Hibiki 03. Are these oni's ripping throats out to get to peoples voices? Shit son.

Hibiki has a very original set up, at least for a Rider show. Featuring a hero who is well trained, and already experienced. From this episode we gleam he's been hunting demons for six years, but with the casual way he shrugs it off I assume it may be longer. Hibiki travels from place to place, researching the area, building intel and then dealing with the demons in those places.

I dunno, I've just never really liked how nearly toku show is about an average joe growing into a hero. I get that it's marketed at kids and giving them role models and all that is important, and for a long running series they need to have a human side but with a lot of shows I really do wish they'd just fucking get on with it.

A protagonist should drive the narrative, not be driven by it, for superheroes Rider's are usually near hilariously reactive and for no real genuine in story reason. I know I'm probably gonna be mocked for this but I just normally find that American comics find better reasons to have people become heroes.

Most Riders are literally just Average Joe's with above average left wing ethics and dead parents, some get around this by having them thrown into the middle of it all by chance or whatever but the rest of the time I'm wondering why they chose a skinny Japanese model and not someone y'know...trained and experienced. I can count on one hand the amount of Riders who had me believe they were the character in the suit on strength of character alone.

That is probably a big reason why I love shows like Goseiger and Wizard so much, with Haruto being one of the most proactive Riders in years and the reasoning for him becoming a Rider made sense within his universe and made me believe him as Wizard and with Goseiger entirely skipping the origin story near enough, letting the characters learn about themselves through action and not trial and error.

The only real disappointment is of course with rips, I promise I won't go on about this every episode write up but it is really disappointing that the episode has been building and building to an action sequence and then when we get there the picture is so pixelated and distorted we can barely see a thing that is happening. But holy shit Wolverine!

There is/was an anonymous subbing Hibiki but they're only up to episode 16. I don't remember where I downloaded them from though.

Aha, seems they're on Youtube. Search for Toku Swag.

Super-1 Episode 40: Definitely a faster paced or more exciting episode. Professor Ghost has some evil plans, capturing humans with melting soap. This Soap monster was Oren-level weird lol. Kazuya was great in this from basically saying quick monster on a motorcycle I'll switch to my other motorcycle, lol to his combat, and training scenes were all awesome. Super-1's finisher of the Soap monster was hilarious, and he knocked his block off twice. The Junior Rider Squad was definitely intriguing in this episode. Honestly Kazuya/Super-1 is an amazing Rider, I love his determination, how he protects people and stands up against Jin Dogma in so many creative ways (Especially his disguises). I think mostly all of the Showa Riders are amazing characters.

Wow, these look really good from a short preview. The raws are definitely from the dvd and even in 480 they look way better than the TVN version. The translation looks precise and easy to read and it's a full translation (Oni is translated as Ogre, attack names are in English, etc.). Looks very good. I'd love to know who's behind this and if they've done any more. I'll have to look into this.

Let me know if you find anything. I'm about to start Hibiki myself and these look like some really solid subs.

If they're the ones I'm thinking of, they're using scrubs of the TV-Nihon stuff. Unfortunately, it looks like only 16 of those were made. They're using the encodes provided by BunnyHat on his website. The BunnyHat encodes are probably the best version of any tokusatsu you'll ever find, they're damn near spotless.

Could I just download BunnyHats raws and find TVNs translation scripts and just slap them together?

Probably not unless you planned to retime the scripts as well.

Speaking of Hibiki, I'm thinking of giving it a try once I finish up Agito (which is iminent at this point). I remember several members saying there's a point where I could stop watching because of the staff change. So if I give Hibiki a try, at what point should I just stop watching?

Wouldn't it all just run at the same time?

Not if TV-Nihon's aren't DVD sourced, no.

Episode 30 is when the staff change (producer and writer) happens, but it's silly to get that far into a 48 episode show and then just drop it. It takes a few (I would four) episodes for the show to get back on track, but a lot of its best moments happen with the new writer and producer. If you do decide to stop at episode 30, it does offer a somewhat viable place to stop the story, but there's absolutely no sense of bookending going on, so it won't feel like an ending at all.

Nah, you can drop Hibiki after episode 29 as you will gain nothing but wasted time by that point. The series has no more of an ending at episode 48 than it does at 29.

That's ridiculous. If you do this, you miss out on the Shuki/Akira storyline and the final Todoroki and Zanki storyline.

And while the ending is literally a rehash of a conversation between Hibiki and Asumu way back in the 20s, 29 does offer a very strong turning point. It's the first time Hibiki acknowledges Asumu by using his name rather than just calling him "boy".

