Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight

Did You Know?

• A sequel novel titled Kamen Rider Dragon Knight: 2WORLDS 1HEARTS was released exclusively in Japan on September 16, 2010.
• The series had a sneak premiere on December 13, 2008, before its official premiere on January 3, 2009.
• The final two episodes were made available on the 4Kids TV website from December 18, 2009, until the series was removed in 2012.

Plot

Kit Taylor, searching for his missing father, finds an Advent Deck that lets him transform into Kamen Rider Dragon Knight. He initially clashes with Len, Kamen Rider Wing Knight, but they unite after learning that the alien warlord Xaviax caused Kit's father's disappearance and plans to abduct humanity to rebuild his homeworld. Xaviax recruits people on Earth by promising them their desires or exploiting their fears. Len explains that each Advent Deck is DNA-matched to one person; Kit can use the Dragon Knight Deck because he is the Mirror Twin of Adam, the original Dragon Knight who betrayed the Ventaran team. Chris Ramirez, tricked into serving as Kamen Rider Sting, joins Kit and Len after discovering the deception but is Vented—trapped in the Advent Void. Kit vents Albert Cho, leading to a vendetta from Albert's brother Danny. Kase, another Ventaran survivor, helps train Kit and reveals that twelve Riders once protected Ventara but were mostly vented due to Adam's actions. After Kit is Vented, Xaviax forces Adam to become Dragon Knight again through blackmail and holding Adam's girlfriend hostage.

Production

Komine enlisted filmmaker Steve Wang and his brother Michael Wang to develop, write, and direct the pilot. Toei approved the pilot, and Komine and partner Fumio Sebata independently financed the series. Adness Entertainment had intended to also film a feature-length movie, but Steve Wang stated that Adness instead raised money to bring another Kamen Rider to the US. Komine chose to adapt Kamen Rider Ryuki for merchandising reasons, citing its many recurring characters and a female Rider. Steve Wang, Michael Wang, and Nathan Long wrote the show, structuring it around action footage from Ryuki, a technique used in earlier Americanizations. Some elements from Ryuki were kept, while others were altered for American children's programming standards. Bandai initially wanted the show aimed at five-year-olds, but Steve Wang targeted a young adult audience.

International broadcasts

The series aired in Mexico on Televisa and in Peru on Global Television. In Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein, RTL II broadcast the show but canceled it after 17 episodes due to low ratings. Indonesia's Indosiar aired the dubbed version on Sunday mornings at 6:00 am. Plans in 2009 to air the series in Colombia on Caracol TV, Italy on Mediaset, Latin America on Cartoon Network, and on Cartoon Network affiliates in Southeast Asia, the Philippines, India, Pakistan, and Australia were noted. In Australia, the show aired on 9Go! on Tuesday mornings at 7:30 am. Japan's Toei Channel broadcast the series in fall 2009 as part of the Heisei Kamen Rider 10th Anniversary project, with a Japanese dub featuring voice actors including Tatsuhisa Suzuki as Kit, Hiroki Takahashi as Richie Preston, and Hiroshi Kamiya as Chris Ramirez. The dub later aired on TV Asahi in 2010. Several voice actors had previously worked on Kamen Rider series, such as Satoshi Matsuda (Ren Akiyama in Ryuki) as Len and Kōji Yusa (Urataros in Den-O) as Drew Lansing.

Video games

A fighting game adaptation of the series arrived on the Nintendo DS and Wii from D3 Publisher on November 17, 2009. Natsume Co., Ltd. handled development for the DS version. Combat revolves around Advent Cards, which trigger special moves based on the Advent Gauge. This gauge fills up by pressing and holding the Rider; once all three bars are full, the Final Vent becomes usable. Before each fight, the player picks two extra cards, while the Final Vent, the Contract Beast, and the Rider's main weapon are always included in the deck. Unlike the television show, any character can use the cards Copy Vent, Steal Vent, Freeze Vent, Confine Vent, and Strange Vent. Ventara Mode offers missions where players battle Advent Beasts and other Riders, with the chance to unlock those characters and additional Advent Cards. Xaviax serves as the final boss for everyone except Wrath, who instead faces Dragon Knight as the final boss because Xaviax possesses him, mirroring the series. Beating Xaviax gives each playable Rider a unique ending. After unlocking all 13 Riders and finishing every mission in Ventara Mode for each one, Xaviax becomes playable in Duel Mode and Advent Master Mode. Twelve of Xaviax's monsters from the show are also playable in Duel Mode. Despite being a fighting game, it is limited to single-player only.