Thoughts about Kamen Rider Hibiki
I didn't think I was going to find a series I disliked as much as Kamen Rider Decade. But alas, here it is. Kamen Rider Hibiki was just not for me. And gosh, the combo Decade + Hibiki was an overkill. After them, I'm reconsidering keeping up with the Kamen Rider series. I just don't have the patience anymore. I'm still trying to decide which I hated the most: Gaim, Hibiki or Decade.
I thought the beginning of Hibiki was actually rather decent. The actors are great, specially if compared to the ones in Decade. The theme was very promising (taiko is awesome!), the characters were... bland. But there was still that lingering mystery that made me curious to know what was about to happen. So I kept watching (not to mention I was buddy-watching the series with tiuneo, as usual).
Turns out that, in my opinion, absolutely NOTHING happens throughout all the 48 chapters of the series. I dare say that the movie was actually OK, but the rest of the series was really boring. I don't think that the Makamou issue was solved (or even explained, for that matter). Their reason for being there didn't really make much sense or was lacking a solid motivation. I would even accept the good old "world domination" thing because, in the end, most of the series seem to come to this. Actually, this may have existed, but the plot was so boring that I don't think I was even paying attention to what was going on half way through. I don't think I paid attention to anything after chapter 20 because nothing ever seemed to be going on. There did not seem to be a sense of urgency in whatever they were doing.
Given the fact that the world building and the main conflict weren't so good, I was at least expecting interesting characters leading the series, and this is where I got disappointed once again: there is little to no character development, in my opinion. Asumu was average from the beginning to the end of the series and, as far as I'm concerned, Hibiki was overpowered and didn't really change either (or the change was just too subtle and gradative for me to notice). But what really pissed me off about it all is that whenever there seemed to be some character development, in the next chapter it would just step back and go to the state before the conflict happened and that should have been solved before. This became quite evident when Kiriya was introduced as one of the main characters. Whenever it seemed that Kiriya was about to become a better person, in the next chapter he would show that he was, once again, an annoying, spoiled brat that doesn't really have a purpose in the series other than being a pain in everyone's ass.
I won't even mention the female characters. Akira was OK, but her role was as important as a plant in the background.
Regarding other aspects, there was nothing else that drew my attention to the series or whatever was going on. Zanki and Todoroki were a bit more decent as characters, but not so much that made me care for what was going on. As for the rest of the supporting characters, I can't really say I cared about them either.
All in all, Kamen Rider Hibiki was definitely not one of my favorite from the series and, to be quite honest, I doubt there are any others that will be as good as Fourze. But I don't know, I started watching Kamen Rider W and the first chapter was really promising. I am watching the series with very low expectations, I'm not sure if that helps...
I thought the beginning of Hibiki was actually rather decent. The actors are great, specially if compared to the ones in Decade. The theme was very promising (taiko is awesome!), the characters were... bland. But there was still that lingering mystery that made me curious to know what was about to happen. So I kept watching (not to mention I was buddy-watching the series with tiuneo, as usual).
Turns out that, in my opinion, absolutely NOTHING happens throughout all the 48 chapters of the series. I dare say that the movie was actually OK, but the rest of the series was really boring. I don't think that the Makamou issue was solved (or even explained, for that matter). Their reason for being there didn't really make much sense or was lacking a solid motivation. I would even accept the good old "world domination" thing because, in the end, most of the series seem to come to this. Actually, this may have existed, but the plot was so boring that I don't think I was even paying attention to what was going on half way through. I don't think I paid attention to anything after chapter 20 because nothing ever seemed to be going on. There did not seem to be a sense of urgency in whatever they were doing.
Given the fact that the world building and the main conflict weren't so good, I was at least expecting interesting characters leading the series, and this is where I got disappointed once again: there is little to no character development, in my opinion. Asumu was average from the beginning to the end of the series and, as far as I'm concerned, Hibiki was overpowered and didn't really change either (or the change was just too subtle and gradative for me to notice). But what really pissed me off about it all is that whenever there seemed to be some character development, in the next chapter it would just step back and go to the state before the conflict happened and that should have been solved before. This became quite evident when Kiriya was introduced as one of the main characters. Whenever it seemed that Kiriya was about to become a better person, in the next chapter he would show that he was, once again, an annoying, spoiled brat that doesn't really have a purpose in the series other than being a pain in everyone's ass.
I won't even mention the female characters. Akira was OK, but her role was as important as a plant in the background.
Regarding other aspects, there was nothing else that drew my attention to the series or whatever was going on. Zanki and Todoroki were a bit more decent as characters, but not so much that made me care for what was going on. As for the rest of the supporting characters, I can't really say I cared about them either.
All in all, Kamen Rider Hibiki was definitely not one of my favorite from the series and, to be quite honest, I doubt there are any others that will be as good as Fourze. But I don't know, I started watching Kamen Rider W and the first chapter was really promising. I am watching the series with very low expectations, I'm not sure if that helps...