SHODO-X Kamen Rider Ichigo (Sakurajima Version)

I’m a sucker for anything that could be considered “slightly obscure”. For example, I love Paul McGann’s Eighth Doctor. I’d watched all of 90’s Rider (ignoring the Masked variety) before any Showa. I’m great at Pointless, a fun British show that you should all check out, which is all about getting obscure answers. So, when I went to pick up a representation for the first ever Kamen Rider to display on my growing SHODO shelf, did I go with his first ever suit, that started it all? No. Did I go for the Shin Ichigo suit, which has been a symbol of justice for close to 50 years now? Also no. Did I go for the Powered Ichigo suit from the recent 2016 movie that we’ll never see again? Sadly, that doesn’t have a SHODO yet. It should, though. It’s awesome.

SHODO VS Kamen Rider ZO

The year is 1993. The era is Heisei, not that it matters much to a film that won’t debut for 21 years. Kamen Rider has been absent from Television for 4 years, and the only new project were a series of Direct-to-Video movies. The subject of our review today comes from the second of these, and possibly the most overlooked. Maybe that’s why Bandai threw the guy a bone and gave him and his villain a mass release?

Kamen Rider ZO, the modern-day mauve shirt.

SHODO VS Kamen Rider Super-1

"Hey! Wanna come watch some Showa Rider?"

So here we go, my first blog post / review / I don’t really know what to call these. Half ramblings, half reviews. Ramble-views. And yet, it only seems fitting that I start here. Why? Because the first piece of Kamen Rider merch I ever got was a Kamen Rider Super-1 vinyl at a local convention. It must have been 6 years or so ago now, and I’ll be honest, I don’t remember why I got him specifically. I hadn’t seen Super-1 (I still haven't). I’m not even sure I knew who Super-1 was, beyond it saying on the label. Maybe I just really liked silver. In any case, I got him, and I still have him. He’s a little dusty now, but I wouldn’t trade him away for the world. Even if I eventually watch Super-1 and find out it’s rubbish.