KAMEN RIDER HIBIKI VOLUME 12 - "SECRETS REVEALED"

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"If we put things right
Then we'll sleep tonight
If we can't put things right
Then there will be no sleep tonight"

-Rainer Maria, "There Will Be No Night"

It's hard to find fault with this one... but if Hibiki has taught me anything, it's that nothing worthwhile comes without effort. And I'm pretty well-trained at nitpicking otherwise entertaining episodes of TV shows designed to sell toys to children!

In general, I think this episode worked pretty well. Most of my criticisms are going to be of the A-Minus When You Could've Gotten An A-Plus variety. A couple things where, with some different choices, it could've been a perfect episode.

The big thing is the Makamou in this episode, which... look, I get budgets. I get the technology of the time. I get that not every monster in a series can be the best. But holy shit did the giant slug in this story look unforgivably janky. The camerawork that gets used to make it seem massive is laughably cheesy, while the puppet head has a level of sophistication approaching, but not touching, Mystery Science Theatre 3000. It's bad. I'm sure someone out there will defend it as So Bad It's Good, or call it "charming" for its deficiencies, but, no. No. This monster looks like garbage, and it's shot in a way that makes it hot garbage. Ridiculously lame finale to this story's monster plot, all the more glaring for how great everything ahead of it was.

The smaller thing is that, and I know this may sound dumb after a few episodes of complaining that the Hibiki and Asumu stuff wasn't connecting, but... it's maybe too on the nose in this one?

I mean, I love that they've concluded the Asumu Chokes plot in such a decisive way. After episodes where it wasn't clear what was going on with Asumu, we get confirmation that his multiple choke jobs lead to him having such self-loathing that he couldn't face Hibiki. Midori tells Asumu that Hibiki famously choked back when he was Asumu's age, and that's what put him on the path to being an Oni. It's information that allows Asumu to move beyond his shame, and vow to be more assertive/useful/ambulatory/articulated in the future. The end.

It's just, I don't know that what I want out of a Hibiki/Asumu plot is Nearly The Exact Same Thing Happened To Hibiki When He Was A Kid. I find that sort of parallel cheap, and dull. It lacks the cleverness of the better comparisons, something this episode actually has for a different part of Asumu's story! Hibiki trains to defeat the Armored Douji and Hime, who have their gifted power-up run out after Hibiki's dodging and stalling. Hibiki states the theme clearly (it's nice that the Douji and Hime can learn a moral before they're detonated?), saying that power without effort won't last. It's another way of saying that Asumu shouldn't just expect to magically be assertive and powerful, he'll need to work at it. It's a much more nuanced and specific way of addressing Asumu's dilemma, and I wish the show had kept it there.

(And, yeah, Asumu's not around to hear Hibiki's narratively-convenient lesson, but still. Having Midori just tell Asumu that the heroic Hibiki was once like him, I don't know. It feels a little lazy to me.)

I think my favorite things about this episode were the little details, and that's worth more to me than some plots that had rough edges. I liked the hidden Oni Accessory room, even if the ways it's accessed aren't something that'll stand up to much scrutiny. (I love how the kid-friendly secret rooms are waved off as Like A Ninja House. Okay, sure! Whatever!) I adore the idea of the previous iterations of the disc animals being origami animals. That... I like that so much better than disc animals. Disc animals are a downgrade! I liked the shot sequence of Hibiki Screaming/Asumu Screaming/Hitomi Smiling At A Magazine/Asumu Screaming. I liked Kasumi playing a guessing game with Hibiki. I liked Akira and Hitomi meeting and immediately passing the Bechdel Test. I just... I like this world, and the characters in it. It's always nice to spend time in.

And, complaints aside, pretty good episode of Hibiki! It felt like the end of the first part of the story, with Hibiki's skills increasing just as Asumu finally deals with his failures. All of the info Midori provided has spelled out how the world works, and we're ready for the next phase of the story. I'm excited to see it!

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"one-hit chumps" oh well, that kind of enemy is commonly refered by community (not limited to Kamen Rider) as mooks, or goons, or lackeys, or anything like that. Yeah, those kind of enemies are only made to be mowed over by heroes, and that without them the series would have much less action. Not exactly my cup of tea too but, the purpose is yeah, If every single minion your hero ever runs into has a deeper characteristics, then the pacing of the show would slow to a crawl and the major antagonists would not feel as unique in comparison. Thus, mooks serve as filler and a backdrop to the truly climactic moments while also ensuring that in-between things are kept lively.

