of throwback to the early Showa episodes with a heavy emphasis on light and shadow, resulting in some of the creepiest scenes.
Ultimately Kotaro escapes and the episode ends with him learning from Soichiro the truth about what Golgom is, why he and Nobuhiko were singled out, that Kotaro's biological parents died by Golgom's hand, that the man who took him in was a part of it all simply because the cult funded his research. Before Kotaro can even gather his thoughts, Soichiro is killed by Golgom mutants and Kotaro is forced to fight them. It is a lot to take in at once, almost overwhelming just as it is for Kotaro.
Episode two further explores the backstory for Kotaro and Nobuhiko, in particular, their 19th birthday just before their kidnapping, which was attended by a bizarre number of famous personas from movie stars to politicians, some of whom would become recurring villains for Golgom.
A personal favorite part is when the party is all of a sudden descended upon by a swarm of locust, which everybody else seems to ignore except for Kotaro, Nobuhiko, Katsumi, and Kyoko. A bit more is also shown in how Kotaro escaped the facility, stumbling upon and acquiring the signature bike of the series; Battlehopper, to do so.
In the present, Kotaro visits one of the attendees to his birthday, hoping to find any information on the whereabouts of his brother. The scenery here is dreadful, the apartment Kotaro visits completely trashed with signs of a struggle and claw marks upon a door. Unease permeates the air in one of the best atmospheric pieces in the show, which is good because the monster turns out to be one of the goofiest.
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| Yes, at one point the monster is a German shepherd in a leopard costume. |
With his only lead gone, Kotaro is quite literally at a dead end for the time being.
From these two episodes, there is a familiarity with certain concepts and story beats one would expect in Kamen Rider. Themes of humanity, loss of innocence, Kotaro coming to terms with his newfound power, a bit of a horror vibe, etc. There's even a scene mirroring one from the original manga.
With that said, I can now state that Kamen Rider Black's structure is somewhat weird after those first two episodes, at least for a bit. Bare with me when I say that while the opening episodes set a precedent for certain stories the series would explore, nothing ever captures the same feeling and tone as the first two. The series does create fantastic drama, especially in the mid-30s and near the end of the show. But it's a different kind of trepidation. In terms of an overwhelming sense of horror where it's clear something is askew, or scenes where Kotaro is framed almost like this cryptid being, episodes 1&2 are outliers, so do be aware of this going in.
Aside from how unique the first two episodes are, most of Kamen Rider Black can be broken down into segments.
Episodes 3-12 are much more conventional fare and are largely dedicated to laying more groundwork and having run-of-the-mill episodes that aren't concerned so much with the main plot. They do a solid job introducing what kind of villains we're dealing with and how Golgom operates. There's even an episode showcasing that many of the Golgom mutants are awakening from hibernation and there isn't enough food to go around, resulting in Golgom taking steps to grow special fruit for the mutants, only for it to infect humans and alert Kotaro to the plot. This in turn results in Golgom freezing many of the mutants less they starve. It's an interesting bit of world-building that demonstrates how much Kotaro escaping has screwed up their plans, while also explaining why Golgom doesn't unleash many of their mutants at once.
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| I'm sure this whole plant thing won't ever be a problem again for any Riders. |
If there is one significant problem I would pick out from these earlier episodes it's that two of Golgom's human antagonists; Omiya and Sakata, only have about 2-3 episodes appearances and then they just drop off for a very long time. It isn't until the 38th episode they appear again, and it's little more than a cameo. You would think they would eventually be turned into mutants and forced to fight Black as punishment, yet that never happens. Despite being prominently featured and set up early on, they're quickly tossed aside and forgotten about until very late into the show's run. This is one of the early blunders of the show and I don't believe anyone had a clue what to do with them. While their episodes are fine and decent enough, some of the plots don't fit the characters. Ep. 6 has Sakata (the political leader) developing artistic minds into ESPers to steal various plans from corporations remotely, while ep. 7 has Omiya (the businessman) captivating youths into vigilante groups under the guise of correcting societal ills. Those plots should be reversed. They're also incredibly petty in execution, lacking any sense of significance or weight for the type of organization Golgom is.
Still, it does feel like a shame to just forget about them all together when there was plenty of potentials to make them into something more, but there's likely a reason behind it.
I've often talked about various series having production issues or sudden changes, such as Hiroshi Fujioka being injured on Kamen Rider or how Eiji Tsuburaya sadly died before The Return of Ultraman began. Kamen Rider Black is no different. Some of the minor issues Black has near the start and even a bit afterward likely has to do with behind-the-scenes problems that caused the production to lose direction. Shōzō Uehara was the head writer for Black for the first 12 episodes, penning 5 of them himself (1-4, 12) His episodes are notably some of the best and helped plant a lot of interesting seeds, some of which would blossom beautifully... just not under his watch. He suddenly left the production for reasons that seem to indicate creative conflicts were the root of the issue. From what I could find, Uehara was described as always being a rebellious writer by one of the Toei producers, and Black had a lot of input from various sources which seem to have become a hassle for him to deal with. Although there weren't any hard feelings since he came back a few years later to work on J.
Noboru Sugimura became the new head writer starting on episode 13, although many other greatly talented writers would continue to contribute to the show while Sugimura tried to figure something out. This was only his second time as a head writer, the first being on 1985's Sukeban Deka, which was more a direct adaptation of the manga, bar the ending. This combined with the sudden departure of Uehara resulted in a few of the episodes being somewhat meandering. Hell, ep 13 is in part a clip show, a fact made worse by the prior episode being Uehara's last and one of the most entertaining up to that point.
Now, frankly, I'd be hard-pressed to say there's an episode of Black I outright hate, but I will admit some of these episodes can be overly formulaic. This period of the series starts roughly with some major issues with padding, the aforementioned 13th, as well as the 14th episodes, being the worst, due to being partial clips shows. It, unfortunately, presents this awkwardness where some of the first episodes of Black (even when Uehara was heading) have a couple of iffy episodes here and there written by other writers that stumble as they find their footing on the new series... only for this to happen again just when it seemed like they were finally settling in.
