Shin Masked Rider" directed and written by Hideaki Anno will be released in March 2023! Shocking "Masked Rider 50th Anniversary Project Announcement Conference" Report

On April 3, 2021, "Masked Rider 50th Anniversary Project Announcement Conference" was held at Marunouchi TOEI. At this press conference, the new movie "Shin Masked Rider" directed by Hideaki Anno, the reboot of "Masked Rider BLACK" "Masked Rider BLACK SUN" and the anime "Wind City Detective" which is a sequel to "Masked Rider W" were announced.

Exactly half a century has passed since the first episode of "Masked Rider" was broadcast at 19:30 on April 3, 1971. The press conference started with a commemorative video for the 50th anniversary of the birth of "Masked Rider". The event began with a greeting by Mr. Osamu Tezuka, President and Representative Director of Toei Co. Looking back on the history of "Masked Rider" works, he talked about how Rider has permeated people's lives in various forms, including toys, food, clothing, children's daily necessities, and learning products, and thanked the users.

There are three kinds of human beings," he said. Those who still enjoy riders, those who once enjoyed riders, and those who have yet to see riders," Tezuka said, opening the press conference by saying, "In this press conference, we are trying to let mankind enjoy riders equally, and we hope that they will enjoy the appeal of new riders for the new era.

From this point on, the works of each artist were announced.

First, an anime adaptation of the manga "Fuuto Tantei" was announced. Mr. Hideaki Tsukada, General Manager of Television Planning and Production Department of Toei Co.

This is the first animated series in the history of Rider, and was originally a sequel to the tokusatsu drama "Masked Rider W" that was adapted from the manga by Shotaro Ishinomori, the author of the original "Masked Rider" series. Mr. Tsukada says that changing the format from special effects to manga has led to the evolution and discovery of manga expression, and he hopes to realize new evolution and discovery by changing the format again with this anime adaptation.

He also said that he is currently working with anime creators who are itching to make "Masked Rider. He said he believes the work will satisfy fans of tokusatsu, manga, and anime.
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For the first time in "Kamen Rider" history! An anime adaptation of "Fuuto Tantei" is in the works!

Next was the announcement of "Masked Rider BLACK SUN," a reboot of the TV series "Masked Rider BLACK" broadcast in 1987.

Mr. Fumio Yoshimura, Director and General Manager of Contents Business Department of Toei Co. Mr. Yoshimura explained that "Masked Rider BLACK" was a very important work because it aimed to return to the original story, the composition of the confrontation between two riders became the foundation of Heisei Rider, and it was the last "Masked Rider" in which Mr. Ishinomori was involved.

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A story of a black warrior by Kazuya Shiraishi, a dark hero of the movie world! A reboot film "Masked Rider BLACK SUN" will be produced! It will start in the spring of 2022!

The above news had been announced prior to the press conference, and in a sense, many of you may have expected this. However, the following news caught everyone by surprise.

Mr. Shinichiro Shirakura, Director and General Manager of Television Division 2 of Toei Co. Of course, the director and scriptwriter is Hideaki Anno, who worked on "Evangelion" and "Shin Godzilla. When this title was announced, the press conference venue was filled with a huge stir.

Mr. Shirakura announced, "Based on the first "Masked Rider," a new film will be produced with Hideaki Anno as the director. The film is scheduled to be released in March 2023. An image illustration by Masahiro Maeda, director of "Shin Evangelion the Movie," was also unveiled.

In addition, comments from Akira Onodera, President of Ishimori Productions, and Director Anno were also released.

Director Anno's comment that he wanted to repay the great favor he received 50 years ago in the form of a movie 50 years later was overflowing with passionate love.

It was also announced that the memorial video shown at the beginning of the press conference was composed by Director Anno.

In the latter half of the press conference, Mr. Shirakura spoke about why these three films were announced this time.

Mr. Ishinomori left behind two manga versions of Rider, the first and the second, BLACK. He thought it would be appropriate for the 50th anniversary to "recreate these two films as visual works based on Mr. Ishinomori's manga" and "to animate 'Kazeto Tantei,' which was released in the form of a manga, Mr. Ishinomori's original work.

During the Q&A session that followed, reporters asked a number of questions about "Shin. First of all, regarding the background of the production, "the person in charge (at Toei) was in charge of 'Evangelion Q,'" he said, "and the project started when he received a memo from Director Anno. Six years later, the project was announced.

He said that he could not give any details yet, but commented that although he already had a vague idea of the "Masked Rider" with Anno's taste, "it will be an entertainment that even people who are seeing 'Rider' for the first time will enjoy.

He also commented, "Is the enemy a shocker?" He also commented, "It is based on the 'first Rider,' but are No. 1, No. 2, and Shocker ...... really named as such? I hope you will let us keep that part of the story a secret as well.

When a reporter from a foreign media asked about the release dates of the films outside of Japan, he revealed that all the films are scheduled to be released at about the same time as in Japan. However, he said that there are still many areas that are being adjusted, so we should expect further information.

Mr. Shirakura concluded by saying, "The "Masked Rider" series does not necessarily reach its peak here. It is the duty of our generation, which benefited from the first "Masked Rider," to pass the baton to the next generation," he said, expressing his enthusiasm for the "Masked Rider 50th Anniversary Project.