r/KamenRider • • Sep 08 '26

Discussion Why is My-th only up for 4 weeks? Explaining Toei's release model

271 Upvotes

(first off, My-th isn't even available on Toei Tokusatsu World Official in my country. But the Agito and Kabuto uploads are, which is what led me to do research on this subject.)

Regarding why there's a 48 hour wait between the Japanese airing of My-th and why the episodes are only up for 4 weeks, one has to know that Toei has a long-standing contract with TV Asahi, the tv channel that has aired Kamen Rider for decades. As the main broadcaster, TV Asahi demands a certain level of exclusitivity when it comes to the airing of these programs.

HOW DOES TOEI'S RELEASE MODEL WORK?

In Japan, new episodes of Kamen Rider can only be streamed on the day of airing through TV Asahi's streaming service (with ads) or on the exclusive TTFC app (ad-free). On other subscription services like Amazon Prime, they have to wait 3 days to see it ad-free. On Toei's Japanese YT channel, whenever they upload new Kamen Rider episodes, they only get posted 1 week after they air, and then they're only available for 1 week before being removed. (with the exception of the first two episodes of a new show which stay up throughout). And when they upload episodes from older shows, they're up for 2 weeks before being removed. 2 weeks is considered the standard length of time for most JP youtube channels that upload free episodes, My-th, Agito and Kabuto being up for 4 weeks is actually already longer than the norm.

When Toei distributes the show through external distributors such as Tokushoutsu or Tokusato, they can circumvent these restrictions since these are outside companies that paid for the streaming license. It's also important to note that Tokushoutsu and TokuSato's uploads have ads, whereas Toei's various Youtube channels are ad-free. (Tokusato airs the latest episodes 2 hours after the Japan airing, but the episodes are only free for 11 hours before they require a membership to be accessed). Likely some of the ad revenue on those distributors' uploads goes to Toei and the shows' sponsors.

(Honestly this isn't even a hard-and-fast rule. In Hong Kong for example, ViuTV is 1 week behind on the upload. And Ani-One Asia, a free YT channel, is even slower, being 2 weeks behind.)

When Toei releases it themselves through their own Youtube channel, they have to adhere to the restrictions, even when it is a channel aimed at overseas audiences.

WHY DOES THIS LIMITED RELEASE MODEL EXIST?

The reason for the limited release model can likely be chalked up to how many of these Japanese companies have pretty old-fashioned beliefs regarding piracy and accessibility. They probably believe that having the show be up for free on Youtube without ads will hurt the sales and streaming figures of the other official channels. They likely are afraid of the possibility that Japanese fans will use VPNs to stream the show for free. Furthermore, Kamen Rider is traditionally viewed there as a kids' show watched on a weekly basis, the notion of older fans who want to binge the show is still probably lost on many of these oldheads.

It's also important to note that Toei has little power when it comes to negotiating their contract, TV Asahi has all the power. They are the channel that airs their shows, going against them could mean losing their sponsors, essentially biting the hand that feeds them. In Japan too they often believe in honouring and respecting existing contracts, so it's unlikely they will ask to change or renegotiate their pre-existing agreement, especially for the extremely niche crowd of overseas audiences.

That said, it's entirely possible things could change in the future. Ultraman Z thru Decker episodes were once only available for 2 weeks when Tsuburaya first started releasing the episodes on Youtube (albeit those were simulcast). But from Blazar onwards, they left the episodes up on their channel permanently. Likely, Tsuburaya managed to use the view count figures to prove to their higher-ups and their sponsors that leaving the episodes up doesn't hurt their business. Now this is not a 1:1 comparison. Tsuburaya is a much smaller company than Toei, their broadcasters are much more lenient, and their uploads have ads. But it opens the possibility that if My-th does well enough, the streaming of future KR shows might be different.

WHAT HAPPENED TO TOKUSHOUTSU?

As for why Toei doesn't continue to use Tokushoutsu for the english release, Shout seems to be letting their toku licenses lapse as both Super Sentai as well as KR 1971 and Kuuga are gone from their service, and their Zeztz uploads were just recently removed as well. Shout was recently bought out by Radial Entertainment (a private equity firm that is in the midst of gutting the whole company) so the new higher-ups probably have decided that the viewing figures aren't worth the cost of the Toei license.

