Kamen Rider Hibiki

Kamen Rider Hibiki is a Japanese tokusatsu superhero television series, serving as the fifteenth installment in the popular Kamen Rider Series of tokusatsu programs. It is a joint collaboration between Ishimori Productions and Toei. Kamen Rider Hibiki first aired on January 30, 2005 and aired its final episode on January 22, 2006.

Synopsis

The Kamen Riders, known as Oni, battle man-eating beasts called Makamou with "pure sound". One of the Oni, a man named 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.

Staff changes

Kamen Rider Hibiki began with Shigenori Takatera as the Toei producer, however, Shinichiro Shirakura, who though having participated in other Heisei Kamen Rider series, had no involvement whatsoever in the Hibiki production, was appointed producer of the film Kamen Rider Hibiki & the Seven Senki, eventually replacing Takatera in the TV production from episode 30. The writing staff also changed; Tsuyoshi Kida and Shinji Ōishi were replaced by Toshiki Inoue and Shōji Yonemura, who had worked with Shirakura on Sh15uya and other Heisei Kamen Rider series.
In addition, personalities such as Sensha Yoshida, a renowned manga artist; Hiroshi Yamamoto, a video game designer; Masao Higashi, a seasoned television and movie critic; and many others published severe criticisms in their personal blogs because of this. Even the show's star, Shigeki Hosokawa, who portrayed Hibiki, stated in his personal website that Inoue's scripts "needed adjustments" and that this whole staff change was "fraudulent". With the first production staff, Hosokawa would join the writers' meetings and give suggestions, however Hosokawa could not give his opinion in the second production staff meetings due to time restraints.
In an interview published on TV Asahi's main website, Hosokawa stated that the script for the final episode was rewritten on the final day of filming. He later said that the script was sent in so late that it arrived on set as the final battle was being filmed. This finale was scrapped and then a new ending that, according to Hosokawa, was nothing like the intended ending, was filmed. Later in the interview, Hosokawa said that the Oni suit used by Kiriya was a kitbash of two new suits made especially for the characters of Asumu and Kiriya. Hosokawa said that this was the most upsetting change to him as the final script had been rewritten six times at that point and all but the filmed version contained both Asumu and Kiriya becoming Oni.
In January 2006, at the Kamen Rider Super Live, Hosokawa stated that the series was "essentially an incomplete process" and that "it should not have ended that way". Mitsu Murata, who portrayed the Douji characters, declared on his blog: "I cannot forgive them, I want to continue his idea", complaining about the removal of Takatera as producer. These declarations caused an unprecedented storm within the professional tokusatsu market and many of Toei's executives were berated for allowing a series to be handled in such a manner.
There has never been any official statement from Toei, but many critics point out several facts might have caused it, the main reason being the low toy sales. It is not usual for a Toei production to have two different producers for the TV series and the movie. It is likely that a different producer was appointed for the movie because Toei was suffering from schedule problems with Takatera.
Changes

Asumu's opening narration at the start of every episode was removed starting with episode 30.
A new opening was introduced in episode 34 and following.
The use of kanji being flashed on screen during scenes was removed altogether by episode 30.
The ending sequence was removed altogether.
The characters of Kyosuke Kiriya and Shuki were introduced to the series.
Originally Eiki and Shouki were both supposed to be the main cast members, but had their parts completely removed.
The fire-breathing and the clawed Oni abilities' sequences were completely removed along with Ibuki opening his mouth for his attack. The Makamou that opened their mouths too wide or spurted liquids were also removed. There had been complaints about these sequences from parent advocacy groups who claimed that they scared children.
Things as complicated-to-animate CG Makamou and shooting in mountains were almost entirely reduced probably due to cost issues, leading critics to believe that Takatera was forcefully removed from the project due to his unwillingness to change his script to adapt to these changes.
Characters

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TAKESHI

is a secret organization based in Yoshino, Nara, having been established two centuries ago as a partnership between the Oni and a select group of humans to defend Japan from the Makamou. In the present day, TAKESHI has offices across Japan composed of Oni and a backup team that provided intelligence and support.
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Oni Kamen Rider

The combatant agents of Takeshi are known as Oni, who have long protected humans from the Makamou for centuries. The title of every Oni bears the -ki suffix, which is semantically identical to "Oni" in Japanese. It also has some resemblance with the real name of the Oni. Among making many changes to the Kamen Rider look, Kamen Rider Hibiki introduced Kamen Rider Shuki, the third officially recognized female Heisei Kamen Rider in a Kamen Rider series after Kamen Rider Femme from Ryuki and Kamen Rider Larc from Blade.

