Sorry for the double post but just finished ep 39. Very strong 4 parter. The monster of the week mystery was fun, I figured the connection between the killing sites being boxes that take you somewhere but totally missed the thing about finger nail color. It seemed so obvious in hindsight. This arc was less about that though and more the beginning of the end. ULF 0, Daguva begins to make his presence known, and what a terrifying presence it is. Gives of vibes of being a monstrous force of nature. I know his and Kuuga's final battle is said to be one of the best in the franchise, and I'm very excited to see the build up to it. Also had the introduction of what I assume is the Rhinocousrs Beetle Grongi, who I gather is an important character from what they said about him in the Shodo blog. Speaking of important characters, never would have expected the motw of the second episode of a show to survive all the way till episode 39, and gain a final form so powerful he would've likely killed Godai and Ichijou had it been his goal, taken out instead by the final boss

Better also check out this glorious thread: http://www.tokunation.com/showthread.php?t=96114

Since I recently watched Daimajin Kanon with everybody pointing out the same thing, I chose to watch Hibiki. The first Rider show I watch that's not currently airing.

Also even if I haven't watched Kanon, I was interested in this one since it had a Rider with Oni motif and uses taiko bats as a weapon.

And it starts with a weird montage and a musical...

Okay...!

Hey, look what time it is! Time for my perpetually ignored warning!

Hibiki is a fantastic show, I hope you enjoy it. Stop watching after episode 29. The production staff was fired and the show limped on for 19 episodes of generic mush until Kabuto was ready to start.

We will never listen to you because we are all a bunch of masochists. :lolol

I'm always proud to say that I have indeed heeded the warning :lol

I've yet to ever watch episode 30 and onwards for Hibiki so the series ended on a sweet note for me~

I was naive and did not heed the warning back when I watched Hibiki. I did expect a downgrade in quality, but thought, "surely it can't be that bad."

I've never been so wrong in my life.

I am the Cassandra of Kamen Rider Hibiki, my warnings forever ignored.

Except by Matrixbeast.

The editing job in Hibiki is amazing, I'll give it that.

Also I'm pretty sure for now this what makes it unique, but it feels weird not having the Rider origin, big explosive battles, the noisy Driver, not even a "Henshin". I've been watching Kamen Rider since Ghost all the way to Saber now and I got so used to all these tropes, so watching Hibiki doing none of these is... unusual.

Okay, I've watched episodes 30 and 31 to test the water and I can see how different it looks and feels now. The only thing missing is the random Henshin calls and sidelining Asumo for Hibiki and that's your traditional Kamen Rider show.

Yeah, there are some notable differences (battles in the city, getting rid of the Douji and Hime in favour of the super versions, actual conflict), but in general, it’s nothing outrageous as people make it out to be. It’s pretty much a proto-Kabuto.

I've watched a good deal more Zero-One at this point. I'm in the middle of the tournament bit, just finished the firefighting one. This whole arc has been a bit slow honestly, but I'm still enjoying it a lot. The cast in this one has been particularly enjoyable for me, and the show itself has a lot of characteristics I like from previous Rider shows. It's a bit hard to explain, but it reminds me a bit of shows as varied as W, Faiz, Black RX, and more! I'm okay with the current part of the show being a bit mediocre as long as they manage to pick back up again later.

My new thing is shouting at the screen that Fuwa is going to die. I don't know if he actually will but I've seen Faiz! I know what happens to people with wolf themes who lack future goals!

If you can make it through the tournament arc, then the rest of Zero-One will be a breeze. The next two arcs are fantastic, even if the loss of 4-5 episodes hit the final arc hard

It gets worse; a lot of established characters get really badly misinterpreted or mishandled (especially Akira). Mostly, though, it’s a case of a wonderful and unique show having all of its real character stripped away and getting turned into something on par with filler episodes of other Rider shows.

That is something that struck me a lot about Hibiki. Even if you were to look at the post-29 section as its own thing; completely unrelated; as its own show? ... I’d sooner rewatch Wizard. It’s just kind of rubbish and uninteresting.

Zero-One, on the other hand, unfortunately never lived up to the excellent potential the tournament arc expertly set up.

I disagree.

I think the second half had a much better idea of what to do with the supporting cast than the first half (what was Zanki doing after his retirement again?). Plus the new arc actually makes the show somewhat more interesting to watch.

I think the key issue the second portion has in comparison to the first is that it lost the unique feeling in favor of becoming your standard rider fare.

Not bad in and of itself, especially if the more laid back tone didn't suit you, but for a franchise that, for Kabuto and beyond, would basically set itself in a formula for years to come, losing the unique personality was a rather tough pill to swallow.

