No-one's bringing up Sabaki cause it's his mandated holiday, that's why there's suddenly an unstoppable Oni problem. He'll get back and sort it once he's ben sightseeing in Rio.

This is the worst worst worst thing about the wiki. You go and look something up to check an episode title or a writing credit or whatever and it's immediately like "This episode features the debut of Side Character's Rider form, the Q3 belt and Lovable Tertiary Rider's death." I don't get why they insist on putting this stuff in the opening paragraph!

The most ominous thing about this episode is that Todoroki gets maimed by an Otoroshi, the Makamou specifically mentioned to only show up once every 100 years and yet here it is again for the second time in a year to emphasize just how much the coming of Orochi is stirring up the Makamou. This unpredictable wildness about them is arguably more threatening than Orochi himself and makes the world getting consumed by them sound a little more plausible.

You beat me to it again, Androzani84. Yeah, following Masato Dying A Glorious Death, now we have Dying Gloriously Zanki. The format is slightly different due to Hibiki's Verbing Noun episode titles but it's close enough to be considered an Inoue-ism like [x] Dies in Fiveman, Jetman, Agito and Faiz, which I pointed out in the Faiz thread.

If I had to guess why Kujo Kiriya's death was more surprising, it's probably that the episode title didn't spell it out and it's unexpected for a Primary Rider to lose their bike so early. That's how I dismissed the possibility way back when people were speculating about it.

Hey, at least those spoilers are relevant. The worst worst worst worst thing about the wiki is looking at Ark's page and seeing a major spoiler for an upcoming plot twist in Beast Morphers casually thrown in the trivia section like it's nothing! And no, that's not a hypothetical, unfortunately. They removed it now but I really wish I didn't see that. Goddamn wiki!

Kamen Rider just doesn’t seem to care as much about spoiling stuff like this. At least in the Heisei era they don’t tell you the name of the next episode in the preview. The Showa era did that constantly. Riderman, Tackle, and even the Mole Beast-Man’s deaths were all spoiled a week in advance.

The trivia section of riderwiki, just in general, is a disaster like no other

merry christmas kids, we killed todoroki's dad

Sabaki is currently dealing with Double Orochi in Okinawa, thanks Tokyo Riders for your help.

I try very, very hard to avoid the Wiki until I after I finish watching a series. The number of random spoilers on that site are astronomical. It is super fun to have someone add a mention of something that'll happen dozens of episodes later, like they're showing off.

I just wish it felt like the Makamou were doing something other than menacing name characters? Before, they had an objective (devour/destroy) that the Oni needed to prevent in order to save lives. Here, it feels like the only lives in jeopardy are the Oni? I don't love it.

I’ve actually got an explanation for the lack of others. I think.

A magazine scan around this time teased a big final battle with the main three being joined by Danki, Sabaki, Eiki and Shouki, joined by newcomers Gouki (Manly Demon), Tohki (War Demon) and Banki (Barbaric Demon) for an epic battle of the ages. The fact I’m casually sharing this is because it ultimately doesn’t happen.

A similar thing happened recently, with Zero-One’s magazine scans showing the final form, Zero-Two, fighting the new evil Rider, Ark-One. For bonus points, not only did it not happen, but it’s actually impossible within the show. And that’s all I’ll say.

* And for you Sentai fans, Gouki is not a Blue hero with a crush on an elementary school teacher from Gingaman (though with this show’s initial producer and composer, it’s an easy mistake to make) and Banki is not a monster of the week from Go-Onger (I’ve probably ruined this joke by virtue of trying to explain it for Die’s benefit).

Oh yeah this I got more to say about the other extra Oni but I'm going to save this after the final episode.

KAMEN RIDER HIBIKI VOLUME 44 - "HIDDEN PROHIBITION"

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../hibiki44a.png

"Cut my feet on a rope course
Dragged through the woods by a frightened horse
Lost all my feeling when I fell through the ice
Regained it in time to be attacked by mice"

-Superchunk, "Slow Drip"

This is... maybe the least checked-in I've been for a Kamen Rider endgame? I genuinely can't recall a time I've cared less about the overall plot of a season. I mean, to put it in context, there was a scene where an excited Hitomi (remember her?) is trying to get Asumu to pitch in on her panel theater group, and I honest to god thought Yes Please Just Follow That Thread For The Next Four Episodes.

All of the monster stuff just feels like arbitrary bullshit, quantity over quality. There's no sense of design or progression, just No Monsters BUT THEN A MILLION MONSTERS. (No appearances from either set of Douji and Hime, which makes everything here feel even more random.) If anything's orchestrating things, I can't tell. If the Oni have any strategy for stopping things beyond stamping out the occasional fire, I can't tell. It's just a cacophony of monsters, and then the Oni rally to destroy them, repeat. It's not even a story, it's just a spectacle, and I came here for a story.

