Kamen Rider

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So...the 1971 Kamen Rider manga.

Well, it's even darker than the way the TV show began, for one thing, and even if Ichimonji's introduction does, as in the show, bring some moments of levity, the darker parts are still just as dark. The art, being pretty old, is dated in quite a few panels, with proportions and such, but when Ishinomori wants to draw something detailed for an emphasis or large panel, he does it well. Kind of like a proto-Kurumada (Kurumada is the mangaka of, among other things, Saint Seiya and Ring ni Kakero) in that respect, I guess.

The story (which is entirely separate from ... the TV series; kind of an AU) is very streamlined and fast-paced, and doesn't slow down or stop much at all; which fits the impression they're trying to give of Kamen Rider--he's a very fast-moving, energetic kind of hero. It gives me the same kind of vibe, in that regard, as the early 30s/40s Superman comics. Characterisation is still achieved well within this streamlined frame, though, and while nobody in this manga is going to top your all-time favourite characters list, they're all well-defined and likeable enough. The fast pacing also doesn't cause any problems with plot holes like might potentially occur, with the possible exception that while it's implied, it's very vague about the fact that absorbing wind is what activates the Rider's powers (hence why he transforms by driving/running/falling especially fast) until finally stating it explicitly in volume 3. As in volume 3 of 4. Three-quarters of the way through the story. Ah well, I already knew that was how it worked (at least, in the TV show it worked that way until he got upgraded and used the Henshin pose thing instead), so I don't know if the implications are clear enough or not for someone who isn't already familiar with Kamen Rider.

And building on something I just mentioned--it's only four volumes long, with each volume only containing one to three chapters. With that said, though, another parallel with Kurumada is that these are some long-ass chapters--volume 4 is comprised of a single chapter of over 100 pages. Still, volume-length is about volume-length, consistently, so yeah, it doesn't take long to read at all--it took me just under two hours to blitz through the entire thing.

All in all, I don't know if I'd give it a screaming recommendation, it wasn't one of the all-time greats, but it was overall pretty good. I enjoyed it quite a lot. So...uh...yeah. That's my review.

The original Kamen Rider manga, which shows Shotaro Ishinomori's original vision for the 1971 tokusatsu show, exceeds 70's charm from all of it's pores. With every page, every character design, and every pose, you can tell this man trained Go Nagai. So while clearly being a product of it's time, this does not really fault it in the realm of aesthetics.

The plot, while clearly very simple and not at all difficult to understand, actually tackles some topics that are still very important today. Capitalism, pollution, politics... all while a cybernetic grasshopper man is beating up a spider guy. Ishinomori was clearly very interested in scientific ... progress and what it will do to humanity, and that is seen clearly when Takeshi Hongo (and later, Hayato Ichimonji) gets turned into a cyborg by the evil organization Shocker, who intend to force him to do their bidding. But Kamen Rider manages to escape, and from that day on he fights Shocker and it's evil cyborgs, who are so similar to him in concept, but who have been transformed into mindless monsters only capable of evil. In fact, the theme of both good and evil using the same means for different ends is a reoccurring theme not only in this manga, but in the entirety of the Kamen Rider series as well.

"Science... is neither good nor evil. It all depends on how it's used."

But while the subtext is fantastic, the primary text is again, very simple. Most chapters, while beatiful looking, mostly just amount to "Shocker cyborg attacks humans, someone dies, Kamen Rider intervenes, he wins, everyone is happy". This is not a completely bad thing: this manga was intended to be read by kids, as Ishinomori wanted first and foremost to teach them lessons about humanity, heroism, and evil. So it couldn't be too complicated. And always remember: Simple ≠ not deep.

Still, it could have been better in places. My least favourite thing in the whole story is the character of Ruriko Midorikawa: she only serves as a Damsel-In-Distress who can gush over the hero. At one point she stops appearing altogether. I much prefer what was done with her character in Hideaki Anno's Shin Kamen Rider (a movie which pays homage to this manga in many ways, showing how Anno knows and deeply respects Ishinomori's legacy).

All in all, this is an incredibly important piece, not just to Kamen Rider, but to the whole of tokusatsu and manga as well. And I had lots of fun with it.

RIDER KICK!