Saban's Masked Rider; Only Good (Kinda)... Kamen Rider Black RX Review (Kamen Rider 45th Anniversary Tribute)

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After Kamen Rider BLACK aired, I'm pretty sure Toei thought that they couldn't outdo themselves, So they remodeled Black, gave him a new set of enemies, and the second series came out as Black RX! Some fans thought it was the best of the Showa Era, but some thought it was not as good as the Original, but Where do I Stand? Well...



Read this in order to make sure this makes more sense...

STORY:


The series begins with a special telling the story of the other 10 Riders who preceded Black. The first Real episode begins with Black Riding his Motorcycle Powered to his new BADASS Theme and opening credits (KAMEN RIDER, BLACK IS YOUR BODY! KAMEN RIDER, RED IS YOUR EYES!!!!! KAMEN RIIIIIIDDDDDEEEER BLACK RX!!!!!!!!!!!!!). Kotaro Is taking a Helicopter ride as 3 pillars land and control the helicopter. Kotaro and his girlfriend fall into the lake then go back on land to investigate, and return to their Family's house and notice blank photos, after explaining what Happened, they all get into a fight... 3 kids read a kamen rider Manga, and chase after 3 grim reapers. The grim reapers cause more trouble and kotaro goes to investigate where he's almost killed. Kotaro Tries to go after the grim reapers. He fights them, sees hallucinations, and the lead grim reaper introduces himself. What follows is entering an enemy base where he sees Crisis' minions, they trap Kotaro and General Jak makes his appearance. Crisis Empire's minions taunts him, and what follows is a massive MindF**k, while they're still talking. It gets crazier as the villains attack. He gets struck in the waist, and later gets new Powers. His motorcycle is fixed, and Becomes Kamen Rider Black something (later to be christened as Black RX. The Crisis fortress flies, and the four generals are not happy. Now the battle for earth has officially began...

CARD GAMES ON MOTORCYCLES!!!!

The next episode features the actual battle. which he pretty wipes the floor out of their Motorcycles. Black RX introduces himself, and fights the Skullma. Gatezone creates... Essentially a terminator... Kotaro is weakened in his battle against the monster. Navi clone appears and explains the mission. Kotaro sees illusions of his adopted family, and he's sent to another area. Kotaro is back at his family house, A man watches him, and Kotaro Investigates. The man reveals he's a detective. Another man takes the detectives clothes. The Detective's Car chases after Kotaro and his family., Kotaro grabs the car (which ends up in a warehouse) and the mystery man appears, and it's the terminator ripoff. Kotaro Gets power from the Sun and henshins to fight the Terminator. The Robot moster reveals his true form... They fight, and RX Kicks the monsters head off... The monster is not dead at all, returning more powerful. RX gets his Ass kicked, but when the sun comes up, he's rises. RX pulls out his Revolcane (or his lightsaber)...

Monster: I'll be Back...