Luckily, there are a whole bunch of characters I like, so I mostly enjoyed this episode as long as I ignored the feeling that it didn't really have an overall idea to communicate.

I mean, that's not technically true. There's a little sliver of a theme to it, where Hibiki and Zanki are both struggling with their kids. It's just, the situations are so different (Kiriya is an asshole, Todoroki was nearly killed in heroic battle) and the stakes are so uneven that, beyond Parenting Is Tough, I'm not clear on what's supposed to be tying this whole thing together.

As with last episode, even if it's hard to call this episode a success (it's like a C- grade on my internal scale, which would make this an F- for anyone else), there's some quality character beats to it.

We'll start with Hibiki, who I feel like I never talk about anymore? In fairness, boy, not a great storyline he's in. Kiriya is more abrasive than ever before, in a way where I can't figure out what the show thinks the viewers are getting out of his plot. Hibiki is trying to figure this kid out, provide him with support, but why? Nothing Kiriya's done so far paints him in anything less than a pathetic light, and now he's added Mopey to his list of negative character traits. There's some value to Hibiki trying to still be a mentor to this kid, and the character always plays on the right side of Supportive Without Being A Doormat. He's willing to defend Kiriya without question, because he's responsible for him as his mentor. It's the Oni version of unconditional love, and it's all over this episode.

Obviously, it's a heavy part of the Todoroki and Zanki stuff, which is still working great for me. I'm a sucker for stories about jocks who feel like suffering a catastrophic injury is worse because of how they've let everyone they love down. That story... oof. My emotions! So having Todoroki unable to bear looking weak around Hinaka, having him regress back to the safe space of leaning on Zanki... I really like all that. I like how both Todoroki and Zanki have taken opposite but equally detrimental lessons from their Oni training. Todoroki continues to view his need to get well as not some personal outcome, but as a debt he owes to the Oni. Meanwhile, Zanki is willing to sacrifice himself to buy Todoroki the time it takes to get better, something Todoroki 100% would not be cool with. It's a real Gift Of The Magi deal, where Todoroki is pushing himself to lessen the burden on Zanki, and Zanki is burdening himself because he sees how hard Todoroki is pushing himself. It is... it is very Inoue plotting! I am not complaining about that!

I am complaining about Asumu's story which... it's like the endgame monster plot, where I just don't care about it? The main problem is that there's been zero struggle or friction in Asumu's training. He's accomplished every task that Hibiki's put in front of him, and it's clear that he'll be an adequate, if unexceptional, apprentice. He's fine. He'll probably do fine. But the story is completely about Kiriya's role as apprentice, with Asumu mostly trying to keep Kiriya focused. It's barely an Asumu plot, in the sense that there's no conflict whatsoever. It's only in this episode that Kiriya, who has quit, tells Asumu that Hey Dummy We Were In Contention. There was a dramatic plot and Asumu didn't even know he was in it. That is not great writing, assuming you think Asumu is one of the lead characters of this show.

Yeah, not a super-thrilling installment. The Todoroki stuff still works, thanks to the actors, but that's about all I got out of this one. Nothing else really jumped out at me, give or take Zanki dying and then showing up in Todoroki's hospital room as a Force Ghost.

But that's a next time discussion.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../hibiki44b.png

This... this doesn't sound like great television.

Then I described it correctly!

(It's not unwatchable, though. Hibiki himself has so much charisma that it's easy to forget that he's mired in a nonsense plot, and I really like what Todoroki and Zanki are up to.)

Not gonna go into how I feel on whether or not Asumu should be an oni (it's Complicated, but basically; I'd be very fine for it going either way), but I like this idea a lot. The idea of someone who does stand out at least a little among the Oni, someone who is relied on a lot and often takes the lead and is possibly even a hero to some... and his apprentice that he leaves behind is just alright. No-one amazing or exceptional, certainly couldn't be called lazy or wrong-willed or bad at his job either; just someone who does know what he's doing but never really has moments or goes above that. The Completely Normal Oni. How exactly would that go? How would that make him feel among the Oni when even though what he's doing is fine and not causing any problems, he feels he's letting down the legacy that came before him? How would perhaps other Oni feel, apprentices who had heard the name Hibiki and been excited to meet this legendary warrior but is completely let down?

Lot of interesting juicy stuff in there that feels very Hibiki to me. And would probably be a lot more interesting than Makamou, But A Lot Of Them.

Every single Oni who meets Asumu, B+ Apprentice:

https://media.tenor.com/images/7ea86...9496/tenor.gif

But, honestly, it would be a good story... if the show seemed to have any interest in telling a story about Asumu becoming Hibiki's apprentice.

The Zanki, Todoroki stuff sounds interesting tbh, but man, man this hibiki stuff seems rough as hell.

An exploration of legacies and like the people we try to live up to, would be really interesting, and I don't really think even know we've really explored that in Kamen Rider (Except maybe in kiva?)

