Tag Archives: Japanese

Ultraman Review

Posted on by
5


It’s time to take a look at the original Ultraman show from a while back. Ultraman is a character who is pretty big in Japan but never really got to attain the same success in America. It’s a little odd, but maybe the whole creature feature thing just ends up working better as a movie in getting people’s attention. I will say that the Dub really did its best to make the show more interesting. The DVD we had would randomly shift between sub and dub during the episodes but for the most part the dub worked which was good. There are issues which prevent this from really being a good show but it is something that can be fun in small doses.

The general plot is that on Earth there are so many disturbances thanks to giant monsters that we had to create a whole unit to deal with them. This unit is called the Science Patrol and their duty is to stop these monsters no matter what. Unfortunately they are rarely strong enough to defeat even the weakest of monsters. That’s where Hayata comes in. He has been chosen to be the host of Ultraman, a powerful alien from another realm. Ultraman can only be summoned in Hayata’s place for 5 minutes so he has to try and win quickly. Will this new guardian be enough to save the planet or is Earth already doomed to fall to the monsters’ assault?

The show has close to 40 episodes with the majority of them being stand alone adventures. The formula for each episode is typically that a monster shows up and beats up on the Science Patrol before Ultraman steps in to save the day. It’s a classic formula and it’s like watching an abridged version of a Godzilla film. The only tricky part about having a monster of the week kind of series like this is that you need a strong cast of characters and great writing. This series has neither so that can make it a tough sell when you are effectively seeing the same adventures over and over again. Some titles like Pokemon or Case Closed can pull off the repetition even for hundreds of episodes, but it’s not as easy as it looks.

One issue here is that the Science Patrol doesn’t always seem to be in the right. Often times I was actively rooting against these guys because they seem to be awfully selfish and don’t look at the bigger picture. Most of them just follow orders without question and the ones who think long and hard about it are ultimately reigned in. There’s no sense of unity on the team and Captain Mura is quick to push out any who doubt him. Without good characters to root for that makes the format a little tricky. I’ll go into this more, but lets quickly talk about the main characters. The cast isn’t particularly large.

The main character is Hayata. He can use the pen to shift places with Ultraman but does try to do his best on his own. Hayata is easily the best member of the main group since he does at least talk tough to the villains. Hayata does wait way too long to transform into Ultraman though and makes it clear that he is willing to let tons of people die just to prove a point. He wants humanity to be able to get along with Ultraman and never checks his ego at the door. Watching all of the death and destruction that is all Hayata’s fault is enough to make him sink as a character a bit. Ultraman has his own character, but rarely ever gets to talk or do anything. Skip an episode or two and you would assume that he still is Hayata.

Ultraman is a fun guy to have around even if he does seem to make up super powers on the spot at times. Unfortunately Ultraman isn’t the most heroic character though. He’ll take down any monster even if they are harmless and aren’t making a move to attack. He seems to have a no tolerance policy and just destroys whoever gets in his way. I suppose he is doing his job of protecting the Earth, it would just be nice if that could have also included the monsters who really don’t want to do anything wrong.

Mura is probably the worst character of the bunch. He’s a total Yes Man who will do whatever the government says. He rarely ends up helping out on missions and just gets in everyone else’s way. You want a boss who will stick up for his subordinates and Mura won’t do that. Arashi probably gets the smallest role out of the main characters. He gets a good episode where he defies orders to save some children though. Unfortunately the government didn’t like that and so he is temporarily fired and then reprimanded for saving the day. The whole thing was so crazy that I hopped Arashi would quit in defiance. He really doesn’t need to be taking any of this. He should have gone somewhere where they would have appreciated him more.

Then we have Ide who is the comic relief character of the group. He has a lot of funny dialogue and was a good highlight. At least he actually thinks about the monsters and how they’re feeling at times. I’ll give him some credit for this, but not too much since ultimately he does end up pulling the trigger each time. His inventions are pretty good, but he did have a valid point that Ultraman always does all of the work even if everybody dismissed the notion. Finally we have Fuji. She goes out into the field less than the others as she typically stays with the comms, but she does help out sometimes. Some of Fuji’s scenes can definitely be odd though like when she makes a long speech about why girls love jewels and then when she tried asking one of the monsters to give her some gems. I guess this is probably why she ism’t out on the field as much as the others. She seems nice enough I suppose.

