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Ultraman 80 and jumping the shark
Sep. 24th, 2023 04:44 pmSo they dropped the school element, all of the relationships that Yamato built with his students, and the ship tease with the gym teacher from Ultraman 80 by about the 13th episode.
I mean, the show is still good. It has some damn good episodic plots, like a murder mystery that is honestly some of the best writing since Ultra Seven 12-13 years prior. But the story now just feels so basic it's disappointing.
So far, my feeling on the Showa era series are this:
Ultra Q - Sometimes feels like the writers don't want to keep doing this, but mostly has some good stories about monsters and living in a weird-ass world.
Ultraman - Fun, not generally super-serious. Essentially getting on its feet, feels kind of like Star Trek TOS in terms of tone and inventiveness.
Ultra Seven - Knows what it's doing, really evolving the concept, showing an alien who wants to be human learning that sometimes humans aren't the greatest. Good for fans of later Star Trek and more serious plots of Doctor Who.
Then Eiji Tsuburaya dies. This is kind of a major issue, because the next seasons:
Return of Ultraman - Kind of struggles to stand out. Sometimes overly forces the point of Go being an outsider. Doesn't really seem to be able to bridge the divide between "I'm both human and alien" from Hayata/Ultraman and "I'm an alien and I can't understand humans as well as I'd like" from Dan/Seven. Also just has some forced tragedy.
Ultraman Ace - Blows its premise by writing out Minami. Hokuto NEEDS her to play off of, and it's painfully evident that he's missing his other half. They're like Sherlock and Watson, guys. Forces in a "the Ultras are all brothers" element that wasn't in the original seasons, doesn't really bother to make it make sense. Definitely trying to respond to the success of Kamen Rider but without really understanding why it was a success.
Ultraman Taro - ...I have no idea how this works, tbh. But it sticks the landing somehow, even though the cast is kind of a revolving door and sometimes the show can be really fucked up. Still REALLY forces the whole "we're all brothers~" element but has decided it does not give a shit about explaining anything. Basically just decided to go big or go home.
Ultraman Leo - Also decided to go big or go home, but in the exact opposite direction. Rocks fall, everyone dies. Some fun episodes, but largely fucked up. Probably shouldn't work, but it's really good if you take the time to understand that it is about grief and trauma. But it really lives up to its potential after the "rocks fall, everyone dies" episode and Gen has to fight alone. Appropriately enough, takes place in Kamen Rider's hometown because Gen and the Riders could share some stories, man.
Ultraman 80 - Non-fighter comes to Earth with a preventative approach to monsters by teaching and mentoring children to reduce the amount of minus energy in the world that fuels monsters. And then they just drop the element altogether.
I mean, the show is still good. It has some damn good episodic plots, like a murder mystery that is honestly some of the best writing since Ultra Seven 12-13 years prior. But the story now just feels so basic it's disappointing.
So far, my feeling on the Showa era series are this:
Ultra Q - Sometimes feels like the writers don't want to keep doing this, but mostly has some good stories about monsters and living in a weird-ass world.
Ultraman - Fun, not generally super-serious. Essentially getting on its feet, feels kind of like Star Trek TOS in terms of tone and inventiveness.
Ultra Seven - Knows what it's doing, really evolving the concept, showing an alien who wants to be human learning that sometimes humans aren't the greatest. Good for fans of later Star Trek and more serious plots of Doctor Who.
Then Eiji Tsuburaya dies. This is kind of a major issue, because the next seasons:
Return of Ultraman - Kind of struggles to stand out. Sometimes overly forces the point of Go being an outsider. Doesn't really seem to be able to bridge the divide between "I'm both human and alien" from Hayata/Ultraman and "I'm an alien and I can't understand humans as well as I'd like" from Dan/Seven. Also just has some forced tragedy.
Ultraman Ace - Blows its premise by writing out Minami. Hokuto NEEDS her to play off of, and it's painfully evident that he's missing his other half. They're like Sherlock and Watson, guys. Forces in a "the Ultras are all brothers" element that wasn't in the original seasons, doesn't really bother to make it make sense. Definitely trying to respond to the success of Kamen Rider but without really understanding why it was a success.
Ultraman Taro - ...I have no idea how this works, tbh. But it sticks the landing somehow, even though the cast is kind of a revolving door and sometimes the show can be really fucked up. Still REALLY forces the whole "we're all brothers~" element but has decided it does not give a shit about explaining anything. Basically just decided to go big or go home.
Ultraman Leo - Also decided to go big or go home, but in the exact opposite direction. Rocks fall, everyone dies. Some fun episodes, but largely fucked up. Probably shouldn't work, but it's really good if you take the time to understand that it is about grief and trauma. But it really lives up to its potential after the "rocks fall, everyone dies" episode and Gen has to fight alone. Appropriately enough, takes place in Kamen Rider's hometown because Gen and the Riders could share some stories, man.
Ultraman 80 - Non-fighter comes to Earth with a preventative approach to monsters by teaching and mentoring children to reduce the amount of minus energy in the world that fuels monsters. And then they just drop the element altogether.