56K BEWARE!
Previously on (THE ONLY STORY ARC FOR A WHILE OF) The Adventures of A. Yoshi and Friends...BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
Now back to our show
A. Yoshi: J-J-J-J-J-Joe...
Joe Tokugawa: Yep that's me. Didn't you realize I was trying to escape prison for the better part of a year?
Yoshiette 2: Ummmmmm..... Hmmmmmmm... No?
JT: I tried to get trough using your toilet, but you kept flushing, and I was covered in S**t.
Yoshiette 1: I knew you were Jim from the toilet...
AY: Yep I was, here's a comprehensive list of ideas of who I can be for Halloween...
AY: While Joe's looking, I'll show you an epic review of Kamen Rider Black...
Long time readers know what Kamen Rider is, but the basic jist of the franchise is a bug eyed motorcycle rider battles monsters, and is much like power rangers/super sentai but meant for older kids. It's seperated into 2 eras, Showa (1971-1994 with cheesy costumes, simple stories, no epic scope, and a certain charm to it), and Heisei (2000-present, more elaborate costumes, more sophisticated stories, improved writing, and darker tone), with. Anyhoo, Kamen Rider Black (part of the Showa Era) is the best a largely episodic children's action show can be. Let's find out why...
STORY:
The show begins with a title sequence, It's not as good as it's sequel Black RX, but the theme's still pretty catchy. The actual show begins in a city, with a man being chased by 3 guys who look like the Ku Klux Klan (funny how the series is called Kamen Rider Black and the Main villains are the Ku Klux Klan).
You can't make that up, That's really how Toei designed them...
These are the Gorgom High Priests, The man's named Minami Kotaro. They chase him for 3 whole minutes, then after trapping him, One of the 3 priests, uses his jedi powers to throw Kotaro into a sign and bring him back to Headquarters for surgery. In a flashback, after Gorgom tries to erase Kotaro's memories, a man named Akizuki tries to save him and his other son Nobuhiko. Gorgom captures Kotaro and he escapes, and is almost captured again. Kotaro turns into Kamen Rider Black and fights the villains, they get away and Koatro escapes. The next day, Koatro goes back to his home, and realizes it's at risk. 2 of Kotaro's lady friends Kyoko and Katsumi come to his house. After breaking abottle with his own strength, Kotaro heads to his father's Lab. Kotaro's father tells him the truth about Nobuhiko, Him, and Gorgom. Akizuki tries to get Kotaro to join Gorgom, but he refuses. Kotaro notices Spiders, webs, and other Gorgom crap, so he tries to get his father to escape, but they're attacked by 5 Spider monsters. Akizuki gets killed from a fall from a spider web, Kotaro henshins, and they fight for pretty much the entire rest of the duration of the episode. Kyoko Cries over her father's corpse, and that's pretty much an episode. A melancholy episode deserves to end in an appropriate ending. Seriously though, Long Long Ago 20th century might just be the most beautiful Ending for any tokusatsu along with Chikyuu Koukou from Juukou B-Fighter. The Next episode we learn more about Kotaro and Nobuhiko's story. Basically They were celebrating their 19th birthday, when they got captured by Gorgom. The next few episode have some of my favorite moments...
So Long Ye Bowser!!!!!
(this happens a lot in the series)
That one time where Black fought a Turtle Kaijin at that school on the Deserted Planet from MMPR...
