Kamen Rider Kuuga


Kamen Rider Kuuga is a Japanese tokusatsu television series. It is the tenth installment of the popular Kamen Rider Series of tokusatsu shows and the first of the series to air entirely in the Heisei period. It was a joint collaboration between Ishimori Productions and Toei, and was shown on TV Asahi from January 30, 2000, to January 21, 2001, replacing Moero!! Robocon in its timeslot. Kamen Rider Kuuga is the first Kamen Rider Series to be broadcast in a widescreen format. It aired alongside Mirai Sentai Timeranger.

Synopsis

Long ago, the Grongi Tribe terrorized the Linto Tribe until a warrior acquired the power of Kuuga and defeated the Grongi, sealing their leader within a cave. In the present day, Kuuga's mysterious stone belt is excavated, freeing the Grongi as they resume their murderous game on the Linto Tribe's descendants: humanity itself. But a multi-talented man named Yusuke Godai finds himself drawn to the belt and becomes the new Kuuga. He helped assemble the Science Police to fight the Grongi to ensure the happiness and safety of others. But as the endgame draws near, Yusuke learns of a horrible revelation between Kuuga and the Grongi Tribe's leader.

Characters

Main and supporting characters

Grongi Tribe

The is a mysterious ancient civilization whose members can transform into monsters to kill people for their ruthless game, referred to in their language as the "Gegeru". The two hundred members of the Grongi made their rival civilization the, humanity's ancestors before they were defeated and sealed by the original Kuuga, Riku. However, the seal was undone in 2000 with the Grongi resuming their Gegeru on the human race that are the Linto's descendants to bring about the, when humanity will become as violent as the Grongi.
The Grongi are classified as, while those that have a human form are labeled. Each of the Grongi possesses a stylized with a stone. The naming pattern of the Grongi is "Group Species Creature type": the first part denoting their rank, the second part is the personal name, and the third part indicates the type of animal they resemble. Only 25 out of the 200 Grongi appeared in the course of the series.
In the series, the Grongi speak in their own native language which was left purposely unsubtitled during the original broadcast in order to prevent the audience from learning the series' mysteries and plot twists ). The Zu Group are the first to play in the Gegeru, then the Me, and finally the Go in the. The Gegeru is overseen by the two Ra Grongi, and the winner of the Gerizagibas Gegeru receives the right to challenge their leader, N Daguva Zeba, to a duel known as the for the leadership of the Grongi.
The are the judges of the Gegeru and are Daguva's right-hand men. The crafts the artifacts used by the other groups. The contains lower-tier Grongi under Zu Zain Da, most of their kin slaughtered by Daguva as they failed to acquire the right to participate. Those who did qualify are brought into the Gegeru by writing their names on the portable blackboard and using the beads of their bracelets to mark the number of people they have killed. The are middle-tier Grongi led by Me Garima Ba, its members brought into the Gegeru by using the Bagundada abacus to predict the number of people they are to kill and the time period to accomplish that. The are high tier Grongi who can transmute their ornaments into weapons like Kuuga displays while in his Pegasus, Dragon, and Titan forms. Unlike the lesser tiers, the Go having Ra Dorudo Gu tally their kills for them while creating their personal rules of conducting their kills. The Go who completes the Gegeru, or the one who can defeat all the Go class Grongi, earns the right to fight Daguva for control of the entire Grongi Tribe. Their leader is Go Gadoru Ba, one of the three strongest Go Grongi who had modified themselves to alter their forms like Kuuga and Daguva. The lowest were all murdered by Daguva without acquiring the right of the Gegeru.

Episodes

The title of each episode is written with only two kanji.

  49. Specials

is a manga adaptation, published in the TeleCoro Comic magazine. It took place between Episodes 22 and 23.
In 2014, an manga adaptation of Kuuga is published, written by Toshiki Inoue and drawn by Hitotsu Yokoshima with the characters of Kamen Rider Agito added.

S.I.C. Hero Saga

Kuuga had two S.I.C. Hero Saga stories published in Monthly Hobby Japan magazine. The first titled written by series producer Shigenori Takatera expands upon the mythology of Kuuga featuring original characters, the previous Kuuga chosen by the Linto, and the original. The second story Masked Rider Kuuga Edition: Dark Side continues the expansion of the series mythology. Odyssey ran from February to May 2002. Dark Side ran in a separate special issue titled Hobby Japan Mook S.I.C. Official Diorama Story S.I.C. Hero Saga vol.2.
;Odyssey chapter titles

Novel

, written by Naruhisa Arakawa, is part of a series of spin-off novel adaptions of the Heisei Era Kamen Riders. The story takes place 12 years after the series, where Yusuke Godai defeated the Grongi as Kamen Rider Kuuga. Ichijo is still trying to research the remains of the Grongi Tribe until rumors of a mysterious surfaces on the internet, which reminds Ichijo of Godai. The novel was originally planned to be released on November 30, 2012, however it was delayed until June 2013.

Video game

A video game based on the series, developed by KAZe and published by Bandai, was released in Japan on December 21, 2000 for the PlayStation. It is a fighting game similar to Tekken.

Cast

;Opening theme
;Ending theme