That's the thing: it's zero percent rough. It's dull, but it's not rough. That might be worse!

I think it's something that would be interesting to explore for a few episodes, but I don't think you could make a show (or even an arc) out of it. By its nature, it's about a Basic Ass Oni, and that's not going to feel super-fun to watch. Stories about competent characters who are neither great nor awful... I feel like that doesn't have enough juice to work as a superhero story?

I think it could work very well but I really don't imagine it'd work for the 50-episode format. 13 would be good enough, and honestly it could hold up a V-cin or a miniseries like Brain or Rider Time.

I think it'd be great if this show had done the Asumu apprenticeship a little earlier, and had some sort of Apprentice Track Meet or something, and everyone's scared shitless of going up against Hibiki's kid... and then they're like Why Does He Keep Coming In Third Place.

yeah, boy, anything sounds better than the kiriya stuff right now

Does it? Because you've seemed pretty positive on the Kiriya stuff! It's the first time I've seen anyone talk about him positively!

It... I think Kiriya's an interesting supporting cast character, but the way that he's currently dominating the Asumu Becomes Hibiki's Apprentice plot, the plot that's arguably what the show has been building toward for somewhere between fifteen and every episode, the likely final Asumu plot of the show... that's a bummer. That does not feel like the best use of Kiriya as a character, especially if he's not even going to be funny to watch. He's a complete asshole in this episode, with zero entertaining upside.

I definitely am starting to feel like this plot is my punishment for finding so much to like in Kiriya's early appearance.

Honestly, being third place in literally everything makes Asuma a formidable force in his own right, master of none/jack of all stats yo.

Also this kind made me think of legacy bands where the members rotate and are replaced and like particularly the current singer of queen having to live up to Freddie Mercury.

Sure! That's a big part of Todoroki's storyline for this show, with him having to replace Zanki. Most of the weight of that plot is how Todoroki struggles to meet expectations, grapples with feelings of inadequacy, tries to honor his mentor while finding his own identity... yeah, that's a big part of this series!

In all honesty, the mass army of monsters has been done in so many Rider finales (not so much in Sentai finales, they tend to be more heavy on plot and varied) now that it’s lost much of its interest. You can tell a show’s reached its endgame when the bad guy brings out a large group of monsters.

And since 45 is its own thing, I’ll add in my back up choice.

Haruka tooku no chiheisen kara
Hikari afurete kuru you ni
Kimi no mirai wa hajimatta bakari
- Akira Fuse, Hajimari no Kimi E

And now, for an unrelated music video https://youtube.com/watch?v=9v-AHrAC4Z4

It's either this or the final arc of Agito. Other than the anomalous Otoroshi and increasing Makamou numbers, it feels like just another Oni plot rather than what's supposed to be the climax. Kimono Douji's and Hime's plot has to stop while this phenomenon happens and their plot probably would have been more interesting. You have every right to be disappointed.

I thought that scene was pretty humorous where Shounen is all like "Riding bicycle to school is for chumps, Mochida-san!" to show that he's actually a very different person from how he was at the start.

Regarding Mochida's panel theater (she's actually doing something!), the faerie tale you saw was The Little Match Girl and that's not as random as you may think, as its bittersweet ending actually foreshadows a major event in the next episode. Considering the title of the next episode, I'm only going to allow you one guess to figure out what I'm talking about.

BTW, I intend to rewatch the last 4 episodes on Friday so I'll be late reacting to your reviews of 45 and 46 but I do have some stuff to say eventually.

Sure, but here it feels completely untethered from the usual escalation you should be seeing at this point in the show. There's no (clear) villain orchestrating things, no circumstance that can be altered or prevented. There's just So Many Makamou. If there were a bad guy bringing out all of these monsters, it'd probably be a lot more interesting to watch!

The thing is, it's also way less interesting than a normal Oni plot? There's no rhyme or reason to what's happening. There's no investigation or discovery. You just get these random-ass scenes of Ibuki reading a disc animal and going We Got A Hit three seconds before he gets jumped by a dozen Makamou. I don't... I don't understand what the Oni's plan is, and that's usually not been something I need to complain about.

He's more confident and outgoing! As well as taller and with a deeper voice!

i am very keen to see how this fairytale relates to kiriya's problems

Sounds good! I hope I remember enough of the story to participate!

The little match girl is basically about a girl who lives in poverty with only a few matches, who gets images of a happier life, only for it to be revealed at the end that she’s dead. Its a Hans Christian Andersen story.

Feel like I'm gonna get some pushback on this one. Probably going to be some unpopular opinions from Kamen Rider Die tonight!

KAMEN RIDER HIBIKI VOLUME 45 - “ZANKI’S GLORIOUS DEATH”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../hibiki45a.png

“I hate music - what is it worth?
Can't bring anyone back to this earth
Or fill in the space between all of the notes
But I got nothing else so I guess here we go”

-Superchunk, “Me & You & Jackie Mittoo”

So, about that screencap.

