Secret Origins, Part 4

Previously in this overview of Oda Katsumi & Muraeda Kenichi's "The Men Who Made Kamen Rider", Toei creative producer Hirayama Tôru & manga artist Ishinomori Shôtarô teamed up to create the look for the hero of Toei's upcoming sci-fi/fantasy action series. After going through the names "Maskman K", "Masked Angel" and "CrossFire", the project was about to take on another alias after Ishinomori decided the design (which had won critical acclaim from the Toei & Mainichi Broadcasting heads) was too safe. Too "Been there, seen that". So what did he come up with? This guy:

Skullman! Well, not quite. Skullman was actually a comic Ishinomori put out in 1970 which predated Kamen Rider (both in show and comic form), but Ishinomori liked the design enough that he decided to play around with it and create a sort-of live-action version (albeit with a lower jaw piece, something the comic character's helmet lacked.)

Needless to say, this unconventional (at the time) design strikes a cord with Hirayama. The initial plot he had worked out suddenly requires much re-thinking, and the new hero goes from a crime-fighting wrestler to a more tragic character waging an unending crusade against greater odds (and not wrestling in his spare time.)



The folks at Mainichi Broadcasting are less enthusiastic however. They fail to see what good can come from such an oddball, fearsome design. Hirayam tries to remind them of Golden Bat, a real old-school Japanese hero with a fierce skull-like face, but they're still not convinced.



Furthermore, they feel that the sponsors, who are "run by a bunch of old men", would disapprove of a fearsome, evil-looking character being the star of a children's TV series (see, the 70's really are where everything changed!) Hirayama runs about, guzzling gasoline (and alcohol) as he goes from Tokyo to Osaka like a man without a cause, desperately seeking somebody to approve of the design and back the production that has become his own personal crusade. Without sleep, he soon becomes a total wreck. No really, look at him!



Things aren't looking good for the future of Hirayama's series...

Next Time: Hirayama receives inspiration in the most unlikely of places, and Ishinomori (with some help from his agent) creates the design that would change history.

Bonus: What if the Skullman-inspired hero had taken off after all? He might have looked something like this:

***

Secret Origins, Part 3

Previously in this overview of Oda Katsumi & Muraeda Kenichi's "The Men Who Made Kamen Rider", we were introduced to Toei creative producer Hirayama Tôru, the man who, for all intents and purposes, is as important in the creation of Kamen Rider as Ishinomori is. The task of creating a new super hero/action/fantasy series for kids was placed on Hirayama's shoulders, and after laying the initial groundwork himself, he sought out someone to design the program's titular hero.

That someone was Ishinomori Shôtarô (then just "Ishimori", I'll refer to him by his more recent name) a comic artist who by this point had already gathered critical acclaim and commerical success from his legendary Cyborg 009 comic, which had spawned two film adaptations and a short-lived TV series (the latter of which had future Rider series writer Igami Masaru onboard.) Of course, it would go on to have future series and films, and you might have seen some of the more recent on dubbed in English (or maybe you didn't, but if not, it's worth checking out.) So even here, he's hit the big time (and more than earned his "sensei" title.)

Hirayama was aware of 009's success and knew Ishinomori would definitely be the go-to guy for this project. All the same, he is humbled in the other man's presence and surprised by their close age. He has some good reason to be humbled though: while Hirayama may be a bigshot TV producer, Ishinomori is literally above even him in demand; a guy from Ishinomori's circle (his agent, if I had to guess) keeps reminding him that he's only got 30 minutes; Ishinomori has other deadlines to meet; he was a busy man for much of his life.

Hirayama caves in and says he'll come back next week, but Ishinomori tells him to wait. The flunkie starts to freak, but Ishinomori assures him it'll be quick. Hirayama is surprised that he's already made up his mind on the design (he only just read the "Maskman K" outline.) And Ishinomori, who had it forming in his head from the moment he picked up the script, delivers the goods:

And lo, there shall come a hero...

CrossFire!

Well okay, jumping back for a moment; prior to coming up with this name "Maskman K" became "Masked Angel", and eventually "CrossFire" as a result of the cross-like design of the helmet (which will come back one day, after a fashion...) Hirayama runs this version by Toei TV Vice-Director Watanabe Yoshinori, who eats it up. He takes it to the folks at Mainichi Broadcasting Corp., who also love it to bits. Hirayama wins much praise for the design and concept, and he humbly defers the credit to Ishinomori. This is an extremely important point to note; when Kamen Rider finally became the Kamen Rider we know and love, Hirayama was content to take only "Producer" credit; he gratefully bestowed the title of "Original Work" on Ishinomori, a fact which remains consistent to this day. As a result, it is often believed that Ishinomori created the Kamen Rider franchise; while this is half-right, we can't forget about Hirayama's contributions (nor those other other people like co-producer Abe Seiji, etc.)

