Kamen Rider Black (1987)

Black!

And finally I finished: Kamen Rider Black. Amazing visual effects, creepy monsters and a well written story (very episodic and long, but still). The protagonist is great, and the villain being another Raider in the end is a good choice. It gives a very dynamic duality of roles. I just wouldn't say it's my favorite Raider so far due to the pacing being a bit of a drag. The episodic feature of the show give the feeling that it should end early. Even so, it remains one of the best rider series. Very dark and creepy with incredible pratical effects. If you have never watched any showa Raider i recomend this one.

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LONG, LONG AGO, SHOWA ERA

Kamen Rider Black is, overall, fantastic. It may be a great introduction to the series as a whole. The suit designs are great, the stunts are exciting, Kotaro's transformations into Black might be one of my favorite Henshins in the series. It also has a great end credits sequence - the single, isolated Kamen Rider Black marching ever forward. It's a great way to summarize the show in general. It carries itself with a distinct tone - it is dark, and at times perilous, but at the same time it still has moments and episodes of more wild, silly concepts for episodes. While it can sort of effect the tone of the overall series, it also stands to show the humanity that Kotaro wants to keep dear. It isn't perfect, because some of these episodes can really mess with the overall tone of the series, but it's not to a grueling extent like the OG 71 series could be at times. It's not my absolute favorite but it is definitely high up on the list.

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