 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Kamen Rider ZO" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(November 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Kamen Rider ZO | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DVD release cover | |||||
| Japanese name | |||||
| Kanji | 仮面ライダーZO | ||||
| |||||
| Directed by | Keita Amemiya | ||||
| Screenplay by | Noboru Sugimura | ||||
| Produced by | Yoshinori Watanabe Makoto Yamashina Ryonori Watanabe Shigeru Watanabe Satoshi Kubo Nagadumi Hori Tomoo Kakuta | ||||
| Starring | Kou Domon Shohei Shibata Isao Sasaki | ||||
| Cinematography | Fumio Matsumura | ||||
| Edited by | Junkichi Kanno | ||||
| Music by | Eiji Kawamura | ||||
Production companies | |||||
| Distributed by | Toei Company | ||||
Release date |
| ||||
Running time | 48 minutes | ||||
| Country | Japan | ||||
| Language | Japanese | ||||
| Budget | ¥300 million ($2.8 million) | ||||
Kamen Rider ZO (仮面ライダーZO,Kamen Raidā Zetto Ō), translatedMasked Rider ZO, is a 1993 Japanesetokusatsusuperhero film directed byKeita Amemiya and co-produced betweenToei Company andBandai.[1][2] ASega CDinteractive movie was released forZO in 1994,[3] and was distributed in the United States asThe Masked Rider: Kamen Rider ZO.
To commemorate the series' 40th anniversary,ZO was shown on Toei's pay-per-view channel in September 2011.[4] The film's protagonist, Kamen Rider ZO, appears in the laterKamen Rider Decade television series[5] and is a playable character in the 2011Nintendo DS video gameAll Kamen Rider: Rider Generation.[6]Media Blasters licensed Kamen Rider ZO for a Region 1 Blu-ray release, along withShin: Kamen Rider Prologue,Kamen Rider J, and the shortKamen Rider World. A limited Collector’s Edition featuring World and a special interview with Director Keita Amemiya was released in the summer of 2024 exclusively on the Media Blasters website, while a Standard Edition of the Blu-ray for the wider market is set to be released in April of 2025. This version of the Blu-ray however does not contain neither the short nor the interview.
Masaru Aso is the laboratory assistant ofgeneticist Doctor Mochizuki. He is used in one of Mochizuki's experiments related to the creation of the Neo-Lifeform, enabling him to transform into thegrasshopper-like Kamen Rider ZO. He flees to the mountains and lapses into a two-yearcoma before he is awakened by atelepathic call to protect Hiroshi Mochizuki, the doctor's son. After an attempt to discover the meaning of his transformation at Mochizuki Genetics, Masaru senses that Hiroshi is in danger and saves the boy from Doras as ZO.
Doras regenerates from the battle, creating two creatures to hunt down Hiroshi. Meanwhile, fearing for his life, Hiroshi runs to his eccentric inventor grandfather, Seikichi who dismisses his monster story at first. Seeing Masaru outside Seikichi's house, Hiroshi panics and runs away, crossing paths with Reiko and her karate class at their dojo. Masaru reveals himself to the group as Hiroshi's bodyguard before a freak bat suddenly terrorizes them. Knocked out of the air by one of the karate students, transforming into a humanoid bat monster, "Bat-Man". Transforming into ZO, Masaru battles Bat-Man to cover Hiroshi and Reiko's escape, but they are sucked into a pocket dimension by the other Doras creation, "Spider-Woman". ZO saves them and kills Spider-Woman; with ZO having to fend off Bat-Man once more who tries to kidnap Hiroshi but is thwarted.
After he saves Hiroshi, Masaru tells Seikichi that Hiroshi's father used him in his experiments. Refusing to believe it, Hiroshi runs off. Masaru finds him and fixes his watch, recognizing the melody which awakened him as he helps Hiroshi cope with the revelation. However, as Hiroshi comes to terms, he suddenly spots his father alive and well in the crowded city. Cornering him, Hiroshi's father reveals himself to be the Bat-Man in disguise. Running after him, Masaru comes face to face with a full-power Doras who knocks Masaru unconscious with a projectile fist, sending him hurtling down from a building and crashing down onto a car. Masaru awakens when a grasshopper shows him where Hiroshi has been taken. Making his way to a complex, ZO faces Bat-Man once more and kills him. He finds Hiroshi and Dr. Mochizuki, learning that the geneticist was the one who woke him up and that the Neo-Lifeform has been acting independently to become a perfect being. The Neo-Lifeform materializes from a strange pool and takes on Hiroshi's voice to reveal its plan, wanting to use the professor's son to make him complete his work. The Neo-Lifeform then transforms into Doras to fight ZO once more, absorbing him into his body to become "Red Doras".