Well Agito has now come to an end. I entered this series not really enjoying it. It was slow, had shitty action, and some of the characters weren't that great. But as a fellow member said, I fell in love with it.

Agito is definitely one of the best of the series I've ever seen. To be quite honest, I'd say it's tied for the best Rider show ever, it being deadlocked against W. It as I said is a slow series, which at first can be off putting. But it slowly gets your hooked to where you decide to just marathon the rest of the show (I got hooked with the introduction of Aki). Once you're hooked, good luck getting unhooked. To be fair though, I think the slowness helps it. It is definitely a show based around the characters and story, and it's quite the long and deep story. It's a mystery, and a really good one at that. The action unfortunately didn't really get better to me though. Even when not watching it while watching Kabuto (which I herald as having the best action out there for KR), it doesn't do it for me. Only Project G4 got me into the fight scenes to where I was on the edge of my seats. Truly this is a show you watch for the story and not for the action, and that's the best way I'd sell Agito.

The evolution theme was handled really well, and is indeed like 555. But funny enough, the shows are the opposite of each other in a way. Both shows are about forces trying to oppress evolution, the difference being the roles are switched. Agito's villains wanted to stop evolution, but the riders wanted to embrace it. In 555 it's the opposite, the riders want to stop the evolution happening while the villains wish for it to happen. It's quite the interesting contrast, made even more interesting since I pretty much started Agito only a week after finishing 555.

In the end, Agito was a fantastic show. It's one of the best of the series and it's quickly became one of my favorites. I'm happy I saw it and would gladly watch it again at some point.

Another show down and lot more to go. I think I'll take a little detour into Hibiki land before FINALLY resuming my viewing of Kuuga.

Favorite Character: Ryou
Least Favorite Character: Masumi A.K.A. Glasses McBitchfuck
Favorite Rider: Ryou
Favorite Non Rider: Konno and Risa/Scorpion
Favorite Suit Design: Kamen Rider G4
Least Favorite Suit Design: Kamen Rider Agito Burning Form

After 29 unless you're a masochist.


:cry

I know! :cry

Does it really matter? After episode 29 none of the characters were in character anyway. Some of them even became gained different personalities from who they were for the first half of the series.

God forbid that everything isn't wrapped up a nice neat little package at the end of the season. The show wasn't about the conflict between the oni and the marakumo (been a while, that's what the villains were right, with the douji and hime...). Yes, that's a part of it and obviously where the action is, but the show was, ostensibly, about Asumu and his relationship with Hibiki and the Oni, it was a coming of age story and showed how Hibiki and the others impacted him as he grew up at a time of a crossroads in his life, with a bit of a look at the lives and relationships of the oni as well. I feel that it was a fairly satisfying conclusion to that. And as has been mentioned, some of the show's strongest moments come in the latter half of the season, after the production staff change. Overall, yeah the first 29 episodes are the best, but I don't think the last chunk was bad enough to just pretend it doesn't exist, it was more than watchable.

So yeah, Winston I whole-heartedly recommend watching Hibiki. ALL of Hibiki. It is a fantastic show, beginning to end, it's not like it's the first or only Rider season to have one half stronger than the other.

Question: When it comes to the inter-season movies, do you watch it in continuity with the show or do you guys watch the movies after and try to piece it all together if it's canon?

I usually just read a brief synopsis about the movie to judge. If it's stated to be an AU, I just save it till the end usually. If it is stated to happen in between some episodes, then I watch it between those episodes.

Watched the first 3 episodes of Hibiki and have very mixed feelings about it so far. First of all - I can see why people have this false impression that it wasn't meant to be a Rider show, because it doesn't feel like one at all. Comparing it to all the toku I've watched, if anything it feels more in line with something like Shougeki Gouraigan (though obviously not as silly of course).

This is possibly why it hasn't grabbed me all that much yet. There's nothing significantly wrong with it (although the music does get a little overbearing at times), it just hasn't quite clicked yet. I'm appreciating the random musical numbers and Hibiki is a fantastic rider in and out of suit. Even Asumu isn't half as annoying as I expected him to be.

But you guys weren't kidding about those TVN encodes. You literally can't make out a thing when all the good stuff is going on, which is a massive shame because this feels like a show meant to be especially enjoyed on a visual level.

One odd little praise to end on - I love that bent guitar note they've used for the bird disc cry. It gives me tingles :lol

I'm glad you enjoyed Agito, it's one of my favorite series too. I really can't pick between the 3 Riders who is my favorite because I love all of them for different reasons.

