Knight Rider (1988 Japanese TV Series )

Let's Go Knight Rider (Japanese:行くぜ!ナイトライダ－ ikuze! Naito Raidā)  is an Japanese Tokusatsu action crime drama television series in American Franchise Based of Knight Rider created  by Glen A. Larson was Produced by Seiji Takamatsu. The series was originally broadcast on TV Asahi from September 26, 1988, to April 4, 1990. The show stars Shin Ishikawa as Masaru Naito, a sleek and modern crime fighter assisted by KITT, an advanced, artificially intelligent, self-aware, and nearly indestructible car. This was the last series.

Let's Go! Knight Rider 行くぜ!!ナイトライダ
Genre	Tokusatsu Action Crime Science fiction
Based on	Knight Rider By Glen A. Larson
Starring	Shin Ishikawa Tamio Kawachi Shizuka Kawaguchi Yuriko Hishimi Ryo Sakuraba
Voices of	Kosei Tomita
Narrated by	Yuji Machi
Theme music composer	Eiji Kawamura Shunsuke Kikuchi
Composers	Eiji Kawamura Tatsumi Yano Yasuhiro Kimura
Country of origin	Japan
Original language	Japanese
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	80 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Seiji Takamatsu Eishirou Sanada (TV Asahi)  Toru Watanabe (Toei)
Production location	Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Yokohama
Running time	48 minutes
Production companies	Glen A. Larson Productions Toei Company Asatsu DK Saban Entertainment
Original release
Network	TV Asahi
Release	September 26, 1988 – April 4, 1990
Related
Knight Rider (American Television Series 1982)  Knight Rider 2000 (American 1991 TV film) The Knight Rider (2002 Japanese Movie)  Neo Knight Rider (Japanese 2006 Series)  Knight Rider (American TV Series 2008) Code of Vengeance (American Movie)  Team Knight Rider (American TV Series)  Shin Knight Rider (2024 Japanese Movie)

Cast 

• Shin Ishikawa (石川 真) as Masaru Naito 内藤 正琉  (born Masaru Kawaguchi 川口正琉), an undercover detective of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department who, while on a case in Akihabara, is shot in the face and nearly killed. Wataru Naito, creator of Kawaguchi Industries and founder of FLAG, directs his doctors to save Kawaguchi's life and reconstruct his face. With his new identity, "Masaru Naito", Kawaguchi is provided with high tech crime-fighting equipment, most notably the car named KITT.

Ishikawa also played Gennosuke Naito, Wataru Naito's estranged son and a criminal mastermind who drives Goliath, a Peterbilt 352 Pacemaker semi-truck armed with rockets, and protected by KITT's Molecular Bonded Shell.

• Kosei Tomita(富田 耕生) as the voice of KITT, or Kawaguchi Industries Two Thousand ー, the autonomous, artificially intelligent car, with whom Masaru Naito is partnered. Tomitapl, who simultaneously starred on St. Elsewhere, requested not to be credited for his role as KITT's voice.
• Tamio Kawachi (川地 民夫) as Daisuke Misaki 美崎大輔, the leader of FLAG, who appeared in every episode to provide mission details to Naito and KITT. He was also the spokesman for FLAG whenever it came under scrutiny.
• Shizuka Kawaguchi (川口静香) as Dr. Akane Kogure 小暮 茜(Seasons 1, 3–4), KITT's chief technician and romantic tension for Masaru. The character was dropped after the first season, but due to strong fan reaction and lobbying by Ishikawa and Kawachi, she was returned for the third season and remained through the end of the series.^[2]
• Akari Kino 木野あかり as Yukari Hashimoto 橋本由香里 (Season 2), chief technician for KITT. The character was written out when Shizuka Kawaguchi returned. The connection between the two was never established in any installments.
• Akira Nagaoka (長岡 明)as Kengo Nakamura III 三代目中村健吾 (Season 4), driver of the FLAG mobile unit and occasional partner for Masaru Naito and KITT.
• Masatoshi Nakamura (中村 雅俊,)as Wataru Naito 内藤 渉, the founder of FLAG, who dies in the pilot episode. Kuriyama's voice, however, is heard throughout the series, narrating over the intro and outro.