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Henshin Inspection presents Going Ultra with MJ Muñoz.

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Hey there, I'm here to talk about Ultraman Ark Episode 1.

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I have to say I was a little bit surprised.

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I knew that this was going to be taking a slightly different direction and I like that

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it's not Blazar again.

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I like that it's not Z again.

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I like it so far.

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It's interesting.

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I'm wondering where it's going to go.

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I'm wondering what kind of the mystery is and I like the fact that first of all, Yuma

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has been Ultraman Ark for some time or the mysterious giant or whatever they called him.

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I think that's cool.

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I think it's a good way to go.

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Having him be established and not having this be an origin episode.

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I hope we don't go back and get an origin episode, although it'd be interesting to

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see him and Ark potentially talk about it.

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Ark is able to speak with or whatever the Ultra is, is able to speak with Yuma and he

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does and he instructs him towards the end of the episode to unleash his imagination

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and that's how they're able to defeat the Kaiju and that's interesting.

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I'm curious from stepping back from the show, there is this marketing thing that Subaru

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is doing where they're talking about imagination and they put up that trailer about how they

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want their stories to inspire imagination and creativity and I'm not sure what else.

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Anyway, they want their stories to inspire imagination and they've had the whole Ultraman

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imagination thing as well.

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In the commercials for their get togethers or their conventions, they have this whole

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thing, Subaru imagination and there's a little CGI character that they have with a little

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cartoon character and I find that to be interesting.

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I'm wondering how exactly that will manifest.

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It looks like from the opening song that there are different forms that he gets and I would

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imagine those different forms are the manifestations of his imagination which I haven't finished

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watching Blazor yet but I believe he only gets one form change type thing and it's

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just like an accessory.

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So that's kind of interesting.

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Again an interesting contrast and I think it's interesting that here the different

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things that he's able to do as Ultraman are fueled by and powered by his imagination

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and it makes me wonder what this Ultra Being is and how he got there and what their story

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is and it makes me more curious about it because Yuma doesn't seem to be Ultraman or accept

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the fact that he is Ultraman.

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He has this kind of thankfulness about it and this wonder when that reflection of Ultraman

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appears in that cool shot which by the way that image of Ultraman Ark in the reflection

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looks really serious and intimidating and when he transforms he seems less so which

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is kind of funny.

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I don't know quite what to think about that yet but anyway Yuma is asking if Ultraman

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will allow him to use his power again and he seems like this foreign entity and Yuma

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even looks up to see like where is that reflection from him up there?

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No it's him in the glass appearing to me and it feels foreign and alien in a way that's

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very different from Blazor because Blazor felt very foreign and alien in like a real

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like he was a caveman, alien caveman who you're dealing with who can't communicate with you

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and who refuses to communicate with you in some ways from the beginning of Blazor anyway

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and Ultraman Z there's like the language difference between the two of them.

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His earthies was a little rusty and it was a little archaic for Haruki's taste and that

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was more comedic.

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It was a more comedic take on it and to me Blazor was a little like accidentally funny

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and this feels genuinely alien and foreign but in a different way and it's taking like

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a very novel approach to how it's alien and different and foreign and I think I like that

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a lot.

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I think that's really interesting an interesting way to put it and what else?

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I don't quite know what else to say about that.

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It's interesting how different it is.

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I like the idea behind skip that it's less about attacking and fighting the kaiju and

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it's more about protecting people and saving citizens.

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That's good.

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That's interesting.

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I definitely like that perspective although I don't have a problem like the science patrol

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you know trying to fight and kill kaiju early on in the original Ultraman.

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I wonder if this is kind of in line with Ultraman Rising that had a very different approach

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to kaiju one that I find very interesting and personally very satisfying and I'm a

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big proponent of but yeah I don't know.

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As for the action itself I enjoyed the fight.

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I like that they put the timer up on the screen and that it took like three minutes ten seconds

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so straying a little bit from the strict three minute time limit but still it's cool that

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there was the counter and I kind of hope that stays consistent.

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I think that'd be a lot of fun if they really tried to keep it under three or you know three

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thereabouts I think that'd be a lot of fun.

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What else was there?

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Oh the idea of Yuma so the way his imagination was manifested was pretty cool.

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I liked that he had the barrier and then he broke it in half and used it to stab into

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Shagon.

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That was a lot of fun and I don't quite know what was going on there like I don't understand

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they didn't really track like why was him breaking the shield in half and stabbing them

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into the tabs of it into Shagon like why did that help him to defeat him?

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He really seemed to be struggling in the fight which was interesting and in the fight it

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seemed like he was really stiff and he was really I don't know like almost childlike

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almost youthful like Yuma's not he doesn't look like a fighter and it almost seems like

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he's in complete control and the Ultra is like trying to coach him through it a little

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bit and I thought that was interesting.

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It's an interesting take an interesting approach it's an interesting speculation we'll see

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if it's true or not.

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I kind of think it is but we'll see like I said and I think it's an interesting approach.

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Yeah I don't know I'm not really sure I'm interested in seeing him become like a better

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you know kaiju killer or whatever but I did like the fact that this kaiju specifically

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had these parasites in it and that was an issue and that's something from Ultraman

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Z sort of.

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It is an idea I like because I don't know something about the kaiju being completely

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like irredeemable and being these completely like foreign beasts that don't belong on

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earth and that continues to be part of the lore of Ultraman in these modern shows like

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it really bothers me because they have familiarity with these kaiju and they know who they are

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and like why skip like cataloging them and why is Yuma able to be like a kaiju biologist

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and what does that mean?

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Like what purpose do kaiju if kaiju are naturally occurring on earth what purpose do they cause?

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This is something I think about in every Ultraman thing I watch pretty much and it always bothers

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me and it's interesting to see how it's dealt with in different shows so I'll be curious

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to see what they do with it in here.

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One thing I really like is besides the arc cube thing that Yuma has in his pocket I guess,

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I love that the transformation device, this diamond thing that he loads it into comes

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out of his chest it just manifests and appears magically that makes me very happy and then

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I thought it was very cute that Mr. Ishido gave Ultraman Arc the name Ultraman Arc because

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of the little arc rainbow thing he left in the sky when he flew off and he swatched out

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of there and I think that's kind of cool.

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Yeah that's about it.

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Oh I also like the fact that nobody at the skip office had coffee and when Ishido comes

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to be a permanent part of them to be stationed at the office he brings like an espresso machine

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that's really funny as somebody who drinks coffee daily and who wants to drink coffee

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in a couple minutes I can appreciate Ishido and I like him I like the vibe of everybody

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this smaller core team four plus UP is interesting and I'll be curious to see how this cast

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works together I think they'll be a fun bunch and I don't know it seems like an innocent

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sweet show but like that Kaiju that first appeared from the footage from three months

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ago was like a devastating scary looking guy and I'm curious to see if there's more of

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those unless you know kind of cute Shagong-type Kaiju and what exactly the story is going

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to be and this difference between the space people the space division of the defense force

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Kaiju defense force and or self defense force SDF and the skip branch is interesting I'm

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curious to see where that stuff goes by the way if you are familiar with me at all I've

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been away for a long time because I've been writing my book and it's almost done and I'm

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very happy about that and I'm going to keep writing and doing this stuff I hope you enjoyed

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that subscribe to keep up with me like and share to help me reach more people like you

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and go to MJMunoz.com to find your next favorite thing and don't forget to let your

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voice be heard stories are always better when you're part of the conversation until next

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time be well this is MJ signing out this has been a story over everything production