Secret Identities, Yes or No?
 

I got to thinking today there aren't a lot of series where the Riders don't have a secret identity(despite some even not caring/willing to let others know). I do wish there were more Rider shows like that and was curious what othersw thought? Do you prefer a secret identity or having their Rider status out in the open?

Personally, I can understand why keeping it a secret helps, but it seems a bit silly in all honesty. I think I'd prefer it if my heroes were either fully open with it, or only let a few people know.

Uh... depends on the show I guess.

Ye.

Although there is nothing American about it, I always think of dual identities as an American thing. There are lots of American superheroes, who living a dual life is literally huge part of what defines them, that just isn't something you really get in toku. And even if a toku protagonist does keep their identity a secret (like say the Knight's in GARO or something) it is never a plot within itself, save for perhaps the odd episode or two.

It's a toss up really,depends on the enemy,the rider,and the society they're in.There are reasons to have a secret identity.Just like Spiderman,who kept his identity secret so his loved ones wouldn't get hunted down and hurt.There are those though who don't need a secret identity.Some riders don't have a family,or are just alone.It's really all dependent on the situation.

If there's a reason for it in-universe than I'll usually go along with it. But if the Rider just tries to keep their transformations secret for no apparent reason other than "to have a secret" than its worthless.

The worst example I can think of is Kamen Rider OOOs. Eiji and his friends try to keep the transformations hidden because his identity supposedly matters, but when the villains attempt to find him later most people have never even HEARD of Eiji or OOOs. Its a waste.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Take Kiva for an example. Kiva was hated by people across the board so naturally Wataru couldn't just up and tell people who he was, though I doubt people would believe him. By contrast in Decade Tsukasa was traveling from world to world so fast that he didn't exactly have time to form any enemies that would be able to attack him who weren't apart of Shocker.

Long story short, sometimes it's needed, other times not so much.

Depends on the Rider to be honest. When it comes to Gentaro it made sense for him to tell people he was Fourze, because he used that to help alot of people. While Godai it made sense for him to keep it secret because everyone thought Kuuga was one of the Unidentified Lifeforms. So he couldn't come out, wave, and go "Hiya! Imma Kuuga!" Shotaro and Philip are kind of inbetween. They don't go actively telling people their W, but when someone finds out they don't exactly go to great lengths to hide the fact. So honestly I'm alright either way if it fits who the Rider is.

Godai didn't keep it secret. He straight up walked around with a Kuuga symbol on his shirt and made no effort to hide his identity. Honestly, the only Riders I can remember who actually kept their identity even somewhat secret were Shiro (mostly from the Rider Scouts and even that's debatable), Kotaro (at least for part of Black and again in Black RX), Shinji, Takumi (of course no one told anybody anything in that show), Ryotaro, and Wataru. A few tried to hide it from some people close to them, but the vast majority of Riders haven't bothered with the secret identity thing.

Personally, I like the public identities. It takes away a lot of "hey, where did Haruto go?" moments that get old fast.

Honestly very few riders bother with it, and as long as rule of cool forces them to henshin in front of crowds I see no point on even attempting it.

I liked Ryuusei trying to keep his a secret, even if it was incredibly obvious.

With meteor the thing that bothered me the most is that his first name literally translates to meteor :lol

I know! As if it wasn't obvious enough. :lol

Also that nobody even thought of checking out that giant beam of light coming down from space every time he transformed :lol

Oh man, I forgot about Ryusei. Yeah, that shit got really old.

Ryuusei could have been interesting if the show knew what pacing and story was, but it didn't so... As much as Meteor is one of my all time favourite Riders, the show really went down the pan pretty much as soon as he was introduced.

I agree with every word of this.

It amused me when Gentaro was shocked that someone figured out he was a Kamen Rider.

I mean, the dude isn't exactly discrete always shouting at the top of his lungs and everything.

I'll echo the sentiment that it depends on the show.

Kyoryu Blue. :(

Some times it's good, some times it's not, other time it's plain obvious.

As I was watching W, I kept on trying to figure how they didn't know Shotaro was Double with his bike decked out being W itself :lol, but I did like that the girl thought Double was her father things like is nice a touch.

What I liked about that part was that Ryubee knew it was him the whole time but never bothered to do something about it so he could learn more about double :lol

In Sentai, I can see keeping who you are a secret if you've got a family, i.e. KyoryuBlue and AbaRed, but in Kamen Rider, I don't see the point.

Like everyone else has stated, Gentaro didn't really make that much of an effort to go, "Shit, I've got to tone down the overactive hyperdrive and be secretive." Shotaro and Philip didn't really care either way, even when Saeko saw Fang and Philip in Ep 16 of W. Eiji didn't hide it, but he wasn't open about it.

Though, you think about it, several Sentai have had public identities: Boukenger, Dekaranger, Gokaiger (though they didn't care at all. XD). Though with Boukenger and Dekaranger, it makes sense seeing as they're archeologists who run a museum and the Dekaranger's the police.

I guess it just depends on who writes the series. Like nobody really knew about Hibiki;s Riders being Riders, Kabuto had the "Government issue" Riders, IXA being in that same vein. Like I said, it's just dependant on the writers. I don't care either way, but that's just me.

I thought Kamen Rider Meteor's identity story line played out really well. And the show felt like it was finally "complete" with the cast when his identity was revealed and everything was made better after the incident that made it not better....or something. And even then, they kept Meteor's identity hidden from the bad guys till the end, and then it was just all-out "FUCK YOU I KICK YOUR ASS" and I loved it.

Meteor was one of the best things about Fourze period. Keeping his secret, and even after keeping is identity. Where he killed Gentaro! ... After W I'm watching Fourze again.

Secret Identities in Rider or Sentai or Ultraman is a ridiculous concept in the first place. Doing a fancy pose and shouting a phrase with flashy effects and a talking device that transforms someone out in public is going to get noticed by someone. Its not like American superheroes where they put on a suit in Private and then go out and beat up shit. But I'm okay with that.

It really annoyed me in that one of the earlier Mutski focused episodes of Blade when the news publicly announced Kenzaki was Kamen Rider Blade when he "stole" some food from the grocery store where Mutski worked.