Kamen Rider Ryuki


 * This article is about the television series. For the series' main character, Ryuki, see Shinji Kido.

Kamen Rider Ryuki (仮面ライダー龍騎) is a Japanese tokusatsu television series. It was the twelfth installment in the Kamen Rider Series of tokusatsu shows. It was a joint collaboration between Ishimori Productions and Toei, and it was shown on TV Asahi from February 3, 2002 to January 19, 2003. The catchphrase for the series is "Those who don't fight won't survive!!" (戦わなければ、生き残れない!!). In 2009, Ryuki was adapted into the American television series Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight, the first adaptation of a Kamen Rider Series in the United States since Saban's Masked Rider in 1996.

Story
Thirteen Card Decks (カードデッキ) were created for thirteen Kamen Riders. They make Contracts with monsters from the mysterious Mirror World (ミラーワールド), a parallel dimension opposite to our own in which only the Kamen Riders can exist. The Riders draw on their monsters' strength in exchange for feeding them the life force of the creatures they destroy. The creator of the Advent Cards (アドベントカード) has only one rule: that there can be only one Kamen Rider. The others must be killed, and the sole victor will be granted a single wish, which leads to a conflict known as the Rider War.

All over the city, innocent people are being mysteriously abducted, never to be seen again. During his investigations of these incidents, Shinji Kido – an intern at the online news service ORE Journal – discovers one of the Advent Card decks at an apartment where every reflective surface has been covered by newspaper. He is soon sucked into the Mirror World, discovering the terrifying truth behind the disappearances: people are literally being pulled through mirrors by the monsters of the Mirror World so that they may feed. He is about to be killed by a powerful dragon named Dragredder when he is saved by Kamen Rider Knight: Ren Akiyama. Ren seeks to win the Rider War at all costs. He works with a young woman named Yui Kanzaki, who seeks her missing brother: the master of the Rider War, Shirō Kanzaki. Seeing Ren's strength, Shinji enters the Rider War not for the prize, but so that he may protect innocent people from the threat of the Mirror World, and stop the senseless fighting between the Kamen Riders. With Dragredder as his Contract Monster, he becomes Kamen Rider Ryuki.

He will discover that there are some people who cannot be saved. That you must sometimes fight in order to stop the fighting. The extent to which you must go if you want your deepest wish to come true, and the sacrifices that you must make. In the end, there can be only one Kamen Rider...

13 Riders
The notion of 13 Riders is apparently a homage to the original Kamen Rider manga published in 1971, which contains a chapter called The 13 Kamen Riders. However, only 10 Kamen Riders were featured in the TV series. Femme, Ryuga and Verde appeared exclusively in the movie Episode: Final and/or the TV special 13 Riders.

Despite the idea of 13 Kamen Riders facing each other, all 13 Kamen Riders never really faced each other in one huge battle. The most number of Kamen Riders in one battle is 6 (in the TV series, where Knight, Ryuki, Zolda, Ouja, Tiger, and Alternative fought each other, only to be interrupted by Imperer's advent monsters), and 11 (at the 13 Kamen Riders Special). Kamen Rider Raia was killed earlier by Kamen Rider Verde's Death Vanish Final Vent. Despite activating the Guard Vent, Kamen Rider Scissors was killed by Kamen Rider Ouja's Veno Crash Final Vent. The remaining 10 Kamen Riders fought on the final match of the special, with Kamen Rider Ryuki and Kamen Rider Knight facing off against the remaining 8, led by Kamen Rider Odin.

Allies

 * Yui Kanzaki

Ryuki's Rider Equipment
Though each Rider was different in many aspects, they all had some fundamental similarities and used similar equipment. The key element is the the Card Deck (カードデッキ, Kādo Dekki) a crest-encraved card holder which holds the Advent Cards (アドベントカード, Adobento Kādo), which the Riders used in their battles from summoning offensive and/or defensive weapons to special abilities or summoning Contact Monster. When the Card Deck is put up against a reflective surface, a V-Buckle (Vent Buckle) (Ｖ（ベント）バックル, Bento Bakkuru) appears for the Card Deck to side into to combine the change. Each Rider possesses a Visor (バイザー, Baizā), a card reader modeled after their contract monsters that can activate the Advent Cards' power or serve as a weapon.

Ride Shooter
Ride Shooter (ライドシューター, Raido Shūtā) - These vehicles were what the Riders would use to travel from the real world to the Mirror World. Once a Rider would pass through a mirror or reflective surface, they would then be riding in a Ride Shooter as they were traveling through a portal to the Mirror World. The Ride Shooter would then shoot out of the reflective surface in the Mirror World.

