Congratulations on the 20th anniversary of the broadcast of "MASKED RIDER FAIZ"!!!

My favorite Rider movie is "Paradise Lost." I'm Funasen, the CSM developer.

Pre-orders will begin today at 4pm for the 20th anniversary product "CSM Faiz Gear & Faiz Accel ver.2" and three other products with different Contents!
Product details have also been released, so please check them out below.



Based on the 2016 version ver.1, this version has been upgraded to the current CSM brand specifications, adding many things that were not possible in the previous version, and also addressing some of the concerns regarding operation, making this the 20th year Faiz Gear.
In today's blog, we'll provide a high-level overview.

-The FAIZ DRIVER and Faiz Phone have been completely redesigned!
You probably won't notice it just by looking at the image, but we've made subtle modifications to the details to make them closer to those in the movie.
There are multiple Faiz Gear props in the film, and the design changes depending on what criteria is used to create it.
When it is in the briefcase it has a DX shape and size, and when you enter the code it is the same, but when you set the phone in the driver it becomes larger and the shape is different...
The props are all different, and Handa said, "There are multiple props, so I don't have the impression that there is one specific one." (During the interview)

This time, we looked at various scenes and props again, and from the props that change with each cut, we extracted and composed each part based on the overall "impression."
The balance of fine details on the "outside" of FAIZ DRIVER and the Faiz Phone has been adjusted to more closely resemble the scenes in which the belt is set and the one worn by Faiz after transformation.
Please compare the image of Ver.1 with this one. The easiest way to tell is that the driver is painted light blue in the upper right corner.
The driver also made the width 3mm shorter, so that the center of the transmission memory is closer to the center of the entire belt when the phone is set. (The version 1 was slightly shifted to the left.)
Other than the driver, the changes to the details on the bottom are particularly noticeable. We will introduce these in a future blog.
Also, for a new product project that I will explain later, I made the belt removable. (I will talk about this at the end of the blog.)

The exterior details of the Faiz Phone have been remade to match the above concept, but the "inside" has a significantly different detail balance from Ver. 1, based on the close-up of Takkun holding it in the transformation scene.
The inside is only visible twice in the movie: when the transformation code is entered and when the ENTER key is pressed to unleash a special move. There was a pesky prop problem where the colors of the buttons and even the SMART BRAIN mark were different for some reason, but we decided that the impression of when the transformation code was entered should take priority, so we redesigned it to reproduce the shape of that scene. (The color of ver.1 was made to match the prop used during transformation, but the shape did not match.)
As I mentioned in a previous blog, CSM does not aim to perfectly reproduce a specific prop, but rather aims to create a figure that is as close to the prop as possible, while taking into account the structural constraints of the toy and aiming for the overall quality of the individual piece.
FAIZ DRIVER was quite tricky in that sense, but I think we were able to successfully achieve the desired result in the final design.

Not only the Driver, but also the Faiz Pointer, Faiz Shot, and Faiz Accel have undergone some minor revisions within the scope of the mold revisions.
It may be a bit like a spot the difference game, but I've managed to get a little closer to the prop details.


-Add lots of sounds and gimmicks to the Faizphone!
The content implemented in Kaixa Gear was fed back to Faiz, and furthermore, based on lessons learned from Kaixa Gear, it was brushed up to make it easier to play.



① Press the trigger briefly to activate the startup sound!
With the Kaixa Phone, the startup sound would automatically play when the phone was deployed, but due to the design of the Faiz Phone, it was difficult to incorporate a detection switch for this without ruining the appearance (it would have been possible if the Phone Blaster didn't transform), so we made it so that the sound would play by briefly pressing the trigger on the side.
I would like you to press the button while opening the phone.
Also, if you are in the <post-transformation state>, this action is set so that the startup sound will not play. This is a gimmick that only applies to the <pre-transformation state>.
Also, the position of the trigger switch has been adjusted so that the sound only sounds when it is pressed all the way in, which I think has greatly reduced the frequency of accidentally sounding the sound by just touching the trigger. (Compared to Kaixaphone)

② Press and hold the trigger to activate the ringtone. You will also hear the voice of a call from Mari or Keitaro!
This is the same gimmick as the Kaixa Phone. In the case of the Kaixa, the ringtone would ring when you pressed the trigger briefly, but this time, because of the action ①, it is set to a long press.
By pressing the CALL button while the phone is ringing, a random call voice from Mari or Keitaro will be played.



