Not a ton to say about this one, just that Hitomi is such a great kid. Being Asumu's totally-not-girlfriend looks like a frequently thankless job, but she is really committed to it and she knocks it out of the park so many times.

I was gonna go on a big whole rant about Kuuga, W and Build and finish by saying this is the franchise that has a final form change your giant mecha dragon into an even cooler giant mecha dragon who turns into a flamethrower bike... but then I actually looked at what you were saying haha.

I gotta be honest, I'm weirdly into the idea of a Kamen Rider show where the main Rider spends the entire series learning to ride a motorcycle. Just a dude who's terrified of motorcycles being given the power to ride them against the forces of darkness? Yes. Very yes. I would watch the hell out of, like, Kamen Rider Rider.

I would've assumed a somewhat meek boy like Asumu would have a history with harassment, but it certainly doesn't seem like it from this story!

And, yeah, I think the show is trying to make the point that it's not that Everyone Is Evil, like Asumu starts to fear, but that everyone could be evil... but they can also be good. That's assuming I'm reading this episode correctly, and I might very well not be.

I just don't like to rewrite a show. It's one thing to critique something, it's another to completely alter it to fit your expectations/enjoyment. I don't like approaching art that way. I'll maybe point out that a show could've done something differently, but as soon as I start telling a different story, I'm not really engaging with what got made. It's fine if other folks want to do that, but it's not my taste.

And, sorry, Team Hibiki Bar and Grill! That's what's in my brain now.

She really helps make the ending as good as it is. I like that when someone like Ichiro is like Let Me Share Some Of My Wisdom, it completely bounces off of Asumu (or makes things worse!), while Hitomi just shows up and chills things out. She knows that it's not the time to pry out of Asumu what's bothering him, so she just sits with him. She's a really good friend!

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

Thank you, Kamen Rider Hibiki!

KAMEN RIDER HIBIKI VOLUME 11 - "ENGULFING WALLS"

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../hibiki11a.png

"They'll give us what we're asking for
'Cause god is with us
And our god's the richest
Our power doesn't run on nothing
It runs on blood
And blood is easy to obtain
When you have no shame"

-The Thermals, "Power Doesn't Run On Nothing"

Hey, let's talk about the brand new player in the Makamou side of things: Clockamou, the timepiece-accessorized overseer that's skulking around and powering-up the mooks.

Clockamou is an interesting addition. The monster plots had gotten a little formulaic, so having someone besides the Douji, the Hime, and a CGI monster to contend with, I'm all for. Its appearance immediately pays dividends, turning the one-hit chumps that are barely a speedbump for Hibiki into formidable threats.

It's something this show has badly needed. I usually don't care that much for the Hibiki Drums A Computer Monster Into Oblivion parts of the stories, so anything that allows the people in monster costumes to get a little bit more screentime is a positive as far as I'm concerned. Just the little bit extra they get here is one of the strongest cliffhangers this show has had yet, with Hibiki getting just handled by the upgraded Douji and Hime. It's a visceral threat that is worth a dozen semi-weightless CGI monsters. Very into these two being more formidable, and very into finding more about Clockamou's strategies. (Or "schemes", as the text over the scene calls out.)

The rest of the episode was pretty fun, although (as is typical for a first part) it's full of things I'll be more apt to talk about after the next one.

Midori, for example, seems like someone that I'm going to have more to say about later. She's fun in this episode, with her sweet tooth and clumsiness, but a lot of her story is probably yet to come. There's a neat mention of her being a former middle school classmate of Hibiki's, which, coupled with the She Is Trying To Ask You Out You Dummy antics of Hitomi towards Asumu, feels like a big part of what's to come. As a result, until I know more, I'm probably going to hold off on trying to figure her out. As is, she was fun in this episode.

Most of Asumu's stuff is him dealing with whatever he's still trying to process from the last story, and it gets a little clearer. Regardless of what exactly went through his head before, the result is a big helping of shame, which keeps him from wanting to see Hibiki. (Great moment outside Trauma Bookstore, where the salesperson basically does everything she can to activate Asumu's PTSD. She's so cordial in her triggering!)

