Kamen Rider Den-O

is the seventeenth installment in the popular Kamen Rider of tokusatsu programs. It is a joint collaboration between Ishimori Productions and Toei. It premiered January 2, 2007 on tv asahi, and concluded airing on January 2, 2008.

Along with the usual film adaptation that Heisei Kamen Rider series have released during the late summer of their broadcast run, Den-O has had a second film released in the spring following its broadcast run and a series of 10 OVA shorts, both of which are firsts for any Kamen Rider. Continuing the trend, Kamen Rider Den-O is to have a third film released in October 2008 and a second series of 10 OVA shorts set for release in November 2008.

Synopsis


Ryotaro Nogami is a young man with a lot of bad luck. One day, he finds a strange pass and things got stranger from a mysterious girl and a large time-traveling train to being possessed by an entity called an Imagin, beings from an alternate future whose kind are attempting to change the past. Though slightly confused about the nature of the crisis, Ryotaro, along with the aid of the hot-headed Imagin, dubbed Momotaros, becomes Kamen Rider Den-O, traveling to different times on the Den-Liner to battle the evil Imagin to prevent them from altering the past to affect the present and future. During his adventure, Ryotaro is joined by other Imagin who aid him as well; the womanizing Urataros, the herculean (and narcoleptic) Kintaros, and the childish yet powerful Ryutaros. He later meets the mysterious Yuto Sakurai and his bumbling Imagin partner Deneb. Yuto is not only Kamen Rider Zeronos but is the younger incarnation of Ryotaro's older sister Airi's fiance, Sakurai, who mysteriously disappeared and is tied to the mysteries revolving the Imagin and the Junction Point.

Characters
The cast members of Kamen Rider Den-O range from the shy and meek Ryotaro Nogami, who is drafted into being Kamen Rider Den-O, to the insane Kai, who seeks to destroy time as we know it in order for the Imagin to rule the future

Imagin
are creatures from the future who have come to the year 2007 in hopes of changing the past to alter their future to their liking. To reach this goal, Imagin grant the wishes of weak-hearted humans and then go back in time to that individual's most precious memory. When they lose control of their humanoid forms, Imagin grow into massive proportions known as Gigandeath.

Singularity Point
Some of the humans in Kamen Rider Den-O are called a. The primary ability of Singularity Points is that they are able to exist outside of time itself, such that changes in their past timeline will not alter their current state. In some instances, Singularity Points have had their timelines destroyed by the actions of the Imagin, yet still exist in a physical form with their memories intact, unaffected by the changes. The Singularity Points revealed are Ryotaro, Hana, Kai, and the Owner of the Den-Liner. These individuals also have the ability to resist the Imagin's ability to use their body as a host, even control them if powerful enough.

Pass System
Ryotaro and Yuto allow their Imagin to sometimes possess and utilize their bodies depending on circumstances. The possession makes the Imagin's personality dominant, and also causes a physiological change in the host. The change is evident in the physical structure, where the eyes and a streak of hair change color to that of the dominant color of the possessing Imagin merged with the host. The possession also allows the host to use the Imagin's fighting style while battling the evil Imagin as Kamen Riders. Ryotaro's Imagin are also capable of possessing him all at once. However, if not transformed into Climax Form, this multi-possession is incredibly unstable, leaving the Imagin unable to coordinate themselves and causing Ryotaro intense pain.

The is a card-like pass that is used for granting access to the train known as the Den-Liner. This process only works when the hour, minute, and second are the same, such as 12:12:12.

are tickets that store information on Imagin. The tickets keep a record of the past date in which the Imagin has ventured and a figure of the Imagin when swiped over a person whose past has been violated by the Imagin.

