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Kamen Rider V3

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Kamen Rider V3 ([仮面ライダーV3 Masked Rider V3] Error: {{nihongo}}: text has italic markup (help)) is a Japanese tokusatsu televison series. It is the second intallment in the popular Kamen Rider franchise, and the direct sequel to the original Kamen Rider. It was a joint collaboration between Ishimori Productions and Toei, and was shown on TV Asahi from February 17, 1973 to February 9, 1974, with a total of 52 episodes. This is also the only Kamen Rider show that's officially available on DVD in the west with English subtitles through JN Productions.

Plot

Template:Spoiler Shiro Kazami witnesses the murder of a man by Destron. This makes him a target for Destron. Shiro rescues a young woman named Junko Tama who is also a target for Destron, because she had stumbled on the location of Destron's base. When she faints, he takes her to his family's home.

A Destron mutant breaks into the Kazami home and stabs Shiro's father, mother and sister to death. Shiro comes home in time to see his family murdered and is attacked. He is saved when his chemistry teacher, Takeshi Hongo, arrives and transforms into Kamen Rider 1. Kamen Rider 2 also arrives in the place. Looking for revenge, Shiro asks the Riders to make him into a cyborg, just like them. The Kamen Riders refuse.

The two Riders enter Destron's base but are trapped, with a laser pointed to them. Shiro also finds the location of the base and saves the Riders, but is fatally wounded by the laser. To save his life, the Riders have no choice but to change him into a cyborg. The Riders leave Shiro on the operating table to fight the mutant Bazooka Turtle who is firing on their location. During the battle a new Rider appears, Kamen Rider V3.

Kamen Riders 1 and 2 appear to be killed in a kamikaze explosion caused by Bazooka Turtle, but they return alive in episode 33.

In the early episodes, the forces of Destron are led directly by the Destron leader, who appears only as an unseen voice coming from a scorpion figure. In these episodes, V3 must learn to use his abilities; his inexperience and lack of knowledge about his own abilities is a key story element. Destron monsters are all cyborgs, named after a man-made item and an animal, such as Television Fly.

Soon, Doctor G is introduced as Destron's new general. The series does not change significantly, though the conflict between Shiro Kazami and Destron now turns into a more personal conflict beween Kazami and Doctor G. After many of his plans are stopped by Kamen Rider V3, Doctor G is forced to fight V3 directly, in order to redeem himself in not only in the eyes of Destron's leader, but his own as well. He fights V3 in the form of Crab Laser and, despite putting up a heroic fight, is destroyed.

After Doctor G is killed, a new Destron general, Baron Fang, appears. He is a sorcerer, whose power comes from black magic. Baron Fang awakens various members of his family, the Fang clan, to fight V3. The monsters of the Fang clan are all based on animals which are known for having tusks or large teeth, such as Skull Warthog and Smilodon. The tone of the show is somewhat darker, involving story elements such as ritual sacrifice. When Baron Fang is in charge, the Destron headquarters is decorated with shields, painted in an African style. The Destron soldiers are armed with tusk-tipped spears and beat jungle drums. In the end, after all of his clan have been destroyed, Baron Fang is forced to fight Kamen Rider V3 directly. V3 fights Baron Fang, who appears in his true form, Bloodthirsty Mammoth.

After the destruction of Baron Fang, a new Destron general appears: Archbishop Wing, the leader of the Winged Corps. His monsters are all mutated versions of winged creatures (including one plant with large, wing-like leaves). Most of his monsters can fly, which causes great difficulties for V3, though he defeats him relatively quickly, His time ends when V3 destroys Deadman Bat, the true form of Archbishop Wing.

After Kamen Rider V3 destroys Archbishop Wing, Destron sends in a new general, Marshal Armor (or The Armored General). His monsters are based on armored animals and animals which are known for having tough skin. This begins the final story arc.

Joji Yuki is a Destron scientist, who is betrayed by Marshal Armor, and sentenced to death. He escapes, but not before his arm is destroyed. He replaces his lost arm with a mechanical arm, which gives him special abilities. He takes on the identity of Riderman. He vows vengeance on Marshal Armor, but is loyal to Destron leader, who he thinks is a good man. Eventually, V3 convinces Yuki that Destron is an evil organization, and Riderman fights Destron alongside Kamen Rider V3.

The series comes to a close when Crawganna, a cyborg based on a crayfish, appears. His plan is to use a missile to destroy Tokyo. Riderman is killed when he takes control of the missile and destroys it in mid-air. V3 renames him Kamen Rider #4.

V3 continues to fight Crawganna, and eventually defeats him. Crawganna turns out to be the true form of Marshal Armor, who flees into a Destron base. He runs to the carved scorpion which used by Destron Leader to communicate. He begs Deston Leader to save him, but Destron Leader kills him instead. V3 follows Marshal Armor. V3 breaks the carved scorpion and finds the hiding plase of Destron Leader, who is revealed as a moving skeleton which contains a living heart. He claims to be the God of Death. V3 kills the skeleton by destroying its heart.

