This can be attributed to the brisk pacing and dynamic action scenes supervised by legendary tokusatsu director and character designer Keita Amemiya. One of the most visually-driven tokusatsu directors ever, his anime-like cinematography and choreography give him a unique and distinct look and feel that most directors can't possibly match. His work is also notably darker than your typical superhero fare; his films tend to feature plenty of blood and mutilation that wouldn't fly in a weekly kid's show. So then: why did he work at Toei so long if this were the case? This blog will go look back on the last years Amemiya worked at Toei: when after years of hard work, he finally became one of the studio's go-to directors. That is, until he took things a bit too far with his last film for the studio.
Amemiya got his start with Toei in the mid-1980s as a creature and character designer for their Metal Hero shows such as Juukou Senshi Spielvan, Choujinki Metalder, and Sekai Ninjasen Jiraiya, as well as Kamen Rider Black RX. Fans of Amemiya's work can spot his often nightmarish creature designs as early as these shows, his monsters tending to look exceptionally deadly with hideous yet human-like faces and razor-sharp teeth. In the meantime, he worked as a freelancer on projects for other studios, such as designing monsters for the Tsuburaya/Hanna Barbera collaboration Ultraman: The Adventure Begins (aka: Ultraman USA), and animating visual effects for Toho's notorious box-office disaster Gunhed.
In 1988, he supervised, wrote, and directed a tie-in film to Namco's arcade-style fighting game Future Ninja. With this film establishing his visual style, executives at Toei must have seen it and were impressed because he was given more free reign the following year, when he created both the main concept and character designs for the 1989 Metal Hero series Kidou Keiji Jiban.
The 1989 Metal Hero: Jiban, designed and created by Amemiya
Finally, Amemiya got his big break in 1991. Not only did he finally create the film of his dreams: the cult classic sci-fi action film Zeiram, he was also given the gig of head director for the brand-new Super Sentai Chojin Sentai Jetman. After both Turboranger and Fiveman suffered in the ratings, Toei needed fresh blood to take over the popular franchise. So Toei assigned both director Amemiya and writer Toshiki Inoue (two men who had never ran a TV series in head positions before) the task of reviving a franchise that looked to be on the downfall. Toei's gamble paid off: the freshness the duo brought to the series enabled Jetman to become a ratings success with fantastic toy sales, and the future of Super Sentai was assured for the next few years.
The Jetman Team
However, instead of Toei following its usual practice of using the same writer/director combo for the following year, Zyuranger was operated by head writer Noboru Sugimura and director Shouhei Toujou. Instead, Inoue only wrote one episode of Zyuranger and Amemiya himself directed only two. Still, Keita Amemiya managed to keep busy throughout the year, designing characters for various one-shot direct to video movies. Meanwhile, in 1992, Toei was trying to revive Kamen Rider with a darker, more violent and adult-oriented story.
Shin Kamen Rider: Prologue was released directly to video on February 20th to universally negative reviews, and as a result the story Shotaro Ishinomori and Toei had planned was never fully realized. Instead of licking their wounds, Toei kept pursuing a revival of their most prestigious tokusatsu franchise. While plenty of negative things were said about Shin Kamen Rider, the grotesque effects were usually praised. Shin's painful and elaborate transformation is one of the most notable scenes of the entire franchise, and Toei knew they needed dazzling effects like that for their next project.
An example of the grotesque transformation sequence from Shin Kamen Rider: Prologue
Who was the man behind the special effects? None other than Keita Amemiya himself, he helped design the special effects sequences through the film, including Shin's transformation sequence. With Zeiram and Jetman under his belt, two extremely well received projects that earned him a massive cult following, Toei knew they had the man for the job. Amemiya, a long-time Rider fan, immediately accepted and in late 1992, production began on the film that would undoubtedly make Keita Amemiya one of Toei's star directors: Kamen Rider ZO.
Kamen Rider ZO was given the largest budget of any KR movie production to date ($3 million USD) and a massive advertising campaign to boot. The film was hyped as the (belated) BIG 20th anniversary project for Kamen Rider with a fresh and simple design created for this new Rider, bringing him back to basics. The film's story, while well written considering its length, took a back seat to the unique eye Amemiya has for action and special effects. As a result, the film is the first truly impressive theatrical Kamen Rider film and to date remains a huge fan favorite.
Original theatrical poster for Toei's Super Hero Fair
Despite Toei's efforts, including a tie-in SEGA CD game (that somehow made it over to the United States) and tying its release with the Dairanger and Janperson films, the film didn't make enough in the box office for Toei to have a full-blown series commissioned. The film wasn't a disaster, it just simply didn't make enough for Toei to risk putting in the money for a third long-running superhero show to run alongside their Sentai and Metal Hero programs. Still, Toei was nevertheless impressed with the final product and kept Amemiya on board for their next plans.
