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Kamen Rider 45th Anniversary File: Kiva

2008

Power Rangers Jungle Fury airs on Jetix and ABC Kids. Due to the writers strike of ‘08-’09, the series was rushed in certain periods of production and had problems behind the scenes.

Ishimori Productions celebrates what would have been Shotaro Ishinomori’s 70th birthday with special museum exhibits, merchandise and events throughout the year.

Kamen Rider returns to multi-series crossovers as Kamen Rider Den-O and Kiva: Climax Deka arrives in theaters.

SAVE THE LIFE! Tomica Hero: Rescue Force, another tokusatsu show made by Takara Tomy, airs. The show features Dairanger actor Keiichi Wada as a villain of the first story arc and Hiroaki Iwanaga aka the future Kamen Rider Birth as Captain Ishiguro/ R5!

Checkered Flag! Engine Sentai Go-Onger premieres on TV. This 32nd Sentai series was environmental and vehicle focused and had sentient vehicles that became the Zords, shrunk to become travel sized or had their “Engine Souls” placed in the transformation trinkets to talk to their partners.

Yes! Pretty Cure 5 concludes and its direct sequel Yes! Pretty Cure 5 GoGo! takes its spot on Sunday morning alongside Kiva and Go-Onger.

Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle: Never Ending Odyssey, a sequel to Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle, airs on Japanese Cable TV.

Superior Ultraman 8 Brothers premieres in theaters and is the most commercially successful Ultraman movie in franchise history. Sadly, this film was also the final bow of Ultraman showrunner Takeshi Yagi, as he retired from the franchise to do freelance work. Yagi worked as a director on Ultraman from the 1990s all the way until Mebius and Ultraseven X.

When asked what part of his drive for things like Kamen Rider was long ago, Shotaro Ishinomori said it was to tell “a kind of horror story” for children that everyone could appreciate. Using bits of darker elements and making frightful imagery appear without going overboard (the best horror uses subtlety and the timing of when and where to make the audience scream.)

With the “a kind of Horror” quote in mind, the next Rider was appropriately horror themed. As for motif...who better to choose than some of the classics?

Kiva’s main 4 forms are loosely based on four of the Universal Movie Monsters: Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, The Wolf Man and the Creature from the Black Lagoon! Kiva’s helmet also plays up the Halloween aspect, as according to a Net Movie and several Kamen Rider data file publications, Kiva’s helmet is based on a Jack ‘o Lantern.

Though Kiva is more drama with tragic romance than horror, but its the thought of the motif that counts.

The show also seemingly borrows elements from another famous vampire franchise in terms of music, one whose sorrowful violins make fans cry Bloody Tears. This series utilizes violin orchestral music in conjunction with rock music.

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Another factor of music was the idea of creating an exclusive band for the show’s themes, Tetra-Fang! Terta-Fang was a limited rock group created by Avex specifically for the show with the main Rider actor himself Koji Seto as its lead singer. Tetra-Fang went on tour, sold multiple albums and did a Christmas concert before dissolving after the show ended.

In fact, Music is a recurring element of the series, from the violin that detects evil, the title cards referencing something related to music to some of Kivat’s history lessons on art before the show starts. This is a true symphony of the night.

Another interesting element of this show is it takes place in 2 different time periods. The events of each timeline line up to form the pieces of the puzzle of the show’s story and uncover the mysteries of the present day.

However, Toei also was still riding high on the popularity of Den-O and thus some of that show’s elements carried over into Kiva: a time travel plot at one point, monsters that altered the hero’s personality and changed his stats and a timid hero as the lead.

A minor complaint about this series is what is known as “Final Form Spamming”, as after Kiva unlocks Emperor form, it becomes the only form he uses and the rest are relegated to bit parts or not showing up at all. The behind the scenes reason is more understanding, as the Kiva suit was made with chromed metal parts as well as multiple layers that made the costume heavy. This is nothing new as the original Godzilla suit from the 1950s weighed 220 lbs and Haruo Nakajima suffered through it for the sake of art (almost killing himself in some cases), but most modern toku productions make a sincere effort to treat their suit actors with respect and ensure their safety and well being.

The Kiva suit strained Seiji Takaiwa’s body and limited his movement making it difficult for him to shoot scenes. So when it came time to create the Emperor form costume, PLEX and Rainbow Zoukei sculpted it so the suit would look incredibly detailed, but light in weight so Seiji could move freely in it. This resulted in Seji being able to do cool action scenes using his full range of motion that the other 4 suits could not achieve.

