History Series / KamenRiderHibiki

* {{Retraux}} - It's basically [[That70sShow That '80s Show]] for Franchise/KamenRider.

The 2005-2006 series of ''Franchise/KamenRider'', is the sixth installment in the Heisei Era, '''''Kamen Rider Hibiki''''' was intended to be a radical departure from the standard Rider formula in order to shake up things in response to the declining ratings and sales of the franchise. It was also the final work Creator/ShotaroIshinomori wrote in life.

The 2005-2006 series of ''Franchise/KamenRider'', is the sixth installment in the Heisei Era, '''''Kamen Rider Hibiki''''' was intended to be a radical departure from the standard Rider formula in order to shake up things in response to the declining ratings and sales of the franchise.

* ShamelessSelfPromoter - Okay, it's standard procedure to advertise the series' movies every year, but aside from the end-of-episode bloopers, in episode 30, Hibiki advertises "an interesting JidaiGeki movie about seven cool men" to two elderly ladies at Tachibana. Maybe it's something else in-universe, but we spectators can't be fooled into thinking it's anything but the ''Seven Oni Warriors'' movie.

The show suffered from poor toy sales and high production costs, and became one of the few ''Kamen Rider'' series to be {{Retool}}ed. The producer and main screenwriters were fired and replaced, leading to a vastly-different tone in the final third of the series. Production was reportedly so disorganised that the script for the last episode was being rewritten ''while it was being filmed''. Several of the actors went on to speak out against the changes, feeling that the final result did not reflect the true intention of the show.

A secret war is taking place between the Oni- [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower humans who have trained their bodies]] to be able to harness supernatural power- and the Makamou, demonic creatures that lurk in the forests of Japan. Into this conflict stumbles Asumu Adachi, a young boy who is unsure what he wishes to do with his life. He encounters one of the leading Oni of the Takeshi organisation- a cool and confident man named Hibiki- and soon they develop a student-teacher relationship.

Later on, additional Oni enter the story: first, a mellow young man named Ibuki and his young student Akira, who is in training to be Ibuki's successor as an Oni. Meanwhile, [[NaiveNewcomer an excitable new Oni]] named Todoroki wishes to create his own legacy under the watchful eye of his veteran teacher, Zanki.

The story is told from the perspective of Asumu and is very much a ComingOfAgeStory focusing on the relationship between mentor and student, the old and new generation and the choices that we make in life. The Oni are all {{Musical Assassin}}s, using their "pure sound" to purify the Makamou they fight. The series also averts HardWorkHardlyWorks by showing the Oni training hard to maintain their bodies and ability to use the Oni power; in fact, an entire arc- "Summer Of Training"- is devoted entirely to their training efforts.

The show suffered from poor toy sales, such that it one of the few series to suffer from ExecutiveMeddling. It was heavily {{Retool}}ed, and the plot was changed. Lead actor Shigeki Hosokawa was not pleased with the vast staff changes, which included firing the producer and main screenwriters. The script for the final episode was apparently changed in the middle of filming the final battle, and the changes were entirely against what Hosokawa and Mitsu Murata (Douji) both felt was the intended ending of the original producer and writers. Fans see the ''Hibiki'' episodes of ''Series/KamenRiderDecade'' as suitably solving the issue of the original series' ending. Most of the main cast reprises their roles, but Hibiki and Asumu are recast.

* InstrumentalThemeTune - The only ''Kamen Rider'' series to have one such thing... until the executive meddling struck in.

* AlliterativeName - Every Oni began life with one; upon becoming an Oni, they adopt a new name that begins with the same letter (Ex.: Hitoshi Hidaka -> Hibiki). Though Todayama ''was'' briefly given the option to take the Zanki name.

* ActingForTwo - Zanki and movie-only Touki. Lampshaded in the after-credits movie teasers.

* HeyItsThatVoice - Fuse Akira, who performs the ED and 2nd title theme, appears in-show as a retired Oni and DrillSergeantNasty.

* MagicMusic

* ToughActToFollow: Zanki would like Todoroki to carry on his name after he dies, but Todoroki believes he can't ever equal Zanki, and chooses to keep his own name so that Zanki's legacy will remain untarnished.

** BoomStick - Habataki's BladeOnAStick [[SwissArmyWeapon doubles up as a blowdart pipe and a flute.]]

[[quoteright:337:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/15_Kamen_Rider_Hibiki_2005_-_2006_5213.jpg]]

* AntiVillain: [[spoiler:Kabuki turned on the Oni and the villagers because he was sick and tired of being called a monster, even when saving their lives.]]

* EstablishingCharacterMoment
** For Kabuki in TheMovie. At first, he seems to be the kind of guy who would be the perfect fit for what Past!Asumu needs to fight off the Makamou, but after he's done fighting one of them in his first appearance, he asks the villagers for a reward and is pissed when he's given dried sweet potatoes, but was [[PetTheDog willing to give it to a kid]]... had his mom not thrown it away and told him [[FantasticRacism an oni touched it]].
** In the same movie, the other Onis get their [=ECMs=] as well. Past!Ibuki gives up his life as a Daimaou because he finds it boring, Touki shows off his Buddha mind powers, Kirameki flies in via hang-glider and realizes that he was too late to join the battle with the Oni, Nishiki during his execution catches a blade with his teeth and like Kabuki, required money for his job (though he joined through the faked promise of buried treasure), and Habataki was retired until his wife talks him into helping the Oni out.

