Kamen Rider Hibiki
Jan. 26th, 2012 12:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cypsiman2Hit the beat, keep your beat!
Kamen Rider Hibiki is an interesting entry in the Kamen Rider franchise; in its original form it wasn't even a Kamen Rider series at all, but an unrelated story idea that Shotaro Ishinomori, the creator of Kamen Rider, had put together before his unfortunate passing. As such, many of the norms and conventions present in other Kamen Rider series, the use of a belt as a Transformation Trinket, shouting "transform", the Rider Kick, all these things and more are absent from the series. In fact, the heroes are not even referred to as Kamen Riders, but as Oni, and unlike the solitary heroes of the past who were frequently forced against their will, becoming an Oni is an entirely voluntary process with a mentor-student relationship and a vast support of other Oni and normal humans who provide material and spiritual support in their secret war against the Makamou, monsters that can only be defeated through pure sound. One day, high school freshman Asumu stumbles upon one of these Oni, the titular Hibiki, and so he changes as their fates become tangled together.
However, all was not well in paradise; the show was not performing to expectations and so with episode 30 a massive re-tool was put into effect.
For starters, a new character was introduced for the sole purpose of becoming Asumu's rival in becoming Hibiki's disciple. He is among the absolute worst characters in all of Kamen Rider, a self-important tool who smugly talks down to everyone else and is constantly trying to "prove himself" by trying to convince everyone else that he is superior so that maybe one day he'll buy into his own noise. Not only is he insufferably annoying, but he is also grossly out of place in the show, completely unnecessary. Also, Akira, a disciple to another Oni who has been well on her way to becoming an Oni herself, is derailed into abandoning her goals. Lovely. Plus, the ending is a mess.
On the other hand, it wasn't entirely bad; most notably, the re-tooled portion of the show featured Shuki, a female Oni who despite having far too little screentime, manages to be an awesome and morally-complex antihero. There are other good bits here and there in the re-tool, but not many.
Ultimately, one would be best off watching the first 29 episodes, watching the movie, and then writing your own fanfic for how the rest of the story goes.
Kamen Rider Hibiki is an interesting entry in the Kamen Rider franchise; in its original form it wasn't even a Kamen Rider series at all, but an unrelated story idea that Shotaro Ishinomori, the creator of Kamen Rider, had put together before his unfortunate passing. As such, many of the norms and conventions present in other Kamen Rider series, the use of a belt as a Transformation Trinket, shouting "transform", the Rider Kick, all these things and more are absent from the series. In fact, the heroes are not even referred to as Kamen Riders, but as Oni, and unlike the solitary heroes of the past who were frequently forced against their will, becoming an Oni is an entirely voluntary process with a mentor-student relationship and a vast support of other Oni and normal humans who provide material and spiritual support in their secret war against the Makamou, monsters that can only be defeated through pure sound. One day, high school freshman Asumu stumbles upon one of these Oni, the titular Hibiki, and so he changes as their fates become tangled together.
However, all was not well in paradise; the show was not performing to expectations and so with episode 30 a massive re-tool was put into effect.
For starters, a new character was introduced for the sole purpose of becoming Asumu's rival in becoming Hibiki's disciple. He is among the absolute worst characters in all of Kamen Rider, a self-important tool who smugly talks down to everyone else and is constantly trying to "prove himself" by trying to convince everyone else that he is superior so that maybe one day he'll buy into his own noise. Not only is he insufferably annoying, but he is also grossly out of place in the show, completely unnecessary. Also, Akira, a disciple to another Oni who has been well on her way to becoming an Oni herself, is derailed into abandoning her goals. Lovely. Plus, the ending is a mess.
On the other hand, it wasn't entirely bad; most notably, the re-tooled portion of the show featured Shuki, a female Oni who despite having far too little screentime, manages to be an awesome and morally-complex antihero. There are other good bits here and there in the re-tool, but not many.
Ultimately, one would be best off watching the first 29 episodes, watching the movie, and then writing your own fanfic for how the rest of the story goes.
