Kamen Rider 555

Kamen Rider 555
Title screen.
Genre	Tokusatsu
Created by	Shotaro Ishinomori
Written by	Toshiki Inoue
Directed by	Ryuta Tasaki Takao Nagaishi Hidenori Ishida Naomi Tamura Nobuhiro Suzumura
Starring	Kento Handa Yuria Haga Ken Mizorogi Masayuki Izumi Yoshika Kato Mitsuru Karahashi Kohei Murakami Atsushi Harada
Narrated by	Takehiko Kano
Opening theme	"Justiφ's" by ISSA
Ending theme	"Dead or alive" by Shinichi Ishihara "The people with no name" by RIDER CHIPS featuring m.c.A.T "EGO ~ eyes glazing over" by ICHIDAI
Composer(s)	Hayato Matsuo
Country of origin	Japan
Language(s)	Japanese
No. of episodes	50 (List of episodes)
Production
Producer(s)	Chika Hamada (TV Asahi) Shinichiro Shirakura Naomi Takebe Takaaki Utsunomiya (Toei)
Running time	24-25 minutes (per episode)
Production company(s)	Toei Company
Distributor	Toei Company
Broadcast
Original channel	TV Asahi
Original run	January 26, 2003 (2003-01-26) – January 18, 2004 (2004-01-18)
Chronology
Preceded by	Kamen Rider Ryuki
Followed by	Kamen Rider Blade
External links
Website

Kamen Rider 555 (仮面ライダー555（ファイズ）, Kamen Raidā Faizu^?, Kamen Rider Faiz, Masked Rider Φ's, Phi's, or Faiz) is a Japanese tokusatsu television series. It is the 13th installment in the Kamen Rider Series. It is a joint collaboration between Ishimori Productions and Toei, and was broadcast on TV Asahi from January 26, 2003 to January 18, 2004. The catchphrase for the series is "Racing Instinct." (疾走する本能, Shissō Suru Honnō^?).

Story

Main article: List of Kamen Rider 555 characters

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 Gear (Delta, Faiz, and Kaixa), 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 unwillingly 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. The 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.

Rider Gears

Rider Gears

Belt	Greek letter	Main wearer
TV Series
Faiz Gear	Φ	Takumi Inui
Kaixa Gear	Χ	Masato Kusaka
Delta Gear	Δ	Shuji Mihara
Riotrooper Gear	Ο	Naoya Kaido
Movie
Psyga Gear	Ψ	Leo
Orga Gear	Ω	Yuji Kiba
Stage Show
Alpha Gear	α	Female Performer
Beta Gear	β	Male Performer
Gamma Gear	γ	Male Performer

The equipment used in the series to transform is referred to as Rider Gear. It was created to be worn by the Orphenoch to protect their Orphenoch 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

Main article: Riotrooper

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 Orphenoch. 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 Greek Omega, the final letter, is code-locked to 0-0-0.

Orphnoch

Main article: Orphnoch

The series kaijin; they are humans who are resurrected either naturally or by the Smart Brain, with enhanced physical attributes and the ability to transform into monsters. Their goal is to annihilate humanity either by turning other humans into more Orphnoch or killing them off completely. However, there are those who believe they can still live peacefully alongside humans; those who possess that mind set quickly become targets for elimination by the Smart Brain.

