[Sh Ranger]

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER HIBIKI VOLUME 26 - “PASSING DAYS”
KAMEN RIDER HIBIKI VOLUME 27 - “PASSING DOWN THE BOND”

Real interesting two-parter!

There’s a lot of confusion in the first part. It’s disorienting. A lot of weird cuts, garish colors, extreme close-ups. Creepy images, terrified victims, horror vibes. There’re hard edits between a shocking monster scene and a light character scene, like the monster plots are encroaching on safe spaces, pushing further into the narrative. There’s still a safety to our cast, but it feels fleeting.

It’s nice to see the monster stuff take a big step up. The mythology is still pretty light, all things considered. Black and White Clockamous, Doujis and Himes… it’s not a lot, you know? It’s a very slim framework to the Oni’s mission. Here, there’s both a little bit more specificity to what’s going on with all of the seasonal monster stuff (very much appreciated), and also an increased level to the threat.

In general, the show keeps the monsters as something the Oni have to go hunting for, so a story where the monsters are both all around them and completely untouchable, it’s a big change. On top of that, we’ve got the new Fancy-Dress Douji and Hime, having some weird connection to the White Clockamou and affecting Zanki through completely different scenes. Which, it’s that disorienting feeling, where boundaries between scenes bend to the will of the enemy, and the Oni seem powerless to strike back.

Just, overall, really liked how the monster threat escalated here. It’s still mysterious, but that didn’t bother me at all. I kind-of love it? I love how primal the imagery is now, how frustrated Ibuki gets, how Zanki’s forced into a fight he knows he’ll probably lose, it’s great. It is great. If any non-Kuuga show can get away with a new phase of the plot being Now The Colors Are REALLY Weird, it’s Hibiki.

The fact that Zanki put up a fight against the Bakeneko Douji and Hime with a crippled body and no superpowers and only got defeated cause the Kimono Douji and Hime showed up is bad*ss though! They're lucky he's retired from active duty.

Speaking of Kimono Douji and Hime, their voices are actually not mixed up which means they must be a pretty big deal. Their appearance is a portent that the show is about to become completely different. That's the less meta reason anyway.

There's a weird hierarchy to the villains since it's not like they all live in the same base talking about their evil plans, they're very vague. It's like, you think the black and white cloaked guys seem like a big deal at first, right? But then it turns out, nope, they're just mere puppets for controlling and empowering the Makamou. You never know when someone bigger and more important is going to show up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

I’m not sure if we’ll get more with Tsutomu, present-day or from his backstory, but I’m pretty happy with what we got here. I like that his reason for washing out as an Oni was that his parents said no. It’s such a weird angle to come at a story that’s point is getting Asumu to figure out what he wants. I mean, they could’ve had Tsutomu not be good enough, or not appreciate it, or have a feud with someone, but no. This kid wanted it, and had to quit, and it clearly haunts him. He’s trying to move on, but there’s the way he asks if Hibiki has an apprentice that makes it clear that he wishes he could go back, make a different choice.

(The show doesn’t say it here, but I’m assuming Tsutomu was apprenticing under Ibuki. Zanki already had Todoyama, Hibiki was solo, and Akira sort-of pales a bit when she sees Tsutomu. Feel like he was Ibuki’s apprentice.)

Or maybe he's Sabaki's former apprentice and his unfortunate resignation is another reason why Sabaki always loses whenever he's onscreen, due to loneliness? Sabaki needs more headcanons apparently.

Based on Ibuki's age, he probably would have been too young to mentor anybody before Akira. Who knows?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

It’s layered in well to Asumu’s story. Once again, there’s no big decision to Asumu and Hibiki’s relationship. Tsutomu is just another path that Asumu could end up on. Not a cautionary tale or anything, Tsutomu isn’t destroyed by this, but something for Asumu to consider as he keeps defining himself. Similarly, Zanki’s questioning of Hibiki gets the mentor side some screentime, with the two dads warmly joking about how awesome it is to be a dad. (Zanki’s so proud of Todoroki! And he always has been! And he’s so bad at hiding it!) Hibiki wants to be something more than just an Oni mentor to Asumu, in the same way that Asumu doesn’t feel the need to be an Oni apprentice just to learn from Hibiki.

If Tsutomu’s story is about anything, it’s maybe about how forcing that relationship into a more strict definition can kill it. Letting it develop naturally, making sure both participants feel like they’re getting what they want out of it, that’s when it’s healthy. Hibiki cutting out Asumu because he’s not an official apprentice, or Asumu enlisting as Oni to keep Hibiki as a mentor… then what? Once it’s codified, then what happens if Asumu doesn’t work out?

Regarding Tsutomu, I totally forgot he was a character until I rewatched this arc. He's still in high school according to Midori, sophomore perhaps, so I presume he must have been in middle school during his Oni training, hence the desire for approval from parents. It's interesting to see what is essentially an Oni dropout.

Fortunately, Shounen's mother seems to be very encouraging of how Shounen chooses to live, which means whether he becomes an Oni or decides he doesn't need to follow that path depends on him. His interaction with Tsutomu seems to be very sempai-kouhai and adds a new perspective to his uncertain future.

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Originally Posted by Androzani84

Nice to see you’re back in the swing of things. Just two more episodes before the big turnover. While I’m sure Switchblade will try to convince you not to watch it with little reasons provided, I’m working on three reason why you SHOULD watch it.

I can think of at least 2 reasons to watch. Looking forward to seeing what else you think makes it worth watching.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Yeah, schedule-wise, I'm trying to make up some lost time. Thursday's going to be 28/29, Friday is a look back at this phase of the show (and a nice point for Switchblade to bail for their own mental health), Saturday's the movie, Sunday is 30, etc.

I intend to skip the movie due to how terrible it is but I'll explain later.