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01-11-2016, 05:33 PM | #1 |
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Lately, I've been watching SuperHero Time 2005 for the first time. I'm enjoying it quite a bit, although my plan to watch the shows in pairs is being jeopardized by Hibiki being really good.
So far, I'm on episode 18 or so. We've been introduced to four Riders (and we've seen a fifth), and none of them have a forced rivalry. ZERO pointless battles between them. I'm floored by how different this is from every Rider series I've seen so far. The notion of Douji and Hime shepherding giant Makamou is great, as is reversing their voices. (It also occurs to me that this must've been great for the budget; there have been only a few distinct humanoid monsters so far. I'm not wholly clear on how the Makamou are rendered.) The nature of the threat, too, is very different. Most Rider shows I've seen have been about a temporary but finite threat, but the Oni in Hibiki have been operating for generations, and will apparently continue to do so, as the demons they fight appear limitless. Wow, there's a lot more death here than in any of the more recent Sentai or Rider shows I've seen since Kiva. Bystanders are killed right and left. (Hibiki shares this with Magiranger, on which something dreadful regularly happens to an innocent bystander just before the show cuts to its sugary-happy opening theme.) I'm fascinated by how much better the toys are integrated into this show than most Rider series I've seen. The disc animals are an essential element of how the Oni operate. I'm used to seeing ring animals, foodroids, etc. mostly forgotten within a few episodes. What impresses me most about Hibiki is its dedication to small moments and complex feelings. So far, the story has been as much about Asumu as it's been about our titular hero, and although Asumu is starting to integrate into the rest of the cast, it's been a slow process. I just watched an episode in which an Oni puts himself at great personal risk apparently mostly to impress a woman who's just not into him. (I assume they're building very slowly to the possibility of Asumu eventually becoming an Oni. With Zanki and Todorokei, they've established that the Oni's seconds sometimes become Oni as well, and we've established why Hibiki might someday retire relatively young.) What other shows focus a couple of episodes on appendicitis? All of this is meant in the way of praise. I love a lot of these elements. (The constantly-changing opening theme is just neat.) What I don't love is that Hibiki doesn't look good. It's often blurry; I mean like RuPaul's-Drag-Race-Season-1 blurry. I assume it's a stylistic choice, but it's one of the riskiest things the show does, and I'm not sure it works. I watched Ryuki last year, and Hibiki looks like an older series than Ryuki. My suspicion is that it's about setting a context in which the giant Makamou work better on-screen. The show sounds older, too; is that a xylophone I'm hearing? What other Kamen Rider shows largely ignore the main Rider for weeks at a time? I really like this idea that certain Oni are better-suited to battling certain Makamou, and I'm just a little surprised that the show actually runs with it, centering the action of whole episodes around secondary Riders rather than Hibiki. I'd read a lot about how different Hibiki is, and I get it, now. I do miss our riders saying "henshin" when they transform. It's harder to discern nods to Kamen Rider 1 in the design. The antennae abstracted as horns? The oni face instead of a jewel? Are there any nods at all, and I'm making it up? I'm also aware that I should prepare to have my heart mostly-broken later in the series, as I read that it gets pretty seriously derailed and rendered generic. I'm sure I'll likely watch the rest anyway, but I'm prepping myself for a partial train wreck. I mean, when a show's actors are willing to go on the record as being incensed... (Meanwhile, I'm enjoying Magiranger more as it goes. It's a lot of good things, but so far, it's not daring, and daring is certainly what defines Hibiki.) |
01-11-2016, 06:27 PM | #2 |
Super Sentai Eien ni
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Germany
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Quote:
What I don't love is that Hibiki doesn't look good. It's often blurry; I mean like RuPaul's-Drag-Race-Season-1 blurry. I assume it's a stylistic choice, but it's one of the riskiest things the show does, and I'm not sure it works. I watched Ryuki last year, and Hibiki looks like an older series than Ryuki. My suspicion is that it's about setting a context in which the giant Makamou work better on-screen. The show sounds older, too; is that a xylophone I'm hearing?
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01-11-2016, 08:14 PM | #3 |
Chou Henshin!
