[GoldenXtreme]

I wrapped up Ultraman Geed (and its movie). I don't know if I have my thoughts fully sorted out yet, but this show is definitely my favorite New Gen show so far. I think Geed had a lot of novel ideas. The head writer isn't usually a tokusatsu writer so it does a lot of uncommon things, but at the same time it was a show that had pretty inconsistent episode quality, ranging from fantastic (loved episodes 14 and 15 with Zena and his protege) to just feeling wrong (did not like that episode with the alien that could read minds at all). Still, I overall enjoyed what the show did and thought it had a good balance of humor and drama compared to the other New Gen shows I have seen. I was also happy to see another Ultra show where the whole secret identity things pretty much completely falls apart before the end. Tends to allow for more interesting character interactions when people actually know who the Ultras are. I think the biggest strike against this show was that I was not all that into the cast though. Moa was honestly kind of annoying and creepy to me with her whole jealous crush towards someone who was raised in the same household as her. Most of the rest of the cast I was pretty neutral towards. Shoutout to Leito though, pairing a salaryman with a wife and daughter up with Zero of all Ultras was an absolutely inspired move. Fukuide Kei was also pretty enjoyable as an unhinged villain. The show was also a treat visually, the miniatures are just stunningly beautiful in this show and there were lots of really striking scenes such Geed fighting a monster while Laiha and Pega fight on a nearby rooftop or the bit where Geed gets stained black by mud while fighting Belial.

I still don't know if this is quiiiite a B for me, but it was definitely close. I'd say I like it about as much as Ultraman Max, so on the high end of the C tier!

[GuardianAngel87]

Geed is easily my favorite among the New Gen Era Ultraman series as well. Although, in my case, it's my second favorite Ultraman series overall just behind Mebius and I honestly love everyone in the show's main cast.

[GoldenXtreme]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GuardianAngel87

Geed is easily my favorite among the New Gen Era Ultraman series as well. Although, in my case, it's my second favorite Ultraman series overall just behind Mebius and I honestly love everyone in the show's main cast.

I like a lot of the general ideas for the cast, but once again I felt like the low episode count got in the way of me getting super invested in them. I keep feeling like a big meanie for picking on the New Generation shows for this every time, but 25 episode shows have to be absolutely PACKED with interesting stuff to win me over. I'm curious about R/B since it seems like a lighter and more comedic show. Frequently I prefer tokusatsu that lean towards the drama side of things, but with the 25 episode length I could see a humorous series actually going over better with me since it has a simpler narrative goal, if that makes sense.

[GuardianAngel87]

After almost a whole month of putting it off, I have finally started watching the third and final Ultraman Cosmos movie.

[GoldenXtreme]

So you know, I think it is pretty safe to say I have not been a big fan of the New Generation Ultraman shows so far. But... one of the great things about tokusatsu is that you never know when something unexpected will really resonate with you. This turned out to be the case with Ultraman R/B, a show I was curious about but didn't have high expectations of. It swept in and ended up as my second favorite show in the whole Ultra series?!

The show just did so much right in my book. The Minato family forms the emotional core of the story, and even the antagonists have personal ties to them of some sort. Because of how focused the show is, I actually felt like I genuinely got to know everyone and their dynamics with each other. The show is also indeed a lighter, more humorous series, which perhaps gives the cast a bit more room to breathe. I honestly felt like I learned more about Katsumi and Isami in the span of 5 episodes than I did about any other New Gen heroes in the same span. Also, while it is indeed a warm and fuzzy show about family, I thought it had a lot of elements that helped prevent it from feeling like total mush. From the whole drama with who Asahi is to the implication that Katsumi sacrificed so much for his younger brother to go to college to the final battle where the parents come to realize how much their sons have grown up. Not to mention the spot on sibling bickering between Katsumi and Isami. It really captures the family aspect well. Similarly the two main Ultras aspect of the show was awesome. Watching the two of them fumble their way through fights together was both visually unique and often very funny. It was also fun to watch them chat mid-battle, to the point that I actually didn't like Ruebe as their final form because I missed watching them interact and talk. The antagonists were another aspect of the show that really stood out to me. Neither Aizen nor Mitsurugi were characters that were evil so much as they were people who pursued their own sense of justice. Aizen is obviously done is a more humorous way, trying to be cool like Orb and complaining about how modern Ultramen are doing everything wrong, in a friendly jab at the way fans complain sometimes. Mitsurugi then takes over as a more serious take on the concept, as someone who once worked alongside the previous Rosso and Blu and seeks to defeat their old enemy at any cost, while seeing their new incarnations as too weak to be true Ultramen. Honestly, the show just has a perfect scope for 25 episodes. It didn't reach for a super grand scale, and focused on building on its main cast members and adding bits of mystery to keep the viewer engaged. For some people, I could see how the sense of scale might feel too small, but for me it left me feeling satisfied that everything got enough attention. I also just enjoyed most of the show's individual episodes. A few bits felt rushed, especially near the end, but it's a minor complaint in the face of how much dang fun I had with this one. The movie was also a nice epilogue to the whole thing, it was nice to see Katsumi allow himself to leave home and pursue his own dream.

