Kamen Rider Transforms Stateside

An Interview with producer Mike Wang

By Sheena McNeil
June 15, 2009

Kamen Rider is an iconic, live-action kids' television series in Japan that has had many retellings. Mike and Steve Wang are the producers behind the new version, Kamen Rider Dragon Knight, which is bringing the show to new viewers in the US. Mike Wang was kind enough to answer a few questions about this hot new kids' show about a teenager who finds a mysterious deck of cards that allow him to transform into one of twelve armored warriors called Kamen Riders and battle monstrous enemies in the real world and an alternate reality.

Sequential Tart: What is your favorite part about the new Kamen Rider Dragon Knight (KDRK) series?

Mike Wang: My favorite part of the series is keeping the spirit of creator Shotaro Ishinomori's original vision of Kamen Rider. The Kamen Rider series both past and present has always been about "hero drama" and it was important for us to maintain that in KDRK. We wanted to create characters that were more than one-dimensional and explore the idea that life isn't always black and white. There is this vast grey area in between.

ST: How well do you think it captures the story and the spirit of the original series?

MW: The story in KDRK is different from the original series Ryuki. Ryuki was produced in 2002 and is considered a "Heisei"-era series. For KDRK, we decided to create a main villain that the riders could fight. The show is more like the original "Showa"-era Kamen Rider series where the riders fight an evil organization. In our story it is an alien in the form of General Xaviax.

We have also kept some of the original concepts like the "Rider War," although in our story the riders are being manipulated by General Xaviax to fight for him. We also kept the idea of the "Mirror World," which we call Ventara in KRDK. Ventara is a mirror of Earth, but in another dimension. The Kamen Riders are originally from Ventara, created to fight General Xaviax from taking over their world and using the Ventarans as slaves. They eventually defeat him, but Xaviax comes back and convinces one of the original Kamen Riders to betray the other riders. It is the original Kamen Rider Dragon Knight who betrays the riders by stealing all of their Advent Decks while they are in hibernation. Unfortunately, all of the original riders except our hero Len (Kamen Rider Wing Knight) are "vented" — sent to the "Advent Void" forever. And now General Xaviax wants to capture Earth and he has most of the Advent Decks to use to his advantage. This is where our story begins.

ST: Why did you pick this series to bring to American audiences?

MW: Our Executive Producer Aki Komine and Adness Entertainment had the idea of bringing Kamen Rider back to the states. Mr. Komine is a longtime Kamen Rider fan and it was one of his dreams to revamp the series in America. Once he and Adness got the permission from Toei, he then asked Steve [Wang] if he was interested in a Kamen Rider revamp. That’s when Steve brought me in to partner up with him.

Kamen Rider is hugely successful in Japan and all over Asia and has been around for over 37 years. The series was adapted ten years ago by Saban Entertainment and they called it Masked Rider. That adaptation had more comedy and was catered to the same audience as Power Rangers. In Japan, Kamen Rider has always been more mature, so I think it didn't sit well with the original fans. As far as adapting Ryuki that was Toei and Adness' decision because there are 13 riders.

ST: Is this new series still targeting kids, or has it been adapted or broadened to reach an older audience? If it's the latter, how was that done and why?

MW: KDRK is still a kids' show, but our target audience is older kids ages 6-12. In keeping with the original tone of Kamen Rider in Japan, we decided to keep the themes more mature in the hopes that older kids and parents can watch it and relate to the stories and characters. We also didn't want the show to compete with Power Rangers, which is also a Toei Company, Ltd product and is produced for a younger demographic just like in Japan.

ST: Why are characters that are older than High School students being used? Many series, American and Japanese, for kids feature young teenagers as the heroes, which is closer to the target audience. How are kids expected to identify with someone that old?

MW: We did explore the idea of setting it in high school, but collectively with Adness we decided against it. Kamen Rider for the most part has always centered on a lone character thrust into being a superhero. In KRDK our lead rider, Kit Taylor, just turned 18 and is pretty much on his own, with a mother who died and now his father missing. Kit has to grow up pretty quickly now that he is an adult. We hope that kids, when they see this, will see the value in having a support system like parents because Kit doesn't have that anymore, and has to channel his inner strength and courage to survive in a not-so-friendly world. Add an alien who wants to destroy it and you have KRDK!.

Kit will eventually mature from his experience of becoming a Kamen Rider and has to make some very adult choices. We hope that the younger audiences will appreciate the real life dilemmas our characters have to face, very much like the superheroes in American comic books.

ST: Is KDRK done completely with the American cast, or is it partially original Japanese footage like Power Rangers?

MW: KDRK is an all-new American cast. We do use Japanese footage just like Power Rangers, but we use only the action scenes that work best with our story. We did shoot a lot of our own action and FX sequences. Much of the episodes are all new action footage, which was shot brilliantly by Yuji Noguchi and the Alpha Stunts team. Steve also directed a bunch of the action sequences as well since he is so amazing at it.

ST: Why did you decide to go that route?