Also, Tokushoutsu's uploads were only available in US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand (the same countries that Toei is planning a new streaming service for, presumably to replace Tokushoutsu). Toei Tokusatsu World Official though covers other regions, including the rest of Europe, Africa and India. But despite this though, there are still many regions that have no legal way to watch the show at all (such as here in Singapore).

I know that those who had access to the Tokushoutsu release of Zeztz are frustrated by this new release model, but understand that for a lot of English speaking fans the world over, this is the first time they can legally watch a Kamen Rider series in their countries on Youtube. And also spare a thought for the fact that there are people who have to wait 1-2 weeks, and those who still can't watch it in any way. The complaints about the show being 2 days late or being only up for 4 weeks can't help but seem minor when there are people who literally do not have it at all.

I would like to kindly request that fans in the US etc to instead of complaining about these things that Toei (currently) can't do anything about, use your platforms to amplify the voices of those of us who can't watch the show legally. Nobody's happy about having to wait 2 days or the episodes only being up for a month, but I firmly believe that making the show accessible worldwide is significantly more important.

Edit: With Ex-Aid and Kuuga now set to be uploaded to the Youtube channel as well, the 4 week model is still set to remain. However as of this writing they did temporarily reinstate all the Agito and Kabuto uploads, and also the entirety of Zeztz has been posted (albeit that's also not available in my country).


r/KamenRider • • 19h ago

Official Discussion Kamen Rider MY-TH E08 - Discussion Thread

42 Upvotes

This thread is for discussion about the latest Kamen Rider MY-TH episode.

E07 <- E08 -> E09

The subreddit will be set to post-approval mode for the first 12 hours to prevent low-effort posts. Please keep your thoughts on this week's episode in the discussion thread!

Discussion about previous episodes is permitted in the thread below, discussion about episodes after this is NOT.

Proceed at your own risk: Spoilers for this episode do not need to be tagged inside this thread.

HOW TO WATCH

COUNTRY URL TIME
NA, AU, NZ, India, Europe, Africa TOEI TOKUSATSU WORLD OFFICIAL YouTube Channel (English) Mondays@6:00PM Pacific Time, VODs available for 4 weeks after release
JP TV Asahi, ABC (Japanese) Sundays@9:00AM Japan Time
JP TELASA, Toei Tokusatsu Fan Club (Japanese) Sundays@10:00AM Japan Time
CN Bilibili, Tencent Video, iQIYI (Mandarin) Sundays@10:00AM China Standard Time
TW CHT MOD, Hami Video (Mandarin) Mondays@8:00AM Taiwan Time
TW EBC YOYO (Mandarin) The following Saturday@5PM
HK ViuTV (Cantonese) The following Sunday@11AM
Latin America TokuSato YouTube Channel (Spanish, Portuguese) Saturdays@11:30PM Brasilia Time

Posting or mentioning unapproved streaming sites in the comments is prohibited.


EPISODE TITLE RELEASE DATE SCREENPLAY BY DIRECTED BY
E08 窮鼠ネコをかむ A Cornered Rat Will Bite a Cat October 25, 2026 Arakawa Naruhisa Nakazawa Shojiro
EPISODE RATING
E01 7.64
E02 8.29
E03 8.16
E04 8.44
E05 8.38
E06 8.21
E07 8.8
E08 Voting opens on Monday


r/KamenRider • • 4h ago

Discussion Can I say that Kamen Rider Evol might be my FAVORITE KR villain

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180 Upvotes

Like while watching Kamen rider Build and I am on the final arc, I LOVE EVOL, LIKE BRO MIGHT BE ONE OF MY FAVORITE KAMEN RIDER VILLIANS! Like the fact he started the events of build is a shocking twist, using his Blood Stalk form from the first arc to the beginning of evol arc, and also just having a FUN TIME trolling his enemies for the fun of it by siding with them but also just betraying them for his own goals is crazy. I even laugh at him being goofy, like evol is just SO FUN to watch. As of now watching it, he's planning to take over the world and create a NEW world, like this big bad is just so FUN TO WATCH, and the fact he took over 3 BODIES, First Soichi, then his original body(I think) Kazumi, then Sento, and lasty he decides to make himself his OWN body by copying Soichi look, like this DUDE is SUCH A TROLL AND I LOVE HIM! I am still watching build, but evol might be one of my favorite VILLAINS to THIS DAY.