It's even considered...bad for mooks to be given any sort of detailed backstory or personality (beyond broad strokes). Put another way, for the purposes of heroes continuing to be seen as heroes, and to avoid a major mood swing, mooks generally have no family/friends, don't belong to church groups or non-profits that might miss them, and generally die quick.

It's so coincidental, to bump into someone that is related anyway, in films I usually only see someone unwittingly bump each other to make way for love/shipping, but for once, this one's not it. Midori being former classmate just explains so much why she's a part of Takeshi too, and unwittingly dragged Asumu to the place he tried to avoid.

The salesperson unfortunately won't know the inner side of Asumu (though he's outwardly meek), that he has self-scuffle of unknown reasons/origins to others. I guess the salesperson wants to tell the truth about what's actually going on in her shop that shoplifting is more common. And, from previous talk, probably this is the actual part where Asumu got hit by too much expectations that he, likely, from the shoplifting news, is nowhere near as much of a hero as Hibiki was that he can contribute to save others while Asumu had failures? And with Hibiki acting as a "perfect" role model, failures, weaknesses, etc. just serves to fuel insecurities inside him? The solution is probably for Hibiki to also show that he can fail too, as nobody's perfect, even if a role model is outwardly so.

Hibiki apparently already know the couple, as he talks to them as if they're friends and also play with the child. Though, getting hard data, what does it have to do with actionable intelligence? It seems that here so far, they only warn them about the escalating Makamou.

And this is exactly why I love this show so much, it just has a quality to it that makes everything feel so warm and enjoyable.

Without going into any details, the next phase is a good one. There's some stuff coming up that I've really been looking forward to.

Nothing to say about this episode. I’m going to be spending the time reading through someone’s OC Kamen Rider and try to find out what makes them so much more difficult to create than OC Sentai and OC Ultras.

You mean as a character or as a design? For me, I understand characters better as I write them in different scenarios but designing a Rider seems daunting since they're so much more complex than Sentai and you have to figure out how the Driver and gimmicks work and how they factor in the story.

Honestly, I feel like you're kind of hard on the Makamou in general. I agree that they're not the most interesting characters but as things for the hero to beat up, I think they're pretty cool to look at and an effective way to show off the Oni's fighting styles. If my recollection is correct, you weren't too thrilled about the Elasmotherium Orphenoch either.

As much as the show is mostly Shounen's story, I think it was necessary to hear at least a little of Hibiki's backstory by Episode 12. I would totally watch a prequel about Hibiki's journey from middle school to becoming Hibiki.

Origami are a lot easier to produce for sure but they lack the intelligence, resilience and functionality of the Disc Animals.

Mostly in general plotting and concept. A guy on Twitter said that it took him 45 minutes to write a Sentai season, a week to write an Ultra series, but he’s been working on his Rider season for 20 years.

45 minutes to conceptualize the general plot, suits, morphers, weapons, mecha and characters for Sentai? Wow, that's fast! 20 years for Kamen Rider though.... ouch.

Oh, for sure. (Although I would love to watch an episode of a Kamen Rider where the mook volunteers at a non-profit. There was that OOO anniversary story about the Shocker mook that mined some of that territory, and it was weirdly heartfelt.) I guess what I'm looking for from the Douji and Hime is a little bit more than your traditional mook, since they're basically the only communicative enemy Hibiki or Ibuki faces. I don't need them to have regrets from their university days, but I'd like them to hang around for more than 10 seconds of a fight. There's got to be a balance!

I think it's more just the joke of this woman trying to make him feel better while making him feel so much worse. Cringe comedy is still comedy!

Yeah, but Kasumi's clearly getting the full scope of the situation (contingency plans, theories) while Hibiki is playing with their kid. I don't think it's a problem, or anything. It's more that Hibiki has his skillset, and Kasumi has hers, and their success comes from each of them doing their best. Hibiki needs her to be paying attention because he can be a little excitable.

It's a very pleasant show!

That's fair! I think this one in particular didn't work for me, though. I've been lukewarm-to-cold on a lot of the CGI fighting, but every time they'd cut to the giant slug's face, I burst out laughing. This was a different level of it not working for me.