Could’ve gone with a Zanki one, or a Todoroki one. Could’ve gone with one of them both together, like them rocking out at the end. (Fun shot, for sure.) There’s a good bookend one, of Todoroki bowing to Zanki, and then him bowing to no-one because Zanki’s gone. I mean, the title of this episode is “Zanki’s Glorious Death” - what kind of idiot doesn’t lead with a Zanki-oriented image?

This idiot, and I’ll tell you why: the Asumu/Kiriya plot is everything this show does well, everything it’s trying to do well, and the Todoroki/Zanki one fundamentally doesn’t work.

Like, that Asumu moment is, without a doubt in my mind, the biggest moment he’s had in the show, and what could (and maybe should) have been the final moment for him in this show. He’s hanging out with Hitomi and Akira, as Hitomi’s practicing for her panel theater group. Asumu’s paying half-attention, wrapped up in guilt and suspicion over Kiriya’s possible role in the death (?) of a local teen. Eventually, he’s roused from his pondering by Hitomi, and then asked by the teacher of the group if he’d consider joining. Before he can answer, the teacher’s daughter asks him to join the group. He starts to beg off, likely citing his Oni training, school work, etc. He’s a busy kid, and this isn’t his passion. And then the kid asks again, promising it’ll be okay.

And Asumu agrees to join.

It is the most Kamen Rider thing in the world, and you can see it all on Asumu’s face. He doesn’t want to join this group. It’s not his passion, and he’s got no time. But this kid. She wants him to help. She’s asking for her mom’s sake. It would mean so much to her. So he says yes. At that instant, he’d do anything to help this kid. She needs help, and he’d move heaven and earth to help her.

What makes it so perfect for me is that it’s so small, so pointless. It isn’t saving some kid from the path of an out-of-control truck. It isn’t defeating a monster. It’s sacrificing some of his time to make a kid smile. It’s nothing, and it’s everything.

Better yet, it happens in a vacuum. I don’t think Asumu could even tell you why he said yes, but if you’ve watched 44 other episodes of Hibiki you know exactly why. It’s because he’s been raised well, and he’s become a good man. He’s seen so much kindness, helpfulness, sacrifice, empathy… he’s seen so much decency that he can’t be anything less than decent. It’s the culmination of everything he’s experienced over the course of this series, that one decision to help a little girl.

I loved it. And I loved how the rest of the episode for Asumu kept filling out that idea that the Oni are better off as role models than as participants. The actual plot makes about zero goddamn sense (Dogwheel is hunting teens like they owe him money, which the episode never seems keen to acknowledge), but the way it delves into the Asumu/Kiriya friendship, the way it’s just these two kids trying to navigate their hopes and fears… yes. I love that. I love Hibiki being a mentor that is shaping these kids in broader ways, creating an ideal to aspire to rather than a man to respond to. The two of them having this weird adventure where Kiriya gets to come to terms with his burgeoning conscience, where he gets to hone his competitive spirit into something useful? Dug it. Dug the hell out of it.

I did not dig the Zanki/Todoroki story, basically because it does the exact opposite.

The Asumu/Kiriya plot is all about them absorbing these lessons without Hibiki directly telling them to do something. The Todoroki plot is literally Hibiki and Ibuki saying Here Is What Lesson You Need To Learn To Let Your Dad Rest In Peace. It takes what should be a graceful, touching finale for Zanki, and makes it plodding, obvious. It removes any sense of growth or journey from Todoroki’s story, and that is criminal. The whole point of putting Todoroki through all of this was for this emotional climax, and it’s less Oh My God than God Finally.

It just… it fundamentally didn’t work for me, the Todoroki stuff in this. Setting aside some of the logistics (What in the hell happened to the dead Zanki body that Ibuki found on the shore?) (Also, isn’t Todoroki Hitomi’s cousin? Why hasn’t she been to see him in the hospital?) (Did the Oni keep Todoroki’s guitar in his hospital room? When he was crippled?) (Just… why are the Makamou seemingly targeting the Oni? This seems like a big deal and the show hasn’t mentioned it once!) (Jesus, the plotting in this one…), I just couldn’t connect with a lot of the emotional storytelling. There are no real surprises to it, no turns in the story. It does exactly what it says on the tin, you know? Zanki has a glorious death. Every step along the path is pretty much exactly what you’d think.

And then you’ve got the Asumu plot, which, boom, huge moment, no set-up, out of nowhere. Took my breath away. Unbelievably, in an area of the show that I’d almost given up on, it’s one of my favorite moments in the entire series. Top 3, easy.

Yeah, boy, this ain’t the one where Zanki dies. It’s the one where Asumu became a Kamen Rider.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../hibiki45b.png

For reference:

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...riderasumu.gif

Such a good kid.