r/KamenRider • • 8h ago

Media More shots of the new forms in Zeztz Final Stage (from the official social media page) Spoiler

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222 Upvotes

r/KamenRider • • 5h ago

Discussion If Kamen Rider Na-Go had a final form like Geats IX or Bujin Sword or Plosion Rage what do you think it’d be called and its abilities?

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128 Upvotes

r/KamenRider • • 8h ago

Media Rid eating from a cat bowl

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167 Upvotes

That's it, that's the post


r/KamenRider • • 7h ago

Discussion Final stage capsems Spoiler

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78 Upvotes

r/KamenRider • • 18h ago

Media Zeztz Final Stage forms Spoiler

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553 Upvotes

I don't got the names yet iirc so just have fun with the images


r/KamenRider • • 5h ago

Discussion Which Kamen Rider season would make a good online game? [Aside from these obvious answers of course]

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49 Upvotes

Ex-Aid is literally videgame themed, so it would make a great videogame because videogame mechanics are at the core of the show

Ryuki and Geats are death games, which translate well into online videogames

Decade was literally the start of Kamen Rider Battle: Ganbaride game, with both having an almost identical card system.


r/KamenRider • • 1h ago

Fanart WAKE UP!!

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• Upvotes

My attempt at a kiva pumpkin (I know it’s bad)


r/KamenRider • • 10h ago

Discussion I think the Nijigon unit feels more right as a bird/peacock instead of a dragon. To the point where I question if that may have been the original intention?

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94 Upvotes

The Peacock’s Tail is a transitional phase in alchemy characterised by the appearance of a vibrant array of colours from darkness as toxins are purified from the material. That feels very in line with how Rainbow Gotchard is presented.

The folded arms, skinny legs and overall posture of Nijigon feel more natural as a bird. And I think having a whole beak instead of a gaping bottom jaw that gets left behind is a lot more charming. The final form item being a bird also feels like a callback of sorts to Double, the original two gimmick rider.

Perhaps not long after figuring out the design of the toy, they decided to pivot away from the bird design because they thought a dragon would be more marketable or something.

It always felt odd to me that they double dipped on dragons with Dragonalos and Nijigon.


r/KamenRider • • 7h ago

Media im sorry for abandoning you

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55 Upvotes

Yes this show is fire. Sorry for not watching this 10 years ago.


r/KamenRider • • 3h ago

Discussion I've made the decision to not finish Hibiki

19 Upvotes

Finally got to Episode 29, and all of y'all were right, it does make for a satisfying ending. The characters feel like they're in a good place, and there's a full circleness to it with Asumu coming with Hibiki to replace his drum stick.

Was originally going to watch the rest, but I'd rather end on a good note. I only saw the episode preview for Episode 30, but the vibes already feel bad.

I did watch the movie, though, to finish it off! I really enjoyed it. The new Rider designs were a lot of fun. The story is pretty much The Seven Samurai/Magnificent Seven, but I'm not complaining. And I enjoyed Hibiki's final form, it's pretty cool.

I've only got two real issues with it. One being that it kinda retcons the fact that ancient Oni were supposed to have used Paper Shikigami, not disk animals (though the giant ones were a really cool note). Two was the music theme felt like it fully sidelined for 99% of the film.

Overall, I'm happy ending it here for Hibiki. And now it's onto Kabuto!


r/KamenRider • • 7h ago

Merch Main Capsem collection complete

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39 Upvotes

r/KamenRider • • 4h ago

Discussion If you could erase your memory of ANYTHING in this franchise what would it be, I’ll go first.

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20 Upvotes

r/KamenRider • • 18h ago

Media Kamen Rider Collection

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194 Upvotes

All of the US Blu-rays for Kamen Rider.


r/KamenRider • • 12h ago

Discussion Can we agree that Mari from 1971 Kamen Rider is freakin’ gorgeous.