Kamen Rider uses the Den-O System, and can swipe the Rider Pass across the of the Den-O belt, specifically the, to activate a transformation. He can also do this to achieve, and while transformed to perform a. Up to four Imagin can be summoned by using the Rider Pass, and each allows for Den-O to change into a specific form. The red button allows for Momotaros and Kamen Rider. The blue button allows for Momotaros and Kamen Rider. The yellow button allows for Momotaros and Kamen Rider. The purple button allows for Momotaros and Kamen Rider. It is shown that Imagin that are used for the form changes temporarily take over a hosts' personality. With the K-Taros cellphone, all four Imagin can be summoned for Den-O to assume Kamen Rider. Den-O's Kamen Rider is accessed by inserting the Rider Pass into the designated slot in the DenKamen Sword. Another form from the Swan Imagin Momotaros, Kamen Rider, is accessed by using the Wing Buckle, but Sieg's place in time prevents the normal use of this form.

Kamen Rider uses the system that functions by sliding a  into the, allowing him to  into either of his two forms. When the Zeronos Belt is turned into the green position, the Zeronos Card is inserted with the green side facing front, and Zeronos becomes Kamen Rider. When it is turned into the yellow position, the Zeronos Card is inserted with the yellow side facing front, and Zeronos becomes Kamen Rider, which is powered by Momotaros. An alternate version of the Zeronos Card replaces the green side with a red side. When the first of these cards is used, the red side turns Altair Form into Kamen Rider, rusting its normal appearance. The transformation leaves Zeronos unable to assume Altair or Vega Form afterwards.

Kamen Rider uses the Rider Pass and SetTouch system, just like Den-O, but uses a Golden Master Pass stolen from the Den-Liner's Owner that allows time-travel to the distant past. The Gaoh belt appears by itself before the Master Pass is dropped down and asorbed into the Gaoh belt in order to transform into Gaoh Form. In the Director's Cut version of the movie, Gaoh Form is formed with the Chest Plate and The Shoulder Armor attaching to the Plat Form of Gaoh Form. The head is then formed. Double Action Gaoh Form is also played during the formation of the Gaoh Form.

Kamen Rider uses the Rider Pass and the SetTouch system, just like Den-O, but with a deep shade of red in the center of the with the fact that the Pass is stolen from Owner. When the Pass is tapped on the Den-O belt, [NEGA FORM] is announced with a large bass that differs from the voice of the first Den-O belt. [FULL CHARGE] is also announced in the same tone.

I'm Born!
premiered in August 4, 2007. This is the second Heisei era film in the Kamen Rider Series to be part of the storyline of its television series since Kamen Rider. The film features the renegade Kamen Rider who takes control of the Den-Liner to bring it to the Edo period to find his own train, the Gaoh-Liner, so he can take over all of time and space. Alongside I am Born!, the Juken Sentai Gekiranger movie Juken Sentai Gekiranger was shown as double feature. A short animated feature called Kamen Rider was shown along with the films, as well.

Climax Deka
A movie titled appeared in theaters on April 12, 2008. It features a meeting between the characters of Den-O and the characters of Kamen Rider. The animated short will be shown as double feature.

Imagin Anime
Animate in conjunction with Ishimori Productions, TV Asahi, ADK, and Toei, is producing a series of OVA shorts for Den-O titled featuring super deformed versions of the main Imagin that have been used in Animate's products for the series. A second set of animated shorts called is to be released for sale on November 22, 2008.

Momotaros's King of the Burning Red Castle
The popularity of the Imagin characters brings a series of four short episodes called, where the Tarōs get into another crazy adventure as they take the Ginjiro out for a spin. The first three episodes are one-minute-long, airing from July 20 to August 3 after Kamen Rider, the first two providing info on the Kiva and Go-onger movies respectively. The fourth two-minute-long episode will be shown in theaters alongside Kamen Rider and Engine Sentai Go-onger. Toshihiko Seki will reprise his role as the Imagin Momotaros and Kōji Yusa, Masaki Terasoma, and Kenichi Suzumura also reprise their roles as Urataros, Kintaros, and Ryutaros, respectively.

Third film
Set for theatrical release on October 4, 2008, a third film adaptation of Kamen Rider Den-O is in production, tentatively titled. From a product description on Animate's website for trading card set to be released at the time of the film's release, a new Imagin and new Rider are to featured. Animate has since taken down this item's listing, and the listings on upcoming film releases have also been removed.

