Kamen Rider V3

Iris has taken over the whole front page. Can’t have that, can we?

I recently decided to make an effort to watch as much of the classic Showa-era Kamen Rider series as I could find. This was largely inspired by KITsubs taking up subbing the original Kamen Rider. If you haven’t checked out their work, I highly recommend it. The first series I was able to watch in full was Kamen Rider V3, thanks to it being available on DVD from Generation Kikaida. V3 was the second Kamen Rider series, following directly off the original.

In V3, a new organization called Destron has risen from the ashes of the Shocker organization from the original series. Kazami Shiro witnesses a murder perpetrated by Destron, and they make several attempts to kill him as well. After those attempts fail, they outright attack the Kazami family. Rider 1 and Rider 2 try to help, but are too late, and only Shiro survives. Mourning the loss of his parents and sister, Shiro insists the Double Riders turn him into a cyborg like them. They refuse, but are forced to change their minds after Shiro is injured while saving the Riders in a failed raid on Destron’s base. Kazami Shiro is reborn as Kamen Rider V3, sporting a dragonfly inspired look, and powered by a Double Typhoon belt infused with the energy of both Rider 1 and Rider 2. As explained in the series, this gives him both Rider 1’s masterful technique and Rider 2’s incredible strength. V3 has a wide variety of fighting techniques, claiming to have 26 secrets which are revealed over the course of the series. Some are offensive attacks like the V3 Reverse Kick, some are defensive like his “hardened” bullet-proof muscles, and some are utility like the “V3 Hopper” surveillance device on his belt.

Shiro, as Kamen Rider V3 works alongside the Double Riders to fight Destron. However, the Double Riders are soon apparently killed when they carry a kaijin away from a populated area before he explodes, leaving V3 to fight Destron. V3 is not alone, however, and does have some extra help. Returning from the original series is Tachibana Tobei, who builds for V3 a motorcycle called the Hurricane, and continues to support V3 as he did the Double Riders. Acting as romantic interest and general damsel in distress is Tama Junko, another unwitting witness to Destron whom Shiro rescued in episode 1. V3 also has the Shonen Kamen Rider Tai (Boy Kamen Rider Squad), a group of young boys all across Japan who scout for Destron activity. How snooping around Destron operations wearing bright red jackets and ball caps that look like V3’s face doesn’t get them all killed, I’ll never know.

V3’s most notable help comes very late in the series, in the form of Yuuki Jouji. Jouji is a Destron scientist who turns on the organization. As punishment, his right arm is painfully melted off. Before he can be killed, he’s rescued by a few of his colleagues. As they attempt to avoid capture, they help Jouji create for himself a cybernetic arm, turning him into Riderman. Riderman’s arm has a couple different modes, but the ones you generally see are Rope Arm and Power Arm. Power Arm looks like a set of pincers, and increases Riderman’s strength. Rope Arm is the one most commonly seen, and itself has a couple different abilities. It can be used as a grappling hook, a mace, or to fire a net to ensnare foes.

When first they meet, V3 and Riderman do not get along. Shiro believes Jouji is putting himself at unnecessary risk, but Jouji is driven by rage and determined to get his revenge. This leads to a couple physical confrontations between V3 and Riderman, but eventually they reconcile and begin to function as partners. Riderman is killed when he manually pilots a deadly missile to prevent it from hitting Tokyo, and V3 posthumously declares him Kamen Rider 4. Riderman does show up in later crossover specials, but his survival is never explained in the TV series itself. After Riderman’s death, V3 finally defeats Destron’s great leader, restores peace for the time being, and rides off into the sunset.

Overall, V3 is an excellent example of Showa-era Kamen Rider in its purest form. The original series had some birthing pains as it pioneered this style of show, but by V3 that’s all worked out and you have a very polished final product. Aspects of V3 can be seen running through to this day, including having conflict between Riders, and a format that tells each story over two episodes as has seen reemergence with Kamen Rider W and Kamen Rider OOO. In a certain sense, this is the one to watch, as it takes the benefit of all the lessons learned during the original series, and improves upon it. About the only thing I didn’t like was actually Riderman. I found him to be obnoxious, and his powers lame and uninspiring. Considering he appears in less than 10 episodes, it actually bothers me that he’s considered one of the “main” Kamen Riders, where supporting Riders of the Heisei era are not. Riderman aside though, V3 is a great series. If you can stomach the cheesy early 70’s costumes and effects, I definitely recommend giving V3 a watch.