The story continues in episode 34 with a brain dead man walking in the rain and he got a trip to the hospital, Kyoko, meets with him and she gets kidnapped. Kotaro heads to Baraom's location, and is attacked... Gorgom's using Kyoko as a way to revive Shadow Moon. Birugenia goes to get the Satan Saber to battle black.by the Creation King's orders. He has to go through the trial of fire first... He does it, Kotaro looks for Gorgom headquarters, and preparations are set for the revival of Shadow Moon. Birugenia attacks Gorgom with both sabers. The 3 High Priests use their stones to revive shadow Moon because Birugenia's being a D*ck... Birugenia sends Kotaro to an alternate dimension where Kyoko's being crucified. The only way that Kyoko can be saved is if Kotaro gives his King Stone. He henshins and fights. Black is just to weak to fight. and he loses. It seems like Gorgom might win, but the series is far from over... Kotaro seems dead, and Birugenia gets away. Kotaro and Kyoko head to a cave, The Gorgom stones are disintegrating causing the 3 Priest to die. Kyoko nurses Kotaro back to health. Kyoko remembers a simpler time powered by Long Long Ago 20th Century, and Kotaro Makes a vow to destroy Gorgom. Birugenia takes control of several people around the city. Gorgom's high priests are dying...
We're... Tooooooo...... Oooooolllllldddddd....
I. Am. Shadow Bor... I mean Moon.
YE1: I LOVE SAILOR MOON!!!!!
AY: You really are as dumb as Yoshiette 2...
The story starts to come to a close in episode 45 (yes it was THAT episodic), and it starts with Shotacon, Loads and Loads of Shotacon... Mothers all over Japan are losing their minds, and Koatro decides to investigate. Girls are shoplifting, and when Kotaro tries to stop them, he gets attacked. Team Black meets up with one of the girls at a hospital, and Kotaro heads to her school. He searches and finds a girl playing a piano. Bishium controls a bunch of school girls to capture Black's King Stone, Kotaro henshins, and Bishium gets away. Bishium captures Kyoko and lures Kamen Rider Black into her trap. Kotaro Gets ready to give Bishium his King Stone, but he throws the sword into Bishium and henshins. They then fight for the last time. Shadow moon fires a laser through Bishium and Black. Black, escapes, but Bishium explodes... The Dimension that Black and the girls were in crumbles, and they escape. The Creation King gets mad, life goes on ending the episode. Baraom's training to defeat Kamen Rider Black, while Kotaro's celebrating his birthday. Kotaro remembers what happened on his 19th Birthday, and history repeats itself. The Creation King Speaks for the first time and we won't see his true form for another few episodes. Turns out it was just a dream. A whale monster is watching Baraom and Darom Plot. Shadow Moon sends Baraom, and Whale Kaijin watches and makes a vow to protect the ocean. Kotaro henshins and fights the Whale Kaijin, and Baraom joins the Fight. Baraom and Black fight for a little while. Black is held down by Whale Kaijin, and Baraom stabs him with his retractable tusks. The fight continues, and when it looks like Black has won, Baraom is far from over, and dies 5 seconds later. His death was enough to cause an earthquake. Black and Whale Kaijin form an alliance, Shadow Moon is sent explain his failures to the Creation King, and Whale Kaijin heads to the ocean. The Episode ends with Black being challenged to a battle with Shadow Moon. Tokyo's being destroyed by Gorgom, Darom appears and fights Black, and Shadow Moon appears. Black Retreats, then he heads to a shelter. Kotaro Tells Kyoko to get away from Japan, and he decides to fight his step brother. Nobuhiko makes plans for that battle, Kotaro says goodbye to his friends, and goes to the battleground. The fight starts. This is a rather intense, fight, almost lasting the rest of the duration of the episode... when it looks like Black might when, Creation King returns Nobuhiko normal, Black loses and is killed... Shadow Moon starts to take Black's King Stone, then Black turns back to Kotaro, forcing Shadow Moon to retreat. Black, dying, tells Kyoko and Katsumi to leave Japan, with the episode ending with Black's Corpse heading to the ocean. The next Episode begins