To kick off this retrospective of every single entry of the Kamen Rider Den-O sub-franchise, it only makes sense to start with the series that started it all. Kamen Rider Den-O ran for 49 episodes and pulled a series ratings average of 6.9%, which used to be a low for the Kamen Rider franchise. Still, toy sales were strong and the summer tie-in film was one of the highest grossing of the Heisei series. The insane popularity of the Den-O characters would lead to Toei producing numerous adventures spanning over 5 years.
KAMEN RIDER DEN-O: THE TV SERIES
The official series logo
To this day, Kamen Rider Den-O remains one of my personal favorite Kamen Rider shows. When the show first began, I was only into the franchise for a year but I already had an idea what to expect from Kamen Rider. My first shows were Kabuto, 555, and Black so I naturally expected a show that would be heavy on drama and action. Instead, the first episode of Den-O quickly establishes that this show is going to be a very light-hearted comedy starring a colorful and cheery cast of characters. Ryotarou was virtually the complete opposite of Tendou from Kabuto; clumsy and shy, our "hero" was so afraid of getting into the fray that he tries to whack the evil Imagin away with a broom (the scene that sold me on the show).
Still, over time Ryotarou grows into a strong and capable Rider thanks to the support of his friends and his own heroic spirit buried deep within him all along. Takeru Satoh's performance(s) is sheer brilliance, not only does he play a convincingly meek individual, he also nails the personalities of all five Imagin that possess him with perfect accuracy. Being able to bounce between six personalities takes some serious acting chops, and he pulls it off wonderfully in what it is undoubtedly my favorite performance in any KR series.
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Takeru Satoh as Ryotarou Nogami
Of course, Satoh's performance would mean nothing if the other cast members didn't live up to their characters. As I mentioned in the last entry, the suit actors and voice actors behind all of the Imagin create perfect chemistry that allows them to come to life believably. It took 11 people to make these characters come alive (5 suit actors, 5 voice actors, and 1 actor), but the results were one of the franchise's greatest accomplishments. Without this chemistry, Den-O would not have been half the hit that it was. Other memorable performances come from the legendary Kenjiro Ishimaru as Owner, the enigmatic and charismatic man behind the DenLiner: the train that carries our heroes across time (and my favorite character), Yuriko Shiratori as Hana: a girl who can't return to the timeline she comes from, and Rina Akiyama as Naomi: the hyperactive waitress working on the DenLiner.
The many faces of Ryotarou, and the Imagin
In episode 19, a second Rider appears and with him a new Imagin. Yuichi Nakamura plays Yuuto Sakurai/Kamen Rider Zeronos, and although he's not as strong an actor as Satoh, he does an admirable job here between playing the brooding Sakurai and the energetic personality of his Imagin, Deneb. His backstory is a bit convoluted, which proves that Kobayashi isn't the strongest writer when it comes to the mechanics of time travel. Still, he's a welcome addition to the series and serves as a worthy foil for Den-O.
Sakurai and Deneb
Throughout the series, some unfortunate casting changes throw off the flow of the story. The show is never quite able to recover from these losses, but it makes up for it by being consistently hilarious and throwing in plot points that keep the show interesting. I'm trying to avoid giving away too much since this is not a series review, but I can safely say that this is one of the few Kamen Rider shows that has a really great ending. Kinda ironic that the series kept going long after the TV show finished...
KAMEN RIDER DEN-O THE MOVIE: I'M BORN!
Original Theatrical Poster for the first Den-O movie
Kamen Rider Den-O The Movie: I'm Born! was released as a double-bill with Juuken Sentai Gekiranger The Movie: Nei-Nei Hou-Hou! Big Battle in Hong Kong on August 4, 2007. It opened at #4 in the box office, losing to the first weekend of Michael Bay's Transformers and the third weekend of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, but managed to beat out Naruto Shippuden: The Movie. The film would go on to gross $11.2 million USD by the end of its run, meaning it was the highest grossing Heisei Rider film since Kamen Rider Ryuki The Movie: Episode Final.
I'm Born introduces the villainous bandit Kamen Rider Gaoh, played by Hiroyuki Watanabe, a time traveler who hijacks the DenLiner with one goal in mind: to retrieve the time-erasing train GaohLiner, and thus rule over time itself! When Ryotarou's memories are wiped by Gaoh as he is trapped in the year 2000, it's up to Hana, Yuuto, and the Imagin to team up with Ryotarou's younger self to stop Gaoh and bring back Ryotarou's memories.
This film, the first of many, is my personal favorite of all of the Den-O movies. The film has some of the smoothest pacing of any Heisei Rider film, and it manages to pack everything that makes the series so much fun into an economic 80 minutes (NOTE: I've only seen the Director's Cut). Gaoh is a solid villain, and even though he doesn't have much backstory, he makes for a good adversary for Den-O. The battle between the Liners is memorable, and Kamen Rider Mini Den-O is not as stupid as it sounds. It's not a particularly deep film, but it's a fun one and that's all that really matters.
