[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunred

Okay, fun fact time. The onis have a specific naming convention going for them.
1. All oni names consist of a word that describes their characteristic and end with the "-ki" suffix, the onyomi style of reading oni(鬼). In the case of Hibiki, it is a combination of hibiki(響き, which means echo) and the -ki suffix. Ibuki also follows the same style of naming convention.
2. If a word that ends with "-ki" is being used to describe the oni, the last syllable is ignored and omitted to avoid redundancies, which is why Hibiki is not called Hibikiki and Ibuki is not called Ibukiki.
3. If the word does not end with "-ki" no omittance is required and simply added together. An example of this is the name Zanki that was mentioned in episode 5 simply being a combination of zan(斬), which means to slash or cut down, and "-ki".

Quote:

Originally Posted by Androzani84

You may have noticed that Akira has a silver version of Ibuki’s whistle. So I’ll take the time to mention that another thing that separates percussion Oni like Hibiki from brass Oni like Ibuki is their choice of transformation device, with the former favouring the tuning fork and the latter going for the whistles. Behind the scenes, it saves them a lot of money on new transformation devices for everyone, which is great from a prop point-of-view. From a toy-seller’s, not so much, especially when your sister Series is doing well with variations on the same devices https://youtu.be/6ExcBuLZhRc

Very neat! Thank you both!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

I guess every post I make from this point is going to end up being me realizing more things I love about Ibuki, but, uh, the whole wind shtick? It only just occurred to me how classic Kamen Rider that is, and that's on top of already having a bike and everything.

I also remember always really loving Akira and their whole dynamic together, and I'm quickly seeing why again. Ibuki and her together are characters that do a lot to inform you about the world of the show by their mere existence. It's a glimpse into what a "typical" Oni in his prime might be like that goes to prove how much of an oddball Hibiki kinda is, especially taking into account his relationship with Asumu. Ibuki does exactly what a good secondary Rider is supposed to, in that he contrasts the main Rider in both design and role in the narrative, but he goes about it in such a different way than usual, which is very much this show.

And speaking of unusual things, pretty bold of Hibiki to not have Hibiki transform at all for two episodes in a row!

There's a thing that was said about the success of Star Wars worldbuilding, that George Lucas could've pointed the camera at nearly any character and you could've had an interesting story. That's hard to do! It's hard to create a world that has even minor characters making the audience say What Is That Dude's Deal.

Hibiki kind-of already managed that with Ibuki and Akira? They basically take over this episode from Asumu (a little) and Hibiki (a ton), and the narrative doesn't suffer from it at all. If the next episode would've been the start of 40-odd more episodes of Ibuki and Akira fighting monsters and being instructional for growing up into a responsible adult, I would 100% understand why the production team made that decision.

I really love how rich the world of this show is, how little of it seems to depend on directly supporting Hibiki as a character. It means they can tell stories about anything.