Seihou Kamen Rider Marshmallow when

Honestly, I’ve been reading up on the lore and I think I’ve found why Ibuki’s so pissy. He normally goes on holidays with Akira and another Oni around these times, but with the whole end of the world thing (and Akira growing apart from him), I doubt he’d still be the same carefree and cheery character he was introduced as. (Though I do wonder what the other Oni is thinking about all this, since as far as I know, he has no knowledge of the whole end of the world thing).

Another thing: Zanki is able to come back as a ghost because… Shuki passed on her forbidden knowledge to him. But that reminds me of a question I never brought up before: where did she learn those skills to begin with? Did she train in Kansai before transferring to Kanto?

Anyway, next time’s lyrics: Ibuki’s image song,

Umarete wa kiete yuku kaze wo ayatsutte
Doko made mo tsuzuku rekishi wo tsumugo
Boku-tachi wa hitori ja nai

Yume ni mita risou mada tooku mietatte
Kimi no supiido de chikazukebaii
Kimi wa mou hitori ja nai
- Tomokazu Seki, Fuuga Yuuden

https://youtube.com/watch?v=SkZy-CeQpMA

With Shuki only showing up (or even discussed) in two episodes, I think it's understandable if the specifics of her backstory are left to the viewer's imagination. She's been around for a long time, and she's clearly okay with pursuing power, so her learning some special magical skills maybe doesn't need a ton of elaboration.

I mean, if someone wanted to eventually tell that story? Awesome. I'd love to get a deeper read on Shuki. But I'm not sure it's something for the TV show to try and nail down at this point.

KAMEN RIDER HIBIKI VOLUME 46 - "MASTERING THE ONI WAY"
KAMEN RIDER HIBIKI VOLUME 47 - "WORDS TO LIVE BY"

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../hibiki46a.png
https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../hibiki46b.png
https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../hibiki46c.png
https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../hibiki46d.png

"It rides beside me
It has no choice
It's my life
It is my voice
It is stupid
It is my noise"

-Superchunk, "My Noise"

There's a lot of setup for the finale in these two episodes, on both plot and thematic levels.

The plot stuff is... I mean, it is what it is at this point. The threat of Orochi is either overwhelming or theoretical, depending on the scene. You'll get a cliffhanger of the Makamou swarming over a city, limitless, endangering all life; and then in the next episode you'll have characters enjoying the calm before the storm, not a monster around. The stakes are so subjective as to be not worth thinking about. And that's not even counting how nebulous the entire Orochi thing is to begin with, where it just sort of happens, a million old monsters pop up each episode, and then the Oni get pointed to the one place that a drummer can defeat it. It's... there is not a lot of meat on that bone.

The only real source of tension, beyond the usual Or Else All Life On Earth Is Destroyed, is that Ibuki gets picked to avert the apocalypse, which... look. I will give the show Ibuki being chosen to eliminate Shuki a few episodes ago. He's the golden boy, and that was something that they needed to give to someone who won't necessarily ask a ton of questions. Ibuki does what he's told, and that's what they needed at the time. But the idea of HQ picking him to drum so well that the apocalypse is prevented? When Hibiki's right there? It's a dumb twist, and it mostly exists as a way to give Ibuki something to do for an episode. Worse, you know that Hibiki's going to take over for the finale, so every moment we have to watch Ibuki fret over this feels like a waste of time. There was no reason to make Ibuki the guy for this, so we're just waiting for Hibiki to get sick of pretending that this won't fall on his shoulders.

Thematically, things work a little better.

Like, the Ibuki thing is incredibly stupid on a plot level (moreso since Ibuki is so terrified of dying that he's forgotten how to drum effectively), but it works okay on a thematic level. It's part of what these two episodes are trying to explore, the reasons we pursue goals and the things that make life worth living.

Ibuki views the role of the Oni as someone who'll fight and die to protect people, so he's trying to be okay with potentially/definitely dying if he has to end Orochi on his own. But that's not the point of being an Oni. It's not about viewing your life as less important than others, it's about valuing living so much that you won't let monsters stand in the way of that. Ibuki's not weak because he doesn't want to leave Kasumi. That's his strength. He's stronger for wanting to keep living. Hibiki basically calls this out when he reminds Ibuki that if you die in a fight, you lost. These dudes are training to win! It is okay to want to not die in a fight, Ibuki!

The other big part of the Let's Talk About The Themes Of The Series end of things falls, naturally, to the boys. Asumu continues his activities in the panel theater group, while Kiriya dedicates himself fully to the Oni lifestyle. Can you guess which of these I was more into?

Asumu's in a very questioning mood, and, like AsuMum, I'm super into it. While Asumu is physically and temperamentally suited to be an Oni, it's not really his calling. He wanted to try it, to see if it was what was missing in his life, but it might not be. Making people happy, bringing a little light into the world, that's giving him a better feeling than defending the world from monsters. But is that enough? Is he letting Hibiki down? Is art pointless in a world of violence?

