RIDERMAN─Kamen Rider No. 4, like Kamen Rider No. 2, is the “second rider” in the show, and is not the protagonist of the independent series. I loved RIDERMAN very much when I was a kid. The color book I bought when I was a kid introduced a knight in one issue after another. Although I later learned that in the era when I first came into contact with it, Japan had already reached the seventh strongest level! Although most people think RIDERMAN is weak (the mouth is exposed and the motorcycle is an ordinary motorcycle), I liked it very much back then!
Point One: Multi-Color Logo
At that time, color TVs, color photos, and color books were all new technological gadgets. Many merchants labeled their products as “colorful” to attract people. For example, colorful Tinker Bell, Colorful Old Master, Colorful TV, Comes with Colorful Posters, etc. (It must be difficult for the new generation to feel it? After all, color is already basic.) Although the triangular logos on RIDERMAN’s head and abdomen are not colorful, only green, red, and silver, they are very similar to the colorful logos that were popular back then, so this design actually adds a lot of points.
Point 2: Show your mouth
Since I knew Batman existed when I was a kid, it wasn’t hard for me to accept showing my mouth! Although he is a reformed person, when he was a child, the title of the Hong Kong book was translated as “Kamen Rider”, and the Japanese characters on the picture still read “仮面”. In addition, he bought Taiwanese reprinted comics, and some even translated them as “Masked Man”. So I knew the meaning of wearing a mask very early in my childhood. So I think RIDERMAN fits the setting very well.
Point 3: Ordinary SUZUKI motorcycles
Kamen Rider No. 123 is a modified motorcycle, that is, it is put on a body shell, but RIDERMAN directly uses a SUZUKI TS-250. The shape of SUZUKI TS-250 itself is not bad, and it makes RIDERMAN closer to humans. It makes people feel that as long as you don’t ride a light pedal, you can become a Kamen Rider by spending a little money to buy an off-road motorcycle.
However, when I was a kid, I was disgusted with RIDERMAN because of the Taiwanese version of “Lightning Knight V3” and “Five Lightning Knights”. In the Taiwanese version of Lightning Knight, Lightning Knight No. 4 is played by Song Lingyu (current stage name is Song Yifang), whose name is Cai Leilei in the play. Only after watching it in the movie did I realize that No. 4 was actually a woman? When I was a child at that time, my eyes were really blown away! Even though I knew girls were good when I was a kid, I always thought RIDERMAN was a boy! (I didn’t know No. 4’s official name until around the mid-1990s), so it’s hard to accept that he is a woman….
The Taiwan version of Lightning Knight No. 4 is female.
RIDERMAN has many nicknames overseas?
As mentioned above, when I was a child, I didn’t even know RIDERMAN’s real name! We only know that he is No. 4, but later appeared sporadically in local replies. There were multiple names for RIDERMAN, including: Strange King Kong, Jade Faced King Kong, and the Youngest One (this one is the most ridiculous, who named it?)
Resurrection from the dead without explanation
In episode 51 of RIDERMAN, in order to prevent the missile from detonating, Yuuki went to the control room with the rocket, drove the missile away and detonated it, and died a heroic sacrifice! V3 sadly lost his comrade, and in order to commemorate Yuki, he named him Kamen Superman No. 4!
In the end, V3 named RIDERMAN Kamen Rider No. 4 in tribute to his self-sacrifice to save world peace.
In the Kamen Rider But Kamen Rider X was released. The producer at the time said: Kamen Rider The scene of the five knights landing together is so spectacular! So I didn’t care about whether RIDERMAN was alive or dead, I just wanted to be happy to see it!
The theatrical version of X did not explain the details of RIDERMAN’s resurrection.
Because Knight No. 6 AMAZON does not have guest appearances by previous knights. It was only in STRONGER No. 7 that RIDERMAN appeared in the TV version! Even so, there is no official explanation of RIDERMAN’s resurrection… Different media have published stories about how RIDERMAN was resurrected, but there are many versions! For example, there is a SIC novel in which No. 1 and No. 2 rescued him after the explosion and transformed his whole body. There is also the scene in the last episode of SKYRIDER where after the battle between all the knights and the new Shuka boss, everyone remodeled the seriously injured RIDERMAN.
