Kamen Rider Hibiki

Kamen Rider Hibiki (仮面ライダー響鬼（ヒビキ）) is a Japanese tokusatsu superhero television series. It is 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. It aired alongside  for Super Hero Time 2005. This series is noted for introducing new themes and styles yet unseen in other shows. The catchphrase for the series is "To us, there are heroes." (ぼくたちには、ヒーローがいる).

Story
The Kamen Riders, known as, 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 raise of Makamou numbers proves to be a prelude to an upcoming calamity.

Originally not a Rider?
According to producer Shigenori Takatera's assistant Tikara Kataoka (片岡 力), due to the toy sales of Kamen Rider Blade were lower than 's ', the successor of Blade was originally considered as a reboot of the 1972 Toei tokusatsu ' under the title Henshin Ninja Arashi Prologue: Messenger of Shikigami (変身忍者嵐序章 式神使者篇). Like Kamen Rider, Arashi is one of the heroes who created by Shotaro Ishinomori, Takatera said it is the first step to "wake up" Ishinomori and Toei's classic heroes and build a Japanese version of Disney. Later he change the title into BirdNinja Battle History: Hayate (鸟忍戦記疾風) and started to set the basic settings of this ninja vs. yokai style tokusatsu show. Including disk-like animals, yokai, taiko music, demon hunter, master & apprentice. Result in the style of Hibiki was completely different in the Kamen Rider Series.

However, when the basic setting was done, Bandai thought they should be kept using the title "Kamen Rider-" for merchandising. Takatera's team have to adapt all their early settings into a Kamen Rider look-a-like series The Hibiki Hero (響のヒーロー), which finally became Kamen Rider Hibiki.

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 movie Kamen Rider Hibiki and the Seven War Demons, eventually replacing Takadera in the TV production from episode 30. The writing staff also changed; Tsuyoshi Kida and Shinji Ooishi were replaced by Toshiki Inoue and Shouji Yonemura, who had worked with Shirakura in  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 Takadera 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 Takadera.

Changes
 * Asumu's opening narration at the start of every episode was removed.
 * A new opening was introduced in episode 34 and following.
 * The use of kanji being flashed on screen during scenes was removed altogether.
 * The ending sequence was removed altogether.
 * The characters of Kyousuke Kiriya and Shuki were introduced to the series.
 * Originally Eiki and Shouki were both supposed to be main cast members, but had their parts completely removed.
 * The fire breathing (Onibi) and the Oni claws (Onizume) 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 Takadera was forcefully removed from the project due to his unwillingness to change his script to adapt to these changes.

Stageshow-exclusive

 * Kamen Rider Yūki

Novel-exclusive

 * Kamen Rider Saki - Saki
 * Kamen Rider Kido - Kido
 * Kamen Rider Shokuki -

Name/Figure-only

 * Akatsuki - Tsutomu Tsumura
 * Michibiki
 * Kachidoki
 * Genki
 * Yamabuki

Allies

 * Asumu Adachi
 * Hitomi Mochida
 * Ikuko Adachi

Takeshi

 * Ichiro Tachibana
 * Kasumi Tachibana
 * Hinaka Tachibana
 * Midori Takizawa
 * Kōnosuke Kogure

Makamou

 * The Man and Woman

Giant types

 * Tsuchigumo
 * Kaengumo
 * Yamabiko
 * Bakegani
 * Amikiri
 * Ittanmomen
 * Ooari
 * Otoroshi
 * Nurikabe
 * Ubume
 * Yamaarshi
 * Oonamazu
 * Kamaitachi
 * Notsugo
 * Orochi

Summer types

 * Dorotabou
 * Kappa
 * Bakeneko
 * Tengu
 * Uwan
 * Yobuko
 * Kaendaishou
 * Makamou Ninja Group
 * Hitotsumi

Experimental types

 * Nanashi
 * Yoroi Tsuchigumo
 * Kasha
 * Yobuko
 * Satori
 * Rokurokubi

Others

 * Kodama
 * Okubi
 * Bakekarasu
 * Wanyūdō
 * Omukade
 * Onyuudou

Novel
A set of six novels published under the title "Kamen Rider Hibiki: Compass to Tomorrow" 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.