With Destron destroyed, the world is safe. Shiro Kazami, his mission now complete, is seen riding his motorcycle, alone. Tachibana and Junko do not know where he is, but Tachibana assures Junko that Shiro will return whenever he is needed.

Main characters

Shiro Kazami and allies

  • Shiro Kazami/Kamen Rider V3 ("V3" or "Rider V3", for short) is a cyborg, who fights Destron. When Shiro Kazami encounters a Destron monster, he performs a henshin V3, and transforms into Kamen Rider V3. V3 has 26 special powers that he uses to fight Destron; he does not know what all of his special powers are. Among his powers are Bulletproof Muscles, the V3 Hopper (that allows him to track enemies) and the V3 Thunder, one of his most powerful weapons. Over the course of the series, only a fraction of his powers are revealed. Others, including the V3 Thunder, were revealed in stage shows, manga and data books.His motorcycle is named "Hurricane"; it also has special powers.
  • Tobei Tachibana is Shiro's mentor and advisor. This character appeared in the original Kamen Rider series and also appeared in later Kamen Rider series.
  • Junko Tama is a young woman who has a crush on Shiro. Shiro is aware of her crush, but refuses to let her get close to him, to protect her, because he lives such a dangerous life. Despite this, she assists Shiro, often watching the communications station, and eventually becomes a close friend to Shiro. She often enters into dangerous situations, requiring V3 to rescue her.
  • Shigeru Tama is Junko's kid brother and a member of the Shonen Rider Scouts. He sometimes acts as Shiro's liaison with the Shonen Rider Scouts.
  • Joji Yuki/Riderman is a scientist who is betrayed by Marshal Armor. His arm is destroyed and replaced by a special mechanical arm, which gives him special powers. Initially, he distrusts V3, but eventually becomes an ally. He is named "Kamen Rider #4" by V3, after sacrificing his life to protect Tokyo from destruction. (Kamen Rider #4 appears in some of the sequels. How he survived is not explained in the TV show, but it is explained in detail in the Kamen Rider Spirits manga)
  • The Shonen Rider Scouts are young boys who assist Kamen Rider V3. They have members throughout Japan. They wear medallions which are shaped like the head of Kamen Rider V3. The medallions contain radios which allows them to report suspicious activity to Kamen Rider headquarters.
  • Ken Sakuma is a Destron Hunter, from Interpol, who helps V3 for a few episodes. He is Destron Hunter no. 5, and is the last surviving Destron hunter.

Destron

  • Destron Leader: (Except for the last few episodes, he was not seen. Only his voice was heard.) In the earliest episodes he led directly; later he let one of his generals lead for him. His cyborgs are patterned after a combination of a manmade object and an animal (such as camera fly or bazooka turtle). In the last few episodes, he appeared in person for brief periods of time, but he wore a robe with a hood which hid all of his features. In the final episode he is revealed as a living skeleton with a living heart, and called himself The God of Death. (Later Kamen Rider series change this.)
  • Doctor G: Destron's first general in charge of Japan. Most of his monsters are cyborgs, of the same type as Destron Leader's cyborgs.
  • Baron Fang (or Baron Tusk): The successor to Doctor G and the leader of the Fang clan. His powers are magical in origin. His monsters are mutated forms of wild animals.
  • Archbishop Wing: The successor to Baron Tusk and leader of the Winged Corps. His monsters are all mutated versions of flying creatures.
  • Marshal Armor (or The Armored General): Destron's final general in charge of Japan. Most of his monsters are mutated versions of armored creatures.
  • Destron soldiers: Destron has an apparently limitless supply of soldiers. They wear identical black, masked uniforms with a white scorpion design. They serve whoever is in charge.
  • Destron scientists: Scientists who are loyal to Destron. They appear similar to Destron soldiers, but their masks and uniforms are white, with red print, instead of black with white print. They wear white lab coats over their uniforms. They are rarely found outside of a Destron base.
  • Destron Leader's bodyguards: The bodyguards look like normal Destron soldiers, but they wear a brown military uniform over their Destron uniform.

Special guest stars

  • Kamen Rider 1/Takeshi Hongo from Kamen Rider
  • Kamen Rider 2/Hayato Ichimonji from Kamen Rider
  • Colonel Zol from Kamen Rider
  • Dr. Death from Kamen Rider
  • Ambassador Hell from Kamen Rider
  • Black Shogun from Kamen Rider

Cast

  • Shiro Kazami/Voice of Kamen Rider V3: Hiroshi Miyauchi.
  • Tobei Tachibana: Akiji Kobayashi.
  • Junko Tama: Hizuru Ono.
  • Shigeru Tama: Hideki Kawaguchi.
  • Joji Yuki/Riderman: Akira Yamaguchi.
  • Voice of Destron Leader: Goro Naya.
  • Doctor G: Jotaro Senba.
  • Baron Fang: Eiji Go.
  • Archbishop Wing: Fujino Sachio.
  • Marshal Armor: Fumiya Nakamura.
  • Ken Sakuma: Ken Kawashima.

See also

Trivia

Movies

  • 1973: Kamen Rider V3: Movie version for episode 2.
  • 1973: Kamen Rider V3 Vs Destron Monsters
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