It's adjacent because Kikaider and Metal Heroes aren't Kamen Rider, and this is a Kamen Rider thread :lol

And I always felt their exclusion from the Metal Heroes branding just didn't make sense. I get that the brand proper didn't exist at the time, but I don't see why they couldn't have retroactively done so. Gorenger and JAKQ weren't Super Sentai until the 90's. Why couldn't they have just made the call to make the Kikaider franchise part of the Metal Heroes during this same era?

Just so odd. It shares so much thematically and aesthetically with the Metal Hero franchise, but it's instead just part of Toei's unaffiliated Toku brands, alongside Akumaizer 3, Zubat, and Inazuman.

As for Ninja Captor, I honestly don't know what Toei has against them. However, ever since Ohranger firmly established Sentai's numbering as the 20th series, that kind of left any wiggle room for Ninja Captor to squeeze in as impossible.

Metal Heroes is very, very broad to begin with so what 'fits' as a Metal Hero thematically would be quite a larger category. I'd argue Zubat would belong there just as much; and in fact would go further and say Robot Detective is the most fitting given how much Metal Heroes is made up of cop heroes.

To begin with, though... I'm not sure why you would? They're vast years apart and hardly have similar creatives or intents behind them like Goranger/JAKQ clearly did to Battle Fever J. Is it just because of Metalder?

It's far simpler than you think. Kikaider was created by Shotaro Ishinomori while the Metal Heroes Series are all Toei created stuff. You can definitely argue that Toei drew a lot of inspiration from things like Kikaider, but there's no reason for them to retroactively re-label Kikaider a Metal Heroes show 10 years after the fact.

Also, I don't even think the Metal Heroes branding was officially used until Spielban was airing, if not even later than that.

I did make a Metal Heroes thread awhile back ago! Just sayin'!

Part of the Ninja Captor thing is because it might have been done by different people as opposed to the crews of Gorenger and JAKQ.

http://ukiyaseed.weebly.com/ukiyasee...t-super-sentai

Outside of that, it'll always seem like an error in judgment on Toei's part. I kinda think they just forgot! Spent so long ignoring it that it fell through the cracks.

Given the declining sales of the Sentai, it seems to me that the Captor is being cherished as a possible replacement.
Pure speculation, don't take it seriously.

I have long wanted to share my thoughts on the strange relationship between Fourze and Bleach:
1) Part of Fourze from Megamax in terms of the basic plot copies "Memories of Nothing" - the first feature film from Bleach.
2) For the live-action adaptation of Bleach, all the riders from Fourze were involved (even Nadeshiko!).
I just can't believe this is all just a coincidence with no explanation.

Someone (most likely Sota Fukushi) landed a big role in the Bleach adaptation and was like "Hey! I know a few other people who can play high-schoolers that beat up monsters."

As for the Megamax and Memories of Nobody connection... Maybe that might've been a coincidence since certain tropes and plot elements tend to get repeated in media, I dunno.

I honestly didn't realize there was a 10 year gap between Kikaider and what would be the first Metal Hero show, Gavan.

Which death battle would you guys choose to enter?

https://i.redd.it/oegislp8cnm91.jpg

The 13/100 Rider War!