Kamen Rider is celebrating it’s 50th anniversary. Shout! Factory and Toei Company announced an exclusive deal to distribute the Kamen Rider series Zero-One and Ryuki in North America. The deal gives Shout! Factory and its streaming service, Shout! Factory TV rights to distribute and stream the series. Here’s what some of the executives in the deal had to say:
We’ve seen a tremendous reaction to the Kamen Rider shows on Shout! Factory TV, so we’re delighted to partner with Toei to build the North American fanbase. And with Zero-One, we’ll now have the premiere series for each of the three eras of the franchise.
– Shout! Factory Vice President of Acquisitions Jordan Fields
I am so happy to hear that Zero-One will be on Shout! Factory TV. Zero-One is the reflection of our future, of conflicts between humans and artificial intelligence, and a story not only about Kamen Rider, but about human beings. I hope fans enjoy watching the show and thinking about technology and ourselves.
– Takahito Omori, producer of Kamen Rider Zero-One
The show originally premiered in 1971 and follows a masked motorcycle riding hero that fights crime. It was the number one kids program in Japan for almost 50 years. Zero-One and Ryuki join the original 1971 series on Shout! Factory TV. Shout! Factory is now the home of all three eras of Kamen Rider, Showa, Heisei, and Reiwa.
Shout’s TokuSHOUTsu brand is also home to programs and shows like Super Sentai and Ultraman.
For more on Shout! Factory, make sure to stay tuned to That Hashtag Show.