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09-13-2017, 09:25 AM | #981 |
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Join Date: Oct 2016
Posts: 783
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So I am a quarter done with Ultraman Max, ended up watching 10 Episodes yesterday and I don't know, I am somehow really enjoying the episodic nature of this?
Like it's hard for me to sit through something like Sentai for whatever reason due to that also having very episodic plots. Yet with Ultraman it's easier somehow. I don't know if it's the characters, the way the Kaiju Battles are handled, but the Ultraman Episodic Formula is one that I thought I wouldn't get into. Yet I watched 10 Episodes in one day because each one interested me enough to want to watch more. |
09-13-2017, 09:49 AM | #982 |
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Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 843
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Quote:
So I am a quarter done with Ultraman Max, ended up watching 10 Episodes yesterday and I don't know, I am somehow really enjoying the episodic nature of this?
Like it's hard for me to sit through something like Sentai for whatever reason due to that also having very episodic plots. Yet with Ultraman it's easier somehow. I don't know if it's the characters, the way the Kaiju Battles are handled, but the Ultraman Episodic Formula is one that I thought I wouldn't get into. Yet I watched 10 Episodes in one day because each one interested me enough to want to watch more. I also like how 10 Episodes in and Max looks like he's shown off all of his stuff, aside from one thing I remember from Ultraman X. But I think it makes the battles a lot more interesting because he doesn't have to use different armors or forms, he has to think and use what he has in his arsenal to beat the monster. Also the Opening Song is pretty catchy, I also like how as it starts up you see the title for the episode during the Opening. |
09-13-2017, 10:07 AM | #983 |
Alias: ZeroEnchiladas
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 2,580
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Quote:
Ultraman is a franchise that's less about the Ultraman themselves and more about the Multiverse they all protect, as well as the people, monsters, and aliens that inhabit that Multiverse. While Kamen Rider and Sentai don't really care all that much about the people outside of the little bubble they inhabit, a requirement given the constantly moving nature of Rider specifically, those people are the heart of Ultraman. As long as there's an excuse for Ultraman to be summoned near the end of the episode, they can have entire episodes focused on one off characters and monsters with little interaction with the main cast and still be worth will episodes as long as they keep the heart. This can lead to so really artsy episodes, as you will soon see with a certain Max episode later on...
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09-14-2017, 01:32 PM | #984 |
Kawaii 5-0
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Cardiff, United Kingdom
Posts: 12,851
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Watched the Ultraman Orb movie (with some pretty dire subs, so I look forward to TVN eventually getting around to it) and....feel kinda conflicted about it? Don't get me wrong I did have a lot of fun with it, but it wasn't anywhere near as good as the X movie and ultimately all felt a bit inconsequential. I guess the problem is when everything the franchise produces at the moment is so good when something doesn't quite meet that high standard it's more noticeable than usual.
The villain is really forgettable, and the other Ultras don't really feel as involved as I'd have liked. X is part of the story but feels like a punching bag most of the time, while Ginga and Victory are just kind of there to be part of the Trinity power up (which is kinda rad I'll admit). To be honest I was ready to write the movie off until Seven showed up, which was just as satisfying as when the original Ultraman shows up in the X movie. The good though? The characters are all on top form as usual, which is arguably the most important thing in Orb. The SSP really get to shine here, and Gai is just cool as ever. Juggler is...just kind of there and played mostly for laughs, but it's nice to see how things have changed since the series finale. So yeah, decent movie. Probably would have been better if the last few years of Ultra hadn't been so good but as it stands it definitely feels like one the weaker pieces in recent memory.
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09-14-2017, 06:44 PM | #985 |
Ex-Weather Three leader
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,533
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Back to topic I think Max is a good design and is a nice variant from the Ultraseven template. What I think worked for it at the time was that it was a nice back-to-basics approach tonally after the relatively grim-dark Nexus.
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Last edited by Sunred; 09-14-2017 at 06:47 PM.. |
09-14-2017, 08:46 PM | #986 |
Alias: ZeroEnchiladas
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 2,580
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Got through another 10 Episodes of Max, just finished Episode 20 so I'm halfway there.
Was definitely not expecting Xenon to show up, then again that also explains the Max Galaxy. That was a nice surprise since I didn't know Ultraman Xenon was a thing, he seems cool. That being said does Ultra use stock or more recognizable music a lot? Or is it just Max? Because I was surprised to suddenly hear Redrum being played while Max fought against Zetton. So far Ultraman Max is an enjoyable experience, words cannot even describe how I felt with Episode 15, Episode 16 was hilarious now that I know the full context and it was nice to see the Space Cats again. Though I also did just enjoy Episode 20 with Cloudos, just the attempt to try and keep this guy from waking up was hilarious. |
09-14-2017, 10:30 PM | #987 |
I have a problematic type
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,420
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Quote:
So far Ultraman Max is an enjoyable experience, words cannot even describe how I felt with Episode 15, Episode 16 was hilarious now that I know the full context and it was nice to see the Space Cats again. Though I also did just enjoy Episode 20 with Cloudos, just the attempt to try and keep this guy from waking up was hilarious.