So things are looking good... until that evening.

Hirayama gets a phone call, and maybe it's just Muraeda's art idealizing her, but Mrs. Hirayama? Must've been pretty smokin' back in the day.

It's from Ishinomori, and it ain't good.

He's decided he wants to change the design. Hirayama explains that the bosses and Mainichi (which will be the channel running the upcoming program) think it's great as it is. They think it's stylish, good-looking, cool... which is exactly Ishinomori's problem with it.

He wants something more... "grotesque...and fantastic"...

Next Time: A legendary hero is born... but it isn't Kamen Rider!

***

Secret Origins, Part 2

Previously, I set the stage for "The Men Who Made Kamen Rider", Oda Katsumi & Muraeda Kenichi's comic recreation of the original Kamen Rider origin story... the origin of the franchise itself. And now, the beginning (of the beginning.)

Chapter 1: Crybaby Producer (Part 1)

The story opens with a flashback to the ruins of a bombed out city. It's not made clear just who it is (yet), but a young boy sits alone, until he looks up and sees... Kamen Rider 1! It's a metaphorical thing, don't worry it'll get explained later.

Jump ahead to the late 1960's, where the Toei staff are screening the final episode of Giant Robo. While most regard it as the end of just another kiddie show, one among them is crying a river. This is Hirayama Tôru, the creative producer at Toei who would have a hand in creating, producing or doing something-ing with many of the company's series from the early 60's all the way up to the early/mid 80's.

Hirayama takes this stuff seriously, even if no one else does (this becomes an extremely important fact later on.) Following the screening, he runs into fellow Toei alumni and old friend Uchida Yuusaku, who takes him on an impromptu trip to see...

Ikuta Studios. The rented space looks like a dump now, but Uchida is convinced that great things are going to be coming from this place! To that end, he explains his vision for the new series, and dumps the responsibility of everything on Hirayama's shoulders. Because he's going to be the producer, after all! Hirayama begins the arduous tasks of pre-series planning; series outlines, early casting try-outs, dashing about trying to get the ball rolling.

By the early 1970's, the next big sensation (even if Toei didn't know how big) was looking... not exactly like what we know it to be. So at this point, it's arguable that Kamen Rider hasn't actually been created yet. More like the show that will become Kamen Rider after many many alterations. At the moment, the show is called Maskman K, and is about a professional wrestler who also fights evil!

And Hirayama needs someone to actually design the hero. So who does he turn to?

This guy.

Next Time: The "trouble" part I mentioned earlier rears its ugly head. And Ishinomori shows us that yes, he was a bonafide genius.

***

Secret Origins, Part 1

Over the next several weeks, I'll be covering, in probable exhaustive detail, the real story of how Kamen Rider came to be.

"Now wait a minute, Igadevil" you say. "Everybody knows that Kamen Rider was created in the early 70's by Ishinomori Shôtarô, that guy who made the Cyborg 009 show that was on Cartoon Network for a while, and if they've really done their homework, they know that he also did that Legend of Zelda comic in "Nintendo Power" where Link had to fight the giant spider in the Mountain Tower rather than that centipede thing from the game that took for-freaking-ever to kill."

You then might go on to say that "Some of the real hardcore old-school fans say that it was actually this guy called Hirayama Tôru who made it, and Ishinomori just drew everything and for some reason he became the creator then." Or perhaps you say that "Magical elves and frogs with funny little hats brought it from the peaceful woodlands of the old country for children everywhere to enjoy and delight in before the evil wizard Ban-Die took control of it." or some such nonsense.

If you said the first two, you're partly right. If you said the third, you probably should get out more. But if you've been under the impression that the Kamen Rider franchise was the work of Ishinomori or Hirayama, you're partway there.

It was, in fact, the creation of both of them, as well as many other people. Like a lot of things in the entertainment industry, Kamen Rider was ultimately a group effort, although it is fair to say that both Ishinomori and Hirayama played especially important roles in bringing it to life.



