[VoidinToku]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xtreme RX

Another awesome episode. Zi-O has been on a roll.

No, it's not as good as the Agito tribute. They had everything lined up for that one. But based on the actors they could get back, they did a hell of a job with Hibiki as well.

We got our first heart-to-heart between tertiary Rider's with Woz and Todoroki and it was fantastic. Woz's "training" as his apprentice is hilarious and I love how Todoroki mentioning Zanki and how important just being around him was helps Woz find his motivation to celebrate Sougo's birthday. I feel from the dialogue that Zanki was the reason Todoroki wouldn't have an apprentice, but by the end he seems ready to move on and begin looking for one. Aside from that, it's nice that he finally accepts Kiriya after seeing his determination and later we even get a reference to Hinaka, implying that they finally ended up together (and I suppose that's the only way to do it, since the actress unfortunately passed away; RIP Miyuki Kanbe).

As for Kiriya, he got his redemption of sorts. We see him being a stuck-up dick at first, but through Sougo he remembers that even in failure, he found joy in teaching Tsutomu, who looked up to him. With that motivation, he manages to become Kamen Rider Hibiki via the RideWatch.

Where did the Hibiki RideWatch even come from? Good question. Doesn't really matter, the way these MacGuffin's work makes little sense at this point. What's important is we got to see the original Hibiki suit in action, using his finisher in modern CG with "Kagayaki" playing in the background. That's two-for-two returning insert themes. I hope this trend continues onto Kiva's tribute and beyond. Woz and Geiz getting turned into watches while untransformed was hilarious.

A big theme in Hibiki was finding your own way, and Kiriya was stuck trying to be just like Hibiki and failing miserably. But by taking Tsutomu as his disciple, he found his own "beat". So he passes on the power of Hibiki, instead vowing to forge his own path. There is finally character growth for this disliked character and I do think it's redemptive. He failed where Asumu succeeded and now, 14 years later, he has realized what it means to be like Hibiki-san.

What I like the most about this is, much like the Fourze tribute, it's a fantastic format that respects the original show even without the principle actors. So props to the writers for respecting the source material.

Sougo celebrating his birthday was appropriately bombastic, ending the episode off on a joyous note. We get to see our next legend through a cool splash of Kiva hanging upside down by a full Moon, broken chains dangling around him. Missed that imagery.

Kind of wanted hibiki to return as a suit to save kiriha in silent and just pass on his rise watch offscreen care freely. Kiriya gotten so much hate for stealing asumi's limelight in second half and double down on that near finale when asumu won't be getting his henshin like hbv. Looks like drive, kabuto, and kiva won't be getting their lead back as well. Deno? Zeronos naomi might not come back considering grease/otoya and garu/todo. It'll be confusing