"Kamen Rider Ryûki" (2002) TV series 2002-2003

Directors:

Ryuta Tazaki
Hidenori Ishida

Writers:

Toshiki Inoue (co-writer)
Shotaro Ishinomori (character)

Release Date:

3 February 2002 (Japan)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

If you don't fight, you can't survive!

Plot:

The new Kamen Rider Series for 2002. The story of 2 chosen "Kamen Riders" who must fight in order to survive. But what is the point of being a Rider? "Fight! Defeat the Riders! Of the fated 13, only 1 will Survive."

Plot Keywords:

Kamen Rider | Kamen Rider Ryuki | Masked Rider | Masked Rider Ryuuki | Masked Rider Ryuki

Cast

Takamasa Suga	...	Shinji Kidou / Kamen Rider Ryuuki / Kamen Rider Ryuuga
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Takashi Hagino	...	Takeshi Asakura / Kamen Rider Ouja
Satoshi Ichijou	...	Jun Shibaura / Kamen Rider Gai
Kenzaburou Kikuchi	...	Shirou Kanzaki
Takeshi Kimura	...	Masashi Sudou / Kamen Rider Scissors
Mao Kobayashi		(as Tomomi Kobayashi)
Hitomi Kurihara	...	Nanako Shimada
Arthur Kuroda	...	Itsurou Takamizawa / Kamen Rider Verde
Satoshi Matsuda	...	Ren Akiyama / Kamen Rider Knight
Chisato Morishita	...	Megumi
Ryouhei	...	Shuuichi Kitaoka / Kamen Rider Zolda
Ayano Sugiyama	...	Yui Kanzaki
Hassei Takano	...	Miyuki Tezuka / Kamen Rider Raia
Hyuuga Takashi	...	Mitsuru Sano / Kamen Rider Impeller
Jun Takatsuki	...	Satoru Toujou / Kamen Rider Tiger
Kanji Tsuda	...	Daisuke Ookubo
Kazue Tsunogae	...	Sanako Kanzaki
Tomohisa Yuge	...	Gorou Yura

Also Known As:

Masked Rider Dragon Knight (literal English title)

Runtime:

Japan:25 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Certification:

Malaysia:U | South Korea:All

Movie Connections:

Remade as "Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight" (2008)

Soundtrack:

Alive a Life

The Best Rider Series to Date (After Black)

Note, that this review may contain a few spoilers so I suggest you don't read this if you haven't seen the series. Back to the point, Ryuuki is perhaps the Best Rider series I have seen after Kamen Rider Black. Though I was not too keen to watch the series at first, I eventually decided on watching it.

And to put it simply, I was not disappointed. The Special Effects were excellent, but they still limited it. The humor wasn't as great but still enjoyable. And, one of the main reasons I enjoyed this series, was because of the lesson it gave. The lesson that no matter what, no matter how powerful, the Kamen Riders are still humans and nothing can change that.

It came as a surprise to see Shinji die at the end of the series, for he wasn't only a Rider BUT he was also the Main Character too! Hell, from what I heard, many people were ranting on that Shinji would be the final rider, no question about it. But, they were proved wrong when Shinji sacrificed himself to protect a girl.

Also, another thing which is "human" about the Riders is that not all of them are good. Humans have simple dreams, which often evolve into greater and at times, more destructive dreams. And given the opportunity, humans would do anything they can to make those dreams realized. Some are noble, some aren't, but that is only their decision. That's what happened to the Riders. When Shiro Kanzaki came to give 13 individuals the Card Decks, these people were willing to kill their fellow men to make their dreams realized.

Overall, Ryuuki is an excellent series and in my opinion it deserves a 10/10. Nothing lower!