Toku 101: Kamen Rider

Ah Kamen Rider. The best tokusatsu show to come out of Japan (in my humble opinion) I met my best friend through Kamen Rider and I also discovered one of my favorite japanese rock artists through Kamen Rider. Before I start I might as well explain what the hell Kamen Rider is.

To put it as simple as possible. Kamen Rider is created by a man named Shotaro Ishinomori. You could say he is the founder of all Riders. The first series that came out in 1971 Kamen Rider or as he is known now as Kamen Rider Ichigo centers around a college student named Takeshi Hongo he was kidnapped by the evil organization named Shocker and was turned into a killing machine that was meant to serve Shocker. But he saw the errors of his ways and thus became the warrior of justice Kamen Rider #1.

And thus Kamen Rider became the most popular series in Japan.


Showa and Heisei era Riders

Now Kamen Rider is spilt into two different eras. Showa and Heisei

Showa Kamen Rider Series Phase 1 (昭和仮面ライダーシリーズ第1期 Shōwa Kamen Raidā Shirīzu Dai Ichi-Ki): 1971-1976 (Only listing the TV series not the specials and theatrical releases) 

TV series

• Kamen Rider (仮面ライダー Kamen Raidā) (1971-73)
• Kamen Rider V3 (仮面ライダーV3 Kamen Raidā Buisurī) (1973-74)
• Kamen Rider X (仮面ライダーX Kamen Raidā Ekkusu) (1974)
• Kamen Rider Amazon (仮面ライダーアマゾン Kamen Raidā Amazon) (1974-75)
• Kamen Rider Stronger (仮面ライダーストロンガー Kamen Raidā Sutorongā) (1975-76)

Showa Kamen Rider Series Phase 2 (昭和仮面ライダーシリーズ第2期 Shōwa Kamen Raidā Shirīzu Dai Ni-Ki): 1979-1984

TV Series

• Kamen Rider (Skyrider) (仮面ライダー（スカイライダー） Kamen Raidā (Sukairaidā) (1979-80)
• Kamen Rider Super-1 (仮面ライダースーパー１ Kamen Raidā Sūpā Wan) (1980-81)

Showa Kamen Rider Series Phase 3 (昭和仮面ライダーシリーズ第3期 Shōwa Kamen Raidā Shirīzu Dai San-Ki): 1987-1994

TV Series

• Kamen Rider Black (仮面ライダーBLACK Kamen Raidā Burakku) (1987-88)
• Kamen Rider Black RX (仮面ライダーBLACK RX Kamen Raidā Burakku Aru Ekkusu) (1988-89)

Heisei Era (2000-present)
TV Series

• Kamen Rider Kuuga (仮面ライダークウガ Kamen Raidā Kūga) (2000-2001)
• Kamen Rider Agito (仮面ライダーアギト Kamen Raidā Agito, Masked Rider ΑGITΩ) (2001-2002)
• Kamen Rider Ryuki (仮面ライダー龍騎 Kamen Raidā Ryūki) (2002-2003)
• Kamen Rider 555 (仮面ライダー555（ファイズ） Kamen Raidā Faizu, Masked Rider Φ's) (2003-2004)
• Kamen Rider Blade (仮面ライダー剣（ブレイド） Kamen Raidā Bureido, Masked Rider ♠) (2004-2005)
• Kamen Rider Hibiki (仮面ライダー響鬼（ヒビキ） Kamen Raidā Hibiki) (2005-2006)
• Kamen Rider Kabuto (仮面ライダーカブト Kamen Raidā Kabuto) (2006-2007)
• Kamen Rider Den-O (仮面ライダー電王 Kamen Raidā Den'ō) (2007-2008)
• Kamen Rider Kiva (仮面ライダーキバ Kamen Raidā Kiba) (2008-2009)
• Kamen Rider Decade (仮面ライダーディケイド Kamen Raidā Dikeido, Masked Rider DCD) (2009)
• Kamen Rider W (仮面ライダーＷ（ダブル） Kamen Raidā Daburu) (2009-2010) - first series of the "Phase 2" era
• Kamen Rider OOO (仮面ライダーＯＯＯ（オーズ） Kamen Raidā Ōzu) (2010-2011)
• Kamen Rider Fourze (仮面ライダーフォーゼ Kamen Raidā Fōze) (2011-2012)
• Kamen Rider Wizard (仮面ライダーウィザード Kamen Raidā Uizādo) (2012-2013)
• Kamen Rider Gaim (仮面ライダー鎧武（ガイム） Kamen Raidā Gaimu) (2013-2014)
• Kamen Rider Drive (仮面ライダードライブ Kamen Raidā Doraibu) (2014-2015)
• Kamen Rider Ghost (仮面ライダーゴースト Kamen Raidā Gōsuto) (2015-2016)
• Kamen Rider Amazons (仮面ライダーアマゾンズ Kamen Raidā Amazonzu) (2016-2017) - extra series of the Heisei period
• Kamen Rider Ex-Aid (仮面ライダーエグゼイド Kamen Raidā Eguzeido) (2016-)

I hope this little article was of good help and please let me know if I should do more in this series of educational Toku articles.

Source:Kamen Rider Wikia