Good to know! And thanks for the recommendation!

As much as there are parts of this show that I think don't work (the lethargic pace of the monster plots, the lack of a compelling central villain, a formlessness to the stakes), I do wish that the original creative team had been allowed to finish their version of Hibiki. Regardless of what the next team comes up with... yeah, a bummer that the original intention won't be fully known.

I do wonder, had this show been the way it was, but the toys were all cool transforming and beeping devices like the ones in Faiz, maybe everything would have turned out okay for the production team after all? Not that it matters, with the unique direction and story choices that purposefully treat the superhero action as mundane as possibly, mixed with the so-and-so merchandise, I wasn't surprised at all to hear that the show didn't exactly sell well nor did it appeal to the average Rider fan. It's great to see you receiving the show well, though I totally get how it must have been somewhat surreal and even disappointing at parts in how it disregards the typical tokusatsu tropes that is expected.

However, barring all that, it's a real shame that Hibiki wasn't allowed to keep hitting it's own beat. I'd be saying that even if I didn't like the show, since I think it's always great when ambitious or creative visions take precedence over being easy to sell. That just doesn't or can't happen in this franchise anymore. ...Well, I mean, it couldn't happen to too far a degree back in 2005 either since yeah, everyone got fired for this show, but still.

But, oh well. Even if I wish for more variety in style and stories in Kamen Rider, I still stick with it because clearly this formula they have and will continue milking for decades is something that appeals to me.

Have fun with the movie! I hope you specifically watch the Director's Cut which has a slightly longer runtime because it has a few extra scenes here and there.

I can see where you're coming from, Die. I don't have the same take on the show, but I get it. I love that they went for something different here and I actually quite like the action scenes. The giant CGI monster fights are very much limited by 2005 kid's TV show budget CGI, but I still think we get some good action scenes. Of course, at the end of the day I'm here for Hibiki and Asumu's relationship and the warm feelings of being with this cast of characters that I love. I'm fine with the show not having as much focus on the monster fighting because goddamn is this some good steakhouse chicken.

I think one of the biggest tragedies about what happened with Hibiki is that it brought the really experimental part of the early Heisei era to an end. Kabuto is a much more conventional Rider show and after that we got Den-O, which was such a big hit that almost every show that came after it would copy a lot of its elements. We wouldn't get a show that really tried anything radically different again until Gaim. I love so many of the shows that came after this, but I can't help but wonder how things might have been different if Toei were still more willing to experiment with the show.

And I'm glad catwhowalks brought up Daimajin Kanon. It's very much the spiritual sequel to Hibiki and is absolutely delightful in many of the same ways. You also get a lot of catharsis from it, as the core plot is about a young woman who's dealing with depression after a deeply personal creative work gets stolen from her and crassly commercialized.

I'll also join FreshToku in hoping you enjoy the movie. I think it's one of the more fun movies from this era, even if its inspirations are kind of obvious.

In case this was not further explained, here I go. Onis of Takeshi primarily tend to have names where their oni name and real name's first syllables are all the same. For example:
Hibiki > Hitoshi Hidaka
Ibuki > Iori Izumi
Todoriki > Tomizo Todayama
Zanki > Zaomaru Zaitsuhara
Also, Danki > Daisuke Danda

Another fun fact, Hibiki's suit actor and primary "nigo rider" actor during the first batch of Heisei rider shows, has retired some time ago and is now a judo therapist.

Well. I mean.

I get where you're coming from and in the wider picture I get and agree with your overall point (we're never getting something like Kuuga again), but 'conventional' is perhaps the last word I'd use to describe Kabuto :lol


I'm glad you enjoyed it Die, and it's definitely interesting to see your perspective on this. I guess if I was to take your metaphor and say why I like it despite that... maybe it would have been better to go for a Chicken place to begin with, but often I'm not too fond of Chicken places; and the atmosphere and trappings of a steak house are not just what allured me to this one to begin with but also make it a lot more unique. Though it also definitely helps that I like the steak here a fair bit more than you!

I haven't been talking much due to a lot of things happening otherwise and my laptop only coming in this week; and it takes a while for me to get my thoughts down. So maybe expect some Hibiki 1-29 posts on the 30-47 portion, weirdly enough? I promise that's not out of spite of that second half! Promise! Though I'll definitely have some things to say about at least 30 and 47 themselves.

All in all the first half of Hibiki is an experience that I think is super understated in Rider whether it's something one likes or not -- you won't find anything else like it, even moreso than W or Kuuga; and it's a good watch for any Rider fan. Here's hoping you'll join Andro in the ranks of one of the few people who likes the next batch!

Yeah, this is one way to put it. Some people just really like steak! Heck, maybe, hypothetically, you know, let's say your kids are big fans of steak, and are always dragging the family to steakhouses. You don't really see the appeal, but children just seem to eat the stuff up, and it makes them happy. But a steakhouse that also serves some great chicken, that maybe satisfies your more refined tastes better, and going to that particular steakhouse leaves everyone happy.