Den-Liner, Into Space!
is a planetarium show using the cast of Kiva and Den-O to teach children about the universe. It is being shown at the Kagoshima Municipal Science Hall's planetarium between January 2 and March 30, 2009.
 * In its first week, the Climax Jump DEN-LINER form single sold 66,000 records, reaching #2 on the Oricon Styles weekly album rankings, higher than any previous Kamen Rider Den-O single.


 * Ending themes
 * "Double-Action"
 * Lyrics: Shōko Fujibayashi
 * Composition & Arrangement: LOVE+HATE
 * Artist: Kamen Rider & Momotaros (Takeru Satoh & Toshihiko Seki)
 * Episodes: 3-7, 10-11, 14, 16, 18-19, 23, 33, 41, Climax Deka
 * This is the original arrangement of "Double Action" and it has a Eurobeat style. It is sometimes referred to as "Double-Action Sword form" to differentiate it from the "Double-Action" arrangements.
 * "Double-Action Rod form"
 * Lyrics: Shōko Fujibayashi
 * Composition: LOVE+HATE
 * Arrangement:
 * Artist: Ryotaro Nogami & Urataros (Takeru Satoh & Kōji Yusa)
 * Episodes: 8-9, 15, 22, 44, Climax Deka
 * This arrangement of "Double-Action" has a ska style.
 * "Double-Action Ax form"
 * Lyrics: Shōko Fujibayashi
 * Composition: LOVE+HATE, Shuhei Naruse
 * Arrangement: Shuhei Naruse
 * Artist: Ryotaro Nogami & Kintaros (Takeru Satoh & Masaki Terasoma)
 * Episodes: 15, 24, 31, 44, Climax Deka
 * This arrangement of "Double-Action" has an style.
 * "Double-Action Gun form"
 * Lyrics: Shōko Fujibayashi
 * Composition: LOVE+HATE, Shuhei Naruse
 * Arrangement: Shuhei Naruse
 * Artist: Ryotaro Nogami & Ryutaros (Takeru Satoh & Kenichi Suzumura)
 * Episodes: 17, 21, 26, 44, Climax Deka
 * This arrangement of "Double-Action" has a hip hop style.
 * "Action-ZERO"
 * Lyrics: Shōko Fujibayashi
 * Composition & Arrangement: LOVE+HATE
 * Artist: Kamen Rider & Momotaros (Yuichi Nakamura & Hōchū Ōtsuka)
 * Episodes: 25, 27, 32, 35, 37, 46
 * "Action-ZERO" has a heavy metal style. It is the first ending theme that is not a "Double-Action" arrangement.
 * "Real-Action"
 * Lyrics: Shōko Fujibayashi
 * Composition & Arrangement: Ryo
 * Artist: Ryotaro Nogami (Takeru Satoh)
 * Episodes: 36, 38-39, 42, 45, Climax Deka
 * "Real-Action" has a rock style. It is the second ending theme that is not a "Double-Action" arrangement.
 * "Double-Action Wing form"
 * Lyrics: Shōko Fujibayashi
 * Composition: LOVE+HATE
 * Arrangement: Shuhei Naruse
 * Artist: Ryotaro Nogami & Momotaros (Takeru Satoh & Shin-ichiro Miki)
 * Episodes: Finale, I'm Born! Final Cut Version
 * This arrangement of "Double-Action" featured in the finale episode has a Arabic pop style. During the ending credits of the finale, the song was accidentally titled "Climax Jump Wing form." Toei later released a statement correcting this error in the Den-O production blog and that a single for "Double-Action Wing form" will be released on March 26, 2008. On its first day on the market, the single for "Double-Action Wing form" started out at #2 on the Oricon. It ended its first week at #5 on the Oricon's weekly charts. "Double-Action Wing form" later was used in the Final Cut Version of Kamen Rider Den-O: I'm Born!.


