The Toei Tokusatsu Fan Club pulls from all corners of the Kamen Rider franchise when it comes to inspiration for its specials, and one of its most deserved and overdue offerings in recent years is Girls Remix - a celebration of the heroines of Kamen Rider. Whereas the first Girls Remix special in 2022 was a largely self-contained crossover, when it returned in 2025 with Kamen Rider Majade with Girls Remix it hinted towards a much bigger storyline. Luckily fans haven't had to wait too long for the next instalment, as it gets into the spooky season with Girls Remix in Halloween Party. Key cast members Akiko, Rinne and Hana return once more, this time bringing in new characters from Kamen Rider Kiva, Kamen Rider Wizard, Kamen Rider Geats, Kamen Rider Gotchard and Kamen Rider Gavv.
Girls Remix continues to operate with its newest members, Rinne and her classmate Nayuta Mikazuki! When Shizuka Nomura approaches them with a mysterious invite to a Halloween party, the pair (along with Akiko) agree to tag along and investigate. Meanwhile, Hana continues to interrogate Sumire about her involvement with and the plans of the evil organisation Cloud.
At the Halloween party, Girls Remix meet up with Sara Sakurai before they are confronted by the party's host - Koyomi, accompanied by Glotta Stomach and the Hundred agent Mimei. The trio attack, but not before Koyomi presents the group with Rider powers to fight back alongside Majade. Who has awakened Koyomi from the dead? And why has Cloud's mysterious belt reappeared before Nayuta?
Given the impressive number of characters featured in its first special, there was always a chance that Girls Remix played its hand far too early. Nearly all of the woman Riders from recent years made appearances (along with other key characters), and if the spin-off were to continue there was no way Toei would be able to keep bringing them all back. That proved to be the case when Kamen Rider Majade with Girls Remix debuted with a smaller cast, but the pivot towards featuring Rinne as the main character definitely helped its case. The sequel also brought a number of new characters into the mix as well, going so far to even feature characters from non-mainline series like Amazons' Nozomi (as well as references to Fuuto PI). Girls Remix in Halloween Party follows in similar fashion, once again featuring a smaller cast of protagonists but a lot of new returning characters. With many of them also not necessarily being Riders either, clearly the only pre-requisite to featuring in Girls Remix is that you're a woman who appeared in Kamen Rider. Which is great, because even without these specials giving these characters new opportunities to become Riders themselves, the franchise is full of fantastic women who never even picked up a belt.
Whereas the previous instalment had to spend time building everything from the ground up, with Rinne and Nayuta properly integrated into the Girls Remix group Halloween Party has a much easier time of getting started. Shizuka very easily slips into the cast, with Akiko continue to act as the fountain of all knowledge when it comes to Kamen Rider heroines. That said, the special is also good at tapping into any previously established links between series, highlighting Rinne's previous encounter with Keiwa in the Gotchard/Geats crossover movie so that the group can build up a quick rapport with Sara. While Hana plays a much more limited role here, her appearance helps in reminding the audience of Cloud's involvement and that Sumire is still a player in this story. Despite Girls Remix in Halloween Party having moments that feel like they're simply there for plot convenience (Sara and Shizuka suddenly exhibiting Jyamato and Fangire powers for example), there's also the reassurance that the story is building towards something - and as such the hope anything unclear will get explained when the time comes.
Of course, a lot of the joy in Girls Remix comes from seeing these characters again and learning both how they interact with one another and how they've developed since their respective series. Halloween Party gets into the theme well by heavily featuring characters from both Kiva and Wizard, and speculation is abound when it comes to Shizuka. We learn that Wataru is off with his son (presumably implying Masao from its final episode), but also the opening credits have her showing off a wedding ring. Shizuka fits in perfectly alongside Akiko and Rinne, as does the ever-affable Sara. While probably not everyone's first choice of a Geats character to feature, she works nicely as a bridge between the Rider and non-Rider characters - being a Rider herself but arguably more of a bit player than all the others. As the key returning Rider in the story Rinne takes centre-stage far more comfortably this time around, framed as the poster-child for female Riders that she's always deserved to be. And then Akiko just continues to be wonderfully herself, maniacally over the top when it comes to comedy yet somehow eerily competent at the same time. There isn't another character like her, and remains the perfect choice to somehow have brought all these girls together.
