[Kiwami]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SPLIT LIP

I know very little of Ultraman and even I was caught off guard by him talking like his human form. Admittedly I'm unfamiliar with the brand overall, but I was never under the impression that Ultraman was like Kamen Rider or Sentai where it's just a suit.

It isn't, more like a mecha made out of light with the human inside as a "core" but at the same time the person transforming 100% being Ultraman in personality is not uncommon nowadays.

The few archetypes I'm familiar with:

- After transformation Ultraman is an entirely new being, neither the human that transformed nor the Ultra alien that gave their powers. More like an amalgamation of the two, and does not speak.

- Ultraman is the alien and the human appearance is a disguise. In this case the "human" person talking is actually the Ultra themselves. Can vary from "not distinguishable from a real human" to "today I learned what food tastes like".

- Both human and Ultra co-exist. The Ultra speaks to the human in their mind, guiding them like a teacher, but it is the human on the steering wheel of Ultraman, so they can also talk and express themselves like they could as a human.

- It is 100% the human at all times, either by accident or fate they "found" the powers of an ancient Ultra alien from the past and transform into their shape. That is very similar to how Ultraman in Rising is portrayed.

There are certainly more cases but those are the ones I can remember from the top of my head.

Again, the talking and the human basically being Ultraman is not unusual, however, the humans around them being able to understand said talking is. They sometimes sprinkled in comedic bits every now and then in shows like R/B or Z in which Ultraman tried to speak with humans. We first saw the perspective of Ultraman, who is talking normally, but then it cuts to the humans and all they understand is grunts. I always thought that was a good way to handle it, all the speaking and jokes are understandable for us, the audience, but in-universe Ultraman always stays "alien" since people can't hear them talk.

Seems like that may be different here? And that's what kind of breaks the illusion for me, since Ultraman really does feel like a giant Spider-Man or something. But again, might just be weird because it's new, since at the same time it opens up some fresh possibilities too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SPLIT LIP

That's a valid concern. Everything has to be a comedy these days. Nothing can tell a serious story or attempt an earnest emotional connection without kneecapping its tone with forced humour.

Valid concern, but not for Ultraman. Was always a show for kids; always had silly humor in it. The humor is just different now, let's see how it works.