[Fish Sandwich]

I would honestly merely call the finale a mitigated failure, based on how I remember it, at least. Not that those memories are very reliable, because I've barely had a thing to say for like the entire last fifth of this show, which bummed me out a bit. I feel bad whenever I'm not actively contributing to these threads. But I do have thoughts about this episode, and I've gotta do my job as the site's resident contrarian.

Like I mentioned way back at the beginning of the thread, Hibiki was the last Heisei Rider show I ended up watching while playing catch-up after getting into the franchise, and frankly, that very last scene is one I love, and it's always had a special place in my heart. The retooled section of this series, as Die has captured so wonderfully, was uneven, to say the least. Even as someone who maybe didn't totally appreciate everything Hibiki was doing, I could tell a lot of that spark and purpose was gone, and the show was struggling to find new footing. There were things I still enjoyed, but huge swathes of it were failing to really *grab* me.

But right at the end there, despite all the other horrible decisions the plotting makes, I thought they nailed the final statement on Hibiki as well as Takatera's crew possibly could have, and people who have seen me get in on disowing this part of the show with Switchblade should understand I don't say that causally.

Hibiki telling Asumu being an Oni isn't the only way to be his apprentice, that is the absolute core of what the series was about to me. I've always been staunchly against the idea of Asumu becoming one, because it would horribly undermine the entire point of his role as an audience surrogate. Apparently the original crew was open to going either way depending on where the story ended up naturally leading them, but I just can't imagine them landing anywhere else. Die talks about how Asumu grew up by leaving Hibiki behind, but what I'd add is that the joke "rediscovering your heroes as an adult" bit is arguably part of the text of the episode. I see that final scene as basically saying that Asumu's decision to try and essentially throw Hibiki away was no more the answer than blindly mimicking him was. It's merely another step in the journey, and that the real endpoint is realizing it's okay to keep carrying Hibiki in his heart, along with all the lessons he learned from him, because it really did mean something.

It's... I'm getting rambly and I don't think I'm doing a great job describing it, but it's the perfect note for the show to end on, in my opinion. It's a rough ride getting there, but I forgot about all the stupid monster stuff in this one eventually. I never, ever forgot seeing that chat between Hibiki and Asumu with the sun on the horizon with Shounen Yo playing, and finally feeling like I was watching Hibiki again.

Plus, I learned in recent years the title of this one is derived from Asumu's name the same way the first was Hibiki's, and that really appeals to my love of good episode titles AND bookends. Again, hard to imagine that part being any better.