[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kurona

Hibiki...

Oh, man, from that first episode overview I think I’m in for a wonderful time in this thread. Hibiki is absolutely a comfortable show. It’s a show that is at once perfectly Kamen Rider and yet absolutely not Kamen Rider and is so so special for it. I had never heard the tagline for the show was “Stable heroes in an unstable world”, but that’s pretty perfect. As you can probably tell the focus is very squarely on Asumu’s life and how he interacts with the Oni rather than the other way around and I’d have it no other way.

One of the things I feel thankful for is that, by coming into Kamen Rider through Ex-Aid, I sort-of don't have a lot of expectations about franchise signifiers. I don't care if they ever ride bikes. I don't care about how they Henshin. I don't care what jobs they have, how serious it is, how funny it is, how many Riders there are, whatever. Kamen Rider to me is, oddly enough, a feeling. Heroism as empathy, as compassion, that's what I'm looking for if a show's going to call itself Kamen Rider. I felt that so quickly here that I can't imagine this show having a different set of words in front of the word Hibiki.

There's the big hero moment from Hibiki, when he dives off of a boat to save a child (are we sure Inoue didn't write this one?), but I like his second meeting with Asumu better. He knows that it is incredibly dangerous for Asumu and his cousin to be in these woods, but to tell them it's dangerous is to make it worse, so he just doesn't. He helps Asumu up and very quickly escorts them out of the forest. He's all smiles and funny answers and stories about the power of nature (Kamen Rider!), because he's not just protecting them from danger, he's protecting them from fear.

I like this dude! I like his style!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kurona

Oh, by the way; I don’t want to say too much on the retool but I think 29-30 is a great point to watch the movie. That’s about the point it would have come out anyway, going between two very different things makes it a less disorienting watch , and I personally feel it’s a nice bookend to 1-29 even if not truly connected.

I've got it slotted for directly after 29! Pretty lucky how that release date ended up coinciding with the show's creative changeover.

Now if someone could tell me where the HBV should go, because the Wiki doesn't have a release date for it...