While I freely confess to not being particularly knowledgeable when it comes to Japanese tokusatsu - masked hero - shows and have never watched any of the incarnations of the popular Kamen Rider series, not even when personal fave Jo Odagiri was in the lead, I've got to say this is looking fun. Kamen Rider Dragon Knight is the new US-based entry in the series, done with the full co-operation of the Japanese creators. Monsters? Martial arts? Motorcycles? You betcha ... they've got a formula that works and the US folks aren't about to mess with a successful formula. A three minute trailer for the show surfaced in Japan recently and I've got to say that the production values are remarkably good for this sort of thing, some of the creature effects are rather good and there are some very legit fighters in this thing. Of course, it's not like the creators are really concerned with what I think - I'm a bit outside of the target audience after all - but in the words of the boy, who just watched the trailer: "This looks AWESOME". Question one from the boy when the trailer ended: "When does it start?" Question two: "What channel is it on?" I think they've made a convert. Check the trailer below the break.
Oh man. Looks ok, but hope they don't make it too cheesy. He he. I just fired up my classic Kamen Rider soundtrack CD!
Action looks great, but the acting could not get any worse than that.
It does look surprisingly well put together for that kind of thing.
Those are some terribly uninspired Kamen Rider designs. what happened. A lot of the series at least had cool designs.
Ugh.
They've just taken the f/x and fight sequence footage from the original Japanese series KAMEN RIDER RYUKI and cut out all of the scenes with the actual Japanese actors and replaced them with US actors. Just like the POWER RANGERS and the US version of MASKED RIDER from years back. Blech. The KAMEN RIDER shows are all great fun, and I highly recommend tracking down the original uncut Japanese versions instead of supporting this bastardization.
Tokusatsu does not mean masked hero no matter how many times you claim it does. Will someone buy Todd a clue?
Ronin - Not trying to start anything here but could you hold off on the whining until you've actually seen a few episodes? From what I've been hearing and seeing (including interviews my show's conducted with people on cast and crew), it's going to be anything but Power Rangers. Even then, what would you want? Dubbed episodes of Ryuki? I'd bet you'd hate that even more.
I know I can't absolutely defend it here as even I haven't seen it yet but don't pass this off as a bastardization just yet.
Also, Todd, I kinda have to go with Fozzy on this one...save for the slight aggression there ^^ Tokusatsu isn't masked heroes, it's special effects.
@ Gaijinder
I'm not whining, I'm just tired of the generally shoddy treatment that tokusatsu series have endured here in the US. Outside of the few DVD releases that have actually presented the material in their original uncut versions (e.g. the Iron King and Super Robot Red Baron DVD sets from BCI), we get butchered "reinterpretations" like the Power Rangers, Masked Rider and now Kamen Rider Dragon Knight. I actually find it slightly offensive that TV producers feel the need to completely remove all of the Japanese actors from a show and replace them with "safe" multicultural ones. It's almost as if they are ashamed of the fact that the original material is from Japan. When I was kid, I had no problems watching Ultraman, Space Giants and all the Godzilla films with all of the Japanese actors intact. So yes, I'd rather they leave the show alone and dub it into English (it is possible to do a good dub job, but I know that is the exception, not the rule). At least then, the possibility of uncut bilingual DVDs would exist.
Anyways, I am not trying to rag on a show I have never seen - I am actually a fan of Steve Wang's previous work (Kung Fu Rascals, Guyver: Dark Hero and Drive). I just don't understand the desire to gut an already great program and present it as something else. I would rather US producers come up with something new and original that is in the same vein, but that would take, y'know, more money and effort.
I love Power Rangers. I don't think I'd enjoy it as much if it was dubbed. Same goes for this. I don't see any problem with the US making there own version, even if it's made up of only half the footage.
Sure I'd love to see our own Masked Rider built from the ground up. But this is a small company making the show. If it does well, I could see them one day teaming up with Toei and co-producing an orginal Rider series for the U.S.
Well, this is all we got for now.
So lets see whats happens and have some faith.
meh.