Thankfully it doesn't take too long and some episodes help recapture the intrigue by getting back to plots focusing on Nobuhiko alongside a proper attempt at expanding the lore in the form of a new villain: Birugenia. (Jun Yoshida)
Sword Saint Birugenia is an ancient warrior that was sealed away 30,000 years ago and, like Kotaro and Nobuhiko, he was born under an eclipse, but during a time before the next linage was to be decided. He attempted to overthrow the current Creation King and even nearly killed the high priests before he was imprisoned by the King, only being released now to deal with Kotaro.
Birugenia is a breath of fresh air that was sorely needed. While he's not an extraordinary villain, he's something the series lacked up to this point which is a reoccurring villain Black can go toe to toe with. Until now, the reoccurring antagonists have been Kuromatsu or the Golgom priests, characters that plan, connive, and may even have great power- but the fighting was largely left to Monsters of the Week. Birugenia is someone that can do both. He toys with Kotaro, studies and learns his abilities, adapts, uses trickery. This results in Kotaro struggling during most confrontations, forcing the Rider to outwit the sword saint at his own game.
Birugenia's biggest weakness is his arrogance. He gains the upper hand over Kotaro several times but never capitalizes due to gloating or sheer ignorance...or contrived reasons that don't make a lick of sense. (He refuses to kill Kotaro at one point because a civilian might see) Although some other incidents are more mysterious and I believe could have been the Creation King's doing, perhaps a sign of his true intentions.
Regardless, Birugenia's time on the show keeps the series fascinating as there's always something happening when he's around, even if it's not always major. Some of the better episodes of Kamen Rider Black involve Birugenia because even if he's not super captivating as a villain, his episodes usually are by having spins or twists on familiar ideas.
This period is also when Golgom begins focusing more on dealing with Kotaro as a threat, usually putting him in situations where he shouldn't or couldn't transform while also endangering others, often children.
This burgeoning of aggression also makes some sense as Birugenia gives them a way out since he could easily replace Kotaro in the ritual. This develops into the priests forming an uneasy working relationship with Birugenia, which is not always mutually beneficial. Sometimes they have solid plans but they undermine each other because of their egos. Not to mention that even with an alternative on the table, the priests do not wish to risk being led by such a wild card, Birugenia is about as much of an issue as Kotaro.
When they're not outright going after Kotaro, Golgom's efforts are put into exploiting people with something to offer. They come off as legitimately worthwhile endeavors ranging from destructive lasers or researching a super soldier program. It takes established concepts earlier in the show's run but does them much better, able to do smaller budget-conscious stories that feature the prospect of something grandiose that would appeal to a monumental group like Golg
The only oddities I can point out for this segment of the show is the introduction of Ryusuke Taki, an Interpol agent who was friends with Nobuhiko and would assist Black, very much like Kazuya Taki in '71. But he only has two episode appearances and is forgotten just like two of the elite Golgom members.
Likewise, the series introduces a team of children, The Golgom Boy Warriors, who are 21-year-olds that Golgom forcibly gave growth hindering drugs to. They're a sort of updated and twisted take on the Shonen Riders where they're an elite partisan group against Golgom who look up to Rider Black. I like this idea, but they only appear in three episodes. Still, probably for the best because those ideas do feel too much like trying to recapture old ideas in the wrong way. Much as I like the twisted take of using (not quite) child soldiers that actively fight the antagonists, we didn't need any allies for Kotaro, not like that. Although they aren't cast aside like Taki, instead they're given sparse appearances.
Regardless of some under-realized story elements that fizzle out, the writing is significantly improved during this time and I believe this is when Black hits its stride. Things seemed shaky with eps. 13-16 but damn if things didn't start to turn around in 17 and especially in 18 with Birugenia. Solid episode after solid episode with very few shortcomings until episode 34.
I also feel it's very important to remember that Sugimura was not the only writer either, but the head writer. The show had many talented writers, many of whom wrote for prior Rider series and the Metal Hero Franchise such as Hisashi Yamazaki and Kyōko Sagiyama.
New writers would also contribute, most notably Naruhisa Arakawa who only wrote a single episode but would later go on to be the main writer for Kuuga.
But while the series improved overall during this time and kept things fresh, ultimately what elevates the series is episodes 34 & 35 when the final villain of Kamen Rider Black appears and is perhaps what the series is best known for; Shadow Moon.
(Masaki Terasoma; Voice. Tokio Iwata & Toshiyuki Kikuchi; Suit)
Shadow Moon was something referenced as early as episode 3, Nobuhiko blatantly being dubbed that. I don't know if the intention back then was to always have Nobuhiko eventually become an antagonist or if it was a throwaway line to contrast with Kotaro being dubbed Black Sun.
Shadow Moon is awakened, the priest barely surviving their ordeal, while Birugenia loses the sword to the will of its rightful owner and is quickly taken care of by a ruthless Shadow Moon, establishing a new status quo.
Shadow Moon I believe can be credited in elevating Kamen Rider Black into a profoundly captivating series with his addition. He is a reflection of Kotaro, a painful reminder of what he could have lost, and the brother he did lose. Kamen Rider has always had a running theme of a loss of free will and Nobuhiko serves as the logical end point of that, the result of a turned Rider in a sense. There have been past villains and even weekly kaijin that have had the implications of how horrific that could be, but Shadow Moon is the first time the series delved into that on a more intimate level. The outcome is this imposing force readily using any means to get under Kotaro's skin by harming and manipulating anyone with no consideration for anything but results. And yet despite his obedience, he goes against the Creation King to stay out of his plans on several occasions, exerting a degree of free will, which becomes more developed later on.
But perhaps the best subtle characterization that speaks volumes is how Shadow Moon refers to Kotaro, typically using Black Sun and to a lesser extent Kamen Rider Black. It's not hard to see why this character made such an impact, he oozes a cold villainous aura the writers make full use of. In contrast to Birugenia who had interesting episodes involving him, Shadow Moon's episodes are interesting alongside if not outright because of him.
Under Shadow Moon the series would undergo many developments, notably, Kyoko would learn Kotaro's identity and the priests would be reborn as more monstrous Grand mutants to fight Kotaro more directly.
