It's no secret that I'm among the MINORITY who thinks that Kamen Rider BLACK RX was watchable. Sure, I still think Kamen Rider BLACK is the better series and it was a groundbreaking one. Though fans ended up preferring BLACK over BLACK RX. The decision was to create two versions of Kotaro Minami - one version never became BLACK RX (much to the pleasure of fans) and the other that did (which is more likely canon). BLACK was supposed to be an entirely new Kamen Rider with a reimagining of Shocker (as Gorgom), the Creation King as a separate entity from the Great Leader (who has been reduced to a butt monkey now), and the introduction of the first official evil Kamen Rider in Shadow Moon. Shadow Moon proved popular among fans that he does make a few occasional returns, an A.R. version of Shadow Moon exists, and he's practically the godfather of the evil Kamen Rider trend.
Granted, this year is the 35th anniversary of Kamen Rider BLACK. I felt that BLACK deserves to be revisited for its groundbreaking impact and BLACK RX because it caused the 11 years hiatus before Kamen Rider got a new TV series. The 1990s focused on the Metal Hero franchise before it was unplugged but somehow kept alive when Kamen Rider got rebooted. The newer era Kamen Rider series have PLENTY of elements from the Metal Hero franchise - something BLACK RX did during its run.
How I felt Gorgom may have inspired later shows
I think Gorgom should be considered a breath of FRESH AIR for the series. Sure, there were a few periods in previous series where an organization was apparently not linked to the Great Leader. Spoilers: It's too obvious that the Creation King (a giant disembodied heart) couldn't be the Great Leader. These guys may not be too different (in the sense their Modus Operandi wasn't anything different from what Shocker up Dogma Kingdom did). However, I felt these guys were darker than usual since their half-brained plans were nightmare fuel. 1987 was also the year when Hikari Sentai Maskman aired and Emperor Zeba pulled no strings to prove himself to be a Complete Monster.
One concept that I found cool was Sword Saint Bilgenia. Too bad though Jun Yoshida left the show for some reasons. I think Yoshida probably had other stuff so he decided to leave the show. Bilgenia was easily defeated by Shadow Moon just like that. He was just too cool to be written off actually! Bilgenia was a rebel candidate for the Kingstone who was sealed off. However, this guy was totally one of the best things since he dared to defy the High Priests' idiotic plans for world domination. Sometimes, we need a villain who's a foil to the heroes AND the villains. Bilgenia got written off in favor of Shadow Moon. However, his concept wasn't actually short-lived either.
Is still felt BLACK RX could've used him as well. Yoshida not available? I think Tetsuya Matsui could've filled in the shoes of Bilgenia. I think General Tasmader was truly menacing in contrast to the rest of the Crisis Empire officers. Why the finale arc revealed that Tasmader was the host body of Grand Lord Crisis (or even the same person, take your pick) is just stupid. Grand Lord Crisis was an idiot and him being a floating head symbolizes that. I think Tasmader should've NEVER existed and Bilgenia arrived to troll the Crisis officers. Maybe have it that Bilgenia would either sabotage General Jak's stupid plans or make their schemes more subtle. I think Bilgenia attempting to kill Maribaron would be fun. General Jak saying, "You're as stubborn as ever! I guess that's why Grand Lord Crisis freed you to start with! The Gorgom priests hated you as much too!"
The concept of Black Sun vs. Shadow Moon was already spoken from the beginning. An inevitable battle was about to take place. It's no surprise that Shadow Moon finally emerged, devoid of the former goodness of Nobuhiko Akizuki. It was interesting thing to stop using the False Riders in favor of the first true evil Kamen Rider. Shadow Moon was a Breakthrough Villain that proved to be that popular. How popular was he? He ended up returning in BLACK RX to get his revenge.
Though, I felt that Crisis Emperor should've been the one to resurrect him and TEMPORARILY place in his charge of General Jak. Have General Jak willingly submit to his authority. I felt Shadow Moon should've returned with the Triplon Unit as his personal guard. Give him a personal unit that actually does something for him. Maybe, he could show up making it more sensible for BLACK RX to gain additional two forms. It'd be fun if Bilgenia returned as an angry ghost killing him for good. Have Shadow Moon's humanity returns when he protects BLACK RX from Bilgenia's sword slash.
The concept was somehow carried over in Kamen Rider Kiva. Both Wataru and his maternal half-brother Taiga are contenders for the Fangire throne. Granted, Toshiki Inoue was in a burnout during Kiva. Hmmmm I guess I'll always LOVE raising up Kiva as Inoue's weakest moment in the 2000s and say Ressha Sentai ToQGer was where Yasuko Kobayashi was at her weakest. Still, it's a NICE reference that Inoue did even if he was practically at a weak point.
Though, what happens next is that we actually get Shadow Moon returning in TV specials. Heck, there's even an Alternate Reality Shadow Moon in Kamen Rider Decade - a show I'll forever consider to be WORSE than BLACK RX. I guess Shadow Moon's popularity created another version of him that I think is even better.
Decades later, we'd actually get...
The concept of evil Kamen Riders never stopped with Shadow Moon. I guess the idea got so popular that we saw the concept in Kamen Rider Agito (in the form of Another Agito but he's not exactly evil) and then in Kamen Rider Ryuki. Ryuki introduced several evil Kamen Riders and some were short-lived. Some of them were Kamen Rider Scissors, Kamen Rider Gai, and the best one yet was Kamen Rider Ouja! I felt Kamen Rider Odin was a bad addition and Ouja was the coolest thing in Ryuki. He's practically that Breakout villain like how Yamimaru and Kirika were that popular in Kosuki Sentai Turboranger or how First Captain Chevalier was that popular in Chikyu Sentai Fiveman. Later on, Ouja would return in future non-canon movies where he's as brutal as ever.
