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At the time of writing, it is late June, approaching early July, the temperatures in Japan having risen to over 30 as your loyal correspondent from Planet C prepared to return home. Whilst in residence in foreign territory, I always find it important to remind myself of the context in which the expressions of pop culture I have come to love exist; I make pilgrimage to the AKB48 Theatre in Akihabara’s Don Quijote despite never winning the lottery to see a performance, I trawl the aisles of toy shops and record shops, and I get up early on a Sunday to watch children’s television.
We are now approaching the conclusion of Kamen Rider Gotchard, the beginning of the story’s final arc in preparation for the unveiling of a new show in September and, whilst I have not watched all of the show, and even considering I have some strong opinions on Hasegawa Keiichi’s work as a writer, there have been elements in Gotchard that have most certainly appealed. Foremost amongst these is the show’s alchemical homunculi, the Chemies.
Citizens of Planet C were present on Earth during the explosion of popularity that followed the release of the original Pokémon games on the Nintendo GameBoy. Being in a different star system, we were initially forced to interact with the games in a very unofficial capacity, running emulators on Windows 95 PCs but, as we reached Earth, we soon found ourselves enjoying the games as Nintendo intended, digging out old GameBoys untouched since the release of Tetris and meeting with correspondents from the nascent internet in search of the elusive 151st Pokémon, Mew. A wave of similarly themed titles appeared within reach following this point, some developed before the advent of Pokémon and hastily repackaged for a Western audience, others springing into existence as a direct result of the game’s popularity. Your correspondent played them all, or as many as she could get her hands on. She readdressed her relationship with Tamagotchi, with the Barcode Battler, she reassessed what it had been about cartoons from Japan that she had fallen in love with as a child, and this enthusiasm has remained a steady constant in her life.
In early 2020, when the world was in lockdown due to the coronavirus and people were making big decisions about the directions of their lives, your correspondent was waylaid after a trip to Japan and unable to return to Planet C, instead spending her time on Earth reading original Barcode Battler manga author, Ono Toshihiro’s unofficial and explicit sequel doujinshi. It is a severe understatement if I tell you that this genre has been important to me.
Before Gotchard’s release, there was at least one 4chan image in circulation depicting the logo and cards and the character of Sakura from CLAMP’s wildly popular Cardcaptor Sakura. The comparison is shallow and, yet, if Hasegawa was capable of building his stories around the tiny creatures introduced with half as much grace as in CLAMP’s work, then we would be in for a good time, I thought upon seeing it. I don’t think that the show does this and it was a possibly an unrealistic expectation to have but, nonetheless, the more I saw of the Chemies, often divorced from the narrative of the main series, the more and more I started thinking about how sad I would be when these characters disappeared after the show ended, and the more frustrated I became with what I perceived as a lack of foresight when releasing the Chemies as cards.
I have always thought it a shame that there was no central card game, even a grandiose version of snap, that could be played with the Chemy Cards, that outside of the context of the show, they operated as no different from the Henshin Sound Cards released by Bandai for the representations of each show’s Rider Belts. Before arriving in Japan, I had been labouring under the incorrect assumption that packs of Chemy Cards would be available in convenience stores the way that many Pokémon releases can often be found in their own small corner aisles. This is one of the quiet joys I enjoy in life, this is a way in which I bribe myself to engage in necessary adult activities like food shopping—by throwing in a pack of trading cards whilst going about such chores. In truth, though, I found Chemy Cards only available in dedicated toy stores or department stores with toy aisles, often segregated from any card game expected to possess longevity, and relegated to being jumbled in amongst DX toys and vinyl figures.
Insult is added to injury when it becomes apparent that there are three different card lines active for Gotchard, none of which interact with one another. The primary one is, obviously, the Chemy Cards, but these are confusingly supplemented by Gotchard themed booster packs of Bandai’s trading card game Battle Spirits and cards for the arcade game, Ganba Legends. Each line is distinct enough in appearance and packaging, but going into the planning for a season based around monster themed cards, I am surprised that no one at Toei or Bandai seem to have suggested ways in which these lines could interact and thus promote one another. A dark cloud settled over me. If matters were not being addressed during the show’s lifetime, what hope had I for once September rolled around?
Whenever I talk to people about what will happen to the Chemys cards after Gotchard, they adopt an expression that suggests there are things they do not wish to say to me. With a heavy heart, I accept that there is not much of a future for these cards despite my desperate wish for Toei to push ahead with a different direction, to spin the Chemies out into their own line of merchandise, to not completely abandon their roots as a Kamen Rider show gimmick but to move beyond them.
In an upcoming Message From Planet C, when talking of the Kamen Rider Diner in Ikebukuro, I made the offhand comment that the things I value most in my interactions with these shows are the things made by other fans. Whilst navigating my concerns about what will happen with the Chemies after the conclusion of the show, I have come to value my human friends all the more, especially artist, Rei, who continues to post new art each week themed around current episodes and who possesses the infinite patience to both humour and indulge me by making new cards based on adjacent shows I love.
I have had the good fortune to work with Rei on a number of projects both professionally and in fandom, and the grace and talent he employs when faced with my wistful attempts to manifest a future full of new Chemy Cards is genuinely moving. Through his work and through the work of others, also, I have some small hope that even if Chemy Cards are not supported in the future, there is still a chance for a new direction, a direction dictated by fans; the 2024 equivalent of playing Pokémon games via emulator on a Windows 95 PC.
In closing, I think it’s important to remember that the power of storytelling is in what you bring with you when you encounter any given narrative. Although you live in a world of fastidiously controlled IPs and franchises, your neighbours from Planet C encourage you to colour outside the lines, to experiment, to make things of your own—and when you do, we encourage you also to come back and tell us about them so that we can share your enthusiasm!
Likewise, I encourage you to dive into Rei’s Twitter and pixiv accounts and look at the work he is doing! You might just find your next favourite Kamen Rider moment in the work he is doing there.
Perhaps friendship is the real alchemy…
Have you been yearning for post show support for Kamen Rider gimmicks? What original Chemy Cards or depictions of characters from other shows would you suggest? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!
