Where to start?
 

Okay, so, i'm fairly new to Tokusatsu in general, getting into it when I got sick of hearing about Godzilla, but still wanting a fix of cheesy Japanese suitmation, and i'm already decently familiar with Ultraman and Super Sentai, but I know almost nothing about Kamen Rider. So, what would be a good series to introduce somebody to Kamen Rider? Like, which series best explains what exactly a rider is? I've done some research, and I guess a lot of people point to Kabuto as being one of the best Rider series, but I read a plot synopsis and it seemed like something that would be more rewarding to somebody who is already familiar with Kamen Rider in general. I've also seen a lot of "just pick one that looks cool and you want to see in action" type answers, which makes me want to watch Gaim (because everything in it looks awesome) but it also sort of sounds like something that won't explain things too well.

Would it be good to start with an early series? I love old Godzilla movies, and enjoyed what I could find of Himitsu Sentai Goranger. Are there even subs for those? I know Sentai doesn't have a lot of subs for the early stuff, so i'm not sure if it's the same for Rider. Also, sorry if there have been 100 other topics like this, but I can't find any that ask this specific question lol

When I got into Rider last summer, I just went with the current show *which was Wizard* and then I saw what worked, and what didn't work, in that show for me and applied it to other series.

So starting with Gaim is good because it's a great show, but also if you tell us what you liked and didn't like about it, we could probably recommend more series that will satisfy your needs.

I'd say start with W. It has a fantastic balance of drama, humor, dark/mature themes, and has a bit of an old school feel to it.

W and OOO are good intro series, but Gaim is ongoing.

Kamen Rider Fourze. It has heart, it has characters, it has humor, it has Virgo. What more do you need?!

I was in the same boat a couple months ago. Knew about SS and watched a handful of that but wasn't familiar with KR. The fine peeps on here recommended to start with W, don't regret it at all. Loved it!

If you want a complete series, start with OOO. It doesn't have the best first half in the world, but unlike a lot of Rider shows, the second Rider saves the show and pushes it towards a glorious climax.

It also seems like you have a taste for older shows. In which case, I'd recommend the original Kamen Rider. Its subs are being done by KitSubs, and they haven't finished yet as far as I know, but they've done quite a lot of episodes at this point. Also, Kamen Rider Black is an excellent entry to the franchise.

If I'm not mistaken every Kamen Rider series is subbed.

Now I would recommend OOO as seeing some of those episode is what got me into this whole Rider universe stuff. Now every series takes things differently, unlike most Sentai's.

If you had to watch one of the newer ones, watch Gaim or OOO. They are both fantastic and have pretty good plots. They both have thier own world and characters so you don't have to get lost in some of the Foundation X stuff W provides.

I know a lot of people would disagree with me but I think Decade is a good jumping on point.

It might not as be engaging as say W or Gaim is but watching 30 episodes as opposed to 50 might seem less daunting.

Plus if it's your first show, you won't realise how much it butchers the franchise and all of the shows you see after will seem amazing in comparison.

I say start with Den-O

Decade has it's moments though in the sheer number of batshit crazy things that could happen in the series.

I watched like 10 shows to get a feel for which one I liked and eventually have gotten through most of them but OOO was the one I started with First so I suggest it. Decade is pretty good but might spoil things from other shows. I also suggest Kiva, Kuuga, or Agito.

I don't want to watch Decade (or Gokaiger) yet because of this. I'm not so much worried about spoiling plot details, but i'd rather see the characters for the first time in their own show to get the full experience.

I thought Kuuga sounded like it might be a good starting point based on what I read.

Gaim is an excellent television show, PERIOD. It just happens to take place in a Kamen Rider series and helps sell Kamen Rider toys.

Watch that first.

When Gaim is over, you can pretty much stop since it's the best Kamen Rider ever - production values, acting, story, gimmick, toyline, designs.

But if you want to TRY to get another fix, go with Kamen Rider W next.

Kuuga is only your jumping in point if you want to see how poor Rider can be, so it'll colour all the other series you watch afterwards in a rose tinted light, and if you're gonna do that you should make your first three shows 'Kuuga, Faiz and Decade', the unholy trinity of Kamen Rider's worst moments.

I'm a Ryuki fan myself, although Gaim is slowly starting to surpass it.


Just, when it comes to Ryuki, know that it doesn't really pick up until Zolda is introduced about 8 episodes in, I believe.

