[GoldenXtreme]

I was planning on watching the post-show films first but I need to talk about Ultraman Mebius right now while riding the high of finishing it.

I loved that. I absolutely loved that show with my whole heart. Honestly, it was a show that had a lot of barriers to overcome. Being set in the Showa era timeline, which required rationalizing all its disparate elements into a cohesive setting? Not to mention both modernizing the storytelling while being respectful towards the original style? Not an easy task this 40th anniversary celebration had laid out before it, but succeed it did. The story had such passionate love for the source material.

I wasn't even totally sold at first. Like, I was having fun, but sort of like Tiga this is a slow burn kind of show. At first I was just having fun with the combination of classic and new monsters. But as the show went on I found myself impressed by the dynamic of cooperation between GUYS and Mebius, which was unlike any other Ultra show. The deep sense of friendship that developed among the GUYS members, which was always delightful to watch. Legit, just watching everyone interact was enough to make me smile most of the time. And then it finally happened: an Ultra show where the main character is "out" as an Ultra to the rest of his team before the final stretch of the plot. The perfect show to finally introduce this concept in, which emphasizes humans truly fighting alongside Ultramen in every sense of the word. I absolutely loved all the cast members and will miss them. And the tribute episodes to past Ultra series? A sequel to the Return episode about the alien who was shot dead by fearful humans? A weird Leo training sequence provided by Gen Otori? Ultraman 80 class reunion somehow getting me all teary eyed?! Aaaaaaaah! Normal episodes were also constantly getting a rise out of me too because of how much I loved the cast. They ranged from personal (Marina traveling back to the summer where her Grandfather died) to the numerous episodes about the team's overall bond (I may have lost it when Ryu gave Mirai the Memory Display with the flame design matching his own). The miniatures are also awesome one again, following up from Max!

I'm not going to say that every episode landed perfectly, but the show more than made up for it's shortcomings. During the final farewell? YEAH, I CRIED A BUNCH. Not because I was sad, but I was genuinely just overcome by the purity of the show's spirit.

This... This is Ultraman right here.