First Impressions: Kamen Rider My-Th

After Kamen Rider Zeztz kicked of Toei's plans of global expansion in full force, it's time to enter phase two as the Kamen Rider franchise celebrates its 55th anniversary. Kamen Rider My-Th, the eighth instalment in the current Reiwa era (and 41st main instalment overall), finds a new home on YouTube over at the Toei Tokusatsu World Official channel, which for the last few years has hosted a selection of Kamen Rider series and movies as well as various other Toei tokusatsu and anime shows. The series is being written by none other than Naruhisa Arakawa, best known for his helping to bring Kamen Rider back to television screens with Kamen Rider Kuuga back in 2026. This first episode, entitled "The Mouse Meister and the Young Lady", was directed by Shojiro Nakazawa.

100 years ago during the Taisho era, two men face off on a rainy night in the Capital - one transforming into a mouse, the other into a cat. The mouse warns that in a hundred years' time "a new door will be opened" and humanity will evolve, but the cat replies that he will lead them to "true hope" with his own hands.

In the present day, mysterious disappearances catch the eye of Yuna Mizuki and her servant Sora Otosumi, believing them to be the work of creatures known as the Inexplicable (Fukashigi). After encountering one during his investigation, Sora uses the My-Th Driver and Ride X-Eggs to become Kamen Rider My-Th - defeating the monster with ease and taking its Seed X-Eggs. At the same, the Twelve Animal Signs Alliance (Zyunishi Doumei) awakens from its 100-year slumber, and is surprised to find a new mouse Rider already battling their enemy.

Addressing the elephant in the room first, Toei's chosen distribution method for Kamen Rider My-Th outside of Japan has changed quite significantly from the way it was handled for Zeztz. In addition to the move from TokuSHOUTsu to the Toei Tokusatsu World Official channel, episodes now debut with English subtitles roughly 48 hours after they air in Japan and will remain on the channel for a month. While that makes the window to watch episodes considerably smaller (and impossible for viewers to jump into the series midway through without resorting to other means), the show is now also available to fans in India, Europe and Africa in addition to the USA, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The show being available in more territories is nothing but a good thing, even if it's still not quite a "worldwide" release just yet. The limited timeframe is certainly less than ideal, but not an uncommon practice for Japanese shows (others have gone into it in far more detail than I plan to here). A separate streaming platform for the USA, Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand has also been teased which will presumably have the episodes up in a more long-term fashion, but what exactly that will entail is unknown at this point. There are both pros and cons to the change, but ultimately it still feels like Kamen Rider's global expansion is very much in its teething strange. Given that Zeztz's simulcast began as a livestream and eventually shifted to straightforward uploads as well, there's every possibility things could change for My-Th over the next year as well.

Moving onto the episode itself, if there's one thing that has carried over from Zeztz it's that Kamen Rider My-Th sure knows how to make an entrance. The opening battle oozes with style, using the "100 years ago" setting to initially frame the scene as a silent film - with colour and sound effects appearing as the pair transform. It's a strong opener that delivers on the action whilst setting up the rivalry between cat and mouse Riders, the little bits of dialogue cryptically teasing out what will unfold over the next 50 or so episodes. And if Kamen Rider Kuuga is anything to go by, Arakawa loves to tease things out.

Fast-forward to present day, and we quickly get a sense of the relationship between Yuna (Riko Horikawa) and Sora (Ikuho Akiya). As much as I loved Baku it's nice to see a Kamen Rider again with an actual job, but while Sora clearly takes his servant duties very seriously what's more interesting is the way the pair work together when it comes to investigating the Inexplicable. Yuna is very much in on Sora being Kamen Rider My-Th, actively helping him pinpoint where the monster will strike next and (if she had her own way anyway) joining him on his missions as well. It's been a while since we had a series where the main Rider was already pre-established in the first episode (the last time being Geats back in 2022), so having their backstory gradually revealed feels like a novel experience again. We get some hints towards this with a brief flashback at the end of the episode, but it's definitely the kind of episode that leaves you with more questions than answers. In the meantime, it's fun just to watch their dynamic - particularly with the way Sora forces Yuna to study even in the midst of an Inexplicable sighting.