Crisis empire's minions are scolded, and Bosgun introduces his new monster. Kotaro's having some family time when strong winds approach. It grows stronger and the monster attacks. The Monster attacks Kotaro and his girlfriend and sends them to the demon world. An old man alien brings the girl back to full energy. The monster introduces the slaves in this world, and he fights Kotaro. Kotaro's music stick drops, and the monster can't handle it. Reiko takes Kotaro to a safe zone, and then the Old man exposits about the demon world. The old man gives Kotaro a floppy disk for this thing called Rideron. The monster appears as the slaves were mining. The sun rises and Kotaro Henshins... RX and the monster fight powered to the Black RX theme. The music stick is activated, and after the monster is weakened, RX pulls of the final kill, and the humans returns home. The next episode has Kotaro's family doing evening things. 2 minutes later, Kotaro is finishing working on Rideron. Gatezone introduces his new Tank Monster. Kotaro is still working on Rideron and decides to take a break and relax. However Kotaro notices a strange presence. Everyone is being attacked with monster. Kotaro is trying fight the monster, henshins so has more of an advantage, but so close yet so far... Kotaro is being chased and the monster Finds Rideron. Acrobatter is being owned, and Rideron is destroyed. Nahhh RX is safe with Rideron. However Crisis is still celebrating their supposed victory. The monster returns and so does RX... They both Fight, and Rideron Appears out of the Sea, and then teams up with RX.Rideron charges at the monster and RX goes for the Finisher, I'll discuss Rideron in the Presentation section of this post... After a Few Fillers, the next advancement to the story comes in episode 14. Deep in the Crisis fortress, experiments are being done on a princess or whatever. She notices a mole on her neck and then she disappears. Maribaron gets pissed and decides to find the princess of the demon world then back on earth we get... Lolicon... NO, I'M NOT SHOWING A PICTURE, I DON'T WANT TO GO TO JAIL!!!!! At that point a mole is noticed on the Loli/Generic toku kid #487858785786. Her family doesn't seem to care. Crisis Kidnaps her, and Maribaron explains the plan to Jak. A bunch of Underage girls are sent to the Crisis Base, and Tokyo is panicking. A girl takes an old, cloaked woman to the hospital, yet is kidnaped midway through the act... Kotaro arives at the scene, and a fight scene powered to the second verse of the Black RX theme. The old lady is revealed to be Maribaron, and takes Hitomi to the Crisis Base. Baribon has plans to turn Hitomi Into a 20 year old. A portal to the demon world and the capsule with Hitomi goes there, Next we get introduced to a new robot monster, and Kotaro henshins to fight it with an insert song playing. The monster is just to powerful to deal with. RX finds the Monsters weakpoint, and is sent to a different dimension. The monster drives RX away, and Hitomi's family is worried sick. Oh and an instrumental version of Long Long Ago 20th Century plays, just to let you know that Black RX is a sequel tooooo...... Black. Kotaro is sent to the demon world desert. A Weird UFO thing attacks him, and 2 crab like robots join in. Rider on appears, yet it isn't very effective. The rest of the Girls are sent to the different dimension. The crab monsters fight the Monster from Last episode. Meanwhile, the girls are in a ritual to revive the demon world princess, then Maribaron takes the girls elsewhere as Kotaro follows them, which leads to a shrine with the monster that originally trapped RX. Kotaro Henshins, and the 2 enter a fight to the death, and get trapped... RX saves Hitomi, but is unconcious. The monster releases his ultimate attack. And RX Becomes...

Trooper Transform!

This is Robo Rider, basically the original alternate form for a Kamen Rider, we'll talk a little more about that in the Impact Section... He fights some more and uses his Gun to Destroy the Monster, and the wall to save Hitomi... Turns out everything was a lie, The monster had to be destroyed a second time, and the Hitomi in the cave was a fake... RX has to go find Hitomi, as a A Guy with a VR helmet watches. The King Stone explains to Kotaro that he was able to Transform to Robo Rider thanks to his sorrow. And the Virtual Boy Wearing man appears...

You Can't make that up, That's really How Toei Designed him...

This man Joins the fight and reveals himself as Joe the Haze, and exposits Backstory. They go to find Hitomi, as yet another Robot Monster appears. Maribaron releases Hitomi from her sleep, and Escapes Crisis. Joe the Haze turns on Kotaro, and the robot from Earlier appears, he can take control of Joe. Yeah I'd be mad too if I had an Oculus Rift on 24/7. Maribaron Performs a ritual to summon Princess Garonia. Kotaro is saved by Demon World Residents. An old man explains what's going on and Kotaro Fights Joe Again... The Robot Monster and Joe fight RX when he henshins. RX Turns into Robo Rider, and His motorcycle Changes. RX defeats the Monster, but still continues his mission. Joe the haze no Longer has that VR Headset in him. Shigeru and Reiko search for Hitomi, and Shigeru is taken to the demon world... The Crab Brothers hold Shigeru hostage, but he is saved by Joe. Hitomi is now all grown up, and screws with the heroes. The Heroes are trapped in Crisis Castle... Hitomi is given a dagger to finish off the heroes, but is reluctant. Hitomi Explains why she didn't Kill them, and the heroes try to Escape. Joe Escapes the Shackles, and frees the other 2. They then see Maribaron doing a ritual on Hitomi. Kotaro Tries to Reason with her, but is stopped. Once he's outside, he henshins and fights against Crisis. RX is trapped again, and now he's getting Tortured (you know, For Kids). After 2 minutes of that, RX's Anger transforms into... Bio Rider.

Ectophase, Activate!!!!

