2006 - Kamen Rider Kabuto (Series) - Ultimate Riders Review

Kamen Rider Kabuto is a Japanese tokusatsu superhero television series. It is the sixteenth installment in the popular Kamen Rider Series of tokusatsu programs. It is a joint collaboration between Ishimori Productions and Toei. The series was broadcast on TV Asahi. The first episode aired on January 29, 2006, and with the final episode airing on January 21, 2007, completing the series with 49 episodes.

The series represents the 35th anniversary of the Kamen Rider Series, as indicated by a notice at the beginning of the pilot episode reading, in Japanese, "Kamen Rider 35th Anniversary Production." Kamen Rider Kabuto is the first Kamen Rider Series to be broadcast in high-definition format.

The series' catchphrases are "Walking the path of heaven, to rule everything!" and "I am justice.". Seven years prior to the series, a meteorite struck the Shibuya district in Tokyo. An alien lifeform, known as the Worms, emerged from the meteorite and became a threat to humanity. Souji Tendou has trained seven years while waiting for the Kabuto Zecter so that he may properly take up the mantle of Kamen Rider Kabuto. Making many enemies while at the same time meeting other Riders with mysterious origins, Tendou attempts to accomplish his goal at all costs: to destroy all Worms that threaten humanity.

Publication Information

Title : Kamen Rider Kabuto
Japanese : 仮面ライダーカブト
Genre : Tokusatsu
Created by : Shotaro Ishinomori
Written by :
- Shoji Yonemura
- Toshiki Inoue
Narrated by : Eiichiro Suzuki
Composer(s) : Kuniaki Haishima
Country of origin : Japan
No. of episodes : 49
Producer(s) :
- Atsushi Kaji
- Shinichirō Shirakura
- Naomi Takebe
Running time : 24-25 minutes (per episode)
Production company(s) : Toei Company
Distributor : Toei Company
Original network : TV Asahi
Picture format : 1080i (HDTV)
Original release : January 29, 2006 – January 21, 2007
Preceded by : Kamen Rider Hibiki
Followed by : Kamen Rider Den-O

Episodes

The Strongest Man
The First Two-Step Transformation
I am Justice!!
Love Explanation!!
Order to Capture!!
My Flower
No. 2 Appears
Angry Tofu
The Bee's Insanity!!
I'm Not Your Friend
The Party Burns
The Makeup Thousand-Man Cut
The Team Dissolves
Back of the Back of the Back
The Monster Noted Doctor!?
An Unthinkable Storm
Restored Memories!!
Farewell, Gon
Scorpion Millionaire
Hey, Jiiya
VS Stag Beetle
Birth of a Special Compilation
Riddle + Riddle = X
The Ramen Way
The Proud Searchlight
Love That Shook the Earth
Me!? A Murderer
Why!? Death
The Dark Kitchen
Miso Soup Ascension
Shocking Fact
Puzzle Unraveled!!
The Sprouting Adjutant
Breaking Super Evolution
The Hellish Brothers
Red Shoes' Recklessness
School's Ghost Story
The Dangerous Younger Sister
The Powerful Black Opponent
The Saddest Battle
The Strongest Defeated
Worst Terror VS Worst Fear
Me Targeting Me
What is to Live
Christmas Earthquake
Farewell, Tsurugi!!
Rushing into the Last Chapter
Tendou Dies!!
Path of Heaven

Movies

Video game

A video game based on the series was produced by Bandai for the PlayStation 2, under the name Kamen Rider Kabuto. Released on November 30, 2006, it is a fighting game featuring all Riders seen in the show and movie, along with Hyper Gatack. The game features 5 different modes of play, ranging from a story mode to several multi-player modes.

Cast

Souji Tendou / Kamen Rider Kabuto : Hiro Mizushima
Souji Kusakabe / Kamen Rider Dark Kabuto : Hiro Mizushima
Arata Kagami / Kamen Rider Gattack : Yuuki Sato
Sou Yaguruma / Kamen Rider KickHopper : Hidenori Tokuyama
Shun Kageyama / Kamen Rider PunchHopper : Masato Uchiyama
Daisuke Kazama / Kamen Rider Drake : Kazuki Kato
Tsurugi Kamishiro / Kamen Rider Sasword : Yusuke Yamamoto
Masato Mishima / Kamen Rider TheBee : Tomohisa Yuge
Hiyori Kusakabe : Yui Satonaka
Renge Takatori : Yuka Teshima
Jyuka Tendou : Natsumi Okumura
Shuichi Tadokoro : Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi
Yuzuki Misaki : Anna Nagata
Negishi : Masahiro Kobayashi
Riku Kagami : Hirotaro Honda
Ryo Kagami : Kazunori Sasaki
Kazuyoshi Aoyagi : Yohta Mori
Shura Hokuto : Chisato Morishita
Gon : Airu Kanzaki
Jiiya : Yasukiyo Umeno
Soichi Kusakabe : Go Narumi
Satomi Kusakabe : Kaori Asano
Tendou of 7 Years Ago : Sean Wiig
Hiyori of 7 Years Ago : Reina Fujii
Rena Mamiya : Hitomi Miwa
Reiji Nogi : Tak Sakaguchi
Yumiko Takemiya : Megumi Nishimuta
ZECTrooper : Katsumi Shiono
Zecter Voice : Surage Gajria
Narrator : Eiichiro Suzuki

Guest actors

Detective : Maroshi Tamura
Yuki Tamai : Mika Kikuchi
IT President Uemura : Kohei Murakami
Shogo Higashi : Atsushi Ogawa
Takeshi Hongo : Masaya Kikawada
Koji Iguchi : Kenzaburo Kikuchi
Kazuhiko Sagara : Hiroyuki Matsumoto
Ichiro Ikesu : Shinnosuke Abe
Keiko Kobayashi : Kasumi Suzuki
Oda : Katsuya Kobayashi
Yamato : Mitsuki Koga

Suit actors

Kamen Rider Kabuto, Kamen Rider Dark Kabuto : Seiji Takaiwa
Kamen Rider Gatack, Kamen Rider TheBee : Makoto Ito
Kamen Rider Drake, Kamen Rider TheBee : Oshikawa Yoshifumi
Kamen Rider Sasword, Kamen Rider Dark Kabuto : Jun Watanabe
Kamen Rider Kick Hopper : Eitoku
Kamen Rider Punch Hopper : Naoki Nagase
ZECTroopers : Hirofumi Fukuzawa, Jiro Okamoto, Miho Kojima

Songs

Opening theme

NEXT LEVEL
- Lyrics : Shoko Fujibayashi
- Composition & Arrangement : Cher Watanabe
- Artist : YU-KI (TRF)
- Episodes : 1-48

Ending themes

FULL FORCE
- Lyrics : Shoko Fujibayashi
- Composition : nishi-ken
- Arrangement : RIDER CHIPS & Cher Watanabe
- Artist : RIDER CHIPS
- Episodes : 2-32
LORD OF THE SPEED
- Lyrics : Shoko Fujibayashi
- Composition : Cher Watanabe
- Arrangement : RIDER CHIPS & Cher Watanabe
- Artist : RIDER CHIPS featuring Kagami Arata (Yuuki Sato)
- Episodes : 33-48