Kamen Rider 555
Kamen Rider 555 | |
---|---|
![]() Title screen. | |
Genre | Tokusatsu |
Created by | Shotaro Ishinomori |
Written by | Toshiki Inoue |
Directed by |
|
Starring | |
Narrated by | Takehiko Kano |
Opening theme | "Justiφ's" by ISSA |
Ending theme |
|
Composer(s) | Hayato Matsuo |
Country of origin | Japan |
Original language(s) | Japanese |
No. of episodes | 50 (List of episodes) |
Production | |
Producer(s) | |
Running time | 24-25 minutes (per episode) |
Production company(s) | Toei Company |
Distributor | Toei Company |
Release | |
Original network | TV Asahi |
Original release | January 26, 2003 – January 18, 2004 |
Chronology | |
Preceded by | Kamen Rider Ryuki |
Followed by | Kamen Rider Blade |
External links | |
Website |
Kamen Rider 555 (ä»®é¢ãƒ©ã‚¤ãƒ€ãƒ¼555(ファイズ) Kamen RaidÄ Faizu, officially Masked Rider Φ's, also read Kamen Rider Faiz or Phi's) is a Japanese tokusatsu television series. It is the 13th installment in the Kamen Rider Series. It is a joint collaboration between Ishimori Productions and Toei, and was broadcast on TV Asahi from January 26, 2003 to January 18, 2004. And it was the first series to use TV Asahi's current logo. The catchphrase for the series is "Racing Instinct." (疾走ã™ã‚‹æœ¬èƒ½ ShissÅ Suru HonnÅ).
Story
The Smart Brain corporation, the world's most powerful corporation, is trying to take over the world using Orphnoch, the "next stage in humanity's evolution", to covertly kill off the human population. In pursuit of this, they develop three suits of power armor, called Rider Gears (each for Delta, Faiz, and Kaixa), to find and protect the Orphnoch King, who can fix a defect within Orphnoch DNA which causes their genetic structure to break down, leading to death.
The Rider Gears are stolen by Hanagata, the Goat Orphnoch and former chief of Smart Brain. He sends them to his foster children (dubbed the "Ryuseiji", after the school they attended) so they can stop the Orphnoch from achieving their goal. However, Rider Gears were designed to be worn by Orphnoch, and humans are unable to activate the systems without undergoing genetic modification.
A young loner, Takumi Inui, is unwittingly drawn into the conflict between the Orphnoch and humans and becomes Kamen Rider Faiz to save the life of Mari Sonoda, one of the Ryuseiji. Smart Brain begins targeting him in an attempt to retrieve the Faiz Gear.
However, there is division amongst the Orphnoch, as those who wish to co-exist with humans rather than kill them, begin resisting the Smart Brain, who in turn targets them as well. Most of these "renegade" Orphnochs are either killed, remain neutral or begin siding with the Ryuseiji against the Smart Brain.
When the Tokyo police discover the Orphnoch are behind a series of bizarre murders, they begin operations to defeat the creatures, largely unaware of the various factions involved. They even begin performing experiments on captured Orphnoch in an attempt to find ways of destroying them, though this does not go well.
The Orphnoch King eventually awakens within a young boy named Teruo Suzuki, whom Naoya Kaido and Keitaro Kikuchi saved and befriended. Now, it is up to the holders of the Rider Gears to band together and fight for humanity's survival.
Rider Gears
Belt | Greek letter | Notable wearer |
---|---|---|
TV Series | ||
Faiz Gear | Φ | Takumi Inui |
Kaixa Gear | Χ | Masato Kusaka |
Delta Gear | Δ | Shuji Mihara |
Riotrooper Gear | Ο | Naoya Kaido |
Movie | ||
Psyga Gear | Ψ | Leo |
Orga Gear | Ω | Yuji Kiba |
Stage Show | ||
Alpha Gear | α | Female Performer |
Beta Gear | β | Male Performer |
Gamma Gear | γ | Male Performer |
The equipment used in the series to transform is referred to as Rider Gear. It was created to be worn by the Orphenoch to protect their Orphenoch King. Each Rider Gear contains a belt known as a Driver used to form armor that protects the wearer and amplifies their strengths and abilities. The armor's theme is based on a letter from the Greek alphabet, and contains the letter somehow within the aesthetic design. The Gears also have a method to input command codes, a cell phone number keypad for most, which can activate armor and various weapons. The sound effects of a dialing in any of the Rider Gear phones were later referenced in episode 17 of Kamen Rider Kabuto.
