Popular manga turned Kamen Rider anime, Fuuto Pi, returns with a movie featuring Kamen Rider Skull.
Everyone’s favourite Kamen Rider (or mine at least) is making his theatrical animated debut in the upcoming Fuuto Pi: The Portrait of Kamen Rider Skull movie. This follows an announcement made by Toei, with an accompanying trailer and poster for the cinematic release, on June 30th.
The film acts as a sequel to the recent Fuuto Pi anime, released in 2022, which itself was based on the 2017 serialised manga Fuuto Tantei, written by Riku Sanjo and illustrated by Masaki Satou.
The series is a continuation of the adventures of detectives Shotaro Hidari and Philip, the stars of 2009’s Kamen Rider W, who combine their powers to transform (henshin!) into the titular hero to uncover the mysteries of Fuuto City.
Synopsis
The official synopsis for the film adapts the manga’s Portrait of S storyline, delving into the history concerning the Gaia Memory’s creation and Sokichi Narumi’s final days as both a detective and Kamen Rider Skull.
Voice Cast and Production
Fuuto Pi’s voice cast returns, including Yoshimasa Hosoya as Shotaro Hidari and Koki Uchiyama as Philip, the two halves of Kamen Rider W. Kenjiro Tsuda joins the lineup to provide the voice for Kamen Rider Skull.
Director Yosuke Kabashima, known for his animation work on Accel World and Gridman Universe returns to helm the feature length film alongside Studio KAI, who will animate the project, and, judging by the trailer, with their excellent flair and style of animation.
Release
The film will receive a limited screening in Japanese theatres but, rest assured, the Kamen Rider W goodness will still be venturing overseas. Studio KAI announced on their X (formerly Twitter) social media page that they will be holding a panel at the Los Angeles Anime Expo, in California, USA, on July 6th to preview the first 20 minutes of the film. Yosuke Kabashima is also expected to make an appearance, to discuss details about the movie.
While the film has not yet been confirmed if it will show in Western cinemas, it can be expected that it will eventually be available to stream, post release, on services such as Crunchyroll, where Season 1 of Fuuto Pi is also available.
Kamen Rider W
It comes as no surprise Toei has announced such a big budget release for the Fuuto Pi anime. The show’s debut not only marked the next big distribution of Kamen Rider globally, but also garnered rave reviews upon its debut: audience scores sitting at a healthy 4.7 out of 5 stars on the official Crunchyroll site.
Additionally, Toei recently announced the entirety of Kamen Rider W will be available to watch on the Toei Tokusatsu World Official YouTube channel for free. Sadly, for most fans, it is only available on YouTube Japan, at the time of writing this article.
Needless to say, the continuing success and longevity of Kamen Rider W, since its inception, only further motivates Toei to keep backing projects such as Fuuto Pi, especially with the mass appeal of anime programs and feature length productions.
Hopefully, this success will keep inspiring Toei to push for a Western market for Kamen Rider.
Fuuto Pi: The Portrait of Kamen Rider Skull will screen for a limited time in Japanese theatres November 8th, 2024.
Are you excited for the film? Do you have any favourite Kamen Rider series you’d like to see adapted for an animated series or movie? Let us know in the comments below!
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