First time watch. SKaRD is a really strange acronym, but okay. A wildly fun episode. They're definitely taking influence from the Shin movies with their wild camera placements and sudden cuts, as well as the Heisei Godzilla era with it's more militaristic strike force style team, but I'm also getting a fun Patlabor vibe as it's dealing with relatable slice-of-life moments like finding a pen to sign documents with, fighting over who gets to cover the lunch bill, and them being shown their "state of the art" resources, which are a barely stocked warehouse command center and an inconspicuous action minivan. Even when Ultraman kicks in, it builds to a fun gag where he converts his energy lance into a fishing pole to reel in the aquatic monster. Speaking of, add Gedos to the list of Ultraman monsters I feel bad for. He doesn't seem to be part of a cosmic plot, but is an actual ancient sea monster that only ever surfaces when he's disrupted by humanity, and even after attacking a ship, he's show just chilling beneath the water, digging through the storage containers, when the navy lobs a ton of torpedoes at him. So he rises to the surface to say "what the hell!", so they lob a ton more missiles at him to keep him from coming on land, which leads him to come on land because he's moving in the direction they came from, still saying "what the he-- oh, I smell fish". And they just keep firing missiles even though that's obviously pissing him off and drawing him in. Just stop with the missiles! And then Ultraman appears, starts ripping pieces off of him, and even when Gedos retreats back to his lair, Ultraman yanks him right back out with a fishing line. This sounds like a criticism, but accidentally making kaiju sympathetic, then painfully beating them down is a bizarre tradition for this show going back to season one (I'm hardly an expert, but I've seen season one), so it's fun seeing it carry it on here. Though it would have been nice to have some reflection on it, like have the old fisherman, instead of saying "he'll be back if we keep polluting!" instead lament the loss of a monster that was always there to protect the sea, with Emi then having to reconsider certain team strategies moving forward.
The introductions to the team are great, and I love that we get to see a full episode of them all being recruited. Emi seemed very arch in the last episode, but I like her wit here, and how she especially pairs off nicely with Captain Gento, with his professional practicality bouncing off of her more eccentric zeal. She really should be the second in command, but I do like how he instantly adopts an informality to the group, refusing to answer to rank or family name as he wants them to all address each other on an equal level. I'm also curious to see what it'll be like having the commander of the group be the one who has to duck off to be Ultraman, and how many issues that'll start raising as it removes his involvement from the immediate chain of command.
As for Ultraman Blazar himself, I like the design of the suit, with the crystals bursting and swirling out of half of him, and how often they play with those glowing portions and his eyes in silhouette. What I don't like is the transformer being this overly elaborate wrist piece with a coin that needs to be inserted. I understand the need to make this a toyetic property, but that feels too much. I also hope they work on Ultraman's voice, which is such a weird mix of pained sounding shrieks and gibbering, that it almost makes him sound horrific at times.
Review by noelctBlockedParentSpoilers2023-07-15T15:53:34Z
First time watch. SKaRD is a really strange acronym, but okay. A wildly fun episode. They're definitely taking influence from the Shin movies with their wild camera placements and sudden cuts, as well as the Heisei Godzilla era with it's more militaristic strike force style team, but I'm also getting a fun Patlabor vibe as it's dealing with relatable slice-of-life moments like finding a pen to sign documents with, fighting over who gets to cover the lunch bill, and them being shown their "state of the art" resources, which are a barely stocked warehouse command center and an inconspicuous action minivan. Even when Ultraman kicks in, it builds to a fun gag where he converts his energy lance into a fishing pole to reel in the aquatic monster. Speaking of, add Gedos to the list of Ultraman monsters I feel bad for. He doesn't seem to be part of a cosmic plot, but is an actual ancient sea monster that only ever surfaces when he's disrupted by humanity, and even after attacking a ship, he's show just chilling beneath the water, digging through the storage containers, when the navy lobs a ton of torpedoes at him. So he rises to the surface to say "what the hell!", so they lob a ton more missiles at him to keep him from coming on land, which leads him to come on land because he's moving in the direction they came from, still saying "what the he-- oh, I smell fish". And they just keep firing missiles even though that's obviously pissing him off and drawing him in. Just stop with the missiles! And then Ultraman appears, starts ripping pieces off of him, and even when Gedos retreats back to his lair, Ultraman yanks him right back out with a fishing line. This sounds like a criticism, but accidentally making kaiju sympathetic, then painfully beating them down is a bizarre tradition for this show going back to season one (I'm hardly an expert, but I've seen season one), so it's fun seeing it carry it on here. Though it would have been nice to have some reflection on it, like have the old fisherman, instead of saying "he'll be back if we keep polluting!" instead lament the loss of a monster that was always there to protect the sea, with Emi then having to reconsider certain team strategies moving forward.
The introductions to the team are great, and I love that we get to see a full episode of them all being recruited. Emi seemed very arch in the last episode, but I like her wit here, and how she especially pairs off nicely with Captain Gento, with his professional practicality bouncing off of her more eccentric zeal. She really should be the second in command, but I do like how he instantly adopts an informality to the group, refusing to answer to rank or family name as he wants them to all address each other on an equal level. I'm also curious to see what it'll be like having the commander of the group be the one who has to duck off to be Ultraman, and how many issues that'll start raising as it removes his involvement from the immediate chain of command.
As for Ultraman Blazar himself, I like the design of the suit, with the crystals bursting and swirling out of half of him, and how often they play with those glowing portions and his eyes in silhouette. What I don't like is the transformer being this overly elaborate wrist piece with a coin that needs to be inserted. I understand the need to make this a toyetic property, but that feels too much. I also hope they work on Ultraman's voice, which is such a weird mix of pained sounding shrieks and gibbering, that it almost makes him sound horrific at times.