Kamen Rider 555

Kamen Rider 555 (仮面ライダー) is a Japanese tokusatsu television drama. It is the 13th installment in the Kamen Rider Series. It is a joint collaboration between Ishinomori Productions and Toei, and was broadcast on TV Asahi from January 26, 2003, to January 18, 2004. This series was the first to use TV Asahi's current logo. It aired as a part of TV Asahi's 2003 Super Hero Time block, alongside Bakuryū Sentai Abaranger.

Story
The Smart Brain corporation, the world's most powerful corporation, is trying to take over the world using Orphnoch, the "next stage in humanity's evolution", to covertly kill off the human population. In pursuit of this, they develop three suits of power armor, called Rider Gears (each for Faiz, Kaixa, and Delta), to find and protect the Orphnoch King, who can fix a defect within Orphnoch DNA which causes their genetic structure to break down, leading to death.

The Rider Gears are stolen by Hanagata, the Goat Orphnoch and former chief of Smart Brain. He sends them to his foster children (dubbed the "Ryuseiji", after the school they attended) so they can stop the Orphnoch from achieving their goal. However, Rider Gears were designed to be worn by Orphnoch, and humans are unable to activate the systems without undergoing genetic modification.

A young loner, Takumi Inui, is unwittingly drawn into the conflict between the Orphnoch and humans and becomes Kamen Rider Faiz to save the life of Mari Sonoda, one of the Ryuseiji. Smart Brain begins targeting him in an attempt to retrieve the Faiz Gear.

However, there is division amongst the Orphnoch, as those who wish to co-exist with humans rather than kill them, begin resisting the Smart Brain, who in turn targets them as well. Most of these "renegade" Orphnochs are either killed, remain neutral, or begin siding with the Ryuseiji against the Smart Brain.

When the Tokyo police discover the Orphnoch are behind a series of bizarre murders, they begin operations to defeat the creatures, largely unaware of the various factions involved. They even begin performing experiments on captured Orphnoch in an attempt to find ways of destroying them, though this does not go well.

The Orphnoch King eventually awakens within a young boy named Teruo Suzuki, whom Naoya Kaido and Keitaro Kikuchi saved and befriended. Now, it is up to the holders of the Rider Gears to band together and fight for humanity's survival.

Production
The Kamen Rider 555 trademark was registered by Toei on October 29, 2002.

Rider Gears
The equipment used in the series to transform is referred to as Rider Gear. It was created to be worn by the Orphnoch to protect their Orphnoch King. Each Rider Gear contains a belt known as a Driver used to form armor that protects the wearer and amplifies their strengths and abilities. The armor's theme is based on a letter from the Greek alphabet, and contains the letter somehow within the aesthetic design. The Gears also have a method to input command codes, a cell phone number keypad for most, which can activate armor and various weapons. The sound effects of a dialing in any of the Rider Gear phones were later referenced in episode 17 of Kamen Rider Kabuto.

The TV series focused on three sets of Rider Gear: Faiz Gear, Kaixa Gear, and Delta Gear. During the TV series, Hanagata, the foster father of the Ryuseiji and former chief executive of Smart Brain, attempted to create several new Rider Gears, using two lost people to test out the first two. The two belts failed to create Rider armor, resulting in the wearer's deaths. When Itsuro Takuma of Lucky Clover wore the third one it disabled him for a few seconds before it dissolved. The fourth dissolved without ever being worn. The Kamen Rider 555 movie, Paradise Lost, introduced two additional sets of Rider Gear: Psyga Gear and Orga Gear.

Riotrooper army
The show featured a series of mass-produced transformation belts called Smart Buckle, which enabled the wearer to transform into a generic Riotrooper. The Riotroopers were introduced in the movie and later added at the end of the TV series.

Live stage-show
A live stage show of Kamen Rider Faiz featured three unique riders named Alpha, Beta, and Gamma.

Naming conventions
Each set of Rider Gear is code-locked, in addition to being only usable by Orphnoch. These codes, input through the phone of each Gear, are a set of numbers that relate to the theme of each Gear. For the Faiz Gear, the code is 5-5-5, or "fives", phonetically similar to the word Faiz. For the Kaixa Gear, the code is 9-1-3, which is read in goroawase as "Ka-I-Sa". Delta Gear's phone was voice-activated, yet nonetheless also was coded with 3-3-3, a reference to the Greek letter Delta, a triangle.

The goroawase system was also used for the Psyga Gear, where the code 3-1-5 is read as "Sa-I-Go". The Orga Gear, patterned after the Greek Omega, the final letter, is code-locked to 0-0-0.

Paradise Lost
Kamen Rider 555 the Movie: Paradise Lost (劇場版 仮面ライダー555 パラダイス・ロスト), was released during the run of the series, as a double feature alongside Bakuryū Sentai Abaranger Deluxe: Abare Summer Is Freezing Cold! on August 16, 2003. The film was 81 minutes long. A few new characters and Rider Gears were introduced in the film.

