[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Androzani84

That’s a pretty good take on it. I also feel that if Inoue had more of a hand in creating Hibiki, some of the other Oni would’ve had larger roles than showing up purely to remind us they exist. Or at least, the novel version would do that, since novels based on Inoue’s shows tend to do that. (Kiva’s novel, among other changes, makes Shizuka a key part of the plot).

Probably, yeah. There's still plenty of It Takes A Village stuff in Hibiki, but the main relationship is just Hibiki+Asumu. Even when Asumu's off having an isolated adventure, the Hibiki scenes are there to put the harsh reality into a superhero context. Kiva is... way more Inoue, with motivations and metaphors that are darker and more subjective, and greater pitfalls for Wataru.