At a crucial moment, the music from Hiroshi's keepsake watch keeps Doras at bay, startling him just long enough for Professor Mochizuki to sacrifice his life to damage the Neo-Lifeform's pool and allow ZO to escape the forced fusion. With a final Rider Kick, ZO defeats Doras and destroys the Neo-Lifeform. Just then the complex begins to self-destruct. ZO takes the grieving Hiroshi and the two of them make a desperate escape from the flames. Leaving the boy with Seikichi, Masaru leaves for parts unknown.
The idea for the project was conceived due to the strong sales ofShin Kamen Rider: Prologue, which was released through direct-to-video. Many proposals were planned such as sequel toShin, or a feature film featuring Ichigo to Black RX. However, it was decided that it would be a standalone film.
Shigeru Okada, then president of Toei Video, Ryonori Watanabe, and Makoto Yamashina, then president ofBandai Visual, proposed a joint project on the condition that it would push box office sales through a multi-million yen campaign. Okada was one of the first to green-light the film. He then collaborated with Yamashina and planned to release the upcoming film by next May. Bandai would refresh their brands to focus on making mass sales while Toei collaborated to developKamen Rider World as part of the promotions.
There were restrictions on producingZO from within the company, but Okada pulled through and decided to produce the film over a year before its eventual release. In March 1992, the decision to produce the film had begun and an multichannel marketing was deployed for potential box-office sales, such as film, television events, and merchandise sales.
It was planned as a standalone release theatrically because it was an anniversary film. However, due to potential box-office risks, executives created theToei Super Hero Fair and was shown alongside the theatrical versions ofGosei Sentai Dairanger andTokusou Robo Janperson. For that reason,ZO's runtime was shortened at 48 minutes than the envisioned 90, causing the film's development to be rushed. It was directorKeita Amemiya's idea to shortened the length of the film as if it were aMakunouchi bento[citation needed].
Production of the film had begun on November 19, 1992. The film had finished principal photography on December 20, 1992, and was officially completed on February 3, 1993.
"Hohoemi no Yukue" (微笑みの行方; "The Whereabouts of Smile") and "Ai ga Tomaranai" (愛が止まらない; "Love Doesn't Stop"), composed by Eiji Kawamura with lyrics by Akira Ōtsu, were sung by the Japanese group infix.
TheS.I.C. Hero Saga story, published inMonthly Hobby Japan magazine from February to May 2005, contained a crossover withKamen Rider J entitledMasked Rider ZO (& J): ZO vs. J (MASKED RIDER ZO (& J）-ZO vs J-,Kamen Raidā Zetto Ō (ando Jei) -Zetto Ō vs Jei-). In the story, the Neo Organism Doras obtains the Fog Mother's powers. It introduces the characters Red Doras Ver. 2 (赤ドラスver.2,Aka Dorasu ver.2), Doras Ultimate Form (ドラス究極形態,Dorasu Kyūkyokukeitai) and Fog Doras (フォッグ・ドラス,Foggu Dorasu).
Kazuhiko Shimamoto drew a manga adaptation of the film. It takes some liberties with the plot, expanding the role of several characters, a different characterization of ZO and more-graphic violence. The manga includes short stories aboutKamen Rider Black and Kamen Rider creatorShotaro Ishinomori.
The film was adapted into thevideo gameThe Masked Rider: Kamen Rider ZO and released in North America for theSega CD, despite the film's never airing there. It also features extra footage of scenes not used on the final version of the original film.
Saban Entertainment spliced together footage fromKamen Rider ZO for itsMasked Rider TV show, with the monsters used in some episodes. Doras became Destructosphere, and was the first monster sent by series villain Count Dregon in the opening two-part episode "Escape From Edenoi". Spider Woman became Arachnida, appearing in the episode "Stranger from The North" and with a monster from the sequelKamen Rider J. Bat Man became Parasect and appeared in the episode, "Cat-Atomic".