As the live show comes to town for the very first time, Leon Lee discovers why Masked Rider’s legion of fans is still growing

For the uninitiated, one look at the ads for the Masked Rider Fest might provoke the reaction: ‘What’s so special about these bug guys? Aren’t they just Power Ranger clones?’ While they do wear spandex costumes and fight monsters, Masked Rider is also a cultural icon that holds a special place in the hearts of Hongkongers, both young and old, male and female.

The long-running Masked Rider television series was created in Japan in 1971 with the idea of a human cyborg who can transform into the insect-themed superhero to protect the world from an evil organisation trying to control it. In its nigh 40 years of existence, the character has gone through countless incarnations while keeping the basic theme of good vs evil, as well as the cool costumes and coBehioler motorcycles. The show was first brought to Hong Kong in the mid-70s and became immensely popular. Jason Lam, an IT project manager who runs an English website (www.kamenrider.net) dedicated to Masked Rider V3, was one of the many little boys who got caught up in the fever.

“There wasn’t much going on in the 70s, we had no PSPs or anything. All we had was television and the Masked Rider was the biggest thing around,” Lam says. “It was so popular that they showed reruns three or four times back-to-back, which was completely unheard of.” The show’s success influenced the 1975 release of China’s first superhero movie, The Super Inframan, which had glaring similarities to the series.

What set Masked Rider apart from other shows on television was the heart-pounding action. Lam recalls, “In those days, it was really about the stunts and the live action. They would do dangerous stunts on the motorcycle, jumping off buildings and cliffs like that. The actors really got injured.” But as entertaining as that might be, children began to imitate what they saw on their television sets, which sometimes led to tragedy. “There were stories about kids mimicking the show and they would try to do the flying kick and jump off buildings. There wasn’t censorship in the show like they have today so the station had to change the name and cut out all the violent scenes in it,” Lam says. When Masked Rider V3 ended, the station stopped showing the series. It didn’t return to the Hong Kong airwaves until the early 90s as Masked Rider Black captured the imagination of a new wave of fans.

While Lam preferred the classic Masked Riders, Zero Cheng, Benny Tang and DJ Cosmo grew up on the second generation of Riders. The three friends run the pop culture and memorabilia enthusiast Chinese forum, RunRunHero.com, and together they own one of the biggest Masked Rider collections in Hong Kong. Like Lam, the trio started watching Masked Rider because there wasn’t anything else to entertain them. However their reasons for continuing to watch the ones being produced today are completely different. “The newer Masked Rider keeps up with recent trends, which make it easier for people to relate to and imitate. If flip phones are popular, then the Masked Rider would transform by flip phones. In the last one, they transformed with a USB key,” Tang says.

Not only is the Masked Rider fanbase growing, it’s also becoming increasingly less male-dominated. Cheng, a teacher, has housewives come up to him to discuss the show. He explains, “You need to see it as a television series like Lost or Heroes.” Tang agrees, “The show is more or less like a Japanese drama now. There is romance involved but there is still the hero. When kids watch it, they get excited to see him and ignore the mushy relationships while women would focus more on the relationships between characters. Throw in a group of good-looking actors and actresses and it’s a well-rounded show with something for everyone.”

It is exactly because of the show’s appeal to this diverse range of fans that the organisers brought the Masked Rider Fest to Hong Kong. This will be the first time that the 45-minute live performance of the show will be performed outside of Japan. As Jazz Wu, event manager of Bravo Entertainment, explains, “We believe that this was an event that was not just for kids, it’s an event for everyone in the family. The father might’ve grown up watching Masked Rider 1, 2 or V3 while his kids are fans of Masked Rider Kabuto or Den-O. They can attend the festival together and increase communication between parent and child.” Take that, Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers.

Masked Rider Fest begins on August 18 and runs to August 22 at AsiaWorld-Expo. Tickets: 3128 8288; www.hkticketing.com.