The TV series focused on three sets of Rider Gear: Faiz Gear, Kaixa Gear, and Delta Gear. During the TV series, Hanagata, the foster father of the Ryuseiji and former chief executive of Smart Brain, attempted to create several new Rider Gears, using two lost people to test out the first two. The two belts failed to create Rider armor, resulting in the wearer’s deaths. When Itsuro Takuma of Lucky Clover wore the third one it disabled him for a few seconds before it dissolved. The fourth dissolved without ever being worn. The Kamen Rider 555 movie, Paradise Lost, introduced two additional sets of Rider Gear: Psyga Gear and Orga Gear
Riotrooper Army
The show featured a series of mass-produced transformation belts called Smart Buckle, which enabled the wearer to transform into a generic Riotrooper. The Riotroopers were introduced in the movie, and later added at the end of the TV series.
Live Stage-Show
A live stage-show of Kamen Rider Faiz featured three unique riders named Alpha, Beta, and Gamma.
Naming Conventions
Each set of Rider Gear is code-locked, in addition to being only usable by Orphenoch. These codes, input through the phone of each Gear, are a set of numbers that relate to the theme of each Gear. For the Faiz Gear, the code is 5-5-5, or "fives", phonetically similar to the word Faiz. For the Kaixa Gear, the code is 9-1-3, which is read in goroawase as "Ka-I-Sa". Delta Gear's phone was voice-activated, yet nonetheless also was coded with 3-3-3, a reference to the Greek letter delta, a triangle.
The goroawase system was also used for the Psyga Gear, where the code 3-1-5 is read as "Sa-I-Go". The Orga Gear, patterned after Greek Omega, the final letter, is code-locked to 0-0-0.
Orphnoch
The series kaijin; they are humans who are resurrected either naturally or by the Smart Brain, with enhanced physical attributes and the ability to transform into monsters. Their goal is to annihilate humanity either by turning other humans into more Orphnoch or killing them off completely. However, there are those who believe they can still live peacefully alongside humans; those who possess that mind set quickly become targets for elimination by the Smart Brain.
Episodes
Ep# | Title | Original airdate |
---|---|---|
1 | "The Start of a Trip" "Tabi no Hajimari" (æ—…ã®å§‹ã¾ã‚Š) | January 26, 2003 |
2 | "The Belt's Power" "Beruto no Chikara" (ベルトã®åŠ›) | February 2, 2003 |
3 | "The King's Sleep..." "ÅŒ no Nemuri..." (王ã®çœ り・・・) | February 9, 2003 |
4 | "My Name" "Ore no Namae" (ãŠã‚Œã®åå‰) | February 16, 2003 |
5 | "Original" "Orijinaru" (オリジナル) | February 23, 2003 |
