[Switchblade]

Ibuki's got a nice suit, yeah. It's probably my least favorite of the main ones, though? It's nice, but I really like the iridescent element that Ibuki's black suit lacks. It's still a damn good suit, but I like the others more. The pipes and mask are very stylish, though. I also love the hell out of the trumpet gun. It is objectively silly, but it also works beautifully within the logic of how the show's finishing attacks work. I'm also a big fan of the henshin whistle.

Akira is a character I'll wait and talk about more after the next episode. Like the rest of the show's cast, though, I'm definitely a big fan. I love that they went with a female character as Ibuki's apprentice instead of the "boys only" club that most Rider shows - especially in this era - go with.

One other thing that debuted in this episode: we got our first significant re-arrangement of the opening theme, adding in more horns to denote the debut of Ibuki. This is something that the show will do for the rest of the real run and you'll hear a lot of different versions of the opening. It's another one of those cool little touches that makes Hibiki so unique.