Golgom also becomes widely known, blatantly declaring war on humanity and attacking the national diet. Although despite the shift in a higher standard for action and drama, the series would calm slightly before its final episodes. Shadow Moon instigating various plots to further Golgom's goals, often resulting in episodes having a strong focus on the bubble economy and politics of 1980s Japan. Anything from basic greed, big promises over the property to entice people, commentary on mindless consumption, even an episode with brainwashing messages in a J-pop Idol track. Much like the second segment, this third part takes ideas that were present before but became more developed under Shadow Moon's tenure.
A more prominent focus on family is also interjected. Kotaro helping children who often reflect his struggles and losses, such as the death of a parent or two brothers being abducted and manipulated by Golgom. Within these episodes, there's always this impending presence of Shadow Moon which ties into the most significant development; the interpersonal relationships between Shadow Moon and the main cast.
Kotaro is haunted by the inevitability of not only fighting his brother but if he can save him. The evil Shadow Moon and Golgom have done exceeds far beyond just what has happened to Kotaro's friends and family, and he's more conscious of this than anyone else.
Sprinkled throughout are small glimpses of Nobuhiko still being in there somewhere, that despite the corruption he still has a degree of influence. Even offering a place to Katsumi and Kyoko among Golgom despite how willing he is to endanger them to get to Kotaro. It gives the impression that as much as Kamen Riders are a force of good with a monstrous touch that kept their humanity, then perhaps Shadow Moon is a corrupted force for evil with a degree of humanity left.
What follows these transgressions are story elements the are difficult to discuss without major spoilers that delve into the final 7 episodes of the series. I will talk more in-depth about those in the episode section, but for the sake of brevity I'll say Black undergoes one more shift in its focus, that being a hard leaning on the environment and destruction therein. This was always present in Kamen Rider even as far back as the original Manga with Ichigo claiming to be sent by Mother Nature.
It's something Ishinomori has always had play a role, but I believe the Black Manga and by extension the TV series is what started a bigger push for Riders as a more literal force of nature. This is something that would become more prevalent in RX and especially in ZO and J.
On the subject of its ending, Black has possibly one of the most cataclysmic and bittersweet endings of all Kamen Rider and it's something I will praise profusely.
Many TV Rider series tended to have triumphant finales of sorts. The villains are defeated and the hero either reflects or drives into the sunset for more adventures as their friends and allies celebrate-- But Black... Black doesn't have that sort of ending, at least not exactly. The final episodes are simply a continuous heart-wrenching endeavor featuring some of the hardest struggles for Kotaro. He hesitates in fighting Shadow Moon and the result of that is Golgom being able to gain the upper hand and take over Japan. Katsumi and Kyoko flee with others as Japan becomes a wasteland overrun with monsters both mutant and human alike.
Kotaro is in the end able to rise to the challenge, becoming stronger and undergoing an almost deification. But he loses so much in the process.While not as much of a gut punch as the Black Manga, it still makes for one of the saddest endings in Kamen Rider for not only being so daring and unconventional, but that it's a clever flip on the sorrow of the Riders. The struggle for all Riders is that their battles never end, it's an endless fight. But for Kotaro, his fight does end- as far as this series was concerned it was. But the gains came with many losses.
Visuals/SFX.
The first thing I'll address right off the Bat is the flashing lights. Kamen Rider Black is infamous for its flashing during finishing attacks and the henshin. However, the Bluray version removes those flashes. Only the first two episodes have a strobe effect (One different from the more notorious flashes, but still should be concerning if you suffer seizures). But even if that isn't an issue I still highly suggest watching the Bluray version simply because it's easier on the eyes in all aspects. It's cleaned up quite a bit compared to the DVD release, which was very dour and had some rough film degradation in areas much like the DVD release of V3 I reviewed way back.
Now, for the aesthetic of the show itself, the most striking feature is
how Rider Black's outfit stands in stark contrast to all prior riders. They went back to a grasshopper motif and most of the
basics are still present such as the compound eyes, antennae, and of
course the ubiquitous belt. You can immediately recognize this as a
Kamen Rider. But Black is the first Rider without a muffler(scarf) He
lacks any distinctive gloves or boots that are separate from the rest of the outfit, it all flows as one.
His torso, shoulders, and arms are much more armored, even more so than Stronger and ZX thanks to advances with polyurethane.
The softer undersuit that peaks through joints isn't outright cloth in appearance (bar the stunt suit) but a rubbery brown and red organic muscle structure, which in turn gives the black portions a sort of exoskeleton look.
The overall coloration is mostly kept to the subtle black with well-placed red and yellow highlights on the cuffs, ankles, and mask. Black is based on a Nymph Southern Lubber Grasshopper which has this coloration.
And finally when he's transformed there's often smoke emanating from the suit, a sign of the intense energy released by the process. Every aspect from the design to the presentation is a study in iconography. I cannot stress enough the magnificence of this suit and its presentation.
But of course that's not the only visual shake up, there's also the matter of the primary bike of the series: Battle Hopper.
Hopper
is notable in that it's the second bike with an outright animal motif,
the first being Amazon's Jungler. However, unlike the Jungler, Hopper is
a partly organic and sentient being, almost a character in their own
right.
Although
their ability to communicate with Kotaro is kept limited, it's handled in
a fashion not too dissimilar from an animal companion like a dog, or R2D2 if you're so inclined. Lots of beeping and shaking its head. I can
guarantee at least some of you will get torn up over certain scenes involving a
freaking bike of all things.
Part of Hopper's organic nature includes the ability to heal from injuries. Though very rarely seen, the depiction of the healing process is surprisingly effective to be so simple. Utilizing a combination of flexing rubber, reverse footage, and dissolves, they do an excellent job portraying the machine as a living breathing creature.
Additionally, Battle Hopper's link to Kotaro and sentience allows the vehicle to be summoned or operate interdependently. The effect for this is...iffy to say the least. Initially it starts out as a POV shot and a super imposed image of the bike arriving, one which is very blurry and flat. Even by 1987 tv standards this looked rough.
Later the effect would instead rely heavily on the POV shots and various angles to hide the operator. Episodes that feature the bike more prominently would even use wire work to show the whole body with varying degrees of success.