Specifications:
 * Length - 3.25m (Approximately 10'8")
 * Height - 1.4m (Approximately 4'7")
 * Width - 1.12m (Approximately 3'8")
 * Top speed - 930km/h (Approximately 577.88 m)

Mirror Monsters
The Mirror Monsters (ミラーモンスター) are entities created by Yui as drawings made by her and her brother when they were young and given life by Yui's mirror-self. As these creatures have no true life of their own, they prey on humans to survive on their lifeforce. The only human they cannot attack is Yui herself, whom they obey absolutely like Kanzaki. However, rogue Mirror Monsters who attack Yui are countered by Kamen Rider Odin or a loyal Mirror Monster who serves Kanzaki. However, the majority of the monsters are contracted allies and the power source for most of the thirteen Kamen Riders, building their power by absorbing the energy of other defeated Mirror Monsters, but if the energy is not absorbed, it reforms into a new Mirror Monster.

13 Riders
Kamen Rider Ryuki Special: 13 Riders (仮面ライダー龍騎スペシャル 13RIDERS) was written by Toshiki Inoue and directed by Ryuta Tasaki. It features the debut of the thirteenth Kamen Rider in the continuity of Ryuki: Verde. This special was first broadcast on TV Asahi on September 19, 2002. It was later released on DVD on July 21, 2003. The DVD also featured information on the characters, an interview with actor Arthur Kuroda, and an "interview" with some of the characters.

This television special is an alternate telling of the Kamen Rider Ryuki story. Shinji Kidou's life, working as an employee at ORE Journal, takes a sharp turn after being pulled into the Mirror World by a Mispider. Luckily, he was saved by a Kamen Rider, Ryuki (Koichi Sakakibara, portrayed by Keiichi Wada). However, Sakakibara could no longer go on due to the severity of his injuries and passed his Card Deck to Shinji, allowing him to become the next Ryuki and defeat the monster. After meeting with Yui Kanzaki and Ren Akiyama (Kamen Rider Knight), Shinji learns about the conditions of the Rider War, as well as of the other Riders participating. Unable to allow such a game of death to exist like his Rider predecessor, Shinji sets out to convince all the Riders to end the senseless fighting and put an end to the War. His pleas fall upon deaf ears as just about every other Rider (except for the already-defeated Riders Raia and Scissors) sets out to hunt down Shinji and his eventual reluctant ally, Ren. Eventually, Shinji's deck is destroyed and Ren dies, after passing on the deck for Kamen Rider Knight to Shinji. The special has two different endings which were voted on by the viewers via phone at the time of the initial airing: the voted-for-air ending (in which Shinji faces the surviving Riders on his own) and the alternate ending (a resetting of the Rider War).

Episode Final

 * Main article: Kamen Rider Ryuki: Episode Final

Kamen Rider Ryuki The Movie: Episode Final (劇場版　仮面ライダー龍騎　ＥＰＩＳＯＤＥ　ＦＩＮＡＬ) is an alternate ending to the series, taking place after the events of episode 46. With only six Riders remaining in the Rider War; Ryuki (Shinji Kido), Knight (Ren Akiyama), Zolda (Shuichi Kitaoka), Ouja (Takeshi Asakura), and Femme (Miho Kirishima); Shirō Kanzaki alerts them to quickly settle the Rider War within three days. One of them must win and become the last survivor before the sixth surviving Rider reveals himself. Amidst the impending chaos of the fight between the Riders, Shinji discovers an unbelievable truth about the relationship between Yui Kanzaki and the Mirror World, as well as discovering the existence of his Mirror World doppelganger, Kamen Rider Ryuga.

Ryuki vs. Kamen Rider Agito
Kamen Rider Ryuki: Ryuki vs Kamen Rider Agito (仮面ライダー龍騎 龍騎vs仮面ライダーアギト) is the Ryuki Hyper Battle Video. It features Shinji Kido having a dream where he joins up with Kamen Riders Knight, Zolda, and Ouja, all of whom who are acting out of character, to fight an evil Kamen Rider Agito in the Mirror World. They are soon joined by the real Kamen Rider Agito who helps defeat his evil doppelganger.