To the show's credit, it doesn't really land on answers to those questions. There's a sense that Asumu knows what he wants (art) and what he doesn't (being threatened by monsters), but the burn on this one is pretty slow. Kiriya's around to act as the surrogate for the parts of the audience who don't care about the non-Oni elements of this show, denigrating Asumu's ambivalence and feeling personally aggrieved by him stepping aside as a potential Oni. It's pure, unfiltered Kiriya for him to take Asumu's personal growth as an insult, a conscious decision to rob Kiriya of a victory. It's cute, how even when he's becoming someone who could maybe possibly sort of be an Oni, Kiriya is still willing to be a gigantic baby. The more things change, you know?

I actually did enjoy the Kiriya parts of these episodes. I like how he's willing to be humbled in pursuit of his goals. It's something that you'd've never expected of Kiriya a dozen episodes ago, so I really appreciate how naturally the show built to his Not Being The Worst But Still Being Not Great attitude change. There's a clear sense of Kiriya being able to acknowledge and overcome his weaknesses, even if his competitiveness will always be his Achilles heel. I like that he's better, without becoming good, if that makes any sense.

But, anyway, I really like what's going on with Asumu here. I joked about wanting the show to follow Asumu into panel theater more than I wanted the show to be about him training to be an Oni. Except it wasn't a joke, I meant it, and it's the best part of this show right now. It's all about how it's important to care for people (series theme), how you shouldn't be afraid to try new things (series theme), how you should be willing to follow your passions (series theme), how it's not for others to tell you how to live your life (series theme), how art has value in a world of violence (series theme), and how we need to create art that children can learn and grow from (series theme).

It's... this Asumu Joins Panel Theater Club is the endgame of the show. And I think it's working pretty well.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../hibiki47b.png

Believe it or not, this is not the first Toku show debuting in 2005 to reference the story of the honest Axe (which is about a woodcutter who drops his axe in a spring, and the goddess tries to tempt him with gold and silver axes, but when he gets his old axe back, she gives him the other two). It was previously spoofed in Magiranger’s Super Video (Sentai’s answer to the HBVs), with red hero Kai dropping his changer into a spring and the goddess (who looks surprisingly like his mother) offers him either a silver version of it or a gold version of the sixth hero’s changer as a replacement. Despite 75% of his siblings saying “no”, Kai goes with the gold one and ends up learning a lesson about lying.

Now for episode 47’s music choice, Armed Hibiki’s theme song (even though I’m not sure it actually appeared in the episode)

Sore wa yami no sekai
Dare mo shiranai fushigi na hanashi
Tatakai wa mou hajimatte iru
Tsuki ga michiru you ni
Atsumatte kuru jaaku na chikara
Subete wo ima kowasu mae ni
?€” Masatoshi Ono, Hibiki Kenzan

https://youtube.com/watch?v=K5vGz2fvIUY

And the song choice for episode 48, the last episode (which is a slightly obvious choice). It’s not the last contribution to this feature though.

Marude tōmei ni natta mitai
Zenbu jibun wo surinukete yuku
Sonna fuu ni Kanjiteta no kai?

Shonen yo! Tabitatsu no nara
Hareta hi ni mune wo hatte

Hit to beat! Keep your beat!
Kokoro ga furueru bashō sagashite
Hit to beat! Keep your beat!
Dare ni mo dekinai koto mitsuke dase
Sore ga kimi no hibiki
- Akira Fuse, Shonen Yo.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=vBw4AatH9OU

I always felt that the Ibuki thing in these episodes was a really cheap attempt to throw some more interpersonal conflict into the final arc. It doesn't really fit with what we know about Takeshi as an organization or Ibuki as a character. I never bought into that storyline.

Now the Asumu stuff, that did work for me. I was always on Team Don't Make Asumu an Oni and I liked seeing him start going in a different direction. Having him find other ways to help people that doesn't involve hitting CGI crabs with drumsticks is great by me. I can really see him ending up as a member of Takeshi, but one who assists the Oni from the backline, like Ichiro or Midori.

Anyway, I apparently missed highlighting the one Kiriya moment that I liked. I've been meaning to point it out, but you didn't call attention to it and I have no idea what episode it was. It was back when he and Asumu first started their training and Kiriya was failing pathetically at everything, so he showed up with all of his academic trophies to try and impress Hibiki. I loved how hilariously pathetic that whole scene was: "I'm totally worthy of being your apprentice! Look at my French trophy and badge for mathematic excellence!" Fantastic schadenfreude in that scene.

Bizarre! Thanks!

Yeah, the Ibuki parts... it's crazy that no one in the cast is like Ibuki Can't Do This It's Not His Training. I know we've seen the Oni cross-train on different fighting styles, but this is the end of the world. Benching Hibiki because Ibuki's from a famous family... how is everyone okay with this?!

