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10-03-2020, 04:17 AM | #141 |
take me to space
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I like Hibiki, and I'm glad that you've been receptive to it's unique style. I remember distinctly how one of the earliest scenes, of Asumu having a meal with his family who are talking about him, and both they and their voices fade away in favour of the music to show how much he feels like an outsider to what's happening. Those kinds of moments hit incredibly close to home. In fact, a lot of the themes about finding your way in life struck such a chord with me. It took a few episodes for me to get along with Hibiki's particular way of doing things, but once I did, I was really into it.
As for episode 9, I get what you mean. It's kinda all set-up, but you would have also come to expect this show to just show 'things happening' to Asumu and letting you decide the meaning or worth of it by yourself. Sometimes you'll decide 'i dunno if i needed to see this', though. Quote:
I promised to comment on the debut of major or recurring characters and one shows up here in the form of the bully who steals from Asumu in his episode (since he makes appearances in two later episodes, before being dropped after the retool)
He’s definitely my least favourite character on the show, mostly for a) how one-note he is as a character, b) he offers little that couldn’t be taken out with no trouble and c) he never receives any comeuppance or redemption for his actions. Quote:
If possible, try to avoid even hinting at stuff. (Mentioning that you don’t like how a certain character’s arc goes, for example, or that some plot point doesn’t pay off.) Even hinting at future developments (or your feelings about them) gets me expecting stuff I normally wouldn’t have expected, which makes the process of watching this show a bit less enjoyable. If you can keep your comments to the currently-watched episode and anything prior, I’d appreciate it. Thanks!
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10-03-2020, 04:59 AM | #142 |
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Which, I’ll just say it: I super don’t give a shit. In general, I don’t care that much about the monster stuff in Hibiki, but here I just found it incredibly dull. The biggest problem is how isolated everything in this story feels, including the two monster plots. Hibiki fighting the ant is a fun visual, but there’s zero setup for it in the episode (his first scene is him defeating the Douji and Hime) and it never really connects with anything else in this one narratively. Even Unified Burst Fire Style is just him saying Unified Burst Fire Style a few times before simultaneously hitting the ant until it explodes. (Again, cool visual! Not disputing that!) It’s Hibiki stuck in a dull and formulaic plot, with next to none of the style that usually makes those parts of the story more palatable to me. (He does make a dumb pun after fighting the giant ant, to absolutely no one, and I sort-of respect that.) We don’t really see any of the cool minutiae that Kasumi and Hibiki get up to, or the funny camaraderie they share. It’s just him as an action hero, and that’s just not enough for me.
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10-03-2020, 05:13 AM | #143 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
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It's definitely not a great sign for the episode that the moment that excited me most was this cameo from Blade and Leangle (check the bottom left corner!):
Despite featuring 100% more Strongest Rider than the usual Hibiki episode, I definitely agree with Die's criticisms. That being said, it was still super enjoyable in a comfort food kinda way? Like that first scene with Hibiki, how the episode just throws you into this fight with zero context beyond "we need to remind viewers Hibiki is cool too after last week", I can't help but love it. But I definitely didn't get a ton out of the story, either. It's all atmosphere in this one, which is what Hibiki is best at, so not a total loss, but still. And at the risk of bookending this post by proving how unengaging the actual plot is, those scenes of Hibiki just kinda walking around in suit made me realize a potential secret reason this show has such a comfortable vibe – Those Disc Animals hanging off his belt make those jingly noises constantly, and it totally makes it sound like Santa Claus is about to show up at any moment. Like Hibiki comes with built-in Christmas cheer. Truly genius sound design, and I'm only kind of joking here.
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10-03-2020, 07:02 AM | #144 |
Ex-Weather Three leader
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Funny how the two suit actors for the two riders on that thing were busy with Magiranger that year.
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10-03-2020, 10:29 AM | #145 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,154
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I promised to comment on the debut of major or recurring characters and one shows up here in the form of the bully who steals from Asumu in his episode (since he makes appearances in two later episodes, before being dropped after the retool)
He’s definitely my least favourite character on the show, mostly for a) how one-note he is as a character, b) he offers little that couldn’t be taken out with no trouble and c) he never receives any comeuppance or redemption for his actions. It's very cool that you've got things you want to share about Hibiki, that's the entire reason this thread exists, but if we can keep the discussion to just the current episode (and anything prior), it would really help me out. Talking about how many future appearances someone has, or how well/badly their storyline plays out... that's exactly the stuff I don't want to know in advance. I appreciate your help with this! Quote:
I like Hibiki, and I'm glad that you've been receptive to it's unique style. I remember distinctly how one of the earliest scenes, of Asumu having a meal with his family who are talking about him, and both they and their voices fade away in favour of the music to show how much he feels like an outsider to what's happening. Those kinds of moments hit incredibly close to home. In fact, a lot of the themes about finding your way in life struck such a chord with me. It took a few episodes for me to get along with Hibiki's particular way of doing things, but once I did, I was really into it.
As for episode 9, I get what you mean. It's kinda all set-up, but you would have also come to expect this show to just show 'things happening' to Asumu and letting you decide the meaning or worth of it by yourself. Sometimes you'll decide 'i dunno if i needed to see this', though. The other thing is how sort-of overstuffed this episode felt, and how overstuffing it with plot meant substantially less of the normal Tiny Delights, but that's a different problem. Quote:
The other thing is that the monster plots are all something far outside of the city, happening in mostly sparsely populated areas. It's made the monster plots feel less urgent, maybe even less heroic? It doesn't feel as much like The Day Has Been Saved, as it does like This Is A Mix Between Animal Control And Forest Management. Definitely useful! But a lower-tier useful than fire fighting or crime fighting. Quote:
Like that first scene with Hibiki, how the episode just throws you into this fight with zero context beyond "we need to remind viewers Hibiki is cool too after last week", I can't help but love it. But I definitely didn't get a ton out of the story, either. It's all atmosphere in this one, which is what Hibiki is best at, so not a total loss, but still.
