Post by Yuri Petrovitch on Jul 26, 2014 11:34:11 GMT -5
[My woes with Youtube continue, folks--here's Episode 1, unsubbed. Best I can do, alas]
KAMEN RIDER SUPER-1
SYNOPSIS
At the International Space Development Program in America (helpfully illustrated by a single sign pointing to various American cities in a rock quarry) Kazuya Oki undergoes surgical procedures to make himself a cyborg ideally suited to the rigors of space travel without all that tedious mucking about with spacesuits. Codenamed "Super-1," he's outfitted with cybernetics that boost his strength, and allow him various alternate effects--by swapping out his hands he can increase his already prodigious strength, generate electricity, launch missiles, and manipulate temperate extremes. It seems Kazuya will be an ideal candidate for a new generation of astronaut.
Unfortunately, the secret empire from outer space, the Dogma Kingdom, has gotten wind of the ISDP's plans, and sent an infiltrator to monitor the experiment. They try to convince the head of the ISDP to enlist in the Dogma Kingdom's ambition's to rule the planet, but the professor in charge of the project refuses, and the Dogma soldiers attack the base, killing everyone there. Only Kazuya is able to escape in the chaos and he returns to Japan to train with a martial arts expert to better equip himself to take revenge on Dogma.
But the assassin behind the destruction of the ISDP has followed him, and opened his own martial arts school. This time, after learning a new kung-fu style (by defeating 100 enemies at once) Kazuya meets the Dogma agent in battle and destroys him. Thus begins a war between Super-1 and the Dogma Kingdom that spans the first half of the series, ending with the death of Dogma's ruler, Terror Macro, and the dissolution of the Kingdom . . .
But after the fall of the Dogma Kingdom, a new force arises--Jin Dogma, the leader of whom--Marshal Demon--was instrumental in the death of Terror Macro. Taking a different tactic in the battle against Super-1, Jin Dogma creates cyborg soldiers out of common household objects and turns them against the people they serve. Will Super-1 be able to crush Jin Dogma and achieve his dream of going into space?
ANALYSIS
There's a lot of firsts in Super-1: He's the first Rider "born" in the 1980s, the first to be based on a Wasp (a hornet, to be specific), the first Rider to voluntarily be changed into a cyborg by the good guys, and the first Kamen Rider to ride a Harley-Davidson motorcycle (The V-machine, which can transform to the V-Jet--I should also mention he has a second bike by long-time manufacturer Suzuki as well--the Blue Version)
But primary among its firsts is that it is really focused on kung-fu: The initial arc of the series, with all its science-fiction trappings, plays out like a Shaw Brothers movie--in the wake of the ISDP's destruction, Kazuya returns to Japan and trains with his master, undergoing a brutal regimen of training that culminates wit a battle against 99 foes, then his master, who pushes him to his limit and unlocks his ability to transform into Super-1. This allows him to defeat Dogma's agent, Fire Kong, who's built a rival school and seeks to destroy Kazuya and his school.
This is sort of a big deal for Kamen Rider, as its tone and action choreography is rooted more in the efficient, hard-hitting, brutal karate style of Sonny Chiba. In preparation for the role, both the out of suit actor and the suit actor trained in kung-fu to give the fighting style consistency, and while the style is entirely fictional ("Red-Heart Style Shaolin Kung-Fu," if you were wondering) it's a very interesting middle-ground between the more graceful kung-fu style but grounded through Kamen Rider's heavier-hitting style. It gives the fights a substantially different flavour than the 1970s-era shows had.
I should also mention that Super-1 runs during one of the peak years of Toei's production, and it looks amazing, both terms of of its use of location shots, amazing stunts, and photography. The early 80's were a good time to be watching tokusatsu shows--the Super Sentai series were just hitting their groove after a few years finding their feet, and the Metal Hero franchise would begin the year following Super-1, giving birth to a 18-year franchise which borrowed quite a lot from from both Kamen Rider and Super Sentai of this time.
Which is good, because these stylistic flourishes aside, there's not a lot here we haven't seen here before. Dogma and Jin Dogma aren't fundamentally different from the various permutations of Shocker, Destron, and the rest we've been seeing in past series, and once things settle into a groove, you pretty much know what to expect from the show. The advent of Jin Dogma does herald a change in the show--the addition of the annoying Junior Riders is intended to give the show a slightly more lighthearted bent, as are Jin Dogma's yokai-esque monsters.
However, some good old fashioned nightmare fuel still spills out from time to time--in episode 40, Jin Dogma's soap monster causes humans to melt, leading to a memorable scene where a five-year old gets reduced to screaming red goo and sucked down the drain. He gets better, but still . . .
While Super-1 did not lead to a follow-up series and the 1980s revival of Kamen Rider would have to lay dormant until ZX's movie two years later and only firmly take hold with Black and Black RX (just in time for the end of the 1980s) it is a fondly-remembered show--Kamen Rider Fourze feels very much like an evolution of some of the concepts from Super-1: The space theme, the swappable weapons, and the kung-fu theme--though more with Meteor, who pays homage to Super-1 battling 100 enemies in the video for his theme "Shooting Star"
In all, Super-1 is pretty entertaining if you want a snapshot of Toei at the peak of it's 1980s powers and a slightly different stylistic take on Kamen Rider, though they still haven't fully worked out just what a Kamen Rider in this new decade is yet. But even though it was something of a dead end, it was a promising start, at any rate.
IN 2 WEEKS
Taking a break next weekend to do some entertaining. When we return, at last, I will finish off the last of the movies in the master-list and return to you in 14 with the story of a tense hostage situation, monsters, brainwashing, and wine. Trust me, it all makes sense in context.
In two weeks, Kamen Rider G