About this time last year, Shuukan Shônen Magazine (which carried Ishinomori's original series manga back in 1971) got writer Oda Katsumi & artist Muraeda Kenichi (of Kamen Rider Spirits fame) together to produce a four-part comic version of the story behind the original Kamen Rider story, collected the following April in Kamen Raidaa Tsukutta Otoko-tachi ("The Men Who Made Kamen Rider") (ISBN 978-4063722857, by the way.)

Subtitled as "Behind the Scene of HERO Creators", it details the original conception of the original series in the late 60's/early 70's, and then goes on to tell the story of the other men behind the masks: the stunt guys. And did I mention it's a comic? That really adds to the appeal, as suddenly visualizing the events (in a slightly embellished way) becomes that much easier.

I'll be covering the entire collected comic in chunks, and let me say, it's a pretty thorough documentation. Chances are, it will also prove to be a surprising ride.

Next Time: We go back to the very beginning, and learn about the surprisingly troubled pre-development phase that makes any later Rider series' planning stage (and that *includes* Hibiki's) look like a walk in the park. and there's some awesome art. I mean check this out:



***

Kamen Rider EVE/Gaia/Whatever Collected Volume

Straight from the pages of the now much-maligned Tokusatsu Ace comics magazine, the "complete visual novel" Kamen Rider Eve (or Masked Rider Gaia, depending on which title you trust) is being compiled into it's own little collected volume and is now on sale. No, I don't really get the two-title thing either, but I should probably sit down and read the story again one of these days.

As opposed to a full comic, it's more like a novel with the occassional illustration (done in pseudo-Ishinomori style) and serves as a sequel to the original Kamen Rider comic (as opposed to the TV series continuity.) However, other Riders up to ZX appear, after a fashion. The main hero himself is... well, interesting looking, to say the least. I'll talk more about this odd little story some day.

The Fall & Rise of Comic V3: Part 3 of 3

Once again, understanding and fully appreciating the following will require you to read the previous two entries. They're not that long, and they make this one all the better.

And now, the redemption of Kazami Shirô, also known as Kamen Rider V3. If you read the last entry, you can see that he hasn't had as good a track record in the comics as he has elsewhere. I am about to right this wrong.

I often throw the name Kamen Rider Spirits around expecting everyone to know what it is, although the cold, hard truth is that not everyone does. So here it is in a nutshell:

Spirits is the still-ongoing Rider comic by artist Muraeda Kenichi that has been serialized in the montly comics mag Magazine Z since 2001 or so. It is, in essence, a retelling of the story of Kamen Rider ZX, but greatly expanded upon and modernized slightly, so it's sort of like "if the ZX TV Special happened now", although everyone still looks close to how they would in 1982~1984 (if not younger.)

Among all the Rider manga ever done, it is standout for several reasons: the artwork is amazing, and while some liberties are taken, many of the character designs remain very true to the TV series (as opposed to Ishinomori's manga, like most of the other comics.) Also, the story itself, which is based on the original thang conceived by Ishinomori, Hirayama and crew back in the 80's, and improved upon by Muraeda, is nothing short of phenomenal. Getting into it is a task unto itself, and while some people got together and translated at least the first few chapters a while back, it seems the project is dead in the water, and the site has gone down.

Anyways, another reason Spirits stands head and shoulders above other Rider manga is that it is, well, good. Okay, so there are some other good ones, but as I've said before, they generally range from silly fluff to utterly painful, and the number that are really good could probably be counted on one hand (Ishinomori's original series manga is pretty solid, I like the ZO adaptation and while I need to read more of it, Ishinomori's BLACK manga looks pretty cool.)

Spirits, however, is undeniably awesome, and I shamelessly admit to drawing on it for influence in Kamen Rider Sigma because, hey, wouldn't you? I collect the compilation volumes that come out every so often, and when I was in Japan, I spent the 600 Yen a month to pick up the phonebook-sized Magazine Z just for that alone. Lately I've even gone to getting a subscription since they added the Ultraman Story Zero comic, and I enjoy Ma Akarui Maou Keikaku's cute irreverence, but let's get back to the task at hand.

The part I'm about to mention is in the compilation volume #10. It's not the best V3 moment in Spirits, but it's up there and a nice counter to last night's horrid OCCness. As for the best moment, I'm still trying to decide that one, but the most recent issues have had V3 using nearly every single one of the 26 Secrets to completely kick everyone's asses, and brother, don't even try to tell me that's not awesome.

Explaining the how's and why's of how we get to where we are involve a lot of spoilers, so this is your last chance to bail out if you don't want to know what's happening beyond the stories that have been translated.

