'Kamen Rider Drive' appeals to all ages with supercar stunts

The latest installment of “Kamen Rider” is a dramatic departure from the live-action TV series that has thrilled sci-fi fans for more than four decades.

In “Kamen Rider Drive,” the bug-like superhero has traded in his signature motorcycle for four-wheeled adventures. Yes, Kamen Rider drives a bright red supercar called “Tridoron.”

“Kamen Rider Drive” has been broadcast on TV Asahi and its affiliated networks on Sunday mornings since October.

When Drive exclaims “Taiya Kokan!” (tire exchange), a tire pops out from the vehicle to be replaced with a tire installed on the superhero’s chest. With various tires equipped with different special capabilities, Drive can launch many different attacks. He also wields the “Handle-Ken” sword modeled after a car steering wheel.

Kamen Rider used a car in 1988’s “Kamen Rider Black RX,” and he even traveled by train in 2007’s “Kamen Rider Den-O.” But motorcycles have always been the main mode of transportation for the masked crusader.

Drive is the first protagonist who exclusively drives a car rather than a motorcycle in the entire Kamen Rider series, which began in 1971, Kamen Rider experts say.

During the planning stages, some members of the production team were baffled by the concept of an unconventional Kamen Rider, saying he could not be called “Rider” without a motorcycle.

But a 34-year-old Toei Co. producer thought otherwise.

“The motif of Kamen Rider has always been constructed by picking up on the mood of the times,” Takahito Omori said.

For “Kamen Rider Drive,” the producer decided to bring a touch of dashing coolness to the fore, highlighting the speeding sensation and the mechanical feel of a sports car.

“For boys nowadays, cars are what they are familiar with. They often see them and ride in them,” Omori said. “We wanted to make something that would get boys of today fired up.”

According to the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, more than 6.4 million motorcycles were produced in 1980. But the figure drastically dropped to 560,000 in 2013.

Meanwhile, the number of passenger cars produced in 1980 was 7 million. With the number standing at 8 million in 2013, automakers saw no drop in production compared with motorcycles.

Although the nation’s birthrate continues to fall, Omori hopes that adults once fascinated by the Kamen Rider series when they were kids will still get a kick out of the new show.

“I think a father and his child will like to play Kamen Rider when they go for a drive in the family car,” Omori said.

Motoi Sasaki, the 45-year-old TV Asahi department head responsible for live-action “tokusatsu” (special effects) programs, said: “We wanted to make it a story with action that can be enjoyed by the whole family, including grandparents.

“We received initial opinions from fans who pointed out that Drive can’t be a ‘Rider,’ but we were able to surprise everybody, and they seem to be enjoying it.”

The protagonist of “Kamen Rider Drive” is a police detective. The detective genre is TV Asahi’s forte, and the broadcaster is known for the popular “Aibou: Tokyo Detective Duo” and other shows.

“It is appropriate for a detective to get to a crime scene in a car,” Sasaki said in explaining Drive’s mode of transportation.

Thanks to the familiar combination of a detective and a car, “Kamen Rider Drive” got off to a high-speed start in October, with the first episode scoring a 7.5 percent viewer rating in the Kanto region, according to Video Research Ltd.

The show still attracts motorcycle enthusiasts. A mysterious professional assassin and rival to Drive rides a motorcycle.

“Kamen Rider Drive” has received favorable responses from fans.

One day in late November, 4-year-old Yugo Aoki from Hamamatsu was taking pictures of Drive at the Toei Hero World museum in Chiba Prefecture. His mother, Yoshiko, said Yugo loves cars.

“He first became interested in Shinkansen and other trains, and then cars,” she said. “Now he’s hooked on ‘Kamen Rider Drive.’”

Yu Sato, 23, who came from Tokyo with two of her friends, said she collects toy cars released from Bandai Co. that are featured in the TV show.

“They look cool and cute by women’s standards, too,” she said.

Mototaka Sato, 43, a long-time fan of the “Kamen Rider” series, said he had reservations about a Rider without a motorcycle.

“But I began getting used to it. He has many different special attacks, and it’s interesting in its own way,” Sato said. “After all, (Kamen) Rider continues to evolve with some parts remaining the same.”

source: http://ajw.asahi.com/article/cool_japan/style/AJ201501240016