"A generation ends. A new era begins."
“For all who love the Kamen Riders...”
— Second Tagline
Kamen Rider Heisei Generations FOREVER is the third and final installment of the Heisei Generations Series movies and the tenth film in the Kamen Rider franchise’s annual “Movie War” crossovers. Apart from featuring Kamen Rider Zi-O and Kamen Rider Build, this movie also serves as a shared tribute episode to Kamen Rider Kuuga, Kamen Rider Den-O, and Kamen Rider Double.
Kamen Riders are hope bringers, as they protect people from the evil forces from time to time. But...they are only fictional heroes of a television series.
Are the Kamen Riders nothing but fictional characters?
A powerful Time Jacker named Tid appears, declaring that the story of Heisei Kamen Riders, starting from Kuuga, will end now. In order to accomplish this, Tid creates Another Den-O and Another Double, ordering them to pursue a young boy named Shingo. While Sougo Tokiwa attempts to protect the boy, he meets a Kamen Rider fan named Ataru, who demoralizes the existence of the Kamen Riders. On the other side, Sento Kiryu attempts to take on Tid alone, but he’s defeated and seemingly brainwashed to fight for Tid’s cause. As the mystery uncovered, the heroes head to the Kurogatake Mountains, wherein lies the tomb of Riku: the very first Kuuga and the protector of Linto tribe, as well as as the key place for the existence of Heisei Kamen Riders.
On June 23, 2020, Shout! Factory announced they would be translating and releasing the movie in North America, making it the first Kamen Rider movie to get an official North American release. The movie can also be watched here
on their website.
This movie has examples of the following tropes
- All Just a Dream: Two averted examples:
- After Ataru witnesses Shingo being taken away by Another W and Another Den-O after Grease was defeated, he tells Sougo and Sento not to worry about it since it's all just a dream. It's not a dream and only gets worse as Tid starts spreading monsters and Futaros' powers weaken.
- Sougo wakes up in 9-to-5 Do halfway through the film, with Woz standing over him. Then Sento walks in to say hi, that their experiences were real, and Sougo pulls the Double Ridewatch out of his pocket.
- Amnesiac Dissonance: Everyone who has their personalities altered to fit into the real world ends up with an opposite personality to their own.
- For example, Sougo becomes an arrogant Insufferable Genius who casually aces tests with no issue as easily as making coffee.
- Big Damn Heroes: Three examples:
- When it seemed impossible for our protagonists to return to 2018, the DenLiner appears to help ferry them back to 2018, right into Tid’s base.
- Then, when Tid had Sougo, Geiz, and Futaros held down in time and were going to kill them, Ryotaro Nogami, the original Den-O and the Taros intervene to save our protagonists and personally deal with Another Den-O.
- After Den-O personally deals with Another Den-O, the people under attack in the real world start calling out to the Kamen Riders, causing the Heisei Riders to manifest in the real world to protect them.
- Book Ends:
- The intro has a young Ataru growing up with Kamen Rider. During the last moments of the movie, Ataru grows up with Kamen Rider, this time with his older brother Shingo.
- The first scene begins with an amnesiac Sougo telling his friends he aced a test. The last scene begins with normal Sougo telling them he didn’t even take it.
- Call-Back:
- Sougo jogs Banjo’s memories of him by referring to himself as “that stupid futurer”, referring to their meeting in Zi-O’s first episode.
- Sento uses his experiences as a result of Evolt’s experiments to get over the idea that he’s just nothing but a manufactured hero.
- Sento never uses Build Genius during the movie. This is because the movie takes place after Build's finale, where he lost it, and before Build's V-Cinemas where he regains it.
- Chekhov's Gun: The Double Ridewatch, which initially seems to be the usual “use this Ridewatch to defeat the Another Rider” McGuffin, turns out to be useful in transporting Zi-O, Woz, and Sento back to Ataru’s world.
- Clap Your Hands If You Believe: The distressed people calling for their heroes to come save them was what allowed the Heisei Riders to show up (some literally out of thin air) and fight Tid's army.
- Co-Dragons: Another Den-O And Another Double are this to Tid.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Agito, Ryuki, the Taros, Decade, and Ghost make voiced appearances here, chronologically before appearing in the series proper.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: Decade is still shown with the original Decadriver as opposed to the upgraded version he has in Zi-O proper. Justified, as he is merely a manifestation of Decade based on memories of the crowd, and the movie takes place right before the Ghost/Decade tribute episodes where the Neo Decadriver debuts.
- Fake Shemp: Most of the returning Riders (and Mr. Belt) are voiced using stock audio. Also the first and only time Kuuga's voiced by his original actor since their series ended albeit via stock audio.
- Finishing Move: Tid gets a Rider Kick from all twenty main Heisei Riders near the end. Every last one.
