- "Right now, my vintage is luxurious… …Henshin!"
Kamen Rider G was a 20 minute short episode released in 2009. It's an Affectionate Parody of all things Kamen Rider.
In the year 2009 following the events of The War on Terror, a black ops anti-terrorist organization called Shade was created. After the Japanese government uncover human rights violations connected to their Super-Soldier project, they shut Shade down and imprison their leader, Seizan Tokugawa. They now turn into rogue soldiers.
At the TV Asahi building, members of the now-rogue Shade organization take everyone inside hostage. They interrupt filming of a show about wine, hosted by one Eri Hinata, and one of them, called "Number 5", comes to deliver their demands for the release of their leader. Eri recognizes Number 5 as Goro, the man who had promised to marry her three years before but had then disappeared. He didn't seem to remember her at all, however. After finishing the speech on-air he drinks some of the wine left behind by Eri, and his memories of his former life, and the brainwashing and modifications done to him by Shade to make him "remodeled human code G". He begins to fight against Shade for the sake of his love, as the lonely warrior of love, Kamen Rider G.
Recurring Kamen Rider tropes
- Calling Your Attacks: A trope more associated with Showa than Heisei Riders, played by G when he performs his Rider Kick.
- Cool Bike:
Straight out of Kamen Rider: The Next, G rides reboot V3's Hurricane motorcycle. - Cool Sword: G can summon an unnamed sword resembling a sommelier knife from the "G" symbol on his chest. The sword has two retractable blades and its handle is in the shape of the letter G.
- Finishing Move: G has the Swirling Rider Kick which is similar to Faiz's Crimson Smash.
Kamen Rider G contains examples of ...
- Affectionate Parody: G is essentially a Showa-style (Reconstructed Human) Rider in a gloriously over-themed Heisei Rider show.
- Brought to You by the Letter "S": "G" is for Kamen Rider G, obviously.
- The Cameo: Kamen Rider G himself surprisingly makes a brief return in Kamen Rider Zi-O: Over Quartzer, where he appears as one of the extra Riders summoned through Zi-O Ohma Form's powers and fights off some of the villainous Quartzer minions. He even makes his giant "G" symbol on a building just like in his episode.
- Canon Welding: Decade and the other Riders' appearance through a dimensional wall, plus G's post-series appearance in Over Quartzer, firmly cements G's place in the Kamen Rider multiverse and, if references to Neo-Shads in Drive are anything to go by, it may even be placed within the prime universe itself.
- Early-Bird Cameo:
- Kamen Rider Decade appears with all the past Heisei Riders in tow to give support.
- Also, The Big Bad in Kabuto's world that was shown in Decade: Phylloxera Worm.
- Improbable Weapon User: G's obligatory rider sword is actually a giant sommelier knife with corkscrew. It does count as a Cool Sword because of how it is both glorious and fitting for his wine theme.
- Large Ham: Everyone, as it's acted in the standard Japanese melodrama style; the effect is that the parody elements are accentuated.
- Mood Dissonance: The short episode itself played the tropes straight, but being broadcast during SMAP's variety program meant that SMAP was viewing it live, MST3K style. Says it all, really.
- Mundane Made Awesome: G's Kamen Rider theme is... wine. His henshin belt is effectively a buckle-mounted wing corkscrew, activated by slotting a bottle of wine into it — resulting in one of the most pyrotechnically flashy Transformation Sequences in the Rider franchise.
- Mythology Gag: The short version is "everything" (even the recycled music is used under the same circumstances as in the original series) but they went the extra mile with the transformation, which is basically a Continuity Cavalcade in a Transformation Sequence. First, he lands, imprinting his symbol into the ground a la Kiva. Then, he does Kamen Rider 1's arm-fling, then rotates it with his arm leaving behind an afterimage just like Skyrider. He inserts the wine bottle from the side just like Ryuki's Advent Deck insert, and pulls the corkscrew lever back much like Gatack's Cast Off. The suit's red lines appear first and trace around him exactly like Faiz, and then there's a sort of liquid explosion effect just like Chalice. The helmet is last to appear (X-Rider homage, or is that a stretch?) after which the eyepieces light up and there's a ripple of heatwaves, similar to Ixa when his mask opens.
- There is one very subtle reference: The physical transformation ends with the costume in a darker burgundy purple scheme, which bursts into a brighter crimson red when his eyes light up. It's similar to how Kamen Rider 1 and Skyrider started their shows with darker costumes before getting a lighter one, as well as Black and his 'grasshopper monster' intermediary form. (Unsaid in the episode itself is if the burgundy version is his 'evil' form from when he was still with Shade.)
- Pre Ass Kicking One Liner: "What would you like for your pre-meal drink?"
- Rogue Soldier: Shade used to be a black operations anti-terrorist unit. After the Japanese Ministry of Defense disbands it, they turn into Far East Asian Terrorists and raid the TV Asahi building.
- Skyscraper Messages: In the TV special, the eponymous hero's Transformation Sequence ends with an awesomely flashy example of this trope, where the windows of the TV Asahi headquarters behind Goro explode to form a giant letter G.
- The End... Or Is It?: The ending indicates that Seizen does have some stuff up his sleeve, which means that his Shade henchmen will try and free him again. If Neo-Shade in Kamen Rider Drive is anything to go by, they eventually succeed... and are promptly overshadowed. If that was this Shade at all.
