Kamen Rider J

Between the release of this and the previous year's Kamen Rider
ZO, a little video special called Ultraman vs. Kamen Rider came
along. Comparing and contrasting Japan's two biggest heroes, it
ended with a "dream team-up" featuring the original Ultraman and
Kamen Rider 1 joining forces. Of course, seeing as how Ultraman is
a really big guy and Rider 1 is comparatively much shorter,
somebody had to change size to make the final tag-team work, and
in the end it turned out to be Rider 1. Now, since Rider 1's the man,
he can get away with it, but apparently someone thought that was a
neat idea and that it should be the main gimmick of the next Rider.
And thus, a year later, Kamen Rider J came out as part of the
second annual Toei Super Hero Fair.

Our main man, Segawa Kôji, is a photojournalist who loves nature
and is strongly opposed to pollution. Whilst camping in the woods,
evil alien invaders called Fogg decide it's as good a time as any to
attack Earth, and what better place to start with than Japan? In the
woods? In the ensuing chaos a young girl and friend of Segawa
named Kana gets captured, and our hero gets beaten up on by the
three main Fogg officers. Chucked down a cliff, he is saved by some
friendly subterranean manifestations of the Earth's will. As it turns
out, this isn't Fogg's first visit to Earth; they were stomping around
back in prehistoric times and were responsible for making the
dinosaurs extinct. You know, at some point between the original
Kuuga fighting Grongi, and the Undead having that big throw-down.

Name: Kamen Rider J
(Jei)

Height: 194 cm

Weight: 84 kg

Human Identity:
Segawa Kôji

Rider Machine: J
Crosser

Henshin Belt: J-Spirit
(it's really more of a
buckle than a belt.)

Henshin Phrase:
"Henshin!"

Enemy: Fogg

Combat Techniques:

-J Kick
-J Punch
-J Chop
-J Elbow
-J Jump, etc.

Special
Equipment/Weapons
& Powers:

-Via the "Jumbo
Formation", he can
grow to 40 meters and
perform super-sized
versions of all his
attacks.

-Also talks to big
mutant grasshoppers
like ZO.

Since the manifestations of the Earth's will or whatever can't do squat (they're rooted
to the floor), they task Segawa with taking up the role of the planet's champion. And
being the tree-hugger that he is, our hero readily accepts. Reborn as Kamen Rider J,
he then spends the rest of the movie fighting monsters in the woods. No really, that's
pretty much it. Well okay, there is some plot development which I'll get to.

J gets some help from Berry, a big talking mutant grasshopper. He/She/It's actually
cooler than he/she/it sounds, although not quite as cool as the big mutant grasshopper
out of nowhere from Kamen Rider ZO. Aside from that, our hero is sort of like a
redux of ZO (and the two have a habit of getting mixed-up, although on closer
inspection they do look quite different) but he does have one special ability that sets
him apart: he can grow giant! More on that in a second.

After plowing through Fogg's bigwigs Agito/Tokage-Otoko (no, not that Agito),
Zuu/Hachi-Onna, and Garai/Cobra-Otoko (who has a lightsaber!) J saves Kana
before she gets turned into a snack for the Fogg Mother's "children". He then takes
the fight to the big momma herself, Fogg Mother, the body of which is actually Fogg's
flying fortress thing. Seeing as how it's huge, J grows giant as well, and it's go time.

Despite Fogg Mother's impressive arsenal, which involves pretty much
everything but the kitchen sink, our Jolly Green Giant is able to turn the tide of
the battle and completely wrecks ol' Foggy in no time. Finishing her off with a
Rider Kick, things seem peachy, until it turns out that the Fogg Mother we
thought was Fogg Mother wasn't Fogg Mother at all. Rather, the giant robotic
fortress is just battle armor, and the real deal is inside. A creepy snake-like
thing, she grabs J and attempts to self-destruct along with him, but our hero
busts out just as the queen alien goes up in flames. Kana is safe, the Earth is
safe, and it's all good.

As you can see, there isn't a whole lot to Kamen Rider J— it's basically a
bunch of guys fighting in the woods for 47 minutes. In spite of this, it's still a
fun little flick to watch if you're in the mood to just some people in funny
costumes fightin'. It's much lighter in tone than ZO's flick, although it's still got
the Amemiya touches in the design work (he directed as well, perhaps also
leading to some of the ZO/J confusion.)

Movies/Specials & Guest Appearances/Cameos

~Movies/Specials/Other~

Kamen Rider J (1994): I think you know what this is about by now. *Mochizuki Yuuta appears!

Kamen Rider World (1994): J teams up with Kamen Rider ZO for a little 90's style Double Rider action against what might be
the oddest collection of revived Kaijin ever, under the command of Shadow Moon, who grows giant at the end. Of course, this
doesn't sit well with J, so he sizes up to lay a Jumbo Smackdown. *Mochizuki Yuuta's voice appears!

The final part of the 90's Rider Trinity, Kamen Rider J is perhaps best remembered as the final production which Ishinomori
Shotarô directly oversaw, as he would pass away before any further Rider adventures could hit the big or small screen (although
he did initial designs and planning for what would ultimately turn into 2000's Kamen Rider Kuuga.) As it is, J is not exactly what
I'd called the epic swansong to his contributions towards one of Japan's most successful and long-lasting hero franchises, but such
is life. It's still an interesting film, and like the Shin Kamen Rider: Prologue DTV and Kamen Rider ZO movie, worth checking
out just to see that transitional period between the days of Kamen Rider being a powerhouse on TV.

Also, an interesting point I should bring up: The exact meaning of J's name has been something of a mystery, in part because there
are several meanings that have been given to it. When the movie was first released, the general conception was that it stood for
"Jumbo" since our hero grows with the "Jumbo Formation" and, when giant, is referred to by books as "Jumbo Rider". However,
Ishinomori stated that it was also derived from "Judge". Later, the film's writer, Uehara Shôzô, wrote that it stood for "Jupiter" (the
largest planet and alternate Roman name for the Greek god Zeus) and that what ended up in the movie just being called "J Power"
(J's source of power) was originally meant to be "Jupiter Power".