In the first half of the series we see a kid named Hoshino who wants to join the Science Patrol. I’m guessing nobody liked the kid though because he is completely written out during the second half of the series and trust me when I say that this was a really good move. He didn’t add anything to the story and as a kid he really couldn’t keep up with the others either. In general the kids all stopped appearing near the end which was good.

Naturally the monsters showing up is the highlight of each episode. It’s always nice seeing the quick wrestling fights between them and Ultraman. Then throw in the martial arts and you’ve got some quality action. I like a good monster battle and that is really the center of what you need in a monster show like this one. That being said, the show does mess up a bit with the monster vs monster fights. Some of them actually get pretty violent which is surprising and also inconsistent. Most of the time the monsters fall apart like bags of potatoes with no blood inside of them. It’s like they are puppets filled with air which is definitely what you want to see. It also only gets violent when it’s monster against monster which is odd. Hopefully that’s not a trend.

Now lets go back to the Science Patrol being the enemies which is the trickiest part of the series. They are basically a hit squad hired by the government to take down all monsters. They are to do this without question whether the monster is acting hostile or not. There are numerous times where this happens and it’s always very annoying because of course the science patrol has to end up winning here even though they don’t deserve it. One episode where this happens is the ice one. Some kids decide to bully a girl to death so a monster shows up to try and defend her. The Science Patrol quickly puts an end to that. It’s a very somber ending and the Patrol just looks terrible since they were played by a bunch of kids. It doesn’t get worse than that. Another episode involves a peaceful monster from the graveyard dimension who literally doesn’t attack anyone. The government tells the Patrol to destroy him anyway so they just duck their heads and pick a fight. Ultraman beats him up pretty badly before they send him back into space. That was a terrible episode.

With 39 episodes the quality is naturally going to vary. The important thing is of course that you have more good episodes than bad ones and that the bad ones aren’t too bad. The problem is that some of these episodes are just really bad. The 2 that I just mentioned are prime examples of this. The series can just be really mean spirited at times. I think in part how the show plays out is due to the cultural difference here. In Japan following the rules is a very important part of the culture as seen in a bunch of anime and such. In these Ultraman episodes it is seen as a good thing to follow the rules even if the rules themselves are bad. That just hasn’t aged well.

One episode that’s real mean spirited is when a little red monster showed up to help the heroes. He informs them of the incoming alien invasion and the heroes follow him to the site. This little guy’s reward for being so helpful? He is murdered by the enemy kaiju and Hayata could have saved him but chose not to in order to prove a point to Ide. This is another episode where the heroes should have checked their Egos at the door. It’s always especially tragic when a villain tries to turn good and make the hero call but ends up being destroyed anyway. It just goes to show why most informants are worried about blowing the whistle on their alien boss. It’s just extremely risky.

Other episodes are just on the boring side. The first half of the show is affected more by this. One example is definitely the monster who loved the jewels a lot. It’s meant as a comedy episode, but it’s not particularly funny and just ends up dragging on a bit. The best parts of monster films for me are the monster fights so when you have an episode that is centered around the humans you can see how that wouldn’t work quite as well. The Dub really does its best to save some of these episodes but when it goes back to the sub you just don’t feel the energy or witty dialogue.

All right, lets look at some of the more enjoyable episodes. I did like the Baltan aliens. Their laugh is a lot of fun and I like how they troll the humans. They have more personality than any of the other creatures and I’d like to see them get more of a role. We got 2 alien invasions in the last few episodes and I would have liked a 2-3 episode saga with the Baltans trying to take over. Maybe we could have seen more of the other Science Patrols which were mentioned during the series. A large scale episode like that would be cool.

