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Reiwa Era

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Icon-krThis article is about a set of all the shows and films in the Kamen Rider Series.
The primary riders of the Reiwa era

The primary riders of the Reiwa era

The Reiwa Kamen Rider Series (令和仮面ライダーシリーズ, Reiwa Kamen Raidā Shirīzu) is the third and current production era of the Kamen Rider Series, named after the Reiwa era (令和時代, Reiwa Jidai) in Japan that began following the abdication of the reigning Emperor Akihito to his son Naruhito, who ascended to the throne on May 1, 2019. In accordance with Japanese customs, Akihito will be renamed "Emperor Heisei" upon his death.

The franchise's 50th Anniversary also occurred within the era.

Overview[]

The imperial transition had been in the works since 2010 when then-Emperor, now Emperor Emeritus Akihito announced his plans to step down from the throne, citing his declining health and advancing age as reasons. [1][2] By 2017, a bill was passed to allow Akihito to abdicate the throne to his son Naruhito, with plans for the transition to happen during the Spring of 2019.[3][4]

Around this time, Toei began preparations to produce Kamen Rider Zi-O as the final entry of the Heisei-era as the transition would occur mid-broadcast. To celebrate the new era, the protagonist of Kamen Rider Zero-One had cameoed in Kamen Rider Zi-O: Over Quartzer during the summer before his series debut as the first Reiwa Rider. Zero-One and Zi-O crossed over that December in Kamen Rider: Reiwa The First Generation.

During the run of Zero-One however, the COVID-19 pandemic had occurred, which delayed the release of its summer film and cut the series short by five episodes to allow its succeeding series Kamen Rider Saber to premiere as scheduled on September 2021. In lieu of a Movie War film between the two, both series debuted their own individual films in the same double-billing format, which included the previously delayed summer film of Zero-One, Kamen Rider Zero-One: REAL×TIME and the short film of Saber, Kamen Rider Saber: The Phoenix Swordsman and the Book of Ruin.

April 3, 2021 marked the franchise's fiftieth anniversary, which saw announcements of Fuuto PI, Kamen Rider Black Sun, and Shin Kamen Rider, all which premiered within two years of their first announcement. That summer, a cross-franchise film between Saber and Kikai Sentai ZenkaigerIcon-crosswiki, titled Saber + Zenkaiger: Superhero SenkiIcon-crosswiki was released in Summer 2021 in lieu of the usual Summer Movie for Saber, to which it was paired with the first movie of the succeeding Rider series Kamen Rider Revice, which premiered in September 2021. With Revice being marketed as the 50th Anniversary series, it crossed over with Saber in the anniversary's concluding Movie War film, Kamen Rider: Beyond Generations, which premiered that December.

In August 2022, the protagonist of Kamen Rider Geats cameoed twice during the run of Revice, once in-suit only in Kamen Rider Revice: Battle Familia, and once out-of-suit in the final episode before his in-series debut. The two heroes crossed-over in Kamen Rider Geats × Revice: Movie Battle Royale, which featured characters from Kamen Rider Ryuki.

In July 2023, the protagonist of Kamen Rider Gotchard cameoed in the Geats summer film Kamen Rider Geats: 4 Aces and the Black Fox, and once out-of-suit in the final episode before his in-series debut that September. He and Geats crossed over in Kamen Rider The Winter Movie: Gotchard & Geats Strongest Chemy★Great Gotcha Operation.

2024 would see the beginning of a shift in Kamen Rider's filming schedule in order to have new episodes simulcast in China day-and-date as episodes are airing on Japanese television. In order to give Chinese distribution companies time to review and censor episodes in advance, this would mean that the next series, Kamen Rider Gavv, would start filming much earlier than previous seasons in March.[5] This would also allow the protagonist of Gavv to cameo out-of-suit in the Gotchard summer film, Kamen Rider Gotchard: The Future Daybreak, prior to his in-series debut that September. Being the first out-of-suit cameo in a summer film since Fourze's cameo in OOO's summer film. 2024 also saw the first year with no traditional crossover film in the winter since 2009. Instead, Fuuto PI: The Portrait of Kamen Rider Skull, a sequel film to 2022's Fuuto PI anime, and Kamen Rider Gotchard: Graduations, the V-Cinema for Gotchard that would start theatrical screenings in February 2025, were officially marketed as winter movies in the place of a hypothetical Gavv x Gotchard crossover.[6]

In July 2025, following the airing of Gavv episode 42, a teaser trailer for the next series would air, revealing Kamen Rider Zeztz to the world. Not only would it feature the first Rider belt to be worn on the chest, but Zeztz would follow in Gavv's success with simulcasting and expand. Becoming the very first Kamen Rider series to broadcast and stream day-and-date outside of Asia, specifically in the United States, Canada, Hong Kong, South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam and the MENA region.[7] 2025 would also see another Kamen Rider anime series in the form of Tojima Tanzaburo Wants to Be a Masked Rider[8], an adaptation of the manga of the same name, done as a joint-collaboration between Toei and Aniplex.

Reiwa trends[]

Many of the trends from the previous era have carried over into the Reiwa era.