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 519
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Hibiki is definitely a wonderful show; one of my favorites. I'm glad you're enjoying it.
The theme song is definitely great. I love the different variations, and I'mm a bit disappointed that the full version doesn't include all of them. Quote:
I'm also aware that I should prepare to have my heart mostly-broken later in the series, as I read that it gets pretty seriously derailed and rendered generic.
Quote:
daring is certainly what defines Hibiki.)
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01-11-2016, 08:58 PM | #4 |
I have a problematic type
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,416
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As a huge Hibiki fan, this post makes me very happy. It was such a fun and unique series with a great cast of characters and fantastic cinematography. I can't sing it's praises highly enough. It's not a conventional Rider series, but I think that's a big part of its charm.
If you're enjoying Hibiki, I recommend watching Daimajin Kanon next. It has the same head producer and writer and is very much a spiritual sequel to Hibiki (and arguably an allegory for its production woes). Quote:
Which video files/ subs do you watch? If you're comparing TV-Nihon's versions, it might be because Ryuki's video encodes are newer than those they used for Hibiki. While it still is supposed to be somewhat blurred, the subs look mostly that extreme because the video quality is so low.
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01-12-2016, 12:52 PM | #5 |
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Quote:
Suzu is probably right that the sub source quality is a factor (I hadn't considered it), but I get the sense that some of the blurriness in Hibiki is a stylistic choice. Last night, I got a masochistic urge to check out the post-revamp Hibiki opening. Oh, man. I'd always at least sorta-liked Rider opening themes, but... Yeah, no. I'm sure someone likes it, but to me, it felt like they weren't even trying. |
01-12-2016, 02:52 PM | #6 |
Sky Henshin!
Join Date: Apr 2013
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I absolutely love both Hibiki and MagiRanger. I haven't finished MagiRanger but Hibiki is a total favorite of mine. I'm glad you're enjoying it.
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05-31-2016, 09:10 PM | #7 |
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Update: I watched episode 30 today, and it was heartbreaking. Partly, it was unexpected, since I'd mistakenly thought the production change didn't happen until episode 34.
It wasn't so much the loss of the natural setting that jarred me as it was the loss of what a lot of the character relationships meant. Asumu and Hibiki have a fairly honest, straightforward conversation at the beginning of episode, and that's just not something they do. Characterizations all around seemed more broad to me. The actor who later played Den-O's Yuuto shows up and more or less dominates the episode. (I found this annoying, but also puzzling because I'm predisposed to like that actor.) The mystery inherent in the villains' scheming is just ripped away: "Yep, we're in a lab, makin' a makamou." Which just happens to be a standard-issue Rider kaijin to be fought in a city. I appreciated that they tried to make it marginally more interesting with the flaming hoop gimmick. I read a bit about the production changes, so apparently, the show just outright drops two Riders at this point? One of the things I'd enjoyed about the show is how it casually introduced cameos of oni Riders many episodes before we'd learn anything substantial about them. We'd JUST learned about Eiki, and I seem to recall another oni a few episodes ago, and they were just... dropped? I haven't experienced this form of disappointment before. This episode felt more like all the neo-Heisei series I've seen before. I like those shows, so it's not like I object to those tropes and characterizations on their merits. It's just that I was enjoying Kamen Rider Hibiki, and I'm technically still watching a show with that same name, cast, and (mostly) characters, but it's not the show I was enjoying. That show just ended with no fanfare. I'm still pairing it with Magiranger, a series I enjoy far more than when it started. I still die a little inside every time Houka refers to herself in the third person, though. RIP, the Hibiki ending that could have been. I'll watch the rest to see whether there's anything I'll enjoy, and so if I'm given reason to gripe, I can do it from an informed perspective. |
05-31-2016, 09:28 PM | #8 |
Victorious Knight
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 422
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Quote:
Update: I watched episode 30 today, and it was heartbreaking. Partly, it was unexpected, since I'd mistakenly thought the production change didn't happen until episode 34.