Except, uh, in this case, the kids think this particular steak is boring and bland...

...and they'd rather go watch Magiranger instead.

Okay I'm maybe not good with metaphors, but my point is that I will always appreciate a show like Hibiki that's clearly trying to be this well-rounded work that holds value to a wide range of people. Dropping the figurative speech for a bit, I've always been obsessed with "steak", and a big part of that is how flexible I feel stories with superheroes or otherwise colorful characters can be. I love seeing them dip their toes into all kinds of genres and using those larger than life elements to complement the narrative in a way less fantastic stories simply aren't capable of. A tale about a teacher questioning the worth of his job carries a lot more impact when the worth turns out to be the hero saving the city from monsters on a weekly basis, yeah?

And, uh, as you can maybe tell from the fact the example I just pulled was from Kuuga, I'm honestly not the best person to stick up for Hibiki. Sometimes there are shows I respect a lot more than I like, and Hibiki is exactly that. Mind you, I'm judging that within the standard of how much I already like Kamen Rider; I absolutely like this show a whole lot! And I certainly have my attachment to it. But while rewatching it was loads of fun, and I think I do have a deeper appreciation for what it was doing now than I used to, there's a simple truth about my feelings towards the show I kept coming back to:

Hibiki just doesn't resonate with me all that much.

...admittedly I might've only been thinking that so often because it makes for a good pun in Japanese. (心に響かないという) But, I don't know, there's like this invisible barrier between me and the show or something. Despite everything, it doesn't stick with me the same way so many other Rider shows do. I have a few theories as to why. The big glaring one is that, as I've mentioned in a few places, finales are keys to me (just look at Blade!), and Hibiki didn't get to have one of those the way it wanted to. For all I know, the best was yet to come, and the "true" version of this show would've been special to me the same way something like Kuuga or Ghost is.

But obviously we'll never quite know, and, yeah, it's both a huge shame and also not hard to see why things went the way they did. I've actually probably got one of the more generous outlooks on the next era of this series (maybe?), though, and while I don't like to say these things upfront, I think there's a more than good chance you won't feel the need to retire the phrase "Inoue forever" when all is said and done. So despite all this doom and gloom, I don't think it's exactly all downhill from here.

That being said, I'll also join in the crowd recommending Daimajin Kanon whenever you have time like half a decade from now. Or just to anyone who liked Hibiki, for that matter. It's a show I only watched recently that I maybe like way less than Hibiki and respect maybe a bit more, but there's such an absurd amount of talent from Takatera's other shows there it might as well be that back half we didn't get. Sahashi still does all the music, some of the directors are the same (no Ishida though), Ooishi and Arakawa were the writers, Makoto Itou was even one of the suit actors... it's a very sincere show with a lot to recommend, and it deserves enough attention I'm just going to leave the opening right here, since it describes the series better than I ever could.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNr515nGHfY

I don't feel like I can really add anything to this outside of what anyone else said, so I'll just go ahead and say that the first half of Hibiki really highlights something that makes Phase 1 Heisei my favorite era of Kamen Rider overall: The willingness to experiment and the drive to make (almost) every show really unique. Granted, I'm only halfway through Showa and like a third through Phase 2 Heisei, but it seems like that era more than the others tried the hardest to have every season stand out from the rest, and it's a shame that the series would lose that once the era closed.

Fair point, but I still feel like it’s tonally a lot closer to shows like Blade or Ryuki than Hibiki ever was (not counting the retool, of course, because I never would).

You guys! Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on the first phase of Hibiki! (Or, for Switchblade's benefit, the true phase of Hibiki.) Someday I'm going to figure out how to actually be awake when these posts are coming in (what if people who wanted to talk about Hibiki lived in my country or slept at night), but in the meantime, let me have this pleasant afternoon of responding to a page of Hibiki thoughts. It's a fitting tribute to this exiting era!

I think one of the most valuable parts of Hibiki is, maybe, showing how far you can stretch the Kamen Rider formula/franchise? This show's stunningly well-made, but it pushes itself way too far outside the boundaries of what you can get away with on a show designed to sell toys to Japanese children.

Even though I agree with you, and would've preferred the main team got to see their story through, there's only so much I'm going to feel like the creators got robbed. I mean, this was not the first Kamen Rider show of all-time; there's an expectation and a mandate and probably financial benchmarks. If they were either delusional enough to think things were going to magically turn around or stubborn enough to not care... maybe they're lucky they got 29 episodes!

Yeah, I... this show maybe made me appreciate the formula a little more? I'm not sure that's the sort of praise they want, though!

