News

Kamen Rider Ex-Aid Gets Net Spinoff Series Focusing on Kamen Rider Brave

Toei revealed on January 21 that the Kamen Rider Ex-Aid television series is receiving a spinoff titled Kamen Rider Brave ~Survive Se Yo! Fukkatsu no Beast Rider Squad~. The spinoff will focus on Hiiro Kagami (played by Toshiki Seto), also known as Kamen Rider Brave, and will also feature the return of characters from previous Kamen Rider series, most prominently Kamen Rider Ouja (from Kamen Rider Ryuki). Takashi Hagino will reprise his role as Kamen Rider Ouja.

The spinoff will stream exclusively through the Toei Tokusatsu Fan Club app service starting on February 19, and will be the first original Kamen Rider series to stream through the app. The first seven minutes of every episode will stream on the Toei Tokusatsu official YouTube channel on the same day as their premiere.

In the spinoff, Kamen Rider Sasword (Kamen Rider Kabuto), Kamen Rider Dark Kiva (Kamen Rider Kiva), Kamen Rider Beast (Kamen Rider Wizard), and Kamen Rider Tiger (Kamen Rider Ryuki) have joined forces with Ouja. The five dub themselves the "Beast Rider Squad," and go after Kamen Rider Brave and Ex-Aid. The show promises to retain Ouja's signature cruel attitude, and show violent scenes that would "not be suitable for television." Kamen Rider Brave will also get a new form from a new "Knight of Safari" Rider Gashatt (the devices that allow characters to transform in Kamen Rider Ex-Aid).

Suzumura Nobuhiro is directing the spinoff. Takeshi Miyazaki is the action director.

The Kamen Rider Ex-Aid series is also getting another spinoff series focused on Taiga Hanaya.

Kamen Rider Ex-Aid, the latest installment in the long-running Kamen Rider special effects series, premiered in Japan on October 2. The show's theme is "doctors x gamers." The protagonist Emu Hōjō's key items include a "Gamer Driver" belt, and a transformation item called a "Rider Gashatt." After transforming, the Emu begins at level one and helps people who have been infected by the game virus "Bugster." Then, the Emu levels up to level two to fight the materialized Bugster.

The Kamen Rider Heisei Generations: Dr. Pac-Man vs. Ex-Aid & Ghost with Legend Rider crossover film opened in Japan on December 10. As with other movies in the Kamen Rider film series, the new film's plot crosses over the current Kamen Rider series with the previous one. In the film, a game virus lifeform called "Pac-Man" invades, and humanity faces an unprecedented crisis. Kamen Rider Ex-Aid must search for the source of the virus. The film features Kamen Rider Ex-Aid, Kamen Rider Ghost, Kamen Rider Drive, Kamen Rider Gaim, and Kamen Rider Wizard teaming up.

Kamen Rider Ghost, the previous installment in the franchise, premiered in October 2015.

Source: Cinema Today via The Tokusatsu Network