TFW2005
Hisstank
Thundercats
TokuNation
Toyark
Home
News
Garo
Godzilla
Kamen Rider
Metal Heroes
Power Rangers
Super Sentai
Ultraman
All News Categories
Forum
News & Rumors
Power Rangers
Kamen Rider
Super Sentai
Other Toku Series
Toys and Collectables
Marketplace
Creative
Galleries
Companies
Bandai Japan
Tamashii Nations
Saban Brands
Bandai America
Toei
Characters
Kamen Rider Ghost
Kamen Rider Specter
Kamen Rider Necrom
Mighty Morphin Green Ranger
Dino Charge Red Ranger
Toylines
S.H. Figuarts
S.H. MonsterArts
DX Mecha
Megazords
Legacy
Shows
Kamen Rider Ghost
Doubutsu Sentai Zyuohger
Power Rangers Dino Supercharge
Power Rangers Movie 2017
TokuNation.com
>
TokuNation
Integration
User Name
Remember Me?
Password
Rules
Register
Community
Today's Posts
Search
Community Links
Members List
Search Forums
Show Threads
Show Posts
Advanced Search
Go to Page...
Thread
:
Kamen Rider Die watches Kamen Rider Hibiki
View Single Post
11-07-2020, 10:59 AM
#
577
Sh Ranger
Standing By
Join Date: Feb 2020
Location: USA
Posts: 2,084
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Kamen Rider Die
KAMEN RIDER HIBIKI VOLUME 40 - “APPROACHING OROCHI”
KAMEN RIDER HIBIKI VOLUME 41 - “AWAKENING OF TEACHER AND STUDENT”
Mixed feelings on this one! Structurally, I think it worked gangbusters. Thematically and character-wise… some concerns!
Let’s talk about Akira quitting first, since that’s what these two episodes are leading up to.
There’s a part of me that really loves how the whole dilemma is that her heart just isn’t in it anymore. There’s a
smallness
to that idea that resonates, that creates an obstacle that Akira and Ibuki can’t overcome. It’s that Hibiki thing of making it personal, unexpected,
honest
. I love how the Kodama forest works as a metaphor for that problem, how it seems vast and foreign but it’s really just the one basic thing that’s easy to miss. There’s no fixing Akira, because there’s nothing wrong with Akira. She changed, and now she’s leaving that part of her past behind. It’s a great story to get to that point, with some of the best work of that actor’s run on the show.
The problem is… I defended this show for interrogating Akira’s beliefs, for treating her decision as something weighty and important. I don’t think the show deciding that being an Oni isn’t her passion anymore (if it ever should have been) is the wrong choice. But, god, when you have her quitting and her last request is to make Kiriya and Asumu the next Oni? Because they
both
have what it takes? That… it at the very least taints Akira’s story, and I wouldn’t argue with anyone who thought it ruined it. It’s a big turn in the story, and it’s fundamentally not a great look. (Her transforming into an Oni and then
immediately being knocked out
is such a standard bullshit Inoue move that I’m not even disappointed. At least it wasn’t two women in a row, like on Faiz!) And that’s on top of the fact that, man, her quitting is a
bummer
. It’s always going to be a hard sell to have a great character quit the narrative (if that’s what’s happening), and there’s just no way around that. Seeing her story end by her walking away, no matter how well I thought the story explained and supported it... it just doesn't feel good to watch.
Altogether, Akira’s story… I think I
respected
it more than I liked it.
I think I respected it more than I liked it as well. It was executed just fine, but it's not something I wanted to be executed at all and the show's first half definitely seemed to be setting her up to become an Oni. Feels like Kiriya was introduced to usurp the development that was originally hers. I guess this is another reason why he's such an unpopular character, not that I resent him for it though.
At least now Ibuki can stop tormenting himself. I think this has been harder for him than for Akira. Ibuki's still young so he can eventually take a new apprentice under his wing when he feels ready. It's not that Akira was a failure like Kiriya believes, she would have been a great Oni if she hadn't lost her motivation.
It's definitely a bittersweet ending. Ibuki loses his student and Hibiki gains two. The sad part is that Akira was in a better position than Shounen and Kiriya to become the next generation of Oni. Now she's in the same place as Shounen was at the start, aimless and unsure what she wants to do with her life. There's also the fact that she can't forget about her parents' death and who knows where her relationship with Ibuki goes from here now that they're no longer fighting together.
Regarding the two girls on Faiz, are you referring to Mari and Rina VS Kitazaki? I can't defend Rina's incompetence but Mari at least had a good reason for not being able to fight.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Kamen Rider Die
I really enjoyed all the stuff with the kids, but naturally, it’s the AsuMum scene that worked the best for me. I like that her advice to Asumu’s eternal uncertainty was For The Love Of God You Are Fifteen Years Old It Is Okay To Try Out Different Jobs. It created a real smart way for the show to move forward with Asumu becoming an Oni, to stop treating it like Asumu’s entering the priesthood or something. It’s okay to try it, to see if it works for him, and then quit if it doesn’t. People quit jobs all the time!
