[ShyGuy]

I'm going to say Kamen Rider Hibiki, to a degree. I rarely see it get talked about, and when it does, it's usually not terribly positive. I'm watching through it now and I thought everything up through about episode 30 or so was really great. It tried to do something different, and I think it succeeded. The suits really stand out among other Riders and are some of my favorites in the series (It's a shame we haven't gotten anymore Figuarts for them, especially with how fantastic Hibiki's turned out). The Japanese mountain scenery is amazing, the show is full of absolutely beautiful locations and is almost worth watching just for that alone. The pacing is pretty slow and I can see how that can be boring to some people, but I think it fits with the very nature-oriented visual direction of the show and gives it a very tranquil and calming feeling, I would actually feel noticeably more relaxed after watching an episode or two. On top of all that is the excellent character writing, pretty much everyone feels like a well-realized and fleshed out character. Asumu's growth and relationship with Hibiki is a particular highlight, as well as Todoroki's development.

The tragedy of Hibiki is that all of this great build up comes crashing down as soon as Inoue explodes on to the scene with about as much subtlety and nuance as the Kool-Aid Man. The quality absolutely tanks at this point, and although I'm still not finished with it (On episode 40 at the time of writing this) it seems to keep finding ways to get worse. Ultimately I think the reason most people overlook Hibiki or don't like it is because of its particular uniqueness that won't work for everyone, but the writing of the second half certainly doesn't help its reputation I'd imagine. It's a shame, because the first half or so of the show is some of the best Rider material I've seen.