|
Community Links |
Members List |
Search Forums |
Advanced Search |
Go to Page... |
|
Thread Tools |
09-30-2017, 09:02 PM | #1001 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
|
Wait what. Y-You guys have a secret base? For real??? THAT'S F***ING AWESOME!!! Seriously Tsuburaya, these guys need their own show, or a comic, or something. Give em' another movie and call it Revenge of the Revenge of Belial: Vengeance for all I care, just do SOMETHING! Er, um, at any rate, I've finally finished my epic quest to watch everything Ultraman Zero was in with Ultra Zero Fight. Very surprised by how much fun it was. Once again, I can't stress enough how much more likable Zero became after his debut, and it even comes full circle here with him looking out for the literal little guy again, except here he's way more openly nice about it. Good stuff. I also really enjoyed the part where Belial violently murders all of Zero's friends. I know that sounds like a horrible thing to say, but my point is that it's amazing what the censors will let you get away with when your characters don't bleed actual blood. Zero's subsequent Superman: The Movie-ing of everyone back to life also prevents traumatizing the kiddies too much, so everybody wins! All in all I had a real good time with it. I'll also never say no to more Ultimate Force Zero, so there's that. And just to bring things truly full circle, I went ahead and rewatched episode 5 of Ultraman X, which was actually my first exposure to the character. It's nice to be able to appreciate the little things like that piece of background music from Revenge of Belial following him around even years later (further proving my point about that movie being his "real" debut). Back when I first saw him here, even though I never hated him, Zero definitely rubbed me the wrong way, but I can definitely confirm my newfound appreciation of the character isn't some fluke, because this time around I thought he was great! It was always a super fun episode (and I mean, it's X, how could it not be?), but it's even more fun when you actually care about both of the heroes. It's really cool to finally be able to say I like Zero now. That's thanks largely to Geed itself, but starring in some very cool movies certainly helped a whole lot. He's actually an awesome guy and an Ultra Warrior I'd be more than happy to have protecting- Oh. Well crap...
__________________
Last edited by Fish Sandwich; 09-30-2017 at 09:04 PM.. |
10-01-2017, 09:23 PM | #1002 |
Alias: ZeroEnchiladas
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 2,570
|
So decided to test my luck on the Armored Darkness Gaiden of Mebius, jeez too bad there isn't a proper translation, luckily I had an idea of what was going on but yeah. Best highlight was probably seeing Mebius Phoenix Brave in action and fighting compared to the beam attack it used in the finale. Such a good form.
Next I decided to move onto the Mega Monster Battle Series, very fun with the subs up until Episode 13 of the first series, jeez that finale was very crabsticks in the subs department. And then NEO was passable in it's subs at most. But the entire idea of Mega Monster Battle and NEO clicked with me, also it had my boy Gomora in it so I thoroughly enjoyed that. Also the fact that the second season was essentially Pokemon but with Kaiju with planet hammer and that tournament that was going on. Looking through the list of stuff involving Mebius and Zero though, looks like Ghost Reverse is next so I'll check that out. |
10-03-2017, 10:43 PM | #1003 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
|
TV-N's got the Orb movie out now so I finally got to watch that.
I more or less agree with everything ZeoRangerV said a bit back in the thread, but I also find myself not caring too much? I had a ton of fun with this one. If the X movie was a party, this movie is hanging out with a few close friends. Note that I didn't say "merely" hanging out with friends, though. I think for as much as the relatively low-key style is a weakness, it also makes it far more authentically Orb than if it were another crazy, all-out action kind of Ultraman film. Orb the series had a very particular, unique style and Orb the movie matches it perfectly. The way the humor is casually mixed into the drama especially, but you even get some of that borderline avant-garde flair I love so much. When that ad for the Blu-ray that's always part of the commercial breaks on Tsuburaya's Youtube uploads of Geed kept mentioning people in the theater cheering on the Ultra heroes, I never once considered the possibility there was a straight up, impromptu audience participation segment in there. Without even breaking the fourth wall. That's the kind of outside the box thinking you'd only get from Orb. The cast from the show is just as great as always, too, and the returning Ultras are all okay. Daichi and Gai start to develop some great chemistry the second they meet, but unfortunately that just makes it all the more frustrating them teaming up isn't the focus of the film. Outside of that, Zero shows up at the beginning to kick-start the plot, Ginga and Victory... get to be there, and most surprisingly of all, Seven ex machina! I don't know, I guess his son told him what's up, but they never set that up or mentioned it after the fact. Who cares, anyway? Ultra Seven is an absolute legend with a big anniversary to celebrate, so if he wants to be in this movie, I'm not complaining. Overall, while I can't argue the whole thing feeling inconsequential, I can argue that's not as damning as it might sound. At this point it's pretty much a hard rule for me that "More Orb" = "Never a bad thing".