He turns into a liquid, and Escapes, He fights, and the Crab Brothers Combine. Acrobatter transforms with a new Form, and he uses his new Sword to Slash the monster Straight TO HELL... Hitomi is saved, the kids find out about Kotaro's Identity, and hitomi returns back to her normal form, and all the heroes go home happy. also I didn't know the Rideron could hold that many people, maybe if it had the same technology as the TARDIS maybe, but it's probably only got 2 seats, I don't know. The Next advancement in the Story comes in the Return of Shadow Moon. Teased in the episode that preceded the one that came before the one I'll be reviewing... We get kids having fun as sand blows... RX investigates the scene, and it's another Monster. Shadow Moon watches as the Rider and monster Fights. The Monster Retreats. Jak scolds his generals, when Shadow Moon comes to base. Shadow Moon Returns to Earth, and Attacks Joe the Haze. Joe then Fights Kotaro, and Shadow Moon Challenges RX to a fight. Crisis is healing their monster. RX Fights Shadow Moon, but he's more powerful than ever. As Shadow Moon Arrives for the Final Kill, The Crisis Monster From Earlier attacks. He leaves him in a pile of Sand, but Rideron comes in to save the day, The Monster is killed. and everyone retreats. Joe is saved and Kotaro is pissed... Shadow Moon Returns a few episodes later... When the Kids are taming Horses, they notice weird presence. Crisis and their monster is mining, but Shadow Moon Has returned. RX Henshins and goes on to find Shadow Moon. Jak Explains his plan to reactivate an active Volcano. RX arrives to the Scene of the Crime. Crisis comes, beats up their monster, and retreats. Shadow Moon and RX begin to fight, but more Crisis torture first. The Fight Continues, and the monster returns with the Kids. Shadow Moon Reveals that he has 2 Swords now. The two continue to fight, and RX Wins. Shadow Moon is dying, and goes to save the children, and RX goes to Fight the Monster and stop the Bombs. RX Kills the Monster. Shadow Moon is Dead. Okay this arc is a disappointment, it had the potential to spread across the rest of the series (much like the Ryo Vs Jin arc from Dairanger), with a final ending where Nobuhiko turn back human (much like Darth Vader from Star Wars), but what we got in it's place is some British cop mixed with Darth Vader, I almost don't want to acknowledge his first episode but let's give a quick 5-7 line recap of what Happened...

Crisis recruits are summoned, a monster is revealed, while the hero's family are camping or something, then they get attacked by Butterflies (YES, FREAKING BUTTERFLIES). The unaffected heroes Escape, but A mysterious man watches them. The Family gets into a fight, then a monster attacks. The Mystery man Reveals Himself as a messenger from Crisis. He fights RX, and the infected burn their old Trash. RX Goes to the Cave that started it all, The Rider and Monster Fight, and RX wins. Dasmader Force Chokes Gedoian, and he's essentially Darth Vader, If only Shadow Moon got a better arc in Black RX...

So Yeah there are a couple more two parters, one introduces a new ally Known as Kyoko (no relation to the original Kyoko), who's an esper and control water, also Reiko Learns that Kotaro is Black RX, but other than that, All it does is preach to s why we need Water. The other 2 parter is essentially a woman finding a key and gate to the Demon world, Blah blah Blah, No story progress AFAIK, could've been just a one parter and been just as important, Moving on. Did I mention that Dasmader takes a vacation for the second 2 parter I mentioned. So raise your hand If it's Okay if I go the Finale arc... anybody... Ah F**k it!



The Series starts to come to a close at the end of a WTF Episode that had Black RX Fight Maribaron's Thousand-eyed Aunt that can trap people in jars, with the ending having the 10 previous riders training for the ultimate battle, The next episode has the Crisis fortress get bombarded by the emperor's doomsday clock, Gedoian creates a leech like monster. It terrorizes the city, RX comes in, and fights the monster. It's just too powerful to fight, and it can get even more so from draining energy. Dasmader comes in, and cuts the monster's arm off. RX Retreats, and The 2 villains fight, Bosgun, Gatezone, and Dasmader battle Gedoian. The generals look out for RX. Kotaro is joined by Joe and Reiko. A cloaked figure appears and powers up the ship. Joe goes out to be bait, but crisis fortress is attacking with energy blasts. The generals return and the monster is back to full size, and Kotaro has some hard time transforming, but when he does The monster is still to powerful, Jak, Maribaron, Bosgun, Gatezone, and Dasmader notice Gedoian using the ship's power recklessly. RX continues to fight, cuts the monsters tail off, and finishes off the monster. Gedoian is turned into dust, and the doomsday clock stops. The emperor speaks and the episode ends with a training montage of the original 10 riders. RX now has to fight Gatezone, in a battle where Dasmader aims for the king stone. RX destroys Gatezone's bike, and he retreats. He has plans for his most powerful Monster. Joe and Kyoko go to a gas station, and it's a trap, Leading to a cloud of pollution. Oh come on, it's another Protect The Environment episode... Gatezone appears with a new motorcycle, and pretty much wipes the floor with RX when he henshins, Not helping with the appearance of a new monster. Meanwhile the allies find a Crisis hideout in the Gas station, and are trapped by Dasmader. The monster once again attacks Kotaro, he henshins, and The monster and Gatezone beat up RX, but after RX turns into Robo Rider, things turn around for 5 seconds. The 2 villains are joined by Dasmader and RX's King Stone is severly Weakened. Kyoko uses her archery skills to untrap Joe and Reiko. They Join RX, and pretty much save his King Stone. RX is ready to blow up along with the monster and Gatezone's body, when he escapes. The head still lives, but...