Kamen Rider Taisen
A trailer for Heisei Rider vs. Shōwa Rider: Kamen Rider Taisen feat. Super Sentai (平成ライダー対昭和ライダー 仮面ライダー大戦 feat.スーパー戦隊) was shown in theaters with The Fateful Sengoku Movie Battle. The film's website reveals that it would be released in Japanese theaters on March 29, 2014. Kohei Murakami and Kento Handa were confirmed to reprise their respective roles from Kamen Rider 555.

Super Hero Taisen GP
Super Hero Taisen GP: Kamen Rider 3 (スーパーヒーロー大戦GP 仮面ライダー3号) is the 2015 entry of the "Super Hero Taisen" film series, featuring the cast of Kamen Rider Drive and the appearance of Kamen Rider 3, which was originally created by Shotaro Ishinomori for the one-shot 1972 manga Rider #3 VS. General Black (3ごうライダーたい ブラックしょうぐんのまき). Kento Handa reprises his role in the film, which was scheduled to open in theaters on March 21, 2015, and its sequel Kamen Rider 4 (仮面ライダー4号), which has Mitsuru Karahashi reprising his role. In Kamen Rider 4, it reveals the truth after the end of Kamen Rider 555 TV series, especially on Takumi himself.

Hyper Battle Video
Kamen Rider 555: Hyper Battle Video (仮面ライダー555（ファイズ） ハイパーバトルビデオ) features a boom box called the Faiz Sounder developed by the Smart Brain corporation appearing at the laundromat where Takumi, Mari, and Keitaro work at, causing them and everyone else to break into song and dance. The Faiz Sounder was created as a result of a contest for Televi-Kun for a new weapon for Kamen Rider Faiz.

Web-exclusive series

 * Kamen Rider Genms: Smart Brain and the 1000% Crisis (仮面ライダーゲンムズ スマートブレインと1000%のクライシス): The second entry of the web-exclusive Kamen Rider Genms series released on Toei Tokusatsu Fan Club on April 17, 2022, and serves a crossover between Kamen Rider Ex-Aid, Kamen Rider Zero-One, and 555.
 * Kamen Rider Outsiders (仮面ライダーアウトサイダーズ): A web-exclusive crossover series of Toei Tokusatsu Fan Club between various characters from the Kamen Rider metaseries released on October 16, 2022, which is a direct sequel to Kamen Rider Genms.
 * Kamen Rider 555 Murder Case (仮面ライダー555殺人事件): A two-episode web-exclusive special released on Toei Tokusatsu YouTube Official (only the first episode) and Toei Tokusatsu Fan Club on January 28, 2024. The events of the web-exclusive special are not connected to Kamen Rider 555 20th: Paradise Regained.

V-Cinema
Kamen Rider 555 20th: Paradise Regained (仮面ライダー555 20th パラダイス・リゲインド) is an upcoming V-Cinema release scheduled for a limited theatrical release on February 2, 2024, followed by its DVD and Blu-ray release on May 29, 2024. The events of the V-Cinema take place twenty years after the TV series. The V-Cinema is written by Toshiki Inoue and directed by Ryuta Tasaki. The theme song is "Identiφ's" performed by ISSA.

Novels

 * Kamen Rider Faiz Seiden: Deformed Flowers (仮面ライダーファイズ 正伝 —異形の花々—), written by Toshiki Inoue, is a novel adaptation. The novel was released on August 17, 2004.
 * Kamen Rider Faiz (仮面ライダーファイズ), written by Toshiki Inoue, is part of a series of spin-off novel adaptions of the Heisei Era Kamen Riders. It is a reprint of Deformed Flowers, which added a five-year epilogue to the story. The novel was released on January 31, 2013.

Lost World
The S.I.C. Hero Saga side story for 555 published in Monthly Hobby Japan magazine was titled Masked Rider 555: Lost World (MASKED RIDER 555 -ロスト・ワールド-). It serves as a prologue to the alternate story that was 555: Paradise Lost, and features the new character Riotrooper Ver. 2 (ライオトルーパーver.2). The story ran from October 2005 to January 2006.


 * Chapter titles
 * 1) Faiz (ファイズ)
 * 2) Kaixa (カイザ)
 * 3) Delta (デルタ)
 * 4) Psyga (サイガ)

Video game
A video game based on the series was produced by Bandai for the PlayStation 2. It was a fighting game that featured many of the characters from the TV series. There were several modes of gameplay for either a single play or two players. It was released only in Japan near the end of the TV series on December 18, 2003.

Blu-ray release
In 2014, 555 received a three-part Blu-ray release. To promote the release, the cast reunited after 10 years, but they remarked that not much has changed, other than Yoshika Kato changing her stage name to Leilani Gaja and her new life in Hong Kong and series lead Kento Handa's recent popularity on the variety show Tamori Club where he has surprised guests with his knowledge of high-rise buildings and kayōkyoku.