- What makes this devastating compared to the All-Rider Kick in either All-Riders or Over Quartzer? The latter two features a generic group Rider Kick. In this one, each Rider performs their specialized versions, VFX and all. Ouch.
- Foreshadowing: The movie hints at a lot for Zi-O’s endgame.
- When Tsukuyomi loses her memory she doesn’t react to the name Tsukuyomi. Turns out that’s not her real name.
- Tid becomes Another Kuuga just like how Swartz becomes Another Decade. Similarly Tid is able to become Another Ultimate Kuuga when Hiryu is later able to become Another Zi-O II.
- The end of the movie has the various Neo-Heisei henchmen attack Ataru's city, the end of Zi-O has the same thing as the various Rider histories are fusing with Sougo’s world but with all Heisei henchmen and monsters.
- Tid wants to erase the Kamen Riders and rule the world which is a fourth wall-breaking version of Swartz’s goal.
- A minor one. In the scene right before the group Rider Kick, where all the Riders drive forward. Decade seems to look back at Zi-O approaching and gives a small "hm" of acknowledgement. While this may be a minor event in the long run, considering it's Decade instead of any of the other Riders, it foreshadows how he'll have a much larger role in the series proper.
- The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You: Tid’s plan goes further than stealing Kuuga’s history from the timeline, but erasing the history of the franchise’s televised run in the Heisei era that began with the Kamen Rider Kuuga show.
- Funny Background Event: In Den-O's portion during the Heisei Rider Big Damn Heroes, the crowd starts cheering him on and pumping their fists into the air...including a Bugster.
- Good All Along: Futaros’s actions in the movie were to protect Shingo. In the end, he couldn't complete the contract, but he's actually happy for Shingo and Ataru anyway and leaves without causing any trouble.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: When the various Riders appear, outside of Kuuga
for obvious reasons, it's Den-O who has the biggest crowd and loudest reception. This is likely in reference to Den-O being the most popular Rider in Japan. - Make Wrong What Once Went Right: Tid’s plan to end the Heisei Riders involves removing Shingo from the timeline because of his status as a Singularity Point, allowing Tid then as Another Kuuga to Ret-Gone all of the Heisei Riders at once.
- Mangled Catchphrase: Sougo, as usual, messes up Kamen Rider Double's catchphrase as "Now, tell me your sins." This actually manages to get on Another Double's nerves.
- Mooks: Tid calls upon every henchmen from the last 10 years to begin his conquest.
- Mythology Gag:
- Sougo is shown unraveling the mystery using flashbacks.
- Woz is seen accessing the Gaia Library.
- Never the Selves Shall Meet: Averted, as Another Den-O interacts with Ataru face to face.
- Non-Serial Movie: Played with. According to the producer, the characters not recognizing the Den-Liner during the proper Den-O tribute episode in Zi-O is because this movie is non-canon. However, a Broad Strokes version of the movie’s events is assumed to have happened in the series regardless, as there is no other depiction of the acquisitions of the Double and Kuuga Ridewatches, and the calendar date indicates that the movie would have occurred between episodes 12 (the second part of the Gaim tribute) and 13 (the first part of the Ghost/Decade tribute).
- Real-World Episode: In which the Zi-O and Build casts are summoned by a young fan's wish to his world where Kamen Rider is a work of fiction to defeat a villain who wants to prevent the broadcasting of the television series we know as Kamen Rider Kuuga.
- Reprise Medley: Rather than being a unique composition, the film's theme song is a medley of all 20 Heisei Rider shows' theme songsnote remixed by composer Daisuke Asakura, dubbed "Kamen Rider Heisei Generations Forever Medley D.A. Re-Build Mix".
- Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory: Singularity Points from Den-O’s lore are a plot point. The reason Tid kidnaps Shingo from the past is because his memories of growing up watching Kamen Rider on TV are what stabilizes the franchise from his attempts to erase it, and Another Den-O is defeated without needing the creation of a Den-O Ridewatch because Ryōtarō’s status as a Singularity Point makes him immune from being erased by changes in the timeline, allowing him to keep his powers even when the Another Rider would have stolen his history.
- Additionally, while Futaros’s merging of realities causes various characters to lose and regain memories inconsistently, Sento and Banjō are the only ones who never seem to forget their memories.
- Stable Time Loop: The events of the movie are caused by a chain of events that depend on Shingo being captured and Ataru later becoming Another Den-O.
- Whole-Plot Reference: Producer Shinichiro Shirakura admitted to this film's Real-World Episode setup to the movie Ultraman Gaia: The Battle In Hyperspace, in which Ultraman Gaia is summoned by a young fan's wish to his world where the Ultra Series is a work of fiction.
