"I think while I draw."

While Friday is now generally reserved for people beating each other up, this week something rather special happened which I thought I should mention.

This day marks the 70th anniversary of Ishinomori Shôtarô's birth, back in 1938. I think it's pretty safe to say that without him, we might have something, but we wouldn't have Kamen Rider, not the way we know it.

Sadly, this coming Monday will also mark the 10th anniversary of his death, at age 60. Which was far, far too soon of course. The question of what Kamen Rider would be like were he still alive will be debated forever, but I like to think it wouldn't be all that different from what we have now. Ishinomori was always ahead of his time, and he recognized the need to keep changing and updating the series even while keeping the same core values, something I think the new shows do more than many give them credit for.

As for what Ishinomori himself would think of the current state of Rider if he could see it, well... if it still keeps the money coming and the kids love it, I think he'd generally approve. But, we'll never really know, will we?

So here's to 70 years of Ishinomori influence, and plenty more to come!

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