Another new thing taking the franchise by storm was the detailed and beloved collectible S.H. Figuarts, which served as a successor for the Shouchaku Henshin series toys.

S.H Figuarts got its start with shōnen action shows such as Kamen Rider, but later expanded into the collectible juggernaut monster we know it as today, covering everything from Dragonball Z to Marvel and DC Comics to the WWE.

So now its time to talk of the King of Vampires! Tension Fortissimo!

Real Name: Wataru Kurenai, prince heir and eventually, King of the Fangire Race and a representative of the Heisei Riders. (Circa The Rider War, 2009)

Wataru Kurenai was born in 1986, his father Otoya was a famed violinist/violin maker and his mother was part of a race of monsters called Fangire. Fangires are one of the 13 Demon Races whom like the legends of Vampires they seemingly inspired, feed on the lifeforce of humans.

Since they pose a threat to humans, an organization called The Wonderful Blue Sky had created tech and devices to kill them, with Wataru’s father self-volunteering to aid them. But Otoya fell in love with the Queen of their race Maya and she in turn fell in love with him. Such love was forbidden by the hierarchy of the Fangires and thus she was stripped of her monster powers and title, being cast into exile. Otoya died fighting the Fangire’s King and a few years later afterward, Maya realized being near her son would put him in danger and left him alone with her servant Kivat-bat the Third.

Jump ahead to the year 2008 and Wataru is now a young man who shares his father’s love of music and works as a violin maker/repairman, though he does not get much business. He is an introvert shut-in whose eccentricities, silence around people and bizarre violin varnish experiments scare his neighbors who all call him “Ghost Boy”.

But when one of his father’s violins called the Bloody Rose sounds an alarm to “Fight” a Fangire that is attacking, he becomes a vampire superhero known as Kiva with the help of Kivat and a trio of Monsters who reside in a castle built around a dragon to save the day!

As Wataru learns to trust people more, he grows as a person to the point when we see him again in Decade, he is no longer a shy scared young man and is now an outgoing, confident and serious hero. But even then, he still keeps his gentle and caring personality as he will go out of his way to protect humans.

The story of the series flips back and forth between 1986 (coincidentally, the year before Black would become active) and 2008 to reveal mysteries or thread the plots together.

Powers and Abilities :

Super Vision, Super Fangire Strength, Super jumping power, the ability to create the darkness of night even when it is daytime. Marksmanship, Water manipulation/rain generation and the ability to skate on water in Basshaa form. Enhanced durability and electricity manipulation in Dogga form. Greater super strength in Dogga form and Emperor Form. Feral Senses and sonic blasts in Garulu form. Swordsmanship skill with the Zanvat Sword and Garulu Saber. Possible Telekinesis.

Able to transform into a giant vampire bat dragon. Let me repeat that...A Vampire..Bat.. Dragon. Said vampire bat dragon form has razor sharp claws and the ability to shoot fireballs. His skills as a combatant were weak and clumsy at first but grew drastically over time to the point where he can take on a group of really powerful monsters with little effort and wield the Zanvat Sword even in Kiva form.

His Rider Kick in Emperor form is one of the strongest, as it exerts over 150 tons of force! Also in term of Rider Kicking milestones...he once kicked the Moon!

It’s a beautiful full Kiva out tonight....

In Decade, he could walk upside down on surfaces such as another building that was upside down in the sky. He also demonstrated the ability to control Dimension Walls, or at the very least summon them when needed (that part was never explained). He also can project illusion images such as a view of the multiverse. He also combined his power with the power of his fellow Riders to try to freeze the Earth in place to prevent its destruction until Decade could save reality from total annihilation.

Weaknesses:

Wataru at first has social anxiety and low self-esteem, but this is now gone thanks to support from his friends and family. His greatest weakness is his heritage, as his Fangire half-blood can be “awakened” by an outside force to negate his human instincts and mentality. This makes the Fangire bloodlust inside of him go crazy and he attacks friends and foes alike due to a primal desire to feed. Fortunately, this only happened once and he seems to be in control of himself now as he wants to live as a human.

