Based on Yokusaru Shibata’s manga of the same name, the anime adaptation of Tojima Wants to Be a Kamen Rider began airing last year and attracted considerable attention for combining elements of Kamen Rider with impressive animation.
Now, Japanese police have arrested two men suspected of directing an attempted robbery in which an assailant wearing a Shocker costume stormed a secondhand buyback shop. The would-be robber was previously convicted for his role in the case, while the two men believed to be among its ringleaders were arrested nearly two years after the incident. The news quickly became a topic of conversation online, with X users joking, “We need Tanzaburo Tojima!”
According to reports by Japanese media, the incident took place in June 2024.A man wearing a costume based on Shocker, the villainous organization from Kamen Rider, entered a secondhand buyback shop in Chuo Ward, Niigata City, armed with a kitchen knife. He threatened an employee and demanded money. The man who carried out the attempted robbery, then aged 20, received a suspended sentence in October 2024. In June of last year, police also arrested a man who was 29 at the time and had allegedly recruited the assailant through social media.
Police said the newly arrested suspects, Kumakura and Hayashi, are believed to have issued instructions for the crime and may have played leading roles in the case. Authorities have declined to disclose whether either man has admitted to or denied the allegations, citing the potential impact on the ongoing investigation.
After the news broke, Japanese X users expressed disbelief that someone had actually worn a Shocker costume while attempting a robbery. Some remarked that the incident sounded like a scene straight out of Tojima Wants to Be a Kamen Rider, with one commenter writing, “I thought this was about Tojima, but it actually happened in real life.”
Others responded with jokes such as, “No way—Tojima, it’s your turn.” They suggested that confronting villains like these called for a hero like Tanzaburo Tojima, whose strength is enough to frighten even bears, and joked that criminals dressed as Shocker agents would not dare cause trouble if he were around.
Some fans also reacted with exasperated humor, commenting, “Stop damaging Shocker’s reputation,” and, “Please don’t do anything that drags the Kamen Rider brand through the mud.”
Of course, there is nothing amusing about the crime itself, and the allegation that people behind the scenes directed someone to commit an offense while dressed in a Shocker costume makes the case even more disturbing. The premise of Tojima Wants to Be a Kamen Rider may sometimes seem absurd, but this incident is another reminder that real life can occasionally produce situations every bit as strange as fiction.