with the earth in crisis. Kyoko and Katsumi are saddened by Kotaro's death, Shadow Moon has to get the King Stone as soon as possible. Gorgom is searching for Black when Whale Kaijin finds Black's body and starts to revive him. Black remembers all the crap he's been through and is revived, and so does Shadow Moon. Kyoko and Katsumi head to the trip to America, and are brought into a shelter, they remember when Nobuhiko Wasn't evil. Kamen Rider Black remembers more stuff from his adventures, this is literally half the episode Kyoko and Katsumi's group head to america the next day. Flowers thrown in the water fully revive Black ending the episode., Kamen Rider Black Prepares for his final battle. Darom finds Whale Kaijin's Cavern and finds Black is still alive, and Kotaro looks at how the world was affected by Gorgom. He then encounters Gorgom SS. Darom finds Whale Kaijin and chases after him. When he catches up with him, he attacks him. Kotaro Henshins, and fights the gorgom forces again. Kotaro brings the Kaijin to safety, but the people aren't to proud of it. Kotaro goes after Bat Kaijin, and Whale Kaijin is captured. Black saves a kid from the Kaijin, and he heads towards Gorgom, and they fight again. Bat Kaijin goe crazy, and Black is freed from his trap. The fight continues, and Whale Kaijin helps. Kamen Rider Black uses a rider kick to kill Darom. Gorgom SS joins Black, Shadow Moon Kills off Bat Kaijin, and Kotaro heads off to do his final battle with Shadow Moon ending the episode... Kotaro brings Whale Kaijin to safety, When a new kaijin kills 3 other Kaijin. Kotaro reaches Gorgom Headquarters, and Whale Kaijin is being killed by that same kaijin that killed the 3 others. When Black tries to save him, he's brought to the inner depths of Gorgom, along with Shadow Moon. Whale Kaijin is killed off, pissing off Kamen Rider. Creation King Shows his true form as a heart, he begins expositioning about the end of days. The true Final Battle has begun... This pretty much goes on for the rest of this episode and the first part of the final one. Shadow Moon controls Battle hopper after the battle goes on for a little while... Shadow Moon destroys Battle Hopper after it starts to regain consciousness. The Kaijin that killed all those kaijin gets killed himself. Battle Hopper dies, Black pulls out Shadow Moon's Satan Saber, and gets ready to end him... Shadow Moon loses the battle and dies. Shadow Moon announces his defeat. Creation king sends Black to his room...
GORGOM LEADER
CREATION KING
(He's a heart, WHAT JOKE DO YOU EXPECT ME TO MAKE ON THAT?!)
He tries to get Black to become the next Creation King, But he refuses, so he summons road sector, but that does Jack All. So he summons the Satan Saber, and Stabs Creation King, defeating Gorgom. The satan saber is destroyed, and I'll Stop Myself there. You need to discover the ending for yourself, it's just very emotional...
For an largely episodic TV show, it isn't that bad, In fact it's rather emotional, dark, and really shows How Much better Toku was in the late 80s.
CHARACTERS:
Kotaro Minami is our main protagonist, he's a very emotional young man. This is a rider with trend and attitude. He's a rider for a new generation. He's also got personality, unlike most showa era riders (who are all basically the same character). Unlike most Heisei era riders, he's not ever so fabulous to the extent that it's ridiculous. This guy is my favorite Showa rider.
Kyoko Akizuki and Katsumi Kida are Kotaro's emotional support and his main allies. they're really just there, don't got much interesting to say or do other than kyoko sometimes raising the stakes...
Gorgom is consisted of the 3 high priests/great mutants, who are basically inter changeable, Birugenia, who's interesting because he can be more powerful than Black sometimes, and Creation King, who we hear things about throughout the series, but we don't find out a lot until the finale arc. It gave the series a lot of speculation across Japan in the 1980s (remember this was before the internet). But the one who steals the show is Shadow Moon, who not only is a better version of Birugenia, and has a great design, but he has the added drama of being Kotaro's step brother, Nobuhiko...
