The Kamen Rider Series (仮面ライダーシリーズ, Kamen Raidā Shirīzu?, translated as Masked Rider Series) is the overall name of a franchise of Japanese tokusatsu. The franchise began in 1971 with a show titled Kamen Rider which followed college student Takeshi Hongo and his quest to defeat Shocker. Over the years, the popularity of the franchise has grown and the original series has spawned many television and theatrical sequels.