It wasn't so much the loss of the natural setting that jarred me as it was the loss of what a lot of the character relationships meant. Asumu and Hibiki have a fairly honest, straightforward conversation at the beginning of episode, and that's just not something they do. Characterizations all around seemed more broad to me. The actor who later played Den-O's Yuuto shows up and more or less dominates the episode. (I found this annoying, but also puzzling because I'm predisposed to like that actor.) The mystery inherent in the villains' scheming is just ripped away: "Yep, we're in a lab, makin' a makamou." Which just happens to be a standard-issue Rider kaijin to be fought in a city. I appreciated that they tried to make it marginally more interesting with the flaming hoop gimmick. I read a bit about the production changes, so apparently, the show just outright drops two Riders at this point? One of the things I'd enjoyed about the show is how it casually introduced cameos of oni Riders many episodes before we'd learn anything substantial about them. We'd JUST learned about Eiki, and I seem to recall another oni a few episodes ago, and they were just... dropped? The Hibiki staff change is a bit of a struggle but I think people sometimes exaggerate it. Like, it doesn't instantly become this terrible show (IMO) and it has a fairly solid consistency with what the new guys are setting up, it just doesn't always gel with what we've seen. I think the worst of it is in those first few episodes after the staff change, the new writer and producer clearly do not have a firm idea of who these characters are. It starts to become more of a solid watch after a while, probably by the time Shuki's arc is finished. Also, it's a huge shame we lost all of those beautiful forest fights. I can see why Toei cut them though - they were expensive. This is the reason you don't see them a lot in most shows and why battles have to take place in cities or parks more often than not. It's easier to film in a city at like 5 AM before it gets crowded than it is to take your cast and crew out to to a forest and film there. I've read this is one of the key reasons the change happened - the producer was so set against changing the filming locations because he saw them as vital to the show. The idea was that the Oni stopped the Makamou from interacting with areas that have large human populations as often as they could and that's something he didn't want to change. Also things were just running behind schedule a lot, he never gave in to Toei demands, and was supposedly hard to work with because he knew what he wanted to do and nothing could sway him from there. It's a HUGE loss to Toei - this is the guy that created gems like Carranger and Kamen Rider Kuuga, to fire him so unceremoniously and sever that working relationship with a very creative mind set back Kamen Rider and Super Sentai quite a bit. (also, remember, most of these monster suits are made months in advance, whether or not the staff changed, they were always going to be there) Quote:
RIP, the Hibiki ending that could have been. I'll watch the rest to see whether there's anything I'll enjoy, and so if I'm given reason to gripe, I can do it from an informed perspective.
Last edited by Aoi Kurenai; 05-31-2016 at 09:32 PM.. |
05-31-2016, 10:38 PM | #9 |
Chou Henshin!
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 519
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Quote:
I read a bit about the production changes, so apparently, the show just outright drops two Riders at this point? One of the things I'd enjoyed about the show is how it casually introduced cameos of oni Riders many episodes before we'd learn anything substantial about them. We'd JUST learned about Eiki, and I seem to recall another oni a few episodes ago, and they were just... dropped?
I don't remember that; which one are you talking about? The only ones I can think of would be Danki or Sabaki, and they both showed up early in the show. To me, it felt like the number of new Oni appearances lessened (if not outright stopped) after the production change. |
05-31-2016, 10:54 PM | #10 |
Victorious Knight
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 422
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Quote:
I don't remember that; which one are you talking about? The only ones I can think of would be Danki or Sabaki, and they both showed up early in the show. To me, it felt like the number of new Oni appearances lessened (if not outright stopped) after the production change.
Sabaki appears in 36 and 39 while Danki also appears in 32. Sabaki only appeared three times before the staff change, so he's about on par. Danki appeared twice before the change and once after, again, not a lot but not far off from happened before. I think the biggest problem with Danki appearing more is that he's played out of suit by Hibiki's suit actor. Sabaki and Danki also share the same suit actor, so I'm sure that tied into the issue as well. I'm more upset by the idea that Toei created what? Seven more suits or something like that just to use them for a half second shot in the second opening. I remember watching it as it aired and the tokusatsu community at the time thought we were in for this fantastic series end battle featuring this army of Oni Riders. Last edited by Aoi Kurenai; 05-31-2016 at 10:56 PM.. |
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