The Zanki stuff is the only saving grace of that era, and even that doesn’t remotely balance out the bullshit that is the Shuki arc and what it does to Akira.

Is it weird that I didn't actually notice that many changes besides the obvious stuff?! Yeah I don't like Kiriya either and I would have liked Shuki to be in it more but in terms of actual amount of pros and cons in each half I would say they are almost on a par for me and the final episode was still relatively satisfying given the production problems.

https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...760&height=427

Keisuke's not having a great time of it, and episode 8 just sorta piles it all on. Seriously, I didn't expect the only ongoing plot thread we have to be resolved so early, and in one episode!

If it makes you feel better, Keisuke’s actor and the actress who played the twins got married in real life. Their son auditioned for the lead role on Agito.

Watched the Hibiki movie since it introduces a new power-up. The movie is nice, obviously based on Seven Samurai, but of course if it wasn't for the new power-up I would not have watched it.

#SpankthePolice
https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/8e/8f/vXtJgkAa_t.jpg

EDIT: And they changed the opening and took away the ending, and CGI battles, oh yeah, now it shed everything the original Hibiki had off.

Watching more Kamen Rider, and I gotta say...I can see why the ratings were on the decline prior to Nigou's introduction :lol

It's so bland and repetitive, even for a 70's show. I might just skip forward to Nigou's intro since I'm just so bored with these early episodes.

Finally finished all of Hibiki. Not going to lie, the last third was a huge downgrade of a very unique looking Rider series as they said. The plot was very boring I was just watching the episode just to see how it ends.

Wouldn't it be really fun if this was me being really obtuse? For no reason?

https://i.imgur.com/kFKN48J.jpg

I was without my laptop for, like, a month and a half, so that REALLY derailed my plans... but I've decided that weekly, I'm going to be rewatching both Kamen Rider OOO and Kamen Rider Ghost; in celebration of their 10th and 5th anniversaries respectively. I'm trying to match each episodes to their air dates; and of course about 9 episodes of OOO have gone by already going by that, so I'm deciding to 'catch up' with those by watching them every 2 days to simulate a similar non-binge feeling.

OOO is a season that if you've talked to me for more than a couple seconds you'll quickly find out is my favourite Rider show. Scratch that, favourite Tokusatsu. In fact, like, scratch that; just my favourite show in general! It's something I enjoyed a lot when I watched it, and over time I kept reflecting on it and finding more things to love about it. This is a common thread with Kobayashi shows for me, by the by -- Shinkenger, Den-O, Toqger, Ryuki; all of them I ended up adoring eventually. But all that said, OOO is the third Kamen Rider I ever watched, and now having seen all 20 Heisei Riders, Zero-One, and also Amazon and Black (I should um, really watch some more Showa), I think it's about time I gave those earlier shows a watch. And what better time than the anniversary? I'm especially interested in finding out how much of the show really holds up to me and if I've been convincing myself it's better than it actually is, as that's always a bit of a paranoid fear I have -- that I've put on rose-tinted glasses for anything I love. But having now rewatched 2 episodes, yeah, this is super stunning! We've still yet to get to the really juicy stuff of course, but I can tell I'm in for a fun time.

Ghost on the other hand is... well, I can't say it's at the exact opposite end of the scale, but it's absolutely a show that I came away disliking the first time. But on reflection, and taking in inputs from a lot of people I typically agree with... I'm nnnot quite sure why. Like, looking back, one or two of the issues I had stand up (I'm not fond at all of the places Specter's parent narrative goes), but a lot of my issues were very much related to mechanical plot details when usually I'm someone who doesn't actually care about plot as much as I do about the meaning embellished within. So, once again with the anniversary being perfect timing; I want to give this one a shot! Due to air dates I haven't started rewatching yet (that'll be at Episode 5 of OOO, kind of interesting how they're off by a month), but I'm interested in seeing where it goes. Something that does immediately come to mind though is that Ghost from what I recall is generally about the same sort of things OOO was, not to mention many other series I enjoyed like Fourze and Den-O! So I'm hoping to find something positive in here. Even if I don't though, and I come away disliking it just as much if not more than before? Hopefully I'll have a much clearer idea this time. And, hey; isn't it kind of within the spirit of OOO to reach out to something you initially weren't fond of and try to understand it better?


I won't be doing my own thread for this - I did consider it, but between laptop issues and a lot of other things I just think I'd be too exhausted to do an episode-by-episode thing in a way I feel satisfied with - but I'll hopefully be popping in here every now and then. I'm looking forward to this; this is the first time I've watched ANYTHING on a weekly non-binge basis before Lupat and Build, so that should be pretty interesting in and of itself! Gonna be quite something finishing OOO at the same time as Saber, though... anniversary scat OP buddies!