An interesting concept is that Takashi Hagino (the actor who plays his human form, Takeshi Asakura) was once the hero of Changerion. Changerion can be viewed as an experimental show in hopes of returning to the Kamen Rider franchise. Takashi acts out Ouja with so much gusto that he's so much a rating booster. I felt that the show was experimenting with trying to become the darkest Kamen Rider series ever. Yasuko Kobayashi became its head writer. Toshiki Inoue became the secondary writer. It's said they had a Writer War. I think it's more of the executives vs. the writers. It's obvious Ryuki was planning to kill everyone. Shinji died and Renn was left to fend for himself. Renn was supposed to die too. Nobody was supposed to survive the Rider War. Yet, you know censorship caused the whole idiotic ending that neither Kobayashi nor Inoue would want to write at all! Think that Mirai Sentai Timeranger remains a bittersweet ending. Think how Chojin Sentai Jetman wasn't afraid to show Gai Yuki wasn't invulnerable in the weirdest way possible. Though, I felt Gai Yuki should've died in battle but as said, Toshihide Wakamatsu arranged the ending with Inoue.
How I felt the lackluster BLACK RX still managed to pave way for better things 11 years later
I always felt that the BLACK RX Meltdown was most likely because Toei Ltd. wanted to focus on the Metal Hero franchise. There were three Kamen Rider movies that came in the 1990s namely Kamen Rider ZO, Shin Kamen Rider, and Kamen Rider J. I guess it was testing new stuff before actually creating a series in 2000 which was Kamen Rider Kuuga. I guess people wished BLACK ended on a high note. If ever, I think BLACK RX was supposed to be a totally different character. However, the popularity of BLACK caused it to become a direct sequel. It just felt like what Saban Entertainment and Toei Ltd. decided to do with Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. Toei Ltd. decided to release 25 new sets of footages exclusive for Saban's usage. Toei Ltd. also created footage for Lion Voltron which wasn't used in Hyajakuu Golion.
So, what did BLACK RX actually bring to the table but weren't ready back then? Here they are...
It would be VERY INTERESTING to know how multiple forms came into play. I believe that Kuuga actually tried to modify the concepts behind Robo Rider and Bio Rider across several forms. I think one of the weaknesses of BLACK RX is how easily the hero could adjust to his two forms so fast. First, we had the Robo Rider form which was triggered when BLACK RX felt sad. Second, we had the Bio Rider form which was triggered when BLACK RX got angry. Both forms were introduced during the Princess Garanoia arc.
I felt that every new form Kuuga had was better executed. Robo Rider had a vortech shooter. However, Kuuga's Pegasus Form had the hero trying to figure out how to work the form. The Dragon Form (water-based) would be faster but weaker and had to use a rod. An aspect of Robo Rider (being hard to hit) was added in the Titan form but it used a sword instead. I think they all looked back at how it was badly implemented in BLACK RX and decided to fix it.
BLACK RX may have not been well-received. What I can't deny that one thing Kotaro had better was allies who joined him on the battlefield. Kotaro's girlfriend Reiko, his new friend Joe, and later Kyoko were all part of the battlefield. Granted, they're all played by Japan Action Club (JAC) members so it's only suitable to do so. They started to get involved in the battle against the Crisis Empire.
Eventually, such a concept was somehow improvised when Kuuga introduced us to more allies. For example. we have Officer Ichijou (best friend of Yuusuke) who helps out Kuuga. The police force basically helps Kuuga hunt down the Grongi. In Kamen Rider Agito, the police force also helps fight the Unknown who are trying to kill off humans with the Seed of Agito. Drive has the assistance of the police force. I feel Kiriko herself was better implemented than Reiko as the heroic girlfriend and assistant.
The possible bridge was more likely acknowledged in 2009
Something worth noting is the bizarre cycle. Saban Entertainment acquired the rights to use BLACK RX to create the even bigger failure known as Saban's Masked Rider or Mashed Rider. Before that, Mashed Rider had a crossover with Mighty Morphin' during the beginning of the third season in 1995. That alone didn't help launch the show. I even feel that Decade's crossover with Shinkenger was nothing more than a friend in need of a boost. Fortunately, Kobayashi was rather considerate not to get Mako sick. The plot even had Daiki steal off Genta's Ikki origami. It was an interesting two-parter that forever put the "A Friend in Need" arc of Mighty Morphin' to further shame.
It would be interesting how the Shinkenger arc ended with the next revelation. The Decade crew was going to travel into the world of BLACK RX - another season that's been berated by fans. It was also then that a different version of Kotaro was conceived. That Kotaro NEVER became BLACK RX. I think it was rather purely intentional than coincidental. I guess Toei Ltd. had accepted Saban's apology or that Saban Entertainment's treatment of Mashed Rider as an Old Shame was taken well. I'm impressed though how the BLACK/BLACK RX crossover may have given a nod to that.
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What I can say is we don't only learn from success but also from failure. The cycle of innovation will always ask if results were delivered well. If not, it's time to go back and see what went wrong. I think Toei Ltd. used both BLACK and BLACK RX as important experimental seasons. Besides, I think BLACK RX got vindicated overtime.
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