Your 30 day Free Trial has Expired. would you like... To... Pur... Chase.... Win... RAR?

(Apologies to Team Four Star for that)

The Villains debate on who will Kill RX Next, and the episode ends with More training of the 10 Riders. Maribaron Plans her next attack with some... Japanese Officials? IDFK. Bosgun is sent to attack Japan as new threat Approaches. There's a mysterious Meteor sent to Earth... A new monster appears, who's some kind of Robot Chicken Lizard Thingy, Oh lord these Monster Designs... It's one powerful SOB, Kotaro says goodbye to the family who rose him throughout the entire series. Dasmader and the monster are sent to the battleground. Kotaro is forced to fight Crisis again. He plows through some Footsoldiers,, and Later has to fight Bosgun again. He continues to fight as RX, and the monster appears. It's too Powerful than RX is. The 10 riders join the fight. They take RX to safety. They introduce themselves.

I AM AMAZON!!!!! #FTFY

They make a vow to Defeat Crisis, and Bosgun appears. The 10 Riders fight some Footsoldiers. Kotaro Fights Bosgan one last time only stronger than before, and in an epic sword fight, they Stab Each other in the end, but only RX Survives. Everyone Joins the fight against a very powerful Monster... The 11 riders fight the monster, and he turns into a meteor. RX Fights the monster alone, but it goes as well as you'd expect. The other 10 Riders fight the monster as Kotaro heals. Kyoko summons water from the ground, and Kotaro takes the shower of Courage. Bio Rider goes inside the monster while Kyoko Distracts the Monster. Bio Rider destroys the monster from inside. RX seems dead, so everyone's in Tears, and Crisis Empire Celebrates. Maribaron uses a satanic ritual to revive 10 monsters. They all get repaints, and on the surface world, Kotaro's allies mourn his death, as all of the 10 original riders arrive including one Fake... the fake reveals himself, and the other 9 ghost rise from hell... They're stupidly Powerful, unless you put a golden feather on them... Bio Rider appears just as Maribaron tries to summon more monsters. RX then Scars Maribaron and destroys his army... Maribaron has an eyepatch thing on her side of the face which has the Scar and gets scolded for it. Kotaro and his friends have team dinner. but on the villains side, They go to Emperor Crisis' (creative name, Eh...) Shrine underground. Jak gets scolded and Tortured by Crisis. He then Reappears in a new form as...

Nahhh.... Just Kidding...

What he Said...

Jak plus some footsoldiers go to cause terror. In a wasteland, Kotaro's family and a bunch of other people investigate the crime, some of them even Being Killed, especially the parents. 5 riders come in and get their asses Kicked. Some mooks are capturing Humans, and a few other riders join the fight. , Then the 2 Kid tell Kotaro what happened to their Parents. Jak challenges Kotaro. He fights cloaked, and he became more powerful Uncloaked. he chases after Kotaro even after he henshins. RX Fights but Jak's just to strong. RX blocked Jak's attack towards the kids. The fight continues, and Jak is finally dying, but the true final battle is yet to begin. Maribaron and Dasmader, are the only 2 Crisis generals left. Maribaron challenges Kotaro, and leads him to the ultimate decisive battle for Earth... and we get a recycled copy paste version of the final episode of Kamen Rider Black. Maribaron fights Kotaro, but gets Killed by Crisis. The ripoff speech continues, ,and Dasmader Joins in in tarhe last road block to end Emperor Crisis. Kotaro's allies defeat some footsoldiers. RX kills the Secretary robot (who was so pointless I forgot his name), and ripoff Darth Vader and RX fight. Dasmader tells RX about the Demon World Created from Pollution. RX Pulls out his Revolcane, and after being tortured by one of The Ship's Machines, Bio Rider Returns, then back to Regular RX. RX Kills Dasmader, and Crisis appears.