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09-17-2017, 01:35 AM | #988 |
Alias: ZeroEnchiladas
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 2,580
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Well it almost took a week but I'm done with Ultraman Max, for my second Ultra show, it was pretty great. I wasn't sure if going back to older Ultraman would be good especially since I'm okay with collectibles and gimmicks all over the place, but it was a very nice series.
There's something about it though, it's like one of the first series to really make me smile and laugh in a long time at basically all of it's humor. Not sure what it is, but I just enjoyed the humor greatly. The action was pretty nice too. I might do a more lengthy review of it but it was definitely a fun watch. Now as for the next Ultraman... I'm probably going to dabble in Mebius and then move into Zero's stuff afterwards so I can watch Geed, I feel like I'd have a better experience if I have all of Zero's history under my belt first. |
09-17-2017, 10:37 PM | #989 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
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Well since Geed has inexplicably turned me into a huge fan of Ultraman Zero I decided to finally get around to... well, all the crap he was in. Including no less than three movies and numerous extraneous things. Most Ultramen would just be content to stick to a 50-ish episode television series, but hey, the franchise was in a weird place at the time.
Anyway to start things off I watched Ultraman Mebius: Ghost Reverse... which doesn't actually have Zero in it. But I love me some Mebius and it connects directly to the actual first thing Zero was in, although not in any way where you need to watch it. It's mostly its own thing, and it's alright. Not anything special, but I wasn't waiting for it to be over the whole time. If anything about it is truly interesting, it'd be the effects. The whole thing is one big space adventure and as such there's chroma keying up the wazoo. For better or for worse, I was constantly reminded of old 90's FMV games. Getting to the main event, we have *ahem* Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy Legend the Movie. I'm pretty sure I got that title right but part of me refuses to believe that's the real name of a movie, especially when the series it takes most of its name from was Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle. Seriously, I'm getting a headache just writing this. But who cares about names when the actual movie was super interesting. It really felt a big blockbuster movie version of Ultraman, having a ton of characters, a huge threat, and a similar style to Ghost Reverse with the composite shots everywhere, except here it actually looks quite nice. It's a far cry from how Ultraman is normally filmed, but it works. The effects are good and the action is fast, although with Koichi Sakamoto directing that's pretty much a given. About those characters though. They're both a cool thing about the film and a huge reason I appreciate it a bit more than I like it. Not that I didn't have a good time, but there's a distinct lack of a true protagonist that prevented me from getting into it as much as I would've liked. The movie spends a good 20 minutes of its 90 minute runtime sort of focused on Mebius, before finally getting around to introducing Rei, who the opening narration and title of the movie would suggest to be the main hero here, except for the part where Tsuburaya had this totally hip, new, cool character you're just gonna love! to shill. Not gonna lie, I didn't much care for Zero here. He wasn't too bad but seeing his debut here immediately reminded me why I just kind of assumed he was some terrible fan-fiction OC shoehorned into the franchise. By which I mean, that's pretty much exactly what he is here. The ensemble nature of the story means this new character, who is ultimately extremely important to the plot and it's kind of crucial you care about him, doesn't even show up until halfway through, and is only in a couple scenes building his character before having him play a HUGE role throughout the big climactic fight. It's kind of a lot to ask of the audience to give a s*** about this guy we've barely met and as such nothing involving him quite hits the mark. Like, sure, his backstory makes him an obvious parallel to Belial, but then, so does Rei's, and because the movie's attention is so split, neither of them get much of a payoff from that fact. There's just not much of an emotional hook going on. No real central theme or characters arcs (Zero's hardly counts), and that takes what could've been something great down to just being good, in my opinion. Of course, that's just looking at it from one perspective. Viewing the plot as a vehicle for fanservice and action, it holds up way better. There's returning Ultra actors all over the place teaming up to fight evil, and sometimes maybe that's all you need. Belial's a great, intimidating foe to go up against, and despite Zero trying to steal their thunder, all the heroes come off looking cool. Seeing the cast here even took Mega Monster Battle from totally off my radar to faintly on my radar! That probably sounds sarcastic, but it's amazing it got me to care at all when there's so many other things I could watch. Ultimately I'm probably WAY overthinking all this. At the end of the day Mega Monster Whatevertheheck is a big dumb movie that you can watch and have fun with, and that's cool. Definitely worth your time, although personally, I'm mostly just excited to see Zero become an actual character after this. Oh, and also the subs from GUIS were really weird. As I understand it, there were official subtitles they just touched up for accuracy, but half the dialogue is still basically made up whole cloth, in the weirdest way possible. It's almost like a completely different script with the same exact plot and characters. Just... bizarre. I don't even know how to describe it, and I guess it doesn't matter too much in the long run, but it was really tripping me out the whole time I was watching it.