Asumu being too ashamed to face the people he admires, I can understand that motivation. No one really knows what he's going through, but to Asumu, it's painted on his forehead. He's certain that his failure, his weakness, his whatever, is being broadcast to everyone around him. So he tries to stay away from anyone who might pity him, or be disgusted by him. It's a stronger concept than whatever was going on before, and I'm curious where they'll go with it.

Hibiki's still strongly in Hero mode, with his story being entirely about monster hunting again. There's some neat touches, like when Hibiki and Kasumi go to visit what I think was the couple from the photo that Hibiki showed Asumu a few episodes back. I like that Kasumi is getting hard data, real actionable intelligence, and Hibiki is playing with their kid and has a plan of Trying Hard, the end. Hibiki really needs a strong support team! His training does not seem to include formulating multi-phase plans!

(Quick thing, speaking of training. There's a brief scene of Ibuki training, where Akira is helping him out. It's a scene that's there to name-drop Midori before she shows up, but, shouldn't Akira be at school? She goes to Jounan, and it's their first day of school. Why isn't she at the same place as Asumu and Hitomi? Is this referenced in the next episode? I can't imagine Ibuki is making this girl skip school to help him shoot better!)

I had a good time with this one. All of the Asumu stuff was a lot stronger, with some beautiful sequences (him walking to school through the cherry blossoms, as a glockenspiel version "Shounen Yo" plays!) and a better grasp on the emotional component of Asumu's journey. The Hibiki stuff was pleasant, with a strong action finish. Not a total stunner of an episode (the Ibuki stuff seemed unnecessary, and there are a few too many mysteries for my liking), but definitely a solid entry. Nice to be back to enjoying Hibiki!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../hibiki11b.png

Don't worry about this Akira being in Jounan is going to come up. And honestly I think that when the show got really good for me the high school stuff and the oni gets a little more connected because of Akira being both in Asumu class and being Ibuki appereantice.

Okay, cool. It was just so weird, seeing her hanging out in a cave with Ibuki on the first day of school, three episodes after they explicitly told us she goes to the same school as Asumu. If they'd never mentioned that, I'd just assume she was being, like, homeschooled by Ibuki or something. Or, is being an Oni's apprentice a thing Akira's getting class credit for? Is Jounan a trade school?

So something I was thinking about the other night when I saw that Midori's debut was coming up is that Hibiki has the most regular female characters of any Kamen Rider series from the Heisei era (there may be some Showa ones with more, but that's because some shows like the original series and Skyrider would swap out the supporting actresses occasionally). We've got Kasumi, Hinaka, Hitomi, Akira, the Hime, Asumu's mom, and now Midori. Midori will be more of the Asumu's mom level of recurring - around a lot, but not every week - but that's seven regular or recurring female characters. It's neat to see so many women on the show, especially with Saber shaping up to be pretty much a complete sausagefest at the moment.

Anyway, Midori is great. Like everyone else on the show she's really nice and friendly, but she adds just a little bit of... I don't know. I kinda want to say "airheadedness," but not in a negative sense. She's just a little bit out to lunch most of the time, like she kinda operates on a slightly different wavelength then everybody else. In any case, she's fantastic and there's going to be some great stuff with her in the next episode.

We also got our first Black Puppet appearance. They represent the start of an escalating level of threat. They also look really freaking cool and I love their crazy steampunk staffs.

Not a lot to discuss about this episode, so I’ll go into random trivia mode.

Look at this unused concept art for Ultimate Kuuga https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/...20150202003642

Now look at Hibiki’s tuning fork
https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/...20190908121539

Notice anything?

And it wouldn’t be the last time either.

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/...20150122124525

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/...20200107165256

And here’s what they ultimately went with (represented by a Souchaku Henshin figure)

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/...20170620004738

The way the show treats characters like Kasumi, Hinaka, and Midori, I really like it. It's not Strong Hero Hibiki and a bunch of support characters, it's Hibiki as the weapon Takeshi wields. (It's a little similar to Blade, but there it was more metaphorical/emotional, here it's more literal.) I'm so much more into that idea than the more typical Rider Knows Best template. It's nice to have a show with multiple competent women working to defeat monsters!

I don't know if it's her look or her tech skills or her weird energy, but Midori reminds me so much of Rinna from Drive that I had to check and see if it was the same actor. It wasn't, but I'm still not convinced.

That's so cool! Thanks!