Another fun episode was when the shape shifter alien showed up. He acts like a long lost member of the Science Patrol but is actually working on the enemy side. He is definitely pretty suspicious right from the start. I do like a good shape shifting plot even if it can be tough to watch the heroes get played at times. There is just so much potential whenever it is used as is done well here. Surprisingly I have to say that the best episodes in the series are the ones that involve alien races as opposed to the Kaiju. It may be because the aliens are always evil so you don’t have to worry about rooting for the Science Patrol.

A lot of the other monsters have cool designs as well. There are a bunch of them so you probably won’t remember most of their names, but at least the designs you’ll take to heart. Zetton is a monster with a very memorable design. I like the black/yellow look, it works well for villains and does usually indicate that the character is going to be a real threat. Then you have Jirass who is basically Godzilla. The show doesn’t reuse monsters much so you’ve got 30+ monsters to look forward to. Choosing which one is your favorite won’t be easy. Mine was Baltan of course.

Overall, Ultraman is definitely a pretty unique show. I certainly hadn’t seen anything quite like it before now. As I mentioned, it’s like checking out a bunch of abridged Godzilla movies only with a Power Ranger as one of the main character. I think it might have been even cooler to have had Ultraman literally be Hayata transformed since it wouldn’t really change anything. If you want to see a bunch of cool monsters and action scenes then this is definitely a good show for you to check out. It’s pretty old so of course there aren’t a lot of special effects yet but the monster suits are practical effects so it’s not as if the test of time really affects them. You will have to get past the fact that the main characters are completely unlikable though and that the “villains” end up winning a lot of these fights. The monsters get the short end of the stick and watching this is actually perfect to really understand Garou’s argument in One Punch.

Overall 5/10

Space Amoeba Review

Posted on by
5


It’s time to look at an old Kaiju film that not too many people know about. However, once you see the title you know that this is a film to check out. The monsters are huge which is really what you are looking for at the end of the day. It’s a pretty fun film that may start to lose a little steam as it goes on but manages to be a solid product through and through. Naturally you will be rooting for the monsters of course.

The film starts off with a reporter being mocked for claiming that our satellites aren’t making it into space and are being shot down. He is determined to prove that he isn’t wrong and is given the chance when a lady shows up and asks him to take photos of an island where she is building a resort. His pride won’t let him do such a thing at first but then another guy shows up and explains that giant monsters may have been seen in the area. The lead quickly realizes that it is all linked and jumps into action. Is he in over his head?

One thing you will enjoy right away is the writing for this film. It’s one of those old school scripts where the characters are all having a lot of run right off the bat. Sure, maybe they should be taking this whole thing a little more seriously to be honest, but at the end of the day you have to appreciate the fact that they can still make one liners. The voice acting is on point and the characters are reasonably likable. Kudo may have a little too much pride as he initially doesn’t want to take pictures of landscapes even when paid, but I guess that’s just not his thing. He is quick to jump into action when necessary on the island. We also have the corporate spy who comes in to try and get rich, but things don’t go too well for him. From that point on you already knew he was doomed though. We also have the main heroine who tries to help one of the heroes get away from the mind control that he is under with her yells. I suppose it is fairly effective. You’ve also got the tour guides but some of the locals do tend to panic when the Kaiju come knocking. Never a good move since these monsters are as fast as they are large.

So as you can see I definitely had no problem with the characters. It was a fun enough bunch even if none of them are all that memorable. Now we get to the Kaiju. They were all pretty solid. The best one would probably be the main one. That squid packed a punch and was even able to move on land. I definitely was glad to see him pop up and his scenes were certainly the closest to something out of a Godzilla movie. Then we have the big turtle that was neat. While the ability to stretch out your head isn’t very useful or practical, it was visually interesting so I’ll give it some props there. The monsters were definitely fun so this title earned its creature feature status.

