[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER HIBIKI VOLUME 20 - "PURIFYING SOUND"



"I don't feel old
I don't feel proud
I speak too fast
I laugh too loud
I am the smallest
In the crowd
I don't feel old"

-Wye Oak, "I Don't Feel Young"

Todoroki is a bundle of energy, and for the world of Kamen Rider Hibiki, that makes him weird. The whole aesthetic of this show is Make The Mythic Part Mundane And Make The Mundane Part Mythic, so Todoroki being an Oni that actually has fun with it is... it's just enormously confusing to all of the adults in this one.

And, metaphorically, that's kind of key. The people who are confused by Todoroki (I keep wanting to say "troubled", but it's really more confusion than any sense that he's endangering himself) are basically his dad, Zanki; his grandad, Ichiro; and his uncle Hibiki. They've got a system for being an Oni, and Todoroki is doing stuff that's outside that system. They spend most of this episode not getting him, not getting what he feels, and not getting why he's being so weird.

It's an episode that's setting us up to have Todoroki's enthusiasm get tempered by failure, or exposed as recklessness. He's rushing into combat, he's getting clocked by Makamou that he should be on the lookout for, and he's just hilariously tense and sweaty in every conversation. Or, not tense, but... awkward? Hyper? Every time he needs to assure someone that he's okay, and he's got control, his responses are basically I'M FINE and I'VE GOT THIS and I DON'T EVER FEEL LIKE A FRAUD and NERVOUS PUKES ARE WHAT CONFIDENT PEOPLE DO RIGHT. It's so unconvincing that it's got to be something that's going to trip him up. He's got to be ready to have his weaknesses exposed by this story, and for his adult mentors to be there to tell him that it's okay, he just needs to slow down.

I mean, that's what the Asumu storyline is, right? Asumu's desperate to feel useful at Team Hibiki Bar and Grill (home of the Flaming Oni), so he's working too quickly and making mistakes. He feels terrible about dropping a tray, and he's convinced that Ichiro's going to berate him about it. On the one hand, I don't think we've ever seen Ichiro being anything other than kind and generous, so Asumu's fear feels a little overblown. On the other hand, if you screw up at work and the manager of a demon-exploding franchise/cult asks to speak to you in the basement... I don't know, maybe Asumu's right to be trepidatious! I would've probably quit on the spot and never looked back! It's a haunted ninja house! But, no, Ichiro just tells Asumu to be more thoughtful, to slow down, and not to worry about it. The point seems to be that he already has the trust of his bosses, so there's no need to risk errors by doing too much too fast. Slow down, you've already got the job.

Except, that isn't the point of Todoroki's story. I mean, a little, maybe, but not really. (You could argue that Hibiki and Zanki are just there to reassure him, but I'm not sure they have that kind of impact on Todoroki. He doesn't seem, like, changed by them being around.) The point of Todoroki's story is that the adults were wrong, and he's right. His methods may be unorthodox, and they mostly stem from him feeling like he's not doing enough and everyone's secretly disappointed in him (which is incredibly troubling and maybe glossed over in this one), but he gets results, dammit! They couldn't see that he needed to do things differently than they do. Once they see that his Strange New Methods a.k.a. Just A Basic Guitar Solo That's Been Around For Decades is him testifying to his devotion, they get it. Moreover, they support him. Zanki decides to give Todoroki help, but not in the form of more mentoring, but in carrying some of the load for him. It's not about Todoroki not being good enough, so Zanki has to hang around. It's that Todoroki is great, but with some support he could be greater.

(Also, shit, Todoroki is great in this episode. That move where he flings his ax to explode the Douji, and then it falls onto the Hime to explode it? God damn! Not a big action-y episode, but that move was bonkers!)

I didn't expect this episode to go that way, and it's all the better for it. I like that Todoroki's weirdness isn't something to correct, but something to celebrate. He's a hero. An exceptionally weird, possibly in need of therapy to overcome his feelings of worthlessness, easily excitable hero. Congratulations, you sweaty, bug-eyed close-talker, you.