Anyone know where I can find episodes of Dyna??? A friend linked me to the first episode on Daily Motion and I couldn't find the second one when I tried to find it recently.

Okay, so I'm out of non-HK episodes of Max to watch (:cry) and the next episode in order isn't on YouTube anymore (and is the first of a two-parter, of course). I'm sadly forced to shelve that for now and have finally gotten around to starting Tiga properly. I'm up to episode 3 now and really liking it, even if the defense force in this one is ridiculously huge and I know I'll never remember who all of them are. It's a good mid-90s tokusatsu, though, and I can tell I'm going to have fun with it.

I will never not be bothered by how much the theme song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...IDUC-h-eQ#t=78

sounds like this annoying Eurodance song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...6QDNC4jPs#t=33

Locke tries to get into Ultraman again. He watches the first episode of Max. He LOVES the first episode of Max.

The giant stuff was integrated well, the special effects were top notch and the designs were great. What really helped Max's look was the limited use of miniatures and scaled sets. I hope the frequency of use of real locations and extras doesn't diminish as the series progresses, it really added to the whole experience.

Plus whenever they did have to resort to sound stages, the placement of miniatures and general detail and design was much more convincing as a real location than what you see in sentai.

The only real disappointment was seeing two kaiju fight, how'd you make two monsters battling boring? Well how about a five minute solid battle of two rubber suits bumping into one another and falling over repeatedly? That'll do it!

Max's entrance was a mixed bag, I actually like the concept of the Ultramen a lot more than the execution. Why does every Ultraman have an obvious zip down the back? Why do they build the suits out of material that creases and folds in the manner that they do? Why do they keep the bodies so simple that the heads seem huge in comparison?

Don't get me wrong Max's entrance was pretty cool, from the fact he seemed to fight the monsters so...normally for ridiculous effect, but just when you think it's gonna be ridiculously underplayed he fires some frickin' rainbow beam that causes the monsters to full on shatter into pieces. It's just gonna take me time to appreciate that suit - if I ever do.

Max is a fantastic show; loads of fun with a great cast of likable characters. I should warn you, though, I know you like your serialized shows and Max is not even slightly going to be that. Aside from a couple two-parters, this is all episodic, all the time. It's a phenomenal show, though, and I really hope the last five or so episodes get subbed before too much longer.

I'm not sure how it originally began, but these days the material that juts out like a fin is considered part of the design, even the toys have taken to using them now.

Max is a pretty awesome show all around. It's sort of a love song to the monsters of the franchise, featuring reworked versions of the monsters from throughout the years. (the star from the original show plays the commander here) I think my favorite aspect is that it's a showcase for big name directors from Japan. Takashi Miike even ends up directing some really great episodes. A pretty huge director by the name of Jissoji Akio ends up doing my favorite episode of the series as well, 22.

I guess cause I have no nostalgia for the franchise, I just find it ugly and distracting.

Heh, the choruses are pretty similar, aren't they?

1. The actor has to be able to get into the suit somehow. Part of why the fin exists on Ultraman is to disguise the zip a little better.

2. I think most Ultraman suits are a mixture of latex and foam rubber. Suit that use other types of material, IMHO, tend to look a lot worse. The spandex suit on Ultraman Great in particular. The worse cases of creasing I've seen are on Ace and Mebius, both almost entirely silver suits.

3. For better or for worse, they still have to keep the design recognizably "Ultraman." And that usually means retaining the big-headed, big-eyed alien look with some allowances on variation.

Seems kind of strange to rag on Ultraman for looking like Ultraman. :eyebrow

I'm not ragging on Ultraman for looking like Ultraman, I'm ragging on the engineering of the suit.

They could put a second piece of material to cover the zip so it doesn't look like well...a zip. They could sculpt the helmets better so they don't look like a bobble head. They could direct the suit actors to not move in such a way the suit billows out like they've got a fat gut.

Basic stuff.

That sounds like an invitation for the second piece of material to go flying off during more action-y scenes. It can't be permanently attached because the costume still needs to be able to be put on.

There's nothing technically wrong with how the helmets are sculpted. Not even sure they count as helmets since they appear to be attached to the rest of the costume from the behind-the-scenes photos I've seen. ANYWAY, I digress.

In most situations, I prefer larger heads. Ultramen also tend to be designed to have broad shoulders and barrel chests, so having a smaller head would just look even weirder. Like Ultraseven X. Now Max in particular probably could have used a smaller head. He always seemed kind of pencil-necked to me.

Also, could you explain what you mean by billowing? The material does tend to stick out at the front, but usually only when the actor is crouching or leaning forward in any way. Otherwise, it's supposed to be rather tight.