[Shin Henshin]

So having finished Blazar, I think it sits right behind Z as my favorite series. Granted I only watched those two and Decker to completion.

I don't think it's as perfect as some might say, but I did absolutely love the characters. SKARD is a fantastic group; great dynamic and fun/engaging personalities. Earth Garon is also one of my favorite toku mechs. Love his design and abilities as well as how expressive it can be. So glad the whole sentient AI bit didn't go south like I expected it to and that Earthy stood a close and trusted ally the whole way through.

I only really have a few issues. One was the Gavadon episode. Probably the only one of the run I'd consider bad just cause the pacing, questionable character decisions and focus on mid-to-poor child actors made it a slog to get through, even if the final confrontation was pretty fun.

Second was the amount of recaps. I know Ultraman tends to make like almost a quarter of the run recap episodes but it felt like we got so many and they didn't even feel very interesting unlike Decker's for example. Best was probably the first one based around a tv station trying to make a ratings-boosting story about Blazar and the kaiju he fought.

The last and biggest personal issue is I felt the V99 plot was wrapped up too suddenly. I really did like the finale, but it also felt like it cut off so suddenly. If the series maybe touched on V99 and the effects of the incident a bit earlier and sprinkled it around a bit more it probably wouldn't have felt as rushed to me, given things like Emi's dad or the journal he had would be touched on and then not pop up in what felt like ages.

Outside of that, though, I really enjoyed it. The Ultra Q tribute episode has to be one of my favorite episodes of toku period. And Blazar's design, personality and abilities are just A+ all around.