Kamen Rider Hibiki

is a Japanese tokusatsu superhero television series. It is the fifteenth installment in the popular Kamen Rider 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. This series is noted for introducing new themes and styles yet unseen in other shows.

Synopsis
Kamen Rider Hibiki's main focus is the teacher and apprentice-like relationship between Adachi Asumu and the Oni called Hibiki. Asumu is a young boy unsure of himself and is at a crossroads in his life as he transitions to high school. As the series progresses, he learns to be an adult through watching Hibiki and the other Oni. The secondary focus of the series is the ancient battle of the Kamen Riders (referred to as Oni in this program) and the Makamou, demons that can only be defeated using "pure sound". The series follows the training and changes of the four main Oni, Kamen Rider, Kamen Rider, Kamen Rider and Kamen Rider

Staff changes
The original concept for Kamen Rider Hibiki was called Ongeki Rider Hibiki (Sonic Strike Rider), a series which would have used ninja in place of the Kamen Riders. Just before the final episodes of Kamen Rider were aired, Bandai decided to include the Hibiki world in the Kamen Rider franchise. Because of this, Takadera was forced to change various story elements of the original Hibiki story so that it would fit as a Kamen Rider series.

Kamen Rider Hibiki began with Shigenori Takadera as the Toei producer, however, Shinichiro Shirakura, who though having participated in other Heisei 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 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, due to time restraints, Hosokawa could not give his opinion in the second production staff meetings.

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 shouldn’t have ended that way”. Mitsu Murata, who portrayed the Douji characters, declared on his blog: “I can’t 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 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.
 * The ending sequence was removed altogether.
 * Kyosuke Kiriya and Shuki were introduced to the series.
 * Eiki and Shouki, who were both supposed to be main cast members, had their parts removed.
 * The fire breathing and the Onizume (Oni claws) sequences were completely removed along with Ibuki opening his mouth for his attack. 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 reduced greatly probably due to cost, leading critics to believe that Takadera, unwilling to change his script to adapt to these changes was forcefully removed from the project.
 * A second female Rider by the name of Mishiki went as far as having a DX Otoukenban marketed and a prop suit made for her before she was dropped, as was Akira's role as an Oni at the end of the series.

Oni Kamen Rider
The combatant agents of Takeshi are known as Oni. They have been around for hundreds of years, protecting humans and fighting against the Makamou. The title of every Oni bears the -ki suffix (鬼), which is semantically identical to "Oni" in Japanese. It also has some resemblance with the real name of the Oni. Among making many changes the Kamen Rider look, Kamen Rider Hibiki introduced Kamen Rider Shuki, the first officially recognized female Kamen Rider in a Kamen Rider series.

Makamou
A list of the enemy group of the series, the Makamou. Containing descriptions of the many Makamou and their masters and their defeats.

Takeshi Gear
Takeshi is the name of the group that works with the Oni Kamen Riders. They create many items for use in battle, from weapons to Disc Animals.

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.

Video Game(s)
A video game based on the series was produced by Bandai for the PlayStation 2, under the name Kamen Rider. It is a fighting game, with final attacks done with Ongeki weapons, as in the show. Players can connect their Tatacon, the controller from the Taiko: Drum Master game, to play along with the beat to defeat their enemies.

Hyper Battle Video
The spin-off Asumu Henshin was released Direct-to-video during the later half of 2005. It is special feature that Adachi Asumu plays an active part as Oni, guided by Takeshi's Animal discs. The Oni form of Asumu is identical to Kamen Rider. The only other Oni in the video (not counting the stock footage scenes) is Kamen Rider.

Kamen Rider Hibiki & The Seven Fighting Demons
The movie spin-off of the 2005 Kamen Rider series, entitled Kamen Rider Hibiki & The Seven Fighting Demons, takes place in the Warring States Period. The film serves as a prequel to the Makamou war and features five movie-only Oni known as Kabuki, Kirameki, Habataki, Nishiki, and Touki.

Cast

 * Parent Douji (Voice) - Sei Ashina
 * Parent Hime (Voice) - Mitsu Murata
 * (unknown episodes) -
 * Parent Douji (Voice) - Sei Ashina
 * Parent Hime (Voice) - Mitsu Murata
 * (unknown episodes) -
 * Parent Douji (Voice) - Sei Ashina
 * Parent Hime (Voice) - Mitsu Murata
 * (unknown episodes) -
 * Parent Douji (Voice) - Sei Ashina
 * Parent Hime (Voice) - Mitsu Murata
 * (unknown episodes) -
 * Parent Douji (Voice) - Sei Ashina
 * Parent Hime (Voice) - Mitsu Murata
 * (unknown episodes) -
 * Parent Hime (Voice) - Mitsu Murata
 * (unknown episodes) -

Suit actors

 * Kamen Rider Hibiki/Kamen Rider Sabaki -
 * Kamen Rider Ibuki/Kamen Rider Danki/Yamabiko -
 * Kamen Rider Todoroki -
 * Kamen Rider Zanki/Black Puppet -
 * Kamen Rider Eiki/Kamen Rider Shuki/Oni Armor -
 * Kwaidouji/Mushadouji/Midaredouji/Kamen Rider Zanki -
 * Youhime/Yoroihime -
 * Others -, and

Songs

 * Opening themes
 * Composition & Arrangement: Toshihiko Sahashi
 * Episodes: 1-33
 * Lyrics: Shōko Fujibayashi
 * Composition & Arrangement: Toshihiko Sahashi
 * Artist: Akira Fuse
 * Episodes: 34-47
 * Artist: Akira Fuse
 * Episodes: 34-47


 * Ending theme
 * Lyrics: Shōko Fujibayashi
 * Composition & Arrangement: Toshihiko Sahashi
 * Artist: Akira Fuse
 * Episodes: 1-33, 48
 * Character and insert songs
 * performedby Jin Hashimoto
 * performed by Tomokazu Seki for Kamen Rider Ibuki
 * performed by Eizo Sakamoto for Kamen Rider Todoroki
 * performed by Masatoshi Ono for Kamen Rider Hibiki
 * performed by Masatoshi Ono for Kamen Rider Hibiki