[GoldenXtreme]

I finished Ultraman 80! It... wasn't very good!

Looking back on the show, it's hard to believe what a mess it was honestly. The goofy early parts where Yamato was trying to be a teacher and UGM member with moral lessons each episode, then the strictly UGM focused part which was just really dull, then they moved towards "child of the week" format, before shifting towards a more serious endgame once Yulian showed up. In a sense, it was similar to Leo is that it was an erratic show that was constantly shifting its cast and narrative, but it lacks the unusual edge to it that made Leo such an enthralling experience in spite of its numerous flaws. Probably the weakest entry of the Showa era by a long shot for me, I kept zoning out mid-episode because it just wasn't really engaging.

Of course, it was obvious something bad must have been going on with the production of this show, so as soon as I finished I was off to do research! There seems to have been conflict on just about every level. Tensions between the effects and drama teams working on the show over which should get the most focus, between TBS (which wanted a more traditional show) and Tsuburaya Prpductions (which wanted a serious drama focusing on the issues kids were facing), and the massive, disproportionate amount of flack the show got from parents at the time due to concerns over violent children's shows. It's no wonder the show turned out like this.

I will give it a few compliments though! I thought that it was interesting how we got to see some unusual characters like the PR guy and the woman who handles meteorological data. Not something I've really seen in an Ultra show before. The effect works was as solid as ever too. Not to mention, the ending itself was really nice.

Perhaps the most exciting thing of all is that I have now seen all the Showa-era Ultraman shows! Well, except for The Ultraman. I'll get to that one eventually. Overall, I really enjoyed the Showa-era for this series. I think it had a lot of bold entries that were far ahead of their time. The original Ultraman was fun and quirky. Return was bittersweet and full of interesting episodes. Leo was flawed but so intensely dark and gritty. I was quite pleased and am looking forward to continuing things with the Heisei era!