6 | "Trio × Trio" "Sannin × Sannin" (3人×3人) | March 2, 2003 |
7 | "The Power of Dreams" "Yume no Chikara" (夢ã®åŠ›) | March 9, 2003 |
8 | "The Protector of Dreams" "Yume no Mamoribito" (夢ã®å®ˆã‚Šäºº) | March 16, 2003 |
9 | "Enter, the President" "ShachÅ TÅjÅ" (ç¤¾é•·ç™»å ´) | March 23, 2003 |
10 | "The Enigmatic Rider" "Nazo no RaidÄ" (謎ã®ãƒ©ã‚¤ãƒ€ãƒ¼) | March 30, 2003 |
11 | "The Enigmatic Belt" "Nazo no Beruto" (謎ã®ãƒ™ãƒ«ãƒˆ) | April 6, 2003 |
12 | "RyÅ«sei School" "RyÅ«sei-juku" (æµæ˜Ÿå¡¾) | April 13, 2003 |
13 | "Friend of Foe?" "Teki ka Mikata ka" (敵ã‹å‘³æ–¹ã‹) | April 20, 2003 |
14 | "Takumi's Spirit" "Takumi no Iji" (å·§ã®æ„地) | April 27, 2003 |
15 | "The Fallen Idol ~ φ's vs. χ" "Ochita GÅ«zÅ ~ Faizu Tai Kai" (è½ã¡ãŸå¶åƒ~ φ's vs χ) | May 4, 2003 |
16 | "Human Heart" "Ningen no Kokoro" (人間ã®å¿ƒ) | May 11, 2003 |
17 | "Takumi, Revival" "Takumi, Fukkatsu" (å·§ã€å¾©æ´») | May 18, 2003 |
18 | "Narrow Escape from Death" "KyÅ«shi ni IsshÅ" (乿»ã«ä¸€ç”Ÿ) | May 25, 2003 |
19 | "Pure White Justice" "Junpaku no Seigi" (ç´”ç™½ã®æ£ç¾©) | June 1, 2003 |
20 | "The Beautiful Assassin" "Utsukushiki Shikaku" (美ã—ã刺客) | June 8, 2003 |
21 | "Accelerating Spirits" "Kasoku Suru Tamashii" (åŠ é€Ÿã™ã‚‹é‚) | June 22, 2003 |
22 | "Masato's Confession" "Masato no Kokuhaku" (雅人ã®å‘Šç™½) | June 29, 2003 |
23 | "False Friendship" "Itsuwari no YÅ«jÅ" (å½ã‚Šã®å‹æƒ…) | July 6, 2003 |
24 | "The Door to Darkness" "Yami e no Tobira" (é—‡ã¸ã®æ‰‰) | July 13, 2003 |
25 | "The Dark Laboratory" "Yami no Jikkenshitsu" (é—‡ã®å®Ÿé¨“室) | July 20, 2003 |
26 | "Enter, Delta" "Deruta TÅjÅ" (ãƒ‡ãƒ«ã‚¿ç™»å ´) | July 27, 2003 |
27 | "RyÅ«sei School Breaks Up" "RyÅ«seijuku Bunretsu" (æµæ˜Ÿå¡¾åˆ†è£‚) | August 3, 2003 |
28 | "Dark Clover" "Ankoku no Yotsuba" (æš—é»’ã®å››è‘‰) | August 10, 2003 |
29 | "Excellent Bike" "ChÅzetsu Baiku" (è¶…çµ¶ãƒã‚¤ã‚¯) | August 17, 2003 |
30 | "Masato's Trap" "Masato no Wana" (雅人ã®ç½ ) | August 24, 2003 |
31 | "Origami Tears" "Origami no Namida" (æŠ˜ã‚Šç´™ã®æ¶™) | August 31, 2003 |
32 | "Intertwined Threads" "Karamiau Ito" (絡ã¿åˆã†ç³¸) | September 7, 2003 |
33 | "Mari Dies" "Mari, Shisu" (真ç†ã€æ»ã™) | September 14, 2003 |
34 | "True Form" "Shinjitsu no Sugata" (真実ã®å§¿) | September 21, 2003 |
35 | "The Resurrection Riddle" "Fukkatsu no Nazo" (復活ã®è¬Ž) | September 28, 2003 |
36 | "Restored Memories" "Yomigaeru Kioku" (蘇る記憶) | October 5, 2003 |
37 | "Kaixa's Justice" "Kaiza no Seigi" (ã‚«ã‚¤ã‚¶ã®æ£ç¾©) | October 12, 2003 |
38 | "The Wandering Spirit" "Samayoeru Tamashii" (彷徨ãˆã‚‹é‚) | October 19, 2003 |
39 | "Faiz 2" "Faizu Tsū" (ファイズ2) | October 26, 2003 |
