I just went to look it up, and it was a totally different Fuse Akira song, which I had no recollection of at all, lol. As much as I love the first half of the show, I really should clarify that this is what I mean when I say Hibiki, I guess.

So I'm honestly a little confused here. Hibiki's second OP? Are we talking about the few episodes before the cancellation that added Todoroki and Zanki, because that's literally just the same opening with some new footage. I wouldn't go so far as to call it a completely new opening.

Apparently there was indeed a different opening song from #34 onwards that all of us seem to have forgotten completely!

The original OP for Hibiki was a pure instrumental track. I love that song too, but I was responding to the video dreamcastegirl posted which is the Shonen Yo song. Which is the ending theme, which I also love.

From episode 34 - 47 the opening song was changed to "To the Original You"

During the Heisei celebratory year of Zi-O, Shonen Yo was used as Hibiki's contribution to the Heisei musical remixes and themes, suggesting that Shonen Yo is considered by Toei the modern musical representation of Hibiki. Essentially, it was retconned to be Hibiki's OP.

Thank you for explaining better than I could, ShiShi! For the record, I also love the instrumental OP, but absolutely Shounen Yo is the heart of the show, what I was calling the "theme tune."

I must admit, having listened to the second opening just now, I don't mind it, but I guess it speaks volumes that I forgot it existed.

Yeah, I'm not following you. There wasn't an episode 34 of Hibiki. It was cancelled at 29 and no other episodes ever aired; you cannot convince me otherwise.

OH! HAHA! I'm slow. Yes, yes, of course, forgive me, I was momentarily confused, but you're absolutely right.

I like the first opening too but I liked the second opening in a more conventional sense given I can just watch shows with short instrumental openings on British TV all the time, it's nothing really that offensive considering it's not really massively different to Shounen Yo and it's not really got much to do with the actual production issues people hated the most so I never got why there seemed to be a load of those YouTube comments hating it in 2011 time lol.

I've come around to thinking that Hajimari no Kimi e deserves to be a sort of "adopted" part of Hibiki by virtue of still being all the exact same people making the song as Shounen Yo. Like, even if the series didn't get prematurely canceled (as Switchblade would say), they probably still would've used it, you know? I feel like it's kind of an unfair victim of circumstance more than anything. I've given it a hard time myself in the past (I mostly just hate how abruptly it always starts in those episodes that totally don't exist), but it's a good song, and not any less Hibiki than the original OP/ED duo.

Kagayaki is still my favorite Hibiki song, though? It's very subtle, and manages to perfectly capture Hibiki without the aid of any lyrics whatsoever, which I find impressive, and very fitting for the series' musical motif. Especially after listening to the demo versions included on the show's final soundtrack, where you can feel Toshihiko Sahashi go from

"Eh, it still needs a little something..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6QG_I0dYHQ

All the way to "Ooh, I think I'm on to something here!" (Note how this one even has the space for Asumu's narration at the start)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrmE2zshL0s

Which then of course led to the treasure that is the "final" version, in quotes because Sahashi did like a dozen different arrangements of it to create a truly evolving theme song from episode to episode, which is not something you see every day. (Hibiki was a pretty cool show, huh?)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EewkftlfMGk

All right, if we're going to talk about Hibiki's music, then let's get into it. :p I agree with you about this song, it's not really awful at all—I mean, I like Fuse Akira as a singer, or, rather, I always liked his presence at Kouhaku, and hearing his voice always makes me feel warm and nostalgic for those winter Christmas/New Year feels.

Yet there is one piece of music from the show no one has yet mentioned! That's right! Good morning, indeed! I remember when I first saw this, and I was like, so thoroughly charmed and in love with it; it's just an absolutely beautiful moment crowded with all the sentiment and warmth that I associate with this show.

It sounds like my Kiva is your Hibiki. :p

Aww, that's really sweet. I'm also always here to rep Maya from Kiva in accordance with the golden rule of dreamcastegirl is obsessed with side-characters that literally no one else cares about.

https://i.imgur.com/9xaQNMx.jpg

SD was its own franchise.

Showa had Level 1 forms?!

oh man maybe i truck with showa now

Perhaps I should introduce you to the Batta Man one day.

This just came to mind, but I just remembered back when Drive first aired. I could've sworn Chase's actor was the same guy who played Eiji :lol

There was an SD Toei toku crossover game on the Dreamcast that I played to death. For throwaway nonsense, that stuff was good throwaway nonsense.

Hey Great Battle Fullblast on the PSP is a solid little game! I'm a fan of all the games in the Compati Hero series.

Oh yes, this is the series! These games are absolutely great fun, I agree totally!

If Aruto wants artificial intelligence to be treated like ppl, and since Horobi calls Jin his son, would it be right to think the Ark is technically Amatsu Gai's son, and by extension, Azu is his granddaughter?

https://i.imgur.com/Vb4AADD.jpeg

Somewhat relatedly is Horobi the son of aruto’s grand dad and thus Aruto’s uncle (making Jin his cousin)?

Gonna post this here and in like two other spots to gauge interest. tl;dr at the bottom.

