[NGW]

God forbid that everything isn't wrapped up a nice neat little package at the end of the season. The show wasn't about the conflict between the oni and the marakumo (been a while, that's what the villains were right, with the douji and hime...). Yes, that's a part of it and obviously where the action is, but the show was, ostensibly, about Asumu and his relationship with Hibiki and the Oni, it was a coming of age story and showed how Hibiki and the others impacted him as he grew up at a time of a crossroads in his life, with a bit of a look at the lives and relationships of the oni as well. I feel that it was a fairly satisfying conclusion to that. And as has been mentioned, some of the show's strongest moments come in the latter half of the season, after the production staff change. Overall, yeah the first 29 episodes are the best, but I don't think the last chunk was bad enough to just pretend it doesn't exist, it was more than watchable.

So yeah, Winston I whole-heartedly recommend watching Hibiki. ALL of Hibiki. It is a fantastic show, beginning to end, it's not like it's the first or only Rider season to have one half stronger than the other.