Mitsuru Matsuoka

This article is about a singer and actor in the Kamen Rider Series.

Mitsuru Matsuoka (松岡充, Matsuoka Mitsuru) is a Japanese actor, singer, and song-writer who is best known for portraying Katsumi Daido/Kamen Rider Eternal in Kamen Rider W Forever: A to Z/The Gaia Memories of Fate and Kamen Rider W Returns: Kamen Rider Eternal. He reprised an alternate version of his character in episode 45 of Kamen Rider Zi-O. He also voiced Kamen Rider 4 in D-Video Special: Kamen Rider 4.

As a singer, he is best known for being the vocalist of the band SOPHIA and performed SURPRISE-DRIVE, the opening theme for Kamen Rider Drive. He also wrote and composed Sing my song for you ~ Sayonara no Mukōgawa Made, the theme song for Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Drive & Gaim: Movie War Full Throttle.

Biography

Matsuoka formed a rock band in 1994 called SOPHIA and made its official debut in 1995. In addition to providing the vocals, he also writes all of his band's songs as well as providing the composition to most of them. After SOPHIA disbanded in 2013, he formed a new band called MICHAEL.

Matsuoka also made his acting debut in a movie that was released in 2002. In 2010, he was cast as Katsumi Daido in the W films and began performing songs for the series and future installments of the Kamen Rider franchise.

Personal Life

According to Matsuoka, he is a childhood fan of Kamen Rider V3 and Kamen Rider Amazon, and deeply enjoyed playing the role of Katsumi. He added that during a scene where Katsumi and his NEVER members ambushed a group of militants in the forest, it was an allusion to Kamen Rider Amazon's hunting skills.
Matsuoka did not reprise his role as Eternal in the video game Super Climax Heroes, but was willing to reprise it again in the future if asked. ^[1]. He eventually returned to the role in Kamen Rider: Battride War II and Kamen Rider Zi-O Episode 45.
Since 2002, Matsuoka has been married to actress Yu Kurosawa, the granddaughter of famous Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa.
During the production of Kamen Rider Drive, Matsuoka was asked about where he saw himself in 20 years. He responded that he would be Toei Company's president.
Matsuoka is very good friends with Tetsuya Iwanaga, who portrayed Kuroto Dan in Kamen Rider Ex-Aid.
In 2017, Matsuoka stated that his dream as an actor is to appear in an historical drama, and would retire as an actor once he achieved it.
Matsuoka believes that a good live performance isn't just on the performer himself, but also the audience.