But that's not the only bike Kotaro has. Eventually he gains access to The Road Sector, a much more traditional rider machine built by a Golgom scientist. The bike isn't capable of fine maneuvers like Battle Hopper, nor does it do as well on steep terrain.
The main purpose is building up to a high speed and which will deploy an offensive shield that protects the bike and rider while ramming straight into whatever is unfortunate enough to be in the path.
Like Battle Hopper, Roadsector is able to be summoned and- learning from their short comings with Hopper, they built a scale model for these scenes which looks miles better.
But that is not the case for Shadow Moon, who balances both. It would be shallow to suggest that the only or even main reason Shadow Moon sticks out is because of his depiction, but it cannot be overstated both how unique and well done this design is. Aside from having the first original rider-esque design for a villain, Shadow Moon contrasts beautifully with the Black Suit. The rivets, the more heavy robotic features, the lack of any organic-looking material. It's a perfect representation of the cold shell Nobuhiko has become.
Some key Rider elements are even more pronounced on Shadow Moon than they are for black, such as the iconic tears. Perhaps an apt display of Nobuhiko's hidden suffering.
Music
God, it has been too long since I've
gotten a chance to gush about some music and KRB has a fantastic
soundtrack. I've stated many times that the late 80s has some of my favorite
tokusatsu tracks and Black is certainly up there.
Honestly, the one
point of contention is probably the Opening, and it's not a bad one
either. The biggest complaint is that they chose Tetsuo Kurata to sing
it. It's not uncommon for a Toku series to feature the main
protagonists actor doing a track or two, but it's always a crapshoot if they're
good at it and... Kurata is tolerable. To his credit he's able to just go
for it, belting it out and relying on pure energy and the composition of
the track itself rather than vocal talent, similar to how Hiroshi
Miyauchi was for V3's opening. They also make up for it with some female backup vocals which does help a lot. There's a single release of the opening that lacks the back up and it sounds significantly worse. Personally, I think Toshiya
Igarashi would have been a better pick. He does most of the other vocal tracks
and sounds a lot like Kurata, if much more refined. Why they never even did a cover of the
opening with him is mystifying.
Nevertheless, the majority of the
soundtrack is phenomenal and I had a hard time picking
favorites. If I had to give select recommendations I'd go with "Henshin!
Rider Black" it has an amazing drumbeat and is used very effectively in
the show in how it builds up to the transformation. "Blackhole message"
which despite having lyrics about love and peace is a shockingly good
track for action scenes. And finally "Long Long ago, 20th century" which
is the ending theme. I'll give a special mention for this one because
it's the sole track performed by Norio Sakai, who you'll likely
recognize as the vocals behind Gridman's ending and several Super Sentai
series.
I don't know the
backstory for it, but if I had to guess I'd say the lyricist, Yoko Aki, based
them upon the Kamen Rider Black manga, which aside from being
drastically different from the show also has a very strong environmental theme.
Although, it does also fit very well with what would eventually come
about within the show.
For the BGM I have equal praise. Eiji Kawamura served as the composer and the music ranges wildly from funky to melancholy, while incorporating synth to provide that quintessential 80s sound. Kawamura's music elevates and makes certain scenes within the show. I cannot imagine anything else in its place. When I think of any dramatic character moment I hear his music alongside it, and when I hear the music, I think of those scenes. The two are simply inseparable. It's sometimes a pain to find the full OST online, but if you can, I highly suggest listening to fully appreciate his work.
Many of the tracks could be likened to a crime show of sorts, the type of music you could hear during a trailing or chase scene. The appropriately named tracks "Search" and "Scramble" being two such examples, while tracks like "Henshin! Kuroki Yuusha e" are solid remixes of the theme song.
Others are more dramatic and dreadful, such as "Golgom Akuma no Shinden", "Fukkatsu Shadow Moon", and "Hidden", which all sound like something out of a Megami Tensei title, the first two especially with their heavy emphasis on the organ. Some are more are beautiful in their grimness, particularly "Ai to Kanashimi no Jikoku" But for all the drama there's still room for upbeat and chipper music, the underused (later half) of the track "Little Shop" being a personal favorite.
However, if I was to give my absolute favorite piece of BGM, it would be Emotion. The first half has a lovely piano rendition of the main theme, but it's the second half that takes the cake. It features a wonderful build with heavy drums and a prominent guitar. But when the violins kick in full swing it's so tragic and it makes my heart sink in the best way. It is the track of Kamen Rider Black to me, more than any other, this is the piece of music I associate with the series.
Subtitles.
Black was originally subbed by Century King Subs, it's how I originally watched Black back in 2013. But for this review I watched the Bluray release, which is more or less is the same but with a few changes by Stone, who also did the subs for RX before this. For the most part, the subs are good, they were fairly solid in the first place but several minor mistakes weren't originally in the old CK versions.
Most of these are spelling errors. A missing letter, incorrect punctuation, weird phrasing, etc.
These are spread out so it's not super distracting, and I'm more forgiving towards a fan project than I am with officially released things, especially when money is involved. But they are there.
On the other hand, you also have a lack of changes, as it isn't until episode 14 that the episode previews are subtitled. Kind of a shame, but again something I can let slide more easily. Most of the captioning are good and indeed quite a bit better than the RX subtitles Stone did their selves. I do not envy the work of subbing 40+ episodes or running QC by one unpaid person, so any faults are things I can more readily overlook. I should also note that there's work being done by KamenScrubsSentai to- as you might expect- "Scrub" or clean up those mistakes. They've got the first 14 episodes done to my knowledge, which as I recall is where most of the errors take place. I haven't watched those releases so I couldn't compare, but it might be worth looking into if you find such mistakes too glaring. At least none of them have a copyright symbol.
Suggested episodes.
Last time I talked about having a hard time suggesting episodes in Ultra Q because there just wasn't enough that I found engaging to praise or talk about. Here I had the opposite issue. Black has several strings of really solid episodes and it got difficult for me not to just suggest entire chunks or the like while continuously talking about the episode. Sometimes episodes might not be top tier material, but they might have little character moments or a plot that's intriguing or has a nice enough twist on an old concept just enough to be above average and it became a challenge to cherry-pick.