The film features newly recorded audio from Haga Yuria and Mizorogi Ken, whose voices were actually recorded together during the dubbing of Kaixa Gear five years ago.
It was a dream of mine to one day remake Faiz, and it has finally come to fruition.

3. Includes detailed sounds such as "transformation error sound," "Orphnoch transformation sound," and "wrist shaking sound"!
There have been several scenes where Mari or Keitaro try to transform with Faiz Gear, but an "error" occurs and they are unable to transform. This time, you can hear the error sound after performing a specific operation.
(After learning from the failure of Kaiser Gear, the game now branches after specific actions rather than randomly.)
The Orphnoch transformation sound was implemented in Delta Gear, but since Takumi is also an Orphnoch, it is included here as well. The wrist shaking sound can be played by pressing the trigger on the Faiz Phone set on the belt after transformation.
It's nice to be able to hear the short but memorable sounds of Kaixa Gear's movements, like the "sound of a neck breaking," even from a toy.

④ Includes many background music tracks!
The long-awaited Faiz Phone with BGM! I actually wanted to put the BGM button on the protruding part to the right of ENTER, just like the Kaixa Phone, but the Faiz Phone has a mechanism for transforming into the Phone Blaster, so that protruding curved part goes under the protruding part before transformation... That's why I couldn't put the button inside.
Since the internal structure was too packed to add new buttons to other sides, we decided to take the normally unused button "* (@)" and make it the BGM button.
All the theme songs and insert songs are included, including the divine soundtrack "Faiz," as well as the memorable song played on Kaidou's guitar in the battle scene in episode 8, so you can enjoy playing transformation games while shouting, "Hey, do you know that?"
"Justiφ's" also includes a separate "2nd verse" to recreate episode 17. "The people with no name" is different from the version included in the previous Faiz Accel, in that the intro is changed to the chorus, just like in the show.

⑤ Changed the screen LED to emit a beautiful rectangular light.


In Ver.1, the LEDs were positioned in the center facing forward, which made it look like the screen was only lit up in the center of the design. To get closer to the impression in the movie, we changed the structure so that the LEDs shine sideways from two points on the left and right edges towards the center.
Instead, we have removed the LED that lit up when using the Phone Blaster in ver.1 and DX. This is because the screen illumination LED is now in that position.
This part hardly glows at all in the movie. It only glows when Faiz's whole body lights up at the end of the opening scene, and (for some reason) during the night transformation in Paradise Lost when the Accel Memory is inserted. However, when making a toy, there was no scene where it could be made to glow (without the whole body glowing, a belt toy alone would be meaningless), and there are no actions or sounds that accompany the lighting, so it would be difficult to express that state as a toy, so we decided not to include it.
For Kaixa Gear, we made the same parts glow clear yellow to match Faiz ver.1, but after the release we received a lot of feedback saying "this part doesn't glow in the main story, and I wish it had been painted gold," so we've taken that reflection into account.


Now onto the other gadgets.
-Faiz Pointer and Faiz Shot sound improvements and projection changes
For these two types, the special move sounds have been improved to sound closer to the sounds used in the game.
It also includes the sound of the Orphnoch being reduced to ashes at the end, making it the same audio structure as Kaiser Gear and Delta Gear.
The projected image of the Faiz pointer has been changed from a φ mark to a "pointing marker" like in the movie. This matches the pointer better.
The marker has a circular design when viewed from the front.