40 | "Proof of Humanity" "Ningen no Akashi" (人間ã®è¨¼) | November 9, 2003 |
41 | "Capture Commences" "Hokaku Kaishi" (æ•ç²é–‹å§‹) | November 16, 2003 |
42 | "Broken Wings" "Oreta Tsubasa" (折れãŸç¿¼) | November 23, 2003 |
43 | "Red Balloon" "Akai FÅ«sen" (赤ã„風船) | November 30, 2003 |
44 | "Final Mail" "Saigo no MÄ“ru" (最後ã®ãƒ¡ãƒ¼ãƒ«) | December 7, 2003 |
45 | "King's Awakening" "ÅŒ no Mezame" (王ã®ç›®è¦šã‚) | December 14, 2003 |
46 | "A New President Appears" "Shin ShachÅ TÅjÅ" (æ–°ç¤¾é•·ç™»å ´) | December 21, 2003 |
47 | "King's Appearance" "ÅŒ no Shutsugen" (王ã®å‡ºç¾) | December 28, 2003 |
48 | "Masato, Dying A Glorious Death" "Masato, Sange" (é›…äººã€æ•£è¯) | January 4, 2004 |
49 | "A Sign of Destruction" "Horobiyuku Shu" (æ»…ã³ã‚†ã種) | January 11, 2004 |
50 | "My Dream" "Ore no Yume" (俺ã®å¤¢) | January 18, 2004 |
Films
Kamen Rider 555: Paradise Lost
Kamen Rider 555: Paradise Lost (åŠ‡å ´ç‰ˆã€€ä»®é¢ãƒ©ã‚¤ãƒ€ãƒ¼555 パラダイス・ãƒã‚¹ãƒˆ GekijÅban Kamen RaidÄ Faizu: Paradaisu Rosuto), was released during the run of the series, as a double feature alongside Bakuryu Sentai Abaranger: Abare Summer is Freezing! on August 16, 2003. The film was 81 minutes long. A few new characters and Rider Gears were introduced in the movie.
Kamen Rider Taisen
A trailer for Heisei Rider vs. ShÅwa Rider: Kamen Rider Taisen feat. Super Sentai (å¹³æˆãƒ©ã‚¤ãƒ€ãƒ¼å¯¾æ˜å’Œãƒ©ã‚¤ãƒ€ãƒ¼ ä»®é¢ãƒ©ã‚¤ãƒ€ãƒ¼å¤§æˆ¦ feat.スーパー戦隊 Heisei RaidÄ Tai ShÅwa RaidÄ Kamen RaidÄ Taisen fÄ«charingu SÅ«pÄ Sentai) was shown in theaters with The Fateful Sengoku Movie Battle. The film's website reveals that it will be released in Japanese theaters on March 29, 2014. Kohei Murakami and Kento Handa are confirmed to reprises their respective roles from Kamen Rider 555.
Hyper Battle Video
Kamen Rider 555: Hyper Battle Video (ä»®é¢ãƒ©ã‚¤ãƒ€ãƒ¼ï¼•55(ファイズ) ãƒã‚¤ãƒ‘ーãƒãƒˆãƒ«ãƒ“デオ Kamen RaidÄ Faizu HaipÄ Batoru Bideo) features a boom box called the Faiz Sounder developed by the Smart Brain corporation appearing at the laundromat where Takumi, Mari, and Keitaro work at, causing them and everyone else to break into song and dance. The Faiz Sounder was created as a result of a contest for Televi Magazine for a new weapon for Kamen Rider Faiz.
Lost World
The S.I.C. Hero Saga side story for 555 published in Monthly Hobby Japan magazine was titled Masked Rider 555: Lost World (MASKED RIDER 555 -ãƒã‚¹ãƒˆãƒ»ãƒ¯ãƒ¼ãƒ«ãƒ‰- Kamen RaidÄ Faizu -Rosuto WÄrudo-). It serves as a prologue to the alternate story that was 555: Paradise Lost, and features the new character Riotrooper Ver. 2 (ライオトルーパーver.2 RaiotorÅ«pÄ ver.2). The story ran from October 2005 to January 2006.
