[Magnugiga]

Hibiki... what the hell was that last episode!? Was there more behind-the-scene/budget-related trouble? The narrative conclusion of Asumu pursuing his own path is okay (more than okay, actually; it fits well with his characterisation and the show's overarching theme), but the execution's all over the place. The early run of this Faux Hibiki show was actually tolerable in a vacuum (i.e. if you can look past how it meshes horribly with everything that's been established before), but the final stretch, especially the last ep, was disjointed, oddly paced, and reeks of general air of 'let's just this get over with'.

But yeah, enough with the negativity. I can't praise Prime/Actual Hibiki enough for how good it was as actual kid's show; and by that, I really didn't mean that it's less intelligent/thrilling than your usual KR show. It's just a show that I can imagine 8-year-old me sitting cozily on a Saturday morning, just soaking up the fantastic setting, super likable cast, gentle life lessons, well-measured moments of dramatic impact, and unique integration of musical/mechanical gadgetry elements. Great, great, show, and nothing from episode 30 onward can rid the good times of watching the Actual Show; in a weird way, they might actually made me appreciate the good part even more . I hope they someday try a Kamen Rider Slice of Life again, as unlikely as it is (was... Fourze that? It kinda seems it's like that, just more explicitly comedic?)

Updating my watch list/ranking:

1. Ryuki A
2. Actual Hibiki A
3. Gaim A-
4. W A-
5. Kuuga B+
6. Blade B
7. Faiz B-
8. Black C+
9. Build C+
10. Faux Hibiki C
11. Decade D (*props for being my gateway to Hibiki and featuring OniAkira, tho)

The grades are largely malleable and very subjective measure of my feeling to each show in relation to each other, they'll probably change as I watch and rewatch more shows. I felt Black's was kinda harsh in particular; it's a major slog to to get through the extreme episodic nature of most its episodes in this day and age, but it truly was brimming with fantastic and extremely memorable individual moments.

Not sure yet what I should watch next (besides rewatching Ryuki and reevaluate how I feel about it). I'm in the mood to check out Heisei Phase II show now, so probably one of... Drive, Wizard, or Fourze, just based on which ones with the concept that seem the most interesting to me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matrixbeast

Concerning Kabuto and Agito, there are some general opinions on the two. Kabuto is considered a pretty poor season with an obnoxious main character, while Agito is seen as an average season that doesn't do much bad, but doesn't excel in any aspect. Those are just the generalizations I hear from other fans around the webnet.

I personally think Kabuto is decent once you know what you're getting into, mainly because Kagami is great. And having just finished Agito, I think it's a pretty solid show. Above average with a lovable cast.

Thanks for the info, now I just got more excited about getting to those two someday! Yeah, I only knew Agito as "Kuuga sequel but with different characters" and nothing about Kabuto apart from its spinoff portion in Decade (which isn't exactly memorable either).