[Kamen Rider Die]

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Originally Posted by Androzani84

And Asumu getting into a high school? Is it sad that this is the most exciting thing that’s happened in 7 episodes of a 48 episode show? That’s over an eight of the total plot. There’s a reason I’m not keen on the first half of this series.

Yeah, boy, I'm really liking it, but I'm not sure it was a smart way to make a Kamen Rider show. It's nearly monotonous in the way it's celebrating simplicity, and while I find that very soothing and compelling... probably not going to sell a lot of disc animals off of that approach! I don't know that you get to keep your job making a toy-supported superhero action program if your work can be most glowingly described as "soothing"!

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Originally Posted by 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.

Wow! Thanks for the insight!

This show really does an amazing job of... not keying different characters to different instruments exactly, but by looking at what a character is doing emotionally and narratively within an episode relative to the other characters, and figuring out how to express that musically. Ibuki's Henshin has more brass in it, sure, but even the composition is a little more loose, a little more showy. Or Ibuki's motorcycle scene is more full-throated and exciting, while Hibiki's training is more rhythmic and measured.

This is a show that spends as much time thinking about how they're communicating character and tone through music as they do through dialogue or visuals.

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Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

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.

There's a long take of Hibiki and the temple cook (?) talking about what she's making for dinner that is so extra that he might as well have signed it.