Kamen Rider Sigma Episode #5 Production Notes *Updated and Revised as
of
- The version you have presumably just read is the second version of episode #5, and marks the point where the 2004 revival of the series really began to differentiate itself from the original 2001 8 episodes (of course, the ’04 version never got beyond 9 episodes… hopefully, 2007 will be kinder on me.) While my original intent was to merely fix up grammar and continuity gaffs, I soon discovered, to my horror, how unbelievably two-dimensional everything seemed, especially compared to the previous 4 episodes. At the time I originally wrote it, I had done #5 up in a hurry and concentrated more on the second half of the story. As a result, this episode suffered from not really having much to it aside from set-up. That, and everything simply happened way too quickly. So for the final rewrite, I had to spend a lot of time giving the story, and everyone in it, a real makeover. Combined with various other factors, the release of this episode was terribly delayed, but hopefully I’ll be able to overcome time constraints with future episodes. All the same, this episode still feels to me more like “necessary filler”, in that nothing major really happens, but you’ll still need to read it to know what’s going on next. I did, however, hopefully create a few nice set pieces, and put in some hints of what’s to come.
- The title for this episode is another return to the older style of titles from Kamen Rider and Kamen Rider V3, with some exciting-sounding premise. Of course, the joke is we don’t actually know what the plan is by the end, we just know that there is one.
- I make a lot of references to parts of Tokyo in this one to hopefully give
it a more “realistic” feel; rather than just setting everything in “the
abandoned warehouse district” or the like. Marunouchi is a commercial district
of Tokyo located in Chiyoda between Tokyo Station and the
- The opening sequence of this episode calls to mind many of the creepy openings from classic original Kamen Rider episodes, such as #24 and #83, in which criminals were freed by the bad guys and turned into the monster of the episode. In a little spin on this idea, the criminal in question is now a woman, and in another twist, seems to have a connection to Geier going back further than what we’ve actually seen. Obviously, some Kamen Rider THE FIRST influence made its way into the rewrite, although the majority of this scene was written long before that ever came out! The ‘rose’ thing is actually something I came up with, so it was sort of funny to see Shocker (and Kamen Rider Caucasus in Kabuto’s movie) doing it as well.
- While
- Kugigan = “Nail Gun”
- Harinezumi = “Porcupine” or “Hedgehog” (Literally, “Needle Mouse/ Rat”)
- Kugigan-Harinezumi’s savage attack on the police is a very Kuuga-inspired moment. I actually debated several times over changing the character’s name (since I usually like to make obviously English words… well, English.) But there’s something oddly appealing about it. Although this may be difficult to glean from the text, I imagine that Kugigan-Harinezumi would sound comparatively younger than any of the Kaijin thus far, and would probably be voiced by some popular young male actor if this were a real show.
- Hashibara Ayako (whose name really just came out of nowhere) is supposed to be a pretty sick puppy, but trust me, she’s nothing compared to some of the characters yet to be introduced.
- The operation scene is of course a throwback to similar scenes in classic Rider series, and I described it in explicit detail here to help establish the eerie mood and build tension. I imagine the room and set-up looking mostly like the one from Kamen Rider THE FIRST, if you need a visual guide.
- “Sentenced to Life at the Kanto Detention Center.” : Eagle-eyed readers will note that is the same place where Asakura Takeshi/Kamen Rider Ouja was being held in Kamen Rider Ryuki , prior to his big break-out.
- I often find the Leader of Geier a very tough character to write, believe it or not. Getting down his personality is amazingly difficult, considering he’s a guy that’s basically an unseen evil voice for most of the series. The trick of course, is keeping that sense of dark humor about him while not letting him become merely a cackling, over-the-top “mad scientist” type— he is much more reserved, and highly sardonic. Every so often I like to throw in a moment of random cruelty— such as him having the lead surgeon killed for no reason other than that he feels like it— to remind the readers that he is, at the end of the day, the biggest bad guy of all. Or is he?
- Yôsetsu = “Welding” or “To Weld” (and in this case, “Welder”.) A funny little bit of trivia is that Yôsetsu also means “Premature Death”!
- Shimauma = “Zebra”
- Both Kugigan-Harinezumi and Yôsetsu-Shimauma were featured in the original drafts of episode #3 & 4 of Kamen Rider Sigma, and were completely different characters. They got some changes in 2004, and significantly more in 2007. I dare say they may end up stealing the show in episode #6.
- The Leader ordering Yôsetsu-Shimauma to kill the scientist who just helped make her is sick, twisted, and another bit that Rider Villain fans like me would find funny for some reason. Yôsetsu-Shimauma’s “Killing you is much more fun” line is a favorite of mine.