The villain side of things are just as interesting, with Koyomi Fueki making her long-awaited return. While not the first time we've seen her follow in her father's footsteps as Kamen Rider Wiseman, this version of Koyomi seems to revel in villainy - with actress Makoto Okunaka clearly having a wonderful time doing it. Comparatively Glotta and Mimei feel like far "safer" choices in that they're both from recent series, but that certainly doesn't make them bad ones. Glotta in particular is a great choice for Gavv representation, and even if it doesn't play into her own story in any way her violent personality is always a winner when it comes to action scenes. There's less to say about Mimei being a bit-part character from what is effectively Gotchard side material, but a Hundred member is both an unexpected pull and lends itself well to a special where multiple series are being referenced.
Ultimately the main draw here is seeing all these pre-existing characters come together, but that doesn't mean Girls Remix isn't having fun telling its own ongoing story at the same time. All three specials have been written and directed by Hiroki Uchida (Gotchard co-writer) and Koichi Sakamoto respectively, and it's clear they've mapped out a plan for where this is all headed. It's being teased out slowly, but everything that was present in the previous entry - Sumire, Cloud, the mysterious belt, the resurrection of long dead characters, is present here as well. Further adding to the mystery are Nayuta's flashbacks to being kidnapped by Cloud, where she was seemingly experimented on in the traditional Kamen Rider way. While admittedly we know next to nothing about Cloud, their Shocker-like methods and Ishinomori artwork-inspired soldiers are certainly alluring. And even if they don't amount to anything? Well they'll still as interesting as Foundation X ever were. Nayuta is shaping up to be a big player in all of this, as rarely do brand new characters get this much screen time between multiple specials. Given all the various places Girls Remix has pulled from already, it'll be interesting to see what both her and the new (still unnamed) Rider link back to. While it would be unreasonable to expect anything franchise-breaking from a fun series of specials like this, even doing something memorable beyond its core premise and creating some level of hype is commendable.
But regardless of what Girls Remix may or may not be building towards, damn does it know how to link its inspirations together. Whether it's creating parallels across the various series or simply tying it all back to the Halloween theme, Girls Remix in Halloween Party makes even the most obvious of ideas feel cleverly sourced. The best example of this is Rinne being motivated to save Koyomi's soul after learning she was a doll created by the Philosopher's Stone - the exact same way Glion created the Dark Sisters in Gotchard. It's such an obvious parallel, but works so well to create a relationship between these two characters whose series are over a decade apart. The same goes for the other big surprise of Girls Remix in Halloween Party - the return of Kamen Rider Kiva-la. After years being locked behind a Kamen Rider Decade movie and a character who may never return to franchise, Kiva's unofficial female Rider becomes intertwined with the series properly. Sure the reasoning here might be convoluted, but seeing an alternate universe version of the character debut as an actual Kiva character just feels right. It also opens Girls Remix up to the idea that veteran cast members still have the opportunity to become Riders long after their series have ended, which is a pretty exciting thought. Seeing the likes of Kamen Rider Wiseman and the Heat Dopant (proof that including Mimei was a great for surprise pulls) are great too, but Kiva-la coming back after all these years is particularly special.
A great roster of returning characters means some great fight scenes too, allowing for fun matchups with power sets that wouldn't have crossed paths otherwise. Misgivings anyone may have over Koichi Sakamoto directing an all-girls special are perfectly valid, but the man knows how to direct an action sequence. There's flashy visuals and some great choreography both in and out of suit here, particularly from Rinne. The Wiseman, Kiva-la and Heat Dopant suits all look great too, which is surprising given their age (and presuming they're the originals, although recreations for a special like this seems unlikely).
The Toei Tokusatsu Fan Club was already onto something special with the Girls Remix series, but the ongoing plot that first surfaced in Kamen Rider Majade with Girls Remix and now Girls Remix in Halloween Party has taken it from strength to strength. Again it may have a smaller roster than the first instalment, but Halloween Party makes everything count with some truly inspired character and story choices that both fit the theme and link the various series together well. Along with creating further mystery with its original ideas and characters, the series is clearly gearing up to something good and hopefully fans won't have to wait too long for the next chapter (hopefully featuring some Zeztz representation). If only Kamen Rider Outsiders had been this good.
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