has always been a bit awkward in the three special photography series of Japan. In ( Ultraman , Kamen Rider, Super Team) , the situation of "Kamen Rider" is a bit awkward and has always been in a tepid state.
When Ultraman was popular with popular characters such as Tiga, the Super Team quickly gained popularity overseas through derivative works such as "Dinosaur Team", Kamen Rider took an extremely "stable" path.
After 50 years of precipitation, although Kamen Rider is not the most beautiful boy, he has already had a group of loyal fans with a small number but quite stable number.
With the special camera IPs such as "Ultraman" and "Godzilla", they continue to introduce new (such as launching a live-action movie version) , and attracting more and more "newbies" to join the special camera circle, Kamen Rider's IP certainly cannot stagnate.
html At the end of October, the special film "Kamen Rider Black Sun" directed by Shiraishi, director of the popular crime film " Lone Wolf's Blood " series, and starring veteran movie stars such as Hidetoshi Nishima and Rinya Nakamura , and was launched.
This live-action version has changed the Kamen Rider style of the past "middle-second fantasy" and has turned to explore the potential of this superhero IP with large-scale violent scenes and a more realistic and metaphorical style.
" New Kamen Rider " was released in Japan in March 2023
"Kamen Rider Black Sun" was welcomed by fans and ordinary audiences after it was broadcast. In addition, next year's preheating of the movie version of "New Kamen Rider" by the great director Anno Hideaki , the popularity of this image has gradually heated up.
So today, let’s take a look at the story behind this IP from the perspective of “bystander” and what innovations are there in this large-scale “Kamen Rider Black Sun”.
987 version of " Kamen Rider Black"
Before talking about "Black Sun", we might as well give a look at the relevant background and settings of "Kamen Rider".
969, due to long-term sluggish viewership, Osaka Daily Broadcast decided to entrust Toei Co., Ltd. (the animation producer of "Dragon Ball" and "Saint Seiya") to produce a brand new hero work.
Due to insufficient budget, Osaka TV hopes that Toei will be based on the image of humans, abandon the huge special photography style that was popular at that time, and take a realistic battle route.
954 Toho special film "Godzilla" caused a sensation in the entire Japan
So after two years of dedication to the creation, the cartoonist Ishimori Akitaro , created by transforming and masturbation, was released and started to be broadcast on NET TV in Japan.
Compared to Ultraman, who was born as a "superhero", the early Kamen Rider's life experience is often more miserable.
They are often forced to transform into artificial humans due to fatal injuries or coercion. After witnessing the cruel fate of human body transformation and the stranger, they decided to transform into "Kamen Riders" to fight against evil forces.
In order to fit the theme of "transformation", the design of Kamen Rider's shape is inspired by various insects.
This also explains why previous Kamen Riders' leather case has compound eyes like flies, and even their ultimate skill is a flying kick that jumps high from the air. These are actually replicating the insect's abilities in reality.
In the heart of the original author, Akitaro Ishimori, insects are the animals that best represent nature. In addition, special film dramas at that time were popular to discuss issues such as natural destruction, humans and the world, so insects became the best imitation objects of Kamen Rider.
Today, Kamen Rider has released more than 25 works, but its external image still maintains some common characteristics, such as insect-like eyes, belts, motorcycles, mutations, etc.
Although from the perspective of adults, the quality of the leather case and the scene of fighting seem a bit naive, if you carefully study the spiritual core that the Kamen Rider series wants to express, you will still be infected by their personal charm.
Author Sutaro Ishimori paid great attention to the principle of "the enemy and the enemy are of the same origin" when designing the Kamen Rider.
Knights are not only great heroes who save the world, but also transformers who are despised by ordinary people. Therefore, they often fall into a dilemma of identity recognition and use this to reflect the greatness of justice.
and this is similar to the spiritual core of "Batman: The Dark Knight".
Back to the new drama, as a commemorative work of the 50th anniversary of the series, "Kamen Rider Black Sun" is adapted from the 1987 classic special drama " Kamen Rider Black".
However, the new work does not simply replicate the original story and settings, but reinterprets a brand new story through these classic images. In the original story of
The young man transformed into a Kamen Rider Nankwangtaro fights wits and courage with the weird man organization " Gorgom " who is trying to conquer the world.
In the end, he defeated his old enemy " Shadow Moon " Nobuhiko Akitsuki, and at the same time shattered the ambition of the leader of the weirdo organization, the Creator King, and relieved the crisis on the earth.
In the new work "Black Sun", the story revolves around the existence of the weird race and social issues. In the world of rebooted version of
, weird people are widely present in Japanese society and face severe discrimination problems. They can only survive in the cracks of the underlying layer.
The villain organization "Gorgom" transformed into a political party and fought for the rights and interests of the weirdo through sports struggles. Later, colluded with the Japanese authorities and gradually exposed his ambitions.
Our protagonist, Nan Kwangtaro, will participate in the three-party struggle between politics, weird people and transforming people. The tragedy of the same origin of the enemy and us continues to plague the justice he insists on...
As one of the few adult works in the series, the bloody action scenes of "Black Sun" are undoubtedly a highlight. In
film, the fighting scenes are extremely bloody, and the broken limbs and blood sprays are endless. It can be said that under the usual violent aesthetic style of directors Shiraishi and Ya, Kamen Rider also has a cult film texture.
Putting aside the large-scale fighting scenes, the large number of political metaphors and historical plots in "Black Sun" are also a major reason for the film's restrictive level.
Although it is a disclaimer that "the story is purely fiction", this work can be regarded as a satirical work dressed in the robe of a Kamen Rider.
For example, under the main line of the story of "race issue", there is the hereditary system of the prime minister, the government's strong desire for war, and the human experiments that have been conducting secrets, etc.
This idea of combining historical reality with science fiction special photography adds a certain depth and sense of reality to "Black Sun", and is also very consistent with the image of Kamen Rider himself as a tragic hero.
At the same time, a large number of handheld photography and exquisite empty lenses also add a sense of realistic and presentation to this work.
, combined with the overall cool tone, allows "Black Sun" to completely get rid of the shackles of Kamen Rider's younger age, and takes a solid step for the entire series to become popular.
If you are an audience who have never been in contact with this series, you might as well start with this "Kamen Rider Black Sun". Maybe it will make you regain the excitement of watching special film dramas like Ultraman when you were a child.
Note: Some pictures in this article are from Douban and the Internet. If there is any infringement, please contact us on your own initiative.
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