During our time at Starlight Fantasy 2023, we got the opportunity to speak with Kamen Rider actor Masahiro Inoue in an interview, where we got to talk about all things Tokusatsu.[Interview is edited for clarity]

Can you tell us more about yourself? Which past shows have you casted in?

Masahiro Inoue: I think my most well-series that I’ve been part of would be Kamen Rider Decade, where I casted as the character Kadoya Tsukasa. I believe Kamen Rider Decade is very familiar among Malaysians, and I even learned that it had been broadcasted locally too.

Aside from the Kamen Rider series, I also acted as the part of Jinga from the Garo series, which features warriors cladded in gold armour. In Japan, both of these series are under this one genre in TV shows called Tokusatsu Hero, and this particular genre has a lot of franchises under its belt with a lot of experience in the field.

And this time, I wanted to create a project under the same genre called Sentika Jisarisu F8ABA6 and aim to have it be broadcasted globally, with Malaysia being part of it.

Can you share more details of the roadshow for Sentika Jisarisu F8ABA6?

Masahiro Inoue: The roadshow will start on 7th May in Japan, but as you know, Malaysia will be among the first countries to have it. The Malaysian roadshow at Starlight Fantasy had premiered the opening of the series, which hasn’t been released on social media yet.

As for the Sentika Jisarisu project, did you come up with the ideas and motifs all by yourself?

Masahiro Inoue: Of course. I took inspiration from a lot of sources, and I believe this is normally how a new series is created. I believe my experiences from casting in Kamen Rider Decade and Garo contributed a lot to coming up with ideas, and this project wouldn’t be idealised if I never had those casting experiences.

I also had discussions with the series writers as well as the director to come up with completely new content for the project.

When creating the project, have you been met with any difficulties or obstacles during the process?

Masahiro Inoue: A lot. An instance being how long it took to create the project. Normally for a drama series, let’s say a family drama, the main plot would revolve around the family life, and a house that the family lives in as the setting would be sufficient.

However for Tokusatsu shows, there are a lot of things involved. Examples being that there will be a lot of battles, enemies, different locations, action scenes, and CG. As for the Tokusatsu heroes themselves, we also need suits for them, as well as the enemies.

As such, projects like these require a lot of time, money and talents being involved in the process. Above all these, we also have other difficulties such as scheduling. For an example, not being able to keep up with scheduling will cause lots of issues, and when these things add up, it’ll cause the shooting process to take longer than planned.

We originally had planned to finish up the CG in 3 months, but it took 15 months instead, five times of the original plan (chuckles). Furthermore, we have a lot of crew for this project, around 50 members with the most fundamental crew composition.

Among the crew members, we have some very hardworking people, we also have some people who would just run away halfway, and we would need to find replacements for them else the current crew will suffer. Aside from crew problems, we also encountered difficulties in hitting the timeline for the schedule along with project progression. Going through all these troubles, I am once again amazed by the charm of the Tokusatsu culture.

As the actor behind Kamen Rider Decade, what do you think is the criteria you need to have to be appointed as one?

Masahiro Inoue: I hear this question quite often. “How do you become a Kamen Rider?” It’s very difficult, don’t you think? There is no obvious hint for that and it really depends on the how the approach is being carried out in that particular era; like what they are doing in the current series that is different from what they did long time ago .So it is very hard to give an advice.

For my case, Kamen Rider Decade was the series to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Tokusatu, with something that give off a feeling of Matsuri (Festival). To find someone that is able to fit in the role with this feeling of Matsuri, they have to find someone that is very unique, in the end they found someone like me who is weird and special and offered me the role. This is an indeed a very special case.

Normally as an actor, he or she will need to learn how to act, and improve themselves through experience before being selected for a role. There are a lot of unique situations when it comes to actor selection. It won’t surprise me if 10 years later, the profession of an actor would cease to exist, that’s how fast things change.

Back then only actors would be offered the role of Kamen Rider. But nowadays, there is a higher chance for influencers or newly debut actors to be given the role of Kamen Rider when compared with the older days.

What do you think about the Reiwa Kamen Rider Series?

Masahiro Inoue: In my opinion, the good old-fashioned Kamen Rider series is a tradition that should be properly inherited. During the Showa era, starting from Kamen Rider Ichigo, it became a culture that transcends through the Heisei era until the Reiwa era, where the inheritance continues.

For Kamen Rider, as you can see that CG is advancing, more advanced and sophisticated suits are able to be produced. But it gives off very different feelings to me, sometimes it does give me the feeling of it has gone too far.

For an example, the Japanese shrine is one of the buildings that we can find it Japan right? However, the design of shrines are very sophisticated and hard to create. In comparison, modern buildings are a lot simpler in design; if the design of a shrine is simplified to something similar to a modern building, won’t the essence of Japanese culture be lost in translation?

In my opinion, the good old-fashioned essence of Kamen Rider should be properly inherited, something that has gone too far might as well start with a new series itself.

Do you have any things to share with fans outside of Japan?

Masahiro Inoue: Of course I am very eager to visit Malaysia in person, but nowadays we have the internet which didn’t exist back then, it’s a lot easier for us to access things we want to watch, We are separated by the vast sea, and it took an 8 hour flight for me to reach here. But distance is irrelevant when it comes to fans being able to watch and support their favourite series, and this is what made me very happy.

It inspired me to create a show that is not only being watched by Japanese fans, but also fans from around the world, a series for fans like you. I have seen and experienced a lot of things, as for now, I wish to create a new show, and I will be very happy if it can gain enough exposure for more people to watch it.

Finally, to all the Malaysian Fans, do you have any things you wish to share?

Masahiro Inoue: This year, I have worked very hard for the Jisarisu Project. And for the first time, I would like to share that Jisarisu will be a free to watch series, and it will be broadcasted for free on different platforms. A lot of projects will be on-going with the main Jisarisu Project.

For an example, merchandises and goods that everyone will be able to enjoy. We also have a project that links the Jisarisu with NFT, so do look forward to that.

This is also the first time I visited Malaysia for the opening and promotion of a new series. When I am preparing for a new event to kick start the promotional event for Jisarisu project, Malaysia was the first place that come into my mind, so I really want to do it here. I would be very happy if everyone can support the event and project.

We would like to thank Masahiro Inoue for taking the time to answer our questions about Kamen Rider and all things Tokusatsu related.