Movie REVIEW: Kamen Rider Drive Saga: Kamen Rider Mach/Kamen Rider Heart

When a Kamen Rider series draws to a conclusion, rarely is it truly the end. Not only does that Rider make a return alongside the current one in next year’s Movie Wars release, but in recent years the additional Riders have shared the spotlight in their own V-cinema releases. This trend initially kicked off with Kamen Rider W’s Accel and Eternal movies but has recently been revived with Kamen Riders Gaim, Drive and Ghost. In terms of Drive movies Kamen Rider Drive Saga: Kamen Rider Chaser, may have been a side story taking place during the course of the film but the second – Kamen Rider Drive Saga: Kamen Rider Mach/Kamen Rider Heart acts as a true epilogue to the show, bringing back Gou Shijima/Kamen Rider Mach and the Roidmude Heart for one last outing.

Movie REVIEW: Kamen Rider Drive Saga: Kamen Rider Chaser

With the success of both the Kamen Rider W Returns movies and the more recent Kamen Rider Gaim: Gaiden releases, Toei seem to have confirmed to both themselves that direct to DVD/Blu-ray V-cinema releases starring the shows' secondary and tertiary Riders are both popular and profitable. Just as current series Kamen Rider Ghost has jumped on this early with its The Legend of Hero Alain blu-ray bonus miniseries, previous show Kamen Rider Drive is refuses to stay down with a number of feature-length V-cinema entries. The first of these is Kamen Rider Drive Saga: Kamen Rider Chaser, naturally starring Chase - the prototype Roidmude whose appeared as both Proto-Drive and Mashin Chaser before joining Drive as Kamen Rider Chaser.

Miniseries REVIEW: Kamen Rider 4

Let’s be honest – there are a lot of problems with Super Hero Taisen GP: Kamen Rider 3. But perhaps one the strangest ones is the fact that the film ends on a huge unresolved plot point – namely the death of Gou Shijima/Kamen Rider Mach. After a pretty explosive death scene that’s overlooked by most of the characters fighting in the battle against Shocker, the story then concludes with Shinnosuke and Kiriko mournfully getting on with their lives without him. This wasn’t just lazy writing though, as these events then tie into Kamen Rider 4 – an internet mini series released in accompaniment.

Series REVIEW: Kamen Rider Drive

Give a Kamen Rider cosmically powered switches or transforming fruit armour and only a few people will bat an eyelid. Give him a car instead of a bike however and suddenly the world has been turned upside down. Although not the first Kamen Rider show to give their lead character four wheels instead of two (that would be Kamen Rider Black RX), Kamen Rider Drive is the first series to make it exclusively that Rider’s mode of transportation. With the series having just come to an end in Japan, it’s time to take a look back at the past year of Kamen Rider before things start afresh again with Kamen Rider Ghost in a few days’ time.

Toybox REVIEW: S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Mach

Kamen Rider Drive may have broken the mould by being the first on-screen Rider to forgo a bike in favour of a car, but that doesn’t mean all the Riders in the series have followed suite. After Mashin Chaser’s twisted-metal biker appearance proved the perfect foil to Drive Type Speed’s sleek sports car finish, the show’s secondary Rider has gone a bit Evel Knieval – which shouldn’t be surprise given the powers were created over in America. Go Shijima aka Kamen Rider Mach (or MA-HA if you’d prefer) joins the S.H. Figuarts line as the third mass release figure from the series, neatly completing the main trinity of characters before Tamashii Nations push forward with the various alternate forms still to come.

Toybox REVIEW: 66 Action Kamen Riders Wave 6

These days my favourite months of the year are always the ones that bring along a new box of 66 Action candy toys. With the Ultraman selection strangely quiet at the moment (there's been no new announcements since wave 2 hit a few months back, so hopefully something come forth once Ultraman X hits screens), the series that started this wonderful little line is back for its sixth wave. This time the selection of Kamen Riders Bandai have on offer include Kamen Rider Mach, Kamen Rider Accel, Kamen Rider Kuuga and Shadow Moon.