Trivia / Kamen Rider (1971)

• Actor-Inspired Element: The whip Dr. Shinigami uses was one Hideyo Amamoto bought while traveling in Egypt.
• Follow the Leader: Toei made the series in response to Ultra Fight success and news of Return of Ultraman production, however besides the basic Henshin Hero and Monster of the Week gimmick the series are very unique from each other, with Shotaro Ishinomori more taking inspiration from his own works like Cyborg 009 and Skull Man. Kamen Rider itself would spawn many imitators of its own, and with the previous mentioned Return of Ultraman, launch the henshin boom of the 70's.
• Fountain of Expies:
  • After Kamen Rider became a hit, Toei and other production companies would try their hand at replicating its success with shows like Kikaider, Inazuman and P Productions's Tetsujin Tiger Seven, to the point where the period around when Kamen Rider aired is called the "Henshin Boom".
  • Shocker are also pretty the Trope Codifier for Nebulous Evil Organisations in Japanese media, to the point where most Toku villain groups draw from them in some way.
  • Kazuya Taki would also spawn a less common but still notable archetype of the Badass Normal sidekick who was a member of a law enforcement agency, as seen with characters like Shinzo Go, Ippei Shima and Makoto Arai (the former two even being played by the same actor).
• Late Export for You: After nearly 50 years since its premiere, it finally found a North American release via Shout! Factory.
• On-Set Injury: Hiroshi Fujioka initially did his own stunts in the suit. However, this came back to bite him when filming a motorcycle scene, as his leg got stuck on a wire, followed by the bike coming back and hitting him, shattering his leg. This necessitated Fujioka's character being written out and replaced with someone else taking up the mantle of Kamen Rider. Although Fujioka got better and returned to the show as the second half of the Double Riders, with few exceptions, no actor for Kamen Rider has done their own stunts since.
• Troubled Production: Production of both the film Kamen Rider Vs Ambassador Hell and the contemporary episodes of the TV series were disrupted when Hiroshi Fujioka suddenly took leave to star in a new drama. He was not necessarily entirely at fault, however, as Kamen Rider producers claimed that he was ordered to audition by the president of his talent agency. Fujioka spoke about the incident later, deeming it an unpleasant memory which he had left behind.
• What Could Have Been
  • Colonel Zol's Wolf Man form was originally supposed to be recycled from the Experimental Wolf Man under his command, but was painted gold to avoid confusion, as well as invoke Gold-Colored Superiority.
  • Before becoming the squid-themed Ikadevil, Doctor Shinigami's One-Winged Angel form was planned as the saw shark-themed Girizames, which explains why Girizames is designed with his High Collar of Doom and a gold belt buckle. Ultimately, Girizames appeared as another Monster of the Week in episode 67, the episode preceeding Doctor Shinigami's last stand, but the opening credits of episode 68 still lists Doctor Shinigami's monster form as Girizames instead of Ikadevil.
  • The introduction of the third Kamen Rider was initially planned for the original series. What ultimately became the first two episodes of Kamen Rider V3 were first conceived as episodes 99 and 100.
  • It was indeed planned that Kazuya Taki, the Riders' Badass Normal ally, become Kamen Rider 3, the idea being that he would have been captured by Shocker and converted into a cyborg to fight Hongo, only to escape just like his predecessors. An alternate idea also suggested at the time was Rider 1 and 2 creating a new robotic Kamen Rider 3 to join them in their battle. The idea of turning Kazuya into a Rider seemed to get close enough to execution that he was depicted as such in the contemporary manga Kamen Rider: Rider 3 vs. The Demon of General Black.

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