Kamen Rider Hibiki & The Seven Senki (劇場版 仮面ライダー響鬼と7人の戦鬼, Gekijōban Kamen Raidā Hibiki to Shichinin no Senki; Masked Rider Hibiki & The Seven War Ogres) is the movie for the Japanese tokusatsu production Kamen Rider Hibiki, directed by Taro Sakamoto and written by Toshiki Inoue. The movie's title and plot is a reference to the classic Akira Kurosawa film, Seven Samurai. This movie marks the debut of Kamen Rider Hibiki's final form prior to its appearance in the show, and also explains the history of the Makamou and Oni war.
The film was produced by Ishinomori Productions and Toei, the producers of all the previous television series and films under the Kamen Rider franchise. Following the tradition of all Heisei Kamen Rider movies, it is a double bill with 2005's Super Sentai movie, Mahou Sentai Magiranger: The Bride of Infershia.
This was the first of the Heisei era Kamen Rider movies to not have a two word subtitle.
This movie also served to introduce the new producer and writer team that would later go on to replace producer Shigenori Takatera and writer Tsuyoshi Kida within the main series.
Contents
Plot
Hibiki and Asumu are on their way to a Makamou attack on the beach. Once they arrive there, they see dozens of people running from the massive Orochi, a beast rumored to be the strongest Makamou ever created. Once they arrive, Hibiki walks towards the Orochi and transforms, but all of his attacks prove useless against Orochi. The situation is made even more dire when Hibiki jumps in the way of an attack meant for Asumu. Taking the full force of the attack, Hibiki passes out as the Orochi swims away, leaving a panicking Asumu to get help. Hibiki ends up in the hospital and Asumu begins blaming himself for Hibiki's injuries. Feeling useless, he begins helping at Tachibana's, going through dozens of books to try to discover a way to defeat the Orochi. Upon coming across a book with his name on it, Asumu sits down and begins to read what turns out to be the history of Takeshi, the Oni and the Makamou war.
In the Sengoku period, a young boy who has the same resemblance and name as Asumu is wandering around with his childhood friend Hitoe. In this time, the humans all knew and feared the Makamou, sometimes forced to sacrifice one of their own to spare an entire village from the Makamou's wrath. Suzu was such a case as she was offered up as the yearly sacrifice to the Orochi to keep it from killing the villagers. After some protesting from the girl's father, the man was killed by Douji and Hime before Suzu and her father's corpse were consumed by the Orochi. A year later, a mark appears upon Hitoe's hand, making her as the next sacrifice to the Orochi. Asumu, unwilling to let her meet such a fate, sets out to find a way to stop it. Meeting the village elder Tobei and the others for such a means, learning the only way is to bring an Oni, though many villagers see them to be no different than the Makamou, despite the fact that they fight the monsters. Asumu understands the danger but insists on setting out in spite his own history with an Oni. Tobei sends along his daughters, Kazue and Hinako, to help.
The group then enters a town being attacking by a Makamou called Kaendaishou before it is defeated by an Oni named Kabuki who has been hired by the town's people to defeat the Makamou. After realizing that the people can only pay him with food, Kabuki offered some a younger boy, but the boy's mother quickly slaps the food away from the boy due to the taboo of humans' contact with the Oni. Learning of Asamu's blight, Kabuki offers his aid after telling him they need to gather allies to help them against the Orochi. To that end, Kabuki takes Asumu's group to find a small home where a former Oni named Hibiki lives. Asumu instantly declares his hatred for this man as he believes him to be the one that killed his brother. Asumu's older brother, Takeshi, was the apprentice to Hibiki and was killed one day in a rock slide. Asumu found Hibiki carrying his brother's body and assumed that Hibiki was his brother's killer. Without Hibiki, the group moves on to find the next Oni; Ibuki. They find Ibuki, who aided in the war and became daimyō. But bored with his life as a feudal lord, Ibuki quickly takes care of his court and leaves with the group. The group then heads on to a small temple, where they recruit a buddhist priest named Touki after Kabuki attempted to throws a rock at him to test his buddhist abilities.
Characters
TV Series (Present)
Hibiki / Kamen Rider Hibiki - Plays the same role as in the TV series. Hibiki is greatly injured at the start of the movie.
Asumu Adachi - Plays the same role as in the TV series. He was saved by Hibiki when they faced a Makamou which causes Hibiki being injured. This leads Asumu in reading the book that contains the history of the said Makamou and entangled with the history of TAKESHI and the Oni. Learning that his meeting with the Oni is no mere coincidence.
Past
These characters possess a resemblance to the present-time characters.
Hibiki - The original Hibiki is a quiet man. After blaming himself for Takeshi's death, he gave up being an Oni. However, when he and his allies discovers Kabuki secretly betrays them and sides with Makamou, the original Hibiki reassumes his Oni duty in the near-climax.
Ibuki - The original Ibuki played a role in the war that gave him a position as daimyō. However, he become bored with his new position over time, setting out with the group searching for adventure as an Oni.
Todoroki - The Todoroki of the past is a carpenter Oni with no real master. The group suddenly met him on the way.
Asumu - Bearing a likeness to the Asumu of the present, he was the reason of the Oni gathering to defeat the Orochi. He is also one of the founding members of TAKESHI.