-The Faiz Accel is also equipped with a wireless communication gimmick! & includes various special move sounds!
The BGM function that was in Ver.1 has been consolidated into the Faiz Phone, and its function has been set as a "performance switching button" instead.
Select the effect here and press the start button. Then, the special move sound for an "Enhanced Crimson Smash" will play and time out, or you'll hear a "Multiple Enhanced Crimson Smashes," a speedy special move sound that sounds like it's from the movie.
In addition, by incorporating a wireless communication gimmick, the Faiz Pointer will also light up in sync with the multiple Crimson Smash sounds.
In addition, a radio signal is sent when the start button is pressed, and if the Faiz Shot receives it, a gimmick has been added that allows Grand Impact to be fired multiple times within the time limit.
When in Accel Form, the ENTER button on the Faiz Phone is not pressed. Therefore, a communication gimmick was required between the Faiz Accel and each weapon. By remaking them all together as Ve.2, we were able to deeply set up the specifications for these connections.

●New projector for projecting φ marks has been added!
The "Orichalcum Element Projector" that comes with the CSM BLAYBACKLE is now included for projecting the φ mark.
With the Ver.1 Faiz Pointer, the φ mark that should have lit up when the special move was completed was projected onto the ground when the character landed after the kick, so it didn't look like something from the movie at all.
In addition, the φ mark also appears in the special move Faiz Shot in the movie. If we wanted to recreate this effect with all weapons, we had no choice but to bring the φ mark to the projector of the external unit and have all the weapons communicate with it and link it together. So using Blade's projector was just the right fit! To make this possible, we gave Blade's projector a general-purpose design.
Also, by putting the SMART BRAIN mark on the side, it looks like it was made by Smart Brain, which is a nice visual. Corporate logos in the movie are really strong...
In addition, since this projector is designed specifically for projection, it can project a huge φ mark. Here is how it looks compared to the Ver.1 pointer.



The Faiz Pointer was originally designed without any consideration of a projection gimmick on a toy, so when recreating its appearance, there is a limit to the size of the projection due to the structural limitations of the projection gimmick.
Please note that the size of this pointing marker is slightly larger than the previous version 1.

We have also organized the wireless communication related information for version 2, including this projector, so please refer to this image as well.



As for the ??? part... I'll leave it to your imagination while watching Handa-san's PV (lol)



And finally... the production of the long-awaited "CSM Faiz Gearbox" has been decided!



We have decided to produce this figure by BANDAI in response to the requests of many of you.
Since it is still under development, we cannot show you detailed images, but we are working hard on development so that we can unveil it as soon as possible during the Faiz Gear order period.

However, there are a few additional points that I can make at this stage, which I will list below.
① Only the driver version 2 can be stored. It is not compatible with version 1.
In order to set the Faiz Gear in the direction shown in the movie, in the case of the CSM, it is necessary to remove the belt strap.
The Ver.2 has been redesigned so that it can be removed. The Faiz Phone, Faiz Shot, and Faiz Pointer can also be stored in the Ver.1.

② The size and details may differ slightly from the product that appears in the movie.
The product that appeared in the film was a ready-made product from another manufacturer. Of course, we couldn't recreate it exactly as it was, so we had to modify the shape in some parts.
For the same reason, Ichijo-san's mobile phone, which was included with the CSM ARCLE, was also made by modifying the design of the one that appears in the movie.
The size is larger because if you try to fit the CSM size into the case of the original items, there is not enough space on either side of the buckle.
As anyone who has been to KAMEN RIDER exhibition will know, the Faiz Gearbox that appears in the film contains a modified "DX version."
So the size is completely different from CSM. I asked Handa about it this time, and he said that the prop was different when he took it out of the box and when he wound it.
This time, I will be making it with the goal of creating a case to store CSM Faiz Gear in the style of the original.
However, even though it is made by BANDAI, it will not be made like the DX version case; rather, we will work with a case manufacturer to create a professional case, so there is no need to worry about the quality!

We are also thinking of some interesting mechanisms to make the product look better after it is stored, so please look forward to further updates!


That's all for today's blog.
We look forward to receiving your orders!
The next update will be a week later, on Tuesday, February 7th.
Well then.