__________________
|
10-04-2017, 12:52 PM | #1004 |
Alias: ZeroEnchiladas
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 2,570
|
So in following Fish Sandwich's footsteps I've started to watch all the stuff Zero was in, really surprised they never tried to give him his own show considering how much he shows up.
Originally I had started up Mebius and subsequently Mega Monster Battle with the intention of using those two as bracing material as they are relevant to the Zero Movie stuff. But what turned from a thing to watch to get some context made me enjoy both series equally and I can definitely say I'm loving Ultraman a lot and I plan on watching more and more, as much as I can anyway. Ghost Reverse - The last Mebius focused material, this actually looked and felt pretty cool. It's a fun little thing that helps set up the next entry, not necessary but it's fun to see them reference it in the other movie. Also EX Zetton? I wish I found out about this sooner. Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy Legend the Movie - Man we've come a long way since the gold curtain backdrop of the Land of Light in Mebius haven't we? I know it sort of started in Ghost Reverse but it's really cool to see the Land of Light as an actual place and not just some weird gold curtain effect. I also like how this felt like a really big movie, not as Cinematic as the Mebius Movie, but this definitely has a budget and it shows. Especially with the cast from Mega Monster Battle in there, considering that series didn't have much in the way of budget, seeing them with an actual budget this time was really cool. Another thing this movie does which interests me is we don't really have a clear cut protagonist, yeah sure you could say Zero is the one but we mostly follow Rei and Mirai in this movie. It's definitely weird in structure but overall it's just a fun spectacle movie that introduces two big main stays to the franchise in the forms of Belial and Zero. Ultraman Zero Vs. Darclops Zero - It's a thing, just a fun adventure with Rei, Boss, and Zero basically, oh and some Leo action, nice to see he has a cape too. Though it's mostly just a kind of nudge special, as in. "Why did someone make a robot of Zero? Who even made it? Oh apparently Belial is a Kaiser now?" at least that's what the second part does which is what it's supposed to do in the end I guess. Still having seen Zero in action in X, it's nice to see how limited he was when he first appeared. Ultraman Zero: The Revenge of Belial - Oh man this movie is gorgeous! Very nice eye candy and a fun space adventure story as well. It's nice to see a movie where Zero is actually the main character, since the first one he debuted in he was kind of part of the characters that went to stop Belial, in the Darclops Zero, he's mostly in the background just fighting, and despite having a big beef with his robotic counterpart it really didn't seem much like his special because it was split with Rei and Boss from Mega Monster Battle. But yeah overall fun movie, it's also nice to see where Ultimate Zero comes from, that's a really cool way to get a power up. Plus I like all these giants that just team up and tag along with Zero at the end. And now with me having seen Noa in a cameo my intrigue for Nexus continues to grow because I know he has something to do in that. But Nexus can wait for another time, I've still got a couple of more movies and specials to watch. |
10-06-2017, 11:55 AM | #1005 |
take me to space
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 1,406
|
Mebius is a pretty amazing show, just throwing that out there. Anyhow, just watched episode 41, which was a big tribute to 80. Even though I've never watched or know anything about the latter show, the episode still somehow managed to instill a sense of fond nostalgia and warmth in me.
|
10-06-2017, 07:20 PM | #1006 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
|
This right here! This is the magic of Mebius! It makes you fondly remember shows you haven't even seen! That's what really makes it such a perfect tribute to the franchise. It was made with so much clear passion and genuine love for the older shows that even if you don't personally care about them the same way, you can still connect with it just as much.
__________________
|
10-07-2017, 05:08 PM | #1007 |
Alias: ZeroEnchiladas
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 2,570
|
So I'll probably just wrap up my thoughts on the other Zero stuff quickly since I just finished them all and they were all enjoyable but...