- The late-night lab break-in predates Kamen Rider THE FIRST, believe it or not. But stuff like that happened all the time in the old Rider shows anyway!
- Doctor Sasaki’s name comes, of course, from Sasaki Takeshi, the actor who plays Ichimonji Hayato/Kamen Rider 2. In continuing with the “Fujioka Quarry” from episode #2, you’ll find I sneak Rider actor names in the oddest places. Mostly just for laughs, although there are quite a few wordplays in Kamen Rider Sigma that do have a deeper meaning to the overall story.
- In a change of pace from the previous episodes, which focused heavily on main characters and guest stars, this one features a lot of speaking parts by smaller characters (“Officer #1", etc.) to establish that there are more than just 10 people in this story.
- The entire “Babel Chip” story was interesting to write, because I wanted to do a spin on the old “Scientist invents something, bad guys want it, so they attempt to use scientist’s relatives as hostages to get said thing” plot. But, as you’ll see next time, there’s more than meets the eye to all this.
- As Sasaki goes to his car, there’s a small cameo here that of course references Kamen Rider Ryuki. I think I made it obvious enough to pick out. If you can figure out who the character is, good for you! If not, well, she’s listed on the “Characters” page.
- The Maya/Kôhei scene is one of my favorite parts of the episode, and is a nice counterpoint to a scene they have together in #6.
- Kissaten = “Coffee Lounge”, basically a coffee/snack shop where one can idle the time away reading, talking, using their laptop, and not necessarily drinking or eating anything.
- “Guy R” comes about from the fact that the Japanese way of pronouncing “Geier” would be “Gaiaa”, and Maya trails off saying “ah, er…” which together sounds sort of like an “R”. Of course, the whole thing is just to give Kôhei something else to be silly about.
- The overall story I have planned called for Maya to eventually return to Tokyo, and Tachibana to be out of the story (for now) so I figure having her just get up and go was a good enough way to go about it. I felt it was in-character for Tachibana to react the way he does, as he’s been established to have that special connection with the Riders where he sort of “gets” what they mean, even if they don’t say anything directly.
Naruhodo = “I see” or “Indeed”. I used the Japanese here to really stress Tachibana’s understanding.
- Kôhei goofs up again and calls Maya “Ryûchi-san”. Ryûchi means “Imprisonment”. I sort of like that he refers to her formally almost in a condescending way; i.e. he calls her “Maya” most of the time, but when he wants her to listen, it’s “Ryûsaki-san”.
- Kôhei’s tiresomely long rant is a bit of self-parody, but it would take forever to dissect every little line in there. All I can say is that everything he says is completely intentional, wacky as it sounds.
- “Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine. Besides, I’ve got plenty of old friends I can call up to come help me out.” : Of course, this is referring the large number of various “Rider Girls” and other side characters Tachibana has met over the years, one of which we see later this episode.
- There’s some mental anguish on Maya’s part that hopefully will help flesh the character out even more. While Sigma is by and far a very confident and self-assured heroine, I also want to establish a more realistic, human side to her by having her sometimes not be totally sure if she’s doing the right thing, and have to deal with consequences (since, to some degree, the story itself is also a way for me to deal with the consequences of things in life, through these characters.)
- Kôhei gets three big scenes here, the last one being the most significant. Note how he recognizes Maya’s motorcycle as being Sigma’s. Not as dumb as he seems!
- Kôhei’s meeting with senior officers is inspired by similar bits in Kamen Rider Kuuga and Kamen Rider AgitΩ. I really wanted to set up Kôhei’s independent streak here, and he seems genuinely ticked off at being pulled off trailing Maya for this.
- Shitsureishimasu = “Excuse me. I’m sorry for interrupting you.” is
the technical version. Actually, it’s an everyday saying in
- “I always did like the last guy more” : This is a meta-reference to Kagami Riku from Kamen Rider Kabuto. I honestly could not remember if Riku was the commissioner of the entire Tokyo MPD or just a section (of if they ever told us) but I think it’s reasonable to believe he might have stepped down or gone onto something else by this point. Of course, I left it open so you don’t have to take the comment as referring to Riku, although that’s what I had in mind when I wrote it.
- Kôhei breaks the fourth wall when he implies that he knows that Maya is Sigma, but he doesn’t want to make such a declaration in a “(Thinking)” line. His “and then some” comment pays off in the next scene.