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And at the risk of bookending this post by proving how unengaging the actual plot is, those scenes of Hibiki just kinda walking around in suit made me realize a potential secret reason this show has such a comfortable vibe – Those Disc Animals hanging off his belt make those jingly noises constantly, and it totally makes it sound like Santa Claus is about to show up at any moment. Like Hibiki comes with built-in Christmas cheer. Truly genius sound design, and I'm only kind of joking here.
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10-03-2020, 10:59 AM | #146 |
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P.S. Please don’t shoplift from bookstores! You’re more likely to be taking money directly out of the owner’s (very meager) pockets, rather than committing a “victimless” crime. Replacing stolen stock is not cheap, and stores can lose sales due to inaccurate inventory. Please don’t steal from bookstores!
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It's mostly that another series would have the title character more insistent about helping, or more worried about not helping. Here, Hibiki never really seems too concerned about Ibuki not succeeding at his task. It's a way of making the non-title Rider seem as competent as the title Rider, and I don't recall that being done before. Usually it's the secondary either being a total sidekick or a virtual antagonist. Here, Ibuki is just... another Rider? It's treated more like the modern-day Legend Rider appearances are, which is very fun.
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10-03-2020, 11:11 AM | #147 |
I have a problematic type
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,403
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If there’s one issue I sometimes have with Hibiki - and Daimajin Kanon is really guilty of this, too - it’s that it has a tendency to go with a “more is more” approach to establishing how downtrodden the main character is. I’ve never liked the shoplifters arc because it doesn’t tell us anything new about Asumu - he lacks self-confidence and has trouble standing up for himself. We know that already. This is just another example of character traits that he’s already demonstrated several times by this point. The show is built around him growing up and maturing, but it also has a bad tendency to go for “one step forward, one step back.” The imaginary sheep was nice, though.
This episode also features the debut of Hibiki’s flaming Ongekibou, which was the only thing I knew about the character for a long time. |
10-03-2020, 02:14 PM | #148 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
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That works too!
Anyway, I definitely see what you're saying about the way the episodes are structured. From what I understand, Rider screenplays actually are written as wholes, which would maybe explain the disconnect here? It's probably pretty easy for the production team to forget that back half is going to take the viewer a week to see when all they have to do is turn the page? It might also be another quirk of Takatera in particular, since Kuuga was often pretty brazen about this kind of thing too.
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10-03-2020, 02:48 PM | #149 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,154
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You just described my beef with some (actually a lot) of the Rider finishers. Like the Unified Burst Fire Style here, the attack seems no different from the usual attack outside saying "Unified Burst Fire Style". Like said in this post (and some of my idea here), to me finishers should have something that differentiates it from ordinary attack, either in attack or effect, though it depends on what powerset you have.
It's just, beyond the flaming drum sticks, the move itself is a little underwhelming. If they hadn't bothered to to call out how this move was some highly-anticipated tactic, I'd've just assumed it was the same finish as always. I got complicated feelings about Unified Burst Fire Style! Quote:
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And for this one, Asumu just found a shoplifter, and he tries to stop them, where he only helped stopped the girl (and got a nasty smack on the face for it). It's likely just basic human decency, though I want to ask why you didn't accept this as much as when someone like title Rider is doing this?
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If there’s one issue I sometimes have with Hibiki - and Daimajin Kanon is really guilty of this, too - it’s that it has a tendency to go with a “more is more” approach to establishing how downtrodden the main character is. I’ve never liked the shoplifters arc because it doesn’t tell us anything new about Asumu - he lacks self-confidence and has trouble standing up for himself. We know that already. This is just another example of character traits that he’s already demonstrated several times by this point. The show is built around him growing up and maturing, but it also has a bad tendency to go for “one step forward, one step back.” The imaginary sheep was nice, though.
But, yeah, Asumu. I don't mind the idea of them going back to the well of Asumu Lacks Self-Confidence, since that's his defining trait. (That image of Hibiki saying he's well-trained, but it's Asumu doing the salute and saying "I find it difficult to believe in myself!") Doing stories about that... there's really no way around it? But stories like this where it lacks perspective, where it feels like there's no awareness in-character or metatextually that we've hit some of these beats before, it can make it hard to feel as invested in a character as we'd like. If, again, we'd maybe gotten a moment where Asumu says that he knows he froze, and that he's beating himself up about it, I think some of the criticisms about this plot being repetitive fall away. Keeping it all in Asumu's head, all we can look at are the results of his actions, and they can be a little underwhelming! Quote:
Anyway, I definitely see what you're saying about the way the episodes are structured. From what I understand, Rider screenplays actually are written as wholes, which would maybe explain the disconnect here? It's probably pretty easy for the production team to forget that back half is going to take the viewer a week to see when all they have to do is turn the page?
It might also be another quirk of Takatera in particular, since Kuuga was often pretty brazen about this kind of thing too.
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10-03-2020, 04:07 PM | #150 |
I have a problematic type
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It's weird, because in some ways I actually like how the show approached Unified Burst Fire Style? They just did a whole two-parter about Hibiki training and trying out new techniques (including a very long segment of him actually drumming!), so the idea of him having a new move he wants to try out is both firmly established in-show, and also thematically appropriate because he achieved it by training hard. That's Hibiki's thing, being well-trained!
It's just, beyond the flaming drum sticks, the move itself is a little underwhelming. If they hadn't bothered to to call out how this move was some highly-anticipated tactic, I'd've just assumed it was the same finish as always. I got complicated feelings about Unified Burst Fire Style! |
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