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04-13-2016, 08:53 PM | #511 |
Member
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 902
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Choujinki Metalder once again. 10 episodes down, 29 to go.
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04-14-2016, 03:14 AM | #512 |
Sky Henshin!
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Henderson, NV
Posts: 4,778
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UltraMan Episode 24: Very good episode dealing with trying to survive. I thought both the Captain and Hoshino stood out very well here with Hoshino staying calm and being very supportive trying to keep the little girl happy and not panicking. The Captain not taking an oxygen tank was very selfless of him and brave. Hayata is fun when he returns from being UltraMan with Arashi trying to find him. I also loved how Akiko felt responsible and was trying to make up for what she thought was her fault. The fight was pretty good being both on land and underwater. Pretty brutal too with UltraMan breaking off the drill nose of the monster. Well I can't wait for more.
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My Sales Thread! Lower Prices! Last edited by KyoryuGreen; 04-14-2016 at 03:21 AM.. |
04-14-2016, 03:25 PM | #513 |
Stronger Than You
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: nyet
Posts: 25,326
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Is there a batch torrent for Winspector, or will I have to grab them one at a time?
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04-23-2016, 08:54 PM | #514 |
Neppu Yarou.
Join Date: May 2014
Location: TN
Posts: 951
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So I finally watched all of Winspector and deced to do a "little" review for it. The first thing I'll start with is that Winspector's structure is very unique in that it doesn't really have a big bad or over arching plot, and it honestly works out really well for the series because of it. It makes episodes feel like there's more of a clean break between each one(with the obvious exception of multiparters) This helps to a lot even when binge watching, because it means if one episode's tone is drastically different from another, it isn't as jarring as it would be with an overarching plot. It also keeps things fresh by having different issues arise, it could be anything from a drug ring, to what is basically plant 42 from Resident Evil, to former Government officials coming together to try and remove "undesirables" from Japan's population. Winspector certainly does not lack variety when it comes to plots. It can be light-hearted, funny(if sometimes unintentionally), serious. And even with that method of story telling, there are still episodes with some character development. I wouldn't necessarily call all of them ideal, but they're not bad either and usually entertaining in their own right if nothing else.
To focus on villains for a bit, again Winspector has a wide range. If there are similarities its that there are quite a few sympathetic roles. The series does a fantastic job having more than just that, from outright malicious villains, lost causes, pure greed, crime syndicates, black market dealers, etc. But even more than that, they're good an giving all of those diversity. Particularly with sympathetic roles, which a lot of writers have trouble doing more than one type (see Sam Rami's Spider-man 1 and 2) It's not just a tragic cause that varies in tragedy or circumstance, its how they react to being a victim of circumstance. A man in debt to load sharks and commits crimes to help pay it off so his family can come out of hiding- is not on the same level a man who lost his daughter, went mad as a result, and tries to destroy all technology in Japan with a murderbot. Both are sympathetic in their own ways, but on completely different levels in how they act and how far they're willing to go. We get a smörgåsbord of problems and people with different backgrounds that I normally don't see in Toku...or other mediums for that matter. Winspector reminds us that a lot of these people are human too, were perhaps even rational at some point and aren't beyond saving, which we often forget. As for the heroes, Fire has become one of my favorite characters in anything. At his core, Ryoma is someone that deeply cares about protecting and saving people, regardless of how much danger he puts himself into. There's an episode where the focus is mainly on Ryoma just wanting to endure the stress of the suit longer than the allotted 5 minutes, even if it was just 30 seconds, because that's 30 more seconds to save people. He'll save everyone, criminals and innocents alike, which is something I wish was more prevalent today for heroes(though mainly in the west). Bikel and Walter are also fantastic. Bikel definitely brings the humor to the show in being a bit slapsticky and hot headed. I do think there was a bit of a biased towards Bikel, because it seems like he got more focus than Walter ever did. Granted that might be because Walter's character type is very by the books and more level headed of the two, so Bikel was just more fun to write for. But I still think it's a shame I can only recall one ep. that focuses on Walter, and it wasn't even an origin story. Although I guess the plus side is Walter was never mindcontrolled as often as Bikel was. Demitasse was also a fun character, one that really took me by surprise. I originally thought he would end up being an annoying ass, like some sort of smart ass Japanese sounding Orko meant to mess with already establish characters the audience enjoys, which wouldn't be funny at all. But he ended up being a funny enjoyable ass. His voice gets refined (for the better) after a couple of appearances and him shit talking (mainly to Bikel) is damn funny. He's also useful to the team, so he actually has a use beyond comedy. I kinda want a 1:1 toy of him. Junko is also character I enjoy, she's a good asset to the team, but I really wish more was done with her. She is by in large a badass, carrying a freaking Automag as her main weapon, chasing people down on foot or in a car. I wish she had her own CrossTector so she could be featured more often with bigger threats. But alas, only Ryoma has one. Hisako is equally enjoyable if for different reasons. She's featured a lot but not always working with Winspector, she's usually running her coffee shop. She has a specialized role in which she is only called when they need her. Getting photos of people, trailing suspects, going