My Thoughts On The Reveal Of The Upcoming Fourth Reiwa Rider Series, Kamen Rider Geats

Well, no surprise that Kamen Rider Revice already wrapped up its filming. How it ends, I'll still have to sit back, wait, and maybe I'll give my final review. I decided to wait until the cast reveal. Now, thanks to fellow blogger, Ukiyaseed, I decided to get the information from him in regards to the plot and staff as well as the cast.

Like many Kamen Rider series after its initial reboot, Kamen Rider Kuuga, the trend has been to have multiple Kamen Riders, both good and evil. Well, didn't we also see multiple Kamen Riders from older shows like The First Kamen Rider and Kamen Rider V3? Once again, I think I'm going to be more excited to see this show since most of the Showa-era Kamen Rider series are practically boring IMHO. Anyway, let's get down to topic, shall we?

I. My thoughts on the plot and staff

Here's the plot in detail and I'll give my thoughts on it:

In the series, we meet a mysterious young man named Ace Ukiyo, he is a confident genius who says, "In the end, victory will be mine...!" throws himself into a mysterious survival game known as Desire Grand Prix, in which they fight the deadly Jamato! Participants transform into Kamen Riders, and the aim is to survive and accumulate points by defeating enemies and saving lives. The victor of the Desire Grand Prix wins the right to realize the world they desire! Similar to Kamen Rider Ryuki, more Kamen Riders will appear in this series, each with their own unique designs and skills. Their identities and motifs will be revealed in a later date. 

The series will be produced by TV-Asahi's Chihiro Inoue and Toei's Naomi Takebe (Kamen Rider OOO, Kamen Rider Gaim), and it will be written by Yuya Takahashi (Kamen Rider Ex-Aid, Kamen Rider Zero-One). Serving as action director is suit actor Satoshi Fujita, with Shojiro Nakazawa (Kamen Rider Wizard, Kamen Rider Ex-Aid) and Teruaki Sugihara (Kamen Rider Zero-One) serving as the show's main directors. Lastly, it was also revealed that singer Koda Kumi and Shonan no Kaze will perform the show's theme song, with Toshihiko Sahashi composing the show's music.

Kamen Rider Geats is set to premiere this September 4th only on TV-Asahi's Super Hero Time block, replacing Kamen Rider Revice.

Thie plot is somewhat fitting since 2022 is the 10th anniversary of the first Kamen Rider battle royale - Kamen Rider Ryuki. I still remember how I wrote about Ryuki's broken potential. Ryuki had a great concept but just terrible execution. It's among of those shows that needed a cool villain to bail it out. Takeshi Asakura aka Kamen Rider Ouja truly is one terrifying foe that became popular among fans. I think Ryuki's concept was eventually smoothened up in Kamen Rider Gaim. The power of that One Wish was from both Ryuki and Gaim. 

I was thinking about the possible expectations. Granted, I still think Naomi Takebe is this - she handles Kamen Rider well but ugh she usually falls flat with Super Sentai. I still think Shuriken Sentai Ninninger is her worst job as a producer. Meanwhile, there's Kamen Rider Kiva and Kamen Rider OOO which are in my list of favorites. I don't think I'll mind Takebe taking another round with Kamen Rider. I hope Takebe would manage this new task. 

I just wonder how Yuya Takahashi will handle things,. Granted, I did enjoy Kamen Rider EX-AID but not much on Kamen Rider Zero-One. I still think Zero-One as a reboot had weird plots. For one, I always felt it that something was going on between Gai Amatsu and Yua Yaiba in-series. Why in the world did Yua hang around Gai for that long only to PUNCH HIM LATER? Did Gai molest Yua or did Gai decide to hold Yua like his property? That just felt inappropriate or fed whatever malice is in my mind. I still think Zero-One was an entertaining start as the first Reiwa Kamen Rider entry. 

I don't want to comment too much on the directors. Though, having one of them being involved with Kamen Rider Wizard (which I think just was a bad series) gets me skeptical. Hopefully, there'll be some good action scenes even if Tokusatsu these days can't be as violent as they were during the 1990s. I guess it's more of Toei Ltd. vs. Japanese censorship. Righ tnow, I even expect that the show will be much less violent than Ryuki. Gaim was less violent than Ryuki but it's been a much better show thanks to Gen Urobuchi' as the main writer. 

II. The main cast of characters 

Right now, I'm looking at the cast and what I can expect from them.

Kan Hideyoshi as Ace Ukiyo/Kamen Rider Geats

The main character is described in the plot as follows: 

In the series, we meet a mysterious young man named Eisu Ukiyo, he is a confident genius who says, "In the end, victory will be mine...!" throws himself into a mysterious survival game known as Desire Grand Prix, in which they fight the deadly Jamato! Participants transform into Kamen Riders, and the aim is to survive and accumulate points by defeating enemies and saving lives. The victor of the Desire Grand Prix wins the right to realize the world they desire! Similar to Kamen Rider Ryuki, more Kamen Riders will appear in this series, each with their own unique designs and skills. Their identities and motifs will be revealed in a later date. 

Ryuga Sato as Keiwa Sakurai/Kamen Rider Tycoon

The latest description is as follows:

He is a man currently looking for a job and lives with his sister. He likes tanuki soba and has an honest and straightforward personality. 

Yuna Hoshino as Neon Kurama/Kamen Rider Naaga

The latest description is as follows:

An influencer with 2 million followers and is a daughter from a rich family. Even if that is a case, she wants to live an ordinary life and has a strange dream of running away from her family.

I don't know how this will work. Granted, some female Kamen Riders were made. I think I still want to consider Human Wave Tackle as either a prototype or even the first female Kamen Rider. We had Miho Kirishima (Kamen Rider Femme) in the Ryuki alternate ending (sadly she DIED). Though, there were later ones given such as Yua as Kamen Rider Valkryie and the recent Sakura Igarashi as Kamen Rider Jeanne as of recent. 

So, she's the runaway heiress? I'm reminded of how both Kaori Rokumeikan from Chojin Sentai Jetman and Sakura Nishihori from Gougou Sentai Boukenger left their respective families as heiresses. 

Kazuto Mokudai as Azuma Michinaga/Kamen Rider Buffa, 

The latest description is as follows:

...is blunt and a lone wolf, and even though he seem prickly, he is a passionate man and a strong part of him cares for his friends. He sees Ace Ukiyo/Kamen Rider Geats as his rival.

I think this might be similar to Chase in Kamen Rider Drive. Though, it might be rivalry in a wrong way, right? Just thinking about the lone wolf aspect makes me think of Bass (Forte in Japan) from the Megaman (Rockman in Japan) series. Bass is an anti-villain and anti-hero of the Classic Megaman series. I wonder if Buffa will be a good guy or a bad guy or both.

Meanwhile we see these characters involved in the Desire Grand Prix game:

Kokoro Aoshima (Zero: Dragon Blood) as Tsurumi, the navigator of the Desire Grand Prix. She explains the rules of the game, how to progress, and announces the results to the participants.

Shugo Oshinari (Battle Royale II: Requiem) as Girori, the concierge of the Desire Grand Prix. He also supports the participants at the salon that also serves as the neutral zone.

So far, nothing is known yet about the Jamato. I might need to sit back and do whatever I have to do in real life. So far, I'm glad that the release finally came out after some time of waiting.