After hearing Midori's stories, I feel like we are watching Hibiki's journey from middle school to becoming Hibiki!

All valid points. Counterpoint: origami are cooler.

Turns out I was misremembering. The Sentai was thought up in a plane ride and the Ultra was thought up in an hour.

Edit: I apologise for going off-topic today. I promise tomorrow will give me something to talk about, with a double debut (plus one I missed in episode 11)

KAMEN RIDER HIBIKI VOLUME 13 - "CHAOTIC AFFAIRS"

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"I am gonna make it through this year
If it kills me"

-The Mountain Goats, "This Year"

High-octane episode! Big fights, huge danger, and some fun new combos. An outstanding installment!

It's nice when they can get the theme of the story working over as many threads as possible, namely Holy Shit Everyone Is Working Way Too Hard. Asumu is working too hard to acknowledge his illness, Kasumi is working so hard she got sick, Hibiki is now expected to be assisting other Oni as well as taking care of his own Makamou, Akira's got no time for school?€? even the Douji is having too much pressure placed on it! Folks are getting burned the hell out.

Asumu's both the most invisible part of this episode, but also the lynchpin. He's someone who's trying to get up to speed in a brand-new setting, while still wanting to support Hibiki. Admitting that he needs a break, that he can't deliver, to him it smacks of choking. He's started to think of asking for help, or needing to slow down, as his flaw of cowardice. It's one thing to try hard in order to help your friends, it's another to put yourself at risk because you didn't know your limits.

Mostly, though, we're seeing the flaws of overcommitting in Hibiki and the Douji.

Hibiki, for one, doesn't come out that great in this episode to me. He's maybe getting a bit of a swelled head now that he's the Special Mobile Combat Unit Or Whatever? Being made the Assistant To The General Oni has made him get maybe too much of a the-mission-comes-first attitude, with him being okay with Akira never going to school again, I guess. (The way he and Ichiro just sort-of shrug their shoulders at a 15-year old barely attending school! I know they're aware of it, because they want Asumu to help her out, but, like, insufficient! Let her attend class!) There's a fine line between his normal enthusiastic optimism, and what we see here. It comes off a little too self-assured to me, bordering on cockiness. I don't know, that's probably overstating it. He's not an asshole, or anything, but he does seem to be a little more reckless with the people he's depending on.

And, yeah, speaking of overworked underlings, the Deranged Douji! Pretty great! I've been hoping for more suit-on-suit action, and boy did this episode deliver. We got to see the Douji mutilate the Hime, destroy two other Douji and Hime, attack Danki (who looks to be wearing Ibuki's undersuit and mask with Hibiki's straps), and have a thrilling brawl with Ibuki. It's, hands down, the best fight this show has had. It's great at keeping some balance to the sides, where the Douji never feels unstoppable, and Ibuki can get the occasional shot in. If it'd been two minutes of Ibuki getting demolished, it'd've been not that fun to watch. Having it go a little back and forth, while still letting the Douji get most of the offense in, really helped make for a tense battle. My favorite fight yet on this show.

I feel like I'm forgetting something. I liked this episode, but it looks like those are the only big things jumping out at me? All I've got left in my brain are the usual small touches, the bit of spice that flavors an episode of Hibiki. I was excited to see Hibiki team up with Hinaka for parts of this one. They're way more similar than Hibiki and Kasumi, so it definitely ratchets up the goofiness factor. (Although, honestly, she's pretty professional in the car with him. I could've used some weirder interplay!) Speaking of the Autobots' Chief Medical Officer, neat to see Ratchet's toy-style ambulance pulling up to the hospital. Oh! And there's the dude that AsuMum talks to at the hospital! I knew I knew that dude from somewhere, and it was killing me, so I jumped on the Wiki real fast to find out. He was one of the Mages from Kamen Rider Wizard! I would've never gotten that, and it would've driven me Douji-level crazy. (Sorry to check the Wiki! I didn't really learn much about who he played on Hibiki!)

This was a super-tense episode that I thoroughly enjoyed. The monster stuff was leaps and bounds better than before, enough so that I didn't mind how much it took over this episode. The Asumu stuff should be pretty interesting to watch develop, especially if we can get a little critique of Hibiki's single-mindedness. Like, let Akira go to school! You guys!

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