As I mentioned, the film does slow down a bit during the second half though. That’s because the humans start to take up a bit more of a focus at that point so the monsters are secondary. I can tell you now that this is never a good idea since we are all here for the Kaiju of course. The humans are just the added bonus. It never gets boring or anything like that though. I also think the monsters should have maybe been a bit stronger as well since one of them was getting absolutely wrecked by the humans and their guns. If you’re not bullet proof but are huge like these monsters then you’re just going to end up being an easy target.

I do think Kudo’s boss will likely go down as one of the more underrated characters among the Kaiju community though. I like how he doubted Kudo from the start and never changed his mind from that. After all, why should he? When you think about it, Kudo’s story doesn’t make any sense so sending him off on a wild goose chase makes a lot of sense. He’s a one shot character but is a perfect example of this film’s humor that meshes well with the story.

Overall, Space Amoeba is a solid film. It’s definitely a retro Kaiju movie that is worth checking out and you will never look at the giant monsters the same way again. Don’t worry, we’ve also got aliens in the mix which really helps as well since those guys should always be included in such an adventure. Kaiju and Aliens go hand in hand after all. It would be cool to see these monsters go up against Godzilla one day although they would probably be destroyed very quickly. The Amoeba may not be one of the strongest fighters out there, but he’s a fun one.

Overall 7/10

Angelic Layer Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time for a classic battle series that may not be the most popular series that Clamp has done, but it makes a solid argument for being their best. The series is only 5 volumes, but it’s essentially comprised of nonstop fights. That’s a winning formula if I ever heard of one and it comes close to 9 star territory, but it does stumble a little along the way to victory.

Misaki is the main character of the series and she grew up in a world that has become engrossed in a new game called Angelic Layer. Essentially, it’s like the Bionicle Meta game in real life, but with a bit more intensity. You buy a doll and then you customize her to be a speed, power, or defense fighter. After that, you can buy her equipment and accessories so that she can be a distinct fighter. Now that you’ve completed all of the steps, you’re ready to enter the tournaments! Misaki witnesses an incredible battle between the angels on TV and decides to enter one with her new doll. What’s the harm right? Maybe she’ll actually end up being the world champ by the time this is all over!

You can argue that Misaki’s road to the top is a little more lonely than the average main character. The reason being that she does have two friends who are main supporting characters, but they don’t play Angelic Layer. Most leads get to spar with their friends, but that isn’t the case for Misaki. I don’t mind the fact that the friends can’t fight though because they just aren’t very good characters. One of the friends is Tamayo and she’s definitely very annoying. She’s constantly beating up Misaki’s other friend and talking about romance when there is no need for it. Her over the top theatrics are not amusing and I would be able to take her a little more seriously if she could actually fight. She actually involves the one big negative for the series so we may as well get it over with as soon as possible.

It’s a running gag that Misaki’s undergarments are mentioned when Tamayo or Ohjiro is around. It’s completely unnecessary and definitely not a good way to throw in some comedy scenes. It’s safe to say that this prevented the series from getting 9 stars. It’s not bad compared to most other series since you never actually see anything, (There is basically no fanservice in the series, which is pretty exceptional) but it’s still not something that you want to see in a series. It just helps to make Tamayo even more unlikable than she already is and it also stops Ohjiro from being a good character.

Kotaro is the other main character and he’s much better than Tamayo. He’s pretty generic and he’s certainly not one of the best characters out there, but he tries hard to be cool. He knows how to fight in the real world and it comes in handy at the very end of the series, but he really needs to learn how to fight in Angelic Layer. He spends the series just getting beaten up on so this doesn’t do wonders for his character either.

Misaki is a pretty decent main character. She always fights to the end while never giving up. Misaki’s instincts for battle are typically spot on and she can decipher the weak point of any opponent that she faces. On the other hand, she can certainly be a little on the generic side and she gets flustered way too often. Misaki isn’t going to be the next Ichigo or Kirito, but I’ll accept her as a decent enough lead to hold the series up. If she was a little more hot headed with some trash talking to back it up, I think that I would probably like her a little more. As it stands, she’s pretty polite and she keeps everyone in the friend zone so I can admire that. Misaki’s other trait that can get to you is that she’s way too gullible. The scientist tries to help her get through this, but it’s a difficult task.

