 This article is about an art book in Shin Kamen Rider.
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Movie Shin Kamen Rider Official Visual Book is a 2023 artwork book that features production notes, concept drawings and CGI renders from the film Shin Kamen Rider.
Summary[]
The first part goes into the grueling process of designing Kamen Rider’s costume with sketches, production notes, CGI renderings of the costume and Typhoon along with test images of the actual ones, images of test clay molds of the helmet and concepts of Takeshi’s Batta Augment form.
Chapter 2 goes into the design process and production notes on the Cyclone, showing that early on the designers were going for something far more futuristic before settling on a design that split the difference by incorporating the original 1971 model’s aesthetics. The construction of the bike and CG renders are shown, such as the step-by-step process of the transformation sequence and notes on how its rocket boosters should function.
A brief break in the segments showcases Hideaki Anno and the design team’s various concepts for the Kamen Rider insignia and Ruriko’s costume designs, including a red coat only seen in promotional materials that took inspiration from Ishinomori’s art from Cyborg 009.
The next segments showcase the different SHOCKER Augments and K in chronological order with Rider No. 2 and the second Cyclone’s test images and CG models in between.
The next segments involve the design process and notes about the Phase Variation Batta Augment, Kamen Rider No. 0, and Kamen Rider No. 2+1 with the Shin-Cyclone. The final part goes into detail on set design, sketches that detail how certain scenes were done with practical effects and various minor details such as the SHOCKER font used for the film.
Notes[]
- Some of the concepts show the film potentially going into a different direction in tone, with greater elements of body horror or creature horror that eventually was rejected and made to fit more in spirit with the original TV series. Other concepts show a more futuristic cyberpunk aesthetic in the designs.
- K’s designs go from a 1:1 transfer of Shotaro Ishinomori's Robot Detective to more realistic or disturbing designs, with one even taking inspiration from Kikaider before going back to the initial inspiration with some tweaks to modernize the look.
- SHOCKER Low-Class Members were initially conceptualized as horrific, with metal skull-like cybernetic masks grafted onto their faces. Female versions in later sketches were going to have skintight body suits, with some sketches showing them wearing different colored masks and gloves and wearing a sash or scarf.
- Sasori Augment was initially going to be male like the original TV series, but the design team pivoted to making the character female to help her stand out from her original counterpart. Her mask design also had taken inspiration from Hell Dragon from the Kaiketsu Zubat TV series.
- Hachi Augment was going for a more Western style design in the initial drafts, even seemingly having the thought process of using a foreign actress based on the drawings showing a darker-skinned or Caucasian woman in the costumes. A honeycomb hive ball and chain weapon was also conceptualized but was quickly scrapped, instead taking the original 1971 Bee Woman’s fencing abilities and changing them to fit a Japanese swordswoman based on samurai films.
- Ichiro Midorikawa was initially going to be either female or have a more non-binary/gender neutral appearance based on sketches, but this was scrapped when the production team went with a male actor.
- Kamen Rider No. 0 had multiple design drafts, the first of which depicted the mask with a proboscis-like breathing mask and a variant with a fur-trimmed cape resembling butterfly wings. Another shows the costume production team using an Inazuman-like design as a template.
- One of SHOCKER's unused emblem designs is a direct reference to SEELE in the Rebuild of Evangelion film series.
- Several clothing designs were conceptualized for Ichiro and his Rider form to wear: a white trench coat to mirror Kamen Rider’s black one, more flamboyant coats with boas or faux fur trim, Greek-inspired togas and Ichiro even going for a more kabuki style with wild hair and a Japanese kimono. One sketch even showcased Ichiro in a double-breasted SHOCKER military uniform with wavy hair and a cape.