[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER HIBIKI VOLUME 23 - "SUMMER OF TRAINING"
KAMEN RIDER HIBIKI VOLUME 24 - "BURNING CRIMSON"



"We walked for miles with no end in sight
Hand in hand we will grow old
Singing songs of our summers' past
I will never let this go"

-Telekinesis, "Awkward Kisser"

So, I really enjoyed these episodes. There's literally nothing in them that wasn't entertaining, and I loved how focused it was on character. It took things we knew about characters we like, and it explored some of the negative consequences of their motivations. Very, very into these episodes.

They are almost impossible to talk about, though, without simply recounting their storylines.

Like, these two do not want you to have any confusion as to what they're about. Between multiple (really good!) speeches that dig into Todoroki and Asumu's reluctance to expand their horizons, as well as multiple speeches that try to provide context for the ways trying new things can help you and others, as well as a goddamn final line from Hibiki where he tells Todoroki, "And that's why you listen to your seniors," this is not a set of episodes that needs me to say what I got out of them thematically. It's all right there.

But, as surface-level two-parters go, this one was outstanding!

The direction is top-notch, with a lot of visual flourishes and staging to break up some enormous dialogue scenes. The Kasumi/Hinaka/Todoroki/Asumu sequence in 24 is particularly special, as the crosscutting and fantasy shots take some sort-of basic text (it is not a deep metaphor for Asumu, and it's zero metaphor for Todoroki) and turn it into a pretty charming scene.

Honestly, as much as this is a set of episodes that folks probably have only one burning memory of, I think it's really a couple of stand-out episodes for the women of Team Hibiki Bar and Grill (try the Special Mocha Attack Unit). They're always great, always always always, but there's so much extra to love about their characters and performances here.

Hinaka gets the most focus, as she frets over a depressed Todoroki. There's some laughs at the way she crushes on him, but the story gives a lot of value to her dedication to his sweaty anxiety, and how she's able to support him by not letting him give up. It takes their weird relationship seriously (a startling beautiful moment when neither of them know how to talk about their feelings on the phone is... my heart!), so much so that even the teasingly disapproving Ichiro feels for her when she can only wait and see if Todoroki pulls himself together. It's this joke of a coupling that felt, from this story, like something worth fighting for.

Kasumi is a little bit more to the side in this one, but it's great to see her channel Hinaka to figure out how to get Todoroki out of his funk. She doesn't know Todoroki that well, but she's been around Oni all her life, so she can see how being outside his comfort zone scares and confuses him. She excels at reframing his struggle as universal, and overcoming it as a gift to others. It's smart writing for a great character.

The rest of the moral for this story lands on Asumu, as it must, and it's pretty okay. He's bummed about playing the whistle in band (Understandably! Whistles are dumb, Ibuki and Akira!) and he's basically doing a shit job of it. Once he's told by the band leader that, Hey, sometimes we have to chip in by doing things we aren't crazy about, things become a little clearer for Asumu. Then he gets the speech from Hinaka about maybe learning something by trying new things, and we have our resolution to this episode. Nothing else really happened.

Ha ha KIDDING. Obviously, we have to talk about the big moment near the end of the second part, where Akira calls the restaurant and Asumu tells Hitomi like it's no big deal.

Hitomi is such a sweet kid. There's a real warmth to her smile whenever Asumu's around, this joy that she can't disguise. The irony is that she shouldn't worry about hiding it, since Asumu is an oblivious dope when it comes to women. He's at that age where he can't read romantic cues (or one of those people who can never read romantic cues, hi, it me), and it would never occur to him that another teenage girl calling him up would piss off Hitomi. Hinaka is at her most Hinaka in this scene, being coy about who's calling for Asumu and blocking Hitomi's visual field... until Asumu's just like Oh That Was Akira. Hinaka's reaction is (probably) all of our reactions, body language that just screams JFC ASUMU, as his gormless expression briefly evaporated any sympathy I had for him. He's so bad at this part. This is what Hibiki needs to be training him at! Stop being hopeless around these women, Asumu!

oh also hibiki turned red at the end

was that important to you