[Switchblade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

...I've always wanted to be more fond of Lightning Hornet than I am, on the other hand? I remember thinking it was the coolest just before it debuted, and then that feeling just sort of left me, and I only kind of know why. I think I just don't like it in action all that much? It's that thing I know Switchblade likes to say about modern Rider shows, where it's all people throwing CG at each other? The whole powerset of shooting swarms of insects around while standing still means it takes a lot more work on the show's part to make Lightning Hornet look as dynamic as Rushing Cheetah does. Which, to be fair, having rewatched the show lately, they're usually doing the work! I guess it really is just a "me" problem! Maybe I just like Rushing Cheetah way too much.

That is vintage me, yeah.

Lightning Hornet... I mean, I like the suit well enough, but I always found it to very much be a decision the show made that we got our first full participant female Kamen Rider and her primary attack in one form has made me spend the last three years actively trying not to type out the phrase "lactates bees."

Quote:

Originally Posted by catwhowalks

Max is the first one I watched. It's an adequate show. It's good for showing you what a standard Ultraman show is. Nothing unusual or ever particulary innovative, but nothing badly done either. It's competent and sets the right expectations, but nothing more than that. For the first show, that's not so bad.

As far as the franchise goes, it's a reset after Nexus, which is kinda the Hibiki of Ultraman. It took franchise in a radical new direction which fans did not like and stopped watching. Unlike Hibiki, it got to play out the season without being forced to change. It's actually pretty popular with western viewers.

But Max was made to win back the old fans, which is why is about the plainest vanilla you can get. It's good vanilla, but its still plain vanilla.

Max is absolutely Ultraman-flavored Ultraman, but that's why I like it. It doesn't try to reinvent anything, it just does what it does really, really well and with a really likable cast.

Also, technically Nexus was cancelled. And I don't mean like how I always say Hibiki was cancelled to be spiteful. There was an entire arc of Nexus that was planned but ended up getting crammed down into the last two episodes because the show bombed so badly. Max only happened because Tsubaraya had a contract with the network and the network demanded that they come up with something to fill the time slot.