Icchan is the scientist in question and he’s definitely all over the place. He likes to make remarks that don’t make sense and he’s constantly ditching his job to help Misaki. He definitely plays favorites throughout the tournament, but it all comes down to Misaki’s cheerful demeanor. All of her opponents end up rooting for the main character after they lose because Misaki doesn’t want to win for the money, she wants to win for the love of the game. Icchan gives her the angel and he also helps Misaki customize her during the earlier stages of the manga. He’s definitely a decent character, but his almost literally all talk as he never actually fights even though he knows so much about the game. Ah well, he’s definitely a nice guy and he knows that ice cream is one of the best desserts.

Hikaru is Misaki’s angel and she’s one of the strongest fighters in the series. She is a speed fighter so she relies on a lot of quick hits and sudden moves to knock the opponents out of the stage. It’s good that she can do this since she usually starts the battle on the losing end. Her health goes into the red zone before she counters and typically she wins with a one hit KO or some quick attacks. She’s definitely a great angel and one who will certainly remind you of Megaman. She may not have a lot of flashy techniques at her disposal, but she gets the job done. She’s definitely the most likable angel in the tournament.
anglayomv2p1-2
Hatoko is one of Misaki’s friends and her angel is named Suzuka. Hatoko seems to have a pretty good reputation as a very good Angelic Layer fighter and many thought that she would ultimately win the big tournament. Her angel is a powerful defense fighter so she is able to repel just about any blow with ease. Suzuka’s design is definitely pretty good and she shows that defense types can still match up against speed fighters when necessary. Her final fight in the series isn’t very satisfying since she loses in a single blow, but Hatoko made it pretty far. She’s definitely the best friend from Misaki’s supporting cast and Suzuka is probably the third best angel.

Ohjiro and his angel, The Wizard, are not some of the best characters here. The Wizard is actually a pretty good angel and he’s another defense type. He can block an opponent’s attack by reflecting their energy and making a barrier. He is said to have never been hit by an opponent before so his opponents have a lot of explaining to do. Naturally, it’s up to Hikaru to give him a pretty good fight and prove that speed really does trump everything else. The Wizard looks a lot like Syaoran or Fai from Tsubasa, which is cool since Clamp loves borrowing characters and designs from their other series. The Wizard is pretty likable even if he seems to be pretty weak once you get past his barrier. On the other hand, Ohjiro is definitely not cool. He talks a lot from the shadows about how cool he is and on Hikaru’s potential, but it never goes anywhere. Once he starts to make random comments about under garments that have no relevance to the plot, he immediately lost any chance that he may have had on being a likable character. Sometimes, that’s all that it takes to make a character plummet down the ranks.

Shuko and her angel, Athena, are known as the strongest fighters in Angelic Layer. After Hikaru wins the tournament, they have a quick clash. Athena is technically a speed type, but she’s also one of the strongest fighters in the series. I was pretty glad to see that after all of the defense and speed fighters that were featured throughout the tournament, it was a good change of pace. I did think that Hikaru was probably doomed though since attack power is probably the most important factor in a match like this. Not to mention that Athena still has enough speed to match Hikaru’s. Athena also comes equipped with a giant energy blast that really tips the scales in her favor. Athena is probably the second best angel in the series. It’s too bad that I can’t say the same for Shuko. Shuko has a pretty big twist that is pretty obvious once you see her, but I guess I’ll refrain from saying it just in case. It explains why she isn’t very likable, but it’s still pretty overdone. Shuko is incredibly shy so that she’s constantly blushing in just about every scene and she can barely talk to someone without looking away. She gets tricked at the end into finally seeing the main characters again and maybe this will help her as a character, but we never really get to see this.

