Kamen Rider ZO
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Kamen Rider ZO (仮面ライダーＺＯ Kamen Raidā Zetto Ō?), translated as Masked Rider ZO, is a 1993 Japanese tokusatsu movie produced by Toei Company, part of their Kamen Rider Series.
Kamen Rider ZO was the first joint production between Toei Company Limited and Bandai.
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[edit] Plot summary
Masaru Asou was the lab assistant of geneticist Doctor Mochizuki, and was used as one of his experiments, enabling him to transform into grasshopper-like being called Kamen Rider ZO. He fled into the woods and went into a coma before Dr. Mochizuki sent him a telepathic call for help; he had created the Neo Organism, too powerful for him to control. Masaru must protect Mochizuki's child, Hiroshi, from the creatures made by the Neo Organism.
[edit] Characters
- Masaru Asou/Kamen Rider ZO (麻生 勝／仮面ライダーＺＯ Asō Masaru/Kamen Raidā Zetto Ō?): The hero of the story. He was originally an assistant to Doctor Mochizuki, the doctor conducted experiments on him, turning Asou into a grasshopper-like cyborg. He was devastated by his horrible transformation and went into hiding. Years later, he dreamt of a boy named Hiroshi, the music from a gold pocket watch, and his mission to protect Hiroshi. He awoke as ZO.
- Hiroshi Mochizuki (望月 宏 Mochizuki Hiroshi?): A young boy targeted by the Neo Organism. Hiroshi longed to be with his father, who had gone missing years ago. As a memento, Doctor Mochizuki gave Hiroshi a pocket watch that played music. Hiroshi was at first afraid of ZO, but as ZO proved he truly was a friend, Hiroshi affectionately referred to ZO as 'Rider'.
- Doctor Mochizuki (望月 博士 Mochizuki Hakase?): A mad scientist who turned Masaru into ZO and then created the Neo Organism. His dream was to create the "perfect lifeform", but instead it turned on him and was held captive by his creation.
[edit] Neo Organism
- Doras (ドラス Dorasu?): A pool of living fluid that relies on the very container its dwells in as its lifesupport. It took on the appearance of a deformed little boy in Hiroshi's likeness. The Neo Organism orchestrated the events in the movie, and even overpowered its creator, Doctor Mochizuki who tried to reason with it. It soon assumed the grotesque grasshopper humanoid form of Doras to find Hiroshi to force Dr. Mochizuki to complete its evolution into the "Perfect Lifeform" so it can destroy the "inferior" human race. Doras is capable of regenerating itself from severe injuries, absorbing inorganic and organic materials to upgrade itself or alter its form into an orb or a bladed projective. When Doras manage to absorbed ZO, it became a red fleshy version of itself. It then went for Hiroshi, but the music from the pocket watch managed to give ZO the strength to break free from Doras' body after Mochizuki destroyed its power source. Reverted to its normal state, Doras was finally killed.
- Spider Woman (クモ女 Kumo On'na?): A Neo-Lifeform created by Doras, she was large 4-legged inhuman spider woman who shot strong webbing to entangle Hiroshi. She also has a set of spider legs on her back and two spider legs for a left arm. During combat with the monster, ZO snapped one of Spider Woman's legs and used it to impale and instantly kill her. She was the only Kamen Rider monster to be claymated & be a large Puppet.
- Bat Man (コウモリ男 Kōmori Otoko?): A Neo-Lifeform created by Doras, he was a black bat-like entity. Bat Man was black, had small-but-long bat wings for ears that covered its head (unless he's flying), and an eye on each hand much like Doras. Bat Man could extend its fingers to form wings for flight. It could also disguise itself is as any human. It took on the likeness of Mochizuki to trick Hiroshi. Bat Man took the boy to its master's hideout. ZO killed Bat Man easily by impaling his fist into the monster's stomach.
- Bat Man and Spider Woman are not to be confused with DC Comics hero Batman and Marvel Comics heroine Spider-Woman.
[edit] Cast
- Masaru Asou/Kamen Rider ZO (麻生 勝／仮面ライダーＺＯ Asō Masaru/Kamen Raidā Zetto Ō?) - Kou Domon (土門 廣 Domon Kō?)
- Hiroshi Mochizuki (望月 宏 Mochizuki Hiroshi?) - Shohei Shibata (柴田 翔平 Shibata Shōhei?)
- Doctor Mochizuki (望月 博士 Mochizuki Hakase?) - Isao Sasaki (佐々木 功 Sasaki Isao?)
- Seikichi Mochizuki (望月 清吉 Mochizuki Seikichi?) - Hiroshi Inuzuka (犬塚 弘 Inuzuka Hiroshi?)
- Reiko (玲子 Reiko?) - Naomi Morinaga (森永 奈緒美 Morinaga Naomi?)
- Naomi Morinaga, who portrayed the role of Reiko, is a famous actress in the tokusatsu business. She was Shaider's partner, Annie, in Uchuu Keiji Shaider and Spielban's older sister, Helen/Hellvira/Helen Lady, in Jikuu Senshi Spielban just to name a few of her past roles.
- Kuroda (黒田 Kuroda?) - Kenji Ohba (大葉 健二 Ōba Kenji?)
- Nishimura (西村 Nishimura?) - Masaru Yamashita (山下 優 Yamashita Masaru?)
- Miyazaki (宮崎 Miyazaki?) - Iori Sakakibara (榊原 伊織 Sakakibara Iori?)
- Neo Organism (ネオ生命体 Neo Seimeitai?, Voice) - Shingo Yuzawa (湯沢 真伍 Yuzawa Shingo?)
[edit] Suit actors
- Kamen Rider ZO - Jiro Okamoto (岡元 次郎 Okamoto Jirō?)
- Doras - Kazutoshi Yokoyama (横山 一敏 Yokoyama Kazutoshi?) and Seiji Takaiwa (高岩 成二 Takaiwa Seiji?)
- Bat Man - Kiyohito Nakagawa (中川 清人 Nakagaewa Kiyohito?)
[edit] Other Appearances (Character or background)
- Kamen Rider ZO later team-up with his successor, Kamen Rider J, in the 8-minute movie Kamen Rider World.
- The House used in the movie was as used as monster hideouts in Kamen Rider Black RX episodes 20 & 36.
- In The Great Battle IV, Kamen Rider ZO is a playable character, and one of the pilots of the Compatible Kaiser.
- There is a one shot manga version of the film by Shotaro Ishinomori.
[edit] Meaning Behind The Title
"ZO" meaning is still a mystery. Some rumors include "ZO" is actually "20" to commemorate 20 years of Kamen Rider; however, the 20th Anniversary was two years before ZO premiered. Another rumor is "ZO" is an abbreviation for "Zero" because ZO was the first Kamen Rider of the 90s and a revamp of the franchise for that era.
[edit] Adaptation
The movie was adapted into a full motion video game for the Sega CD with an interface similar to Dragon's Lair, the 'Game' was released in America as "The Masked Rider: Kamen Rider ZO", despite the film never airing in the United States, though footage involving the fights with the Neo Organism monsters were used in Saban's Masked Rider in its 2-part pilot and 2 other episodes. The game was critically panned, largely due to its script and dubbing (the Neo Organism's dialogue is all but impossible to understand) as well as some scenes from the entire film being cut from the game.
[edit] External links
- 仮面ライダーZO (Kamen Raidā Zetto Ō) (Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved on 2007-07-19.
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Kamen Rider 1993 |
Succeeded by J |
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