Episodes

Main article: List of Kamen Rider 555 episodes

Ep#	Title	Original airdate
1	"The Start of a Trip" "Tabi no Hajimari" (旅の始まり)	January 26, 2003
2	"The Belt's Power" "Beruto no Chikara" (ベルトの力)	February 2, 2003
3	"The King's Sleep..." "Ō no Nemuri..." (王の眠り･･･)	February 9, 2003
4	"My Name" "Ore no Namae" (おれの名前)	February 16, 2003
5	"Original" "Orijinaru" (オリジナル)	February 23, 2003
6	"Trio × Trio" "Sannin × Sannin" (３人×３人)	March 2, 2003
7	"The Power of Dreams" "Yume no Chikara" (夢の力)	March 9, 2003
8	"The Protector of Dreams" "Yume no Mamoribito" (夢の守り人)	March 16, 2003
9	"Enter, the President" "Shachō Tōjō" (社長登場)	March 23, 2003
10	"The Enigmatic Rider" "Nazo no Raidā" (謎のライダー)	March 30, 2003
11	"The Enigmatic Belt" "Nazo no Beruto" (謎のベルト)	April 6, 2003
12	"Ryūsei School" "Ryūsei-juku" (流星塾)	April 13, 2003
13	"Friend of Foe?" "Teki ka Mikata ka" (敵か味方か)	April 20, 2003
14	"Takumi's Spirit" "Takumi no Iji" (巧の意地)	April 27, 2003
15	"The Fallen Idol ~ φ's vs. χ" "Ochita Gūzō ~ Faizu Tai Kai" (落ちた偶像~ φ's vs χ)	May 4, 2003
16	"Human Heart" "Ningen no Kokoro" (人間の心)	May 11, 2003
17	"Takumi, Revival" "Takumi, Fukkatsu" (巧、復活)	May 18, 2003
18	"Narrow Escape from Death" "Kyūshi ni Isshō" (九死に一生)	May 25, 2003
19	"Pure White Justice" "Junpaku no Seigi" (純白の正義)	June 1, 2003
20	"The Beautiful Assassin" "Utsukushiki Shikaku" (美しき刺客)	June 8, 2003
21	"Accelerating Spirits" "Kasoku Suru Tamashii" (加速する魂)	June 22, 2003
22	"Masato's Confession" "Masato no Kokuhaku" (雅人の告白)	June 29, 2003
23	"False Friendship" "Itsuwari no Yūjō" (偽りの友情)	July 6, 2003
24	"The Door to Darkness" "Yami e no Tobira" (闇への扉)	July 13, 2003
25	"The Dark Laboratory" "Yami no Jikkenshitsu" (闇の実験室)	June 20, 2003
26	"Enter, Delta" "Deruta Tōjō" (デルタ登場)	June 27, 2003
27	"Ryūsei School Breaks Up" "Ryūseijuku Bunretsu" (流星塾分裂)	August 3, 2003
28	"Dark Clover" "Ankoku no Yotsuba" (暗黒の四葉)	August 10, 2003
29	"Excellent Bike" "Chōzetsu Baiku" (超絶バイク)	August 17, 2003
30	"Masato's Trap" "Masato no Wana" (雅人の罠)	August 24, 2003
31	"Origami Tears" "Origami no Namida" (折り紙の涙)	August 31, 2003
32	"Intertwined Threads" "Karamiau Ito" (絡み合う糸)	September 7, 2003
33	"Mari Dies" "Mari, Shisu" (真理、死す)	September 14, 2003
34	"True Form" "Shinjitsu no Sugata" (真実の姿)	September 21, 2003
35	"The Resurrection Riddle" "Fukkatsu no Nazo" (復活の謎)	September 28, 2003
36	"Restored Memories" "Yomigaeru Kioku" (蘇る記憶)	October 5, 2003
37	"Kaixa's Justice" "Kaiza no Seigi" (カイザの正義)	October 12, 2003
38	"The Wandering Spirit" "Samayoeru Tamashii" (彷徨える魂)	October 19, 2003
39	"Faiz 2" "Faizu Tsū" (ファイズ２)	October 26, 2003
40	"Proof of Humanity" "Ningen no Akashi" (人間の証)	November 9, 2003
41	"Capture Commences" "Hokaku Kaishi" (捕獲開始)	November 16, 2003
42	"Broken Wings" "Oreta Tsubasa" (折れた翼)	November 23, 2003
43	"Red Balloon" "Akai Fūsen" (赤い風船)	November 30, 2003
44	"Final Mail" "Saigo no Mēru" (最後のメール)	December 7, 2003
45	"King's Awakening" "Ō no Mezame" (王の目覚め)	December 14, 2003
46	"A New President Appears" "Shin Shachō Tōjō" (新社長登場)	December 21, 2003
47	"King's Appearance" "Ō no Shutsugen" (王の出現)	December 28, 2003
48	"Masato, Dying A Glorious Death" "Masato, Sange" (雅人、散華)	January 4, 2004
49	"A Sign of Destruction" "Horobiyuku Shu" (滅びゆく種)	January 11, 2004
50	"My Dream" "Ore no Yume" (俺の夢)	January 18, 2004

Paradise Lost

Main article: Kamen Rider 555: 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, Gekijōban Kamen Raidā Faizu: Paradaisu Rosuto^?), was released during the run of the series, as a double feature alongside Bakuryu Sentai Abaranger: Abare Summer is Freezing! on August 16, 2003. The film was 81 minutes long. A few new characters and Rider Gears were introduced in the movie.

