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10-18-2020, 02:57 PM | #311 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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Location: Chicago, IL
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Hibiki getting stronger through summer training is fine but I think it's weird that it's Hibiki specifically mentioned to do this and not any of the other 100+ Oni across Japan. I mean, sure, he's the Primary Rider, he gets priority but training is the basic requirement for people to become Oni, so I feel like this shouldn't be a Hibiki-exclusive thing since it's not like he had a technological advantage such as the Faiz Gear's high functionality to explain new forms.
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10-18-2020, 03:32 PM | #312 |
I have a problematic type
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No, because those shows ended on their own terms. The only thing comparable here I can think of is Decade Complete, and that's more of an "okay, here's where shit gets really weird" and I still keep watching the show.
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10-18-2020, 08:02 PM | #313 |
The Immortal King Tasty
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To be fair, it might just be that none of the other main guys have something like this. I mean, Todoroki only became an Oni like two months ago. For all we know, Sabaki turns gold when he lifts a ton of weights during the winter solstice or something and we just never hear about it.
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10-18-2020, 08:11 PM | #314 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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Quote:
To be fair, it might just be that none of the other main guys have something like this. I mean, Todoroki only became an Oni like two months ago. For all we know, Sabaki turns gold when he lifts a ton of weights during the winter solstice or something and we just never hear about it.
YOU GUYS ARE YOU KIDDING ME WHAT IN THE ACTUAL HELL
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10-18-2020, 10:17 PM | #315 |
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KAMEN RIDER HIBIKI VOLUME 25 - "RACING AZURE"
"All of the punks in Camden could never shout about it, and All of the hipsters in Shoreditch could never style it, and All of the bankers in Moorgate could never buy it for you This is simple, and it's true So let's go swimming this afternoon" -Allo Darlin', "Let's Go Swimming" Aww, what an adorable episode. It's thin as can be, plot-wise. Everyone's got a day off, and they pretty much spend it swimming at pools. Hibiki gets a call to go bail Sabaki out of a jam, and there's a monster fight, but it doesn't last too long. There's a weird moral at the end, about not worrying if you look cool, but it feels completely tacked on. (I mean, it works for Hibiki's reveal, but it's hardly something that's been threaded through the episode. Well?€? maybe the Asumu story has a beat of it, but it's incredibly minor. I don't know, I guess your mileage may vary.) It's a total fill-in episode. What little series-long monster storytelling exists for this show is mostly set to the side. But, of course, WHO CARES. This episode killed me stone dead, a triumph of character-driven storytelling that packs an unbelievable amount of fan service into one episode, while still delivering a thrilling monster-exploding climax. First, let's talk about the music, which makes some incredibly bold choices. To start, the theme song has (to my mind) its first use of a glockenspiel accompaniment, signifying that This Is Going To Be A Weird One. From there, we get screaming hair-metal guitars over Oni swimming in pools, losing the specificity of the characters' signature instruments to make things crazy and upbeat. Nothing about this is like a regular Hibiki episode, tonally, so why not go nuts with the music? Second, holy shit, Hibiki's bike. (Hibike?) I'm not a gearhead. I don't really care about real-world cars and bikes and vehicles. But maybe I am now, because that thing is gorgeous. Its introduction leads into what's basically a minute-long ad for a motorcycle, but, y'know, it earned it. That deep Hibiki purple! The weight of that design! This is not some dirt bike, or some crotch rocket. This is a beast, and the man who rides it is the king of beasts. It's glorious. It's almost stupid how much this episode deifies Hibiki's bike, but we're halfway through the series and we finally have the title character riding his bike in-costume, so HELL YES you make a big deal out of it. If not this, then what? The rest of the episode is a non-stop buffet of tiny delights, a group of diverse and appealing characters hanging out and goofing off. The Hibiki thread is a lot of fun, with Ibuki serving as a way-too-optimistic trainer (You're Doing Great is not helpful advice for someone who's trying to push himself, Ibuki!) and Kasumi bored out of her goddamn mind. She really does feel wasted in this plot, but pointedly so. She's mostly just sitting around, looking gorgeous. (Everyone looks great in this episode, incidentally. Just a handsome, handsome cast.) It's a little unclear why she was brought along, other than to set up the idea that Hibiki is eventually keeping something from her. And it's cute, that he always fights the Kappa alone because it makes his voice high-pitched and ridiculous, and he doesn't want Kasumi to see him being uncool. Which... does he think she thinks he's cool? I don't think that she's given him that impression! She's seen him be goofy, and weird, and make bad jokes. (Ibuki and Kasumi take about an hour to finally laugh politely at Hibiki's Olympics joke.) But just because we all know that Kasumi doesn't exactly hold Hibiki's personality in the highest esteem, there's no saying that Hibiki knows that. His scenes with Midori paint him as a dude who thinks people look up to him more than they do, when most of his non-Oni antics are tolerated at best, so it's probably dead-on right for him to have some vanity when it comes to Kasumi. I believe