This year, an icon of Japanese superheroism turns 50: the masked hero of justice, Kamen Rider, debuted for the first time in 1971. But The Kamen Rider franchise it’s not just celebrating its original iteration in 2021 – and it’s not just celebrating in Japan.
At the beginning of last year, Toei did the welcome, unprecedented step to start broadcasting some of their classic Tokusatsu series on YouTube for free, featuring subtitled versions of icons like Super Sentai, Juspionand Sheriff of Space Gavan for international hearings, in some cases for the first time in an official capacity.
A lot of Kamen Rider was visibly absent, but perhaps for good reason: around the same time, Toei partnered with Shout Factory to officially bring the original Kamen Rider for a new linear streaming channel in the United States, making the program’s first arrival in the country (well, outside of Westernized adaptations like Saban’s Masked knight and Kamen Rider Dragon Knight, That is).
But now, that is about to change. To celebrate the new year and Kamen Rider50th anniversary of, Toei announced that your Tokusatsu World Official YouTube account will start releasing regular English subtitled episodes from this month. The samples, which will be available internationally in an unconfirmed number of countries, will come not only from the original show, but from five decades of Kamen Rider story.
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No schedule has been officially confirmed yet, but Toei is planning weekly releases “Every Saturday and / or Sunday.” He also hopes to have 1-2 episodes of each Kamen Rider series available on the platform throughout the year – from the beginning of Shōwa, to its 21st century Heisei rebirth and boom, to modern iterations, including 2019 Kamen Rider Zero-One (there’s no word on whether we’ll get anything from the show’s iteration currently on air, the second from the Reiwa era, Kamen Rider Saber)
It’s a big step forward for Kamen Rideraccessibility of the company outside its country of origin. Last year has already marked a major step for the franchise with its major US premieres of both classics and most recent Kamen Rider offers through the Shout Factory, but this momentum brings Kamen Rider, one of Toei’s most prominent and successful Tokustatsu series, for an even larger audience, which has so far had to fuel its support for the franchise through legally dubious paths like fansubs. This is a big leap forward to see more official releases from Kamen Rider around the world, and a way for people to experience one of Japan’s most iconic superhero series.
Launch of Toei Tokusatsu World Official Kamen Rider the episodes will begin on January 16.
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