  • The main Rider has a Super Form with side-effects before gaining something to mitigate it. Certain cases, like Zero-One and Saber, were berserker-like side effects, while recent series such as Geats and Gotchard instead have side effects relating to fatigue.
    • Kamen Rider Zero-One: MetalCluster Hopper was created with a malware, causing Aruto Hiden to link with the Ark instead of There, resulting in the Ark's malice to take control of Zero-One's body. He later regained control via the Progrise Hopper Blade.
    • Kamen Rider Saber: Primitive Dragon's origin (the Forbidden Tome) changes Touma's personality and behavior when accessing the form. Upon befriending The Boy in the Dream, Touma regained control and was given access to his Elemental Primitive Dragon form.
    • Kamen Rider Revice: Due to the circumstances regarding the creation of Jack Revice, Giff's influence causes Vice to swap places with Ikki to transform into Jack Revice. The pair would later gain control of the form with the Thunder Gale Vistamp.
    • Kamen Rider Geats: Geats' Boost MarkII Form is so powerful and fast, it requires a significant demand of stamina from Ace, and will cause him to faint after, and even worse, during transformation. This is fixed through the additional usage of the Laser Raise Riser for LaserBoost Form.
    • Kamen Rider Gotchard: Iron Gotchard is a forbidden form because it forces Houtaro to merge with Tenliner using a procedure equivalent to as if he would transform into a Malgam, except that his body cannot handle the power due to his lack of innate malice, resulting in fatigue. This is later negated with the addition of Crosshopper to transform into Platina Gotchard.
    • Kamen Rider Gavv: While Gavv's Blizzardsorbet Form is powerful, the Blizzardsorbei Gochizo will eventually melt completely due to its nature, limiting the time Gavv can utilize it. This can somewhat be combated by either finishing the battle as quick as possible or consuming more ice cream to create another Blizzardsorbei Gochizo to transform again.
  • With the exception of Revice and Geats, the main Rider has an extra final form that appears in or towards the series' finale.
  • Midway through the story, there's a subplot involving a traitor among the heroes or the heroic organization.
  • The Rider_Machines take the form of or are accessed by their Collectible_Devices. Sometimes this is to help justify the lack of screentime of said machine, as they would be confiscated along with the other collectables.

  • Typically in the Heisei Era Phase 2, the series would introduce a new Rider at the beginning of the second arc. While Zero-One and Saber introduced new Riders (Kamen Riders Thouser and Saikou respectively) much like the previous era, Reiwa series starting with Revice would instead introduce new forms for the main protagonist.
  • With the exception of Gotchard, the Secondary Rider ends up working with the villains after a traumatic incident.
  • The Tertiary Riders would later access their final forms late into the series, often times a few episodes before the finale.

Kamen Rider in the Reiwa Era[]

In Japan, the Reiwa Era began on May 1, 2019, during the concurrent run of Kamen Rider Zi-O, the final Heisei-era Rider. By the end of summer, Toei announced a new succeeding entry and the first to helm the Reiwa Era of Kamen Rider. They made their first appearance in Kamen Rider Zi-O: Over Quartzer and crossed-over with Zi-O in Kamen Rider: Reiwa The First Generation, which set the precedent as the first major crossover between Riders from two different eras.

The new series was introduced in late 2019 as Kamen Rider Zero-One, which returned to the franchise's original roots as Zero-One's primary motif is based on the grasshopper, with his name a reference to being the first of a new era. The show was expected to air uninterrupted until Fall 2020, however the COVID-19 pandemic had occurred, forcing a quarantine in Japan in May. Thus, to allow time for the production team to make their changes, TV Asahi aired alternate content in the meantime, such as the President Special, the Shooting Special, and the Super Job War.

In late 2020, Kamen Rider Saber was introduced as the second installment of the Reiwa Era of Kamen Rider. Due to the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, a double-billing marketing strategy for each individual film was implemented in lieu of a Movie War film to keep both casts as healthy and safe as possible. After the final episode's airing, an epilogue film set eight years in the future was announced, titled Kamen Rider Saber: Trio of Deep Sin.

In the summer of 2021, Kamen Rider Revice was introduced as the third installment of the Reiwa Era of Kamen Rider, and made their first appearance in Kamen Rider Saber ＋ Kikai Sentai Zenkaiger: Superhero SenkiIcon-crosswiki. Both Revi and Vice then subsequently appeared in Saber's final episode one week before their premiere.

In the summer of 2022, Kamen Rider Geats was introduced as the fourth installment of the Reiwa Era of Kamen Rider. The protagonist of the installment, Ace Ukiyo/Kamen Rider Geats, would make a cameo appearance in Kamen Rider Revice: Battle Familia, and subsequently appeared in Revice's final episode one week before his premiere.

In the summer of 2023, Kamen Rider Gotchard was introduced as the fifth installment of the Reiwa Era of Kamen Rider. The protagonist of the installment, Houtaro Ichinose/Kamen Rider Gotchard, would make a cameo appearance in Kamen Rider Geats: 4 Aces and the Black Fox, and subsequently appeared in Geats' final episode one week before his premiere.

Reiwa Era productions[]

At Super Hero Time

2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025

External Links[]

References[]

  1. ↑ https://japan-forward.com/do-not-let-the-emperors-abdication-be-an-occasion-for-cynical-political-gain/
  2. ↑ https://www.kunaicho.go.jp/page/okotoba/detailEn/12#41
  3. ↑ https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/02/15/national/government-pencils-february-2019-ceremony-mark-emperors-30-years-chrysanthemum-throne/
  4. ↑ https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/12/06/national/japan-mulls-10-consecutive-days-off-around-crown-princes-succession/
  5. ↑ https://dropletsubs.wordpress.com/2024/12/14/toeis-secret-spilling-special-01/
  6. ↑ https://twitter.com/anime_Fuuto/status/1858450324945817613
  7. ↑ https://twitter.com/KamenRider_EN/status/1941655870489886885
  8. ↑ https://youtu.be/AyyVYTb2kNE?si=fw7QXuMq9BplPi5j
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