Kamen Rider Ex-Aid

Kamen Rider Ex-Aid is a Japanese tokusatsu drama from Toei Company’s Kamen Rider series. It marks the eighteenth Heisei-era installment and the twenty-seventh series overall, celebrating the franchise’s 45th anniversary. The show debuted on October 2, 2016, a week after Kamen Rider Ghost ended, and aired alongside Doubutsu Sentai Zyuohger and later Uchu Sentai Kyuranger in the Super Hero Time block. It’s the first Kamen Rider series built around a video game theme.

The story follows Emu Hojo, a pediatrics intern at Seito University Hospital and a top-tier gamer known online as “M.” As a child, a doctor named Kyotaro Hinata—who would become the future health minister—saved Emu from an illness and gave him a WonderSwan handheld console, sparking his love for both medicine and games. Meanwhile, the Genm Corporation discovers that bugs in its software spawn computer viruses called Bugsters. Led by the mysterious Parad and his partner Graphite, these Bugsters infect humans who play Genm’s games at a cellular level, causing their hosts to fade away under stress.

To fight back, Genm Corp creates Gamer Driver belts and Rider Gashat trinkets for doctors who undergo a special procedure. Emu becomes Kamen Rider Ex-Aid, but he soon finds other doctors turned Riders: elite surgeon Hiiro Kagami (Kamen Rider Brave), unlicensed “dark doctor” Taiga Hanaya (Kamen Rider Snipe), and coroner Kiriya Kujo (Kamen Rider Lazer), who can also transform into a motorcycle. With help from Poppy Pipopapo—a Bugster who sides with them under the alias Asuna Karino—the group faces a prototype Ex-Aid, Kamen Rider Genm, later revealed to be Genm Corp CEO Kuroto Dan. Kuroto admits he created the Bugsters and deleted Kiriya, using both the monsters and the Doctor Riders to launch an AR MMO called “Kamen Rider Chronicle,” where anyone can become a Ride-Player in a deadly game. He also reveals he infected Emu with the Bugster virus years ago, making him patient zero. The team gains another ally in Nico Saiba, Emu’s gaming rival “N,” who becomes Taiga’s assistant.

After Emu defeats Kuroto for good, Parad kills him and gains the ability to become Kamen Rider Para-DX. Parad completes Kamen Rider Chronicle alongside a revived Graphite and a reprogrammed Poppy, who becomes a Kamen Rider herself while Nico becomes a Ride-Player. Parad explains his plan to wipe out humanity, revealing he is Emu’s Bugs