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09-17-2017, 11:11 PM | #990 |
Member
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 843
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Quote:
Well since Geed has inexplicably turned me into a huge fan of Ultraman Zero I decided to finally get around to... well, all the crap he was in. Including no less than three movies and numerous extraneous things. Most Ultramen would just be content to stick to a 50-ish episode television series, but hey, the franchise was in a weird place at the time.
Anyway to start things off I watched Ultraman Mebius: Ghost Reverse... which doesn't actually have Zero in it. But I love me some Mebius and it connects directly to the actual first thing Zero was in, although not in any way where you need to watch it. It's mostly its own thing, and it's alright. Not anything special, but I wasn't waiting for it to be over the whole time. If anything about it is truly interesting, it'd be the effects. The whole thing is one big space adventure and as such there's chroma keying up the wazoo. For better or for worse, I was constantly reminded of old 90's FMV games. Getting to the main event, we have *ahem* Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy Legend the Movie. I'm pretty sure I got that title right but part of me refuses to believe that's the real name of a movie, especially when the series it takes most of its name from was Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle. Seriously, I'm getting a headache just writing this. But who cares about names when the actual movie was super interesting. It really felt a big blockbuster movie version of Ultraman, having a ton of characters, a huge threat, and a similar style to Ghost Reverse with the composite shots everywhere, except here it actually looks quite nice. It's a far cry from how Ultraman is normally filmed, but it works. The effects are good and the action is fast, although with Koichi Sakamoto directing that's pretty much a given. About those characters though. They're both a cool thing about the film and a huge reason I appreciate it a bit more than I like it. Not that I didn't have a good time, but there's a distinct lack of a true protagonist that prevented me from getting into it as much as I would've liked. The movie spends a good 20 minutes of its 90 minute runtime sort of focused on Mebius, before finally getting around to introducing Rei, who the opening narration and title of the movie would suggest to be the main hero here, except for the part where Tsuburaya had this totally hip, new, cool character you're just gonna love! to shill. Not gonna lie, I didn't much care for Zero here. He wasn't too bad but seeing his debut here immediately reminded me why I just kind of assumed he was some terrible fan-fiction OC shoehorned into the franchise. By which I mean, that's pretty much exactly what he is here. The ensemble nature of the story means this new character, who is ultimately extremely important to the plot and it's kind of crucial you care about him, doesn't even show up until halfway through, and is only in a couple scenes building his character before having him play a HUGE role throughout the big climactic fight. It's kind of a lot to ask of the audience to give a s*** about this guy we've barely met and as such nothing involving him quite hits the mark. Like, sure, his backstory makes him an obvious parallel to Belial, but then, so does Rei's, and because the movie's attention is so split, neither of them get much of a payoff from that fact. There's just not much of an emotional hook going on. No real central theme or characters arcs (Zero's hardly counts), and that takes what could've been something great down to just being good, in my opinion. Of course, that's just looking at it from one perspective. Viewing the plot as a vehicle for fanservice and action, it holds up way better. There's returning Ultra actors all over the place teaming up to fight evil, and sometimes maybe that's all you need. Belial's a great, intimidating foe to go up against, and despite Zero trying to steal their thunder, all the heroes come off looking cool. Seeing the cast here even took Mega Monster Battle from totally off my radar to faintly on my radar! That probably sounds sarcastic, but it's amazing it got me to care at all when there's so many other things I could watch. Ultimately I'm probably WAY overthinking all this. At the end of the day Mega Monster Whatevertheheck is a big dumb movie that you can watch and have fun with, and that's cool. Definitely worth your time, although personally, I'm mostly just excited to see Zero become an actual character after this. Oh, and also the subs from GUIS were really weird. As I understand it, there were official subtitles they just touched up for accuracy, but half the dialogue is still basically made up whole cloth, in the weirdest way possible. It's almost like a completely different script with the same exact plot and characters. Just... bizarre. I don't even know how to describe it, and I guess it doesn't matter too much in the long run, but it was really tripping me out the whole time I was watching it. On a somewhat related note, I find it hilarious that Ultraman Zero: The Chronicle actually airs this movie second while they air Super Decisive Battle, Zero's second movie, first. |
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