His other weakness is the DoGaBaKi form, as its fused power is so overwhelming it could kill Wataru if it is not disengaged after 5 minutes. Another weakness is that Wataru can be possessed by an Imagin, as seen in the Den-O and Kiva Movie, or by ghosts.

Yet another is Kivat being his power source, as having a belt powered by a living being is a possible detriment. Kivat once got sick with a cold and Kiva in his base form could not fight at full power due to the bat’s constant sneezing. Kivat could also possibly be captured to prevent Wataru from transforming. Kivat also mentions that if Kiva is defeated, Castle Doran will lose all its power.

Kiva also seems to be unable to swim in his base form due to how heavy his armor is. During his battle with Ixa, he fell into the river and didn’t come up for air, nearly drowning. But that could also just be the Toshiki Inoue trope of Kamen Riders constantly falling in water.

Gear:

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Bloody_Rose

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Kivat-bat_the_3rd

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Kivat_Belt

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Fuestle

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Machine_Kivaa

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Castle_Doran

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Ramon

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Jiro

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Riki_(Kiva)

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Demon_Imperial_Dragon_Tatsulot

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Demon_Imperial_Sword_Zanvat_Sword

Signature Finishers:

Darkness Moon Break: Kiva’s primary Rider Kick. Kiva uses the Wake Up Fuestle which causes the sky to darken and the moon to come out. Kivat flies to unlock the chains on his left boot which reveal a red bat wing-like appendage. Kiva then leaps into the air and crashes into the target. The kick has an impact of 30,000 kg. (roughly 66,138 pounds of force), enough to leave a crater in the shape of Kiva's bat insignia on any surface upon contact. The DoGaBaKi version is stronger as it fuses the power of the 4 forms into one.

Bloody Punch: Standard Rider Punch with a glowing red aura, only seen in Ganbaride and the Battride War series.

Garulu Howling Slash: Rider Slash attack in Garulu Form. The Garulu Saber is bitten by Kivat and then Kiva opens the “mouth” of his mask to put the blade in. He then leaps into the air and falls sideways to do a vertical sword slash.

Basshaa Aqua Tornado: Rider Shooting Finisher for Basshaa Form. Kivat bites the Basshaa Magnum and then a tide pool of water is generated from the water in the air. Kiva raises his weapon skyward and focuses this water into a whirling tornado that the gun absorbs into a pressurized ball of energized water. Kiva fires it and it acts as a seeker missile chasing down the target until it hits. The target freezes and Kiva “pops” it with a touch of his finger.

Dogga Thunder Slap: Rider Thrust finisher. Kivat bites the Dogga Hammer and Kiva generates a storm of lightning and a dark sky. He opens up the ball “hand” part of the Hammer and it generates a wave that paralyzes the target or reveals a cloaked enemy. The Hammer then generates a giant energy construct of itself in the form of a fist that smashes the target. First use of a war hammer weapon in the franchise.

Emperor Moon Break: Emperor Form’s Rider Kick. After the Imperial Slot selects Wake Up Fever, Kiva jumps and energy “fangs” protrude from his feet to strike the target.

Comes in several variants:

A flying double footed kick where the energy fangs rapidly strike the target’s body until they are flung backwards by a bicycle kick and explode.

A spinning drill kick that uses the fangs as a drill and then slams the target into the ground. This also has a variation seen in the Battride War video games where Kiva flies at a swarm of enemies like a bullet, spinning constantly like a drill to mow them all down.

A flying roundhouse kick where one of the energy fangs slices the body of the target upon impact.

Emperor Howling Slash: Emperor form’s Garulu Rider Slash. After the Imperial Slot selects Garulu Fever, Kiva attaches Tatsulot to the pommel of the Garulu Saber and the tiny dragon uses his fire breath to lift Kiva into the air like a rocket. Kiva then dives using the rocket speed to deliver a powerful downward slash. A variation is that Tatsulot breathes fire to create a flaming blade and the blade of the Garulu Saber ignites, turning the sword into a double edged flame saber. Kiva then channels his inner Sith and hacks the target up... Jedi style.

Emperor Aqua Tornado: Never used in the TV show but it was finally seen in the Kamen Rider Battride War games (starting with the second one). After the Imperial Slot selects Basshaa Fever, Kiva attaches Tatsulot to the muzzle on the Basshaa Magnum. Kiva leaps into the air, then hovers on a tornado of water (which knocks surrounding enemies away), firing a rapid barrage of pressurized balls of water at the target.

