Spoilers for Kamen Rider: The First are unmarked. You Have Been Warned!
Kamen Rider: The Next was the second of Toei's theatrical revamps of the Showa-era portion of the Kamen Rider franchise, loosely based on Kamen Rider V3. It was released in 2007.
The events pick up two years after the last film. Takeshi Hongo is now a high-school teacher and Hayato Ichimonji is just counting down the days before his cybernetic implants kill him. Our heroes are thrust into action when a bizarre series of murders occur; the calling card being the single "Platinum Smile" playing in the background. A further investigation by our heroes discovers that not only is its singer, Chiharu Kazami, dead, but the single itself is part of Shocker's latest nefarious scheme. The Double Riders soon find themselves battling a band of evil twins, led by two new Shocker Kaijin and Hopper Version 3 , who is none other than Chiharu's brother Shiro Kazami.
This film features examples of:
- Adaptational Backstory Change: Shiro in the movie was a brilliant business man who became a Shocker cyborg, along with his sister. Shiro in the original show was a man in his college days who happened to witness Destron, and thus had his whole family slaughtered right in front of him (and that includes his sister), and only became V3 by the Double Riders when he was on a verge of dying.
- Adaptational Villainy: In this film, Kamen Rider V3, a.k.a. Hopper Version 3, was introduced as a member of Shocker whose mission is to hunt down the traitors Takeshi Hongo and Hayato Ichimonji. In the climax of the movie however, he gets better after he pulled a Heel–Face Turn.
- Adapted Out: Due to connecting this movie with the previous one, Destron is history, and Scissors Jaguar and Chainsaw Lizard are now Shocker's Co-Dragons alongside the Shocker Riders. Not to mention that Riderman wasn't included in the movie at all.
- Ass Kicking Pose: Hongo, Ichimonji and Kazami all do their trademark Henshin poses at the film's climax. Unlike in the first film, where they were slightly altered to look like battle stances, here it's pretty much just Rule of Cool.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Pretty much Hongo. He's normally an unassuming nice guy who doesn't seem like he could hurt a fly. Of course, he's also a powerful cyborg who can easily stop a speeding truck with one hand.
- Badass Teacher: Undoubtedly Hongo. When some thugs attempt to kidnap one of his students (right in front of the school, in the middle of the day, no less) and drag her into their car against her will, the principal just tells Hongo to ignore it. Hongo fails to heed his advice, and proceeds to stop the car with one hand. When one of the thugs attempts to run him over with his motorcycle, Hongo completely stops it in its tracks by grabbing the front wheel before it hits him, breaking it off in the process. All this without uttering a single word. This, unsurprisingly, scares his delinquent students so much that they don't dare to humiliate him again.
- Big Damn Heroes: Ichimonji, who comes to Hongo's aid just in the nick of time precisely twice. Later Kazami also joins in on the action
- Bilingual Bonus: a Pinoy-speaking tenant witnesses Takeshi's student visits, and gossips about it on the phone. Possibly a tip of the hat to the southeast Asian Kamen Rider fanbase.
- Blood from the Mouth: Ichimonji ended up spitting blood from his mouth thanks to his weakening cyborg condition.
- Body Horror: The Shocker's nanobots. Any incompatible host will suffer a painful death with horrifying tumor forming in the skin. It also revived Chiharu into her monstrous "ghost" form after her assassination attempt by her envious colleagues and subsequent disfiguration and suicide causing it to severely malfunction.
- Brown Note: Listening to "Platinum Smile" prompts the real Chiharu to kill you.
- Celebrity Paradox: Glaringly so in The Stinger with a Kamen Rider pachinko machine.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: The Shocker Riders on Hongo at first; the tables are turned later when Ichimonji and Kazami join in.
- Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: More downplayed example for Chainsaw Lizard. During her previous life as Kazami's secretary, she has nice and elegant personality. After her Unwilling Roboticization via Shocker's aerial nanobots, she become a ruthless Blood Knight with voluptuous quirk. This is best shown when she said fighting gives her "ecstasy" in an erotic manner while rubbing her breasts, before she attacked Hongo for the second time.