Ep. 1&2 I've already talked extensively about these and obviously you should watch the opening episodes. I mean really the entire series at least once, but ya know. Didn't wanna ignore these because they really are just that fantastic. Likewise, the two parter that introduces Shadow Moon in 34 and 35 are solid but I also already hit the high points on them. Again, should absolutely watch those.
Ep. 10 Where is Nobuhiko?
W: Makoto Naito. D:Hiroshi Kitamoto.
This episode takes the opportunity to get back on track with Kotaro taking the initiative to try and track down Nobuhiko and Golgom's whereabouts, starting with checking the other high rollers that attended their birthday party, but gaining little traction.
Meanwhile, rogue ambulances begin responding to auto accidents unusually fast, kidnapping the victims while Kuromatsu treats them completely free. In return, the men are indoctrinated into a militia. It's one of the more twisted and oddly brilliant methods used to guilt people into loyalty.
Kotaro catches on and stages an accident with himself so he can infiltrate the compound where the men are trained by Shigeru Sugiyama (Jōji Nakata). Sugiyama is reluctant to even be doing this, but like the others, he owes a debt to Kuromatsu, who has given free treatment to his son. This puts him at a crossroads of going against his healthcare provider and putting his child at risk, or assisting Golgom despite the moral upheaval. It's a pretty good showcase of how Golgom goads average people into bad endevors because of social failings.
Ep. 12 Birth of the Super Machine Legend.
W: Shōzō Uehara. D: Michio Konishi.
This is the final episode penned by Shōzō Uehara and it's a fine episode for him to go out on.
While out riding, Kotaro stumbles across a man overseeing his son run a bike through an obstacle course. Although spooked and suspicious of Kotaro, the appearance of a Golgom Mutant and subsequent fight helps gain their trust.
The man is Akira Daimon, who two years prior was the world's greatest motorcycle racer before suddenly disappearing. The cause of his disappearance was that his father, Yoichi Daimon- a famous engineer and builder of motorcycles- was a Golgom scientist. Yoichi built a weaponized superbike (Roadsector) for Golgom with the intent of having an entire squadron, but soon got cold feet and was subsequently killed, but not before his creation was hidden away. Akira planned to train his son, Kiichi, to ride the bike which is viciously fast and too much for him to handle himself. Nevertheless, Kotaro makes a much more viable candidate.
Golgom, rather than risk attacking again and not getting anywhere, decides it would be better to keep tabs on Kotaro and see if he'll gain Daimon's trust and be shown the location of the Road sector, and indeed he does. Despite interference from Golgom, Black prevails and gains a new weapon in his arsenal.
Overall this is a fantastic episode that shows how Kotaro isn't the only one to have his family upended by Golgom. Episodes prior have had the concept but it's more intimate here.
I must also mention that the lead-up and reveal of Road Sector is done very well with no dialogue. Simply a long build-up traversing through a warehouse and trap door, with one final dramatic shot before the protective sheet is uncovered.
The introduction of Roadsector also would offer up future story potential as you'll soon see.
Ep. 17 Kyoko's Strange Dream.
W:Kyōko Sagiyama. D: Junmochi Tsutabayashi.
I briefly mentioned this is where the series truly gets back on track and begins formulating into something under Sugimura, and it's a relatively simple plot. Nobuhiko's health begins to decline and the solution is the use a blood relative to stabilize him. The Tapir mutant is used to locate and eat Kyoko's dreams who in turn learns of a childhood memory involving Nobuhiko. It begins transmitting thoughts to her subconscious as she sleeps, convincing her to travel to the location of the memory where she is then captured by Golgom. In a bit of a twist, Kyoko is freely willing to help after learning it would help her brother, however it also involves draining her life, meaning it up to Kotaro to rescue her before it's too late.
The episode does a great job showing the love between Kyoko and her brother, and it's one of the few showing the kind person Nobuhiko was. I really wish there were more episodes like this, but more on that later.
Ep. 21 Clash! Super Machines.
W:Noboru Sugimura D:Takeshi Ogasawara.
The priests wisely attempt to overtake Battle Hopper, seeing as Kotaro has gotten out of several tight spots thanks to the trusty bike. They use the Jeweled beetle mutant- which can overtake anything with a central nervous system- causing Battle Hopper to go berserk. Consequently, Bishim puts Kotaro in a situation where Battle Hopper would be desperately needed; at the bottom of a quarry unable to reach a missile up a steep incline. The threat is simple, hand over the king stone, or a dam will blow up killing hundreds of people. Of course, the entire world would die should Golgom obtain the stone.
They demonstrate that Kotaro is smart enough to call Road Sector in, but the bike sinks in the fine gravel because it's not meant for off-road terrain. He then focuses his attention on defeating the mutant but it shockingly doesn't automatically resolve the issue. Battle Hopper is still very much infected, forcing Kotaro to confront Hopper with Roadsector and risk destroying Battle Hopper. The episode must've gone over very well because several story elements would be brought back in future episodes playing around with Battle Hopper's sentience and the limitations of Roadsector.
Ep. 24 The Female College Student's Nightmare.
W:Ryu Yamaguchi D:Takeshi Ogasawara.
I'll admit, I'm mostly putting this on here because I'm an absolute sucker for the monster because it's basically the Gill-man and one of the creepier designs. The episode even opens on some college kids in a car being attacked like in a stereotypical 50s B movie. But it gets even better because the creature, Coelacanth mutant, is also a mad scientist kidnapping college-age women to turn into brainwashed soldiers for Golgom, Katsumi ending up among the test subjects. It's a goofy episode but in such an endearing manner and one that still falls in line with many other episodes with similar themes.
Additionally, this is episode introduces the Golgom Boy Warriors and with it a shockingly dark turn when one of them is killed by Coelacanth. It's probably the closest the series has come to showing the death of a child.
Ep. 25 The Roaring Armed Machine.
W: Katsuhiko Taguchi. D:Takeshi Ogasawara.
