[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enchilada645

Anyway Kiriya... uh... so how do I put this... since this is my first time seeing this character. And I don't know if Zi-O like pulled their punches with him. But... I don't find him that bad? Like, he's not really what I'd call intolerable and just what basic knowledge of the second half of Hibiki I have, it feels like this Arc was meant to sort of address him as a character. Kinda like how the Decade Hibiki Arc wanted to tackle a lot of more broad stuff in terms of "fixing" Hibiki.

This is an episode where Kiriya a) pretends to be a hero that he isn't; b) pretends to be of a higher status than he is; c) allegedly failed so badly at being a mentor that he helped create Another Hibiki; and d) makes our heroes do a bunch of grueling busywork as a distraction... and you are STILL arguably seeing him in the most flattering light ever. And I'm a fan of his!

Kiriya's a very tough character-type in general, and his role in Hibiki was not to most people's taste. He's pretty fun here, though? I especially like how close to the surface his abandonment/daddy issues still are. His motivations are still hilariously transparent.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enchilada645

Sougo using Kuuga because this episode aired on the last week of Heisei I think.

Neat! I think you could also view the Kuuga usage as the closest alternative to a Hibiki Ridewatch, since Kamen Rider Hibiki was, like, Fun Kuuga.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheRaizin

But when I saw this guy walk up and say "I'm Hibiki." I went: "Naaaaaaahhh." You don't even look like or sound like him! But I don't hate him either, at least in this one, because I am unknowledgeable about Hibiki as a whole. I don't know this guy, who is this guy, why do people hate him, is he a Kamen Rider, why is he called Transformed Kyosuke but also Kamen Rider Kyoki, is he Hibiki? Probably not! Who and where's Asumu? Where is Hibiki?!

Honestly, none of that is even necessary to both understand and appreciate/"appreciate" Kiriya in this episode. He is viewed -- both in-story and through the fandom -- as a giant phony and a total pain-in-the-ass. Todoroki is more or less the audience stand-in at this point in the story.

At the same time, Kiriya's troubled in a way that could engender sympathy (YMMV), so he's not a total write-off.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

At least we got Todoroki, though, and Todoroki is always a welcome sight.

He's great! I love that he got older, and grittier, but he didn't just turn into Zanki. That would've been the obvious move, but it's nice that Todoroki is still sort of this weird loner who genuinely loves rocking out. Maybe my favorite non-Sabaki Oni?