Spiked Skull-Like Emperor

CRISIS

(If you look closely, in just a few seconds after his appearance, you can see the poor Suit Actor's legs)

He fires everything he's got at RX, but RX is just to strong from all the crap he had to go through... Crisis is finished, and so is the demon world. RX is now officially a member of the Kamen Rider Squad. I Won't spoil the ending, but it's a mix of sadness and WTFness...

I'll admit it, while more story focused than the Original Black, It doesn't always do a good job with it... The environmental message has it's heart in the right place, but it seems a little too preachy (just another way to make the series more kid friendly, even if it can get dark at times). Regardless, I had fun with the series.



CHARACTERS:

Minami Kotaro/Black RX's development includes having him in unfamiliar situations, accepting Loss, and balancing his normal life and Superhero life when he's with a less forgiving home than he was in the original Black. Honestly that's not as much as he went through in the previous series. But hey he gets 2 new forms.

The Sahara family are a turn on making this series more Y7. They're the everymen. They're almost always what makes Crisis get Black RX involved. Hey it's better than having an adopted black kid and an alien monkey thingy.

Reiko Shiratori is the generic girl character, she has next to know combat experience, but she is Kotaro's Girlfriend. That's basically All I can say...

Joe the Haze is kind of the predecessor to the Modern Secondary Rider we have today, he might not have a rider belt, but he sure can Kick some major ass. He is such a badass...

Kyoko Matoba, has psychic powers, archery skills, and even a little bit of combat experience. she does have a great revenge story...

The Crisis Empire has it's generals command their own armies of Monsters, much like Metalder (Phantoms, Beasts, Robots, Aliens), But other than Crisis (who has that mystery throughout the series, like most Kamen Rider Leaders) himself, and Dasmader (who I was a bit harsh on because I think he should've been Shadow Moon instead of what we got, but can give RX a Challenge sometimes), there's nothing that can distinguish them from any sentai villain team throughout the years...



PRESENTATION:

RX has a whole set of weapons, forms, and Vehicles that could make for great Toys, Heck The Rideron is a great Rider machine, it can hold a bunch of people despite looking like a 2 seat car, and it's solar powered. I do like the costume design From all the villains and monsters, to RX Himself, I don't like the Rider belt as much as it's predecessor, though it's much more alien Like, so that's cool... There's also the soundtrack With Sequel songs to Black Like the Opening of black to the opening of Black to the Opening song to (FTR Black RX may be my favorite song of RX (for being the most Iconic Rider song of the Showa Era), but is not quite the best transition as another favorite of mine). There's also that song that's a sequel song to Black Action which I don't know the name but the first line had the word Crisis in it (can someone find the name of that song? PLEASE?). Another favorite song of mine is Dareka ga Kimi o Aishiteru (the ending of each Black RX Episode), it has the best transition from any of Black's songs (with the original song being Long Long Ago 20th Century). Also if there's one thing that this series is absolutely better than Black, it's the Choreography, especially sword fights (special mention the last fight against Dasmader). This kind of feels like a transition piece from showa to Heisei Riders (AND NO I'M NOT DEBATING WHICH ERA THE MOVIES FROM THE 90s FIT IN!!!!!!)...



OVERALL:

It's good, but not exactly great, If it didn't have the Kamen Rider Black name, it could've been this hidden gem that not a lot of people cared for. I don't see why Black needed another series, but I'm glad it didn't get another After This... it'd be more of the same. It's flawed, but I have to give this 3 Riderons out of 4.



IMPACT:

After Black RX was released, it got better ratings than Black, though fans didn't like the change of tone, or the fact that it was made to sell more toys with several toys made. The Kamen Rider Brand would take a 3 year hiatus for 3 years until 1992 with Shin Kamen Rider (which I'll get to another time), it was aimed at older fans who wanted to see the Kamen Rider series return, but it was so unfriendly for kids, so future plans for sequels were canned. A year later We got Movies every year featuring Kamen Riders or Kamen Rider Like heroes every Year until 1995. Kuuga was introduced in 2000 and implemented multiple forms like in RX, but to much more fanfare with a new generation of fans, and it popularized the Final Forms first seen in Stronger, And the rest was history... At least until Decade made Black and Black RX TWO DIFFERENT PEOPLE, SCREW YOU DECADE!!!!!!



CLOSING THOUGHTS:


First of all, I have to say Congrats on 45 Years Kamen Rider!!!! Secondly, thanks for Red Ribbon Reviewers for helping me with supporting my work, and I look forward to doing it next Year...

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