Seven Ogres
The S.I.C. Hero Saga side story for Hibiki is titled Kamen Rider Hibiki: Seven Ogres (仮面ライダー響鬼 -SEVEN OGRES-), which is an alternate telling of the film Hibiki & The Seven Senki. It features the original character Kamen Rider Armed Hibiki ver.) (仮面ライダー装甲響鬼（戦国時代ver.）). The Seven Ogres storyline ran in the June through September 2006 issues of Monthly Hobby Japan magazine.


 * Chapter titles
 * 1) Takeshi (猛士)
 * 2) Kabuki (歌舞鬼)
 * 3) Kurenai (紅)
 * 4) Orochi (オロチ)

Cast

 * Hibiki (響鬼（ヒビキ）): Shigeki Hosokawa (細川 茂樹)
 * Asumu Adachi (安達 明日夢): Rakuto Tochihara (栩原 楽人)
 * Ibuki (威吹鬼（イブキ）): Joji Shibue (渋江 譲二)
 * Todoroki (轟鬼（トドロキ）): Shingo Kawaguchi (川口 真五)
 * Zanki (斬鬼（ザンキ）): Kenji Matsuda (松田 賢二)
 * Kasumi Tachibana (立花 香須実): Mayu Gamou (蒲生 麻由)
 * Hinaka Tachibana (立花 日菜佳): Miyuki Kanbe (神戸 みゆき)
 * Hitomi Mochida (持田 ひとみ): Erika Mori (森 絵梨佳)
 * Ikuko Adachi (安達 郁子): Kaoru Mizuki (水木 薫)
 * Ichirou Tachibana (立花 勢地郎): Atomu Shimojo (下條 アトム)
 * Akira Amami (天美 あきら): Nana Akiyama (秋山 奈々)
 * Midori Takizawa (滝澤 みどり): Masako Umemiya (梅宮 万紗子)
 * Douji (童子): Mitsu Murata (村田 充)
 * Parent Douji : Sei Ashina
 * Hime (姫): Sei Ashina (芦名 星)
 * Parent Hime : Mitsu Murata
 * Kyousuke Kiriya (桐矢 京介): Yuichi Nakamura (中村 優一)
 * Danki (弾鬼（ダンキ）): Makoto Ito (伊藤 慎)
 * Shouki (ショウキ): Yoshifumi Oshikawa (押川 善文)
 * Kounosuke Kogure (小暮 耕之助): Akira Fuse (布施 明)
 * Shuki (朱鬼（シュキ）): Reiko Kataoka (片岡 礼子)
 * Tsutomu Tsumura (津村 努): Kento Shibuya (渋谷 謙人)
 * Sabaki (裁鬼): Katsumi Shiono (塩野 勝美)
 * Next Preview Narrator, Eiki (次回予告ナレーター, 鋭鬼): Kazuya Nakai (中井 和哉)
 * Junction Narrator (ジャンクションナレーター): Koji Nakata (中田 浩二)

Songs
Opening themes
 * "Kagayaki" (輝)
 * Composition & Arrangement: Toshihiko Sahashi
 * Episodes: 1-33, 48

Ending theme
 * "Hajimari no Kimi e" (始まりの君へ)
 * Lyrics: Shoko Fujibayashi
 * Composition: Toshihiko Sahashi
 * Artist: Akira Fuse (布施 明)
 * Episodes: 34-47
 * "Shōnen Yo" (少年よ)
 * Lyrics: Shoko Fujibayashi
 * Composition: Toshihiko Sahashi
 * Artist: Akira Fuse (布施 明)
 * Episodes: 1-33, 48