Similarly, it's a little weird that no one (yet) has brought up putting Asumu or Akira into support roles. Although, even then, folks like Midori and Ichiro find themselves thrust into combat on occasion, so I'm guessing the kids would still opt out. Which is I guess the main thing for Takeshi, how all-or-nothing it is. There aren't "safe" jobs in Takeshi, and you never know when you might be called up.

Still, I don't think that's the main problem Akira and Asumu have? It's not that they're scared, or that they don't believe in Takeshi's mission; it's that it's not their passion, not how they best want to give back to the world. They want to live a life doing something they care about, and they're still figuring out what that is.

That was in Episode 43! I didn't call it out because, while it is funny, it's also maybe the absolute worst episode to have these kinds of Kiriya shenanigans. I'm on record as being a very big fan of Kiriya's whole thing (he shows up a kids' play to yell at Asumu, amazing), but I am significantly less of a fan when the A-plot is Todoroki Wants To Die.

But, yeah, hilarious. I imagine he'd've even brought a letter from his mom, if he could get her to take his call.

Just remembered I had this link saved for the purposes of some mild attempt at black comedy concerning episode 45 and never used it. Might as well put it here.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZH07l7TOxQE

Ok. Mada mada. I've been in conflict within myself onto touching the 2nd half of Hibiki or not, it has taken a long time like this, and of course the people's feedback (and likely mine based on previous stance) of it for good reason, but probably regardless of that, more knowledge within KR stuff is important for discussions, but gotta skim through those in a less wasting time way.

"Stupidly broad", for the part of what you describe for that is more about how he's talented at everything, that's more like some full-stop wish-fulfillment characters that authors like to create as something to self-insert into, which got the label of "Mary Sue" (for girls), or "Gary Stu" (for boys), albeit the term has been misused severely by the fandom to bash on any character they don't like (to me those people lack of actually using their brains; all bark and no bite). For this to seem like a "new thing" with challenging himself, dunno, Asumu has come up to the terms of a horrible shoplifter previously, he's just a minor character, so he won't have as much screentime as Kiriya, but he shouldn't have any less impact to Asumu just because he doesn't have much screentime. And for well-trained person part, it's obvious, the Takeshi which inspires Asumu.

And as Kiriya is a reviled character for a plausible reason, like contaminating the purity of the series that has been established previously (and doesn't mean there are no bad behaving people like that shoplifter or to a lesser extent, Danki) as Switchblade said, and as he talks about how horrible behavior makes him interesting while Asumu's is boring in comparison, I'm afraid this will be not only something you blindly agree upon, but also be exalted and glorified, which happened on many occassions in real life or internet (where this is the place where behaviors can go unrestrained in real life or fiction - but the thing is how people respond), like for instance, mocking anyone who hate/can't stand Kiriya or similar type of characters as someone who's boring, stagnant, fragile, loser, etc., and deserves mistreatment (they can shittalk those people to no end, cuz apparently if you're "boring" you deserve torture), and I see those people who belittle those that can't stand these type as potential bullies (or plain supporters) themselves, some occassions had those people who can't stand shitbags as too sensitive to justify the bullies' behaviors. Another case is also forcing people to enjoy the toxic conflict of Kiriya and Asumu, for similar reasons as above (as you once claimed "conflicts as definitely the most memorable", and it sounds like claiming that as fact when it's clearly subjective, and other than I'm trying to explain about types of conflict, that also should be exemplified in for example, Switchblade stated them about Kiriya vs previous Hibiki).

And Sh Ranger also stated about how they wouldn't want other shows to be just like Faiz, and a lot of shows had qualities of their own and that's what makes them unique (this part of Hibiki has infested various medias recently, outside Kamen Rider, this means turning Hibiki into more mainstream), and making Hibiki more like Faiz in later part as detriment to most people and even to him. And they've read my mind which was about, for example a way to make Hibiki series hellish, Hitomi going full yandere and kill Akira after noticing her with Asumu. And for what you said about Asumu to Hitomi, the solution being making Asumu a total creep in approaching her like someone such as Kaido (that was what some people said, as Mari was only 16, and for his fans, the sole thing they dislike from him).

And another thing is, other than Inoue's characters being petty, rude, mean, etc. the good natured folks existed to be his punching bag and made as inferior to those shitbags. And by that, it can come off as offensive too and I wish that not to be glorified, it seems like the author being a bully in their writings to project those harassment or in their writings instead. These are claimed to give development and challenge, but "as dark and intense as possible", doesn't necessarily equal to really good character arc or development, as some people called out. This is when dark ventures into edgy territory, and those that indulges on it are called edgelords (they're bad person, just not threatening due to them being all bark no bite though).

Appraisal would be different probably because, making them be petty, rude, mean, etc. just for the sake of hellish world would make them insanely OOC, and that ventures into edgy territory.