undercover, etc. She's less active than Juko is because of that, but has be shown to just as capable when taking down suspects. Finally, we come to Masaki. I love Masaki. Guy just has a great charisma and presence about him. Like, yeah, this is someone I want to be the big one in command. They even have him go out into the field when things get bad, or get into danger when the need arises(seriously, check out 32, he's freaking awesome in it). I'm really glad Hiroshi Miyauchi returned for Solbrain, I have a feeling that's going to make the transition a lot easier. If I do make a large criticism of Winspector its that sometimes people who should clearly be arrested- aren't. Funnily enough that doesn't happen early on. In fact I was rather surprised and appreciated that people who still did illegal things- even if they're not the main bad guy or their crimes not as serious, still got arrested. That sort of slowly stops around the mid-late 20s. Partly because they stop having people like that, but when they do it also gets swept under the rug. Two examples come to mind that bug me. One ep. involves a Girl who's father is murdered in a drug deal gone bad(which he just accidentally got caught into) and she knows the guy behind the murder, but there's not a lot of evidence and the guy is well respected. Anyway, at one point she actually comes running after the guy with a knife, saying that she's gonna kill him. That is attempted murder and yet she is never arrested. Another example is when a boy witnesses a Hit&Run and notices the driver is the son of a teacher from a highly prestigious school. The boy's mother makes him not tell the police anything and she blackmails the teacher. That woman is never arrested for extortion or withholding information from the police, and you could probably make an argument for child endangerment since the whole extortion thing caused got her son to be kidnapped. Now, at the end of the day those are both really good episodes. But while the majority is still good, those are huge issues with them. You don't get off for attempted murder or extortion, those aren't things you let slide. Other than that there's not too much I can think of. Very, very rarely you might get mood whiplash if you binge, but it's usually very few and far between. Also the last few episodes preceding the final two parter have a noticeable drop in quality. Not that they're bad persay. I still enjoy them, but they have issues that shouldn't be there that late into the series. In one episode, Ryoma pulls a teleport ability out of fucking nowhere, in another ep. he has freaking limited telepathy. It's plot convenience playhouse. If it makes the issue at hand resolved quickly, they shove it in there. Ep. 47 is also a little questionable with some of it's stuff, though better than the previous two. I think the writers were running of of ideas and needed filler until the last two, which lead to lazy endings for the eps leading up to it. Because of that, I'm thankful that Winspector ended when it did, and on a high note at that. The series isn't perfect but damn is it close for me. There are quite a few episode contenders for hight points. I thought 31 and 32 would be my top episode picks...but 38 seems close too. I truly love this series and I cannot recommend it enough. There is maybe like 6 episodes I don't care for all that much and most of them aren't even that bad. There's like three or four I could go without seeing again. It's very rare for me to say that about any series. I can get into the double digits for others like Maskman and Abaranger, both of which I really enjoy and do recommend, but still have a lot of episodes I can do without. The only advice I will give to new viewers is that the early episodes do tend to be a bit silly and have some odd moments(though I personally find them enjoyable in weird way because of this. Who doesn't like store bought rubber snakes?). But that should not be enough to detour anyone from enjoying this largely fantastic series. I'm looking forward to Solbrain. Hell, maybe this will inspire a sub group to sub other MH series like Jiraya and Spielban. Or perhaps something else entirely, like Gridman. (please?) Whatever the future holds for Toku subs, I'm glad that Winspector is complete, because it is certainly one of the most deserving. There's a batch currently in the works, which should be out any day now. |
04-25-2016, 06:07 AM | #515 |
Dark Noir Black Schwarz
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Australia
Posts: 957
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Quote:
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04-25-2016, 09:57 PM | #516 |
Stronger Than You
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: nyet
Posts: 25,326
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Awesome. After everything Phantom Stranger had to say (Even though I skipped half of it because I was paranoid over spoilers ), I was getting pretty amped to watch Winspector~
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04-26-2016, 04:59 AM | #517 |
Sky Henshin!
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Henderson, NV
Posts: 4,778
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UltraMan Episode 25: Back to UltraMan! Which was pretty fun because we had a Triple Threat monster match here. The three monsters fighting was pretty brutal and UltraMan coming in vs Red King was just as brutal again too. Cutting it into pieces and taking it into outer space was something else; also a pretty cool new special ability of telekinesis or something like it with UltraMan. Also fun to see how Hayata got away to become UltraMan again. It wasn't Fuji's episode here as they portrayed her not up to her norm. Also Hayata was the only one who was pretty compentent and the best part of the show. I can't wait for more gigantic action vs monsters.
UltraMan Episode 26: Ah the introduction of Gomora, good to see where he first came from with his importance in UltraMan X. Intriguing plot and good to see a two-parter back all the way here. This was a stupid idea from the scientists to try and bring Gomora over, what makes you think carrying a 20,000 pound monster to put on display would be a good idea?! Still Hayata was good with getting the kids to safety and the Science patrol put up a good fight against Gomora. UltraMan vs Gomora was a great fight and damn did Gomora stomp UltraMan good this time around, I can't wait for part 2. Though him losing the Beta Capsule was weird but this is early UltraMan and there has been lots of weirdness here so I just go with it and enjoy.