Super-1 Episode 41: This was a fantastic episode. Keyman Joe, a giant Lock monster was really annoying as a monster but his plan worked very well till you know he underestimated Super-1. I was really happy to see him henshin without the hand poses because I was like he doesn't need his hands to transform right? Great boat, and truck fights. This monster wasn't that strong either, Super-1 was all chained up and was throwing the monster around instead. Really enjoyed getting more instead Super-1's head this episode. Kazuya is so awesome.

Watched up to Fourze 16 and the MegaMax movie.

Still enjoying this series. I really enjoyed seeing how each member of the Kamen rider Club ends up joining and they all seem to help out in their own way, which is pretty awesome.

Was interesting to see the Orion Zodiart from the first episode return again, but I liked how it delved more into the nature of the switches. also I definitely didn't see [spoil]Sonoda being the Scorpion zodiart[/spoil] coming. In hindsight, maybe it was obvious, but it was pretty nice twist to me.

Gentarou's whole determination to be friends with everyone must be infectious, I think cause this series has me grinning every time I watch it. I also realized that out of all Rider series, this one has the highest chance of the people who become MOTW returning...mostly 'cause of the school setting. Though man...if that creepy astronomy club kid comes back...

Some...no. most of the switches Gentarou uses are the most ridiculous things I've ever seen. They are awesomely ridiculous...but ridiculous all the same. Especially the paint power. I hope he uses that one again. I was happy to see him use all of them in Megamax.

Speaking of which, I thought Megamax was pretty fun. It was cool to see Gentarou team up with Double and OOOs even though I've only seen a bit of their respective series. I also got more insight into that Foundation X thing. they basically have their hands in everything. Nadeshiko was kind of a weird, interesting tale. I wonder if that Fourze part of the movie will have any relevance on the series itself.

Also, Meteor's shown up by now. he seems to have the standard secondary Rider standoffish attitude, but I can't really hate anybody who's basically space Bruce Lee. But I'm sure Gentarou and the club will be friends with him yet.

Also looks like, Garren traded his playing cards for a nice new switch. He seems pretty charismatic so he'll probably stick around as the principal's second in command for a while.

Hibiki 04. If Hibiki's Rider form is literally him turning into a monster, why can he take the helmet off?

I know I said I wouldn't keep going on, but it's disappointing the quality of the Hibiki rips are so bad, as this is a beautifully shot and interestingly directed series and we can appreciate pretty much none of the artistic merit or creativity. Like trust the most artistic of the Rider shows to have the worst encoding treatment.

Ironically, maybe because of the extremely low quality, the fight with the giant actually looked really good as as you couldn't see pretty much anything you also couldn't see the seams of where they'd super imposed the actors in. I shudder to think about how that might look in standard definition.

Thanks to Hibiki's incredible personality in and out of suit, this fight was honestly really enjoyable despite barely being able to see it. Honestly if he wasn't such a great character/hero I would have dropped this already as the quality is beyond atrocious.

At the pressuring of SideswipePrime, I decided to continue Gaim. I have quite a ways to go before making it up to where the series is currently at, having stopped fairly early on, but I'll get there...

Finished Blade this weekend and my god, the last few episodes were SO GOOD. Things were really speeding up from the 30's on. The story became surprisingly logical, the characters had a good depth and the finale was amazing. Overall, I'd say Blade just became my favorite series of the shows before W. It was well-written, the characters were loveable and interesting, the plot turned out pretty cool and the designs were solid, even if they're far from being my favorites. Character-wise, my favorite was Kenzaki- he started out as a pretty boring protagonist, but he turned into a really likeable, heroic character in the end. Turning himself into an undead to save the earth and then leaving everyone he cares for behind to ensure Hajime is happy? Wow, man. Just wow.
Garren was a pretty confusing, somewhat indecided Secondary, but he had some really good moments, especially when Mutsuki was involved.
Hajime was pretty cool. I liked the whole plotpoint of him fighting his fate and also his friendship with Amane.
Mutsuki was weird, but he also had some great scenes, especially near the end. He may be the most boring out of the four riders, but I blame that on the fact that he rarely ever appeared.
The supporting cast was also kinda nice. Amane was the cheeky little brat-type with some sweet undertone, which reminded me a bit of Sailor Chibimoon- she was lovely. Koutarou was a nice person and I liked the episodes around his conflict with Hajime. Shiori was cute and one of the most helpful female sidekicks in Rider. Overall, very good cast.