Oh is that the reason for your signature? I just thought you found Specter's cosplay there to be especially stylish!

Well, I mean, that too! The Damashii are definitely up there as some of my favourite Legend Rider gear

Restarted Kuuga. I binged way too much awhile back and I quit only 6 episodes in. So I'm restarting... and having a blast.

See... Kuuga and Agito are the only Rider series from the Heisei I haven't seen. So I'm fixing that. After those two are done, that'll be all Heisei including available movies and specials.

Hope you like them!! They're two of my favourites

I am SO here for that! Good to see all that foreshadowing finally paying off. :p

OOO is OOO, so like, I mean, let me put it this way: even if you were wearing rose-tinted glasses for it, you could take them off, and the show you were watching would still be Kamen Rider OOO. If that makes any sense at all? It's admittedly harder for me to grasp your perspective when my relationship with OOO is kinda the opposite of what you're scared of – with me constantly undervaluing it and realizing how much it does hold up. The bottom line is I think you're in for a fun ride without a doubt. How many iconic moments are in just those first few sets of episodes, even? So much to look forward to!

I also feel pretty optimistic about your chances with Ghost given how much you hit the nail on the head with the observation about mechanical plot details there; and this is apparently not even having started the show again yet. It's definitely a series that can require a bit more of leeway on that front than usual to get into.

I'll definitely be looking forward to hearing anything you have to say about either show, however infrequent. Makes me feel all the more inspired to eventually make that thread about a certain Sentai I'd be more than happy to watch a third time.

...That isn't LuPat, I mean. Or Ninninger. ...if only because I already wrote about that one.

Oh, and this has basically nothing to do with anything, but the first time I saw that new signature, I never even considered the significance because I was too busy reminiscing about how happy it always makes me to think that my favorite Kamen Rider once cosplayed as my other favorite Kamen Rider:

https://i.imgur.com/5NiGzj2.png

It's like the "Rider shows people hate that I deeply care about" combo pack! :lol

I mean, two of my favourite Riders are Den-O and Hibiki, right? The shows that specifically get worse the more plot is added to them? And then I'm one of those people that likes Decade. Not really a plot person! Just gimme those feelings and emotions! So, yeah; this is absolutely where I'm hoping Ghost can succeed for me the second time round. If I'm completely honest I kind of resent keeping to a 2-day pattern at the moment because I just want to get to the first episode already! :lol I'm literally throwing in the last episode of Drive just to make it easier for myself


Honestly, after these two? I do want to rewatch Decade and W at some point after I finish Black RX... but I also intended to throw OOO and Fourze in there so I think I'll stave off that big rewatch for a while. So I think my next rewatch, whenever it is, might actually be Go-Busters!

You two are just out here trying to peddle the "Ghost is the best series" opinion to distract from the looming threat of Androzani and Die's "Hibiki 31-49 is the better half" opinion that'll forever claim the crown of "Oh my god how can you think that?" championship. :p

Anyway, who'd like to hear about how Wizard is an underrated 'gem'? See it's funny because it's gem like a jewel and Wizard has a jewel for a face haha.

Oh Fish will be VERY ready to back you up on that!

And I don't know how I feel on Ghost yet to say that for sure! The way I'm doing this I won't know for a whole YEAR!

Wait, you're actually doing it weekly? That's... well, I guess some kind of dedication, but on the other hand only a half hour a week? Perfectly balanced and all that.

(Also, interesting you brought up both Den-O and Ghost, 2 shows where my opinions generally are 'Amazing at the slice of life, muddles itself completely when they try to do the big apocalyptic ending'. Good amount of fondness for both, though!)

Well, I'm also watching all of Saber, Kiramager and Z as they come out; and I'm binging Abaranger (all of these are very good, by the way). If anything I'm probably doing too much!

See, to me, who is approx a 2 months and 14 episodes into their 'binge' of Kamen Rider X, and like three weeks behind on Z god I Hope the subs still work, that is *far* too much! At least I'm caught up with Saber, though!

Sad you're not making an OOO thread. Would love a centralized place to gush about that show.

Man, if only someone who loves OOO and is really good at writing about shows(andwhoalsomadeareallygoodthreadofanothershowilove) would do it...

I'm currently rewatching parts of Gaim to do a review for my non-fiction writing course in university.

It''s such a shame I'll never be able to see my assessor's face once they read about dancing samurais with magical talking belts that can open portals to summon fruit armor.

Now that it's done, got back to watching Super-1 using Bereke Scrubs' translation. And yeah, the new subs are an improvement, and I'm still having alot of fun with the show itself! Currently at episode 7, and I gotta say, tearing your hand off to throw it a a guy in order to get him to fall down a cliff and explode is one of the most metal things I've seen in awhile...