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My Sales Thread! Lower Prices! Last edited by KyoryuGreen; 04-26-2016 at 08:28 AM.. |
04-27-2016, 12:04 PM | #518 |
Stronger Than You
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: nyet
Posts: 25,326
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Winspector episode 1: Standard fare for a first episode. It was alright. Bikel and Walter were cute to watch, and Ryoma/Fire is pretty cool. He's a little too much of the generic hero style character, but there's room for growth or change (Or at least space to learn more about him). The side characters were decent, but this episode felt a little cluttered by trying to give them all something to do.
I think my main problem was that most of the action was just a tanker driving around, and Fire not really doing much beyond shooting out it's tire (Granted, it was from a cool angle of dangling off the tanker itself, but still). A little more direct action would've been nice. It was neat to see Bikel and Walter also working on saving people. I'm curious if that's just a first episode thing or if we'll actually see that more often. Anyway, it was alright. Designs look cool (Though I don't quite get the point of Fire having both eyes and the visor/shield)
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04-28-2016, 10:47 PM | #519 |
Sky Henshin!
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Henderson, NV
Posts: 4,778
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UltraMan Episode 27: Really great giant monster movie episode here. The Science Patrol was amazing this episode with doing everything they could to fight Gomora and were great with putting the tracker on Gomora and blasting off it's tail together without UltraMan since the Beta Capsule was lost. Definitely showed off Arashi's and Ide's skills with shooting and building weapons and that was awesome. The kid getting the Beta Capsule to Hayata was great knowing that the Science Patrol needed it and the cop helping him was great because I've seen cops in shows not believe kids so that was a nice change. Also UltraMan vs Gomora was a brutal fight and UltraMan breaking off his horn and his throws was definitely a fun fight to watch. I can't wait for more.
UltraMan Episode 29 (Because I forgot the Prince of Monsters two-parter was episodes 26-27 not 27-28 lol): Very good episode. One of the better ones that grabs your attention. I enjoyed the Goldon in the mines and how Ide and the Captain had to go underground to stop it. That they both ended up trapped and had to struggle to survive was good drama there that they built up well. Especially loved the Captain's tenacity to hit the missile switch when Ide count when they were running low on Oxygen. Hayata was much more involved this episode with his tactical mind and his right to the point attitude besides just kind of being there and transforming. I enjoyed this a lot because it showed more of everyone's character and told a good plot. The Goldon Kaiju was good especially having two of them and one of them being destroyed by Arashi on the ground. UltraMan's fight against the other one was savage especially when he wrapped it's tail around it's neck and it was choking itself. UltraMan is seriously brutal to these monsters but he kicked it's butt and it was pretty cool to see. Also glad UltraMan saved the Captain and Ide and found them in time. Also glad they used the gold to help the city's recovery that was really good of the Science Patrol. I will now go back and watch episode 28 lol. UltraMan Episode 28: Ah the skipped episode, well it was fantastic meeting the Dada race. The Captain really shined this episode saving the woman from the Dada. I wonder what they need the humans for? I definitely see why they are used more with their intangibility, possession, and growing powers. Hayata taking charge as leader was great, seeing him use his skills to help the Science Patrol while the Captain was missing was great. Great fight between UltraMan and Dada not as brutal but was a great dog fight in the air. Also cool to see UltraMan normal size for a moment. Well now I'm back on track and can't wait for more. UltraMan Episode 30: This was an intriguing episode. Definitely felt more that the humans were more of the monsters than Woo. Though Yukinko and Woo were the interesting part with were they even really there or were they spirits of the mountain that Ide thought. It's amazing how much Hayata takes a back seat to Ide and Arashi in these episodes. Ide's like the freaking main character here with how much they focus on him. Though it was nice to learn about his background. Hayata literally got sidelined here with spraining his foot during skiing. Though it did lead to the next fun reason how he was able to turn into UltraMan. UltraMan vs Woo was a good fight but I knew with Yukinko there and that Woo really wasn't bad at all that he wasn't going to destroy Woo. The people of the village attacking Yukinko and wanting Woo gone were kind of really selfish and horrible people. Well sometimes the gigantic kaiju isn't the real monster. Definitely an intriguing fantasy episode here. I can't wait for more.
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My Sales Thread! Lower Prices! Last edited by KyoryuGreen; 05-03-2016 at 08:50 AM.. |
05-05-2016, 04:21 AM | #520 |
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Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 486
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Took me a little longer than I expected but i finished Ultraman Gaia. It was a pretty good series. Despite the fact there were a lot of side characters, quite a few of them had a focus ep or two to help flesh things out, which is one of the perks to having a year long series. I thought the monster designs were excelllent and the over all story line was well done.
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