In fact, since Heisei, I didn’t have high expectations for Kamen Rider’s appearance! As long as the story is interesting, Showa is a children’s drama with a simple plot anyway. After Heisei, I just put on a child-like cover and tell stories that are a little deeper than Showa!
But the technology of the leather case is inherited, but the styling is different! For example, the holster technology of RX and Kuuga is almost the same, but it was only in Dragon Knight that some new methods were introduced.
But no matter what Toei does, it will definitely not be a 100% Showa-flavored Kamen Rider.
What is Showa flavor? There are also stages, such as an insect head, muscle abs on the heart, neck scarf, sportswear, gloves and foot covers. These are the basic shapes of Kamen Rider numbers 1 to 9. On the 10th, there started to be a slight change, no more sportswear. The upper body has a breastplate design.
Going to BLACK was a new era, even the scarves were abandoned. In terms of holster science, the design of the upper body breastplate, leather pants, and arm, thigh, and calf armor designs were unprecedented. (BLACK sometimes ignores the armor on the thighs in some shots, while RX sometimes ignores the armor on the arms) BLACK’s compound eyes are also very large. In the Showa family, the compound eyes of No. 1 to No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, No. 5, No. 6, No. 8 and No. 10 are all the same size. They are basically red eyes. Only the old No. 1’s light pink, V3 and ZX have green eyes! The No. 7 STRONGER is a point of departure. It is a large compound eye, but it is not an ordinary car reflector, but a large green eye mask with countless small holes. The No. 9 SUPER 1 also has a unique eye design, with bee eyes as the center of the design, and also has some peepholes in the eye mask like STRONGER.
Although the RX after BLACK has a different design and appearance, the holster technology is the same. RX does not need leather armor on the thighs and is lighter than BLACK. The other two forms of RX, living body and machine body, are made using the same technology.
Later ZO and J also used holster technology that looked very similar to BLACK, with the only exception being “True”, which used an integrated holster like ULTRAMAN, making him look like a biochemical body.
Although I went to Heisei Sora to play with the beetle color change, the actual holster and RX technology are almost the same, but what I wanted to talk about when I went to Heisei was the “styling”. Since I am an old ghost, I naturally have certain feelings towards Showa’s style! Of course, I understand that neck scarves and sportswear are outdated, but insect shapes, antennae, and belts should be indispensable, right?
As a result, I discovered one thing during the Heisei era. The insect shape, antennae, and belt are all the same, except for the belt. Toei will only extract one or two characteristics at a time, and in short, they will not give traditional knight looks. For example, the “antenna” commonly used in Showa was actually modified with an antenna. Kuuga and AGITO both use beetle tentacles. Ryuki does not have antennas, but has compound eyes, but they are covered by a grill mask and have a mouth like Showa X Knight. The enhanced version adds an antenna. His partner, Night Rider Bat, has the mouth of Showa No. 1, but does not have compound eyes or antennae.
This is the design pattern from Heisei to Reiwa. If there are compound eyes, there will be no antennas. If there are antennas, there will be no insect faces. In short, there are very few Showa flavors that I want to see… What surprises me the most is the ANOTHER AGITO in AGITO. This style combines the “real” and “BLACK, ZO, J” holster technology and the No. 1 style. This is the Kamen Rider that I think has the perfect late-evolution and is in line with Shotaro Ishimori!
Of course, there are Heisei and Reiwa costume knights that I think are very handsome, but they don’t quite fit my idea of a “Kamen Rider.” Okay, let’s get to the point! Talking about the latest Kamen Rider ZEZTZ’s look.
I remember that the shape of “The Amazing Spider-Man” in 2012 shocked me. The material resembled both blue ball material and reptilian skin. It made me think that if I create a new version of AMAZON’s leather case, this method should be used very well! At that time, a lizard named “Rainbow Lizard” also appeared on the Internet. The blue and red color scheme resembled Spider-Man, and with the addition of scales, it looked more like the Garfield version of Spider-Man.
I thought at the time that if I used this technology to make a “new version of Amazon”, I wouldn’t need to wear any armor props, just change the original materials.
Unfortunately, Toei’s “New Amazon” in 2016 is still made in the old way. The actual leather case technology is almost the same as the RX technology, but more emphasis is placed on metallic colors to grab the eye. Although the market is very popular…that’s it.
In “Kamen Rider Zi-O”, those alternative knights are very prominent. Unfortunately, these bold ideas are only used for the enemy characters. The protagonist knight is still a toy + metallic design like Heisei Reiwa.
So when it comes to the appearance of Kamen Rider ZEZTZ, my eyes shine. First of all, there are not a lot of cumbersome armors on the body. Even the most typical RX and Kuuga upper body breastplates are not used.
This time, I wore a similar base layer directly, just like the honeycomb-shaped base layer inside TDK Batman’s armor. However, some fake muscles are installed inside to adjust the shape, and it looks like the leather cases used in modern Spider-Man and MOS Superman movies.
Although the commonly used chest armor kit for the upper body is eliminated, the entire set of muscle segmented parts is directly attached to the body. This method and color scheme make it look very much like Showa Kamen Rider No. 1, which is very good!
There are a lot of “homage” touches on the head. Let’s talk about the tentacles first. This time, they are not antenna type or V-shaped, but a “U” ring similar to the Dragon Rider. That is to say, it plays the same way as TURN A GUNDAM’s “Beard”. It looks like a traditional antenna from the front and top view. But when I looked at my face, I saw two blades side by side!
The compound eyes of the eyes look no doubt similar to those of the last “Kamen Rider REVICE”, with a slightly evil and upward type. In a dark environment, if the tentacles are obscured by blur, it will look like a red-eyed Spider-Man! Speaking of Spider-Man, this time the leather case uses a honeycomb base and the big eyes look like Spider-Man in the 1990s. What do you think?
The double lines of the sportswear on the limbs are definitely a tribute to Showa’s new No. 1, but points will be deducted for the two lines on the thighs. They are obvious tailoring lines and have a cheap cosplay feel! Let’s take a look at the waistline of DCEU’s Superman, how close-fitting it is. However, it is also understandable that Japan’s Tokusatsu holsters are mainly designed to facilitate movement. Like MOS Superman’s method, parts will easily fall off.
As for the motorcycle, this time the colors of the Tornado of the first generation No. 1 are used again, red and white. Modified using HONDACL250 prototype car.
The biggest breakthrough point is believed to be the placement of the belt. Instead, it imitates the Japanese trend of hanging the waist bag on the chest. Anyone who is familiar with Japanese pop culture knows that Japanese fanny packs are not worn around the waist, but tied to the chest (in the same way as a schoolbag).
It’s also a playful design.
The shoes are designed like sports sneakers and also remind me of the design of “The Amazing Spider-Man”.
The overall look is acceptable to an old guy like me. It doesn’t mean I’ll pay the bill if it pays homage to Showa! Like ZERO ONE and W, I didn’t feel anything at all, but this time it felt right! It is not deliberately retro, but uses some elements from that year.