Hi, everybody. Welcome to Kamen Rider Die Watches Kamen Rider Hibiki, a thread where I watch Hibiki and discuss it.

First off, in case you only come to the Kamen Rider Die Watches threads and are missing out on all of the other great TokuNation content (shout-out to my mom, Kamen Rider Dianne), GrandComplete is watching the free-on-YouTube Legend Heroes toku, and posting some thoughts on each episode. If you're looking to experience some non-Kamen/Sentai/Ultra tokusatsu, it's a thread you'd get a lot out of.

Over in this one, we'll be talking about Kamen Rider Hibiki. This is the... ninth one of these I've done? Is that right?

Ghost
Ex-Aid movies
Build
Kuuga
Agito
Ryuki
Faiz
Blade

Yeah, god, ninth. Didn't... I did not think this was going to be a long-term thing, but now I can't see a way to stop. Pretty much just doing these threads forever, now.

Before we start with the Hibiki watching and talking, let's cover some ground rules!

PLEASE DON'T TALK ABOUT ANYTHING FROM HIBIKI I HAVEN'T WATCHED YET
I'm watching Hibiki for the first time, and I don't really know anything about it. (Other than the production shakeup, which is The Main Thing people who haven't watched Hibiki know about it.) I like experiencing these shows as cold as possible, so please try to stay away from talking about anything I haven't seen yet. If possible, try to avoid even hinting at stuff. (Mentioning that you don't like how a certain character's arc goes, for example, or that some plot point doesn't pay off.) Even hinting at future developments (or your feelings about them) gets me expecting stuff I normally wouldn't have expected, which makes the process of watching this show a bit less enjoyable. If you can keep your comments to the currently-watched episode and anything prior, I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

PLEASE DON'T TALK ABOUT ANY SHOWS I HAVEN'T WATCHED YET
Along the same lines, please don't mention stuff from Kabuto through Decade, and Zi-O on. Like I mentioned, I feel like I'm just going to be doing these threads until I'm physically/mentally unable to do so, and even then I'll just half-ass it. (Really looking forward to half-assing it, you guys.) If you can stay away from talking about any of those shows in this thread, Kamen Rider Die Watches Kamen Rider Saber (or whatever) will be just that much better for it.

I MIGHT TALK ABOUT SHOWS YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED YET, THOUGH
There are probably going to be times when a comparison to another Kamen Rider makes sense, and at those times I might spoil something from a different show. Consider this a SPOILER WARNING for Kuuga through Blade, and Double through Build.

THERE IS A TONE TO THESE THAT IS MAYBE NOT FOR EVERYONE
Episode posts are... they're mostly me conveying my mindset in the aftermath of an episode. It's all first draft, very little editing. I will make jokes. I will make up names, if the show refuses to do so or I can't remember them. I will spend a lot of time talking about themes and maybe not a lot of time talking about suits and power levels and whatnot. (But I do love that stuff! Especially the whatnot!) If you're looking for something that thoroughly recaps an episode, you're going to be disappointed. If you're looking for something that adds a lot of historical context or linguistic analysis, you're going to be disappointed. (Also, you are looking for Fish Sandwich's Kuuga thread.) If, however, you're looking for one person's emotional journey through Kamen Rider Hibiki... I mean, you'll be less disappointed, is my most confident claim.

I WANT TO HEAR WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT HIBIKI
Doing the episode post is like a jumping-off point for me and an episode of Hibiki. It's more about creating space to get people talking about Hibiki: their thoughts, their feelings, their insights. I like getting to talk about what I got out of an episode of Kamen Rider, but I love hearing what you got out of an episode of Kamen Rider. If you feel like sharing, you've got my attention.

I think that's the whole of it. Thanks for reading over this legally-enforceable set of terms! (Hat-tip to Kamen Rider Zolda for the consultation, which was slightly garbled by his laughter at probably someone else's expense.) Let's start watching Kamen Rider Hibiki!