The recent Rider Week announcement got me thinking, I really should do something celebrate the 50th Anniversary. It's a big deal afterall!

But my skill set is pretty limited, and I'm not exactly the biggest KR buff as of yet. But what to do? Well luckily for me a recent conversation I had with a buddy of mine gave me the inspiration I needed.

No one else has made one as of yet so... why not a Let's Play of Memory of Heroez? But just doing what I usually do by having me and some friends play wouldn't exactly be anything special in terms of a 50th Anniversary, so I figured, why not get the rest of the Toku community I interact with involved?

That's right. For anyone interested, I want you guys to be guests during this LP. Come talk about the game, W, OOO, Zero-One, or heck, just celebrate Kamen Rider in general while experiencing what I personally consider the best Kamen Rider video game to date. The only real requirement being that you have Discord and be willing to have your voice recorded.

Please let me know if you're interested or have any questions, and I hope you guys are willing to join in on the fun!

tl;dr I wanna do a Let's Play of Memory of Heroez to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Kamen Rider and you guys are invited to be guests during it. Lemme know if you're interested.

I'd be up for this, scheduling permitted. I'm about 18 months out from watching Zero-One, so I'm sure I'd be no help in talking about that, but I think this sounds pretty fun. Great idea!

Well yeah, there's no rush to get recordings out, so whatever schedule works out best for each guest for a given episode(s), I'm willing to adapt to.

Also, uh, let's just say having no knowledge of Zero-One is in no way a hindrance when it comes to this game.

Glad you're interested though! I'll keep you in mind.

This does sound interesting, normally I'd jump on this but I haven't had a headset in years ever since I stopped actively working on Youtube Videos. And even then if I did get like the headset I used to have, if it would be good enough mic quality compared to like an actual mic.

So I'll probably just play the support role and watch wholeheartedly since I do love me some Let's Plays.

You can actually find some pretty solid quality headsets for (relatively) cheap nowadays. Source: I use one.

But hey man, glad to have your support! I'll definitely have to think of some activities for the future thread to do whenever this thing starts getting recorded.

So, given the CSM Kiwami/Zenith/Kurumi Lockseed is out and it has the sounds for every Arms Weapon in Gaim and it’s spin offs and movies, I have to ask: which is your favourite.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=fbMNGZVnC-w

Personally, I’m a fan of the Apple Reflector. I just love how an apple-slice based item manages to look fairly cool.

Oh, so there actually is a point to the CSM Sengoku Driver! I'm gonna say my favourite's the Saver Arrow, if only because its existence is so absurd and its inclusion here even moreso

I love how Kagematsu-Shin is on here despite the fact that Kiwami Arms always gave Kouta the enhanced version of that weapon whenever it announced the normal Kagematsu.

Big fan of Zangetsu's watermelon gatling gun though, purely cause I love the idea of "Yo you know that shield? Let's strap multiple guns to it"

I'm torn between the Banaspear and Lemon Rapier. One hand, I like how elegant the Banaspear is (tho it should be lance, c'mon Toei.) and how it still carries the banana aspect without being too ridiculous, but then I also like rapiers in general.

Musou Saber it a simple katana. But also the configuartiom with the DJ Gun that's just badass. I'm sad Kiwami Arms never did the thing in which summons that can be attached to the bottom of the Musou Saber with the DJ Gun. The most obvious one being Daidamoru for a Kiwami Exclusive weapon.

For sure the Pine Iron! Watermelon Gatling is pretty great too for being reminiscent of the Gouf Custom's shield from Gundam 08th MS Team.

Pssht, the final form weapon? Too easy

First a Futo Tantei anime, and now a Kamen Rider BLACK reboot. Here is hoping the last one is Kamen Rider Spirits anime.

https://twitter.com/yukikimisawa/sta...58865716547584

Well this gave me emotions.

Well, of all things to get a follow-up on the 50th anniversary... I wasn't expecting THIS!

Because Black Sun was revealed, one of the staff involved with Type: High Speed suddenly out of nowhere released high quality images of the mock-up Televi-Kun and its evil counterpart, "Tevire-Kun" made for that Drive HBV. So at long last, my question can be answered: Fourze is on there because... he's on the original cover, and in the evil version he's sweating out of fear of being surrounded by so many villains! Perhaps more notably, the Nintendo DS on the top left is replaced by a car; which is the most evil thing I've ever seen

It's just so fun to see this handiwork years later out of nowhere!

https://twitter.com/suzu_n_official/...383693827?s=20

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...VQU4AEiRGV.png

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...VSUcAAGnxh.png

Nobuhiro Suzumura has been posting boatloads of neat trivia like this for a while now, including a ton about Kuuga for its 20th anniversary I need to sit down and really dig into at some point.

Just from what I've skimmed, for example, I've seen him going into detail about the "fake previews" he was apparently largely responsible for (episode 50 makes a joke about it right away, even), where episode previews in Kuuga would sometimes have shots that were basically, like, placeholders that were never intended to be in the final product; or for that matter, occasional cryptic mentions of episode 50 being "born out of his resentment and anger", which actually would explain quite a few things about episode 50. Pretty fascinating stuff!

