Toei Company and Shout! Factory are joining forces to bring the beloved Japanese series Kamen Rider Kuuga to North America for the first time ever in a new Blu-ray collection for the franchise’s 50th anniversary. Titled Kamen Rider Kuuga: The Complete Collection, the set includes 7 discs containing the entirety of the original Japanese master of the series complete with subtitles — with and without translation for the evil Grongi — so that all fans can enjoy this long-awaited release. Pre-orders from Shout! Factory also come with a limited edition poster while supplies last.
Over in Japan, the Kamen Rider franchise is a storied one in children’s entertainment, originally airing back in 1971 and remaining the top children’s program for almost 50 years now. The franchise follows various iterations of its titular masked motorcycle-riding hero as they battle the forces of evil. Each rider and relevant series have generations of fans who grew up watching them on television. Despite its popularity overseas, it never caught on to the same degree in North America. On two separate occasions, the U.S. attempted to adapt the series for a Western audience, much like how they adapted Super Sentai into Power Rangers, but both shows ultimately failed.
Kamen Rider Kuuga kicked off the Heisei era of the show on television in 2000, following a typical guy named Yusuke Godai (Joe Odagiri) who is drawn to the belt of a legendary hero after it’s uncovered by some archeologists digging around in the hero’s tomb. When they find the belt, however, they also release the Grongi, an ancient race of monsters that plan to end humanity as we know it. Upon uniting with the belt, Godai takes on the power of the legendary warrior Kuuga and becomes the last hope to save the human race from destruction.
Alongside Odagiri, the series also featured Shingo Katsurayama, Kazumi Murata, Kitarô, Takashi Matsuyama, Nobuyuki Yoneyama, Shio Mizubara, Eri Tanaka, Wakana Chizaki, and Kaori Mizushima. As with the entirety of the Kamen Rider series, Kuuga was produced and aired by Toei.
Shout! Factory has been integral in getting older series like Kamen Rider home releases when it’d otherwise be difficult to find them. Through its various branches, the company has a library of content including television series, movies, anime, and more that it distributes in special releases for pop culture fans of all kinds. It’s not the first time they’ve brought over Toei-produced series for North American audiences either. Previously, they released a Blu-ray collection for Kamen Rider Zero-One as well as multiple of the original Super Sentai series.
Kamen Rider Kuuga: The Complete Collection is available now for pre-order on Shout! Factory for $51.98 and it officially arrives on September 20.