Killer the Beat Star definitely is the better out of the two Gaiden's for Zero, I don't know there just felt like a lot more going for Beat Star compared to Darkclop's, if only because you not only had Rei and Boss but also most of the guys from Revenge of Belial, it was a more filled out cast, not to mention Jean-Nine is pretty cool, not sure if I can get over that laser placement though. Ultraman Saga is definitely an interesting one, having an idol group as the main group of characters was interesting aside from our main three heroes. Not to mention I got a kick out of their machines transforming into robots. Dyna was cool to see again though he took a back seat for Taiga, Zero and Cosmos. Cosmos was actually really cool, I dig his fighting style and the way he described where he was from sounds amazing. Also it's nice to see hotheaded Zero clash with stubborn idiotic Taiga, the way Taiga just denies him the transformation at first was a hilarious scene. Also I love the fact that Zetton was the main antagonist, well I mean there was Alien Bat but in terms of who actually fought. Also Ultraman Saga himself is an interesting design and continuing my thoughts about Fusion Ultra's... it feels weird how Orb and Geed treat fusing as a normal thing for them compared to other Fusions like Mebius Phoenix Brave or Saga which are these big events. And finally Ultra Zero Fight, oh man that first half was fun, it's nice to see there was semi-consequences for the Saga fusion, in that Zero now had two new forms. I also appreciate how with Ultraman, at least the earlier ones, a form change is literally a color swapped suit. It's different and I like that. That being said I wasn't ready for the depression train to hit as soon as Part II started to kick up, I was literally yelling, "THIS IS NOT OKAY" during most of the second half. That being said, I've finally finished all of Ultraman Zero's stuff, aside from the cameos he does in other series but I'm ready for Geed now... but probably tomorrow. |
10-07-2017, 09:57 PM | #1008 |
Dark Noir Black Schwarz
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Australia
Posts: 956
|
Quote:
Mebius is a pretty amazing show, just throwing that out there. Anyhow, just watched episode 41, which was a big tribute to 80. Even though I've never watched or know anything about the latter show, the episode still somehow managed to instill a sense of fond nostalgia and warmth in me.
|
10-07-2017, 11:30 PM | #1009 |
take me to space
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 1,406
|
Passion is a good word to describe Mebius as a whole, yeah. I finished the final episodes and now I've found myself with an ultra-sized hole in my heart. I'm probably going to be delving head-first into this franchise here on out, probably starting with 80 since that one episode did make me interested in the first place.
|
10-08-2017, 08:08 PM | #1010 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
|
So in my rush to get to the stuff Zero was in, I actually completely forgot I meant to watch Super Ultra 8 Brothers as a sort of lead-in. Or Superior Ultraman 8 Brothers. Or 大決戦!超ウルトラ8兄弟, to be as accurate as possible. Seriously, these names get confusing. I'll get to that one in a second but as a lead-in to what is now a lead-out, I rewatched Ultraman Mebius & Ultra Brothers. Still a pretty darn good flick. A lot of what I said about Saga applies here too. Not an awesome space epic, but has tons of heart to compensate. And it's about Mebius, which automatically makes it way cooler. It's a very well done tribute to the franchise.
Ultra 8 Brothers, on the other hand, is, to recycle my thoughts on yet another Zero movie: WOW What a film. Take everything I just said about Saga and the Mebius movie, multiply it by two, and you have my thoughts on this one. It's pretty much the exact opposite of epic, but it's insanely great as a love letter to all things Ultraman. The entire plot has this very obviously meta dimension to it with a message that is pretty squarely aimed not at the children watching, but at the adults who watched Ultraman as children. It's kind of a crazy idea and if done poorly it could border on self-indulgent, but it works great here. I said about Saga that Keiichi Hasegawa clearly cares about the franchise, but I didn't realize just how right I was about that. Not only is the entire film basically telling you liking Ultraman makes you awesome, it's doing so with tons of references to older stuff bolstered by a frankly astonishing amount of returning actors, in roles both major and minor, adding legitimacy to everything. I don't know, it's kind of weird movie, because even though on the surface it's just alright, I was extremely satisfied by it. How do I put it? Oh I know! Check out this shot (that's actually recycled from the Mebius movie but shhh): It's just some Ultramen standing around, right? It should be boring. But take a closer look, and you realize, they're *standing* there. They look awesome, and triumphant, and heroic, and a bunch of other words. There's not that much to it, and yet there's everything to it. That's the kind of feeling this movie has, and I'm actually glad I ended up saving it until the end of this little journey of mine. I'm definitely not burned out on Ultraman, but I'm probably done playing catch up for at least a bit, and this makes a great place to take a break.
__________________
|
|
TokuNation News & Rumors |
SH Figuarts BoonBoomger Red |
Hasbro Licenses Power Rangers Toys to Playmates Toys |
Discotek Media Licenses Mobile Cop Jiban |
What's going on with CSM? |
Ultraman Arc Trailer |
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 07:02 AM.
|