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10-17-2020, 02:50 PM | #291 |
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I'm not sure that's right! There've been a few times where the Oni, in human form, have had heightened abilities. I mean, Zanki threw a kid, like, 50 feet, and this is when he was in a diminished state. I'm not sure this part of the Kamen Rider franchise views the non-costumed versions of characters as being baseline humans.
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10-17-2020, 03:34 PM | #292 |
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In fact, from what I understand, Oni have permantly transformed into Oni and it is their human forms that are actually their transformed state. When they transform, they just unlock their true selves. They are not baseline humans any more, even if they can still look like it.
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10-17-2020, 05:32 PM | #293 |
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KAMEN RIDER HIBIKI VOLUME 23 - "SUMMER OF TRAINING"
KAMEN RIDER HIBIKI VOLUME 24 - "BURNING CRIMSON" "We walked for miles with no end in sight Hand in hand we will grow old Singing songs of our summers' past I will never let this go" -Telekinesis, "Awkward Kisser" So, I really enjoyed these episodes. There's literally nothing in them that wasn't entertaining, and I loved how focused it was on character. It took things we knew about characters we like, and it explored some of the negative consequences of their motivations. Very, very into these episodes. They are almost impossible to talk about, though, without simply recounting their storylines. Like, these two do not want you to have any confusion as to what they're about. Between multiple (really good!) speeches that dig into Todoroki and Asumu's reluctance to expand their horizons, as well as multiple speeches that try to provide context for the ways trying new things can help you and others, as well as a goddamn final line from Hibiki where he tells Todoroki, "And that's why you listen to your seniors," this is not a set of episodes that needs me to say what I got out of them thematically. It's all right there. But, as surface-level two-parters go, this one was outstanding! The direction is top-notch, with a lot of visual flourishes and staging to break up some enormous dialogue scenes. The Kasumi/Hinaka/Todoroki/Asumu sequence in 24 is particularly special, as the crosscutting and fantasy shots take some sort-of basic text (it is not a deep metaphor for Asumu, and it's zero metaphor for Todoroki) and turn it into a pretty charming scene. Honestly, as much as this is a set of episodes that folks probably have only one burning memory of, I think it's really a couple of stand-out episodes for the women of Team Hibiki Bar and Grill (try the Special Mocha Attack Unit). They're always great, always always always, but there's so much extra to love about their characters and performances here. Hinaka gets the most focus, as she frets over a depressed Todoroki. There's some laughs at the way she crushes on him, but the story gives a lot of value to her dedication to his sweaty anxiety, and how she's able to support him by not letting him give up. It takes their weird relationship seriously (a startling beautiful moment when neither of them know how to talk about their feelings on the phone is... my heart!), so much so that even the teasingly disapproving Ichiro feels for her when she can only wait and see if Todoroki pulls himself together. It's this joke of a coupling that felt, from this story, like something worth fighting for. Kasumi is a little bit more to the side in this one, but it's great to see her channel Hinaka to figure out how to get Todoroki out of his funk. She doesn't know Todoroki that well, but she's been around Oni all her life, so she can see how being outside his comfort zone scares and confuses him. She excels at reframing his struggle as universal, and overcoming it as a gift to others. It's smart writing for a great character. The rest of the moral for this story lands on Asumu, as it must, and it's pretty okay. He's bummed about playing the whistle in band (Understandably! Whistles are dumb, Ibuki and Akira!) and he's basically doing a shit job of it. Once he's told by the band leader that, Hey, sometimes we have to chip in by doing things we aren't crazy about, things become a little clearer for Asumu. Then he gets the speech from Hinaka about maybe learning something by trying new things, and we have our resolution to this episode. Nothing else really happened. Ha ha KIDDING. Obviously, we have to talk about the big moment near the end of the second part, where Akira calls the restaurant and Asumu tells Hitomi like it's no big deal. Hitomi is such a sweet kid. There's a real warmth to her smile whenever Asumu's around, this joy that she can't disguise. The irony is that she shouldn't worry about hiding it, since Asumu is an oblivious dope when it comes to women. He's at that age where he can't read romantic cues (or one of those people who can never read romantic cues, hi, it me), and it would never occur to him that another teenage girl calling him up would piss off Hitomi. Hinaka is at her most Hinaka in this scene, being coy about who's calling for Asumu and blocking Hitomi's visual field... until Asumu's just like Oh That Was Akira. Hinaka's reaction is (probably) all of our reactions, body language that just screams JFC ASUMU, as his gormless expression briefly evaporated any sympathy I had for him. He's so bad at this part. This is what Hibiki needs to be training him at! Stop being hopeless around these women, Asumu! oh also hibiki turned red at the end was that important to you
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10-17-2020, 05:42 PM | #294 |
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OKAY FINE I'LL TALK ABOUT HIBIKI CRIMSON
Suit's great. Love that suit. I even like the way the white on the mask more clearly delineates Hibiki's eyes. It's good. Good suit. I don't think introducing it here works, thematically. Like, the whole point of Todoroki's story is that, yeah, you could train really hard at one thing, but it's maybe more useful to spread that time around, train in a whole bunch of different things. Todoroki thought he should just keep getting better at using a guitar, and then he learned better. So the story ends with Hibiki training at his specialty so hard and so well that he becomes unstoppably powerful. That... that is the opposite of the lesson that Todoroki learned! Over two episodes! It's the show rewarding Hibiki's focus with more power! I mean, sure, Hibiki already learned Todoroki's lesson years ago. He doesn't need to expand his knowledge. But, thematically... it's messy! It's very messy to have Hibiki Crimson debut in this story!