The thing for deceased father is that, usually (not all), father is the one who works to gain incomes for family, and mother is the one who spends time at home to develop the child, by that it seems that both genders complete each other in raising a kid. Having only a mom would potentially lead to difficult income, having only a dad would potentially lead to lack of time with parents, not meaning that raising by alone is impossible, but still that'd be the impact of losing either one. And for Asumu's plot of learning about his father is, and finding the strength... I don't think that's what people complain about the 2nd half of Hibiki, that pretty much stays like the 1st half of Hibiki of the Asumu's conflict within himself, and not about, sometimes forced fights with others (this is kind of a bad and uncreative type of writing, resorting to make the characters do stupid, impulsive decisions just so a "plot" can happen).

With Kiriya's success at school and his skills, but with his father issues that haunted him no matter what, bad moments will plausibly lead to that I know, but I knew a character who also had huge success, and when little, gone through trauma like this. He's not a bad guy, but kind of someone who was given a free pass by some fans with one of the reasons being of those trauma (being cool also doesn't help), regardless of how his state is now. But the counter statement was that a troubled past alone does not a woobie make, especially when you're far cry from that time, like enjoying a massive success on school.

Eh? So heavy humor not having real dramatic impact wouldn't make it stick in your brain... And as you said yeah, we never met Kogure before, I wonder if Kogure is a late new addition that is somehow very integral to the cast, where he was never brought up before, which is a potential retcon, or already planned before. Kogure is a parody of stern disciplinarian, but he comes off as really standoffish, he just seems to be very self-centered, hypocritical, and self-righteous; he regularly calls out others for what he thinks is misbehaving towards him, but he likely always thinks of himself in the right and has full rights to punish anyone in any ways he like, that's far from being a role model (where the story or Takeshi seems to view him as). Personally I find it hard to believe that Takeshi learned from him and setting himself as an example, given how well adjusted they're at first half of Hibiki, and how self-righteous Kogure is. And your problem being leaving Asumu with nothing to do there? Yeah, that's one of people's complaint about the 2nd half of Hibiki.

It's sad to hear that you didn't feel strongly for Zanki's heroic last stand. If I had to praise Hibiki's second half for one thing, it would be bringing Zanki out of retirement and back in to the action. Other than the controversial Yobuko arc, I appreciated the direction of Zanki's and Todoroki's plot. Even after graduating and getting his Oni name, Todoroki always seemed like he was reluctant to go it alone, still trying to figure out his own style and depended on his comrades to carry him. Ending up in the same position as Zanki, badly wounded and told he couldn't henshin anymore, made him realize this.

Zanki was a hero who refused to let his imminent death stop him from helping his apprentice become his own person to the point that he was willing to gamble his soul, which gave Todoroki the strength and courage to be independent and give Zanki the opportunity to die on his own terms and save his soul. This was the end of Zanki and the true start of Todoroki.

Following Zanki's decision to die for his way of life, Hibiki's philosophy about accepting death in life elaborates on a concept that was brought up before in Faiz and much later in Ghost. It's about the inevitability of death and the reason why it's important to live earnestly and sincerely without trying to run from destiny. That means different things for his two apprentices.

Shounen doesn't know what he wants. Oni work behind the scenes of everyday life. It's a dangerous job that protects people from an unseen threat so they can keep enjoying life, unaware of the secret heroes who take risks for their sake. But there are more direct, simple ways to bring happiness, like Shounen granting a little girl's wish to see him perform his panel theater. His heart isn't in being an Oni and that's okay, cause he has his own way of life and Hibiki supports him becoming his best self, not succeeding his name. Kiriya doesn't understand that and feels insulted but it's also a sign that he respects Shounen in his own way, by judging his success based on whether or not he can surpass him.

Kiriya's father also had a dangerous job as a fireman and it cost him his life. Now that's the life Kiriya wants for himself as an Oni and he wants to be a hero who saves people. Even though he has a bad way of showing it, he cares about people and only acts cold to push them to be better. So it makes sense that he would be willing to take responsibility for his own mistakes if Hibiki points out he screwed up by dropping out of school. However, his speech about finding something he could dedicate himself to was genuine and unfortunately, his classmates probably think he's incredulous now. He's definitely had a lot of character development which I think not everybody appreciates how much he's willing to become a better person and while he's not naturally athletic like Shounen, he's training diligently and I think he's in a good place to succeed Hibiki.

Not sure how much I remember about shows I watched two weeks ago, but, sure! Let's try!

...

oh god i honestly don't remember any of this

the episodes or what i wrote about them

i'm so sorry

I appreciate your responses, though!

I guess, for me, this whole Todoroki Is Injured arc felt like a worse version of the introductory Zanki/Todoroki arc? It's dealing with a lot of the same things (Zanki's injuries, Todoroki's dependency), except... all of that stuff got largely resolved in their first story? I felt like? What's here just feels like a lesser version, something that lacks the intriguing turns of the original. I don't know. Felt played out to me.

Yeah, the Asumu and Kiriya part of the show is really working great. Well said!