Netflix: Ultraman (Anime)
 

I watched the first 2.5 episodes last night and I have to say it's a lot better than I was expecting. At first I very much felt like, "that's not Ultraman!" when I saw the trailers and such. It's not a Giant of Light fighting giant Aliens and instead reminded me of Iron-Man.

But after watching 2.5 episodes I have to say I'm liking it. They tied it in pretty well to the mythos and the first Series in a way that surprised me and it's actually pretty good.

The animation has a bit of that 'too smooth' CGI look, but then again the fight scenes look great because of it, and the particle/smoke/fire effects look really good.

All in all not only do I think I'll watch the entire season I'm starting to have an urge to look for an Ultraman figure to add to the collection.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbRBOq8jajg

Watched the first two episodes and it's looking good so far. Adapts the first volume of the manga pretty well while adding in their own nuances such as Shinjiro getting his own Ultra Rise instead of just suiting up. Can't wait to watch the rest of the season.

I liked they managed to sneak in, 'The Pose' from the original, (one fist up, one fist down in a flying pose.)

They have him raise his fist to Henshin and the camera goes up and looks straight down on him which gives it that same angle as the original.

https://i.imgur.com/S3je2Ni.jpg

Pretty slick idea, honoring the original while still doing its own thing.

I've seen the series and I liked it. The dynamic between the Two Ultramen reminds me of Kamen Rider with the main and secondary Rider.
I hope they make a season 2.

As someone who has read the manga I have very mixed feelings about this.

The sound design impressed me. The music is on point, the effects are great and the VA’s are amazing. They did a great job here.

Animation – no, just no. This CG-crap is so ugly, irritating and unforgivable. I am somewhat accustomed to action-scenes using 3D models nowadays, but this complete 3D look is awful. The characters move way too choppy and weird, sometimes it looks like they’re lagging because of the weird framerate issues, and the action, while cool, looks like semi-dated videogame cutscenes at best. Really not a fan of how this show looks.

Story-wise – the adaptation is as good as one could ask from cramming 7 manga volumes into 13 episodes. A lot gets left out but at least the vital parts are there. Some changes work extraordinarily well, Rena for example with her changed attitude towards Ultraman is great, but I really miss certain parts which I feel like would’ve made the show better. But again, they had to cut out a lot.

It’s a mixed bag for me. If I close my eyes and just listen to the sounds and envision what this could’ve been like it’s quite exciting. In reality though – it’s just another subpar looking "okay" adaptation of a interesting story.

I guess for people who haven’t read the manga this is perfectly fine entertainment, but I just wish this could’ve been better.

It's a pretty decent start so far. The animation is that bad compare to Berserk 2016 and the other shitty CG american cartoons.

It's sad that a lot of people brushed off this series just because it's CGI. Granted the framerate issues are the viggest problem, but it ain't that bad especially when the fight scenes justify the CGI.

agreed, I think the fight scenes look great.

maybe it helps that I'm not into anime. It looks decent and tells an interesting story.

Every once in a while during a conversation someone turns their head or moves in sort of a weird, unnnatural way. But it really doesn't distract from enjoying the story.

And some of the fighting looks like it would be impossible to animate in any kind of traditional way, so I'm fine with it.

Just saw the first two episodes.

The CGI is fine for anything fighting related, but outside of that, it's super stiff especially in the first episode. I enjoyed it quite a bit through.

I think people feel like anime should be only in 2D. I love 2D animation as much as the next guy, but CGI is not always bad. American CG cartoons are not much better than the Japanese ones to be honest.

Just finished it. A fairly solid adaptation if you ask me.

I get the complaints about the CGI and the animation isn't the smoothest at times, but honestly the more I watched it the more I thought this is actually probably the best way to emulate the manga's art style. So despite its obvious flaws I came around to it by the end.

Suits and fight scenes looked especially good, though minor as it may be I much prefer the colour placement on the suits in the manga. They went a bit red crazy on the suits to match the original versions here, but since there's more going on with these suits I think the colour breakdowns with the manga work much better. This is also partly just me justifying to myself that I don't need the new figures :lol

Story flowed pretty well despite some of the stuff they cut. Wasn't much of a fan of the abridged Igaru appearance at the concert or Red, Jack and Shin being cut from the Ace Killer fight, but the biggest omission for me was just axing Red (as an actual character that is) from it altogether. I do hope they rework him back in if they do more because he has some great bits in volume 11.

Sound and work was all really good too. Was nice hearing all the original sounds and the effects they put on Edo's voice was great. Just how I'd imagine he'd sound.

So yeah, I was pretty happy with this overall. Sure it's not SSSS.Gridman levels of good and doesn't match up to the manga, but it was a solid watch and I'd recommend it.

Didnt have time before today to start watching . I watched ep 1&2 so far its good. I havent read the manga so I cant compare it.

It's because thanks to Berserk everyone is allergic to CGI animes.

I do hope this show is a success. Since you know, more season AND maybe Tsuburaya will make a deal with Netflix to bring other Ultra series (and potentially Netflix becoming the main platform to deliver future Ultra series.