Twenty-two years after the disappearance of his father, Wataru Kurenai (portrayed by Koji Seto lives in an infamous "haunted house" where he is destined as Kamen Rider Kiva to fight life-draining monsters belonging to the Fangire Clan, the very race his father fought years ago before his disappearance.
Wataru must also deal with a second rider in the series (named Kamen Rider IXA (仮面ライダーキバ, Kamen Raid Ikusa)) who is part of an organization seeking to destroy the Fangire menace, as well as kill Kiva for being a greater threat than the Fangire themselves.
The story is split between the actions of Wataru in the present (2008) and his father Otoya in the past (1986), slowly revealing the story behind the Fangire Clan and Kiva.