Arisu and her angel Alice are the final fighters to face Hikaru in the tournament. It’s actually pretty anticlimactic since I would argue that Alice is much weaker than all of the other opponents that Hikaru faced. (Not counting one shot characters) Alice doesn’t really have any gimmicks and her special trait is that she has great balance. That’s nice and all, but it seriously doesn’t help in most battles. She just gets lucky because the stage is an ice rink so Hikaru’s balance is off for the whole fight. She quickly figures out a way around this though so Alice was doomed. Alice is all right, but she’s not one of the better angels. You could really say the same about Arisu. Arisu just doesn’t have a whole lot of character and she’s simply not that likable. I think that the Wizard probably should have been the final boss.

Sai and her angel, Shirahime, are pretty similar to Hatoko and Suzuka. Sai fights with complete seriousness and poise as she faces her opponents. Shirahime is also a defense type of Angel and her stats are almost identical to Suzuka’s. Their match was extremely close and she puts up a very good fight against Haruka. Once she sheds her protective gear, Shirahime is able to move at speeds similar to a speed type’s, but then she must lose her defensive edge. It’s a gamble, but one that I would definitely make since defense usually doesn’t trump a good speed character. Sai seems to be a little full of herself, but she is a good fighter and I like Shirahime. This is another fearsome pair who could have defeated most of the other opponents in the series.

There are a few other characters like a wind doll and one who could use Hyper Mode, but you get the jist of the series. It’s basically one battle after the next and the fast pace is one of the reasons why the series is so fun. It’s like a good ole Megaman manga and it never gets dull. The action scenes look very impressive and I have to say that it’ll be tough to adapt in animation. They’ll probably tone down the speed feats so that it’s lower tier, but maybe they’ll be able to do a good job.

Clamp just outdid themselves with the action this time. The fight scenes are similar to Megaman NT Warrior and DBZ. The constant hand to hand combos mixed in with the occasional special technique just makes the battles so exciting. The art for them is excellent and I can see why Clamp has such a good reputation. It may not be as impressive for the normal scenes, but they still look good. There’s a rough edge to it that will remind you of their other titles, but you can always clearly see what is happening. I’m not a huge fan of their art gags like the characters turning into octopuses all the time, but they’re not bad either. If they could just tone it down with the blushing, it would be even better.

Angelic Layer is just a very fun series to read. It’s pretty light natured and you could almost picture it in the real world. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that we’ll finally have virtual reality games like this one within the next 50-60 years. I may be too old to really enjoy them by then, but it would be pretty awesome to have a realistic simulator like this. It would probably be a bit more complex here and I doubt that a newcomer would become the world champ after a day of practice, but we can let that slide since Misaki may be the chosen one. She has a better battle record than most main characters since she wins just about every battle that she enters. The final battle may be unsatisfying to a lot of people, but you can argue that Hikaru was still battle fatigued. The actual ending to the series is better than most of the other manga titles that have ended and there is certainly lots of room for a direct sequel (So Chobits doesn’t count) if Clamp really wants too someday. That would definitely be exciting.

How does it compare to other toyetic franchises? Well, it definitely loses to Megaman and the Yugioh franchise is too massive to lose here. Aside from that, I dare say that it takes down Bakugan, Beyblade, and most of the rest. It loses to Cardfight Vanguard as well, but it puts up a brave fight. Power level wise, it’s probably above all of them and only Yugioh/Megaman could hope to stand up to them. Angelic Layer’s biggest advantage over most series is just how absurdly fast the angels are. Catching up to them is nearly impossible and their attacks have lethal amounts of power behind them.
ef6a0a75ee48f3865adbb52c59983853
Overall, Angelic Layer may only be 5 volumes, but it’s a great series to check out. This is definitely Clamp’s best work as it even takes out Tsubasa. It’ll be hard for them to top it, but it’s always possible. The nonstop action can rival any series since the fights are so good. In terms of speed, you could probably pit the angels against just anyone short of Goku and they could probably hold their own. Most of the characters are pretty likable and the art is solid. If not for the lines of the two annoying characters, this could easily be top 5 material. Nevertheless, I strongly recommend this title if you like action and it could end up being one of your favorite titles.

Overall 8/10