[Matrixbeast]

Hibiki Volume 6.
So it was Ibuki. Neat. He's a rather nice dude, so I can dig it. I hope he transforms soon, since he did hint to Asumu that he wanted him to watch he and Hibiki to take out a Makamou.

On towards the episode itself, Asamu is hesitant to see Hibiki, but goes to the restaurant anyway...Only to find that Hibiki is out to work. However, Ibuki's timing to deliver another taiko drum to Hibiki is perfect and he invites Asumu to come along, mistakenly believing he's Hibiki's student. In the meantime, Hibiki is currently recovering from his injuries as he sends another patrol of crab disk animals to search for the makamou.
While not much of a heart to heart, Hibiki and Asumu's interactions are always quite well, Hibiki helping inspire Asumu, both of them telling each other that they'll work hard, helping Asumu focus.

The fight of the episode was alright. I enjoyed watching Hibiki actively take damage to show how strong the demon was, as well as his previous injuries causing him to lose one of his drumsticks mid battle, and that he had to take a different route in fighting (Placing the taiko on the weakest point of the crab's shell, be very proactive in dodging and rarely landing hits). My only qualm was that the previous episode established that string based instruments dealt more damage, so they could've shown that he had to put more into drumming to kill it (Not to mention he only had one drumstick). That and the fight itself was rather fast.

Something I also enjoyed was Asumu admitting to the old man that he didn't pick the high school he's trying to attend for any personal reasons, but simply because it's higher rated. Kind of a mini-social commentary for Japan, as he wanted to go to a different school because they had a better music and brass band, but isn't as 'prestigious' (For lack of a better term) as Jounan. The old man commenting on how it sucks to make large life goals at that age also helped cement it.