Anyone notices when Aizen sings Gaia's theme? He is like Syndrome in The Incredibles. He's an Ultraman fan boy with a mental issue and ends up becoming a villain. His transformation and Orb Calibur sequence really cracked me up

From my experience, that's usually the case. People seem to either be far less critical of 'dramatic and/or high stacks' seasons or are simply more willing to overlook their flaws then they are for more comedic and/or episodic seasons. Maybe its because they tend to hit harder emotionally then comedic seasons do?

I don't know, I'd argue that many of the past seasons were heavier on the comedic. We haven't really had a "serious" show since Nexus and 7X. Maybe the Orb miniseries prelude/prequel piece.

It's that comparing the final run to a show only starting, you haven't gotten the emotional builds yet or seen the crescendos. The colorfulness and campiness usually makes for better emotional pulls because the comedy and softer exterior makes the emotional spots hit harder.

When it's got that thick coating of looking warm and inviting you should be cautious, because that usually means they have much more room to move for the emotional beats to hit even harder because of how people don't expect it from the colorful/campy exterior.

Same tends to be true for Riders and Sentai. Ditto to many modern toons too. It's that balance of 'cute' or 'colorful' or abstract, that allows for wider material to get used because it lulls you into that sense of security and creates false expectations from perceptions about material that's like that. People to this day still confuse style and aesthetic choices to mean something can't go serious or have serious moments, even though we've seen quite a lot of material(too many to list!) prove otherwise.

Oh my God episode 8 is the best. Aizen being an angry old Ultraman fanboy is great. Plus the whole episode just LOOKS really good. I like it so much I'm going to watch it again!

wow ep 9 the heroes actually being smart and takes away the bad guy weapon

Holy crap, episode 8 is not only a masterpiece, but Makoto Aizen is one hell of a villain. He easily curb stomps fukuide kei and could very well be the Dan Kuroto of the Ultraman

Yup. I also smell a Dan Kuroto in him. Pretty sure he'll switch side later when a bigger threat appears

Dear lord, episode 8 was amazing; Makoto Aizen aka "Ultraman Orb Dark Noir Black Schwarz" is the absolute best. I really hope he becomes the Evolto of this show and continues to grow alongside the heroes.

There’s no doubt in my heart anymore, I...

https://i.imgur.com/JplHVio.jpg

... this show!

Question. Aizen or God Kuroto.
One shall stand, one shall fall.
Have fun folks.

*goes to the back, wears soundproof headphones and casually eats dorayakis*

Okay episode 8 has been a huge turnaround in this show for me. A villain that not only is some sort of meta commentary on how Ultras have changed over the years, but also actively perverts the morals and messages of the show he draws his powers from? R/B you are spoiling us.