I could remember watching Kamen Rider BLACK (back when it was called Masked Rider Black in the dub and international release). I was around nine years old (and it was an IRREGULAR schedule) when it happened. Yeah, it was a child's show, alright. There was also Hikari Sentai Maskman which Takeru was dubbed as Michael Joe - a name I no longer recall fondly. The same went for Kotaro Minami's dub name Robert Akizuki - the very source of a nickname that I dubbed myself. This is one scary series that managed to be so successful that the less popular sequel, Kamen Rider BLACK RX, was born.
The series was said to be meant to be a reboot. It's too obvious, right? Having watched some older Showa-era entries of Kamen Rider made that claim make sense to me. Nothing was said about Gorgom being part of Shocker. Nothing about the Great Leader barking orders as the Gorgom priests. Instead, we have the plot of the Century Kings. The two candidates are both Black Sun (hence the spin off which I'm yet to watch) and Shadow Moon. Instead, Black Sun chooses to call himself Kamen Rider Black after a scary encounter. Kotaro discovers that he's no longer human AT ALL. It's a sad state of affairs as Kotaro tries to adjust to the world. Kotaro has Kyoko (his foster sister) and Kasumi (Nobohiko's girlfriend).
The Gorgom priests were fond of cooking up convoluted schemes. Yet, some of these schemes were somehow taken from HORROR MOVIES. I was wondering of the Gorgom priests have a collection of those betamax (or VHS) of horror movies from 1987. True, the Gorgom priests cooked up convoluted plots. When they were executed - you can guarantee some real nightmare fuel. Who can remember when Goat Mutant caused people to go berserk? Yeah, that same plot was somewhat rewritten into Mirai Sentai Timeranger. There also also Silkworm Mutant capturing people. There was also the necklace that unleashes killer bees. The Gorgom priests plots were somehow, "Let's base this plan on some horror movie!" Sure, the Gorgom priests were somewhat half-wits (for not concentrating on grabbing the Kingstone) BUT they sure created plans that were anything but funny.
Things really got scarier when Creation King orders the three High Priests to release Sword Saint Bilgenia. Was Bilgenia meant to be a reference to any Hollywood horror movie villain? If Bilgenia is then that may explain why he's a stalker who kills. Bilgenia becomes a constant threat to BOTH Kotaro and the Gorgom priests. Bilgenia just had a short run but he sure engaged the show more than any of the characters. It gets scary just thinking of what Bilgenia could do next to Kotaro. Heck, Bilgenia constantly made Kotaro suffer more than any Gorgom mutant that the Gorgom priests unleash every week. Sadly, Bilgenia was easily defeated by the newly resurrected Shadow Moon. I wonder why Jun Yoshida left the set. I think Yoshida had personal reasons. Oh well... but we know how Bilgenia was pretty much a template for the much scarier Takeshi Asakura aka Kamen Rider Ouja in Kamen Rider Ryuki. Ouja managed to fulfill what Bilgenia couldn't one way or another.
Bilgenia's gone but that didn't lower down the nightmare fuel. Still, I wished Bilgenia was kept around. Instead, I wish that Shadow Moon forced the prideful warrior down to his knees. Episodes after Bilgenia still retained the show's nightmarish nature. I still find it nightmarish when the Gorgom priests started to shed their human forms. Ugh, that was one scary scene before the Gorgom priests gained their even scarier mutant forms.
My problem with Shadow Moon though was that he wasn't that active. Instead, all Shadow Moon does is just follow orders and his pre-programmed destiny LIKE A ROBOT. Yeah, I felt like calling Shadow Moon as Robo Rider (in Mashed Rider) somehow made sense. It's because Shadow Moon can feel robotic at times. Though, I can't discount how Shadow Moon still was part of Gorgom's half-brained but nightmarish plots. Shadow Moon even released the Fly Mutant which revived spectral ghosts of the previous deceased mutants.
For Kotaro though, his nightmare still continues. Bilgenia may be suddenly gone but Kotaro must face his biggest nightmare. Kotaro's nightmare is that he must fight with his foster brother Nobuhiko who no longer exists. There's only the Shadow Moon persona. Heck, we even had an episode where BLACK DIES at the hands of Shadow Moon. Somehow, Shadow Moon was still hesitant to get the other Kingstone to become the next Century King. The voice of the late Takeshi Watabe has heard barking orders. Later, Whale Mutant resurrects BLACK. Kotaro sees people in disarray when he was supposedly dead. The same cave was later used in BLACK RX where it exploded after giving life to Rideron.
The finale was also a long nightmare. Bishium's so-called school was still a scary plot. Bishium attempted to sacrifice her life so BLACK will die. We have Darom's final battle where he sought to kill BOTH the Whale Mutant and BLACK with his tusks. Darom ends up as the final Gorgom priest to bite the dust. The final battle with Shadow Moon was also nightmarish.
Later, we have the Creation King reveal itself to be a giant disembodied heart. Unlike the obvious fake brain in Taiyo Sentai Sun Vulcan - it was very well-detailed! Sure, it's an obvious fake heart but still you can tell it's a nightmare. Heck, the Creation King attempted to even blow up the Earth if BLACK didn't decide to take his place! I find the final battle as disappointing as how the Great Leader left a Doombot in the earlier Showa seasons. BLACK summoned the Satan Saber to kill the Creation King. Creation King declared that he may return but NEVER did for a reason. The scene was later redone in BLACK RX (with Grand Lord Crisis) but it was rather laughable.
The series ends with a rather bright sun. We see the rain somehow signifying a cleansing from Gorgom's end. However, Kotaro ends up still a lonely man. Where are Kyoko and Katsumi? Not even BLACK RX bothered to mention them. It could've been cool of Kyoko and Katsumi wrote a letter to Kotaro (off-screen) in the failed sequel. Yeah, we know how failed sequels are, right?
Later on, BLACK RX came in quite too fast. Instead of introducing a new Kamen Rider - it continued where BLACK left off but not in a very good way. BLACK RX had excessive humor (which Tetsuo Kurata pointed out) but it still had some nightmare fuel. The sequel's scary rides aren't as scary. BLACK still cakes the cake in being the scariest Kamen Rider series in the Showa era to date!
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