kamen rider
HEISEI RIDER !
Toei announced its new project, Kamen Rider Kuuga, in May 1999. Kuuga was part of a Kamen Rider rebirth that Ishinomori had worked on in 1997, planning for a leadup into the 30th anniversary. However, Ishinomori died before he could see these shows materialize. During the summer of 1999, Kuuga became publicized through magazine ads and commercials. On January 30, 2000, Kamen Rider Kuuga premiered, introducing rookie actor Joe Odagiri. Kuuga was followed by the anniversary series, Kamen Rider Agito, which began several trends throughout the Heisei Series: multiple Kamen Riders (Agito featured 4: Agito, Gills, G3, and Another Agito); the ending theme playing during the climactic scene instead of the end credits (this would be briefly broken in Hibiki with Akira Fuse's songs); and the relationship to Honda for the Kamen Riders' motorcycles and other motor vehicles.[2] Following Agito, Kamen Rider Ryuki began the relationship with the record label Avex Group and its artists to perform theme songs for the series, such as ISSA of DA PUMP for 555, Nanase Aikawa for Blade, YU-KI of TRF for Kabuto, and AAA for Den-O, as well as the introduction of the group RIDER CHIPS, deemed the official band of Kamen Rider.
In 2005, Kamen Rider The First was produced. Written by Toshiki Inoue, the film is an original reimagining of both the manga and original television series. Various characters from the original series had their storylines altered to fit the time span of the movie. Masaya Kikawada portrays Takeshi Hongo/Kamen Rider 1 and Hassei Takano (previously Miyuki Tezuka/Kamen Rider Raia in Kamen Rider Ryuki) as Hayato Ichimonji/Kamen Rider 2. This was followed in 2007 by Kamen Rider The Next, an adaptation of Kamen Rider V3, starring Kazuki Kato (previously Daisuke Kazama/Kamen Rider Drake in Kamen Rider Kabuto) as Shiro Kazami/Kamen Rider V3 with Kikawada and Takano reprising their roles.
The year 2007 brought Kamen Rider Den-O, the eighth series, taking a turn from past Kamen Rider series, introducing a Kamen Rider that is completely unsure of himself. The series makes use of a large vehicle, the DenLiner; a bullet train that can travel through time. This series only had two Riders, Den-O and Zeronos, but they had multiple forms that they could switch between, similar to Black RX, Kuuga, and Agito. Due to the large popularity of Den-O, a second theatrical production, crossing over with the 2008 series Kamen Rider Kiva, was released in theaters April 12, 2008, becoming the top film in its opening weekend[3] and grossing 730 million yen.[4] In addition, Animate produced an OVA titled Imagin Anime that features SD versions of the Imagin that are contracted to Den-O and Zeronos that have been featured in the company's other Den-O products. Finally, a third movie, called Saraba Kamen Rider Den-O: Final Countdown with two more new Riders serves as an epilogue to the series. The third original film was the first for any series.[4] Takeru Satoh, the actor who portrayed the lead character of Den-O for the television series and first three films, claims that the series' success was because of its comedy.[5]
The 2009 series Kamen Rider Decade serves as an anniversary series being the 10th of the Heisei run. To commemorate this milestone, Japanese recording artist Gackt was brought onto the project to perform the series' opening theme "Journey through the Decade", and later the film's theme song "The Next Decade". Gackt also jokingly expressed interest in portraying a villain in the show.[6] Also announced in 2009 was a fourth film for Den-O,[7] later revealed to be the beginning of the Cho-Den-O Series of films,[8] starting with the film Cho Kamen Rider Den-O & Decade Neo Generations: The Onigashima Warship. In the March 2009 issue of Kindai magazine, Decade's lead actor Masahiro Inoue stated that Decade was only slated to run for 30 episodes.