Kamen Rider (1971) Episode 5 Review

This episode’s Kajin is none other than Mantis Man, who tends to bounce around a lot and use a chain-link whip. To be honest though, he’s not the true enemy for Hongo to fight this time around, more like a nuisance that has to be dealt with. This episode is greatly deprived of kids and Ruriko manages to once again not be annoying (of course this doesn’t keep her from getting knocked out in a fight, but hey, it’s progress). The main thing to reflect on in this episode is how more of Hongo’s world is being corrupted by Shocker.

Episode 5 deals with a childhood friend of Hongo’s who just so happens to be key to a plan involving artificial earthquakes led by Mantis Man. After some comedic relief involving scientific facts about earthquakes via Tachibana, the gang must set off to rescue Chikako from Shocker. Things do get interesting though when the viewer realizes that Chikako doesn’t really want to be rescued though….This leads to Hongo having to race against time in order to prevent a massive earthquake from destroying Japan!

This was a decent episode, and a much easier one for me to stomach than the last episode, with the only thing bothering me being that Mantis Man is being treated like an afterthought to an extent compared to the real target. When you have a fight scene in which Hongo in human form can toss the Shocker Kajin around like the Ultimate Warrior, it just makes Mantis Man look weak compared to the Kajin that have come before him. I do understand Hongo is an enhanced cyborg, but 90% of that power should come from when he is transformed into Kamen Rider. It’s one thing to beat around Shocker troopers as Hongo, it’s another thing to beat up the Kajin.

Another thing that caught my eye, which I don’t count against the episode, but still found funny never-the-less, was this shot:

Sooo, who wants to take a guess for what they made this helmet out of?

Yeah, that bottom part of the mouthpiece does not like to sit in place. You can actually see a few parts of the episode where it’s starting to come open and expose the skin (including the OP, where you can see the pearly whites shine out like P.Diddy’s teeth). It’s a reminder of just how little the crew had to work with special effects-wise compared to modern Kamen Rider series. Another funny effect was used deaths in which the previous effect of bubbles or red liquid being sucked away were replaced by what looked like a pearl necklace in the rough shape of the deceased being pulled off of the floor. My initial guess would be lack of budget, but one may also have to take into account how grisly the original effects were for what was supposed to be a kid’s show.

Finally, what really set in my mind was how much Shocker can toy with people and easily corrupt them into doing their bidding, with the coincidental knowledge of many of these folks being close to Hongo a constant reminder of what he must do to protect the world from Shocker, as well as reminding him of what he loses every episode. While not as vengeance-heavy as V3, he does have a grim outlook on things underneath his playful exterior.

This episode is a pretty good one to catch, just don’t expect much out of the Kajin this time.