- Chapter titles
- Faiz (ファイズ Faizu)
- Kaixa (カイザ Kaiza)
- Delta (デルタ Deruta)
- Psyga (サイガ Saiga)
Video game
A video game based on the series was produced by Bandai for the PlayStation 2. It was a fighting game which featured many of the characters from the TV series. There were several modes of gameplay for either a single play and two players. It was released only in Japan near the end of the TV series on December 18, 2003.[1]
Blu-ray release
In 2014, 555 will receive a three-part Blu-ray release. To promote the release, the cast reunited after 10 years, but they remarked that not much has changed, other than Yoshika Kato changing her stage name to Leilani Gaja and her new life in Hong Kong and series lead Kento Handa's recent popularity on the variety show Tamori Club where he has surprised guests with his knowledge of high-rise buildings and kayÅkyoku.[2]
Cast
- Takumi Inui (ä¹¾ å·§ Inui Takumi): Kento Handa (åŠç”° å¥äºº Handa Kento)
- Mari Sonoda (園田 çœŸç† Sonoda Mari): Yuria Haga (芳賀 優里亜 Haga Yuria)
- Keitaro Kikuchi (èŠæ± 啓太郎 Kikuchi KeitarÅ): Ken Mizorogi (æºå‘‚木 è³¢ Mizorogi Ken)
- Yuji Kiba (æœ¨å ´ 勇治 Kiba YÅ«ji): Masayuki Izumi (泉 政行 Izumi Masayuki)
- Yuka Osada (é•·ç”° çµèб Osada Yuka): Yoshika Kato (åŠ è—¤ 美佳 KatÅ Yoshika)
- Naoya Kaido (æµ·å ‚ 直也 KaidÅ Naoya): Mitsuru Karahashi (唿©‹ å…… Karahashi Mitsuru)
- Masato Kusaka (è‰åŠ é›…äºº Kusaka Masato): Kohei Murakami (æ‘上 幸平 Murakami KÅhei)
- Shuji Mihara (三原 修二 Mihara Shūji): Atsushi Harada (原田 篤 Harada Atsushi)
- Rina Abe (阿部 里奈 Abe Rina): Rie Kasai (河西 り㈠Kasai Rie)
- Aki Sawada (澤田 亜希 Sawada Aki): GÅ Ayano (綾野 剛 Ayano GÅ)
- Teruo Suzuki (鈴木 照夫 Suzuki Teruo): Kayato Watanabe (渡辺 彼野人 Watanabe Kayato)
- Joji Soeno (添野 éŒ äºŒ Soeno JÅji): Taro Ishida (石田 太郎 Ishida TarÅ)
- Sawamura (æ²¢æ‘ Sawamura): Koji Iwakawa (å²©å· å¹¸å¸ Iwakawa KÅji)
- Hikaru Soeno (添野 ã²ã‹ã‚‹ Soeno Hikaru): Manami Miwake (三訳 真奈美 Miwake Manami)
- Masahiko Minami (å— é›…å½¦ Minami Masahiko): Atsushi Ogawa (å°å· æ•¦å² Ogawa Atsushi)
- J (ジェイ Jei): Kenneth Duria (ケãƒã‚¹ãƒ»ãƒ…リア Kenesu Zuria)
- Itsuro Takuma (ç¢ç£¨ 逸郎 Takuma ItsurÅ): Jun Yamasaki (山崎 潤 Yamasaki Jun)
- Saeko Kageyama (影山 冴å Kageyama Saeko): Waka (和香 Waka)
- Kitazaki (北崎 Kitazaki): Ray Fujita (藤田 玲 Fujita Rei)
- Smart Lady (スマートレディ SumÄto Redi): Hitomi Kurihara (æ —åŽŸ çž³ Kurihara Hitomi)
- Kyoji Murakami (æ‘上 å³¡å… Murakami KyÅji): Katsuyuki Murai (æ‘井 克行 Murai Katsuyuki)
- Hanagata (花形 Hanagata): Koji Naka (ä¸ åº·æ²» Naka KÅji)
- Kazufumi Mizuno (水野 å’Œå² Mizuno Kazufumi): Kengo Ohkuchi (å¤§å£ å…¼æ‚Ÿ ÅŒkuchi Kengo)
