[Shin Henshin]

Decker was my first weekly Ultra series. Not technically my first completed series since that would go to Z, but I did start Decker when it started airing and followed ever since, so it was a new experience.

I really enjoyed it. It thrived on its strong characters and the development they go through from start to finish. I also appreciated how they worked Trigger into it to show that yes, the events from the previous series do still play into what happens here, especially during the endgame, yet also didn't make it "Trigger 2" by keeping things on Kanata and everyone in this cast instead. I was glad that the final battle focused on Decker and his back-up while Kengo was small support.

All that said, the narrative does have really obvious issues. Completely sidelining Kanata's personal life like his grandfather or his parents being stuck on Mars for 99% of the series felt like a bit of a waste. Could have gotten some good drama out of that what with Kanata's tendency to shoulder his issues on his own.

The future aspect with Kanata's successor also feels a bit weird cause the concept was great, but nothing really came from it (Until this finale film anyway). Agams being from the future worked fine on its own without needing someone else to come in to really push it. It would have been cool to play that part up a bit more and have both present and future Deckers come in to fight Mother Sphere. Even plays into the theme of individuality and differences. Two vastly different hosts, but both have the same overall goal.

I really liked Agams, but the guy needed a better send-off moment. His relationship with Kanata being an unstoppable object up against an immovable wall was extremely compelling so him just up and dying and that's it last time felt way too fast a disposal, even though I loved the final scene with his and Lelia's spirits essentially thanking Kanata. Granted that brings up completely different questions, like if Decker was able to beat the Sphere now, doesn't that mean their home planet never succumbs to the Sphere in the future? Or that Earth never goes to them for refuge? So wouldn't that mean Agams never comes to the past to get revenge on Earth? Or that Terraphaser would essentially be erased from existence? Lot of holes pop up.

But even with those issues, it was just a fun time from start to finish. Not the top of my 2022 toku list, but I'm more than committed to following the next series now.