Movie Edition Oni
Kabuki is a Taiko Oni and is one of the antagonists in the movie, having double-crossed Asumu and the others into believing he cares for humans (as per his staged fight with a Makamou). He also caused trouble among the seven Oni when they were accused of attacking humans (with Nishiki's weapons found beside a murdered man, while it was actually him who committed it). He revealed that he was disillusioned with his relation with humans because no matter how hard he fights and risks his life for them, they just call him an Oni, a monster, an animal. Thus he forms a pact with the Makamou to become one of them. He has a soft spot, however, for children because even upon his defeat by Hibiki and death at the hands of Hitotsumi, he pleads for Asumu's safety.
A buddhist monk who spends his days praying at a local temple until Asumu and his group come upon him. He bears a resemblance to the present day Kamen Rider Zanki.
Kirameki was Touki's partner years ago until an incident with an Ittanmomen resulted with Kirameki running off, leaving Touki to fend the Makamou off on his own. As a result, Kirameki was labeled a coward no one wanted to associated with. However, Kirameki joins the group of Oni when he arrives in his kite and suggests getting more reinforcements.
A thief Oni who loves money, Nishiki is often caught in situations leading people to believe he is a criminal. He refused to join the Oni group at first until tricked in believing there's buried treasure in the village they're saving.
Habataki is one of the older Oni. He fought in a war years ago and has since given up the Oni life to settle down as a farmer together with his family.
Movie Kamen Rider Arsenal and technique
Kabuki
Henshin Onsa Onkaku (変身音叉・音角): A black tuning fork transformation device.
Meitō Onsaken (鳴刀・音叉剣): The Onkaku's sword form.
Ongekiko (音撃鼓): A taiko buckle.
Ongekibō Ressui (音撃棒・烈翠): A pair of drum sticks Ongeki weapon.
Ongeki Da Gōka Kenran (音撃打・業火絢爛): Ongeki Finisher.
Touki
Henshin Onsa Onkaku (変身音叉・音角): A bronze tuning fork transformation device.
Meitō Onsaken (鳴刀・音叉剣): The Onkaku's sword form.
Ongekiko (音撃鼓): A taiko buckle.
Ongeki Kanabō Rettō (音撃金棒・烈凍): A gong stick Ongeki weapon.
Ongeki Ō Ichigeki Dotō (音撃殴・一撃怒涛): Ongeki Finisher.
Kirameki
Henshin Onsa Onkaku (変身音叉・音角): A silver tuning fork transformation device.
Meitō Onsaken (鳴刀・音叉剣): The Onkaku's sword form.
Ongekimei (音撃鳴): A trumpet buckle.
Ongeki Cymbal Retsuban (音撃震張・烈盤, Ongeki Shinbaru Retsuban) A cymbal Ongeki weapon.
Ongeki Hyō Keichō Fubaku (音撃拍・軽佻訃爆): Ongeki Finisher.
Takeshi
While the movie's version of how Hibiki became Armed Hibiki and gained the Armed Saber is different of that than the television series, the rest of the movie is considered to be canon. Much of the history of the Makamou and Oni was only mentioned in small dialogue in the television series. It was not until the movie was released that the true heritage of the partnership between the Oni and the humans was revealed, as well as the history of the war between the Makamou and the Oni. It is believed that the Makamou history was simply written off as myths by modern-day humans. Thus, they are unaware of the existence of the Oni and Makamou.
Cast
Hibiki (ヒビキ): Shigeki Hosokawa (細川 茂樹, Hosokawa Shigeki)
Asumu Adachi (安達 明日夢, Adachi Asumu), Asumu (明日夢): Rakuto Tochihara (栩原 楽人, Tochihara Rakuto)
Ibuki (イブキ): Jouji Shibue (渋江 譲二, Shibue Jōji)
Todoroki (トドロキ): Shingo Kawaguchi (川口 真五, Kawaguchi Shingo)
Kabuki (カブキ): Toshinobu Matsuo (松尾 敏伸, Matsuo Toshinobu)
Touki (トウキ, Tōki): Kenji Matsuda (松田 賢二, Matsuda Kenji)
Kirameki (キラメキ): So Yamanaka (山中 聡, Yamanaka Sō)
Nishiki (ニシキ): Masaki Kitahara (北原 雅樹, Kitahara Masaki)
Habataki (ハバタキ): Takeyuki Yue (湯江 健幸, Yue Takeyuki)
Kasumi Tachibana (立花 香須実, Tachibana Kasumi), Kazue (かずえ): : Mayu Gamou (蒲生 麻由, Gamō Mayu)
Hinaka Tachibana (立花 日菜佳, Tachibana Hinaka), Hinako (ひなこ): : Miyuki Kanbe (神戸 みゆき, Kanbe Miyuki)
Hitoe (ひとえ): Erika Mori (森 絵梨佳, Mori Erika)
Suzu (鈴): Nana Akiyama (秋山 奈々, Akiyama Nana)
Mother (母親, Hahaoya): Kaoru Mizuki (水木 薫, Mizuki Kaoru)
Habataki's Wife (ハバタキの女房, Habataki no Nyōbō): Masako Umemiya (梅宮 万紗子, Umemiya Masako)
Hitotsumi (ヒトツミ): Asami Abe (安倍 麻美, Abe Asami)
Manga Adaptation
The film is an adapted in a full 3 chapter manga book which is closely related to the film except there are few difference the present framing is removed.
Songs
Theme song
"Flashback"
Lyrics: Shoko Fujibayashi
Rap Lyrics: m.c.A.T
Composition & Arrangement: Isamu Taihei & SJR
Artist: Rin' featuring m.c.A.T