Kamen Rider Nio

Kamen Rider Nio (仮面ライダー仁王) is a Japanese tokusatsu drama in Toei Company's Kamen Rider Series. It is written and directed by Ryuku Fukui as his first entry into the franchise. It airs as a part of TV Asahi's Super Hero Time block, though it is considered an "extra season". Notably, Nio utilizes large elements of traditional animation with real life modeling as a basis for its designs. It is a three-way collaberation between Toei, Ishimori Productions, and Studio Doga Kobo. The series has a heavy martial arts theme, with a light emphasis on elements of taoism and overall duality.

Two feature film adaptations have been produced: Episode "Zero" and Episode "Infinity", double-billed with each other. A V Cinema series has also entered production.

The tagline of the series is "Gate set! (ゲートセット！)".

Plot
Millions of years ago, mankind was at war with a species known as the Enmi. Mankind's polar opposite, they possessed incredible individual strength and had an inherently destructive nature; this let them dominate the much weaker humanity. As the Enmi prepared to conquer the humans' last city, a lone priest offered his life to a forgotten god known as Ari in return for man's salvation. Agreeing to his request, the god granted his power to the priest's son, Saga no Mamoru, giving him the strength to oppose the Enmi. The son fought valiently in his father's name, rallying human resistance against the enemy, but their numbers were ultimatley too much. Gathering all of Ari's power, Mamoru managed to seal the entirety of the Enmi into their original dimension, preventing them from breaching into the human world. Believing that the monsters were gone for good, humanity returned to a life of peace.

Mamoru, however, did not agree with them. Knowing that the seal would someday weaken, he left careful instructions with his father's shrine to prepare for the Enmi's return. In the meantime, he set out about teaching his own children how to fight them, passing it down through the generations until it became a unique martial art (though the reasons behind it were eventually lost). The shrine, in turn, endured throughout the years, though it and its staff never lost sight of their mission.

Era Saga is the latest scion of Mamoru's line, and a complete failure. Having run away from his training, he drifts from place to place before arriving in Watahama City. The Enmi have begun to reemerge, and the Kane Shrine enlists him as the only one who can oppose them. Driven by his desire to protect and an irresistible fate, Era reclaims Ari's power to fight them as Kamen Rider Nio; a battle that becomes more complicated with the arrival of other Riders, a mysterious figure who will challenge his beliefs about the Enmi, and the truth of his powers' effect on the world.

Kanagawa Watahama High School

 * Iena Sugiyama

Cull Caste

 * Assassin Enmi
 * Thorn Enmi

Episodes

 * 1) That Youth, Who Fights Against Fate (その若者,運命と戦う者)
 * 2) That Shrine, Where All is Made Clear (その神社,すべてが明確になっているところ)
 * 3) That Student, What Calls the Enmi (その学生,エンミを呼び出すもの)
 * 4) That Motorbike, Pursuing Against the Wind (そのバイク、風に追いつく)

Movies

 * 1) Kamen Rider Nio: Episode "Zero" - The Harsh Battle Alone (仮面ライダー仁王:挿話「ゼロ」- 私自身の厳しい戦い)
 * 2) Kamen Rider Nio: Episode "Infinity" - The Horizon in Reach (仮面ライダー仁王:挿話「無限」- その地平線が届く)
 * 3) Kamen Rider Nio Hokora (仮面ライダー仁王祠)
 * 4) Kamen Rider Nio Hokora: Kamen Rider Banchō (仮面ライダー仁王祠:仮面ライダー番長)
 * 5) Kamen Rider Nio Hokora: Kamen Rider Onmyō (仮面ライダー仁王祠:仮面ライダー陰陽)
 * 6) Kamen Rider Nio Hokora: Kamen Rider Honō (仮面ライダー仁王祠:(仮面ライダー炎)

Stageshows

 * 1) Kamen Rider Nio: Special Event (仮面ライダー仁王スペシャルイベント)
 * 2) Kamen Rider Nio: Final Stage (仮面ライダー仁王ファイナルステージ)

Cast

 * Era Saga (サガ偉): Sōma Saitō (斉藤 壮馬)
 * Doppo Abe (安部獨歩): Masaki Okada (岡田 将生)