This episode is a follow-up to story elements introduced in 12 and even a little bit from 21. It's revealed that Golgom has a copy of the blueprints for the Road Sector. Despite Professor Yoichi Daimon's efforts to hide any details of his creation through memorization, Golgom was able to extract the memories from his brain. However, it's an imperfect process and attempts at a prototype are disastrous. Birugenia takes it upon himself to one-up the priests and succeed where they failed. He manages to find a former pupil of Daimon's, Egami. Kidnapping his wife and child, Birugenia persuades the young designer to build a copy of the Roadsector with a few modifications. But because the original design for the Roadsector was for a fully interlinked squadron, Egami sends a message to Kotaro's bike warning him of the project, while also transmitting a signal of his location. Kotaro is able to rescue Egami and his family, but by then the prototype is fully operational. Kotaro has no choice but to take on the sword saint and his new machine in a high-speed excursion.
This bike battle was somewhat teased back in episode 21 in which a very brief clash occurs from Birugenia hijacking a raving Battle Hopper as Black gives chase on the Roadsector, but this episode gives a proper confrontation and on equal ground, and like all battles with Birugenia, it isn't until Black thinks outside the box he's able to overcome his advisory.
Ep. 38 Mystery? EP Party Boy squad.
W: Noboru Sugimura. D: Masao Minowa.
There are several episodes with Show Moon that could go in here, but I've touched upon most of the highlights earlier in the general story section. However, 38 is a prime example of showing Shadow Moon's conniving and the series epitomizing 1980s politics, and it's also one of the episodes Shadow Moon is least involved in directly.
Ryuzaburo Sakata's EP Political party begins gaining traction at an alarming rate thanks to good public relations, particularly in the fields of medicine. Of course, Kotaro knows not is all that it seems because of their association with Golgom. Evidence to such secrets is hard to find and the party is unusually crafty at presenting a benevolent and even progressive facade, capable of saving face when members are caught in more compromising situations. A chance meeting with a child, Naoto, leads Kotaro to a growing movement of citizens concerned with the populous party. Once more, they have proof of the EP party's unscrupulous activities. It just so happens that a medical wonder device employed by the party's medical center was built by Naoto's father, but the machine is flawed and despite assisting with many ailments, the side effects are severe and repeated use will eventually result in death. The boy's father attempted to destroy the blueprints, but he was mysteriously killed and his plans stolen.
While the group has attempted to put out a statement regarding concerns about the EP party, they are always overshadowed by the party's deeds. Fed up, the group intends to take direct action but is stopped by Kotaro, pointing out that they're too disorganized and the EP party is even larger than they appear, thanks to Golgom. Kotaro instead heads out on his own to infiltrate the facility, unfortunately being disrupted and caught in the act, almost as if they knew he was coming. A very public display is made out of Rider in front of the facility, the patients wondering how and why the Rider would attempt to destroy a machine that has helped many regain the ability to walk.
With Rider Black's failure, the group heads out on their own, minus one member. As it turns out, the member is a mutant, fittingly a Rat mutant. Kotaro stops the mutant and quickly saves the group from certain doom within the facility, fighting off Baraom so the group can take care of the machine, preventing any deaths.
So a lot is going on in this episode despite being so simple. There are aspects I wish were delved into more, particularly Koichi Omiya's corporation backing of the EP party. That seems like a missed opportunity at criticizing money in politics. They also never follow up on the machine being destroyed or how that affects all the patients or Rider's reputation being somewhat tarnished. It's painfully fitting that this is the last time Sakata and Omiya are mentioned because it has plenty of potential for future episodes. But as it stands it's still a very intriguing episode and perhaps the closest the series gets at discussing systematic oppression and fighting against them. I don't believe this episode goes as hard as the original Rider Manga or Cyborg 009 when it comes to political commentary, but I do believe there is an intent.
Although I will admit some stuff might come off a bit weird, and while not a criticism per se- a small group of civilians convinced that a political party is using a medical procedure that's secretly dangerous. Yeah, that feels very different now. But I also know that's not the intention and an inevitability with conspiracies in stories. This is Sugimura, after all. The man's bread and butter was dangerous science and corruption plots. If anything I'd say he was making commentary like how the Kamen Rider manga took none too subtle jabs at then prime minister Eisaku Satō; a man who won a Nobel peace prize for signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, something he was pressured into by the Johnson administration, despite wanting an arsenal beforehand. Indeed, he got just that in 1969 through secret talks with Nixon. That wasn't confirmed until 2008, but it was always rumored given his previous stance.
This facade of being forward-thinking while in actuality a warmonger is likely what the EP party is mirroring. I also would not be surprised if this episode was written as a jab towards Yasuhiro Nakasone, who was still serving as PM just when the series began airing. That man was a nationalist whacko who justified various war atrocities and argued Japanese superiority. So if you've ever wondered why so much of Japanese pop culture deals with a lot of political intrigues, criticizing power and systems of oppression, well their crazy leaders are gerrymandered in as well. I'm likely overthinking this episode, but it did make me consider many possibilities and that's got to count for something.
Ep. 45 Death of Flower Mutant Bishum.
W: Jun'ichi Miyashita. D: Masao Minowa.
Episode 45 marks the beginning of the end and it's an episode that normally would not make the list because it is honestly not that interesting at first glance. The episode is pretty goddamn sexiest, accusing women of ignoring their motherly instincts which Golgom takes advantage of to make kids grow up unloved, and... yeah it's a dumb episode. It wants to do a "rot humanity from within" story but does so by suggesting that women in the workforce are eroding society. It's a shockingly inadequate episode for this late in the show. But the latter half is better and Bishum gets some time to shine in her final appearance, even managing to kidnapped Kyoko. There is also more doubt cast that Shadow Moon isn't fully rid of his humanity, hesitating on killing Kotaro when Kyoko would also likely be killed, even as Bishum attempts to sacrifice herself. This lack of action results in Bishum dying in vain, which does not sit well with the Creation King nor the other grand mutants. This shocking ending is what salvages the episode from simply being a complete mess.
Ep. 46 Fierce Death of Baraom.
W:Noboru Sugimura. D: Michio Konishi.
