Era Confusion
 

I hear you guys talk about Hesei Era Riders, and Showa Era Riders. And sometimes with Godzilla too.

What does that mean exactly?

Showa: 1, 2, Riderman, V3, X. Amazon, Stronger, Skyrider, Super-1, Black, Black RX, Shin, ZO, J.

Heisei: Kuuga, Agito, Ryuki, Faiz (555), Blade, Hibiki, Kabuto, Den-O, Kiva, Decade, W, OOO, Fourze, Wizard.

That clears that up. But I still don't understand what the eras are, or what they mean exactly.

In Japan the reign of each emperor is an "era". So the reign of Hirohito, 1926-1989 is called the 'Showa Era' and the reign of his son Akihito (1989-now) is the 'Heisei Era." Someone in the government assigns the names but I'm not sure how they come up with them.

so in theory Showa: 1, 2, Riderman, V3, X. Amazon, Stronger, Skyrider, Super-1, Black,

Hesei era 1: Black RX, Shin, ZO, J.

Heisei era 2: Kuuga, Agito, Ryuki, Faiz (555), Blade, Hibiki, Kabuto, Den-O, Kiva, Decade, W, OOO, Fourze, Wizard.
this is coming from me being in completacting answering things so thats i see it most

Black RX started while Hirohito was alive, though it ended after his death. So I guess technically it's borderline.

It's even more confusing with Sentai, since there's a second Heisei series divided by the new millennium.
Showa: Goranger, JAKQ, Battle Fever J, Denjiman, Sun Vulcan, Goggle V, Dynaman, Bioman, Changeman, Flashman, Maskman, Liveman.
20th Century Heisei: Turboranger, Fiveman, Jetman, Zyuranger, Dairanger, Kakuranger, Ohranger, Carranger, Megaranger, Gingaman, GoGoV.
21st Century Heisei: Timeranger, Gaoranger, Hurricaneger, Abaranger, Dekaranger, Magiranger, Boukenger, Gekiranger, Go-Onger, Shinkenger, Goseiger, Gokaiger, Go-Busters.
Same thing can be done with Ultraman, Metal Heroes, and Godzilla, but I don't feel like typing that all out.
And no, Akibaranger doesn't count as anything. :p

Everything from the first-J is considered Showa (even the movie riders debuted after Hirohito passed away) Kuuga is (more or less) the first Heisei rider--certainly the first on TV in the new era after the Metal Hero series collapsed (Thanks, SHT net movie!) It's really just a way to draw a line between the layover between J and Kuuga.

Just repeat to yourself--"It's just a show about vaguely bug-themed guys on motorcycles--I should really just relax." ;)

Shin, ZO, and J are Heisei. Stop lumping them with Showa.

Metal Heroes isn't usually cut up into Showa/Heisei, though. Probably because the franchise was so random that you can't really define it by era. If anything, it's usually categorized by show themes: the Space Sheriff trilogy, the Rescue Hero trilogy, the B-Fighter shows, and the rest that just kind of fill in gaps between those.

Officially, though, they are classified as Showa. In this case I think it's less about when they were released and more about the tone and aesthetic of the films. Shin is an oddball, but ZO and J are very much Showa Riders in design and story. The stuff from Kuuga onwards is very much a different franchise in a lot of ways (serialized storylines, multiple heroes on each show, an abandonment of the reconstructed human/evil organization tropes, etc.).

ok i know the class of the hesei and show is based on emporer but i throwing this in here take the class of show and hesei as the time of creator of the show or skull man was alive every thing that was done when he was a live will class as showa any thing done after his passing hesei

Alright, that clears alot of the confusion up then.

And since, I think, I understand what's going on. If a show starts under one, he dies, and ends under another should count towards whatever era it started under.

Sentai did mine mak more sense as in how i normal base it one that the hole empera thing

ok so i make i mean more clear i say this i know the hesei and showa era are mean the ruler at the time but for kamen rider i think diffrently i see showa being when Shotaro Ishinomori the creator of the show was alive when Shotaro Ishinomori died thats when i see the start of the hesei

I get what you're saying. It's like Kamen Rider in particular has more reasons to be defined into two eras than other Toku series.

yea i see what you mean kamen rider i see as to era show as the creator dieing then the ruler at the time

Don't forget the decade long gap between RX and Kuuga.

true that 2 but as there where 3 kamen rider films shin zo j i class them as showa

The Decade long gap. I see what you did there!

Poor Decade, now he's getting blamed for that.

Haha. When I was making that post I was thinking of putting a "(no pun intended)" in it, but then I decided it would be in bad taste. :p

He deserves it.