The TV Sharing Meme Commences: Kamen Rider Hibiki, Episode 1
Okay so many posts back, I had this idea for a way we could all share our fave shows and converse with each other via the magic of LJ. They can be shows we all know and love, shows we wished more people knew and love, or current shows that we NEED to talk more about.
The Rules:
1. Choose an episode of a show (it need not necessarily be the first one)
2. Watch the episode and keep a running commentary (I chose to do mine with time notation for easy reference. Just write anything you'd normally say to the person sitting next to you while watching said show.
3. Write some final thoughts on the episode. An intro is optional if you've seen the show before or if you have some predisposition for or against it.
4. Post your commentary to your LJ along with a link to download the episode and/or YouTube/Veoh copy of the ep.
5. Tag people you think should watch it or just leave an open tag to anyone who wants to play.
6. If you are tagged and/or choose to play, you must watch the show and post your own commentary either in your LJ, in the comments to the tagger's post, or both. Then you can subject the tagger and anyone else to one of your shows.
Now, I changed the show I was going to select when I saw the people who agreed to participate in the meme, but I have my misgivings about this choice. I think it's the greatest show ever, but I recognize it is a little jarring if you're a Tokusatsu version, so let me walk you through this while explaining exactly why you should watch this show.
Kamen Rider Hibiki is Tokusatsu which means a few things.
1. Expect low budget special effects. Just deal with it.
2. It's in Japanese. Just deal with it. It's subtitled.
3. It's corny. Love it. Live it. Laugh with it.
4. It has dorky suits, but all the cool kids wear them.
Because it's KR Hibiki though:
1. Expect a kickass soundtrack
2. Expect quality acting and story mixed in with the cheese.
3. Expect a LOT of magic realism. I believe you all are intelligent people who can keep up.
4. Expect to be doing lots of stupid hand swoopy things.
More Fun Facts to know and tell.
Hibiki as produced more actors that go on to other KR series than anything I've ever seen before. Lots of other cool actors too.
-- Matsuda Kenji (Jiro from KR Kiva) as Zanki-sama
-- Nakamura Yuichi (Yuuto from DR Den-o) as Kiriya
-- Murata Mitsu (Bishop from KR Kiva) as Douji... or hime... I get them confused.
-- Shibue Jyouji (Chiba Mamoru from PGSM) as Ibuki
Hibiki's got a cameo in Death Note too. And Midori's briefly on Kiva as a fangaia. Asumu's currently doing RH Plus... which makes me feel like I've failed him somehow.
To complete this meme, I am tagging: nipponq, microgirl8225, bewitched_s2, musa_winxfairy, and mayezinha cuz they all said they would. Also any KR fans who haven't seen this yet. And TheAlmightyM cuz I made her watch Go-onger and I feel kinda bad about that so she should see that not all Tokusatsu is quite so... lame.
Okay, bribes and caveats over, here's the show.
Streaming: Veoh site
Download: Megaupload
Torrent: TVNihon
And my commentary:
0:00: Watch in a well lit room or you'll go blind.
0:18: The theme kicks ass.. and is so unlike any other KR theme. Just badass taikoness.
1:13: Thank you Bandai
3:30: Nobody turned it off yet, right? What I really love about this beginning is A) Big musical number = win. B) It establishes immediately that we are in Asumu's head and we find out exactly what it's like in there. Asumu as these grandiose, "I'm the star and the hero" fantasies right from the beginning in a happy, angst-free broadway kinda way. It's childish and sweet and completely what I was like at 12... though I think Asumu's 15 or so.
5:37: *hums So Long and Thanks For All the Fish* *Thinks about that* So I like shows that open with big musical numbers. What of it?
5:44: *fangirl SQUEE* I love the dolphin song. See? Hibiki sings when he sees dolphins too!
5:56: You know, it's nice to see a Kamen Rider who can dress himself for once. And not like a girl. Tendou, Ryotarou, Wataru, I'm talking to you. See the jacket? Take notes on the jacket. *ruffles all of their hair*
7:29: Badass, ne? A big dramatic hero sequence to point: HERO. And then we sneeze to point out: HUMAN. Also the dorky singing. *Hibiki salute*
8:16: AH! CREEPY DOUJI AND HIME! I forgot about them... sorry dudes. Note to Kiva fans: Bishop alert.
8:55: I love Asumu's mom... cuz she's my mom.
9:39: And we contact the sweets shop, because all Kamen riders must be based at a coffee and/or food sales location. Caffiene and snacks are VERY important parts of being a superhero
10:57: *busts out laughing at scary old man* UWAH! I forgot that part
12:18: mmm... merch. I still want a magical tuning fork. And I only have one disc critter... need more
14:41: I'm sure the spooky people in the woods are swell people. Aren't you?
15:09: I love Asumu's surprised face every time Hibiki acknowledges he's alive. Like, "ME! He's talking to ME! I'm surely not worthy to speak to someone as cool as you!" It's ultimate hero worship, and again exactly what a 15 year old in the presence of a rock star is like. And Hibiki-san is a rock star.
