After a weekend full of leaks, debate and discussion, Kamen Rider Gotchard was finally revealed via leaked photos on Twitter, this Wednesday.
The wait for information is always fraught with tension and scepticism. As we begin to preemptively mourn the loss of the current Kamen Rider (or celebrate it going, in some cases), attention turns to the next generation of armour clad, sometimes bike riding heroes and exactly what that new iteration will look like.
This past weekend, we started to edge our way closer to the answer. First came a sketch with a helmet and scarf – the supposed head and shoulders of our fourth Reiwa Rider.
Gummi Gotchard
Shortly afterwards, Kamen Rider Gotchard got a new face entirely with another “leak” that allegedly came from a promotional poster for Kamen Rider Gummi. I have to admit, I thought this looked pretty legit. Part of that was that I didn’t look at it too closely and, honestly, part of it was wishful thinking.
I would totally have been down with reenvisioning of Kamen Rider Black RX, like this one, and with the recent release and success of Kamen Rider Black Sun, bringing that theme back into the main series. Y’all wasted no time telling me how wrong I was, though; some respectfully, some not.
Aqua Gotchard
As Monday rolled around, someone out there got creative on Photoshop and we had yet another version of Gotchard to analyse. This one was very obviously fake and superimposed over a promotional photo of Kamen Rider Aqua, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t have some fun with it…
It was nice to be able to side by side this one and compare it with the original image. Kudos to whomever made it, it looked pretty decent. The edit, that is. The Rider itself looks ghastly.
Still, despite the clear fauxness of this one, it did have the majority of the hallmarks that we were expecting to be present, based on the sketch mentioned earlier. People were expecting the Showa style goggles, the thick, ridged antennae and the high, pointed visor so this, at least, gave us the impression that we were getting closer…
And we were.
The True Gotchard, Probably
Like a tokusatsu Randy Orton, the leaks kept on coming on Wednesday and when it rained, it poured. Not only did we get a closeup look of the driver / henshin belt from Kamen Rider Gotchard, we were also treated to a weapon and a whole chunk of cards, Gotchard’s main gimmick item.
A completely new element to this Kamen Rider, not rumoured previously, is the train based theme that runs through the Gotchard suit design. The arrows and crosses on the visor an boots are like those used on the Shinkansen system in Japan and the chest plate is an old school furnace from a steam train. We’re yet to learn whether this design is his base form or one activated by card (perhaps the Steamliner card, below).
The return of a card gimmick was rumoured by The Toku Source back when the trademark was revealed but, the clue is in the name, it wasn’t a stretch. Glad to be right here, though. Cards and Kamen Rider belong together.
That’s it for now. Obviously, these may yet turn out to be fake and should be taken with a pinch of salt but they seem to be legit and were released by @ben77878871 on Twitter, who has a good track record of revealing leaks. Should information change, we’ll obviously report it here and via our social media.
What do you think of Kamen Rider Gotchard? Does the design meet your approval or do you pine for Gummi Gotchard? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!
