[DreadBringer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER HIBIKI VOLUME 16 - “ROARING ONI”

Luckily, the cast of Kamen Rider Hibiki is, to a person, smart and generous and perceptive. This is an episode where mentors need to hope for more for their apprentices than they had themselves; and where apprentices need to be able to see beyond what they’ve learned, to reach for their own successes.

Not talking solely about mentors, but other kind to teachings to others; that for students, it's seen in some places that, you don't need to rely solely on the traditional/by-the-book rules, your creativity can take you a long way sometimes. And for mentors, when at worst scenario, you don't approve the students being better, you could at least learn from their techniques.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

It’s a moral that trickles down through all three partnerships amongst the Oni, and it starts with Zanki and Todoroki.

Yeah like this one, Todoroki tries to imitate Zanki 100% by-the-book. Finally Zanki just declares his teachings to be a waste that needs to be forgotten (2 freaking years!). And I think this fight is currently my favorite fight in Hibiki, it's fluid, it's challenging, and it's dynamic.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

The Ibuki/Akira team takes a run at this moral by addressing my favorite detail: Akira doesn’t ever go to school. They’re too damn busy fighting monsters, and she’s too damn good at it. But while Ibuki has been training her to be an Oni, he wants her to have a fuller life than he had. He wants more for her than he got to experience, and that means making time for her to go to school. His mentoring, it’s not just about preparing her to be an Oni. It’s, like Zanki, about preparing her to be a better Oni, a better person, than he is.

G̶o̶o̶d̶ ̶a̶t̶ ̶i̶t̶?̶ ̶A̶n̶y̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶c̶a̶n̶ ̶s̶i̶m̶p̶l̶y̶ ̶b̶l̶o̶w̶ ̶a̶ ̶f̶l̶u̶t̶e̶!̶ ̶S̶h̶e̶ ̶(̶e̶h̶ ̶w̶a̶i̶t̶.̶.̶.̶ ̶s̶a̶y̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶a̶l̶s̶o̶ ̶l̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶s̶a̶y̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶a̶n̶y̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶c̶a̶n̶ ̶h̶e̶n̶s̶h̶i̶n̶,̶ ̶t̶h̶o̶u̶g̶h̶ ̶i̶f̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶'̶r̶e̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶a̶ ̶f̶i̶g̶h̶t̶e̶r̶,̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶'̶r̶e̶ ̶u̶n̶s̶k̶i̶l̶l̶e̶d̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶s̶t̶r̶o̶n̶g̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶R̶i̶d̶e̶r̶ ̶l̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶C̶r̶o̶n̶u̶s̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶E̶x̶-̶A̶i̶d̶,̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶s̶i̶m̶p̶l̶y̶ ̶m̶i̶n̶d̶l̶e̶s̶s̶l̶y̶ ̶t̶h̶r̶o̶w̶ ̶p̶u̶n̶c̶h̶e̶s̶,̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶R̶i̶d̶e̶r̶ ̶s̶u̶p̶e̶r̶h̶u̶m̶a̶n̶ ̶p̶o̶w̶e̶r̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶c̶a̶n̶ ̶l̶e̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶a̶ ̶m̶a̶r̶k̶)̶ Other than that, joking aside, yeah, "they're too damn busy fighting monsters", a.k.a being professional, and what Akira said to Asumu (as painful as it is) reflects that, they won't have many random daily moments like Asumu, Hitomi, and others, they have static routine. Though Ibuki thinks it's better for Akira to go to school, that it will give her better life. I guess that would mean Akira would need more ambitions than becoming Ibuki's assistant. And, while Ibuki trains Akira to become an Oni, what Akira does is manage the disc animals, that's something also done by Kasumi to Hibiki, but Kasumi isn't Hibiki's apprentice?

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Which is a great way to start talking about the Hibiki and Asumu stuff, which, man. Man. Completely not where I thought it was going, and I loved it for that.

So that sums it up, Hibiki doesn't want to take Asumu as apprentice. Though Hibiki notices how he can improve Asumu, not in fighting way like Hibiki did to Makamou, but in how he approaches life. Though partly that also comes from how Hibiki thought Asumu isn't interested to become an Oni, it's a good thing too, that "mentors" can't dictate how others live, or even force others to become his student (that's quite egoistic to me too). And I never expect Hibiki to had some demeaning thoughts on Asumu, like thinking of him as not dependable at first until he passed the Jounan exam.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

I mean, it looks cooler to me, and that's one of my main criteria for judging fights. It's maybe 85% of what I'm looking for? (The rest is 10% gags and 5% Was Anyone Interrupted During A Form Change Or Henshin.) If I can't judge fights almost purely on aesthetics... I literally can't think of what else they're there for.

I mean yes, I also enjoy flashiness (though not if the special effect is bad) more, and that's the kind of fight I enjoy more too (like in my finisher talk, or that my pet peeve of Riders not utilizing their varied powers enough in neo-Heisei), but talking about badassery, one of it is about who's stronger (better/effective), fighter wise, so with Zanki being actually breaking down, he can't be more effective/stronger than Hibiki or Ibuki who are still in fighting shape, even if Zanki's more enjoyable to watch. Like, for other someone that can spout weak fire against someone that punches at much greater power output, while the former may be flashier, the more badass one would be the latter. Or also quality over quantity; neo-Heisei Riders may have more varied flashy powersets, but doesn't mean they're necessarily stronger than the early Heisei Riders who rely on fewer kind of powers. Unless if you talk about the badass also being Zanki keep going while his body's like that, then it surely is.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Sure! It's basically his entire job at this point! It'd be like judging Hinaka harshly for working in a restaurant!

And unfortunately, some people truly can judge less or non-action characters harshly like that in an action geared shows like that you say there (and I'm talking universally of any media, not only Kamen Rider or Toku) -_-

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Yeah, no, I mostly meant more along the lines of Reasonable Disagreement. People can work together and have different views on how to achieve a goal. Some of the most fulfilling storytelling is when two characters disagree and both of them are right. Here, it was just people working well together and succeeding. A fun thing to root for, but nothing that's going to stick in the brain.

Fair enough, yeah obviously people aren't always alike, humans aren't hivemind at all.