[DreadBringer]

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER ZI-O EPISODE 33 - ?2005 - REJOICE! RESOUND! REVERBERATE!?

And he mostly is! He?s pretending to be Hibiki, complete with the Hibiki Salute that I assume killed Switchblade stone dead in 2019, leaving his ghost to haunt these boards and remind people that Hibiki was a 29-episode series. It?s terrifically fake, Kiriya?s bullshit. He?s mostly just torturing Team Zi-O, making them do a bunch of physical training in order to distract them from hunting down Another Hibiki.

I mean for you there was an option for you liking him, because Kiriya's someone who stirrs shit and would cause more drama and chaos (and treated as fun and interesting..). In opposite, a character who is people's favorite of KR franchise as a whole was Kiriya's nemesis, Kuroto, someone that is sociopathic and has god complex. And Kiriya's actually a rarer case too of someone like this not being liked, while for you, the one that you didn't like was so far the likes of Kotaro in Den-O. And due to how he's a worst, which is acknowledged here, this can leave a bitter taste in the mouth to see how Kiriya can get the high position as an Oni trainer in the first place right here despite his behavior, if not about how his behavior got rewarded in Hibiki before by him turning into a Rider and thus likely having some paragon status.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

The thing I liked best about Kiriya was that he was so much work for Hibiki. Asumu was a bright, sensitive kid with a ton of people rooting for him. Kiriya was a little shit who kept weirdly failing upwards. But kids like that maybe need a mentor like Hibiki more than a kid like Asumu, and that?s a worthy point for a show to make. There was always, for me at least, the idea that Kiriya wasn?t irredeemable. The version of Kiriya that everyone hates, that didn?t really go anywhere. That?s the part that Todoroki knows, and the part that gets the spotlight in this episode. But the part of him that could maybe be better, find the humility that eluded him, that was always peeking around the edges in Kamen Rider Hibiki. There?s an explanation to Kiriya?s actions ? his post-show history ? that I?m really anxious to hear. Todoroki may have written Kiriya off, but like Hibiki, I sure haven?t.

Kiriya is obviously not irredeemable, if many shows featuring people with similar behaviors like secondary Riders (that Yuuto too) can attest. I guess it'd be the presentation of this kind of character here regarding how Kiriya probably gets away with too much stuff with his behavior or even being rewarded and have it being excused by him just being different instead. Though for the ones who don't like him, I'd also think that deeming a character as worse than the most despicable villains due to them annoying the audience more (i̶n̶c̶l̶u̶d̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶K̶i̶r̶i̶y̶a̶) to be personal bias. Actually I'm someone who wouldn't want for Asumu to become a Rider, rather him learning from Hibiki in another field of life, but I like about how in their training, Asumu's the one who is superior compared to Kiriya, despite about how outwardly it'd imply otherwise with Kiriya being more physically imposing than Asumu, and also 'oozes' more 'power' via his aggressive and hostile behavior, while Asumu's peaceful and the type who can be a pushover too by that.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Tons of great Kamen Rider Hibiki callbacks in this episode: Todoroki?s one guitar song, and the way his fight music was full of shredding; a brief camping scene; that shot of Heure leaping backwards into a tree is I?d swear the type of shot they used on Hibiki; the word Makamou, which I love; and all of that training, which is as much a Hibiki callback as the Echoing Oni screens in the pre-credit sequence. This episode did a terrific job of evoking Hibiki throughout, and I couldn?t?ve been happier.

So by evoking Hibiki, it means that this episode had the first half Hibiki in its setting which'd be more unusual in Kamen Rider, where the 2nd half of it had Hibiki's setting use the more 'generic' ones as in the city.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Even the little (very funny!) runner with Woz trying to figure out how to celebrate Sougo?s birthday ? which is coming up in only three days for all of us! ? feels of a piece with Asumu?s relationship with Hibiki, and how hard it can be to tell the people we admire how we feel about them. It?s easy to be over-the-top or theatrical, but it?s hard to be real. Woz?z incredibly charming attempts to Make The Biggest Deal are, as Tsukuyomi, exactly the wrong way to celebrate Sougo. They?re the right way to celebrate Zi-O, but not Sougo. The ability to see past the hero to the person underneath is, again, a pretty big Hibiki theme!

I guess there's fundamental difference of how Asumu and Hibiki are normal folks, while Woz is someone absurd as well as was quite evil at least previously. Sougo is someone who wants to become a kind overlord to save the world, while Woz would do anything to make him Ohma Zi-O, but is against Sougo's wishes by encouraging Sougo to give in his dark traits (would mean Woz doesn't see Sougo as the hero tbh, his idol for sure, but more of his dictator), or eliminating his friends who are in Woz's way (disguised as in Sougo's way), like especially Geiz to insist Sougo not rescuing him. I guess it's not about how hard to tell the feelings to the people we admire, but Woz has been constantly going against what Sougo wants all this time due to how he's the bad side regarding the premise of someone sweet turning dictator. Here, for this episode Woz kinda realizes about how his treatment of Sougo can be something bad instead after Tsukuyomi flipped out on his callousness. Some of the talking some sense that is much needed for Sougo's corruptor.