[Fish Sandwich]

Okay, I figured out why I like Ibuki. It's because I like Toshihiko Sahashi.

He's just this really amazing composer I've gushed about on several occasions – usually to point out how great he is at varying up his style – which is certainly evident with Hibiki. He naturally went with a heavy emphasis on percussion for the most part, but like any good Rider soundtrack, each Rider has a distinct motif, which is pretty easy to do when they're also themed directly around musical instruments.

For Ibuki, that means wind instruments, and that's right in Sahashi's wheelhouse. Triumphant orchestral sounds and jazzy tunes are what he excels at more than anything. It's what he does on Sentai, and when his first collaboration with Takatera resulted in tracks like this, is it any wonder he kept getting asked back nearly every time Takatera was making a show after that? Is it any wonder that Takatera specifically requested he do the composition for the theme songs too despite Rider keeping those roles separate all throughout Agito-Blade? Is it any surprise Kagayaki then turned out to be not only a great jam, but one with countless arrangements (we're already up to four) just for the sake of better matching each episode?

I'll say it again: only Toshihiko Sahashi could've scored the Rider show about music.

Oh, and only Ishida could've done the direction for this episode, by the way. I forgot to look at the credits while watching this one, and then immediately had my suspicions the moment we got another overly elaborate musical sequence to open an episode.