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, Kamen Raidā Faizu Haipā Batoru Bideo^?) features a boom box called the Faiz Sounder developed by the Smart Brain corporation appears 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 Magazine for a new weapon for Kamen Rider Faiz.

Lost World

The S.I.C. Hero Saga side story for 555 published in Montly Hobby Japan magazine was titled Kamen Rider 555: Lost World (仮面ライダー555 -ロスト・ワールド-, Kamen Raidā Faizu -Rosuto Wārudo-^?). 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, Raiotorūpā ver.2^?). The story ran from October 2005 to January 2006.

Chapter titles

1. Faiz (ファイズ, Faizu^?)
2. Kaixa (カイザ, Kaiza^?)
3. Delta (デルタ, Deruta^?)
4. Psyga (サイガ, Saiga^?)

Video game

A video game based on the series was produced by Bandai for the PlayStation 2. It was a fighting game which featured many of the characters from the TV series. There were several modes of gameplay for either a single play and two players. It was released only in Japan near the end of the TV series on December 18, 2003.^[1]

Cast

• Takumi Inui (乾 巧, Inui Takumi^?): Kento Handa (半田 健人, Handa Kento^?)
• Mari Sonoda (園田 真理, Sonoda Mari^?): Yuria Haga (芳賀 優里亜, Haga Yuria^?)
• Keitaro Kikuchi (菊池 啓太郎, Kikuchi Keitarō^?): Ken Mizorogi (溝呂木 賢, Mizorogi Ken^?)
• Yuji Kiba (木場 勇治, Kiba Yūji^?): Masayuki Izumi (泉 政行, Izumi Masayuki^?)
• Yuka Osada (長田 結花, Osada Yuka^?): Yoshika Kato (加藤 美佳, Katō Yoshika^?)
• Naoya Kaido (海堂 直也, Kaidō Naoya^?): Mitsuru Karahashi (唐橋 充, Karahashi Mitsuru^?)
• Masato Kusaka (草加 雅人, Kusaka Masato^?): Kohei Murakami (村上 幸平, Murakami Kōhei^?)
• Shuji Mihara (三原 修二, Mihara Shūji^?): Atsushi Harada (原田 篤, Harada Atsushi^?)
• Rina Abe (阿部 里奈, Abe Rina^?): Rie Kasai (河西 りえ, Kasai Rie^?)
• Aki Sawada (澤田 亜希, Sawada Aki^?): Gō Ayano (綾野 剛, Ayano Gō^?)
• Teruo Suzuki (鈴木 照夫, Suzuki Teruo^?): Kayato Watanabe (渡辺 彼野人, Watanabe Kayato^?)
• Joji Soeno (添野 錠二, Soeno Jōji^?): Taro Ishida (石田 太郎, Ishida Tarō^?)
• Sawamura (沢村, Sawamura^?): Koji Iwakawa (岩川 幸司, Iwakawa Kōji^?)
• Hikaru Soeno (添野 ひかる, Soeno Hikaru^?): Manami Miwake (三訳 真奈美, Miwake Manami^?)
• Masahiko Minami (南 雅彦, Minami Masahiko^?): Atsushi Ogawa (小川 敦史, Ogawa Atsushi^?)
• J (ジェイ, Jei^?): Kenneth Duria (ケネス・ヅリア, Kenesu Zuria^?)
• Itsuro Takuma (琢磨 逸郎, Takuma Itsurō^?): Jun Yamasaki (山崎 潤, Yamasaki Jun^?)
• Saeko Kageyama (影山 冴子, Kageyama Saeko^?): Waka (和香, Waka^?)
• Kitazaki (北崎, Kitazaki^?): Ray Fujita (藤田 玲, Fujita Rei^?)
• Smart Lady (スマートレディ, Sumāto Redi^?): Hitomi Kurihara (栗原 瞳, Kurihara Hitomi^?)
• Kyoji Murakami (村上 峡児, Murakami Kyōji^?): Katsuyuki Murai (村井 克行, Murai Katsuyuki^?)
• Hanagata (花形, Hanagata^?): Koji Naka (中 康治, Naka Kōji^?)
• Kazufumi Mizuno (水野 和史, Mizuno Kazufumi^?): Kengo Ohkuchi (大口 兼悟, Ōkuchi Kengo^?)
• Tetsuo Itagaki (板垣 哲生, Itagaki Tetsuo^?): Atsushi Fukazawa (深沢 敦, Fukazawa Atsushi^?)
• Takako Shimaji (島地 貴子, Shimaji Takako^?): Chika Nakagami (中上 ちか, Nakagami Chika^?)
• Teruo's Shadow (照夫の影, Teruo no Kage^?): Shun Kobayashi (小林 俊, Kobayashi Shun^?)
• Orphnochs (オルフェノク, Orufenoku^?, Voice): Katsumi Shiono (塩野 勝美, Shiono Katsumi^?)
• Arch Orphnoch (アークオルフェノク, Āku Orufenoku^?, Voice): Hiroshi Yanaka (家中 宏, Yanaka Hiroshi^?)
• Narration, Driver Voice (ナレーション、ドライバー音声, Narēshon, Doraibā Onsei^?): Takehiko Kano (假野 剛彦, Kano Takehiko^?)