Cast

 * Takumi Inui (乾 巧): Kento Handa (半田 健人)
 * Mari Sonoda (園田 真理): Yuria Haga (芳賀 優里亜)
 * Keitaro Kikuchi (菊池 啓太郎): Ken Mizorogi (溝呂木 賢)
 * Yuji Kiba (木場 勇治): Masayuki Izumi (泉 政行)
 * Yuka Osada (長田 結花): Yoshika Kato (加藤 美佳)
 * Naoya Kaido (海堂 直也): Mitsuru Karahashi (唐橋 充)
 * Masato Kusaka (草加 雅人): Kōhei Murakami (村上 幸平)
 * Shuji Mihara (三原 修二): Atsushi Harada (原田 篤)
 * Rina Abe (阿部 里奈): Rie Kasai (河西 りえ)
 * Kazufumi Mizuno (水野 和史): Kengo Ohkuchi (大口 兼悟)
 * Aki Sawada (澤田 亜希): Go Ayano (綾野 剛)
 * Teruo Suzuki (鈴木 照夫): Kayato Watanabe (渡辺 彼野人)
 * Joji Soeno (添野 錠二): Taro Ishida (石田 太郎)
 * Sawamura (沢村): Koji Iwakawa (岩川 幸司)
 * Hikaru Soeno (添野 ひかる): Manami Miwake (三訳 真奈美)
 * Masahiko Minami (南 雅彦): Atsushi Ogawa (小川 敦史)
 * J (ジェイ): Kenneth Duria (ケネス・ヅリア)
 * Itsuro Takuma (琢磨 逸郎): Jun Yamasaki (山崎 潤)
 * Saeko Kageyama (影山 冴子): Waka (和香)
 * Kitazaki (北崎): Ray Fujita (藤田 玲)
 * Smart Lady (スマートレディ): Hitomi Kurihara (栗原 瞳)
 * Kyoji Murakami (村上 峡児): Katsuyuki Murai (村井 克行)
 * Hanagata (花形): Koji Naka (中 康治)
 * Arch Orphnoch (アークオルフェノク): Hiroshi Yanaka (家中 宏)
 * Narration, Driver Voice: Takehiko Kano (假野 剛彦)

Guest actors

 * Chie Morishita (森下 千恵): Mika Katsumura (勝村 美香)
 * Yuji Kiba's father (1): Shinichi Kase (加瀬 慎一)
 * Yuji Kiba's mother (1): Midori Takei (竹井 みどり)
 * Akai (赤井): Katsuyuki Yamazaki (山﨑 勝之)
 * Eiichi Toda (戸田 英一): Shigeki Kagemaru (影丸 茂樹)
 * Professor (7, 8): Ichiro Ogura (小倉 一郎)
 * Shigehisa Aoki (青木 茂久): Sarutoki Minagawa (皆川 猿時)
 * Gorgeous man (31, 32): Masaki Tachi (舘 正貴)
 * Crab Orphnoch (クラブオルフェノク): Satoshi Matsuda (松田 悟志)

International Broadcasts

 * In the Philippines, it was aired on GMA Network from 2005 to 2006 and Hero TV from YYYY to YYYY with Tagalog dub as Masked Rider 555.
 * From 2005 to 2006, the series was dubbed in English and aired in Singapore on MediaCorp Kids Central as Masked Rider 555.
 * From October 29, 2005- November 4, 2006, 555 aired in Hong Kong on TVB as Masked Rider 555 (幪面超人555, Méng Miàn Chāorén 555) dubbed in Cantonese.
 * From September 18, 2005- August 27, 2006, 555 aired in Taiwan on YoYo TV as Masked Rider 555 (假面騎士555, Jiǎ Miàn Qíshì 555) with a Taiwanese Mandarin dub.
 * On April 24, 2021, 555, alongside Agito and Ryuki, aired on FreeTV, with a Spanish dub in Latin America.

Songs

 * Opening theme
 * "Justiφ's"
 * Lyrics: Shoko Fujibayashi
 * Composition: Kazuto Sato
 * Arrangement: Kōtarō Nakagawa
 * Artist: ISSA
 * Episodes: 2-49


 * Insert themes
 * "Dead or alive"
 * Lyrics: Shoko Fujibayashi
 * Composition: Katsuya Yoshida
 * Arrangement: Akio Kondo
 * Artist: Shinichi Ishihara
 * Episodes: 2-20
 * "The people with no name"
 * Lyrics: Shoko Fujibayashi
 * Rap Lyrics: m.c.A.T
 * Composition: Cher Watanabe
 * Arrangement: Rider Chips
 * Artist: Rider Chips featuring m.c.A.T
 * Episodes: 21–32, 39
 * "EGO ~ eyes glazing over"
 * Lyrics: Shoko Fujibayashi
 * Composition & Arrangement: Cher Watanabe
 * Artist: ICHIDAI
 * Episodes: 33–38, 41-48
 * "Justiφ's -Accel Mix-"
 * Lyrics: Shoko Fujibayashi
 * Composition: Kazuto Sato
 * Arrangement: Kazunori Miyake
 * Artist: ISSA
 * Episodes: 40, Movie