- Tetsuo Itagaki (æ¿åž£ 哲生 Itagaki Tetsuo): Atsushi Fukazawa (深沢 敦 Fukazawa Atsushi)
- Takako Shimaji (島地 è²´å Shimaji Takako): Chika Nakagami (ä¸ä¸Š ã¡ã‹ Nakagami Chika)
- Teruo's Shadow (照夫ã®å½± Teruo no Kage): Shun Kobayashi (å°æž— 俊 Kobayashi Shun)
- Orphnochs (オルフェノク Orufenoku, Voice): Katsumi Shiono (塩野 å‹ç¾Ž Shiono Katsumi)
- Arch Orphnoch (アークオルフェノク Ä€ku Orufenoku, Voice): Hiroshi Yanaka (å®¶ä¸ å® Yanaka Hiroshi)
- Narration, Driver Voice (ナレーションã€ãƒ‰ãƒ©ã‚¤ãƒãƒ¼éŸ³å£° NarÄ“shon, DoraibÄ Onsei): Takehiko Kano (å‡é‡Ž 剛彦 Kano Takehiko)
Guest actors
- Chie Morishita (森下 åƒæµ Morishita Chie, 1-2): Mika Katsumura (勿‘ 美香 Katsumura Mika)
- Yuji Kiba's Father (æœ¨å ´ 勇治ã®çˆ¶ Kiba YÅ«ji no Chichi, 1): Shinichi Kase (åŠ ç€¬ 慎一 Kase Shinichi)
- Yuji Kiba's Mother (æœ¨å ´ å‹‡æ²»ã®æ¯ Kiba YÅ«ji no Haha, 1): Midori Takei (竹井 ã¿ã©ã‚Š Takei Midori)
- Akai (赤井 Akai, 3-4): Katsuyuki Yamazaki (山﨑 å‹ä¹‹ Yamazaki Katsuyuki)
- Eiichi Toda (戸田 英一 Toda Eiichi, 5-6): Shigeki Kagemaru (影丸 茂樹 Kagemaru Shigeki)
- Professor (教授 KyÅju, 7-8): Ichiro Ogura (å°å€‰ 一郎 Ogura IchirÅ)
- Gorgeous Man (ゴージャスãªç”· GÅjasu na Otoko, 31-32): Masaki Tachi (舘 æ£è²´ Tachi Masaki)
- Crab Orphnoch (クラブオルフェノク Kurabu Orufenoku, 41-42, Voice): Satoshi Matsuda (æ¾ç”° 悟志 Matsuda Satoshi)
Songs
- Opening theme
- "Justiφ's"
- Lyrics: Shoko Fujibayashi
- Composition: Kazuto Sato
- Arrangement: KÅtarÅ Nakagawa
- Artist: ISSA (of DA PUMP)
- Episodes: 2-49
- Ending themes
- "Dead or alive"
- Lyrics: Shoko Fujibayashi
- Composition: Katsuya Yoshida
- Arrangement: Akio Kondo
- Artist: Shinichi Ishihara
- Episodes: 2-20
- "The people with no name"
- Lyrics: Shoko Fujibayashi
- Rap Lyrics: m.c.A.T
- Composition: Cher Watanabe
- Arrangement: RIDER CHIPS
- Artist: RIDER CHIPS featuring m.c.A.T
- Episodes: 21-32, 39
- "EGO ~ eyes glazing over"
- Lyrics: Shoko Fujibayashi
- Composition & Arrangement: Cher Watanabe
- Artist: ICHIDAI (of ROLL DAYS)
- Episodes: 33-38, 41-48
- "Justiφ's -Accel Mix-"
- Lyrics: Shoko Fujibayashi
- Composition: Kazuto Sato
- Arrangement: Kazunori Miyake
- Artist: ISSA (of DA PUMP)
- Episodes: 40, Movie
References
- ↑ "Kamen Rider 555 Info". GameFAQs. Retrieved June 1, 2007.
- ↑ "「仮é¢ãƒ©ã‚¤ãƒ€ãƒ¼555ã€ä¸»è¦ã‚ャストãŒ10å¹´ã¶ã‚Šé›†çµï¼ãƒ–ãƒ«ãƒ¼ãƒ¬ã‚¤åŒ–ãŒæ±ºå®šï¼ - ã‚·ãƒãƒžãƒˆã‚¥ãƒ‡ã‚¤". Cinematoday.jp. Retrieved 2013-10-28.
External links
- Kamen Rider 555 at TV Asahi
- Kamen Rider 555 at Toei TV
- Korean Masked Rider Φ's (Korean)
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