...

Still with me? Okay. At the point in the story we're at, virtually every single Rider villain from the original up to Super-1's show has been brought back to life by Badan, which is now waging an all-out attack on Earth. And I mean everybody, from the big boys like Hasami-Jaguar and Kumo-Otoko down to the last guy, including all them Jindogma guys who somehow manage to inspire fear despite being based on untility ladders and umbrellas. Even Frankenlighter, a monster that is quite literally a giant lighter that walks like a man.

ZX has bounced around from bad guy to good guy and back, but by this point seems to be more or less playing on the same team as the other Riders, and their allies. And when I mean allies, I mean the whole nine yards- Tachibana, Taki, Tani... even people like GangGan G & freakin' Sakuma (you know, the not-Taki from Kamen Rider V3) are in on all this. No Junko yet, but I'm not giving up hope. Heck, nearly everyone else from the early Rider lord makes it in, including one character that shocked me silly (namely because I thought I was the only person who noticed that about him- no spoilers on that one, you'll just have to find out for yourselves!)

After fighting alongside Skyrider against Neoshocker (the Taketonbo Shoot sees uses for like the second time ever), and then with Rider 2 against Gelshocker (GREAT Ichimonji moments abound), ZX has somehow wound up alongside V3, who's kinda screwed at the moment. As an aside, while this is going on, X-Rider is about to take on King Dark (yes, King Dark) as well as a revived Tigerroid, who has developed a major rivalry with X-Rider after he blew off the X-man's arm and took him prisoner, allowing Badan to temporarily turn him evil. Don't worry, Amazon came to his buddy's aid, Yuuki fixed his arm, and our main man will be kicking Tigerroid's feline butt soon enough, but back to V3. He was last seen going after Southern Cross (the "body" of Darkness Ambassador, which in Spirits also serves as the enemy's flying fortress... it's hard to explain, just bear with me) and disappearing in a burst of light.

We pick up with Kazami, frozen solid, his Double Typhoon smashed in, and suspended several hundred feet in the air on giant icicle tusk things. Yes, Baron Fang is back and in the house, and he's got his monsters, including Yuki-Ookami closing in on a bunch of random new characters (there are many by this point in the story.) Later in this issue he completely demolishes ZX as Kyuuketsu-Mammoth, but let's not get ahead of ourselves (again.)

Fortunately, Riderman shows up and helps free his old buddy while ZX gets his butt handed to him by Genshi-Tiger, while getting in a few licks of his own. When the aforementioned big snowy wolf tries to put Kazami on ice yet again, he just ends up freezing Dokuro-Inoshishi by accident, before our Rider #4 smashes that guy with the Swing Arm. See, I told you this was awesome.

Kazami, now free, is unable to Henshin (Riderman later fixes him up after this with the hitherto-unseen Operation Arm) but because he's the cool guy Miyauchi made him to be (and not the Junko-slapping angst bucket from the Sugaya comics) he still takes on the revived Destron Kaijin, despite all odds. That's the Kazami/V3 I like to see. They kick each other around a lot, before falling to the snow-covered ground. And then it's smackdown time.

Tachibana, who you should all know (and if you don't, best to go read my site for a while before continuing) shows up, and the next two pages are simply amazing:






Yes my friends, Tachibana just ran over Yuki-Ookami with his trusty old yellow Jeep. The one from Kamen Rider X, Amazon & Stronger. If that isn't kickass, I don't know what is.

But what does this have to do with V3? Quite simply, it sums up an important aspect of the Kamen Riders that often gets overlooked by other comics- the side characters are important. Tachibana & the crew as just as valuable as any Rider Kick or motorcycle, and in Spirits, Kazami appreciates the fact that his friends are coming to his aid. As opposed to, you know, slapping them.

The Fall & Rise of Comic V3: Part 2 of 3

In case you missed the last entry... go back and read that one first, otherwise this is going to be confusing.

Okay, so once we get to the V3 parts of the Sugaya comic, things are a little... odd. For starters, Kazami is actually first introduced during the Shocker Rider storyline, and he saves Hongô's butt only to be repaid by the previously-mentioned yelling-at scene. Following the conclusion of this mess (which involves Ichimonji coming back, and a couple decapitations) the Double Riders easily, and I mean EASILY, defeat Hiru-Chameleon and before you know it, bang- Gelshocker is history and Destron rises in its place. Their first order of business: nuke Tokyo.