The following year, Toei kept their Super Hero Fair running with three more films based on their franchises. Both Kakuranger and Blue SWAT would receive theatrical installments to coincide with the release of Amemiya's next theatrical epic: Kamen Rider J. Unlike Shin and ZO, the film was designed to be a stand-alone adventure from the start. Instead of potentially leading up into a series, the entire story of J would be told within the 46 minutes allotted for the film. Unlike ZO, J was intended to be a more grandiose departure of the norm. Most notably, J would be the first Rider to gain the ability to become a giant like Ultraman (not counting Kamen Rider #1 in the Ultraman VS Kamen Rider short), paving the way for a daikaiju-style final battle between J and the giant Fog Mother.
[EDIT: I've read that either the film was originally meant to be a sequel to Kamen Rider ZO with J being a new power up for ZO, and notes claiming that J and ZO were intended to be "Double Riders" like #1 and #2. I lean towards the latter theory, as shown in my article]
Original Sales Poster for Kamen Rider J
While not as widely praised as ZO, Kamen Rider J still displays Amemiya's talent for handling a large budget (although naturally, this film's budget was a bit smaller) and featured Toei special effects at their best in the 1990s. Like ZO, the film was praised by many and it was enough of a success to allow Toei to make this Super Hero Fair a yearly tradition. Toei could advertise their currently running tokusatsu shows while the audience watches as they wait for Keita Amemiya's star attraction. In late 1994, Amemiya returned to the franchise that earned him his reputation by directing Zeiram 2. After production finished on Amemiya's newest pet project, it was back to work at Toei as the next film was planned.
In 1995, it was decided that, instead of a new Kamen Rider, one of Toei's other classic heroes be reinvented for the big screen. Amemiya was reunited with Jetman head writer Inoue on this project, and the two brainstormed with some input from Ishinomori as well. It was decided that instead of bringing back a hero, the duo would bring back one of Toei's most popular villains: Kikaider's anti-rival and greatest nemesis: Hakaider. Thus, production began on Jinzo Ningen Hakaider with another large budget and more creative freedom.
Not only was Hakaider given a massive redesign for the film, he received an entirely new origin that would place him in a dystopic future. With this film, Inoue began embellishing in themes that would be seen in full force later in his career while Amemiya went all-out in creating a dark, gritty tokusatsu film. The final product was not for kids. The finished film, clocking in at 75 minutes, outraged Toei executives for its dark themes and ultra-violence and as a result the film was severely cut, down to 50 minutes against Amemiya's approval. The film opened alongside the Ohranger and B-Fighter movies in April, and was blasted by audiences and critics alike.
Original Toei Super Hero Fair '95 Poster
The film was still too dark for children, yet due to the cuts the film was also made partially incomprehensible. Hakaider was a box-office failure and all of the blame fell squarely on the director. The following year, Amemiya would get the chance to release a Director's Cut of the film with brand new effects added for the VHS, but the damage between Toei and the director had been done. Despite plans for a Super Hero Fair for 1996 (which, according to what I've read, would have apparently involved a Henshin Ninja Arashi reboot), Amemiya left Toei for good, realizing that his vision was ultimately too dark for the child-friendly content produced by the studio. Toei cancelled plans for any more Super Hero Fairs to recoup their losses, and thus they would not release a single theatrical tokusatsu film for 6 years.
Still, Amemiya managed to move on quite well after leaving the company. Almost immediately after leaving, he found work by directing the fantasy/sci-fi hybrid Moon Over Tao with the same production company that created Zeiram. He has continued to work as director ever since, in both live action and in anime, mostly thanks to his widely-beloved, adult-themed tokusatsu franchise that has been running strong since 2006: Garo.
Keita Amemiya is one of those rare directors who favors style over substance, yet still delivers an entertaining product that manages to have a heart. His years at Toei saw him grow as a visionary director and as a storyteller. Without him there, there is absolutely no way the Kamen Rider franchise would have remained relevant in its longest drought without a TV series. He also co-created one of the most beloved Super Sentai ever, and gave Metal Heroes of the late 1980s a distinct feel even if he wasn't directly behind the camera. There is absolutely no way Amemiya would have been able to create Garo if he didn't have all of this experience with some of the greatest men to have ever worked in tokusatsu, including Shotaro Ishinomori himself. His Super Hero Fair trilogy also serves as an interesting chapter in Toei's long-running relationship with tokusatsu. They reflect a time when the genre was struggling to keep afloat, but the bigwigs knew that the new generation of directors, like Keita Amemiya, were key to keeping the legacy alive.
[SPECIAL THANKS TO: Rising Sun Tokusatsu, Valsag Fantasy, allcinema Database, and the many fans of Keita Amemiya out there]
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