PRESENTATION:
The visuals are hit or miss, one one hand I do like the costume designs for the series (in fact this when Kamen Rider Started to get good at that, on the other hand the special effects are really 80s... Which can be a good or a bad thing depending on which way you look at it. The action's the best of the showa era, and the music has insert song every episode, with 2 of my favorite being the fast paced Black Action and the beautiful Long Long Ago 20th Century. even the Background Music is fitting for each situation...
OVERALL:
A highly recommended series for new Rider fans, veteran rider fans, and everyone in between. This is the very best of the Showa Era, and if you were a fan of any era of Kamen Rider (yes even Heisei, there's stuff for you to like in there), you owe it to yourself to watch this at least once, I give this 3.75 King Stones out of 4. (Speaking of where's my Complete Selection Modification King Stone)
Now back to the goofy part...
JT: *opens book to page below* I want to be him for Halloween...
YE1: Really? He looks like a baby in a teacher outfit.
JT: *turns page to page below* How 'bout him?
YE1: Yeah, you're to big to be that guy, he's like a midget, which is the entire point of the series...
JT: Wow, I'm surprised you know that much about the series, considering you're gaijin.
YE1: You told me about it, Remember?
JT: Oh...
YE2: I found the perfect costume for you!
*5 Minutes Later*
JT: I look ridiculous. I can't see a thing!
YE2: Of course you really can't, You're in a Sunshine outfit from Kinnikuman, made of cardboard boxes.
JT: Yeah F**k You too bro...
YE2: You did ace that Guitar Hero Version of his theme...
Author's Note: Here's Sunshine's theme and imagine it as a Guitar Hero song
AY: Want to eat japanese at that little restaurant that just oppened?
Everyone: Sure!!!!!
Weeks later at Halloween...
AY: *Uncontrollable sobbing*
YE1: Still sad that the Cubs lost the playoffs?
AY: *Nods Head*
YE1: Join the club, I'm just as sad as you, if the Mets win the world series, We're moving to japan to become Hashin Tigers fans.
JT: Did someone say Hashin Tigers? I LOVE THE TIGERS!!!!
Waiter: Here's your Kodomo Meal sir, Gyudon with a side of Onigiri and melon soda to drink...
AY: I was supposed to get a toy with this...
Voice: Yo! *Throws Ninninger Bison King Candy Toy*
Yoshiette 2: We all have gyudon, You know what that means...
All of Team Yoshi: Gyudon is all we'll need for the next 300 years,
Fast, Delicious, and cheap too!!!!
Waitress: congratulations, You're our 100th Group of visitors, for that, We'll give you an all you can eat, all night buffet, with sushi, ramen, curry, soba, tempura, tsuboyaki, maruyaki, kabayaki, and all your favorites coated in sake, plus free sake all night.
AY: But I'm over a year from turning 21...
Waitress: You're almost 20, the legal drinking age in Japan, so close enough!
*eats all the food*
AY: Oh waitress, we want more.
*eats food again*
YE1: Miss we want more again!!!
*eats food yet again*
YE2: Keep 'em firin' waitress.
*eats*
Duck Nukem: Yo Waitress, do ya got us some eats?
*eats*
JT: Miiiiiiiiiiiiiissssssssssssssss Waaaaaaaaaaitrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeesssssssssss!!!!!
*eats*
*at the karaoke section*
AY: I SEE A WAITRESS SERVING ME MORE...
The other Team Yoshi: DI-I-IN, DI-I-IN, WILL YOU GIVE US MORE ONIGIRI?!?!
*eats*
YE1: We... Waaannnn.. want more. *Faints*
*The Next Morning*
Boss: Wake Up Kids...
AY: Huh... Did the Mets win?
Boss: Listen to me, It's 12 o'clock noon, GO HOME!!!!
AY: UUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!
#TotallyDontApproveOfUnderageDrinking
So ends another Toku Month and Storyline, see you again... BYE BYE!!!!
Kinnikuman Retrospective, returning November 16th for one segment and for another brief run January 29, 2015, only on anonymousyoshi007.blogspot.com!
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