Valuing the deeper meanings and existential themes of Tokusatsu shows can be terminally mired by the very definition of the word Tokusatsu. Translated as ‘special effects’ or ‘special filming’, it reflects the main selling point of the 50+ years’ worth of TV shows and films; their reliance on spectacle-driven story-telling. Godzilla destroying Tokyo, giant robots piloted by Super Sentai teams battling the forces of evil, they’re common sights across the Toku spectrum. Any attempt at recognising themes at work in the show are drowned out by ensuing explosions. Let’s sit on the dynamite then, draw a deep breath, and open up the ideas of love and peace promoted by Kamen Rider Build.
The 19th entry in Toei’s long-running flagship superhero drama stands at a unique point in the franchise, caught between the aesthetically jarring Kamen Rider Ex-Aid and the 20th anniversary series Kamen Rider Zi-O. Video game and time travel-themed Riders aren’t the order of the day in Build. Instead, Toei’s official website for Kamen Rider Build candidly revealed the logic of the series’ story in the run-up to its broadcast, saying the show would hark back to earlier, more recognisable themes of Kamen Rider, something reaffirmed by its head writer, Shogo Muto, and head director, Ryuta Tasaki.
The groundwork for Build‘s central themes feels like a combination of Shogo’s perspective along with that of fellow screenwriter Keiichi Hasegawa. A long-time alumni of writing Ultraman and Kamen Rider for the past 20 years, he derided Tokusatsu shows of the 20th century as “shallow and unproductive” in a 2004 interview with Hyper Hobby. These duel perspectives do much to legitimise the growth of these shows to take themselves more seriously.
Kamen Rider Build is a story of a rag-tag bunch of youths searching for a brand new world. In Sento Kiryuu’s own words, the hero of the series, they’re fighting for a world of love and peace. For a show that reaches for such optimistic goals, it rests on a bed of much darker ideas. Kamen Rider Build takes place in a distorted, inharmonious world. The series is set 10 years after an expedition to Mars returns with the Pandora Box, an ancient item of cryptic origin. The box is opened and results in a gargantuan wall tearing into the skies of Japan and splitting the country into three separate nations, and eventually leading to a civil war.
Build wrenches forth much of its drama in how its themes of war-profiteering, fascism, gas-lighting, emotional abuse and body horror come into conflict with Sento’s mission in battling against the villainous underground organisation Faust, who wish to exploit the alien properties of the Pandora Box to construct weapons of war. This includes the Rider System, which Sento uses as Kamen Rider Build to tackle the Smash, genetic mutations caused by Faust’s experiments.
This is the crux of the drama from which Kamen Rider Build becomes a thoroughly engrossing watch, as the relationship between Sento, the Build Rider System and Faust is cautiously revealed to us episode by episode, like a curtain being drawn slowly. Horrific secrets are unboxed as the amnesiac Sento’s place in Faust and the Pandora Box is revealed by the omnipotent alien destroyer, Evolto. Working in tandem with this slow-burn revelation throughout the series is the forging of other relationships with other Kamen Riders. Initially, Build roots itself in the traditional narrative set-up of having a duo of Kamen Riders battle the forces of evil, something that’s been a tradition since the very first series of Kamen Rider in 1971. Along with Sento and Banjou Ryuga, Kamen Rider Cross-Z, who’s purpose in Evolto’s masterplan of galactic conquest has equally world-spinning ramifications, Gentoku Himuro (Kamen Rider Rogue) and Kazumi Sawatari (Kamen Rider Grease) join the fray, eventually joining together to stop Evolto once his true ambitions are revealed.
Kamen Rider Build‘s angst-driven motifs come to play once more with these additional Riders. Gentoku is introduced as one of the primary villains, initially battling against Sento using the Rider-like powers of Night Rogue. Driven by a lust for power and to become the prime minister of a united Japan, the death of his father provokes him to alter his perspective and become an ally of Build as Kamen Rider Rogue. Likewise, Kazumi joins the gang having lived a life as a farmer, but whose livelihood was ravaged by the civil war, convincing him to become a Kamen Rider. Through Sento’s routine messages of fighting for a better tomorrow, which are peppered throughout the series, the four eventually come together to fight a bigger evil.
The unification of the four Riders during Build‘s final arc reflects the optimism of the series, how four men of varying backgrounds and who became Kamen Riders for wildly different reasons eventually forge a bond over the idea of creating a safer world. Tragedy and optimism weave in and out of each other from beginning to end in the series. The four united Riders aren’t enough to make the series end on an entirely victorious note, even though Evolto is eventually defeated, but the series relentlessly reminds its viewers of a better tomorrow at the sight of Build, Cross-Z, Grease and Rogue working together, galvanised by the separate paths each Rider has taken to reach this point. If anything, the fate of several characters in the series serves as a comment on the price that must be paid for a safer, more harmonious world.
A reflection of that pro-active attitude in finding a better world is found in the finale. With Evolto defeated, thanks to a literal splicing together of two alternate planet Earths (yes, really) Sento and Banjo take their place in this new-found paradise. Despite new adventures awaiting them in the duo of Kamen Rider Build: NEW WORLD V-Cinema films, their journey at this point is complete, their hardship rewarded, their cause validated.
Kamen Rider Build is an aptly named series. It constructs a foundation of dark ideals and then builds a journey towards a peaceful tomorrow on that layer of grim, murderous deceit. It’s a story who’s characters wrangle forth the best from the worst, wrapped in a layer of full force action and adventure that Tokusatsu excels at. In the world of Tokusatsu, it’s hard to stand out from the crowd. Kamen Rider has had an on-off existence since 1971, but it’s been going non-stop since its relaunch in 2000. Likewise, every year brings new adventures for Super Sentai and Ultraman. This constant stream of fresh product to digest year in year out can overwhelm, but for me, Kamen Rider Build stands in a class all its own, radiating its hopeful visions of shiny, glorious days, long after the credits finish rolling.
Did you get caught up in the love and peace of Kamen Rider Build? Let us know in the comments section below or send us a Tweet!