This would continue the fall out of the previous episode with a vengeful Baraom training to take out Kotaro. It is also Kotaro and Nobuhiko's Birthday, one year to the day the horror began, with more to come as the world begins having ecological disasters when an unusually large sunspot appears. For the first time, the Creation King speaks directly to Kotaro and Shadow Moon, his message a simple one: Kamen Rider Black and Shadow Moon must fight.46 would also introduce the final character of Kamen Rider Black: Whale Mutant. (Eisuke Yoda- voice)
Whale doesn't have many episode appearances as one might expect this late in the show, but he is an incredibly important character, one that's impossible to talk about without spoilers because of his actions. He defects from Golgom after learning of their plans to pollute the ocean, which would kill many of the mutants who rely upon it for survival, but his betrayal is discovered, and he is subsequently injured by Baraom for his deception. Whale Mutant only survives thanks to Kotaro, who is ultimately able to destroy Baraom with the assistance of the mutant.
Ep. 47 Death of Rider.
The Golgom Boy Soldiers make their final appearance here, many of them wounded in battle alongside other irregular fighters as they fend off the rampaging mutants. Among the many dying and injured, they beg Kotaro to fight, with even Katsumi and Kyoko joining in.
The three spend an eerily calm but emotional night reflecting upon what this could mean. Yet despite how much it eats at Kotaro, he knows this horror can't continue. The following day, Kotaro finally confronts his brother. The two are evenly matched until Kotaro gets the upper hand with a devastating punch. But when Shadow Moon briefly reverts to Nobuhiko, Kotaro hesitates, allowing Shadow Moon to retaliate and mortally wound Kotaro as Katsumi and Kyoko watch in horror.
But... Shadow Moon refuses to take the King Stone, defiantly stating he does not need it to rule before disappearing.
In his dying moments, Kotaro tells Kyoko and Katsumi to flee Japan, knowing it will be besieged by Golgom soon. Kotaro thanks the two as he reverts into his Rider form and- as if the earth itself is crying out, the ground cracks open sending Kotaro's body cascading into the sea.
Ep. 48 Bouquet of Reminiscence, into the sea.
W:Jun'ichi Miyashita D:Takeshi Ogasawara.
48 is mostly a clip show but there are several noteworthy happenings. The Creation King angered by Shadow Moon's insubordination orders him to retrieve the Kingstone, as time is running out for the ritual to be completed. The sunspot is slowly fading and with it the creation king's life. Should the ritual not be completed soon, both will die.
But Kotaro's body is nowhere to be found, having been discovered by Whale Mutant who hid the body in an underwater cave system and is resuscitating him, although he remains unconscious for most of the episode. Elsewhere, Katsumi and Kyoko struggle with escaping Japan as many means of transport are overrun and violent mobs of other would-be refugees are around every corner, desperate for money or a means of escape. The two are helped by an unnamed good Samaritan who is also able to get them aboard a ship bound for San Fransisco, the two tossing a bouquet out to sea as they say goodbye.
Ep. 49 Fierce Battle! Death of Darom.
W:Jun'ichi Miyashita. D:Takeshi Ogasawara.
49 sees Kotaro fully revived and returning to the surface, only to contend with a horrible sight of ruins and broken people. From desperate religious ceremonies to children portraying Golgom as victorious over Kamen Rider, the results of Golgom's handiwork and Kotaro's failure is everywhere. Worst of all is a roaming gang of kidnappers referred to as the Golgom SS, who sacrifice their victims as food to Golgom mutants in hopes of being spared. A confrontation between them and Kotaro alerts Golgom to his survival just as Darom discovers Whale Mutant and uses the Golgom SS under threat to capture him. The Mutant freely gives himself up in hopes of, if nothing else, at least saving people as penance for past involvement with Golgom. Ultimately it's all a trap to lure Kotaro, who tussles and defeats Darom in one of the most impressive fights of the series. His victory reinstilling people's faith in Rider and prestenting Black as this almost divine being who has risen from the dead.
The one weird thing I will note is that Whale Mutant doesn't talk at all, he gestures a lot. I'm guessing Eisuke Yoda was busy with another project. Although he does return for the following episode.
Ep. 50 The Creation King's True Form?
W:Noboru Sugimura D:Masao Minowa
Following word of the Rider's revival and triumph over Darom, many mutants begin defecting from Golgom but are hunted down by Stickleback Mutant. Meanwhile, Whale Mutant leads Kotaro to Golgom's HQ, warning him that it's not Shadow Moon he should be fearful of, but the Creation King. Kotaro is suddenly brought into the King's inner chambers where he's forced to watch Stickleback viciously kill Whale Mutant, who cries out to Rider to protect the oceans before dying.
The rest of the episode is largely dedicated to the Creation King providing exposition for what the Creation King does, as well as how their power grows each cycle. Though these words fail to sway Kotaro, a fight between him and Shadow moon is inevitable. He and Shadow Monn are cast outside in a lush field where Kotaro attempts once more to appeal to Nobuhiko, but he will not be swayed anymore than he. The field soon turns into an inferno as Shadow Moon begins his attack To add insult to injury, Shadow Moon calls out to Battle Hopper and uses the bike against Black. It was after all made for the next Creation King and Shadow Moon is just as viable as Kotaro.
Ep. 51 Golgom's last day.
W:Noboru Sugimura D:Masao Minowa
The battle continues where it left off, BattleHopper desperately struggling against Shadow Moon's control. Kotaro briefly cuts the interference, allowing Battle Hopper to retaliate. However, the bike pays severely in doing so, heroically sacrificing itself and gravely injuring Shadow Moon, causing him to flee in the process.
Speaking for the first time, Hopper thanks Rider before succumbing to their wounds.
Picking up a discarded Satan Saber, Black heads after the retreating Shadow Moon.
What follows is not an epic confrontation, but a depressingly futile one-sided battle. A severely damaged Moon practically committing suicide by attacking Black, only to have his moonstone cut by the Satan Saber.
As he lay dying, Shadow Moon taunts that Kotaro will live the rest of his life in the torment of having killed his best friend. But even after all that's happened, Kotaro is still willing to come back and save Shadow Moon after dealing with the Creation King.
The most heartbreaking part is even with all of the various small glimmers of humanity in Shadow Moon, even his refusal to take the king stone, in this final moment it becomes clear no matter what bit of Nobuhiko remained to cause all those discrepancies, no matter how much Kotaro has struggled and still wants to save him, it's too late.