S.I.C. Hero Saga
Ryuki had two separate S.I.C. Hero Saga side stories published in Monthly Hobby Japan magazine. The first was titled Kamen Rider Ryuki: Advent Calendar (仮面ライダー龍騎 -アドベントカレンダー-) and featured original characters Kamen Rider Ouja Survive (仮面ライダー王蛇サバイブ) and his Mirror Monster the Genosurviver (ジェノサバイバー). The second S.I.C. Hero Saga story Kamen Rider Ryuki: World of If (仮面ライダー龍騎 -IFの世界-) is an alternate telling that features Ouja Survive from Advent Calendar and also introduces Kamen Rider Ryuga Survive (仮面ライダーリュウガサバイブ). Advent Calendar ran from August to December 2004 and World of If ran from June to August 2005.


 * Advent Calendar chapter titles
 * 1) Advent 4 (待降節・4)
 * 2) Advent 3 (待降節・3)
 * 3) Advent 2 (待降節・2)
 * 4) Advent 1 (待降節・1)
 * 5) Nightmare Before (ナイトメア・ビフォア)


 * World of If chapter titles
 * 1) Ryuga (リュウガ)
 * 2) Alternative (オルタナティブ)
 * 3) Odin (オーディン)

Video game
A video game based on the series, developed by Digifloyd and published by Bandai, was released in Japan during 2002 for the PlayStation. It is a basic fighting game where all thirteen Riders are playable with all the forms seen in the show, movie and specials (with the exception of the Alternatives and Ouja's Blank Form, seen in EPISODE FINAL). Four of the Contract Monsters (Volcancer, Metalgelas, Destwilder and Gigazelle), the two Zebraskulls (Iron and Bronze) and Megazelle are also playable.

Cast

 * Shinji Kido (城戸 真司): Takamasa Suga (須賀 貴匡)
 * Ren Akiyama (秋山 蓮): Satoshi Matsuda (松田 悟志)
 * Yui Kanzaki (神崎 優衣): Ayano Sugiyama (杉山 彩乃)
 * Shiro Kanzaki (神崎 士郎): Kenzaburo Kikuchi (菊地 謙三郎)
 * Shuichi Kitaoka (北岡 秀一): Ryohei (涼平)
 * Goro Yura (由良 吾郎): Tomohisa Yuge (弓削 智久)
 * Takeshi Asakura (浅倉 威): Takashi Hagino (萩野 崇)
 * Masashi Sudo (須藤 雅史): Takeshi Kimura (木村 剛)
 * Miyuki Tezuka (手塚 海之): Hassei Takano (高野 八誠)
 * Jun Shibaura (芝浦 淳): Satoshi Ichijo (一條 俊)
 * Satoru Tojo (東條 悟): Jun Takatsuki (高槻 純)
 * Mitsuru Sano (佐野 満): Takashi Hyuga (日向 崇)
 * Daisuke Okubo (大久保 大介): Kanji Tsuda (津田 寛治)
 * Reiko Momoi (桃井 令子): Sayaka Kuon (久遠 さやか)
 * Nanako Shimada (島田 奈々子): Hitomi Kurihara (栗原 瞳)
 * Megumi Asano (浅野 めぐみ): Chisato Morishita (森下 千里)
 * Sanako Kanzaki (神崎 沙奈子): Kazue Tsunogae (角替 和枝)
 * Eri Ogawa (小川 恵里): Mahiru Tsubura (つぶら まひる)
 * Hajime Nakamura (仲村 創): Junichi Mizuno (水野 純一)
 * Hideyuki Kagawa (香川 英行): Satoshi Jinbo (神保 悟志)
 * Kamen Rider Odin (Voice), Visor Voice (仮面ライダーオーディン、バイザー音声): Tsuyoshi Koyama (小山 剛志)
 * Slash Visor Voice (スラッシュバイザー音声): Midori Edamura (枝村 みどり)
 * Narration (ナレーション): Eiichiro Suzuki (鈴木英一郎)

Suit actors

 * Kamen Rider Ryuki: Seiji Takaiwa (高岩 成二)
 * Kamen Rider Knight: Makoto Itō (伊藤 慎)
 * Kamen Rider Zolda, Alternative, Alternative Zero: Yoshifumi Oshikawa (押川 善文)
 * Kamen Rider Ouja, Kamen Rider Odin: Jiro Okamoto (岡元 次郎)
 * Kamen Rider Scissors: Ryoji Okada (岡田 良治)
 * Kamen Rider Raia, Kamen Rider Ouja (sub): Keizo Yabe (矢部 敬三)
 * Kamen Rider Gai: Takeshi Mizutani (水谷 健)
 * Kamen Rider Tiger: Naoki Nagase (永瀬 尚希)
 * Kamen Rider Imperer: Masashi Shirai (白井 雅士)