And here is one of the awesome reasons to watch it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ap_CRESxNFE

A good percentage of the original Kamen Rider series is subbed, and it's still actively being worked on, albeit slower than a newer show. Kamen Rider Amazon and BLACK are also completely subbed. V3 is subbed, there are torrents for that, but they're rips from an official American release, so download at your own consent there.

Kuuga and Hibiki are fantastic shows, but neither is very representative of what Kamen Rider typically looks like. I feel like they capture the spirit of the shows better than most, but the producer on those shows likes to be artistic and sometimes makes you forget you're even watching a show about dudes who transform.

For Kamen Rider, I think Agito would be a great starting point, in addition to the currently airing show, Gaim. Agito is a very complete series, no questions are really left unanswered and it holds up very well over the years. The story is compelling, there's a great mystery, the characters range from fun to tormented souls and there is one of the most unique take on villains in the show.

For Super Sentai, there are a lot of really great older shows subbed. Maskman is a story heavy(ish) older show with a fun bunch of characters as the heroes. It's got a lot of martial arts action, both in suit and out, and the suits are really great to see in action. Zyuranger is another good one, though this one is almost entirely episodic with next to no character development, it's a show that people seem to love. Zyuranger captures the "fun" aspect of Sentai better than most other shows. Besides dinosaurs, the themes in the shows involve Japanese RPG cliches and biblical and legendary lore as inspiration for a lot of the monsters.

I would personally recommend Kakuranger. It starts of very silly and seems like it has no focus, but it's one of those shows where paying attention to what's going on really benefits the viewer. It's actually split into two halves, so the first half gives you crazy ninja action with a lot of exciting plots and then the second one dives straight into even more intense action with our heroes sort of having matured from the first half as they start taking things a lot more seriously.

Stronger is almost complete. The shows that aren't really anywhere near completion are X, Super-1, and Skyrider.

Personally.. I got into rider by checking out random episode of OOO whilst it was airing. Thought, what the hell did I just watch, that was awesome! Then i proceeded to catch up with OOO whilst also marathoning Den-O for no real reason...

So, that's how I started... I think they both show off what Kamen rider is all about pretty well, maybe OOO more than Den-O. Other shows that are pretty good at that/ are just good would be Fourze and Blade, personal favourites of mine. Or for something darker and a bit more complex there's Ryuki.

No Gaim, isn't the best in some of those.

Now people say Gaim, but I feel its toooo good and could affect how you view older seasons,,I say just watch some others such as W, Ryuki, or OOO to a good fell of the franchise.

Although I'd argue Gaim has some of the strongest, most mature writing out of any toku show I've ever seen, I wouldn't argue it as the show with the best production values. I don't even think I'd rank it in the middle.

The show has way too many suits, and although Gaim's new suit may buck the trend, I personally found each new suit was gradually worse than the last until we had so many the divides between the quality of them it was nauseating.

Most importantly though Gaim has some pretty awful action, especially right now in the show where everyone fights with exactly the same weapon using different coloured versions of the same attack. BORING. Not to mention that somewhere along the line the show seemed to forget about its own gimmick.

If flash and flare is your game, then Wizard's the name. On a pure entertainment level, Wizard is my favourite and it has great characters too.

Agito is a very good starting point, yeah, for pretty much all of the reasons mentioned. Ultimately, which show you should start with kinda comes down to personal tastes, but I think I'd probably list Black, Agito, and W as the best starting points.


The original series is a little under half done, Stronger is less than ten episodes from finished, Skyrider is over half done, and Black RX is almost half finished. X and Super-1 are the only shows that aren't finished or being actively worked on.

Yup the suits in a nutshell.

I started with Zyuranger and am currently going through Kakuranger haha

W and Gaim are the best series, but don't start with them. Part of what makes them memorable is how they deviate from the traditional formula (W is 2 people, Gaim has an assload of Riders). For that matter, don't start with Kabuto or Ryuki for the same reason as Gaim. Faiz and Wizard are good, classic Rider series, but are kinda slow. If you like older shows (which you seem to), start with Black/Black RX or Agito. Decade shouldn't be watched until after the previous series, but don't expect any returning actors when you do watch it, or you'll be disappointed. Back to the point, I'd recommend OOO to start with. Pretty traditional, quite fun.

TL;DR version: Watch OOO.

How does Blade fair? I watched it as my first series and aside from the slow and tad confusing in medias res start, I really liked it.

I couldn't get into Blade.

It was bland and generic. And I don't mean that it was really bad, but everything about it was unengaging and boring. The rider designs were boring, the chaacters all looked, sounded, and acted the same. It was meh.