Kamen Rider Ex-Aid

Did You Know?

• The show features Lupin the Third Part 4 chief script writer Yuya Takahashi serving as chief script writer on a Kamen Rider series for the first time.
• Kamen Rider Genms is a web-exclusive crossover series between Kamen Rider Ex-Aid and Zero-One, with theme song "GAME CHANGER" performed by Hiroyuki Takami.
• Kamen Rider Outsiders, a web-exclusive crossover series released on October 16, 2022, is a direct sequel to Kamen Rider Genms.

Story

Emu Hojo, an intern in the Pediatrics Department at Seito University Hospital, is a genius video gamer known by the alias "M." As a child, he was saved from an illness by doctor Kyotaro Hinata, the future minister of health, who gave him a WonderSwan handheld console that sparked his interest in video games. The Genm Corporation (Genm Corp.) becomes aware of the Bugsters, computer viruses that spawn from software bugs and manifest physically by infecting humans who play Genm Corp's games at a cellular level. Once a Bugster fully manifests, the human host fades away due to stress. Genm Corp develops Gamer Driver belts and Rider Gashats for doctors who undergo a special procedure to use them. Emu transforms into Kamen Rider Ex-Aid to save patients from the Bugsters. Other doctors who become Riders include elite surgeon Hiiro Kagami (Kamen Rider Brave), unlicensed "dark doctor" Taiga Hanaya (Kamen Rider Snipe), and coroner Kiriya Kujo (Kamen Rider Lazer), who can transform into a motorcycle. Assisted by Poppy Pipopapo (alias Asuna Karino), a Bugster who joins their side, the four face the prototype Ex-Aid, Kamen Rider Genm, revealed to be Genm Corp CEO Kuroto Dan. Kuroto created the Bugsters and, after deleting Kiriya, uses them and the Doctor Riders to create "The Ultimate Game," an AR MMO called "Kamen Rider Chronicle" where everyone becomes a Ride-Player in a survival fight. He reveals he infected Emu with the Bugster virus years ago, making him patient zero. The group is later joined by Nico Saiba, Emu's gaming rival "N," who becomes Taiga's assistant.

Films

Kamen Rider Ex-Aid's first appearance was a cameo in Kamen Rider Ghost: The 100 Eyecons and Ghost's Fated Moment. On December 10, 2016, the Movie War film Kamen Rider Heisei Generations: Dr. Pac-Man vs. Ex-Aid & Ghost with Legend Rider hit Japanese theaters. In it, Ex-Aid joins forces with Kamen Rider Ghost, Drive, Gaim, and Wizard to fight a virus modeled after Bandai Namco's Pac-Man. Wrestler Hiroshi Tanahashi plays a main villain, while Shunya Shiraishi and Ryoma Takeuchi return as their respective characters. The story fits between Ex-Aid episodes 10 and 11. The crossover Kamen Rider × Super Sentai: Ultra Super Hero Taisen arrived on March 25, 2017, uniting casts from Ex-Aid, Amazon Riders, Uchu Sentai Kyuranger, and Doubutsu Sentai Zyuohger. It marks the 10th anniversary of Kamen Rider Den-O and includes the Xevious spaceship Andor Genesis, used by the main antagonists. Movie-exclusive Kamen Rider True Brave appears, played by Toshiki Seto, and Diamond Yukai portrays Shocker Great Leader III. Actors from earlier Kamen Rider and Super Sentai shows reprise their roles. This film occurs between episodes 23 and 24. Kamen Rider Ex-Aid the Movie: True Ending debuted on August 5, 2017, sharing a double bill with Uchu Sentai Kyuranger the Movie: Geth Indaver Strikes Back. Set days after the main series' finale, it introduces movie-only Kamen Rider Fuma and his Ninja-Players, plus a movie version of the final enemy Gamedeus. Kamen Rider Build makes his first movie appearance here, before his chronological TV debut in Ex-Aid episode 44. The film ties into a Toei-Sony partnership for a PlayStation VR-themed Gamer Driver color scheme, released on July 13, 2017.

Theme songs

The opening theme is "EXCITE" by Daichi Miura, used in Episodes 2–11, 13–14, and 25–44; Episodes 1, 12, 15–24, and 45 do not feature an opening sequence, and the song is used as an ending theme in Episodes 1, 15, and 18–24, and as an insert song in Episodes 4, 12, 16–17, 32, and 45. Insert themes include "Let's Try Together" by Kamen Rider Girls (Episodes 13–15), "Wish in the dark" by Hiroyuki Takami (Episodes 17–18), "PEOPLE GAME" by Poppy Pipopapo (Ruka Matsuda) (Episodes 24–26), "Real Game" by Rayflower (Episode 29), "JUSTICE" by Hiroyuki Takami (Episode 33), and "Time of Victory" by Kamen Rider Girls (Episode 36).