Kamen Rider Stronger
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is a Japanese tokusatsu television series. It was the fifth series to be created as part of the Kamen Rider franchise. The series was broadcast on TBS from April 5, 1975 to December 27, 1975, lasting 39 episodes. It aired every Saturday at 7:00 PM. Stronger was a co-production between Ishinomori Productions and Toei, and was created by Shotaro Ishinomori.While the series is relatively popular amongst tokusatsu fans, it has not garnered much mainstream attention. However, the series is unique in several respects, and has influenced other series in the franchise in many ways. See Themes, below.
Overview
Shigeru Jô, played by Shigeru Araki, joins the evil organisation Black Satan after the death of a close friend, one whom he considered his mentor. Promised power, and fueled by a desire for revenge, he undergoes surgery to become one of Satan's super warriors. However, Jô knows that Black Satan were in fact the murderers of his friend; he was using Black Satan in order to gain new powers. The newly powered up Jô escapes from the Black Satan headquarters before they can brainwash him into following their campaign of evil. Frustrated, Black Satan scientists devise a plan to capture and kill the warrior they've just created, along with continuing the goal they've had all along—world domination. Jô plans on fighting back in his new form, called Kamen Rider Stronger.All the while, Stronger fights various kaijin that the organisation sends after him. Eventually, he meets Yuriko Misaki (played by Kyoko Okada) another cyborg warrior created by Black Satan. They team up, with Misaki now becoming Electro Wave Human Tackle. The two eventually meet Tachibana Tôbei as well.
Stronger, Tackle, and Tachibana fight valiantly against the forces of Black Satan, continually meeting the head agents General Shadow, the One-Eyed Titan. The Titan is defeated in episode 13, but manages to return in episode 17 as the One-Hundred Eyed Titan, posing an even greater threat than before. Despite sharing the similar goals of defeating Stronger and conquering the world, General Shadow and the Titan can't seem to agree on a few other issues—for instance, which one of them gets to kill Stronger. Oftentimes, their bickering inadvertently allows him to escape their wrath.
In episode 26, Stronger is able to topple Black Satan once and for all. His former organisation in ruins, General Shadow forms the "Delzer Army" to continue his malicious goals. There were two further defining moments for the series: first, in episode 30, Tackle sacrifices herself to save Stronger from Dr. Kate, a Delzer Army general. Her death affects Stronger greatly, and he vows to keep fighting until evil is defeated. Tackles' death is sometimes compared to Riderman's sacrifice in Kamen Rider V3. To help with him that fight, in the next episode, he undergoes surgery and gains a devastating new power—the ability to power up into a new, stronger, form—"Charge Up!".
Ultimately, all the former Riders, Kamen Riders 1, 2 from the original Kamen Rider, V3 from Kamen Rider V3, X from Kamen Rider X, and Amazon from Kamen Rider Amazon, all appear in the final few episodes to help Stronger finally defeat the Delzer Army and General Shadow. This sequence of episodes has attracted some praise from fans.
Themes
Stronger's primary motif was that of electricity. All his attacks were based on electricity, and the cyborg aspect of his body is much more prominent than in the previous series; for instance, his hands were metal coils that had to be covered when he was not transformed. Stronger was not based on a grasshopper or grasshopper-like insect as with the previous Riders; he is based on the Kabutomushi, or rhinoceros beetle.
The other primary characteristic of the series is Shigeru's bravado and eccentric personality. For instance, in the first episode, he instructs some Black Satan henchmen he encounters to call him Jô-san or Shigeru-san, the informal forms of his name, due to the fact that he'd already introduced himself. He wears various t-shirts emblazoned with the letter "S", along with numerous other items of clothing, including a denim jacket with a rose emblem. Stronger's entrance is also a hallmark of the series, with his opening serifu and accompaning whistle a particular highlight. This translation comes from the subtitles on the Region 2 DVDs:
"The heavens call...This reoccuring sequence has been compared to a similar one in Kikaida
The earth cries out...
The crowds roar...
All calling on me to strike back against evil.
Now listen up, villains!
I am the warrior of justice,
The Kamen Rider Stronger!"
Additionally, the "form changer" motif makes its first appearance in Stronger. Stronger's "Charge-Up!" mode predates Roborider and Biorider of Kamen Rider BLACK RX, and the primary themes of Kamen Rider Kuuga and Kamen Rider Agito were the main characters' ability to change forms. Kamen Rider Kabuto also features this concept prominently.
Indeed, Kabuto was greatly influenced by Stronger. Not only are both Stronger and Kabuto based on the same type of beetle, Stronger's Rider Machine is named "Kabutorô". Beyond these superficial similarities, Kabuto and Stronger, or, more accurately, Shigeru and Tendou, share a similar philosophical outlook and eccentric attitudes toward life and others, often commenting wrly on combat as it occurs.
There is some debate as to whether Stronger was intended to be the final Kamen Rider series. Though few argue that the series does contain a conclusion of sorts to the saga began in the original Kamen Rider, Japanese film and television historian August Ragone argues that it was simply a matter of coincidence, because the network that had aired all the previous series, MBS, had decided not to air Stronger, instead giving the rights to TBS. However, NET aired the widly successful Himitsu Sentai Goranger in direct competition with Stronger, resulting in extremely low ratings.
Notes
References
| Kamen Rider franchise created by Shotaro Ishinomori | |
| Kamen Rider | V3 | X | Amazon | Stronger | New Kamen Rider | Super-1 | BLACK | BLACK RX | |
| Kuuga | Agito | Ryuki | 555 | Blade | Hibiki | Kabuto | |
| ZO | J | Shin Kamen Rider | SD | Kamen Rider the First | |
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