Over the past couple of years the Girls Remix series of Toei Tokusatsu Fan Club specials hasn't just been a brilliant way to bring back the heroines of the Kamen Rider franchise in one multi-series crossover. It's also been building towards something - particularly in its last two instalments Kamen Rider Majade with Girls Remix and Girls Remix in Halloween Party. Now the story reaches its climactic conclusion (for the time being at least) in Kamen Rider Eins with Girls Remix, reuniting many of the cast members from across the previous specials once more alongside representatives from Kamen Rider 555 and Kamen Rider Fourze as well as a few other surprises along the way.
Sumire Korono has escaped Bluebird custody, and has set out to finish what she started! Using former Smart Brain enforcer Rena Kurumi to defeat Kamen Rider Majade, Sumire kidnaps Nayuta and reveals the truth - Nayuta is a cyborg, and the time has come to complete her final surgery.
As Girls Remix set out to rescue their friend, Cloud's forces are ready to fight back. As new friends join the battle, finally the true identity of Sumire is revealed and a brand new Kamen Rider is born...Kamen Rider Eins!
With three different specials now behind it, Kamen Rider Eins with Girls Remix wastes no time in getting to the action. The episode opens with Sumire decimating Bluebird forces before finally confirming everything the audience has been piecing together about Nayuta over the last few years. Arisa Komiya (most notably Yoko Asami/Yellow Buster in Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters) has been a fantastic villain for this trilogy of Girls Remix episodes, and in her final performance really amps up her villainy to a new level of unhinged. Sumire’s reveal as former Hundred-member Kronos also works nicely for the story thematically (as well as giving further life to Hundred outside of Gotchard/Legend crossovers), not that it ever needed a reason to heavily feature revived Riders and copied powers. Her desire to break away from Hundred and create a real Rider of her own provides good motivation for the character, even if there’s an irony in her methods being the oldest trick in the Kamen Rider playbook. It just goes to show that even in an age where Riders have all sorts of origins and powers, sometimes you just can’t beat the classics.
Although sadly Toei weren’t able to bring back everyone who’d previously participated in Girls Remix back for this final instalment, the episode nevertheless does a good job of including a variety of returning cast members. Once again Rinne, Akiko and Hana serve as the foundational members of the group, with Hana taking up a slightly more active role after being away from the action in Halloween Party. Founding members Reika and Sawa also return alongside Nozomi after all three were absent from the previous special, together with Sara Sakurai and even more Gotchard representation in the form of a quick Renge Icho cameo. Though it’s a shame she couldn’t feature in a larger capacity, a quick cameo from Izu is both appreciated and helps the story along. Overall it’s a solid mix of characters from both the Heisei Phase 2 and Reiwa eras, with not all of them needing to be Riders to proof their worth. Akiko continues to be the backbone of the group through her various connections and investigative skills, and it’s great to see Sawa use the Crocodile Fullbottle to fight alongside Nozomi. Of the returning characters Rinne very much remains the protagonist of the story, but with the focus shifting more toward Nayuta it feels a lot more collaborative than the previous two specials and is a lot better for it.
Although sadly Toei weren’t able to bring back everyone who’d previously participated in Girls Remix back for this final instalment, the episode nevertheless does a good job of including a variety of returning cast members. Once again Rinne, Akiko and Hana serve as the foundational members of the group, with Hana taking up a slightly more active role after being away from the action in Halloween Party. Founding members Reika and Sawa also return alongside Nozomi after all three were absent from the previous special, together with Sara Sakurai and even more Gotchard representation in the form of a quick Renge Icho cameo. Though it’s a shame she couldn’t feature in a larger capacity, a quick cameo from Izu is both appreciated and helps the story along. Overall it’s a solid mix of characters from both the Heisei Phase 2 and Reiwa eras, with not all of them needing to be Riders to proof their worth. Akiko continues to be the backbone of the group through her various connections and investigative skills, and it’s great to see Sawa use the Crocodile Fullbottle to fight alongside Nozomi. Of the returning characters Rinne very much remains the protagonist of the story, but with the focus shifting more toward Nayuta it feels a lot more collaborative than the previous two specials and is a lot better for it.
But one of the biggest joys of Girls Remix has been its ability to pull in characters from across the whole franchise, and Kamen Rider Eins does it from some surprising (yet wonderfully fitting) places. The first of these is Rena Kurumi from Kamen Rider 555 20th: Paradise Regained, who joined the cast as its newer Rider Muez. Though not a character with quite as rich a backstory as a lot of the other alumni, her recency makes her a good choice for inclusion as well as featuring her somewhere where she’s not completely overshadowed by the veteran Faiz cast. Muez’s predictive AI ability makes her a good opponent for Majade, or more specifically Twilight Majade. It’s also nice to see her little transformation embarrassment quirk retained, despite otherwise being a very effective villain Rider. The second surprise is the return of Kamen Rider Nadeshiko, who hasn’t been seen since 2012’s Kamen Rider x Kamen Rider Wizard & Fourze: Movie War Ultimatum. Again despite being a movie-exclusive Rider, the little story she has works really well here – helping Nayuta snap out of her identity crisis and carrying on Gentaro’s legacy of making new friends wherever she goes. Fourze representation has been something severely lacking from Girls Remix, and Nadeshiko definitely brings that light-hearted energy that the series had. Though it would have been nice to see actor Erina Mano reprise the role physically as well, she gets plenty of lines to ensure her presence is felt. And though not technically part of Girls Remix as in the group itself, the special ends on one of the biggest and best surprises of all, confirming that Rinne is indeed being tutored by one of Kamen Rider’s all-time greats – Sumiko Ozawa. Beautifully timed with the announcement of Kamen Rider Agito’s 20th anniversary movie, it’s wonderful to see Ozawa again even if just for a moment.