Emperor Thunder Slap: The Imperial Slot selects Dogga Fever and Kiiva attaches Tatsulot to the end of the Dogga Hammer’s handle. Tatsulot generates a purple orb of electricity that Kiva hits with the hammer, which paralyzes the target. Kiva then walks up or runs to the target and then when he arrives... Ah HAHAHA!...he smashes it with the HAMMA!

Final Zanvat Slash: Using the Zanvat Fuestle, Kiva slides the Zanvat-bat up and down the Zanvat Sword blade to energize it with a blood red aura. Kiva then repeatedly slashes the target and slides the Zanvat-bat down. Once it hits the crossguard of the blade, the target falls and explodes. This attack is so powerful in some cases it can rip apart kaiju-sized monsters!

DoGaBaKi Emperor Break: A stronger version of the Emperor Moon Break that utilizes the combined power of the Arms Monsters and Emperor form into DoGaBaki Emperor Form. Hyper Battle only.

Enemies:

The Fangires

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Fangires

Fangires are a race of stained glass-themed monsters that are capable of disguising themselves as humans. They are based on the myths of vampires and like their bloodsucking counterparts, they see humans as food.

However, there are several things that make them differ a bit from normal Vampires. First and foremost is they can go out in the daytime and have no aversion to holy images or holy water (one of their ranks even dresses like a priest and resides in an abandoned church). Another is that they can eat things other than human life essence such as regular food, but it is hard for them to wean off such a succulent Soylent diet for long due to their feral predatory instincts (though some have managed to accomplish it). They also are not limited to being bats (though their leader is one), as Fangires come in all sorts of animal species. (There is even a vampire sheep!). Lastly, when they consume a human’s life essence, the victims do not become one of them but rather just die by turning into a clear glass and shattering into pieces.

Despite this, some Fangires are good and don’t want to harm anyone like Wataru who is half Fangire or some of the ones Otoya faced, who convinced a few of them to live peaceful lives, including his would-have-been-wife Maya.

Fangires possess a wide array of powers: from altering the sky to become dark as night to super speed.

The Checkmate Four:

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Checkmate_Four

The Checkmate Four are the powerful elite of the Fangire race, with the King and Queen ruling absolute over their subjects. One of their laws is that a Fangire cannot fall in love with a human and the punishment of this crime is death to the Fangire who commits this sin or the person they are in love with.

Rook, the Lion Fangire, is the enforcer and brute muscle of the group.

Bishop is the enforcer of law for the Fangire race, he is also one of the absolute creepiest villains in all of the franchise...

*Shivers*

The Queen is a bit more sympathetic, coming off more as a neutral/protagonist later on, but she does execute Fangires who were “breaking the law” and was a bit cruel at first as she toys with her foes and others before eliminating them. A new Queen is discovered and appointed long after the old one is exiled in 2008.

The King is the metaphorical Dracula of the Fangire race, a Bat Fangire of immense power that went on a rampage with his brethren to slaughter the other members of the 13 Demon Races for sport. He sees humans as beneath him and is also a sexist jerk who coldly views his mate as nothing but property/a breeding machine and abused her if she defied him. Its unsurprising why she left him for Otoya, as though he was a womanizer, he at least tried to respect women as people in some capacity.

A second King, the son of the first and Maya (thereby Wataru’s half brother) at first follows in his father’s cruelty, but eventually repents and redeems himself and becomes kinder man. He then tries to lead his people alongside his brother so that his race can find an alternative means of consuming energy that will not harm humans.

Keisuke Nago aka Kamen Rider Ixa

“That life you have stolen...Please return it to God!”

The Intercept X Attack system or IXA was a Rider System developed by the Wonderful Blue Sky Organization in the 1980s to kill Fangires. The System was not perfect and had many technical flaws during its early days that endangered its users due to the limitations of tech in that time period. The project kept going despite this and by the 2000s was fully usable without any glitches.

Keisuke Nago became its user and went on a hunt to try and kill Kiva, as he had heard of all the terrible things the previous one did prior in the 80s. After a few brawls and getting his ego bruised and saved by Kiva on occasion, he eventually warms up to Wataru and then the two eventually become BFFs.

753 is a bit overzealous on being a hero of justice, but he does mellow out a bit and means well,

Now that the file is over...it is time to get strong for Justice! Ixa-cise!

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