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10-17-2020, 05:58 PM | #295 |
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I do not fear the man who practices 1000 kicks once, but rather, the man who practices one kick 1000 times.
For a more straightforward answer, I think what the show is getting at is that there's ups and downs to both approaches.
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10-17-2020, 06:01 PM | #296 |
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Like, yes, there are different messages about the effectiveness of focus, but... I'm not sure the story being told views them as equally valid approaches? Until Hibiki Crimson shows up?
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10-17-2020, 06:10 PM | #297 |
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I mean, are they? Asumu's story is that sometimes you need to work hard at things that aren't your passion, for the good of others. Todoroki's story is that sometimes you need to work hard at things that aren't your passion, for the good of others. Hibiki's story is that if you stay intensely focused, you'll become unstoppable.
Like, yes, there are different messages about the effectiveness of focus, but... I'm not sure the story being told views them as equally valid approaches? Until Hibiki Crimson shows up? It's obviously punched up because this is still a superhero show and all, but yeah. To me the message is more about balancing yourself and improving overall, while still maintaining your passions, if that makes sense. I'm bad with words.
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10-17-2020, 06:23 PM | #298 |
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Neither of those statements contradict or go against eachother, though. It's also less "you'll become unstoppable" and more "you'll become better at the thing you're focusing on." Todoroki was obsessed with his guitar, yeah, but it's not like he was out and out bad at it until he focused on something else.
It's obviously punched up because this is still a superhero show and all, but yeah. To me the message is more about balancing yourself and improving overall, while still maintaining your passions, if that makes sense. I'm bad with words. I just, I don't think that's what they're saying in this story. There are plenty of other episodes about training hard, applying yourself, working hard to achieve your goals, etc etc. Any of those would've been an awesome place to show off Hibiki's new I Trained So Hard I'm Red Now form! I'm not sure I'd put it in a story where the message is that focusing only on what you're good at or passionate about is a limitation.
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10-18-2020, 12:44 AM | #299 |
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KAMEN RIDER HIBIKI VOLUME 22 - “TRANSFORMING COCOON”
One of the weirdest things about this show, especially over the last ten or so episodes, is how much of a special event it feels like when the title character shows up to fight a monster. Like, that’s the baseline expectation of a Kamen Rider series, and yet I’m always a little like Gosh How Were They Able To Get Hibiki For This Episode. He feels like a special guest star in his own goddamn show! Between Ibuki’s spotlight and Todoroki’s intro AND spotlight, somehow Hibiki Fights A Monster has become a rare, nay, freak occurrence. Quote:
But, upshot, holy shit is it awesome when Hibiki arrives at the end of this episode. He gets that big ol’ hero frame, ready to lend his strength to the overmatched youngsters. It’s a powerful finale, as all three Oni combine their attacks to bring down the Mutant Makamou, but... I mean, I had a big problem with it.
The gimmick is that they’re synchronizing their attacks to defeat the monster, playing together as a band. Hibiki specifically uses the phrase “harmonize”. But then they… just play their normal solos? It doesn’t sound harmonic at all, it sounds like three people that have completely different rhythms. I was hoping they’d make some song out of their attack, but it’s just them doing what they’d normally do while two other guys did the same. Felt like a missed opportunity for something really special. Quote:
It’s the opening that really wowed me, though. It’s tense and kinetic, with a nice mixture of tight close-ups (to make the fight feel impossible and claustrophobic) and long takes. There’s one long take in particular that showed off how good the choreography was, as Todoroki tries to protect Akira while the Douji and Hime keep making runs at them. A really nice, uninterrupted fight sequence. I dug it!
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I did not dig the Asumu thread which… I mean, I’ll give the show points for tying together the Mutant Makamou’s cocoon with Hitomi noting how much Asumu has transformed since meeting Hibiki. Yes, okay, I approve. But the resolution to the Sayuri plot makes almost no sense to me. Tonally, it’s all over the place.
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10-18-2020, 01:14 AM | #300 |
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I probably think Sayuri feels anticlimatic more because of who Sayuri is supposed to be, Hibiki refered to her as master? But she feels like another random civilian who gets treatment from the protagonist here... probably if she's not set up as having important relation it won't feel weird to you?
I mean, the benefit is that Asumu gets to showcase that Heroic Empathy a Rider has, where he'll stay and take care of this random person just because she needs it, but... it is a lot of time spent on someone who is a glorified extra. Very weird way to tell that story.
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