it! (While we're on the topic of headcanons, I would like to reiterate my belief that Sabaki isn't terrible at his job, he's just the most put-upon and overworked Oni in Japan. Sure, Hibiki can take out three Kappa with only a comically-pitched voice to show for it, but Sabaki had just eliminated 40 giants and an entire subdivision of Spider Houses. Dude's winded! He didn't get a day off at the pool, like some Oni.) The stuff with the rest of the cast at the public pool, it's fantastic. It's just Todoroki being his normal incredibly weird self, swimming three kilometers the wrong way up a lazy river, then hoovering up food that's meant to feed five people; Hinaka trying desperately to make Todoroki at least 15% less weird in front of company; Asumu being oblivious; AsuMum being acutely aware of how oblivious Asumu can be while still finding it a little cute; and Hitomi, who is maybe getting a little worn out with how oblivious Asumu is, and how stressed out she is by constantly saying Oh No We're Just Friends. I'm a fan of the teen romance subplot on this show. I think it's fun. This episode gives it a lot of attention, in the form of What If Some Cute Boy Noticed How Single Hitomi Is. The kid, Tsutomu, is almost designed to cause friction in the Asumu/Hitomi relationship through his mere presence. He's a cute boy who immediately hits on Hitomi. He's got a connection to the inner workings of Takeshi. He's even got an Oni Salute! He is bad news. So of course he doesn't really do anything here. (I assume he'll be back. The show made a suspiciously big deal about him.) He says hi, and leaves. I mean, it's not really an episode about resolving or escalating the romantic hijinks, so much as it's trying to remind the viewer that this shit with Asumu has been maybe going on too long. Hitomi's been crushing on New And Improved Asumu for months, and that's after crushing on Sweet But Ineffective Asumu for who knows how long. This status quo is not sustainable. Keeping Hitomi in this kind of limbo, it's going to have consequences for both of them. If Asumu doesn't wise up soon, he's going to lose a friend. So, yeah, outstanding episode for letting the characters just spread out, be weird, and let stories develop out of that. Really had a great time watching this. Every episode should be a trip to the pool.
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10-19-2020, 02:28 AM | #316 |
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Okay, turns out I have something to say for an episode after 24 and before 30 after all.
Tsutomu isn’t a particularly major player on the TV show, but there’s a novel which retells the entire series, with a few new characters added towards the end, where he becomes an Oni named Akatsuki (Daybreak Demon) And a fun fact: the photo used for untransformed Sabaki in this episode (at least I think it’s this episode, I don’t remember them showing any pictures in his later appearances and the Wiki doesn’t say what episode their screenshot comes from) is of Takayuki Shibasaki, who would become a recurring director starting with the next show, and has since gone on to be the main director for two Rider series (Drive and Saber) and two Sentai series (Go-Busters and Kyuranger). He has a distinct style, but I’ve not really been able to pick it out. And hilariously despite the paper saying he was born in 1968, Shibasaki was born 10 years after that. Ps. I have no idea if either of these pictures will show up, due to wikia moving onto a new server. Last edited by Androzani84; 10-19-2020 at 11:01 AM.. |
10-19-2020, 10:00 AM | #317 |
I have a problematic type
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,420
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Hibiki’s bike is a custom-painted Honda Valkyrie Rune. That makes it unique amongst Kamen Rider motorcycles as being the only one that’s actually street legal in Japan.
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10-19-2020, 10:04 AM | #318 |
Showa Girl
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 9,064
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I think the clear way forward is to let Agito and Ghost ride their pre-henshin bikes
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10-19-2020, 06:29 PM | #319 |
The Immortal King Tasty
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Quote:
(While we’re on the topic of headcanons, I would like to reiterate my belief that Sabaki isn’t terrible at his job, he’s just the most put-upon and overworked Oni in Japan. Sure, Hibiki can take out three Kappa with only a comically-pitched voice to show for it, but Sabaki had just eliminated 40 giants and an entire subdivision of Spider Houses. Dude’s winded! He didn’t get a day off at the pool, like some Oni.)
I think this explains a lot about Sabaki's role in the series. Just like a monster, he's mostly there for the thankless task of getting beat up to make the heroes look better. It's not a pretty job, but someone's gotta do it. So let's all take a moment to appreciate Sabaki, pictured here in his natural environment – getting body checked by an oversized turtle. Oh, and speaking of overworked people with Takeshi, good on Akira for stepping up to run the restaurant while everyone else goes on vacation. Between this and getting that guitar to Todoroki while injured a few episodes back, I've very much remembered why I like her so much. Although it's really not helping everyone else's case that she's apparently being denied both an education AND regularly scheduled off-time...
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10-19-2020, 11:22 PM | #320 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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Hey, gang, just a quick heads-up. After spending the last six hours in the Emergency Room to find out I've been having an anxiety attack for the last two days... probably not going to be able to do a Hibiki tonight. Which double-sucks because Tuesday nights leave me no time to do one. So! Episode 26! With any luck, this Wednesday! See you then!
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