David Cabrera
August 2, 2013 
Though he’s worked for years in visual novels with Nitroplus, Gen Urobuchi has very suddenly risen to mega-star status in the anime business after writing major hit Madoka Magica. At Otakon last year, Butch said he’d do a few more projects in anime and then move on. That year first saw Psycho-Pass, a sci-fi cop show. Unusual for anime, but not out of character for Urobuchi. After that, he wrote Gargantia, another sci-fi series in a more conventional anime mold, with robots and cute girls.
Now Gen Urobuchi is writing a live-action kids’ superhero show about breakdancing, fruit-themed, samurai warriors in a modern warring states period. Anybody who tells you they could have guessed that one is a liar.
Little information exists besides that on TV Asahi’s website. However, we have been shown through some promotional materials that the main character’s transformation involves a giant orange falling from the sky and clamps onto his body to form his armor and weapon. So it’s completely reasonable to be excited about this show.
Given their shared influences, it is not unusual for anime staff to pop up in live-action superhero series from time to time. Two years back Gurren-Lagann writer Kazuki Nakashima took on a Kamen Rider series (Kamen Rider Fourze). Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno is a big fan, and recently took a shot at old-school 70’s-style special effects, exploding miniatures and all, in his short Giant God Warrior Appears In Tokyo.
Kamen Rider Gaim is set to premiere on the Sunday morning of October 6th, immediately replacing the current Kamen Rider (Wizard), as it has been since the series was revived with Kamen Rider Kuuga in 2000.
Sources:
TV Asahi
Henshin Justice
Orends : Range
This story originally ran in the 8/6/13 issue of the Otaku USA e-News
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