An article in a children’s magazine describes RIDERMAN undergoing a full-body transformation
The only version that everyone accepts in modern times is the manga Kamen Rider Spirits by Kenichi Edamura, which tells the story of Riderman falling on an island after an explosion and recuperating after losing his memory.
Kenichi Edamura’s 仮面ライダーSPIRITS is the best version to complete RIDERMAN’s resurrection story.
Have two big cast members ever played RIDERMAN?
Yamaguchi Gohisa, who played RIDREMAN (Yuki Joji), passed away in 1986. His guest appearance in ZX in 1984 was his last scene as Yuuki Joji. Although the actor who plays RIDERMAN also has a straight face and can be played with a stand-in, the role of Joji Yuki has only been played once, and it was a big deal! Even the stand-in RIDREMAN has a big card, so… who is it?
Tomei Karasawa
In 1980, he entered the drama circle and started working as an actor. At that time, he was the youngest 16-year-old fourth-generation student of Toei’s “Ono Kenyoukai”. In 1984, when he was 20 years old, he was an actor in the suit of Riderman in “Kamen Rider ZX”. Since Riderman is a character with his mouth exposed, after Touaki Karasawa became popular, many people regarded him playing Riderman as a rare and precious image.
GACKT
Strictly speaking, GACKT guest-played Joji Yuuki in DCD’s live version of “ALL RIDER VS Overhaul”, not RIDERMAN. The characteristic is that his right hand is equipped with a big gunner like TURN
RIDERMAN MACHINE
RIDERMAN’s motorcycle is actually an ordinary SUZUKI TS-250 in moss green color. This Suzuki Hustler TS250 is also used as an ordinary motorcycle before X RIDER’s Kami Keisuke’s transformation. In the X RIDER set, RIDERMAN rides a Suzuki Hustler TS250, but retains the rearview mirror on his right hand.
In Kamen Rider X, Kami Keisuke usually uses SUZUKI TS-250 for transportation.
The RIDERMAN MACHINE released in the X drama version retains the rearview mirror on the right hand.
I also rode it in AMAZON when I was training with Tachibana Fujibei. It can be said that before AMAZON rode the Jungle, the SUZUKI TS-250 was the first motorcycle he rode in his life.
SUZUKI TS-250 overall view
In the last episode of STRONGER, The Glory Seven, the riding version is the silver version of SUZUKI TS-250. The silver version of SUZUKI TS-250 was also ridden by Shiro Kazami.
In the last episode of Kamen Rider STRONGER, RIDERMAN’s RIDERMAN MACHINE is replaced with a silver version.
Kazami Shiro also rode the silver version of SUZUKI TS-250
Overall view of the silver version SUZUKI TS-250
The version riding in the SKY RIDER theater version is the red version SUZUKI TS-250
In the SKY RIDER theater version, RIDERMAN MACHINE has been replaced by a red version of SUZUKI TS-250, which is also the last time RIDERMAN rides a physical bike.
Full view of red version SUZUKI TS-250
Alternative RIDERMAN MACHINE:
Five Knights of Lightning, the Taiwanese version of the X Knight movie version, visually estimated to be a HONDA model
The Five Knights and Hanuman is not authorized by Toei, but it is visually estimated to be SUZUKI TS-125. The first motorcycle in the play to be trampled by the devil has no business flying into the air to fight together.
SUZUKI TS-125 overall view
Kamen Rider SPIRITS version：
In the manga, in order to break through the dark clouds of Shikoku, the RIDERMAN MACHINE was modified from a top speed of 250 kilometers per hour to 600 kilometers per hour. But it failed due to surrounding attacks, and ZX came to the rescue.
Another time was to install a backup helmet on the front of the RIDERMAN MACHINE to deal with JUDO.
Okay, that’s it for this issue of RIDERMAN. At the end, I also include Shotaro Ishimori’s RIDERMAN design draft and the types of weapons for his magic arm.
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