The importance of Kamen Rider Kuuga cannot be understated. The 2000s live-action tokusatsu brought back the Kamen Rider franchise to the forefront, establishing it as a consistent program on Japanese airwaves for decades to come. Without Kuuga, Kamen Rider probably wouldn’t be airing still. Kuuga officially turned 25 on January 30 and to celebrate the glorious occasion, Toei and the original Kuuga producer, Shigenori Takatera, have shared new promotional materials for the show. The promos include a new 25th-anniversary logo and a video advertising the upcoming Super Kuuga Exhibition. The video features new footage of the iconic Kuuga Rider costume and is narrated by the original narrator of the Kamen Rider Kuuga, Fumihiko Tachiki.
Videos by ComicBook.com
The Super Kuuga Exhibition kicks off in Tokyo in June 2025 and will travel across Japan, stopping at Fukuoka, Nagoya, and Osaka before expanding to other parts of Asia in 2026. The tagline for the 25th Anniversary is โ2025: Starting the Era from Zero,” which is a reference to the now iconic opening theme of Kamen Rider Kuuga, “Kamen Rider Kuuga!” It’s unknown if there will be more events for 2025 or if any of the other staff and cast will be involved with the 25th Anniversary.
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Kamen Rider Kuuga’s Message to Fans
Oricon shared producer Takatera’s message to fans of the show, describing his initial goal for Kamen Rider Kuuga was to break away from the traditional trappings of the standard children’s program. Takatera wanted the franchise to evolve but finds looking back on Kuuga 25 years later contradictory to what he originally wanted to do with the show. However, he now wants to offer fans something truly special with the Super Kuuga Exhibition. The new exhibition will finally show never-before-seen designs, sketches, and behind-the-scenes production materials. Fans can also expect to see original props deep within Toei’s archives. Takatera ends his message hoping fans will join the creatives again to create a new legend again.
Why Kamen Rider Kuuga is Important
Kamen Rider is one of the pillars of Japanese pop culture, yet there was a time when no Kamen Rider show was airing. Toei put the franchise on hiatus after the end of Kamen Rider Black RX in 1989. There was no new Kamen Rider for over a decade, and it was believed the franchise was done. Kamen Rider Kuuga then aired at the start of the new millennium, drastically changing the tokusatsu landscape.
Whereas other tokusatsu shows like Super Sentai were colorful and campy, Kuuga was meant to be dark and scary. Monsters roamed the streets of Japan, killing innocent people. There was also plenty of police procedure in the show, as one of the side characters was an officer who tried triangulating the causes of the murders. It was a serious show for a more serious era. Many special effects are now laughably outdated, especially its primitive CGI, and the cheap monster costumes often betray the show’s serious tone. Nonetheless, Kuuga was the right Kamen Rider show for the right time.
The success of Kuuga has allowed the franchise to continue to this day, with every proceeding year having a new Kamen Rider show since 2000. The Kamen Rider shows have become increasingly sillier as the series went on, becoming something more akin to Super Sentai. Nevertheless, the franchise owes a lot to Kuuga and is still widely considered a fan-favorite 25 years later.
Source: Oricon
