[Salaryman Zero]

I apologize in advance for another Great Wall of Text.

Return of Ultraman

After the eerie sci-fi morality tales of Ultra Seven, it was good to return (hehe) to the uncomplicated basics with Ultraman Jack. Just a spaceman fighting rubber suit monsters in Tokyo again, the way God intended.

First off: I think Hideki Goh might be my favorite of the human hosts/forms of the Showa series so far. I love OG Ultraman, but Shin Hayata was bar none the dullest character of the Science Patrol team, whose members I universally liked. Dan Moroboshi was largely equally dry (the rest of the Ultra Garrison didn't fare much better either), and both Ultramen always felt largely devoid of personality, despite having their names on the marquee.

But Goh is great. He's got a civilian life outside his attack team duties. He shares a passion for racecars with Sakata. He's got a romantic thing with Aki, and plays big brother to Jiro. He struggles to get along with his teammates at MAT. Sometimes he makes mistakes, or he fails, but he always trains and tries harder. I actually really liked Goh in this, and I guess it also helps that Jiro Dan was an absolute HUNK (pause) in his prime. Goh isn't a cardboard cutout toku protagonist, and he feels like, y'know, an actual character here and that's great.

Except for that one episode where he pimp-slaps Aki but...yeah, I got nothing. Boy the 70s were a different time.

Now most of MAT are pretty standard, but I will give a S/O to three characters. The first two are the commanders (Kato is replaced by Ibuki later on). Both are my favorite commanders of the Showa series so far, and we really get a sense that underneath their stern temperaments, they really care for their men the way good officers should. The last one is Kishida, who I actually started off absolutely hating for being a by-the-book tool. But then the show fleshes him out, showing how his military family background dries his behavior, and when he starts warming up to Goh, they end up as pretty close friends. Which is just like how things sometimes work out in real life.

Ok anyway, I feel like I'm gushing too much about the character work here (which really is the best of the Showa shows so far), so let me just touch on the other aspects. The action, costuming, and set design are par for the course for the era. I actually really dig Jack's suit. But I will say that most of the kaiju/seijin are kind of underwhelming, sans a couple of really iconic ones (e.g. Nackle, Black King, Bemstar, Twin Tail & Gudon...Takkong?).

Also, the Ultra Bracelet is crazy OP, it's basically half the reason why Jack defeats his enemies. There's an episode where Snowgon freezes Jack and breaks his body into pieces and he literally reassembles his chopped-up body through the power of the Ultra Bracelet. Speaking of the Bracelet, I kind of wish we got more of Shodai and Seven in this, but I guess that's what the next series Ace is for. I did appreciate the short Hayata/Moroboshi cameo though.

One final note: Even if you don't want to go through all 51 episodes, I will suggest two episodes that every Ultra-fan should watch. The first is the finale, which is honestly fantastic, and features Fat Zetton as well as the classic Five Ultra Oaths that we see mentioned later in Mebius. The second is actually the Ep 37-38 two-parter which is the DARKEST Showa Ultraman I've seen up till this point. It's absolutely grueling. I have a newfound respect for Nackle now.

Ultraman R/B Select! The Crystal of Bonds

SPOILERS FOR ANYONE WHO HASN'T SEEN IT. If you want to, Genm. Corp gotchu fam.

I loved this. I'd forgotten how heartwarming R/B (and even Geed) was, and this was a genuinely fun experience for me. You could even say it made me HAPPEEEH.

This really could've been like most of the past Heisei movies, i.e. a mindless CGI-heavy fightfest advertising a new form for kids to buy. But instead, this movie chose to have story arcs and build on preexisting relationships, and they leaned on the strongest aspect of the R/B series: the actual characters themselves.

I don't want to delve too much into spoiler territory, but needless to say, character work has always been the highlight of the R/B show. I loved Katsumi's arc and his relationship with Toi, which I imagine is super-relatable to anyone in their 20s. I loved Riku and Asahi connecting over their complicated parental issues. I loved Isami and Ushio being all Dad-like when they find out Asahi is popular with guys. The entire R/B cast is just so goshdarn charming and likeable, and adding Riku and the adorable Pega just made this peak kawaii (yeah I said it, whatchu gonna do about it fightme).

I also loved the use of Tregear here. Granted, it was probably just a plug for Taiga's series, and his role as the Big Bad doesn't really amount to much, but I like how they establish him as this Machiavellian trickster. Kind of like Heath Ledger Joker, where he just preys on peoples' weaknesses and insecurities.

The battles were also cool for the most part. I dig the Ultrawoman Grigio suit. I'm still 50/50 on the Groob "suit" though. On one hand, it's not offensively hideous like many of these combo designs have been (LOOKING AT YOU ORB TRINITY). On the other hand...it's also entirely CGI. I'm glad that TsuPro is pushing their VFX more, and maybe one day all our Ultramen will be CG but...it does look odd at points. There are some shots where the all-CG Groob looks great, and you genuinely can't tell that it's not a guy in a rubber suit. And then there's some where his weird proportions make it look like a PS1 cutscene.

And boy, they're really getting their money's worth out of that Mecha Gomora suit, huh.

Anyway. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk. Onward to Ultraman Ace and Ultraman Max!