So I finished Return of Ultraman the other night. My initial enthusiasm ended up being tempered somewhat as the series went on, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it overall.
I felt after the promise of the first few episodes, they started if not dropping the ball, at least uncertainly juggling it on a few points. For one thing, Go’s heightened physical skills and enhanced senses in the early episodes, which I thought was an interesting wrinkle, seemed to be either quickly forgotten or deliberately swept under the rug. I also felt in some early shows they were pushing a little too hard on the character conflict and intra-team friction. I appreciated the effort at drama, but it threatened to make the characters unappealing at times. Finally, I was disappointed when Ken and/or Aki (particularly the latter) kept disappearing from the stories, after being pleasingly consistent presences early on. (I have since learned this was apparently down to actor availability problems.)
But despite these carps, the show eventually settled back into a pretty nice groove, and I thought a number of the episodes were outstanding. I really enjoyed the human drama of “Go to Hell with This One Blow!” “In Between a Devil and Angel” was dark and disturbing in the very best way. OTOH, I found the highly acclaimed “The Monster Tamer and the Boy,” while excellent, to be perhaps a little too bleak for my preferences.
The series highlight for me, however, was the “Ultraman Dies at Sunset”/“When the Ultra Star Shines” two-parter. I was more shocked than I can say at Aki’s and Ken’s violent deaths, something I absolutely did not see coming, for two highly sympathetic characters I really liked. When the preview told me the First Ultraman and Ultraseven were going to appear in part two, I was almost certain the two would be revived by some kind of ultra ex machina, but it didn’t happen, leaving the full dramatic effect of their demises intact.
Speaking of those Ultra guest appearances, between the use of their respective theme songs and the brief but delightful returns of the original actors, it was pure fanservice heaven. I didn’t even care about all the continuity questions it raised and blithely ignored.
The series finale was something of a mixed bag, seeming a little underwhelming in ambition and scale, especially after the two-part extravaganza discussed above. But I thought the final scene made it all worthwhile. Jiro running down the beach after Go/Ultraman’s departing form, tearfully shouting the “five oaths of Ultra” to the skies, was a beautifully emotional way to close out the show.
Personal circumstances are unfortunately going to cause a delay in my immediately continuing this viewing project with Ultraman Ace, but I am still enjoying the hell out of the franchise, and I hope to resume as soon as possible.