Douji and Hime

The term used for a pair of Homunculi servants that aid a Makamou, revealed to be clones created by a couple known as The, who are the antagonists of most of the series despite preferring to act from behind the scenes. It is assumed they were humans who achieved a means of immortality long ago and have been modifying the Makamou to wipe out the Oni and destroy humanity. The are the clones of the Man while the are clones of the Woman, the Parent clones who care for the Makamou having swapped voices and the ability to transform into humanoid versions of their "children". The Parents are created by clones, the ones in black trench coats creating the Giant-Type Makamou Parents with the black Kugutsu Hime providing them with armor modification, while the ones in white robes create the Summer-Type Makamou Parents. The Kugutsu were executed by Super Douji and Super Hime. Eventually, the Man and Woman are forced into a ceasefire with the Oni as the Makamou were becoming too uncontrollable during the Orochi Phenomenon. A year after the Orochi Phenomenon was stopped, they created Satori to abduct an ideal human so they can use her to create more stable clones. At the end of the series, they are revealed to be the clones of the "Real Man and Woman", who still need them to carry on their work.
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Makamou

The regular antagonists of the series; the are an assortment of monstrous creatures that usually dwell in the rural areas and consume human beings as food. Chimerical in appearance with their size and shape depending on the environment they are born in, and serving as the basis of the Yōkai myths, the Makamo are a naturally created phenomena though some have been modified by the Man and Woman to be stronger and unpredictable. But the Makamou can destabilize and explode when exposed to pure sound produced by the Oni's attacks.
In the final arc, a chain of events called the occurs. Marked by the appearance of Kodama's Forest, every known Makamou appears at the same time, increasing in massive numbers to the point where not even the "Man and Woman" can control them. By the climax, the Makamou start to dissolve into a purple miasma and killing by the hundreds. Hibiki eventually stopped Orochi by performing the sealing ritual, dealing with a massive army of Makamou bent on stopping him from ending their era before it could begin. In the end, the Orochi was halted and Makamou numbers dwindled back to normal.
;Giant-Type Makamo: The most common type of Makamou, essentially daikaiju with heights that vary from 22 ft. to 75 ft. Makamou that fall under this listing include and.
;Summer-Type Makamou: Human-sized Makamou that normally appear during the summer, apparently starting the Japanese legend of ghosts and Youkai appearing on Earth during the summer. While the Summer-Type Makamou lack in size, they make it up in their ability to replicate themselves in large numbers and when one is destroyed they can easily be replaced. The key to destroying them is to destroy the original so no more replicates can be created. Ongekida are the most efficient way of destroying them.
;Experimental-Type Makamou: Makamou developed by The Man and The Woman to suppress the other two types, modified to be resistant to Oni attacks after The Man and The Woman analyzed the Armed Saber.
;: A treelike Makamou whose appearance marks the beginning of an Orochi event, able to traps its victims within a forest it spawns. Todoroki was dispatched to investigate, only to be ambushed by a wooden puppet Kodama created. The puppet managed to overpower Armed Hibiki and drive the Oni out of its forest. The Kodama later reappeared, trapping Ibuki and Kasumi, whom the monster intended to eat. While Ibuki and Todoroki battle the medium, Asumu and Kiriya find Kodama and manage to free Kasumi from it, the medium feeling its master's pain before being quickly destroyed by Ibuki while Kodama is destroyed by Armed Hibiki.

Novel

A set of six novels published under the title was released shortly after the end of the series. The novels followed relatively the same plot as the TV series but added new characters and enemies towards the end of its run.

Video game

Kamen Rider Hibiki was released by Bandai for the PlayStation 2 on December 1, 2005. It featured a unique cross compatibility with the Taiko no Tatsujin Tatacon controller, where the taiko-like controller could be used in the rhythm game-like sections of Hibiki. It was also released alongside a special edition of the Taiko no Tatsujin series which included the theme songs of the Kamen Rider Hibiki TV show. A release for the Nintendo GameCube was planned, but ultimately scrapped.

Episodes

Hyper Battle DVD

In, Asumu Adachi imagines if he could be like Kamen Rider Hibiki, and are approached by talking Disc Animals who teach him how to be like Hibiki, eventually allowing Asumu to transform into Kamen Rider Armed Hibiki. Kamen Rider Sabaki also appears in the DVD.