What are your thoughts on the original Kamen Rider? Do you think it is a perfect start? Or is it wanting?

#Tokusatsu #Toku #KamenRider #ShotaroIshinomori #manga

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I originally read and talked about Skull Man years ago. Check it out HERE.

The Heroic Pathos of Early Kamen Rider

By MJ Muñoz – Author, Artist, Analyzer – MJMunoz.com

The Emotional Core of Kamen Rider

The original Kamen Rider series stands as a foundational work in the tokusatsu genre, not just for its action sequences, but for the emotional depth it brings to its hero. What makes Takeshi Hongo such a compelling character isn’t just that he transforms into a motorcycle-riding insect hero – it’s the pathos of his journey and his remarkable response to trauma.

Unlike many heroes of the era, Hongo’s suffering feels genuine and multi-dimensional. After being kidnapped and transformed into a cyborg against his will by the evil Shocker organization, he doesn’t succumb to darkness or vengeful brooding. Instead, we see something far more inspiring: forgiveness and persistent optimism.

Hongo doesn’t blame Professor Midori Kawa for having referred Shocker to him. He’s completely forgiven him and wants to help the professor fight against their common enemy. This level of emotional maturity is striking, especially in a show from the early 1970s.

A Hero’s Burden with a Positive Spirit

What truly sets Kamen Rider apart from contemporaries like Ultraman is this burden the hero carries. In Ultraman, Hayata effectively dies in the first episode, but then comes back and simply proceeds with his monster-fighting adventures without much emotional fallout.

Hongo, however, carries the weight of his transformation visibly, yet refuses to be defined by it. Hiroshi Fujioka‘s portrayal brings earnestness and positivity to the role that I find incredibly endearing and inspiring. He’s sad sometimes – most notably when riding his motorcycle, perhaps processing his trauma through the one activity they couldn’t take from him – but he never wallows.

Without being emotionally overwrought, the show effectively makes you feel and understand Hongo’s pain, what he’s going through, and what he’s lost. And yet he persists. This spirit of perseverance, coupled with his quest for redemption, makes Kamen Rider a lasting and beautiful story.

Dynamic Action and Visceral Filmmaking

The action spectacle in early Kamen Rider is nothing short of fantastic. Director Koichi Takamoto (episodes 1 and 3) created an energetic, visceral style that would influence tokusatsu for decades to come.

The fight scenes feature:

• Hongo throwing enemies down cliffs
• The man-spider monster climbing walls with web ropes
• Dynamic camera speed adjustments
• Creative compositions mixing distant and close-up shots
• Practical stunts that must have been genuinely dangerous

The stunt team deserves tremendous credit for the lengths they went to make these sequences feel real and exciting. It’s no wonder that Hideaki Anno would later pay homage to these scenes in his 2022 film Shin Kamen Rider, recreating some moments shot-for-shot. These original sequences are iconic – creepy, weird, and wonderful all at once.

Performances That Elevate the Material

The emotional drama of Kamen Rider works largely because the actors commit so fully to their roles. The performances of those playing Midori Kawa, Ruriko, and especially Takeshi Hongo elevate the material beyond typical children’s entertainment.

When Ruriko discovers her father is alive and becomes hopeful about seeing him again, you genuinely feel for her. These actors took their jobs seriously, emoting with conviction and truly selling the drama of each scene. They left everything on screen, making the interpersonal conflicts between these characters believable and engaging.

A Tokusatsu Legacy in the Making

It’s fascinating to note that writer Masaru Igami, who wrote these early episodes, is the father of Toshiki Inoue (later writer for Kamen Rider Kuuga, Agito, and head writer for Faiz) and grandfather of Akiko Inoue (writer for Super Sentai Gojuger).

There’s a moment in this early episode where Takeshi and Ruriko have a misunderstanding they don’t get to resolve – a storytelling approach that would later become a signature (and sometimes criticized) technique in Toshiki Inoue’s Kamen Rider Faiz. It’s amusing to see how this approach to character conflict began with his father in the very first episode of Kamen Rider.

Final Thoughts: The Power of Perseverance

What makes the original Kamen Rider resonate even today is its portrayal of resilience in the face of trauma. Hongo’s journey isn’t just about fighting monsters – it’s about reclaiming his humanity when it’s been forcibly altered.

The show demonstrates that heroism isn’t about being invulnerable, but about continuing forward despite your wounds. Hongo’s positive spirit and perseverance, his refusal to be defined by what was done to him, creates a powerful emotional core that elevates the series beyond its exciting action sequences.

It’s why I’ll continue covering the original Kamen Rider alongside my analyses of Kuuga – because these stories of transformed heroes finding their way forward still have so much to teach us about resilience and hope.

Looking Forward