* FantasticRacism: Happens a lot in the movie, with a lot of prejudice towards Oni. [[spoiler:It actually becomes the motivation for the villainous Oni, Kabuki]].

* TheMagnificentSevenSamurai - TheMovie, ''Kamen Rider Hibiki & The Seven Fighting Demons'' is very much a homage to [[SevenSamurai the Akira Kurosawa classic]] with a few twists.
** For one, Hibiki isn't the one who gathers the group, but rather Asumu and Kabuki, [[spoiler:the latter being far from an actual hero]], but Hibiki had the makings of TheLancer in that formula (Kabuki knew where he lived and went to him first).
** While the villagers are unable to fend for themselves, they also refuse the Oni's help due to FantasticRacism.
** The team actually fails their first fight.
** No such training ensues.
** A combination of the villain threats, villagers' wariness, and [[spoiler: one of their own manipulating them to fight each other]] resulted in the team to split.
** The next few plot points happen according to form though.

* UngratefulBastard: The villagers in the Hibiki movie. No matter how many times the Onis save them, they play the FantasticRacism card on them. [[spoiler:Is it any wonder that one of the Oni got tired of their shit, killed some of them, and teamed up with the villains?]]

* MidSeasonUpgrade - Hibiki Kurenai

The 2005-2006 series of ''Franchise/KamenRider'', actually based on a proposal by Shotaro Ishinomori and the sixth installment in the Heisei Era.

* PragmaticAdaptation - The series was partially based off a story by Shotaro Ishinomori titled "Onigeki Hibiki". It was originally going to be a non-KR series, but after Ishinomori's death his son [[DolledUpInstallment turned it into a KR series]].

The 2005-2006 series of ''Franchise/KamenRider'', actually based on a story by Shotaro Ishinomori titled ''Ongeki Senshi Hibiki''[[note]]"Sound Warrior Hibiki", which originally had [[DolledUpInstallment nothing to do with the Rider franchise]].[[/note]], and the sixth installment in the Heisei Era.

The 2005-2006 series of ''Franchise/KamenRider'', actually based on a story by Shotaro Ishinomori titled ''Ongeki Senshi Senshi Hibiki''[[note]]"Sound Warrior Hibiki", which originally had [[DolledUpInstallment nothing to do with the Rider franchise]].[[/note]], and the sixth installment in the Heisei Era.

The 2005-2006 series of ''Franchise/KamenRider'', actually based on a story by Shotaro Ishinomori titled "Onigeki Senshi Hibiki"[[note]]which originally had [[DolledUpInstallment nothing to do with the Rider franchise]].[[/note]], and the sixth installment in the Heisei Era.

The 2005-2006 series of ''Franchise/KamenRider'', actually based on a story by Shotaro Ishinomori titled "Onigeki Hibiki"[[note]]which originally had [[DolledUpInstallment nothing to do with Kamen Rider[[/note]], and the sixth installment in the Heisei Era.

The 2005-2006 series of ''Franchise/KamenRider'', actually based on a story by Shotaro Ishinomori titled "Onigeki Hibiki"[[hottip:*: which originally had [[DolledUpInstallment nothing to do with Kamen Rider]], and the sixth installment in the Heisei Era.

The 2005-2006 series of ''KamenRider'', actually based on a story by Shotaro Ishinomori titled "Onigeki Hibiki"[[hottip:*: which originally had [[DolledUpInstallment nothing to do with Kamen Rider]], and the sixth installment in the Heisei Era.

* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever - Notable as the first time that Heisei-era Kamen Riders battle monsters the size of buildings, WITHOUT relying on giant size themselves. The first were the battles against [[Series/KamenRiderX King Dark]] and the leaders of the [[KamenRiderStronger Delza Army]] and [[KamenRiderSkyrider Neoshocker]]

* EndingTheme - Notable for being the first Heisei ''KamenRider'' series since ''KamenRiderKuuga'' to have an ED sequence; here, it is Akira Fuse's "Shonen yo!" (quoted atop the page)

* MultiformBalance - Like [[KamenRiderFaiz Faiz]], Hibiki is the only Rider with more than one form.

* MythologyGag - the traditional Rider Kick is no longer the finishing blow of the season, but that doesn't stop our heroes from executing them anyway, from as early as episode 2. [[KamenRiderBlackRX Black RX]] did pretty much the same thing.

** And the three primary Oni's special salutes hark back to Godai Yusuke's thumbs-up gesture in ''[[KamenRiderKuuga Kuuga]]''.
** See ExpectingSomeoneTaller above: the same thing happened in KamenRiderAgito, and coincidentally involves another JerkAss meeting another title character for the first time.

* {{Retraux}} - It's basically [[That70sShow That '80s Show]] for KamenRider.

* CoolBike - Notable as the first time since [[KamenRiderV3 Riderman]] that Kamen Riders use completely normal (but still impossibly cool) motorcycles.

* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever - Notable as the first time that Heisei-era Kamen Riders battle monsters the size of buildings, WITHOUT relying on giant size themselves. The first were the battles against [[KamenRiderX King Dark]] and the leaders of the [[KamenRiderStronger Delza Army]] and [[KamenRiderSkyrider Neoshocker]]