Kurata auditioned for the role of Kotaro Minami in January 1987, when he had just graduated from high school. In a 2006 interview, Kurata had stated that, during the audition, he hadn't been able to portray the character appropriately, and did not think he would get the role. To his surprise, he was chosen by Shōtarō Ishinomori himself to play the lead role, beating some 8,000 other contestants. During this period, Kurata underwent intense training that included stage combat techniques, physical exercise sessions and acting and singing lessons.
On October 4, 1987, Kamen Rider Black premiered on TBS to public and critical acclaim. The success of the series, which ran for 51 episodes, generated enough interest from Toei Company executives to persuade them to produce a sequel, something unprecedented in the Kamen Rider Series franchise. After finishing his work on Black, Kurata was approached by Toei and renewed his contract for one more year in exchange for a salary raise to work on Black's sequel, Kamen Rider Black RX. This second series was less successful than its predecessor due to its witty and comical style, which differed deeply from the shadowy, darker tone of the original. In a 1989 magazine interview, Kurata said that although he preferred Black over Black RX (labeling the humor in the latter as "excessive"), he was glad the character enjoyed a positive and happy turn of events after Black's sad ending. However, it is rumored that Kurata declined later invitations to reprise the role in fear of being typecast, as his stigma as a Kamen Rider was almost as strong as Hiroshi Fujioka's Takeshi Hongo in the first series, but such rumors remain unconfirmed.