MW: We used the Japanese footage because a lot of it was great and we still wanted to maintain the Kamen Rider brand within the action and FX. If we shot new action or transformations it was only to enhance it for the U.S. audiences that have grown accustomed to flashier effects sequences. And there is also the budget issue. Using the Japanese footage saved us money for more original action sequences and more complex CGI.

ST: I love that there's a strong female Knight. Was that character originally female or was it altered to be female for this adaptation? If the character was altered, why?

MW: We love the idea of a female rider as well. In the original series, "Kamen Rider Femme" is the first female Kamen Rider in the history of Kamen Rider, but she was only presented in the movie version of Ryuki. We definitely wanted a female rider in KDRK and expanded her role for our series. It was important for us to have a female Kamen Rider who was not only intelligent, but can kick major ass! She can hold her own when she hangs with the boys and Carrie Reichenbach who plays Kamen Rider Siren does an amazing job! You don’t want to mess with her!

ST: Why not have more female Knights? After all, there are 12 Knights total. How does it make her stronger to be the only one? And how does it affect the target audience to have only one female?

MW: We would have loved to have another female Kamen Rider in the show, but our story didn't call for it. We do have some exciting reveals for her character, so hopefully that will make the girls who watch the show root for her. Siren has some big shoes to fill being the first female rider and she makes some tough decisions after she is introduced, so stay tuned ....

ST: Will there be action figures for all of the Knights including the girl? (I ask because other series have refused to make girl action figures when the target audience was boys, even if there are many girl viewers.)

MW: There will toys for all of the riders including a Kamen Rider Siren action hero.

ST: What was the most challenging aspect of adapting such an iconic Japanese series for an American audience?

MW: The challenge for us was to find the right tone for the series. KRDK is still a kids' show, but we had to find the balance of staying true to the original series (which was darker and more violent), and making sure this version was safe for kids in the U.S.. Fortunately for us, we had support of the CW/4Kids, and they have been really great and worked closely with us to insure that none of our vision was ever compromised. They understood that the series had mature themes, and that's what made it unique for a kids' show.

ST: What is the hardest part about making the armor/costumes believable?

MW: I think the challenge is mostly in how the suits were presented. Some of the monster suits can be over the top at times, so there is no getting around it, but it was important for us to enhance the sound design to give the monster and riders a strong presence. For the riders, we give them an armored presence, which added weight to the suits and made them more believable.

ST: I love the giant spider and the dragon. How much of each episode relies on CG effects?

MW: We have CGI in all of the episodes. Each episode has at least one transformation per rider. We ended up with over 2000 CGI shots in the entire 40 episodes for the season! Our Visual FX team did an amazing job given the budget and the tight schedule.

ST: Why do they use a deck of cards? Why not a henshin (transformation) device that has no other uses tied to it? Do they have to play them in order to use powers (like series such as Yu-Gi-Oh!)? If so, how are these powers manifested?

MW: The deck of cards was an original concept in Ryuki so we couldn’t change that. We only enhanced it with the spinning graphics after they slot the cards. This was a request from Bandai since Ryuki didn't have the spinning graphics. They wanted to revamp the new belt so that it would appeal to the kids in the U.S. who are used to their bling! Their belt line came out great and I want one of each!

Explaining the card idea, each "Advent Card" has a specific power that gets summoned whenever they slot it into their "Advent Belt." The card idea is a popular trend for kids' shows like Yu-Gi-Oh! in the fact that the kids can role-play with one another and summon whatever power they want to defeat their enemies.

ST: If you could start over, what would you do differently in the planning and production of this series?

MW: This series was very ambitious because of the budget, as well as the expectations. Visually we wanted the show to have a higher production value and feel more like movie. With our budget that sometimes proved to be challenging, but hopefully we were able to achieve a higher production value. Being able to shoot in LA was also a major part of the look of Kamen Rider. Having the LA skyline as a backdrop is always a plus if you want to add scope.

There's not a whole lot I would change because Adness and Toei have been very supportive in all of our ideas and our vision. I guess having a bigger budget would always be great, but even if we had a bigger budget, I'm sure we wouldn't think it's enough!

We knew that if we maintained Shotaro Ishinomori's original vision of adding "hero drama" to this series, about conflicted heroes ultimately tested to choose what is either right for them or choose what is right for the better good, then most audiences would be able to relate to it. In KDRK nothing is as it seems and it will take a selfless hero to stay true to himself and do what is right.

Steve and I hope that if Shotaro Ishinomori were alive today, he would approve of this adaptation because we fought tooth and nail to keep his vision alive and maintain the spirit of the show. Steve had the privilege of meeting Mr. Ishinomori years ago when he was 21, and during that meeting with him he told Steve he looked like a Kamen Rider! But, the best part of the story is that Steve was wearing a Batman t-shirt. Who would have known that we would be adapting Ryuki today! Steve has that picture of them somewhere, so I'm sure it will surface one day.

ST: Who is your favorite Knight and why?

MW: I like all of the riders for different reasons, but design-wise I think Torque's armor is pretty cool and he also has the most toys!

ST: If you could be a character in this world, good or bad, who would you be and why?

MW: I would be Oprah, because no one including General Xaviax would ever want to mess with her!

Kamen Rider
Adness Entertainment