Writing a prequel story can be a very difficult undertaking, especially if you are needing to set up a character to be something they are But that was what Series head writer Riku Sanjo set out to do with Kamen rider eternal, a flashback that gives more context into how Katsumi Daido became the person we saw in Kamen rider W Forever. Was this a trip down memory lain worth it, or are we better off forgetting this memory.
While dealing with another Sweets dopant, Shotaro and Phillip are suddenly attacked by a girl who has psychic powers. The girl, whose name is Mina, claims she is here to avenge the death of Katsumi Daido, the same Katsumi who was also Kamen Rider Eternal and threatened to destroy Futo. The two are initally confused and demand answers on why she would avenge someone like him. Mina then proceeds to tell them the story of the Katsumi she knew, the one who inspired and saved her life.
I don't hate this story, but it does feel a little longer than it needs to be, it is about an hour and 15 minutes but certain portions certain scenes like Mina going to find Katsumi and Reiko could have been combined, and I didn't feel it necessary to to keep cutting back to the present throughout the, I know, we brought back the actors so lets get the most out of them but it takes away from the main story to remind us, hey this being told to them.
Though arguably the most dissapointing part of this whole thing is NEVER itself, you think that this film would give us time to learn more about them and potentially give us some characterization on them, but nope, both Katsumi and Reika are kidnapped alongside Mina and the other three don't really show until the final battle against the main villain. Yeah while the film does show Katsumi's start of darkness (or his descent into madness) it kind of forgets to show the others why they are much different by the time of Forever, maybe it can be inferred that Katsumi's influence has caused them to be who they are by that point or the fact that their emotions have been long dulled that they just do what they are told it never really shows the others crossing some despair event horizon. It wouldn't be as bad an issue if it didn't feel like we were wasting time, so initially Katsumi and Reiko escape from the group of Quarks who have been tasked with killing them as a means of getting food, Mina shows up and then they go back but now through the power of magical harmonica is able to calm them as he then heads of to deal with Dr. Prospect our main villain, feel what I mentioned could of been done in one scene rather than having three seperate scenes.
na Black, Mina is played by the actress who portrayed shinken pink, Both the evil psychics who lead the charge in fights are portrayed by Abare Blue's actor and a suit actress in various Toei Toku's. But back on track, Prsopectis your standard evil scientist, lack of care for anyone that isn't useful to him and enjoys watching others suffer, he does fine as an antagonist who we want to stand against considering our main protaginist is a mercenary who is rather cold and ruthless. Of much bigger note is the return of Jun Kazu who is here as part of how Katsumi came into contact with the eternal memory, basically being the first person to try it but found that he was not compatible before switching to the more familiar Utopia memory we know he uses in the series.y He still is not that interesting but he does give us easily the highlight fight scene of the film between him and a now eternal Katsumi and sets up why he is a using the Necro-over in the series proper.
Sadly, Katsumi's descent into villainy may be one of the weaker points, though then again I could be a jerk for not understanding. I can see what they were going for here. Foundation x and museum destroying and hurting those close to him as he may have seen a bit of himself in the quarks, victims of the Foundation. The problem comes in the fact that he has only known them for a couple of hours at best, yeah, he gives them this big speech about fighting for tomorrow as a dead man. But I feel there isn't that strong a relationship outside of supposed love at first sight going on here. SO instead of the film starting with Reika being the one recruited, let's have Mina be the one who is initally recruited after she is killed trying to escape from the encampment and NEVER rescues her, then it is about a time jump to later afterwards and she is shown as a moral compass for the group, then the mission they are currently on has them dealing with quarks and that gets us their, now our character has a relationship here that has taken place over a longer period of time rather than an hour. That's not to say what we have here is bad, but if we had more time of them hanging out I think it would hit harder than it does in film.
CONCLUSION
If you are a fan of the titular character or want to finish out watching all of Kamen rider W material, then there is something worth watching in Kamen Rider Eternal. Outside of that, its execution of its story and concept, lack of characterization for the other Never Member's and its rather slowed pace, might make this something that is probably worth a watch if you are in need of some good popcorn fuel.
FINAL GRADE: C
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