[DreamSword]

I just finished watching Ultraman Blazar!

The short version of my thoughts are that while I generally enjoyed it, it stumbles in a few areas that keep it from being anything super special for me.

Like, I agree with the director on wanting there to be a second season. Not because I feel the show was super good, but because alot of aspects to its plot and character arcs felt rather undercooked.

The final episode I think is especially symbolic of this. The overall theme of communication, and the idea of the conflict being resolved via the GGF just talking things out with the V99 is a wonderful idea, especially for a show that showcased that not all Kaiju are bad. And Blazar's' final power up coming from Gento's' bond with his family is great.

However, said finale then sorta shoots itself in the foot by not having the V99 leave with Valoran afterward, making the message come across as "Actually violence really was the answer all along." If they wanted the best of both worlds, they could've just had Valoran get defeated first, and then have the V99 fleet show up afterward. And that's not even getting into how Dobashi walks away scott free after everything he did.

And on the character side of things, while I generally like the cast, and did appreciate how more of them got development than alot of the cast of Nexus did, the tradeoff is that alot of said development falls a bit short. Teruaki gets a grand total of one focus episode that doesn't even fully belong to him, and Gento's' son very clearly having depression is never really addressed; Not to mention Gento kinda being an absentee father ontop of that. I guess the episode where he's seen as a hero by the news was supposed to sweep all of that under the rug?

But enough negatives. One thing the show absolutely nails is its overall aesthetic. I've read that alot of the budget went into the suit designs this season and man does it show. Every Kaiju design is killer, Earth Garon has a ton of great detailing if you look close, and Blazar himself is probably my overall favorite main Ultra design. All of this is then complimented by some great effects work and some standout music during certain scenes. There are also some rather pretty episodes in terms of cinematography, such as the music episode. Things like this really do help in carrying the show's' overall atmosphere.

As I said before, I did overall like the show and had a good time with it, and it's currently at the top of my rather short list of Ultra shows that I've seen, but it's a case of it being so close to being great and just missing the mark, you know? Regardless, as my first "proper" Ultra show, I felt it did good, and I hope to keep having a solid time as I slowly move through this franchise.