Century Kings

One of my favorite toy blogs, Charab Life by Sappii, has some high-quality photographs of the newly released H.G.C.O.R.E. set. This is actually the first time I’ve ever seen Chainsaw Lizard, which I think looks nice. It’s neat to see a vixen-type female villain in the new movies as the original Kamen Rider was pretty […]

I was looking for jackets that resembled Minami Kotaro’s in Kamen Rider Black when I stumbled upon an expired item on Yahoo! Auctions Japan. For sale was a genuine, screen-worn jacket that you see above, worn by Tetsuo Kurata himself on Kamen Rider Black RX!
The auction took place on 7/29/07 and ended on 8/5/07. Disappointingly […]

Kurata Tetsuo, the star of Kamen Rider Black who played Minami Kotaro, has recently celebrated his 20th anniversary in breaking into the entertainment industry. After completing Black and RX (which is still the only Kamen Rider sequel in history), he continued to work in television and film, concentrating on drama and period dramas (or jidaigeki).
After […]

Kyoko carries the wounded Kotaro to safety from the wretched Birugenia. Birugenia, in search of Kotaro, wrecks havoc on the city to lure Kotaro out. Meanwhile, the High Priests are now nearing death, and are greeted to their new master - Shadow Moon!
Kamen Rider Episode 35 thumbnails (possible spoilers)
You can download the episode in the […]

3/11 (Sunday)
Today we filmed a scene of Shiro’s company “Excesstreme.”
V3, Kazami Shiro, is a charismatic and young president of a IT company. Excesstreme is a fictitious name, and these names and settings are sometimes thought up by the assistant directors. We also are assigned to “searches” on occasion. For instance we found out what an […]

Kamen Rider THE NEXT is playing in theaters in Japan as I type this. I’m so jealous!
UPDATE: If you’re like me and have to wait a few months for the DVD release of Kamen Rider THE NEXT, you can read Igadevil’s detailed reviews (spoiler-free and spoiler-laden) to wet your appetite. Check it out!
Igadevil’s Kamen Rider […]

3/6 (Tuesday) ~ 9 (Friday)
On the fourth day we were at the development site of Nikotama for a huge action shot!!
This is probably the most important action scene in “Kamen Rider THE NEXT.”
Bike action, car action, Rider action, elaborate explosions… it’s a barrage of action scenes. There are many things I could talk about, but […]

2/28 (Wednesday)
Today we filmed our first wire action scene at the pier.
In this scene Hongo is approached by Shiro and gets punched, thrown far into a pillar. Action scenes aren’t handled by the acting crew. Action is the lifeline of the film, so they’re handled by the pros. The most important thing in this scene […]

2/27 (Yuesday)
Today’s scene takes place in Kotomi’s apartment.
It’s a night scene but we filmed it with the “crushing” technique. Crushing is done by covering up daylight and changing the aperture of the video camera, allowing for shooting night scenes in midday. It was such a tiny, tiny place that I could smell a good […]

NG, or No Good, is a term that Japan uses for outtakes and other non-usable footage/idea/item. Kamen Rider Black didn’t always look the way he does now, as you can see above. This suit was actually used for live shows at the Tokyo Toy Show (for how long is a mystery). Our hero dons a […]