 * Insert songs
 * "Climax Jump HIPHOP ver."
 * Artist: AAA Den-O form
 * Episodes: 13-16, I'm Born!
 * This version of "Climax Jump" plays when Momotaros takes over Ryotaro and he is accompanied by his "dancers" until "Double-Action Gun form" was recorded and used in its place in episode 21. It was played in the movie when R-Ryotaro arrived at the Climax Scene.
 * "Double-Action Piano form (1-4)"
 * Composition: LOVE+HATE
 * Episodes: 33-34
 * "Double-Action Piano form" is an instrumental version of "Double-Action" played on a grand piano as part of the storyline to episodes 33 and 34. Various versions of "Double-Action Piano form" released on the "Real-Action" and "Double-Action Coffee form" singles.
 * "Double-Action Coffee form"
 * Lyrics: Shōko Fujibayashi
 * Composition: LOVE+HATE, Shuhei Naruse
 * Arrangement: Shuhei Naruse
 * Artist: Naomi & Airi Nogami (Rina Akiyama & Wakana Matsumoto)
 * Episodes: 36
 * "Double-Action Coffee form" is the first "Double-Action" arrangement that is not used as an ending theme, but as an insert song, as both characters who sing the song are non-combatants. This song and "Real-Action" were released as singles on September 26, 2007.
 * "Climax Jump Dark HIPHOP ver."
 * Artist: AAA Den-O form
 * Episodes: 37
 * This version of "Climax Jump" plays when Kai arrives and takes control of people.


 * Other songs
 * "Double-Action GAOH form"
 * Lyrics: Shōko Fujibayashi
 * Composition: LOVE+HATE, Shuhei Naruse
 * Arrangement: Shuhei Naruse
 * Artist: Kamen Rider (Hiroyuki Watanabe)
 * Episodes: I'm Born! Final Cut Version
 * This arrangement of "Double-Action" is a solo act with a Death rock feel that was released on the original soundtrack for Kamen Rider, but was not used in the theatrical release of the film. It was later used on the DVD release's Final Cut Version.
 * "DEN-O VOCAL TRACKS LINER (C-J D-A nonstop re-connection)"
 * This song appeared on the second original soundtrack as a of the songs performed by the cast at the time of its release. It features remixes of "Double-Action," "Double-Action Rod form," "Double-Action Ax form," "Double-Action Gun form," "Double-Action Coffee form," "Double-Action GAOH form," "Action-ZERO," "Real-Action," and "Climax Jump DEN-LINER form."
 * "Action-ZERO Piano form"
 * Composition: LOVE+HATE
 * This piano arrangement of "Action-ZERO" was included on the "Double-Action Wing form" single.
 * "Double-Action CLIMAX form"
 * Lyrics: Shōko Fujibayashi
 * Composition: LOVE+HATE, Shuhei Naruse
 * Arrangement: Shuhei Naruse
 * Artist: Momotaros, Urataros, Kintaros, Ryutaros, Deneb (Toshihiko Seki, Kōji Yusa, Masaki Terasoma, Kenichi Suzumura, Hōchū Ōtsuka)
 * "Double-Action CLIMAX form" is an arrangement of "Double-Action" that is the only quintent vocalist arrangement similar to "Climax Jump DEN-LINER form" in style. Its single was released on April 16, 2008, and it will be used as the theme song for Kamen Rider. Shuhei Naruse composed and arranged the song. Like Climax Jump DEN-LINER form, the single has variant covers which designate its bonus track, one for each of the Imagin vocalists. These singles also include a DVD of the music video. A sixth single has all five Imagin on the cover, but does not have a bonus track nor a DVD. On its first day of release, the singles reached #3 on the Oricon Daily Singles' charts. It ended its first week on the Oricon at #4 on the Weekly Single Charts.

In addition to the above songs, Den-O also has two original soundtracks, an original soundtrack for I'm Born!, and a collection called the Complete CD-Box which includes all of the songs and background music from the series. Not included are the alternate arrangements from the Climax Jump single, the background songs from the soundtrack of the film I'm Born!, the film's theme song performed by 175R, and the songs recorded after its release: "Double-Action Wing form," "Action-ZERO Piano form," and "Double-Action CLIMAX form." The Complete CD-Box also contained a DVD for the music video of "Climax Jump DEN-LINER form."