Written By: Im a Goofy Goober December 25, 2019
Ironic how last time I talked about my first season, now I feel like I should talk about my favorite. But Kamen Rider Ghost isn’t the best to talk about to someone coming into Kamen rider, so I'll do my other favorite, Kamen Rider Hibiki. I will say I’m still currently watching it, but it’s really good at the parts where I'm at, so I'll talk about it.
Story
The Kamen Riders, known as Oni, battle man-eating beasts called Makamou with "pure sound." One of the Oni, a man named Hitoshi Hidaka “Hibiki” ends up having a teacher and apprentice-like relationship with Asumu Adachi. A young boy unsure of himself and is at a crossroads in his life as he transitions to high school, Asumu learns to be an adult through watching Hibiki and the other Oni as they all train together to hone their skills in fighting the Makamou and the homunculi aiding them. However, the sudden rise of Makamou numbers proves to be a prelude to an upcoming calamity.
The Openings
Kamen Rider Hibiki and Kamen Rider Blade are the only rider shows to have multiple openings. Kagayaki is the first opening theme from Kamen Rider Hibiki. It was performed by Toshihiko Sahashi. Unlike the songs before and after it, Kagayaki is a fully instrumental song, with the only vocals going to the beat of the music. Then half-way through the show, Hajimari no Kimi e became the second opening, performed by Akira Fuse. It was Hibiki's second theme after Kagayaki.
Main man
Hibiki is an interesting man. He is a calm and nonchalant OniHe is one of the most seasoned Oni currently in service. It is not known exactly when he began his training, but it is said that Hibiki became an Oni training alone and has surpassed all former Oni by being the first to wield the Armed Saber. Hibiki has a strong sense of ethics and believes constantly training oneself to keep up their strength. Throughout the series, he is seen training by himself and with other Oni. He is seen as somewhat of a teacher by other Oni, even though Hibiki sees himself as just another fighter in the war against the Makamou. Due to his training, he is seldom seen worrying, he believes that with constant training, he will always come out on top and does not need to worry about his safety. It seems that his hobby is in fact, training. His trademark is his special salute which he uses equally as a greeting (usually with a 'Yo!') or a farewell.
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Main Boy
Asumu Adachi is the main character of Kamen Rider Hibiki, more main character then Hibiki is. For a long time, he was called "boy" by Hibiki, as he was his apprentice. By the end of the season, Hibiki called him by his real name. Asumu met Hibiki on a cruise ship to Yakushima Island where he saved a young boy from falling off the ship. On the island, they meet once again before parting ways. Asumu later left his family and traveled by car into the mountains for sightseeing, only to be attacked by some Monsters. Hibiki saves Asumu but afterward, he saw Hibiki transform into an oni and he was interested in Hibiki ever since. But, after the incident, Asumu had little confidence in passing his exams to get into Jonan High and often sought advice from Hibiki. After graduating from East Shibamata Junior High School, he enrolled in Jonan High School. He was placed in the same class as Hitomi Mochida and Akira Amami. Other Characters that aren’t important to the story, but I mention them just because.
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Movie
Yeah, this movie exists.
Kamen Rider Hibiki & The Seven Senki
Hibiki and Asumu are on their way to a Makamou attack on the beach. Once they arrive there, they see dozens of people running from the massive Orochi, a beast rumored to be the strongest Makamou ever created. Once they arrive, Hibiki walks towards the Orochi and transforms, but all of his attacks prove useless against Orochi. The situation is made even direr when Hibiki jumps in the way of an attack meant for Asumu. Taking the full force of the attack, Hibiki passes out as the Orochi swims away, leaving a panicking Asumu to get help. Hibiki ends up in the hospital and Asumu begins blaming himself for Hibiki's injuries. Feeling useless, he begins helping at Tachibana's, going through dozens of books to try and discover a way to defeat the Orochi. Upon coming across a book with his name on it, Asumu sits down and begins to read what turns out to be the history of Takeshi, the Oni, and the Makamou war. That’s all I'll say because it’s not great, at least in my opinion.
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Not a Rider?
According to producer Shigenori Takatera's assistant Chikara Kataoka, due to the toy sales of Kamen Rider Blade being lower than Toho's Chouseishin Gransazer, the successor of Blade was originally considered as a reboot of the 1972 Toei tokusatsu Henshin Ninja Arashi under the title Henshin Ninja Arashi Prologue: Messenger of Shikigami. Like Kamen Rider, Arashi is one of the heroes created by Shotaro Ishinomori. Takatera said it was the first step to "wake up" Ishinomori and Toei's classic heroes and build a Japanese version of Disney. Later he changed the title to BirdNinja Battle History: Hayate and started to set the basic settings of this ninja vs. yokai style tokusatsu show, including disk-like animals, yokai, taiko music, demon hunters, and master & apprentice. This resulted in the style of Hibiki being completely different than most entries of the Kamen Rider Series. However, when the basic setting was done, Bandai thought they should keep using the title "Kamen Rider" for merchandising. Takatera's team had to adapt all their early settings to a Kamen Rider look-a-like series The Hibiki Hero, which finally became Kamen Rider Hibiki.
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Monsters
Their monsters, that exist, that’s all I have to say, really.
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Ibuki
lori lzumi
He is a 21-year-old member of the head family of the Oni that run Takeshi at Yoshino. Of the core three Onis, Ibuki is the youngest; he is also the youngest Oni in Kanto. Being born into the head family meant that his life would always revolve around being an Oni and battling Makamou, a fact that Ibuki never had a problem with. He wished to protect others and knew that not wanting to carry out his legacy would both disgrace his family name and be selfish. As a member of the head family, Ibuki is automatically selected to carry out especially dangerous missions whose outcomes will likely effect Takeshi as a whole. Ibuki is a confident Oni, but unlike Hibiki, he is confident because he believes no one in the head family can be defeated. Like Hibiki, Ibuki has his own special salute. Ibuki meets Asumu at the TAKESHI Headquarters, he thinks that Asumu is Hibiki's student. Then he takes Asumu to Hibiki's place without thinking. Ibuki is a friendly guy, he talks happily with others regularly. He is relatively innocent. He likes Kasumi Tachibana but he doesn't know how to show his affection.
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Problems
Everything Past Episode 30, maybe 40, I don’t need to go into more detail than that, and also a certain character I won’t mention because, no.
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Overall 7/10
Is this show different from other rider shows? Yes. Is it bad? It could be, depending on who you ask. But at the end, was it still enjoyable? Absolutely. Yeah those last 20 episodes exist, but those first 30 episodes were so much more memorable that they overshadow them, and that's why I love this show. I like Kamen Rider Ghost, but that show has many more problems, but it's still good in my option at least. Here and there, they're great, and that’s why I say this show is recommendable.
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Till next time, Parise Fruit Jesus
Im a Goofy Goober
Rejoice! The one to inherit all powers across time and space, the only king who will rule over the past and future because he had nothing else to do! His name is Im a Goofy Goober. We bear witness the advent of a new age.
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