[Salaryman Zero]

Ultraman Taiga:

So I finally found the time to finish watching Taiga. But before I jump into my thoughts, a big S/O to Genm Corp for finishing this entire series. Y'all are the real MVPs.

As for the series itself, it doesn't quite beat Geed (which is still my New Generation benchmark) but Taiga's a pretty solid kick-off to the Reiwa era.

To start with, I don't particularly care for the human cast. While I do like that EGIS kept the growing NG tradition of no attack teams, I found these characters didn't really resonate with me. It's not like their writing is terrible (and all four of their actors are incredibly attractive people, no cap)...but coming off more character-focused shows like Geed and R/B, the EGIS team felt really bland. Even the episodes that attempted to inject some tragedy/backstory into each member were filled with typical, old hat Ultra-tropes. Pirika is an android who wants to be human, Homare has a dark past, Kana used to work for the show's version of the AIB...it's all very been there, done that.

Thankfully though, the show's cast is carried by the stellar voice and suit-actors of the Tri-Squad. I really love these guys; their dynamic, and how all of them bring something to the table. Taiga's the insecure hothead son trying to get out of his father's shadow, Titas is the big guy with the heart of gold, and Fuma is the loveable wise-cracking smartass. I honestly wish we got less of the EGIS team and more of these guys paling around and backseat-driving with Hiroyuki. Titas and Fuma in particular are two of my favorite Ultras from recent years.

I guess I'll segue on to the Ultras' designs since we're talking about the Tri-Squad now. I don't really care for Taiga's (it's a little too silver for Taro's son but then again, looking at Taro's parents...), but I can live with it. Photon Earth has a cool samurai motif but it's also a little busy. Same thing with Tri-Strium. Also I really dislike the toyetic Tri-Blade; I'm still not sure why all the NG Ultra weapons look cheap as hell, but I guess it's to make 'em look exactly like the kids' toys they wanna sell? Anyway, the rise sequence with the scanning gimmick is pretty neat overall.

Titas and Fuma also both look awesome. Titas with his Marshmallow Man muscles and Fuma with his slick blue suit (we need more Blue Ultras!) are both 10/10. And speaking of Ultras, I generally dig Tregear's design too. His henshin sequence with the mask is also really badass. But man, what a disappointment of a villain Tregear ended up being. I was really waiting for a deeper backstory about his descent into evil and why he hates Taro, but it all just falls flat. After the climactic story when he reveals his EVUL PLAN with the rings and Taiga beats that, Tregear just wanders around aimlessly for the next couple episodes before doing an ass-pull with the Woola which just came across like a rehash of the R/B finale. Tregear had so much potential but his ending was so anticlimactic.

Anyway, I did like the overall tone of the series, which actually felt very Showa-ish. There's a hint of tragedy to many of the episodes, and a lot of them end on a surprisingly dour note for a kids' show. I generally prefer a more optimistic tone for my Ultraman, but after the occasionally slapstick nature of R/B, this was a refreshing change of pace. Although I do wish that more of the episodes had callbacks to the original Taro show. Imagine the Tri-Squad facing off against Tyrant or Muroroa or Temperor-seijin.

I feel like I'm being more negative than I intended, so I'll touch on some positives real quickly. First off, Taiga has the best action scenes of any Ultra show I've ever seen. Like GODDAMN. This is some good-ass choreography and cinematography here. The way the show interacts with hyper-detailed miniatures, the use of interactive elements...of dynamic low angles and fisheye lenses...the perfect marriage of VFX with suit-acting...I could go on and on. Of particular note is the Taiga/Zero vs. Imitation Belial/Tregear fight. But every episode after episode just had my jaw drop with how incredible the on-screen action was. If this is what a reduced episode count gives us, then by all means TsuPro, 25 eps it is!

The only teeny nitpick I have with the fight scenes was that I wish we got a bit more variety with the locations. The only one I can think of that wasn't in the city was the forest one with Babarue-seijin and Night Fang, though I guess the one in the water with Takkong-sama kinda counts? But really, the city set is so incredibly detailed and varied that I'm probably just being greedy.

I also really did like the show's overall themes of alien coexistence on Earth. In that way, one could argue Taiga is the antithesis of Ultra Seven's Cold War-esque paranoia. Much of Taiga revolves around humanity learning to live with alien immigrants in their everyday lives, which I think that's a wonderful message for children (and grownups!) to apply in their own lives as well. So props for that.

Anyway. Sorry for the rambling review. I'm off to try and find the Mill Creek Ultraman Ace set to finish my Great Showa Rewatch, and I've got to catch up with Ultra Galaxy NG Heroes as well. Onward!