- The big meeting with Shishi is another of my favorite moments in the
episode. The description I gave of the bar just doesn’t do it justice, unless
you’ve been to a place like that (or seen it on TV!) The Ueno neighborhood
mentioned is a part of
- “Eight Hand Saburo’s” is a reference to “Hatte Saburo” (Hatte = “Eight Hands”), the infamous pseudonym used by Creative Producer Hirayama Tôru and many Toei staff members in various Tokusatsu series. “Hatte Saburo” is credited with writing several of the Kamen Rider songs and creating entire Sentai series, among many other things.
- Kôhei drinks Asahi Beer. I would have him drink
- Enka = “Modern Japanese Ballad” a certain style of music that’s distinctly Japanese, but there are similar styles in probably every country. It’s hard to describe unless you’ve heard some of it before, but it’s very popular even today and will doubtlessly remain so for a very long time. I’d venture to say a few of the slower Rider songs have an Enka feel to them.
- One of the two main characters we meet in this episode: Shishi (his first name will be revealed in a later episode, but it’s important!) Shishi was one the characters not conceived until the 2004 version of Sigma, and even then I only had a vague idea of what role he would play, although 3 years down the line and it’s a whole different story. I’m very proud of the character, because he will go on to play a substantial role later in the series. Obviously, he owes some inspiration to “Big Ear” from the anime series THE BIG-O, and his relation with Kôhei has shades of the one between Roger Smith and that character. However, there is a slightly more sinister streak to Shishi that will is just barely hinted at in a line here, although I bet no one will pick up on it (hint: it doesn’t have to do with Geier.)
- “The Frog Prince couldn’t get that kiss from the Princess yet, huh” : possibly the most important line in the episode. Remember it!
- That Kôhei even has a stack of ¥10,000 bills is noteworthy.
- Notice Kugigan-Harinezumi’s reaction to Sasaki not recognizing him. It’s a big hint of what’s to come.
- In the first draft of this episode (by that I mean in 2004), Maya really
did just drive up and start fighting everyone. This felt a little weak, as the
last time we saw her she was still driving to
- Ikuzô = Slang meaning “Let’s go!”
- Maya transforms in mid-run, similar to how Kuuga tends to transform. Later in the episode she does a falling transformation like V3 does in episode #42 of his series.
- Some of Sigma’s nicknames for Kugigan-Harinezumi include “Spikey” and the painfully bad “Sonic”, but since Harinezumi also means “Hedgehog”, I just couldn’t resist.
- Kugigan-Harinezumi knocking Sigma out of the air, mid-Rider Kick, shows just what a toughie he is. Sigma gets genuinely upset by this, which is why she keeps going after the Geier Kaijin even when he tries to end the fight!
- There’s a brief bit of plot development sandwiched between the fights in this episode, where we learn some more about the Babel Chip (and the utterly ridiculous power I came up with for it!)
- Azabu is a district of Minato
Ward in
-“That would be just like Geier’s style— get to the scientist through their family!” : another in-joke for the material on which Kamen Rider Sigma is based.
- The other main character we meet in this episode is actually a familiar face, and she’ll go on to play a more significant role soon. I’m talking of course about Tama Junko, resident Rider Girl, Tachibana’s sidekick and Kazami love interest from Kamen Rider V3. More on her next episode, when she actually gets to do something!
- Kôhiimame = “Coffee Bean”. Hey, Tachibana’s places were called “Amigo” and “COL”, so what do you expect?
- “Mama” and “Papa” are informal ways of saying “Mother” and “Father” in Japanese.
- Our brief glimpse at Sasaki’s family shows that they are having some familial difficulties, not to mention are now targets of Geier!
- Yôsetsu-Shimauma likes crashing through walls and doors as much as she likes melting through them.
-Maya’s initial reaction to Yôsetsu-Shimauma is priceless. I think it’s a bit easier to understand when you see both characters side-by-side.
- The bit with the Tsunami is a favorite scene of mine, one I’m sure I’ll see copied as much as the opening to episode #1 some day (no, really, the number of now-abandoned Rider fics that virtually lifted that scene is utterly hilarious.)
- Sigma’s “tightening the glove” bit comes out of Kamen Rider Stronger. The fact that she does it at all of course, is an interesting little coincidence...
- “bipedal equine” is fancy-talk for “Two-legged Horse”.
- There’s a lot of good banter between heroine & villainess here. I sometimes worry that I make the fights in Sigma too talky, but believe me, some of the later fights are basically so brutal, you may start to miss the quips and insults being thrown around!
"Dragon Fang Rider Kick!!"
~Igadevil
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