[NGW]

Just finished episode 35 of Hibiki.

Honestly, I really liked this arc. Maybe I'm just a bit of a sucker for love/romance related arcs like this, but I just really enjoyed this storyline. There were some incredibly human moments, as I mentioned in the episode prior with Hinaka's phone call to Todoroki being a fantastic example of this. I felt this episode did a great job of humanizing the characters and showing more of their relationships.

Still not fond of the new opening and them cutting Shonen Yo from the ending, but I'll get over it I guess.

I didn't care for Ibuki's very brief bit of relationship drama. It mirrored Asumu's too much, which I felt was handled rather maturely despite being a case of misunderstanding it felt real, and was just kinda there to stop the oni from finishing the fight too early.

Speaking of finishing, I LOVED Armed Hibiki's taiko finisher, that was just awesome. I have always enjoyed watching taiko drummers, and seeing the actual drumming along with him actual using it on the makamou was pretty awesome.

Edit:

Watching episode 36 now.

Off to a..creepy start. Seriously Kiriya, wtf?

I, in a way, actually like this whole "let's have a contest" thing he has going on with everyone. Not trying to make him seem like the epitome of depth or anything, but it does at least give something to his character. We still don't know all that much about him, but he definitely seems to be trying to cover up or compensate for something (I recall his mother mentioning something about his stomach and rocking or whatever, as well as him being a sore loser), and this is his way of dealing with it, showing how much better he is than everyone else at even the most meaningless of things. It's not much, but it's something.

Oni armor eh? Design is kinda cool..though I can't say I care for the eyes on it.

Nice to see a bit more interaction between Akira and Asumu, been a while since they really had much time together like this from what I can remember. Showing more of her struggling between balancing her school life and her apprenticeship, working towards her future, and Asumu continuing to be at that crossroads of uncertainty..that he started the series in.

And here comes Kiriya to be a dick again.

Poor Sabaki just can't catch a break..

Zanki-san hiding something, hmmm.

Getting a nice little bit of incite into what the oni think of their position, what it means to them (as Asumu phrased it). Hibiki put it well enough, "To be an oni..means having to be an oni". Simple enough to be quite a complicated answer, but I think I get what he is saying. It's a bit like, "with great power comes great responsibility". At least in a way.

Notsugo, looked a bit like a scorpion, I can totally dig it hahaha.

And a bit of backstory for Zanki, love it.

His former mentor seems pretty cool.

And Zanki can no longer transform into an oni? Bummer :[

Again touching on what it means to be an oni, seeing the different interpretations they all have. Getting a bit of a look inside of them.

Zanki does make a good point as to why Akira may be best rethinking her decision to become an oni.

Did..Zanki just destroy that ancient armor?

Shuki regains her oni form, which I assume we'll soon find out why she was stripped of it (I think they said she was forced to give it up, mayhaps this ties into what Akira was talking about in regards to using anger/hate) next episode.

Also, Shuki is an in-show female rider....so why were people acting like Mage in Wizard was such a big deal? People acted like it never happened before.