Now, if you're familiar with the Kamen Rider V3 TV series, particularly the first two episodes, you know that a big part of the plot is that the heroes are trying to stop Destron from nuking Tokyo. Why it's such an iconic plot, I borrowed was inspired by some elements for Kamen Rider Sigma! But here, they've already managed to do it. And killed Kazami's & Junko's families in the process. So what happens now?

Well, the Double Riders turn Kazami into V3 after the latter gets schooled by Hasami-Jaguar. V3 will later take revenge on the evil cat dude by ripping off his arms. The Double Riders, meanwhile, sacrifice themselves by blowing up along with TV-Bae out over the ocean.

Yeah. TV-Bae.

What about Kame-Bazooka? Well, he gets killed later by V3, who punches him in his mouth and gives him one hell of a headache, if that can be believed. I will fully review these chapters some day, but let's get to the meat of what constitutes the "Fall" of Comic V3.

A couple stories later, we come to the absolute highpoint of OOCness. Destron has kidnapped Junko, Kazami's ally and potential one-sided love interest. As with the show, there's been a lot of funny little "Look! Kazami isn't V3 moments", because Junko keeps thinking they're the same person. I could get into a much bigger discussion about why I think she always knew right from the get-go anyway, but I'll save that for another time. Anyways, as it is right now, she's convinced that V3 is Kazami, and Kazami is V3. Kinda like in episodes #11~12, the highest points of the Kazami/Junko pairing. Got all that?

So Destron has Junko, and Kazami/V3 races off to save her. This eventually leads to a showdown with Doktor G & his goonsquad. Somehow, Junko manages to get away, and we get this cute little panel:



Hehe! Look at V3 sweat.

Ah yes. Junko confesses her love for Kazami/V3, and our hero quakes in his red boots. Again, sorta like on TV, except there, Kazami usually got distacted by something else, like a shiny object, or just ran like hell. In any case, it's Tokusatsu's Cutest Couple That Never Was (can you tell I like the Kazami/Junko pairing yet?)

Apparently, having Junko all over him like that turns our hero's world upside down:



Yeah, I don't know what the hell is going on there either, but what happens next, just threw me for a loop:




Oh, you did not just do that V3...



This bothers me a lot, for two big reasons. One, it's totally out of character for Kazami/V3. Maybe he's afraid of returning Junko's affections because of the whole cyborg thing, but this is a bit much, and TV Kazami would never do something like this. And we're talking about a dude who went toe-to-toe with female Destron assassins, which even Hongô just tried to avoid when the Shocker incarnations showed up.

What's more, he's upset at her because by being kidnapped by Destron, she put herself in a position to be killed and thus leave her little brother Shigeru minus one big sister. Because, you know, it was totally all her fault. Insert a big "WTF" right there.

And the other thing that bugs me? V3, a cyborg, just slapped Junko, a human. By standard Rider Logic™, that should have taken her head clean off her shoulders, and trust me, that's one gory death I can live without, but still... it totally boggles my mind, because if Junko could take a V3 Slap and survive, who's to say she hasn't been a cyborg all along? Now wouldn't that throw Kazami's world for a loop? To add insult to injury, V3 then knocks her out with a punch to the stomach before he Gyaku Double Typhoon's everybody else, aside from Missle-Yamori, who got decapitated by Doktor G for no real reason. Argh...head...hurting...

This is but a small sampling of why, for the most part, Kamen Rider Comics just don't get it right.

But fear not, as next time, Kamen Rider Spirits will redeem V3 by reminding you what a butt-kicking badass Kazami was, is, and should be, as he was on TV. Here, he takes on famous V3 villain Yuki-Ookami. Or rather, Tachibana takes on Yuki-Ookami.

The Fall & Rise of Comic V3: Part 1 of 3

For nearly as long as the Kamen Riders have been on TV, they have been in comics as well. Ishinomori's original series and BLACK manga are both well-known and worth checking out, and Kamen Rider Spirits is pretty much required reading if you ask me. Beyond that, things get a little tricky. The truth is, for all the many Kamen Rider comics over the years, from the monthly serializations of Kamen Rider V3 or Kamen Rider X up to the one-shot/two-shot comics for say, Kamen Rider Ryuki: 13 Riders or Kamen Rider THE FIRST... the number of ones that have actually been any good are few and far between.