Songs

 * Opening theme
 * "Alive A life"
 * Lyrics: Yuko Ebine (海老根 祐子)
 * Composition: Kohei Wada (和田 耕平)
 * Arrangement: Kohei Wada & Kazuya Honda (本田 嘉津也)
 * Artist: Rica Matsumoto (松本 梨香)
 * Artist: Rica Matsumoto (松本 梨香)

Episodes: 34-37, 39-50, TV Special
 * Ending themes
 * "Hatenaki Inochi" (果てなき希望（いのち）)
 * Lyrics: Shin-ichiro Aoyama (青山 紳一郎)
 * Composition: Yo Tsuji (辻 陽)
 * Arrangement: Masatoshi Sakashita (坂下 正俊)
 * Artist: Hiroshi Kitadani (きただに ひろし)
 * Episodes: 1-17, 19-33
 * "Hateshinai Honō no Naka e" (果てしない炎の中ヘ)
 * Lyrics: Keiko Terada & Yoshihiko Ando (安藤 芳彦)
 * Composition: Yoshio Nomura (野村 義男)
 * Arrangement: RIDER CHIPS
 * Artist: RIDER CHIPS featuring Keiko Terada (寺田 恵子)
 * Episodes: 18
 * "Revolution"
 * Lyrics: Yuko Ebine
 * Composition & Arrangement: Mikio Sakai
 * Artist: Hiroshi Kitadani
 * Artist: Hiroshi Kitadani
 * "Lonely Soldier"
 * Lyrics: Yuko Ebine
 * Composition: Yo Tsuji
 * Arrangement: Akio Kondo (近藤 昭雄)
 * Artist: Ren Akiyama (Satoshi Matsuda)
 * Episodes: 38

International broadcasts
In addition to the Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight adaptation, Ryuki has been broadcast in its original form in many languages and nations. It was dubbed into Korean as Masked Rider Dragon (가면라이더 드래건 Gamyeon Raideo Deuraegeon) in South Korea in 2004, Filipino in the Philippines as Masked Rider Ryuki on ABS-CBN 2, Malay on NTV7, and in Indonesian on RCTI and Indosiar. It is also the first ever Kamen Rider Series to be dubbed in Arabic after its run on Space Toon.

Trivia

 * The first series that uses cards in battle, which would later be seen in Blade and Decade.
 * The first series that using device to activate & announcing arsenal/final attack gimmicks, this would became trademark concepts of every Heisei Kamen Rider Series after Ryuki. (With the exception of Hibiki)
 * The first series where the Kamen Riders were common people in their human form. And the transformation didn't have a side effect to their bodies.
 * The first series to treat the Kamen Rider not as one man's identity but as a suit that can be handed over, showed in the 13 Rders special where Sakakibara Koichi (1st Ryuki) hands over the Ryuki deck to Shinji Kido and later Ren Akiyama (Knight) also hands over his deck to Shinji Kido before dying and asking Shinji to take up his mantle as Knight.
 * One of the darkest Kamen Rider stories with most of the Kamen Riders being people who only fight for their own purpose and the death of all the primary characters in the series, but they are resurrected at the end of the series with no memory of being Kamen Riders.
 * The first Kamen Rider series to having most of the battles take place in an alternate world (Mirror World).
 * Second Kamen Rider series after Amazon to not using an insect motif for the Kamen Riders (with the exception for Alternate & Alternate Zero)
 * The only series that the primary rider doesn't win the final battle, but secondary rider can win the final battle.
 * Until now Kamen Rider Ryuki holds the record as "The Most Kamen Riders Appearing In One Title" in this series with over 15 Riders both from TV series & Movie. This would add up to 16 if Kamen Rider Abyss from the Ryuki world in the Kamen Rider Decade series also be counted.
 * Kamen Rider Ryuki is the only Heisei Kamen Rider show, until the start of the current "Neo-Heisei" era (where all shows now premiere in September), to premiere at a time of the year other than late January, having premiered in early February (the 3rd, to be precise).
 * This series is panned by some fans for similarities to the film Highlander (a group of individuals kill each other for an ultimate prize) too many riders on screen at once, and the time warp ending being anti-climatic.
 * It was the first and only series to have four finals: one presented in the series, two special shown in Kamen Rider Ryuki Special: 13 Riders, and the last in the film Kamen Rider Ryuki: Episode Final.