I mean, Kiriya's basically Teenage Kusaka (without all of the violent tendencies, I hope!), and I thought Kusaka was a blast in Faiz. I think you can enjoy a performance/character without liking the character, and that balance is where Inoue's work lives for me.

Like, I think 30 did a really good job of still making Kiriya's introduction an Asumu story, you know? It's all about how Kiriya's presence affects Asumu, how it makes him feel like he's not cool enough, or it makes him wonder where his expertise lies.

Kiriya sucks, but he's awesome at being a character who sucks.

The new monster was great, and, yeah, a huge departure from the previous monster formula. (Literally and figuratively!) I think the show did an okay job of trying to give a context for the new Monster Suit Makamou, but it's still a massive change from how the first 29 episodes did it.

I greatly prefer it, though. Having a guy in a suit for the Oni to fight, yes. I missed the tactile threat of monsters in this show, and the best Hibiki fights have been the ones where it's human-scaled. Very excited to see some weird new monster dog that turns into a flaming wheel and just randomly shows up to murder people.

Deep dish pizza is a prank that Chicago plays on tourists. It's not supposed to be something anyone actually eats.

I think the biggest change, narratively, is how we're shifting from the drama being an External thing to an Internal thing? These are no longer purely good people who are working together in a nice, friendly way. They're Inoue characters now, so they're going to frequently be petty, or rude, or mean, or lazy, or or or. Even the jokey Hibiki thread in this one has a beat where Ichiro and Hinaka play up their illness to get out of work. That's a dick move!

Had this been the way things were from the start... well, a lot of folks didn't seem to love Faiz, so I'm not sure the appraisal would've been that different. But I think there'd be less of a feeling that the characters Aren't Right, which can only help.

Imagine watching this and the next several episodes on TV as they aired, unaware of the shift in production crew beforehand.

The joke is that Hitomi says that Asumu has changed since he went to the mountain with Hibiki (Episode 29), and yet it's everything around Asumu that's changed.

So it has begun. *dramatic music playing in the background*

TALKING OF MUSIC. I was too caught up in the wider thematic discussion of the movie to mention... what a damn good way to open it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPK2Pv5IN5g


Very simple, very effective, and despite everything said about the movie; very Hibiki.

Well, that didn't take long at all. :lol

Let me say this to start: I'm in total agreement with Switchblade on how Kiriya fits into the show. His existence is the very symbol of Hibiki's retool to me, because no single element in this portion of the series exemplifies the clash in vision better. He was purpose-built to appeal to both Inoue's love of interpersonal conflict and Shirakura's aversion to stories told from a single perspective. His introduction is a jarring shift from the mutually supportive atmosphere Hibiki built itself around, and arguably a very cheap, unimaginative way to "spice up" the world of the show.

That being said, I've always kinda liked the guy?

Part of it is the actor, maybe, but, much like Die, I'm often a sucker for some Inoue style drama, and while I kinda vilified the staff for his creation up there, I also think the fact that the first thing they did with the show was try to make Asumu's story more compelling does constitute an act of good faith, and at least a basic understanding that some elements of the show need to stay unique.

Obviously the definition of "compelling" is going to be hugely subjective, but I remember finding Kiriya and Asumu's scenes together consistently pretty interesting for one reason or another. And the key word here is "remember", since, as a reminder, I'm not actively rewatching the rest of the show. Which should be fine, because, uh, and I kinda hate to admit this, but I remember a lot more specifics about the retool era of the show? Not that much more, but there are some things in this stretch that are pretty hard to forget.

Anyway, I'm happy to see you having a good time with this brave new world of Inoue-y good/badness, Die! Hopefully you'll feel things keep on a solid enough track going forward.

I'm glad you brought this up yourself, because I was legitimately planning on quoting your post from after you finished Hibiki where you made this same point. I still vividly remember reading that and genuinely wondering if you were exaggerating for comedic effect or something at first. I was more than a little shocked after going back to watch that scene. :lol

the people who like kiriya also probably like akira date

You mean one of the best secondaries ever? Bit of a fluctuation in taste, but... sure!

wow cant believe youd call kiriya the secondary in hibiki but i guess that makes sense for the 2nd half

Quick FYI, the post for 31 is, uh... it's going to be a weird one. Sorry in advance, but there was absolutely no way around it. Not necessarily a fun read, but sometimes these shows make me talk about things.

I am nothing if not predictable!

I totally get how Kiriya can seem like Drama For Drama's Sake, but I really don't think he's that incongruent to the world of the show? It's not like some space alien becomes his new roommate or something, this is just some new kid at school who's a colossal prick. It's not the usual thing of Asumu living a relatively charmed life like the earlier era, but Kiriya's just kind of hard to be friends with, that's all. I don't know! Things will probably change, and maybe he'll get to be too much (never), but for all of the things that I think are ridiculous about him... yeah, didn't find his entry into the narrative as cheap or forced.

If anything, he's following the formula of Things Get More Dangerous For The Lead Around Episode 30, and Asumu's the lead, soooooo...

I'm sorry, do you mean noted Bears fan Akira Date? Because I love that dude!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...y9eqk1kp31.jpg