Late quote, but a person in the YouTube comments wrote something that I didn't realize myself: Using imagination as a tool to showcase empathy (since you have to be creative to imagine yourself in another’s shoes) is a pretty interesting and unique angle.

Plus the locals standing up for the alien was super wholesome.

I don't know, as far as Ultraman villains go Fukuide Kei isn't half-bad. In fact, looking back on it he's pretty darn great. But it's mostly the actor absolutely nailing it; damn he was good in that role.

Plus, the final boss fight is among the most memorable for me. I will never stop thinking about this moment, it's so beautifully done.

https://i.imgur.com/NxQVSWO.png

Agreed about Geed being lovely, I like the show a lot.

I forgot that this week's episode was a clip show. :(

Last we saw Yuma's parents it felt like his dad took up the bulk of the character focus, so it was nice to see his mom get some screentime and show the impact she had on Yuma, right down to inspiring Arc's second form.

Hoshimoto City is experiencing a heat wave and no where is that more felt than at SKIP with their broken AC! It's gotten so bad Ishido is using a highly advanced robot to make the perfect iced coffee! But admittedly, it IS rather refreshing. Poor Ban...

Hot water bursting from the ground? Mysterious women who only an Ultra Host can hear? Must be a Kaiju!

Oh, we're doing the transformation before it's even the midway point! I mean, that means Arc probably won't win, but still!

Homger, the Scorching Kaiju! Always neat to see a quadrupedal Kaiju (even if those are always hard on the suit actors), though it's defintiely a pain for Arc to have to manage a beast that can not only spew fire and tank some hits but also absorb his energy.

I'm really curious what the SKIP crew thought of Yuma in this episode. First he's hearing voices, then he's suddenly on the ground in pain, then he's out of it. Heatstroke?

Hypothetically, if You-Bot is destroyed, does he have a backup head or copy of his programming/brain? Or if he's destroyed that's it and only leaves Pi-Bot?

Homger sleeping is kind of adorable, aside from the fact that Homger is liable to blow up the entire city if left unchecked.

Ms. Fairy, I understand that Homger doesn't mean any harm and needs to literally explode to birth her children...but you do realize she's going to blow up in a populated area and kill a bunch of people, right? I guess they just had bad luck that she ended up in the middle of a major city to give birth. And we needed the pre-requisite "not all Kaiju need to be destroyed, just understood" episode.

Luna Armor! Arc now has a discus shield and a jetpack that makes him move at superfast speeds! Perfect for dodging Homger's attacks and creating a funnel so she can explode in peace! Cosmos would be proud.

Well, Homger gave out her life to birth her child, which is both beautiful and tragic, and now there's the "Child of Homger" out there in the world. But hopefully future generations will know how to manage a Homger giving birth and not need Ultraman's help.

Next week: Streamer Kanegon breaking the economy!?

I love Homger's design. I thought the episode was well-written too. And is it just me or is the lady with glasses Miyuki Nishijima (Michi Nishijima circa 2003) who played Emiri/Abare Pink in episode 8's trailer?

Ultraman Max was... really something! It's kinda like Taro? Very slapsticky and silly overall, but has some serious moments. And I have to hand it to the show, it regularly had me laughing out loud. Like, the episode with the space cats that give everyone super forgetfulness? The one with the floating, sleepy monster? Hilarious! It also does well with surreal, meta episodes like the one about the scriptwriter for Ultraman Max or the one with the Ultra Q actors. But I do think the show just wasn't able to handle the more serious moments as well as I would have liked. This is a show with a huge amount of writers and directors doing whatever they felt like, so it doesn't really deliver on things like internal consistency or character arcs. Due to this, the more serious episodes mostly just fall back on old standards for the Ultra series that don't stand out much. Still, it was a nice tribute to the Ultra series and it had very charming miniatures. Not really a big favorite for me, but it made me smile!

The perfect back-to-basics show if you consider the fact that Nexus aired right before it.

As I was watching the show I kept thinking about how absolutely wild it must have been to experience these shows back to back in real time. Nexus is so grim I don't think it had a single gag until Ren showed up, while Max is so silly from the outset.

What are your thoughts regarding the IF episode that took place before the Space Cats episode? Those two episodes shared the same director, more specifically Takashi Miike himself. I guess it's very safe to assume you didn't care all that much for that one. I honestly considered it not only one of the best episodes in all of the Ultraman franchise, but in all of Toku as well. Don't worry, I also love the Space Cats episode which, incidentally, is also one of my favorite episodes of the series. While Max is not necessarily one of my top favorite Ultraman series, it is still a very enjoyable entry in the franchise in its own right and I do like the show enough to consider it as one of my honorable mentions.

Oh, I really liked that episode! It was really beautiful and strange, definitely played to the show's strength with more surreal content. If an eye for an eye holds true, it applies to the good things in the world too! It made me think of Cosmos a bit, which is always a good thing!

Glad you liked it. It's probably still my favorite Ultraman series of all time.