This whole story is about how it is okay to quit a job if you don’t think it’s right for you anymore!
Instead of the show needing a 15-year old boy (whose voice completely sounds deeper in this episode) to dedicate his
life
to something, I don’t know, maybe just treat it like an internship? It’s a more interesting way, I think, to approach Asumu’s new apprenticeship.
It's not clear without the "I'm Adachi Asumu, a 15 year-old middle/high school student." narration anymore but I think it's likely that Shounen turns 16 at an unspecified point in the show, same for Akira and Kiriya.
But yeah, Shounen's mother is very encouraging and a good influence in his life, not being too possessive and scared for his safety like some parents. I don't think Shounen really wants to be an Oni though, more like he's worried Kiriya apprenticing himself to Hibiki will replace him as Hibiki's favorite high school student. He doesn't want to lose Hibiki's attention and guidance so he feels like he as to compete with Kiriya, the same way Kiriya competes with everybody, to hold on to what he has. That's not the case at all though, since Hibiki sees being a mentor and being a friend as two different things. There's no need to feel like his relationship is threatened by Kiriya. It happened before with Mochida, who he didn't even know he thought about as anything more than a friend, so it seems to be recurring problem that Shounen has with feeling undermined by others.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Kamen Rider Die
The Kiriya stuff worked great for me, of course. He’s resolutely terrible in this (Ibuki seems about a breath away from punching him in the face for disrespecting Akira, and rightly so) and he’s so reflexively insulting that no one even seems to bother acknowledging it, like it’s some verbal tic. But there’s a sense that he honestly
does
want to make something of himself, even if it’s for stupid reasons, that makes him stand out from Asumu’s innate goodness and chronic indecisiveness. That said, it’s obviously an inherently stupid idea to make Kiriya an Oni (unless you’re just counting the minutes until Ibuki is ordered to kill him), but this story managed to create a little cover for why he’d be worth a tryout..
I think putting Kiriya through training is something that needed to be done. He wasn't going away until someone at least gave him a shot to prove himself. Hibiki rejected him many times until now, without giving a reason he could understand. This way, he can understand first-hand what the job means. Either he fails and can at least move on with his life or he changes for the better and succeeds in becoming an Oni.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Androzani84
Yeah, I like Akira’s arc in the second half. I just wish her one big moment as an Oni got something better than “Danki with all the trimming removed” as a costume.
In terms of what to call her Oni transformation, it’s a bit uncertain. Bandai themselves call the transformation “Amaki” (Heavenly Demon), but the S.I.C states that it doesn’t have Shumei (succession to a professional name), implying that it would’ve been called “Ibuki” (implying a legacy character situation). The show’s production notes just call it “Akira Henshintai”, like they did before Todoroki got his name. So, you have free reign to call it what you want.
Bandai probably call her that for the sake of identification in merchandise but yeah, in universe, she didn't officially graduate so Akira is still Akira, with only the "Henshintai" to distinguish between them. Even the way her suit is deliberately made to look like a blank Danki (Blanki?) implies that she's not a full Oni. The S.I.C. definitely gives her a more conventional suit with the inherited Ibuki title but unfortunately, that's non-canon just like all the other what-ifs of the show's second half.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Androzani84
And Orochi, the big “end of the world” scenario. I have no idea if there’s any connection with the Makamou from the movie also called Orochi. Both refer to a dragon that can bring the end of the world if not satisfied in Japanese mythology.
I haven’t found any lyrics to describe next time, so I’ll get back to you on that.
Yeah, it's the same dude from the movie. As much as I dislike the premise of the movie, I think Orochi had a better impression there since the show exaggerates him way too much considering the modern day Takeshi is a lot more equipped to deal with him. He's also a wildcard, since the threat of his emergence is completely unrelated to whatever the hell Kimono Douji and Hime are plotting.
__________________
心
と
刃
Sh Ranger
View Public Profile
Send a private message to Sh Ranger
Find More Posts by Sh Ranger
TokuNation News & Rumors
Hasbro Licenses Power Rangers Toys to Playmates Toys
Discotek Media Licenses Mobile Cop Jiban
What's going on with CSM?
Ultraman Arc Trailer
2024 Kamen Rider after Gotchard Rumor
More New Posts
Bakuage Sentai Boonboomger Episode 8- "Runaway & Divide!" Discussion
FOR SALE: Various Figuarts
Super Sentai minipla appreciation thread!
How is Everyone Today- New
Kamen Rider Gotchard Episode 32- "The Great King Appears! The Doll's Dilemma!"
The Official Toku Subs List
Kamen rider SHF for sale
S.H. Figuarts (Toku Related) Thread
Kamen Rider Die rewatches Kamen Rider W (and watches Fuuto P.I.)
What are you watching? (Kamen Rider Edition)
Current Poll
How Would You Rate This Episode?
Excellent!
Good
Average
OK
Poor...
»
View Poll Results
»
Comment On This Poll
»
This Poll Has 1 Reply
Search Forums
»
Advanced Search
All times are GMT -5. The time now is
02:13 PM
.
Powered by vBulletin®
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Powered by
vBadvanced
CMPS