Don't get me wrong, there are some other good ones. They're just swamped by many, many more that aren't quite so hot. To get into exactly why they flop is something you have to do on a case-by-case basis. For example, some earlier comics have decent artwork but an utterly incoherent story with much OCCness (Out-Of-Characterness) and some of the new ones do a decent job with the story, but have some cringe-inducing artwork. A couple fall into both categories, or simply have something fundamentally wrong to begin with that undermines the entire comic, no matter how good it may be otherwise. Like, for example, the one where the Riders go into SPAAAAAACE!, which is sadly not half as cool as it sounds and will be elaborated upon some day.

But getting back to the troubles of OCCness for a second. I generally really dislike it when characters act so out-of-character that they no longer are believable as the character they're supposed to be, unless there is a reason. This is true of anything, pretty much: If Hongô suddenly has a drinking problem, you better have a damn good reason to back it up, because the Hongô I know never had any such thing (he does, however, have a problem of having too many old friends who are high-profile scientists that Shocker tends to exploit.)

Now, some would say you can defend OOCness to an extent, because as a fan fic writer or whatever, you're simply putting out your interpretation of the character. So "Your" Hongô isn't Toei's Hongô. As a writer myself, who strives to stay as true to the source material as I can (which is no easy task), I'd argue against that logic, but either way, we're still talking about fan fiction here, not something you're going to be putting out for money or anything.

So what happens when someone does just that: an officially-sanctioned comic that also has such horrible OOCness that you'd think they never watched the actual show? That brings us to Sugaya Mitsuru's "New" Kamen Rider manga. It was recently put out in two jumbo-sized collected volumes, both of which I picked up, Because, as bad as it gets, it is still amusing.

Despite what you may think (and despite what I sorta wish) it has nothing to do with Skyrider. Rather, this is one of the many Rider manga spin-offs that came about when Ishinomori became too busy with the shows themselves to handle doing regular, serialized comic versions as well. He passed the torch over to several other writers, the most prominant of which being Sugaya here. The contents of the book are essentially covering the whole second half of Kamen Rider (Ambassador Hell, Gelshocker, etc.) and the beginning of Kamen Rider V3. Many, many story liberties are taken, and the character designs are on the whole closer to Ishinomori's own comic versions than anything on the show.

Speaking of which, I should point out that Ishinomori's comic deviates from the show in all sorts of ways itself, and Sugaya's comics are basically following in "that" version of the story. To be fair, Ishinomori developed his adaptation after the show had begun, but staying closer to, essentually, "how he would have done it if he had the $$$". So I can't really fault him for writing the characters differently, and by extension, Sugaya writing them so wackily. But at the same time, as some one nearly raised on the original TV Riders, there are certain aspects to the comic versions that just don't seem right, as I'l elaborate later.

Now, as for Sugaya, I have the complete Kamen Rider X manga by him, and prior to getting this I had read a great deal about him in the guide books. So I can say that, with all honesty, he is a pretty normal guy. He just happens to have a very strong tolerance for ultra violence and extreme amounts of gore, something that one can find by the proverbial bucketful in his comics.
Now, Kamen Rider is as far from the most peaceful, non-violent franchise as you can get, but on the whole, stuff like this doesn't usually happen every episode, if at all:

(For the record, that dude is getting impaled on the cross at the top of a church.)

Yeah. And that's pretty tame, considering most Rider Punches and Rider Kicks involving at least one flying eyeball. Ishinomori & Muraeda (Spirits) both knew/know how to put in plenty of blood, decapitations, dismemberment, etc. But Sugaya easily outdoes them both, and pushes it to an almost tiresome extreme. Must every eye be gouged out, every spleen ruptured, every deciding final blow accompanied by an explosion of blood so great that it makes anything in Kamen Rider Amazon look like a paper cut?

Now, it must be understood that this kind of violence happens and nobody really bats an eye. Hongô is not exactly like his TV show counterpart (especially not when he rips off his shirt while yelling at Kazami, to show his scar-covered cyborg body... huh?) but he's not some bloodthirtsy nutcase either. He just happens to do this when killing Kaijin. Like you would.

Similarly, the bodies pile up thanks to the bad guys' actions, and not a single cybernetic surgery scene goes by without some nasty red stuff splashing about. I think, it never quite gets as bad in this volume as the X-Rider manga, where Apollo Geist kills half of Tokyo just to get X-Rider to come out and fight him (although he probably would have done that on TV if they had the time and budget), but still, it gets pretty nasty.

But that's not really why I'm bringing this up. For as wacky as the "New" Kamen Rider comic is, it's a little scene involving our favorite green & red & silver & white Rider, V3, that is the very definition of out-of-character.

Stay Tuned!