Lovely, lovely show. I get the impression it isn't a super popular one, but I am a certified fan now.

[Frontier]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoldenXtreme

So you know, I think it is pretty safe to say I have not been a big fan of the New Generation Ultraman shows so far. But... one of the great things about tokusatsu is that you never know when something unexpected will really resonate with you. This turned out to be the case with Ultraman R/B, a show I was curious about but didn't have high expectations of. It swept in and ended up as my second favorite show in the whole Ultra series?!

The show just did so much right in my book. The Minato family forms the emotional core of the story, and even the antagonists have personal ties to them of some sort. Because of how focused the show is, I actually felt like I genuinely got to know everyone and their dynamics with each other. The show is also indeed a lighter, more humorous series, which perhaps gives the cast a bit more room to breathe. I honestly felt like I learned more about Katsumi and Isami in the span of 5 episodes than I did about any other New Gen heroes in the same span. Also, while it is indeed a warm and fuzzy show about family, I thought it had a lot of elements that helped prevent it from feeling like total mush. From the whole drama with who Asahi is to the implication that Katsumi sacrificed so much for his younger brother to go to college to the final battle where the parents come to realize how much their sons have grown up. Not to mention the spot on sibling bickering between Katsumi and Isami. It really captures the family aspect well. Similarly the two main Ultras aspect of the show was awesome. Watching the two of them fumble their way through fights together was both visually unique and often very funny. It was also fun to watch them chat mid-battle, to the point that I actually didn't like Ruebe as their final form because I missed watching them interact and talk. The antagonists were another aspect of the show that really stood out to me. Neither Aizen nor Mitsurugi were characters that were evil so much as they were people who pursued their own sense of justice. Aizen is obviously done is a more humorous way, trying to be cool like Orb and complaining about how modern Ultramen are doing everything wrong, in a friendly jab at the way fans complain sometimes. Mitsurugi then takes over as a more serious take on the concept, as someone who once worked alongside the previous Rosso and Blu and seeks to defeat their old enemy at any cost, while seeing their new incarnations as too weak to be true Ultramen. Honestly, the show just has a perfect scope for 25 episodes. It didn't reach for a super grand scale, and focused on building on its main cast members and adding bits of mystery to keep the viewer engaged. For some people, I could see how the sense of scale might feel too small, but for me it left me feeling satisfied that everything got enough attention. I also just enjoyed most of the show's individual episodes. A few bits felt rushed, especially near the end, but it's a minor complaint in the face of how much dang fun I had with this one. The movie was also a nice epilogue to the whole thing, it was nice to see Katsumi allow himself to leave home and pursue his own dream.

Lovely, lovely show. I get the impression it isn't a super popular one, but I am a certified fan now.

Honestly my only problem with Ruebe is that Isami doesn't really get a lot to do other than pose while Katsumi does all the transformation/attack stuff.

[GoldenXtreme]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frontier

Honestly my only problem with Ruebe is that Isami doesn't really get a lot to do other than pose while Katsumi does all the transformation/attack stuff.

It feels really bizarre, right? Gruebe felt a bit less awkward since Katsumi was flanked on both sides, so it felt more like a Sentai team attack or something.

[DH21965]

Longest “A BRAND NEWWWW TOYYYY” henshin sequences in Ultraman history.
My Wife and I often play “What’s stopping the Kaiju from leaving while this takes so long?” Game. Mid show at best, hour-long ridiculous henshin made me lose interest

[GoldenXtreme]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DH21965

Longest ?A BRAND NEWWWW TOYYYY? henshin sequences in Ultraman history.
My Wife and I often play ?What?s stopping the Kaiju from leaving while this takes so long?? Game. Mid show at best, hour-long ridiculous henshin made me lose interest

The transformations and form changes are long here, like they are in most most New Gen shows, but I found them way, way more annoying in Orb for some reason, which is the peak of transformation stock footage in my mind. I think it was the way they tended to stick his form changes right in the middle of the action that really broke the flow for me.

I will say though, I have come to have a greater and greater appreciation over time for how Kamen Rider uses very little stock footage in general. You can just transform in a flash or light or something and it's great!

[Switchblade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoldenXtreme

The transformations and form changes are long here, like they are in most most New Gen shows, but I found them way, way more annoying in Orb for some reason, which is the peak of transformation stock footage in my mind. I think it was the way they tended to stick his form changes right in the middle of the action that really broke the flow for me.

I will say though, I have come to have a greater and greater appreciation over time for how Kamen Rider uses very little stock footage in general. You can just transform in a flash or light or something and it's great!

The transformation sequences were one of the things that put me off of R/B at first. It was incredibly long before they insisted on doing it twice every goddamn time.