- Darker and Edgier: Even more so than its predecessor as it focuses more on the horror element and it's Bloodier and Gorier content.
- Dead Person Impersonation: After Chiharu gets Driven to Suicide, her employers forcibly turn her tormentors into her stand-ins.
- Deadly Dodging: During the first fight scene, Chainsaw Lizard attempts to slice Hongo while a Shocker Rider attempts to kick him. Hongo dodges, resulting in the Shocker Rider getting his lower leg sawed off! For added hilarity, the Shocker Rider keeps fighting.
- Death by Adaptation: In the Director's Cut of the film, Hayato Ichimonji succumbed to his ailing disease thanks to his weakening cyborg condition as he dies unnoticed in his last moments at his favorite bar.
- Declaration of Protection: Hongo makes this vow to one of his students when she pleads to him to help her find her missing friend.
- Defeat Equals Explosion: Both Scissors Jaguar and Chainsaw Lizard, along with single Shocker Rider during the chase scene, are unsurprisingly met their demise this way. However, while Scissors Jaguar and that one Shocker Rider's explosions are more subdued and "smoky", Chainsaw Lizard's explosion is bigger and fiery. The flames resulted from her explosion were also got expanded by mutated Chiharu, eventually engulfing the whole Shocker's facility along with the restaurant used as it's facade.
- Driven to Suicide: Chiharu Kazami, after getting infected by the nanobots AND getting disfigured by a group of bullies.
- The End... Or Is It?: Even after Chiharu's final death, "Platinum Smile" is still killing people.
- Go Out with a Smile: Ichimonji at the end of the Director's Cut. As he dies in a cabaret club, he thinks to himself that he's really lived a good life.
- Hidden Heart of Gold: Ichimonji. He acts cold, yet he constantly comes to Hongo's aid in a heartbeat. He's pushing Hongo away because he knows he's going to die soon, and doesn't want Hongo to worry about him. At the end of the film, he acknowledges Hongo as his best friend.
- Hidden Track: An actual single for "Platinum Smile" was released to support the film. The final track on the single is 10 minutes long, but it's about 6 minutes of silence after the actual final song ends. The extended bit ends with a short clip of "Platinum Smile" before some static interference, followed by a voice over from Chiharu saying that she's come to kill you.
- Incendiary Exponent: As Shocker HQ burns down around him, Kazami merely fires up his Double Typhoon belt and SUCKS IN ALL THE FLAMES, igniting his entire body. Then he performed a flaming Rider Punch.
- For bonus point, said flames were started by Chainsaw Lizard's explosion after she got finished off by Kazami.
- In Name Only: The main Riders really have nothing to do with their original TV personas, especially V3.
- Literal Disarming: Chainsaw Lizard got her chainsaw arm cut by V3's kick during the final battle. Though she has a very quick Healing Factor to restore her chainsaw arm, it still caused her severe pain.
- Naked on Arrival: Chainsaw Lizard and the Shocker Riders wears nothing but their helmet during their very first scene. They open their helmet when Shocker's Great Leader "greet" them.
- Oh, Crap!: Both Kazami and his female secretary who will become Chainsaw Lizard have this reaction during the flashback after they become the only Exa Stream personnel who survive exposure to Shocker's nanobots. While Kazami still acted stoic and utter some words on the ordeal, the secretary was completely horrified into Stunned Silence.
- Rearrange the Song: Platinum Smile's rock edit.
- Remake Cameo: Goro Naya as the voice of Shocker's great leader.
- Tragic Monster: Chiharu Kazami. She was just a normal human who got turned into a monster who kills anyone listening to her music.
- Weak, but Skilled: Seemingly how Hongo is portrayed in the film. He's weaker than most of the other Inhumanoids, but makes up for it with superior technique, much like his original counterpart.
- The Worf Effect: Arguably Hongo against the Shocker Riders the first time. He still put up a strong fight, despite being heavily outnumbered. The Shocker Riders are all superior to Hongo in terms of overall specs, being based off the stronger Ichimonji and powered up even further thanks to nanomachines. On paper, Hongo should be the weakest Modified Human in the movie. Doesn't stop him from picking apart the Shocker Riders with little effort in the climax, though.