The film came with an animated short that ran between the Gekiranger and Den-O films during its theatrical run called Momotaros' Summer Vacation. Frankly, I can't remember it at all since it's so short and I haven't watched it in 5 years, but I recall it being a pretty straightforward and harmless short.
KAMEN RIDER DEN-O + SHIN-O
That's right, there was a Kamen Rider Den-O crossover with Crayon Shin-chan. Created as a promotional tie-in for I'm Born!, Den-O + Shin-O was a sixty minute special that featured an 11-minute short where the characters of Den-O and Shin-chan inexplicably meet, live-action segments with Shin-chan interacting with Owner, and three normal summer-themed episodes of Crayon Shin-chan.
The humor is pretty much what you would expect from Shin-chan, heavily reliant on gross-out humor and Shin-chan trying to be the biggest brat ever born. When an Imagin makes a contract with Shin's mother, he ends up accidentally teleporting onto the DenLiner where he wreaks some havoc before teaming up with Den-O to stop the Imagin.
I'm not the biggest fan of Shin-chan, so I found the anime short pretty excruciating to sit through (I still haven't watched the crossover with Fourze). The live-action segments are amusing, mostly just to see Owner do everything in his power to eat the scenery and creep that freaking brat from hell out.
KAMEN RIDER DEN-O HYPER BATTLE DVD: SINGING, DANCING, GREAT TRAINING!
An annual Kamen Rider tradition, Hyper Battle Videos are specials released in conjunction with Terebi-kun Magazine that usually serve as clip shows for the series, or introduce some strange new power-up that is usually played for gags. This HBV is the third type that will sometimes pop up: an exercise DVD. The cast and characters get together and decide to train for their continuing fight against the evil Imagin. That's pretty much about it for the set-up. It is what it is, and what it is isn't bad. If you're a completionist of every Rider show you start, it's worth checking out. It's short, entertaining, and harmless.
Tune in next time for part 3 of this series! I'll look into the evolution of Den-O as it went from being a standard Rider series into something special. That change happens when it gets something that a Rider series had not seen since Kamen Rider Black: a second theatrical film.
This film, the first of many, is my personal favorite of all of the Den-O movies. The film has some of the smoothest pacing of any Heisei Rider film, and it manages to pack everything that makes the series so much fun into an economic 80 minutes (NOTE: I've only seen the Director's Cut). Gaoh is a solid villain, and even though he doesn't have much backstory, he makes for a good adversary for Den-O. The battle between the Liners is memorable, and Kamen Rider Mini Den-O is not as stupid as it sounds. It's not a particularly deep film, but it's a fun one and that's all that really matters.
The film came with an animated short that ran between the Gekiranger and Den-O films during its theatrical run called Momotaros' Summer Vacation. Frankly, I can't remember it at all since it's so short and I haven't watched it in 5 years, but I recall it being a pretty straightforward and harmless short.
KAMEN RIDER DEN-O + SHIN-O
That's right, there was a Kamen Rider Den-O crossover with Crayon Shin-chan. Created as a promotional tie-in for I'm Born!, Den-O + Shin-O was a sixty minute special that featured an 11-minute short where the characters of Den-O and Shin-chan inexplicably meet, live-action segments with Shin-chan interacting with Owner, and three normal summer-themed episodes of Crayon Shin-chan.
The humor is pretty much what you would expect from Shin-chan, heavily reliant on gross-out humor and Shin-chan trying to be the biggest brat ever born. When an Imagin makes a contract with Shin's mother, he ends up accidentally teleporting onto the DenLiner where he wreaks some havoc before teaming up with Den-O to stop the Imagin.
I'm not the biggest fan of Shin-chan, so I found the anime short pretty excruciating to sit through (I still haven't watched the crossover with Fourze). The live-action segments are amusing, mostly just to see Owner do everything in his power to eat the scenery and creep that freaking brat from hell out.
KAMEN RIDER DEN-O HYPER BATTLE DVD: SINGING, DANCING, GREAT TRAINING!
An annual Kamen Rider tradition, Hyper Battle Videos are specials released in conjunction with Terebi-kun Magazine that usually serve as clip shows for the series, or introduce some strange new power-up that is usually played for gags. This HBV is the third type that will sometimes pop up: an exercise DVD. The cast and characters get together and decide to train for their continuing fight against the evil Imagin. That's pretty much about it for the set-up. It is what it is, and what it is isn't bad. If you're a completionist of every Rider show you start, it's worth checking out. It's short, entertaining, and harmless.
Tune in next time for part 3 of this series! I'll look into the evolution of Den-O as it went from being a standard Rider series into something special. That change happens when it gets something that a Rider series had not seen since Kamen Rider Black: a second theatrical film.
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