Hmm. The thing is, I've got the Director's Cut in standard def, and the Theatrical Cut in hi-def. I'm not sure which one I'll watch tonight. If anyone else has a take on this, let me know!

Honestly, the budgetary stuff like the CGI... as much as I might rag on it or call it out, it's not even in the Top 20 of problems I might've had with the show. It's janky (one time embarrassingly so), but it's a TV budget from 2005. I can make allowances!

It's more that the fights and action feel so impersonal, so characterless. One of my early-Heisei complaints, coming out of Phase 2, was that there's no chatter with the villains, that they're all growling monsters. Hibiki takes that and says But What If They Were Also Gigantic And Had No Personality. Like, there're the Douji and Hime, but we're usually lucky to get one scene with both of them before they get partially or completely detonated.

For me, I need to feel like a Kamen Rider is fighting someone, not just fighting. I didn't really get that out of Hibiki's action scenes.

Yeah, maybe! As much as this part of Hibiki has made me appreciate some of the guard-rails in the Kamen Rider franchise, it could've been fun if this all got to be a little more unique and unexpected as time went on.

Sound like something I'd really enjoy! I look forward to checking it out in 2025!

It's going to be a fun movie night, I'm guessing!

Very cool! Thanks!

Sure! There's a real element of I Can't Believe You're Trying This And I Can't Believe It's Working that helps add an addictive flavor to Hibiki's early episodes, one that keeps you hooked even when the more traditional parts come up short. If someone was feeling burned out or let down by shows like Blade or Faiz (how dare), I can see where Hibiki would feel like a pleasant alternative.

I look forward to it, even if you'll have to remind me of basically everything that happened in an episode I watched last week. I do not retain this stuff very well.

Even if I unequivocally adored the first part of Hibiki... I mean, Inoue. There's almost no chance I dislike the Inoue part.

...right?

This is maybe coming close to something I was thinking about last night (hi I never stop thinking about Kamen Rider), and that's the fact that Hibiki opted to make the subtext (how does a boy become a man, and how do you raise a child) into text (the Asumu/Hibiki storyline) maybe robbed it of the metaphorical and allegorical tools a Kamen Rider show needs to thrive?

Without Asumu being an early-20s Oni trainee, and without Hibiki being his official mentor, it doesn't leave the show a lot of ways to express an episode's themes in more dynamic, sci-fi superhero ways. It largely just creates two separate piles: Story and Action. It'll rhyme them, a bit, but it's always clear that the Story is happening to and with people, while the action is happening to and with monsters and Oni.

Like, I don't want to tell anyone how to fix a show that went off the air over a decade before I started watching Kamen Rider, but: Zanki and Todoroki. That's the maybe more successful, more superhero-y version of Asumu and Hibiki. That's where you can tell metaphorical stories about the difficulties of growing up, of being a good parent, but doing it within the framework of a Kamen Rider show. Is it as special or unique as the Asumu/Hibiki stuff? Definitely not. Would it've been more fun to watch? Possibly!

Yeah, the formula... Like I've mentioned, Hibiki's lack of it maybe hurt some of its momentum, but it's not like a strict adherence to it saved a bunch of Phase 2 shows. Wizard, man, that is a show that locks into the formula to the exclusion of all else, and it can be a grind. I think it pays off in the ending (your mileage may vary), but it makes for a rough middle section.

Oh, this seems to be about, something you were irked about, that is, Good People Have Bad Shit Happen To Them, where Asumu got beaten up by that shoplifter. But it seems that (with relief, but I still wonder) you accept this story here, that it gives off a theme about perseverance. So what makes you seem to accept this one? Or that this proved what I said before that character growth, and flawed characters getting better can happen without having them cause bad shit all the time for story to express flaws (at worse acting OOC just for the sake of being responsible)? I guess for the first half, the mentoring Hibiki shows is used here, and it's the standard motivational word then. For some reason I dunno, but Hibiki having damaged taiko drum feels cheaper to me, because probably Takeshi didn't really have limit of resources like, to make newer ones, I mean, probably that's their job to supply.

Interestingly and likely appropriately, getting back up and trying again isn't shown in the Jounan exam before, probably because the exam is one time thing. And about the times where you get knocked down and figuring out how not to get knocked down again, that's important to be teached, but this is frequently taken to the extremes, with something as victim blaming or even justifying crime acts being used to "toughen" ._.

Life's constantly cycling between good and bad things like that yeah, and she channels Oni about "training and training" (I know not physical training). She seems to want to consult to Takeshi group but she acts like an advisor when getting there ~ And even if those are strangers, they ought to accept her as she's the mom of the boy they're nurturing.

What I refer to was resting on those, pillows? With shoes on.

Well, it depends if you're only forbidding them if not enough age (which is probably plausible) or just forbid them ever (which seems bad to me). I mean, there are those that trained them to fight since they're little, probably at least that.