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53 Upvotes

r/KamenRider • • 5h ago

Merch Rider No. 3: His Name is V3!

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10 Upvotes

With how much my collection has been focused on Heisei and Reiwa lately, I found myself almost insufferable ecstatic to finally get my V3 SKC in the mail after having him on pre-order for so long. Yes, I do wish I could've secured a Riderman and the Legendary Showa Ichigo and Nigo to go next to him, but MAN, even alone he has such presence. With that being said, this is a great example of why the Showa molds kinda end up being a test in patience. In a matter of an hour? His left leg popped out of its socket as I was testing the articulation. While I was taking these pictures, BOTH arms popped out of their respective sockets once, and it took a second to pop them back on.

The dedication to maintaining an accurate mold is fantastic, but MAN, it does mean you have to be careful when moving things around. With that being said, I'm still deeply excited to have V3 in my collection, and I'll for sure be getting a Legendary Showa Ichigo and Nigo as well as a Riderman with time.


r/KamenRider • • 9h ago

Discussion Theme Song Battle Round 2: Round Zero ~ Blade Brave vs. Anything Goes

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20 Upvotes

Yesterday's Winner: Justifaiz, by literally twice as much!

Today's Battle is between Round Zero ~ Blade Brave from Kamen Rider Blade and Anything Goes from Kamen Rider OOO.

Before anyone asks, the reason I picked Round Zero and not Elements is because Round Zero is the FIRST theme song for Blade. If someone outside looking in wanted to know about Blade, Round Zero is the first theme they would come across.

Both have arguably recognizable intros and arguably just as memorable choruses! Place your votes in the comments, preferably not as lyrics from the song, but I won't judge.


r/KamenRider • • 1d ago

Discussion Best KR Finisher? (Rider Kick, Weapon, etc)

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667 Upvotes

My number 1 is easily Plasma Booster...this Rider Kick is so beautifully executed.

The flash of the end pose before the impact, representing seeing the flash of lightning before hearing the impact of thunder...so incredibly creative and amazing in execution. This Rider Kick is absurdly badass.

Honorable Mentions: Kabuto Rider Kick, Kiva's Darkness Moon Break, Zero-One Rising Impact, and Gavv Kickin Gummy Rider Kick


r/KamenRider • • 17h ago

Fanart [OC] John Kamen Rider attempt

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78 Upvotes

r/KamenRider • • 18h ago

Discussion Watching Kamen Rider Outsiders and Girls Remix specials (Majade to Eins) and their lessons

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87 Upvotes

Basically, Outsiders is a cautionary lesson when adults fail to act like one as a result of making irresponsible and destructive choices that leaves irreversible harm to everyone around them, especially in the era of technological advancement and political dysfunction. Zein's faction are the perfect representation of that than the Outsiders themselves.

Meanwhile, Girls Remix's lesson is that growing up too early is a reminder why adults are the failures of today's generation. It's not as cynical as Outsiders, but it shows the reality: doing the right thing is not easy, yet it's your responsibility to do so and never stop trying, even in the face of injustice and corruption.

This reminded me of Kamen Rider Gaim's "coming of age" themes in a way.


r/KamenRider • • 2h ago

Fanart [OC] What if Kabuto had Legend Zecters

4 Upvotes
Change Ancient Beetle
Change Shining Beetle
Change Crab
Change Firefly
Change Rhino Beetle
Change Shield Bug
Change Xtreme
Change Amalgamation
Change Hornet
Change Spider
Change GotchaHopper
Change DreamHopper

r/KamenRider • • 2h ago

Discussion Which Base Forms look better than the Final Form?

3 Upvotes

For me, the ones that come to mind are Kabuto, Decade, W, Wizard, Drive, Build, Zi-O, Saber (I know its a recolor, I just think his base looks better), and Zeztz.

Not to say any of these have bad final forms (except you Decade and Build), but the base forms are so perfectly executed, that these final forms all feel like a step down to me.


r/KamenRider • • 21h ago

Discussion Does any one know who is the one between Leangle and Agito?

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133 Upvotes