Returning characters aren’t necessarily essential to a tribute though, and much like the previous specials there are also plenty of callbacks to plenty of other series from across the franchise. The most significant of these is Sumire finally becoming a Rider in the form of Kamen Rider Fatale – all all-black repaint of Kamen Rider Femme in a similar vein to Ryuga/Ryuki. As the first female hero in the franchise to be officially designated a Kamen Rider a Femme appearance felt almost mandatory, and in the absence of bringing Miho herself back this is a pretty clever way to do it. It once again expands on the idea of taking existing Rider powers and developing something new from them, whilst also fitting in with pre-established events in the shows’ timelines – Sumire directly referencing Bluebird’s combat data on Ryuga, which presumably came from the Revice cast encountering him in Kamen Rider Geats x Revice: Movie Battle Royale. It should also go without saying that “Kamen Rider Fatale” is just top tier Kamen Rider character naming as well. Cloud cyborgs Carla and Anga also transform into Kamen Rider Mage and a Ride-Player respectively, the former a nice continuation of Koyomi’s appearance in the previous instalment and the latter a small (though possibly entirely coincidental) nod to Ex-Aid celebrating its tenth anniversary this year.
All of this really is burying the lead however, which is of course the birth of Kamen Rider Eins. Over the past three specials we’ve seen hints towards Nayuta’s importance in the overall story, and it’s here that everything falls into place and she finally takes centre stage. Eins takes Kamen Rider right back to its roots not just in terms of her origin but also her design, which as her name suggests is a modern take on Rider 1 but with a feminine twist. The suit itself is beautifully designed, but it’s the little touches like exposed neck and hair that really harken back to Rider 1’s original costume. It’s easily one of the strongest Rider suits a TTFC special has ever put out, to the point where it feels far more deserving of just a one-off special. What make these ties back to Rider 1 all the more fitting is that Nayuta is played by Amane Tensho – daughter of Takeshi Hongo himself, Hiroshi Fujioka. Tensho is the second of Fujioka’s children to join the franchise, following on from older brother Maito Fujioka taking over the mantle from his father as a younger Hongo in Kamen Rider: Beyond Generations, but hearing that it's been a dream of hers ever since she was a child just makes it all the more special. Kamen Rider Eins with Girls Remix is her origin story. Up until this point Nayuta has been the victim in this story, but her transformation is as figurative as it is literal - finally taking control to become the protagonist of her own story. And once that first transformation takes places, the story switches up and allows her to be exactly that. Rinne may have been the driving force behind this trilogy of Girls Remix specials, but the climax belongs mostly to Eins (as Nadeshiko is also there to provide a helping hand). And from there who knows what Toei could have in store for the character, because it would be a real shame to create such a striking Rider and then leave it at that. The potential for a Kamen Rider Eins miniseries is definitely there, now it's just a question of whether they'll capitalise on it.
As per the rest of the Girls Remix series the episode was directed by Kochi Sakamoto, and if there's one thing you can usually guarantee with his involvement it's that he'll bring the action. Once again there's a lot of pleasure to be found in seeing all these different Riders with completely different power sets onscreen together, and having characters like Sawa and Nozomi fight alongside them makes it feel like the out of suit action is getting equal billing to the Riders themselves. But once again it's Eins that's the highlight, that Showa era simplicity standing out in a sea of flashier Heisei/Reiwa era Riders. Everything from the choreography to the sound effects is on point, and capping everything off with a simple Rider Kick is a move that proves just as effective 55 years later.
Kamen Rider Eins with Girls Remix is a fantastic send-off to the Girls Remix series, bringing together all the plot threads from the previous specials to kickstart something even more exciting. Whilst characters like Nadeshiko and Ozawa are great choices to add to the ever-expanding list of cameos the series has, this particular instalment really did belong to Amane Tensho – following on in her father’s footsteps to become a Rider that’s both a loving tribute to the franchise’s roots and has plenty of potential for future reappearances. With both the cast of and prominence of women in Kamen Rider ever-growing, one can only hope this won’t be the last we see of Girls Remix as it would be a real shame to lose a space that celebrates them. The special ends with the tagline “Kamen Rider Eins Begins”, and that had better be a promise Toei.
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