I'd be spamming the eyes emoji right now if I could. This sounds super interesting!

Sooo confession time. I used to make AMVs. I don't anymore, not out of any sense of shame, but because I just don't have the patience to make good ones anymore. Alot of people don't realize, but making a good music video actually does take alot of time and effort!

I bring this up because the many years I spent making them kinda wired my brain into associating specific songs with media I've experienced. Every now and again I'll discover a new song, or rediscover and old one, and my mind will immediately begin placing clips to that song, and it never goes away. Old habits die hard!

So, for anyone curious, here are the songs that I so far associate with specific Kamen Rider seasons. Time will only tell if one day I'll have a song for each season, haha. Regardless, even if you don't have total AMV-nerd braincells like I do, I hope you atleast enjoy the tunes!

• Kuuga - "Incase I Never See You Again" by San Holo
• Agito - "Life Goes On" by Dubloadz
• Ryuki - "Survive" by Flux Pavillion & Feed Me
• Faiz - "555" by Mystery Skulls
• Blade - "Invasion of Human" by Alphabreak
• Hibiki - "find your way" by San Holo
• Kiva - "Weaving the Threads of Time" by Chris | Amaterasu
• Decade - "You Can Always Count on Me (In the Worst Way)" by Superchunk
• W - "Song for My Father" by Rick Braun & Boney James
• OOO - "Let Light Out" by ARMNHMR
• Fourze - "Glad I Am" by Jake Kaufman
• Wizard - "The Light of Hope" by Amy Hannam
• Gaim - "Way Down We Go" by Mandrazo
• Drive - "Drive" by Incubus
• Ghost - "Live Life" by Crush 40
• Ex-Aid - "All Together" by Illenium
• Build - "The Only Way (Is the Wrong Way)" by Filter
• Zi-O - "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" by Tears For Fears
• Zero-One - "Awake" by Godsmack
• Revice - "Lost Memories" by AEROHEAD
• Geats - "Breeze - in Monochrome Night" by Akira Yamaoka

And now that I've started watching Ultra, here's a list for that!

1. Nexus - "Everything You Feel" by YULA
2. Blazar - "I'm with you" by Tomoya Ohtani

https://i.imgur.com/0fUx5tX.png

So here's directors Nobuhiro Suzumura (on the left), and Takayuki Shibasaki (the right) making a cameo in episode 9 of Kuuga.

I started going down the rabbit hole of Suzumura's tweets about the show, obviously, which is where I learned this information. Apparently him and Shibasaki even acted out a whole silly dialogue exchange after the one or two seconds of footage that was actually going to be used was filmed.

Among other interesting tidbits I wanted to share:

- Suzumura is also the voice speaking over the radio in Ichijou's car during episode 4, both right before he decides to give Yuusuke the TryChaser, and right after he rides off on it.

- Scripts for Rider and Sentai episodes used to have pictures of that episode's monster on them, apparently to help the props guys make sure the costumes were being put on correctly (I think I read that part right?), a practice that has since been dropped now that the huge influx of form changes (thanks Kuuga!) and the like means there's an entire staff position dedicated to managing the characters.

- He straight up showed the first few pages of the proposal document for Kuuga, which is SUPREMELY fascinating. Of particular note is that where I guess it sounds like it would ordinarily say "planning intent", it instead reads "transformation declaration", something Suzumura points out shows how strong Shigenori Takatera's feelings about making this show were. I couldn't fully read the text below, but it basically talks about the perceived need for hero shows to "transform" and challenge themselves more, summed up as trying to create "a show that doesn't lie". The final words of that page are "the standard of the 21st century begins here". Reading things like this, I am, as ever, both deeply impressed by Takatera's considerable vision, and amazed this attitude didn't get him fired earlier.

- Oh, hey, and speaking of Takatera being removed from Rider shows... the scripts for episodes 11/12 (the iconic origin of the thumbs up) took longer than any others to write, and this apparently caused some waves. There are things here I'm definitely still not grasping the context of (Suzumura shows pages from a freakin' manga about this???), but filming was running significantly behind schedule due to both Takatera's own style and Arakawa's inherently sluggish writing. This resulted in what was apparently a full-blown attempt to get rid of Takatera, and add a new writer to finally turn Kuuga into that non-problematic Normal Hero Show it kept refusing to be. Other staff managed to keep Takatera from being removed, and the new writer, one Toshiki Inoue, is apparently the secret hero of the whole story according to that comic, doing what Toei wanted by getting the scripts back on schedule while also being understanding of Kuuga's need to keep its own style. It seems like this pretty much confirms everything I speculated about at the beginning of episode 13 in my thread, but I didn't realize 11/12 in particular were like, the battlefield for all this going down. Probably pretty vindicating for the staff that those episodes are huge fan-favorites, huh?

- Spinning out of all this, Suzumura mentions how the excessively tight filming schedule started resulting in those "fake preview" shots I mentioned eariler really kicking in with episode 13 as well, which was as far as I could read before my brain started to melt from all this deep-cut Kuuga lore I was taking in. I'll probably come back in here to summarize more of these at some point if anyone cares, but right now, I think I need some sleep or something. :lol