[Kiwami]

Ultraman Arc.

Probably the best Ultraman show that I have ever seen – yet cannot bring myself to care for.

It has great characters, great stories, a fantastically unique Ultra, a strong theme that carries forward until the end, and many creative ways to portray it. Imagination doesn’t simply mean being good at coming up with things, or drawing or writing stories. It also means putting yourself in another person’s shoes, being empathetic. It also means strength, it can visually your growth and pave the way forward.

Ultraman Arc bursts with imagination and creativity in so many ways – like how Yuma and Arc communicate, how reality, space and time are being constantly twisted.

This show has amazing action sequences, fighting choreography, effects and lots of cool new monsters and aliens. It also has superb actors that do a great job conveying emotions, pleasant and unpleasant ones.

This last episode played all the cards right: From strong character moments right to what is probably the most amazing beam finisher in Ultraman history. As expected of a show that has imagination as its core message.

But, with all of this being said, all of this being my true sentiments – this show bored me to death. I constantly found myself dozing off or having it run in the background to kill the time. This show just isn’t compatible with me. Watching Arc I often found myself fatigued and wishing I was watching something else. For how great Ultraman Arc is, it just completely failed to capture me. I can look back at it as an experience fondly and praise its obvious high quality, but I can’t say I enjoyed watching it.

Maybe it came at the wrong time in my life and I will have a blast watching it again in a decade or two, but I right now I’m kind of glad it’s over and I can move on to the next show.