The movie was kinda meh though, but then again, I don't expect much when watching a rider summer movie anyway.

I'm glad you enjoyed Blade as much as you did! I seriously loved it and it's such great fun.
I think a big problem concerning Tachibana was that they played his story out way too early (I think his arc was concluded by, like, episode 15). While he was still relatively important, he didn't seem to do much very often after that.
The other problem I had with the series as a whole was the Spider Undead and Mutsuki. That story dragged on for too long, I felt.

Anyway, there isn't much more for me to say that wouldn't just be gushing, so I'm just happy you liked Blade.

Agreed, Tachibana's arc ending so early left him with nothing to do. He did have some cool moments in the early Mutsuki episodes and he was pretty cool again near the end, having the conflict with Kenzaki because of their different views on how to deal with Hajime, but overall he kinda lost his shine after his own story arc.

I felt Mutsuki was thrown in a bit too early, because when he entered the thing, he was more like a plot device, but then they just picked up another plot (I believe it was Hajime's arc) and kinda left him out. I didn't even know for a while if he was still controlled by Spider or not. The conclusion to his story was good but it was too late, considering how early it started.

Glad you enjoyed Blade too Suzu! My only problem with the series is Mustuski and the Spider Undead story dragging a bit too long. But other then that, love it!

Does this mean I should check out Blade?

You should. Best Rider show in my opinion. Great characters, villains, story, relationships, action, development and it doesn't feel like a toy commercial!

I may check Blade out again at some point. Hopefully the second time it won't bore me to sleep.

I don't like it, personally. I've rewatched the first fifteen episodes a dozen or so times to get into it because of all the praise it receives but I just don't see it. I found the characters unlikeable, the plot nonsensical and the special effects atrocious.

I'd definitely recommend it. It's one of my favorites if not my absolute favorite.

Hibiki 05.

This episode was really odd. Like why are string instruments better against crab monsters than drummers? Shouldn't it be the other way round? Why am I even questioning something so stupid?!

I'm sure for Japanese people Hibiki is hilarious but the fast cutting and surreal humour are hard enough to follow without also trying to make sense of TVNs translations which are about as clear as if the subtitles were actually in Spanish.

I mean I get that something big is happening in Hibiki's world changing the patterns of the way the monsters act and that his battle has triggered some sort of PTSD in Asumu but everything in between that is a mystery to me.

The scene of the monsters of the week murdering the innocent was pretty wild though. Brutal but in a sort of goofy B-Movie sort of way. Just a shame their true forms are the worst kind of Zed grade cinema monster.

So in preparation for my newly pre-ordered copy of Kamen Rider Battride War II I've been going down the line of Kamen Rider movies that I haven't seen yet so I can get the just of the storylines for when the movie levels appear in the game.

Plus I'm using it as a way to scope out seasons I haven't watched yet and decide what to watch after. (though Blade and the rest of W is on my list already)

I'm kind of going in reverse order though, just finished up the Wizard in Magic Land episode and....It was sorta decent, I mean maybe it would mean more if I watched the full series (though from feedback I doubt so) but it was...kind of confusing as far as an actually movie for me. I think one of the main things is I wish the Gold Mage villain was more flushed out and the whole, he was a Phantom the entire time had me a bit confused as to why he wanted to do all the things he did and for what purpose.

And again, maybe the show explains this but the final battle seemed off to me, I know with these movies that the main Rider is suppose to assume a form not used in the show as their new ultimate form but here it didn't seem like he unlocked some new power through his journey like how Fourze was given the Fusion Switch or how OOO's friendship with Kamen Rider Aqua yielded the Super Tatoba combo medals, but here Wizard just happens to be able to turn into Infinity Dragon like it was nothing.

I was honestly expecting the little boy to give Wizard the "Ultimate Spell" ring that he would've been working on for his mother and they use that to unlock his new Ultimate form, wouldn't given more meaning to the transformation and final fight for me.

Well, one movie down, only...a lot more to go. So next up I'll be watching W the Movie, here's hoping there aren't many sins to count up while watching it.

Glad you liked it! I agree on most points, specially Kenzaki, I feel that placing the Jack storyline earlier int he show would have helped to make him more interesting, but in the end he's simply great.

AU movies are kinda random by nature, but I really liked the idea explored in this one, felt more relevant than many of it's equivalents.

Blade is an excellently crafted show with a great story, and a clear idea of where and how it wants to go, personally I love it, and I couldn't put it down.

Any more words would be repetition of what the others said, it's awesome, feel free to give it a try.

So general consesus is Yes?