Opposing them - or rather soon to be opposing them as they barely interact this episode, are the Twelve Animal Signs Alliance, whose scenes arguably set up the most of the premiere's intrigue. As if the prospect of a large multi-Rider series with each one based on an animal of the Chinese Zodiac wasn't exciting enough, the show's already having fun with the concept by having the cat replace the mouse (rat) rather than vice versa as it is in the folklore. We don't spend a great deal of time with the Alliance, but it's enough to see that they all have their own eccentricities that go beyond simply being 100 years out of their original time. On which note, the Taisho era fashion looks fantastic - it gives the group a distinct look and will surely stand out all the more once they get out into the world and start mingling amongst the present day. While pre-release materials have revealed a little more about these characters here they just feel fully steeped in mystery - unsettling enough to spy on our hero but at the same time seemingly having the same end goal as him. The flashback is enough to show that they have history with the mouse Rider, but with Sora clearly not being the same My-Th from 100 years ago that's another mystery yet to be revealed. One thing is already clear though - Tatsuomi Asao (Hayate Akate) is going to have a particularly interesting relationship with Sora as he poses undercover as Yuna's tutor. As a side note, there's also a fan theory going around at the moment that they use the phrase "metamorphosis" to transform because they predate the word "henshin". Whether that's a coincidence or not, it's certainly a fun little detail.

In comparison there isn't a whole lot to say about the Inexplicable right now. It's a great suit design, but "monster kidnapping couples" is a fairly stock plot you could find in any Kamen Rider series. It does however provide the perfect opportunity for My-Th to make his debut and show everyone what the little mouse is made of. It's common practice for a Kamen Rider premiere to go big on the spectacle, and just as Sora says himself My-Th does so in the kind of narrow spaces where a mouse would feel right at home. The fight has great energy to it even if it does go a little too heavy on the CGI at times, which on the one hand isn't unexpected for modern Kamen Rider but on the other does detract a little from the suit-acting and fight choreography. Suit actor Yuji Nakata leans into the mouse motif well with a lot of crouching poses and energetic movements, as a confidence which in-story we can presumably attribute to Sora having been My-Th for some time.

The My-Th suit itself looks superb too, the rounded ears and shoulder pads making for a nice visual contrast to the jagged edges of the cat-themed Kamen Rider Maou (the only other Rider suit we see in the episode, though others have been revealed in the promotional material). The tail and cheese emblem on the helmet are also wonderful touches. Coming off straight off the back of Zeztz the Driver being a sash again doesn't quite have the same impact as it did previously, but the visual distinction of My-Th's being a sash whilst the Alliance has the standard belt is an interesting one. The Driver also seems fun if not all that unique, the cracking of the Seed X-Egg a fun little gimmick to cap off the transformation sequence. Again the My-Th Edge may just be another variant on the usual sword/gun-combo weapon, but its rounded design fits My-Th's overall aesthetic nicely. The same can also be said of the Ride Watter, which (despite a few moments of ropey CGI) will hopefully get as much use as the CODE Zeroider did on Zeztz.

All in all Kamen Rider My-Th gets off to a very solid start. Whilst personally I'd say the episode didn't perhaps have quite as much swagger (at least in terms of spectacle, costuming is another matter entirely) as Zeztz did this time last year, it does however create an excellent sense of mystery that I'm genuinely excited to see unfurl over the coming weeks. Given how beloved Kamen Rider Kuuga is (both by myself and the fandom in general), Arakawa returning to the franchise after all these years is a big deal and he's no doubt cooking up something great once again. If you're planning to support Kamen Rider My-Th via legal streaming be sure to jump on the episodes whilst their hot, because hopefully we're in for a great 55th anniversary year for the franchise.