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Article date: October 08, 2004
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Masked Rider (Heisei Era Series, 2000 - Present)
Created by: Shotaro Ishinomori
TV Series: January 2000 -
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Created by Shotaro Ishinomori (also of Cyborg 009 and Kikaider fame), "Masked Rider" first hit the TV airwaves in 1971. The original series caused a sensation among the children of Japan, leading to the so-called "Rider Boom" where, until 1989, hardly a year went by without a new "Masked Rider" series. During this period nine series were produced along with an additional four TV specials and original video releases.
The "Masked Rider" franchise lay dormant for a period of roughly ten years until the 2000 debut of "Masked Rider Kuuga". This installment dealt with a murderous tribe of monsters known as the Gurongi, a handsome youth named Yuusuke Godai who calls upon the power of the legendary warrior Kuuga to fight them, and his fellow freedom fighter police detective Kaoru Ichijou.
Featuring both high-definition visuals and a level of drama not often seen in prior series, "Masked Rider Kuuga" soon became a hit among adults as well as the "Masked Rider" core audience of children, sparking a second "Rider Boom". The dashing, handsome actor in the title role also played a major role in the series' popularity, attracting hordes of female viewers that had all but ignored previous tokusatsu TV series.
The next year "Kuuga" was followed up by "Masked Rider Agito". With a storyline set three years after the events in "Kuuga", "Agito" showed viewers the exciting battle between three Riders - Shouichi Tsugami (Masked Rider Agito), Makoto Hikawa (Masked Rider G-3), and Ryou Ashihara (Masked Rider Gills) - and their mysterious opponents, the Unknown.
2002's "Masked Rider Ryuuki" featured a cast of 13 Masked Riders, all of whom are drawn to a dimension called the Mirror World and forced to battle to the death to further their own agendas. Featuring Rider versus Rider battles and an intriguing parallel world plot in which the events of the accompanying movie differed from that of the TV series, "Ryuuki" was unlike anything fans had seen before.
The next series, "Masked Rider 555", involved an epic struggle between Rider Takumi Inui and a reincarnated monster named Orphnoch intent on driving humanity to extinction.
The latest installment in the saga is "Masked Rider Blade", which pits four youthful heroes against the hostile lifeforms called Undead. The Riders banish their enemies by the means of special belts.
Shattering the old stereotype that tokusatsu action programs are kids' stuff, the post-2000 "Masked Rider" series boast popularity among young and old, male and female. It has never been a better time to be a "Masked Rider" fan, and most agree that the long-running show keeps getting better and better.
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