17:53: And Asumu copes with this like any sane person would. "WTF IS GOING ON?! HIBIKI-SAN!!!!!" Cuz that's what you do when reality shifts to surreality. You either scream or pass out: Asumu or Ryotarou method I guess...
18:23: You hurt my disc creatures. Now you must die.
19:12; Shut up, the suit's awesome. Look at Kabuto and tell me Hibiki's not awesome. Or Emperor Form.
19:39; And there's our CG budget, folks. Hope you enjoyed it!
19:58: Asume removing the spider webs reminds me a lot of the time Emily found that spider on the shirt in the Goodwill... course I"d remove the spider webs like that too. "EEW EEW EEWY GET IT OFF AGH!" No cool here. No suave. But why is it always spiders? Why can't it ever be giant butterflies? That'd be scary.
21:17: Hibiki-san trained in gymnastics too.
22:06: OH MY GOD HE BREATHES FIRE!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH! Love Asumu. I also love how Asumu just walking in here can't tell if Hibiki's a good guy or not. He sure as hell don't look like a good guy. And good guys rarely breathe fire. As far as Asumu's concerned, he's got two scary demons to contend with.
22:12: Ok, I laughed my ass off the first time I heard the ending song too. You just laugh now. Then you watch 10 more episodes and I DARE you not to sing along. ShooooooooooouunnNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN yo!!!!" And the jacket is still Bad. Ass.
NEXT EP: Oh god, Hibiki's driving. I love this man.
Final Thoughts: I really love this show. I understand that I'm a dork who lives and breathes tokusatsu, but even setting that aside, I think this show has something special that a lot of people who create in the superhero genre strive for: Realism amidst the Ridiculous. Hibiki's about really what it's like both to be a superhero and also just to want to be a superhero. I love every character (well except Mochida... she's lame. And Shuki cuz she's a bitch). The acting is a blend of reality and cheese that really makes me bond with everybody. The plot is far-reaching if also far-fetched, but the focus stays on character growth the entire series.
And surprisingly enough, I don't ship this show. And if I did, I'd ship het. I'd ship Hibiki/Midori and Ibuki/Kasumi. Why? Cuz I believe all the guys on this show like girls (well... except Kiriya but Kiriya has a mess of issues to contend with on his own). And did I mention Shibue Jyouji's in it? That's fine acting, folks.
Also if you keep watching you'll see Matsuda Kenji in his finest role. If you want more episodes, check out www.tvnihon.com. Or ask me, cuz I'll upload them to fangirl more about this show.
The Rules:
1. Choose an episode of a show (it need not necessarily be the first one)
2. Watch the episode and keep a running commentary (I chose to do mine with time notation for easy reference. Just write anything you'd normally say to the person sitting next to you while watching said show.
3. Write some final thoughts on the episode. An intro is optional if you've seen the show before or if you have some predisposition for or against it.
4. Post your commentary to your LJ along with a link to download the episode and/or YouTube/Veoh copy of the ep.
5. Tag people you think should watch it or just leave an open tag to anyone who wants to play.
6. If you are tagged and/or choose to play, you must watch the show and post your own commentary either in your LJ, in the comments to the tagger's post, or both. Then you can subject the tagger and anyone else to one of your shows.
Now, I changed the show I was going to select when I saw the people who agreed to participate in the meme, but I have my misgivings about this choice. I think it's the greatest show ever, but I recognize it is a little jarring if you're a Tokusatsu version, so let me walk you through this while explaining exactly why you should watch this show.
Kamen Rider Hibiki is Tokusatsu which means a few things.
1. Expect low budget special effects. Just deal with it.
2. It's in Japanese. Just deal with it. It's subtitled.
3. It's corny. Love it. Live it. Laugh with it.
4. It has dorky suits, but all the cool kids wear them.
Because it's KR Hibiki though:
1. Expect a kickass soundtrack
2. Expect quality acting and story mixed in with the cheese.
3. Expect a LOT of magic realism. I believe you all are intelligent people who can keep up.
4. Expect to be doing lots of stupid hand swoopy things.
More Fun Facts to know and tell.
Hibiki as produced more actors that go on to other KR series than anything I've ever seen before. Lots of other cool actors too.
-- Matsuda Kenji (Jiro from KR Kiva) as Zanki-sama
-- Nakamura Yuichi (Yuuto from DR Den-o) as Kiriya
-- Murata Mitsu (Bishop from KR Kiva) as Douji... or hime... I get them confused.
-- Shibue Jyouji (Chiba Mamoru from PGSM) as Ibuki
Hibiki's got a cameo in Death Note too. And Midori's briefly on Kiva as a fangaia. Asumu's currently doing RH Plus... which makes me feel like I've failed him somehow.
