[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER HIBIKI VOLUME 36 - "HUNGERING SHUKI"



"The same games that we played in dirt, in dusty school yards
Have found a higher pitch and broader scale
Than we feared possible, someone must be picked last
And one must bruise and one must fail"

-The Weakerthans, "Sounds Familiar"

I really love how world-weary Akira is.

There's always been a maturity to her, something that makes her more grounded and contemplative than Asumu or Hitomi (or is that Midori?), and certainly someone who has exactly zero patience for Kiriya's... just, Kiriya. She's someone who thinks before she speaks, and feels things deeply. She's serious, and she treats things seriously.

The extra juice to her character in this one is that she doesn't know why she wants to be an Oni anymore. Her parents were killed by a Makamou, and she threw herself into being an Oni. She wanted to destroy Makamou, she was good at her job... it's a win/win.

Except, she's getting older, and the hatred that powered her crusade against the Makamou is running out. The death of her parents is a healed wound. What's left is... you know, it's a job. She's good at it, but... if it's not going to make her feel whole, not going to quell that anger, why do it? Why dedicate your life to something just because you're good at it?

So now, at Episode 36, we have the But Why Heroism episode for Hibiki.

I appreciate how introspective this episode is, how methodical. Kiriya's only in a couple scenes, and Akira speaks for the audience by staring blankly at him and thinking Time And A Place My Dude. It's an episode that's treating Akira's doubt as a valid thing, a real concern. She doesn't just quit or whatever, she's still doing her job, but she needs to know why she should keep doing it. The fact that multiple characters are trying to work with her, to explain the reasons why you should or shouldn't be an Oni... I like that? It's not trying to steer her back into Full-Time Oni, but it's also an awareness of what Takeshi loses if she bails. She's not treated like the part-time help, she's treated like the future of the Oni.

And then, on the other hand, we've got Shuki and Zanki.

Hibiki makes a point midway through the episode, when Asumu wonders if maybe he should become an apprentice, that... shit, how did he phrase it? "Being an Oni... means you have to be an Oni." It's, I think, Hibiki's way of saying that people become Oni because they can't see themselves as anything else. The kind of dedication and commitment being an Oni takes, coupled with the life-and-death stakes of fighting Makamou and the sacrifices to your personal life... it has to be the entirety of your ambition, the totality of your desire. You only become an Oni if you can't not be an Oni.

So, what do you do if you're Zanki or Shuki? What do you do if your body says No? Shuki had to quit being an Oni, and Zanki's told that if he ever Henshins again he'll probably die. Zanki was lucky enough to be kept on as Todoroki's mentor/assistant, but Shuki... god, what must it be like to have to leave behind everything you trained for, everything you were ever good at, everything you believed in? How much would that eat at you? Knowing the world is perpetually in danger, that monsters exist, and you're... what, arranging flowers? How could that feel like anything less than psychological annihilation?

So we've got these two characters in the story, Akira and Shuki, as opposing examples of the drive to be an Oni. Akira doesn't know if she's dedicated enough, while Shuki is arguably too dedicated. (Ibuki is maybe onto something with this whole Work/Life Balance initiative!) Zanki exists in the middle, someone who isn't the hero he used to be, but can still be useful to the next generation.

Which is the other thing I liked about this story, how it feels very generational. Zanki and Shuki feel like the old guard, desperate to feel relevant (Shuki) or mourning the end of their relevance (Zanki). Meanwhile you've got Asumu and Akira (and Kiriya, a little), trying to figure out their place in the world, what's worth their commitment. This push and pull of characters taking to the stage, versus those hogging the spotlight.

I just... I really like the questions this episode is raising. I love that it's centered on Akira. She's one of my favorite characters on this show, and she deserves every bit of story the show gives her. I mean, she's no Sabaki, but who can be?