But it is perhaps that last shred of humanity, that small piece that refused Kotaro's king stone which ultimately leads to this moment. Nobuhiko in a way prevailing over the Creation King.
Kotaro finally faces the true orchestrator of all of this, the blacked heart of the dying creation king. The being tries to tempt Kotaro, but this quickly turns to threats as the king has an ace up his sleeve in the form of a tunnel to the center of the Earth. Should Kotaro not accept the role of the new Creation King, the current one will see that the Earth dies with him.
With a barrier in place and at wits' end, Kotaro calls out for the Satan Saber, and Shadow Moon, seeing the sword summoned, calls out not Kamen Rider, nor Black Sun, but Minami Kotaro.
Kotaro shatters through the barrier and finally kills the Creation King, who vows to one day return as the facility collapses, burying Shadow Moon before Kotaro can reach him.
After 10 days of a cleansing rain, Kotaro returns to the cafe that Katsumi and Kyoko once ran, now empty and dark.
The rest of the episode is largely clips from across the entire series, an aspect I like in that it's one final look back at how far we've come. Although it goes on a bit too long and is sort of undermined by the fact that we had a clip show not too long ago and this is technically the fourth one in the series which is a wee bit obnoxious. But, it doesn't ruin the ending, the extremely bittersweet ending.
The final shot of Kotaro in the empty building is one of the most powerful images and worth watching just for that scene. Yet despite all that he's lost, Kotaro heads out determined to fight again when he is needed.
These final episodes are without a doubt some of the best episodes in Kamen Rider Black. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say they make the series. But of course, they're propped up by many other fantastic episodes that lead up to them. The drama, the music, the performances all come together for a beautiful and heartfelt finale.
Final thoughts.
If it wasn't clear by now, Kamen Rider Black is an absolutely solid entry in the franchise. There is a reason it is so highly esteemed. Frankly, its reputation is so well known it's why I held off on reviewing it for so long, despite it being my most rewatched Kamen Rider series. Even now there's something that intimidates me about examining Black and all of its various layers, hoping to convey how wonderful the show is.
Kamen Rider Black did everything it needed to in its time, recapturing that spirit of Kamen Rider, sussing out the back-to-basics mentality while still introducing new and often topical concepts to the franchise. Not to mention how impressive the long game is with establishing a narrative early in the run. Sure, nowadays that's expected, but it's still one of the more enjoyable parts of KRB and it holds up fairly well even today.
But, I will admit the show isn't flawless. Much as I praise the character relationships and the heavy role they play, most come very late into the series and are rather light comparatively. Nobuhiko's characterization pre-Golgom is nonexistent, relegated mostly to simple flashbacks of him with the others in happier times, which is to say the cast running in a field with a hazy view.
While the series works great with what it presents and is still incredibly sorrowful, I can't help but wish we were given more on the type of person he was before Shadow Moon. I would've liked to have seen more episodes like 17 with lengthy sequences of Kyoko and her bother showing how caring he was. An episode with a flashback to him and Katsumi going on a date, or an episode with him and Kotaro as adults in a sports club would've been nice. We're able to understand Kotaro, Katsumi, and Kyoko's pain, but we're not able to share in it because we never see enough of him the way they remember.
It's kind of a shame. The actor, Takahito Horiuchi, was chosen for Nobuhiko because he was the runner up to the lead role as Kotaro. Generally speaking, missing out on the lead only to get the main antagonist role would be pretty sweet. But of course, he doesn't get to play Shadow Moon, and Nobuhiko barely even has a speaking role. I'm mean damn, he kinda got screwed right? I'd sure be miffed.
If there are any other faults it's that Black is a series with perhaps too many ideas. Stories or snippets from episodes that seem like they will or could be made into something more, but never are.
In the end, it doesn't result in much of a detriment, If anything, it might even be better simply by avoiding overly familiar cliches of the franchise. What works does so in such a manner that clumsy execution with things like Taki or the EP party seems like small potatoes compared to how everything else turns out. After all, Kamen Rider Black's biggest strength isn't just the essence of Kamen Rider being preserved and revived in a new era, but how it also cut a lot of bullshit that arguably hindered many prior Rider shows through oversaturation. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot to love about many Showa entries and some reimaginings in Black I would've liked to see develope. But I can't deny how refreshing it is to have not have a reinvention of the same organization or villain, no past Riders showing up for the midway or final episode(s), and no mentor figures. Just a Kamen Rider in a lonely battle to protect what he loves.
The series simultaneously owes a great deal to the many predecessors and honors them in indirect ways, yet is perfectly capable of standing on its own.
That is possibly the best lesson to be taken from a writing standpoint. To embody the basic ideals and hallmarks of a franchise, but also bold enough to not become trapped by them and to introduce new staples. It's a tricky balance, but Kamen Rider Black managed to toe that line and it resulted in one of the best Rider and Tokusatsu series around.
And, to be brusque, it's something I believe the franchise needs to learn once more.
If you've never seen Black or if you've never seen a Showa Kamen Rider series, I cannot suggest this one enough. It was my first series and is a wonderful introduction to a lot of the ideals that make Kamen Rider so appealing.
Oh and if anyone is wondering if I'll ever review RX, well I don't have any plans to. Mainly because I don't want to watch RX again, but also I would rather review something I haven't seen yet and could possibly enjoy. Frankly... RX is not that good of a show. There are aspects I like and even some really great moments. It has a fantastic soundtrack, arguably better than even Black. I love the aesthetic, and it introduced staples that would have a big influence on later shows. But overall it is a terrible follow-up and a mess writing-wise, primarily caused by what can only be described as a cartoonish tone. A stark contrast to the largely humorless Black. Maybe one day it would be fun to pick apart, but not now. I want to focus my efforts elsewhere.
All that said, the next review is Ultraman Ace. Not to jinx it, but I'm about halfway though and enjoying this one quite a bit. I do however have one smaller post about the Kamen Rider news revealed for the 50th anniversary. That should be up in a day or two, it's already written up, I just need to glance it over. I also have some stuff planned for after Ace, but that'll have to wait until the review.
Also if you like way I do and can spare it, consider tossing a dollar at my Kofi. And thanks for reading.
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