To complete this meme, I am tagging: nipponq, microgirl8225, bewitched_s2, musa_winxfairy, and mayezinha cuz they all said they would. Also any KR fans who haven't seen this yet. And TheAlmightyM cuz I made her watch Go-onger and I feel kinda bad about that so she should see that not all Tokusatsu is quite so... lame.
Okay, bribes and caveats over, here's the show.
Streaming: Veoh site
Download: Megaupload
Torrent: TVNihon
And my commentary:
0:00: Watch in a well lit room or you'll go blind.
0:18: The theme kicks ass.. and is so unlike any other KR theme. Just badass taikoness.
1:13: Thank you Bandai
3:30: Nobody turned it off yet, right? What I really love about this beginning is A) Big musical number = win. B) It establishes immediately that we are in Asumu's head and we find out exactly what it's like in there. Asumu as these grandiose, "I'm the star and the hero" fantasies right from the beginning in a happy, angst-free broadway kinda way. It's childish and sweet and completely what I was like at 12... though I think Asumu's 15 or so.
5:37: *hums So Long and Thanks For All the Fish* *Thinks about that* So I like shows that open with big musical numbers. What of it?
5:44: *fangirl SQUEE* I love the dolphin song. See? Hibiki sings when he sees dolphins too!
5:56: You know, it's nice to see a Kamen Rider who can dress himself for once. And not like a girl. Tendou, Ryotarou, Wataru, I'm talking to you. See the jacket? Take notes on the jacket. *ruffles all of their hair*
7:29: Badass, ne? A big dramatic hero sequence to point: HERO. And then we sneeze to point out: HUMAN. Also the dorky singing. *Hibiki salute*
8:16: AH! CREEPY DOUJI AND HIME! I forgot about them... sorry dudes. Note to Kiva fans: Bishop alert.
8:55: I love Asumu's mom... cuz she's my mom.
9:39: And we contact the sweets shop, because all Kamen riders must be based at a coffee and/or food sales location. Caffiene and snacks are VERY important parts of being a superhero
10:57: *busts out laughing at scary old man* UWAH! I forgot that part
12:18: mmm... merch. I still want a magical tuning fork. And I only have one disc critter... need more
14:41: I'm sure the spooky people in the woods are swell people. Aren't you?
15:09: I love Asumu's surprised face every time Hibiki acknowledges he's alive. Like, "ME! He's talking to ME! I'm surely not worthy to speak to someone as cool as you!" It's ultimate hero worship, and again exactly what a 15 year old in the presence of a rock star is like. And Hibiki-san is a rock star.
17:53: And Asumu copes with this like any sane person would. "WTF IS GOING ON?! HIBIKI-SAN!!!!!" Cuz that's what you do when reality shifts to surreality. You either scream or pass out: Asumu or Ryotarou method I guess...
18:23: You hurt my disc creatures. Now you must die.
19:12; Shut up, the suit's awesome. Look at Kabuto and tell me Hibiki's not awesome. Or Emperor Form.
19:39; And there's our CG budget, folks. Hope you enjoyed it!
19:58: Asume removing the spider webs reminds me a lot of the time Emily found that spider on the shirt in the Goodwill... course I"d remove the spider webs like that too. "EEW EEW EEWY GET IT OFF AGH!" No cool here. No suave. But why is it always spiders? Why can't it ever be giant butterflies? That'd be scary.
21:17: Hibiki-san trained in gymnastics too.
22:06: OH MY GOD HE BREATHES FIRE!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH! Love Asumu. I also love how Asumu just walking in here can't tell if Hibiki's a good guy or not. He sure as hell don't look like a good guy. And good guys rarely breathe fire. As far as Asumu's concerned, he's got two scary demons to contend with.
22:12: Ok, I laughed my ass off the first time I heard the ending song too. You just laugh now. Then you watch 10 more episodes and I DARE you not to sing along. ShooooooooooouunnNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN yo!!!!" And the jacket is still Bad. Ass.
NEXT EP: Oh god, Hibiki's driving. I love this man.
Final Thoughts: I really love this show. I understand that I'm a dork who lives and breathes tokusatsu, but even setting that aside, I think this show has something special that a lot of people who create in the superhero genre strive for: Realism amidst the Ridiculous. Hibiki's about really what it's like both to be a superhero and also just to want to be a superhero. I love every character (well except Mochida... she's lame. And Shuki cuz she's a bitch). The acting is a blend of reality and cheese that really makes me bond with everybody. The plot is far-reaching if also far-fetched, but the focus stays on character growth the entire series.
And surprisingly enough, I don't ship this show. And if I did, I'd ship het. I'd ship Hibiki/Midori and Ibuki/Kasumi. Why? Cuz I believe all the guys on this show like girls (well... except Kiriya but Kiriya has a mess of issues to contend with on his own). And did I mention Shibue Jyouji's in it? That's fine acting, folks.
Also if you keep watching you'll see Matsuda Kenji in his finest role. If you want more episodes, check out www.tvnihon.com. Or ask me, cuz I'll upload them to fangirl more about this show.