Guest actors

• Chie Morishita (森下 千恵, Morishita Chie^?, 1-2): Mika Katsumura (勝村 美香, Katsumura Mika^?)
• Yuji Kiba's Father (木場 勇治の父, Kiba Yūji no Chichi^?, 1): Shinichi Kase (加瀬 慎一, Kase Shinichi^?)
• Yuji Kiba's Mother (木場 勇治の母, Kiba Yūji no Haha^?, 1): Midori Takei (竹井 みどり, Takei Midori^?)
• Akai (赤井, Akai^?, 3-4): Katsuyuki Yamazaki (山﨑 勝之, Yamazaki Katsuyuki^?)
• Eiichi Toda (戸田 英一, Toda Eiichi^?, 5-6): Shigeki Kagemaru (影丸 茂樹, Kagemaru Shigeki^?)
• Professor (教授, Kyōju^?, 7-8): Ichiro Ogura (小倉 一郎, Ogura Ichirō^?)
• Gorgeous Man (ゴージャスな男, Gōjasu na Otoko^?, 31-32): Masaki Tachi (舘 正貴, Tachi Masaki^?)
• Crab Orphnoch (クラブオルフェノク, Kurabu Orufenoku^?, 41-42, Voice): Satoshi Matsuda (松田 悟志, Matsuda Satoshi^?)

Suit actors

• Kamen Rider Faiz, Centipede Orphnoch, Wolf Orphnoch: Seiji Takaiwa (高岩 成二, Takaiwa Seiji^?)
• Kamen Rider Kaixa, Horse Orphnoch, Goat Orphnoch: Makoto Ito (伊藤 慎, Itō Makoto^?)
• Kamen Rider Delta, Auto Vajin: Yoshifumi Oshikawa (押川 善文, Oshikawa Yoshifumi^?)
• Crocodile Orphnoch, Rose Orphnoch, Arch Orphnoch: Jiro Okamoto (岡元 次郎, Okamoto Jirō^?)
• Crane Orphnoch, Lobster Orphnoch: Takeshi Mizutani (水谷 健, Mizutani Takeshi^?)
• Spider Orphnoch: Naoki Nagase (永瀬 尚希, Nagase Naoki^?)
• Snake Orphnoch: Hideki Hato (葉都 英樹, Hato Hideki^?), Keizo Yabe (矢部 敬三, Yabe Keizō^?)
• Dragon Orphnoch: Jun Watanabe (渡辺 淳, Watanabe Jun^?)

Songs

Opening theme

• "Justiφ's"
  • Lyrics: Shoko Fujibayashi
  • Composition: Kazuto Sato
  • Arrangement: Kōtarō Nakagawa
  • Artist: ISSA (of DA PUMP)
  • Episodes: 2-49

Ending 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 (of ROLL DAYS)
  • Episodes: 33-38, 41-48
• "Justiφ's -Accel Mix-"
  • Lyrics: Shoko Fujibayashi
  • Composition: Kazuto Sato
  • Arrangement: Kazunori Miyake
  • Artist: ISSA (of DA PUMP)
  • Episodes: 40, Movie

References

1. ^ "Kamen Rider 555 Info". GameFAQs. http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/data/919210.html. Retrieved June 1, 2007. 

External links

• Kamen Rider 555 at TV Asahi
• Kamen Rider 555 at Toei TV
• Korean Masked Rider Φ's (Korean)

Preceded by Ryuki

Kamen Rider 2003 – 2004

Succeeded by Blade