Kamen Raidâ Burakku - Kamen Rider Black

Kamen Rider Black ran October 4, 1987 - October 9, 1988 (51 episodes)

Head writer: Uehara, Shouzou

Character Actor

Minami, Kotaro Kurata, Tetsuo

Kamen Rider Black Okamoto, Jiro

Kamen Rider Black (motorcycle stunts) Kumasawa, Tushiaki

Akizuki, Nobuhiko Horiuchi, Takahito

Akizuki, Kyoko Inoue, Akemi

Kida, Katsumi Taguchi, Ayumi

Creation King (voice) Watanabe, Takeshi

Daraomu Shoji, Hirokazu

Daraomu (voice) Îzuka, Shôzô

Baraomu Takahashi, Toshimichi

Bishumu Mei, Hitomi

Birugenia Yoshida, Toru

Dr. Kuromatsu Kurobe, Susumu

Shadowmoon [episodes 35-51] Tokio, Iwata

Shadowmoon (voice)) Jisen, Masanori

Narrator [episodes 1-39] Kobayashi, Kiyoshi

Narrator [episodes 40-51] Masamune, Kazumasa

After the Kamen Rider ZX tv special there was a period of 3 years without a Kamen Rider on tv. The previous series (Kamen Rider Super 1) had ended 6 years before. On September 27, 1987, a week before the actual series began, a TV documentary, "This Is Kamen Rider Black" introduced the character.

Minami, Kotaro Akizuki, Nobuhiko

Minami, Kotaro (Kurata, Tetsuo) and Akizuki, Nobuhiko (Takahito, Horiuchi) were born on the same day, the day of a solar eclipse. Three years later Kotaro's parents are murdered by the cult Gorgom. The Akizuki family takes him in and raise him like a brother to Nobuhiko. On their 19th birthday both young men are abducted by Gorgom and changed into cyborgs. The Gorgom priests refer to Kotaro as the "Black Sun" and Nobuhiko as "Shadow Moon". (Apparently Takahito, Horiuchi was unhappy about being cast as the villain, he wanted to be the hero, and as a result the story was affected as there was less of Nobuhiko than origianlly planned on).

Gorgom lab

Minami, Kotaro escapes from Gorgom, with the help of his "father", and once he discovers his powers takes the name "Kamen Rider Black". The Kamen Rider Black costume was actually worn by stunt man/actor Okamoto, Jiro.

Minami, Kotaro Kyoko and Kazumi

Minami, Kotaro promises Akizuki, Nobuhiko's sister, Kyoko, and girlfriend, Kazumi, that he will rescue Nobuhiko from Gorgom. Kotaro does not tell them that he is Kamen Rider Black (at least not right away).

Kamen Rider Black's combat techniques are "Rider Chop", "Rider Punch" and "Rider Kick". He can also fire a burst of energy from his belt called "King Stone Flash". His other powers include "Complex Eyes", eyes glow red and allow him to see in the dark. "'Power Stipes", yellow-red-yellow bands on his neck, wrists and ankles glow as energy is projeted to repel webs and other sticky fluids used against him by the Gorgom monsters. "Super Ear", triangular structures on both sides of his head will glow purple, allows him to hear sounds, such as cries for help, from far away. Used in episodes 11 and 33. "Rider Sensors", his antennas detect monsters moving at speeds too fast to be seen, used only in episodes 18 and 19.

Road Sector, Kamen Rider Black and Battle Hopper

Minami, Kotaro rode an ordinary non-transforming motorcycle. Kamen Rider Black had two motorcycles, Battle Hopper and Road Sector, both would come when he called for them, otherwise they were kept in a garage. Battle Hopper could talk and repair itself when damaged.

Road Sector

Road Sector had a shield Kamen Rider Black would raise when he wanted to ram a mutant or crash through a wall.

mutants

In two episodes Minami, Kotaro encounters "children" who escaped from Gorgom. Gorgom caused these children to stop aging. They appear to be 13 years old, but in fact they are 23.

Episode 40 featured Ishibashi, Masashi who played Iron Claw in J.A.K.Q. Dengeki Tai (1977) and Commander Hedder in Battle Fever J (1979). Episode 43 featured Ueda, Shun who was Hattori, Hanpei in Jinzo Ningen Kikaida (1972).

Kamen Rider Black Episodes

Kamen Rider Black Songs

The Ratings

Kamen Rider Black was the third sequel not to have any previous Kamen Riders in it.

Other appearances of Kamen Rider Black

MOVIES

Kamen Rider Black: Hurry To Evil Island (March 12, 1988) - between episodes 22 & 23
Kamen Rider Black: Fear! Evil Monster Mansion (July 9, 1988) - between episodes 38 & 39
Kamen Rider: Stay In The World (April 29, 1989)

The first Kamen Rider Black movie features Birugenia, the second Shadow Moon.

Kamen Rider Black blu-ray

Kamen Rider Black released on blu-ray in the US by Discotek Media on February 28, 2023
(provided a month earlier to Right Stuff Anime so I had it January 28, 2023)