Kamen Rider Black Sun and Kamen Rider W Sequel Series Announced
Though
Shin Kamen Rider might be the headline project in Toei’s ongoing celebration of the franchise’s 50th anniversary, two more projects are also in the offing. The first is a new TV series called
Kamen Rider Black Sun, a “reboot” of
Kamen Rider Black. Also announced was an animated adaptation of
Fuuto PI, the manga series that served as a sequel to 2009’s
Kamen Rider W.
Kamen Rider Black was one of the most popular series in the franchise, especially among the Showa-era (1926-1989) productions. First aired in 1987, the series starred stepbrothers Kohtaro Minami and Nobuhiko Akizuki, who are kidnapped by the evil Gorgom cult. The brothers are subjected to cyborg surgery to turn them into future “Century Kings,” destined to battle for supremacy and become “Creation King.” Kohtaro manages to escape before the cult completes its brainwashing, and takes on the mantle of Kamen Rider Black to
Jan 7, 2021
Last year was an annus horribilis for much of the Japanese film industry, except for companies lucky enough to partake in the bonanza that is “Demon Slayer.” The animated film set a new all-time box-office record in 2020 and is still going strong with total earnings of ¥34.6 billion as of Jan. 4.
Whether 2021 will see a similar mega-hit is not yet clear, but given the lack of Hollywood fare on current distributor lineups, it looks as though Toho and other domestic studios will have the field much to themselves, just as they did last year, when releases of most major Hollywood titles were set back indefinitely. That situation is unlikely to change through at least the Golden Week holiday period, normally a peak movie season.