[Kamen Rider Lolita]

Hibiki, episodes thirty through forty-eight. Yes, I finally found the courage to finish this series, yay!

The changes I immediately noticed include: no narration by Asumu at the start of each episode, the removal of flashing kanji, the eventual change in OP and removal of ED, more focus on the Oni and less on Asumu, and the inclusion of Kiriya. The changes are definitely there, and they aren’t subtle, either.

I knew I was bound to get some enjoyment out of them but honestly: I didn’t find these last nineteen episodes to be as bad as I thought I would. At no point did these episodes make me feel like I was watching a different show that just happened to feature the same characters and setting as the first twenty-nine episodes. I don’t know― Had I watched the series in one go, perhaps the shift in tone would have been more obvious.

I’m not saying the changes were good but in Inoue’s defence, he was only doing what TOEI wanted―make alterations to help boost toy sales―since the original team, quite rightly I’d say, refused. It’s disappointing that the original team couldn’t tell the story they wanted. TOEI didn’t have to fire them. The team could have done what was asked in their own way. If only the higher-ups just had faith.

Overall I quite enjoyed both “traditional” and “untraditional” Hibiki. My only real complaint with Inoue’s take on the series―changes above notwithstanding―is the last episode. The sealing of the Orochi was a bit underwhelming, and I felt that “one year later” epilogue-like thing just came out of nowhere. The conversation between Hibiki and Asumu at the end was quite touching, though.

Also, I found it quite hard to tell that the final fight was rewritten while it was being filmed. , the magic of editing! XD