We don’t normally cover Kamen Rider related news at Otaquest but these new shirts by Bandai were just too cool not to share. Premium Bandai recently started taking pre-orders for two shirts based on the classic Kamen Rider Ryuki. The 2002 classic Heisei Era Kamen Rider show actually just had a new three-episode mini-series air that ties into the current Kamen Rider Zi-O. These shirts, featuring Ryuki’s two leads Kamen Rider Ryuki and Kamen Rider Knight, were made to celebrate the new mini-series that brought back many of the original actors. The shirts retail for $45.00 dollars on Bandai’s English site but suffer from an additional $33 dollar shipping charge. You’ll have to be a real one to buy one of these.
If there is one single Kamen Rider anime fans who aren’t into tokusatsu should watch it’s Kamen Rider Ryuki. Notably, there would probably be no Puella Magi Madoka Magica without it. Madoka series writer Gen Urobuchi stated in interviews after many fans pointed out similarities, he was extremely influenced by Kamen Rider Ryuki. Especially by it being the first Rider show to heavily features Kamen Rider on Kamen Rider fights, which you can clearly see Madoka drawing from. A couple of years after Madoka, Urobochi was offered to create his own Kamen Rider, which gave us the ridiculous Kamen Rider Gaim. Another Rider against Rider show which even brought back one of the actors in Kamen Rider Ryuki.
To speak about the shirts for a second; I love them. Both as a die-hard fan of Kamen Rider Ryuki and someone who has to write about collaborative T-Shirts a lot, I’m really impressed. The close-ups of Knight and Ryuki with just a little color added to each looks absolutely striking with the large print size of the image. The Japanese characters on the shirts being mirrored is a nice touch seeing as much of Ryuki takes place in the ‘mirror-world’. Yes, that’s a generic name but don’t let that stop you from checking out the show or buying one of these shirts.
You can pre-order the shirts at Bandai Premium, they release in July.