Henshin Inspection presents Going Ultra with MJ Muñoz.
Hey there, I'm here to talk about Ultraman Ark Episode 1.
I have to say I was a little bit surprised.
I knew that this was going to be taking a slightly different direction and I like that
it's not Blazar again.
I like that it's not Z again.
I like it so far.
It's interesting.
I'm wondering where it's going to go.
I'm wondering what kind of the mystery is and I like the fact that first of all, Yuma
has been Ultraman Ark for some time or the mysterious giant or whatever they called him.
I think that's cool.
I think it's a good way to go.
Having him be established and not having this be an origin episode.
I hope we don't go back and get an origin episode, although it'd be interesting to
see him and Ark potentially talk about it.
Ark is able to speak with or whatever the Ultra is, is able to speak with Yuma and he
does and he instructs him towards the end of the episode to unleash his imagination
and that's how they're able to defeat the Kaiju and that's interesting.
I'm curious from stepping back from the show, there is this marketing thing that Subaru
is doing where they're talking about imagination and they put up that trailer about how they
want their stories to inspire imagination and creativity and I'm not sure what else.
Anyway, they want their stories to inspire imagination and they've had the whole Ultraman
imagination thing as well.
In the commercials for their get togethers or their conventions, they have this whole
thing, Subaru imagination and there's a little CGI character that they have with a little
cartoon character and I find that to be interesting.
I'm wondering how exactly that will manifest.
It looks like from the opening song that there are different forms that he gets and I would
imagine those different forms are the manifestations of his imagination which I haven't finished
watching Blazor yet but I believe he only gets one form change type thing and it's
just like an accessory.
So that's kind of interesting.
Again an interesting contrast and I think it's interesting that here the different
things that he's able to do as Ultraman are fueled by and powered by his imagination
and it makes me wonder what this Ultra Being is and how he got there and what their story
is and it makes me more curious about it because Yuma doesn't seem to be Ultraman or accept
the fact that he is Ultraman.
He has this kind of thankfulness about it and this wonder when that reflection of Ultraman
appears in that cool shot which by the way that image of Ultraman Ark in the reflection
looks really serious and intimidating and when he transforms he seems less so which
is kind of funny.
I don't know quite what to think about that yet but anyway Yuma is asking if Ultraman
will allow him to use his power again and he seems like this foreign entity and Yuma
even looks up to see like where is that reflection from him up there?
No it's him in the glass appearing to me and it feels foreign and alien in a way that's
very different from Blazor because Blazor felt very foreign and alien in like a real
like he was a caveman, alien caveman who you're dealing with who can't communicate with you
and who refuses to communicate with you in some ways from the beginning of Blazor anyway
and Ultraman Z there's like the language difference between the two of them.
His earthies was a little rusty and it was a little archaic for Haruki's taste and that
was more comedic.
It was a more comedic take on it and to me Blazor was a little like accidentally funny
and this feels genuinely alien and foreign but in a different way and it's taking like
a very novel approach to how it's alien and different and foreign and I think I like that
a lot.
I think that's really interesting an interesting way to put it and what else?
I don't quite know what else to say about that.
It's interesting how different it is.
I like the idea behind skip that it's less about attacking and fighting the kaiju and
it's more about protecting people and saving citizens.
That's good.
That's interesting.
I definitely like that perspective although I don't have a problem like the science patrol
you know trying to fight and kill kaiju early on in the original Ultraman.
I wonder if this is kind of in line with Ultraman Rising that had a very different approach
to kaiju one that I find very interesting and personally very satisfying and I'm a
big proponent of but yeah I don't know.
As for the action itself I enjoyed the fight.
I like that they put the timer up on the screen and that it took like three minutes ten seconds
so straying a little bit from the strict three minute time limit but still it's cool that
there was the counter and I kind of hope that stays consistent.
I think that'd be a lot of fun if they really tried to keep it under three or you know three
thereabouts I think that'd be a lot of fun.
What else was there?
Oh the idea of Yuma so the way his imagination was manifested was pretty cool.
I liked that he had the barrier and then he broke it in half and used it to stab into
Shagon.
That was a lot of fun and I don't quite know what was going on there like I don't understand
they didn't really track like why was him breaking the shield in half and stabbing them
into the tabs of it into Shagon like why did that help him to defeat him?
He really seemed to be struggling in the fight which was interesting and in the fight it
seemed like he was really stiff and he was really I don't know like almost childlike
almost youthful like Yuma's not he doesn't look like a fighter and it almost seems like
he's in complete control and the Ultra is like trying to coach him through it a little
bit and I thought that was interesting.
It's an interesting take an interesting approach it's an interesting speculation we'll see
if it's true or not.
I kind of think it is but we'll see like I said and I think it's an interesting approach.
Yeah I don't know I'm not really sure I'm interested in seeing him become like a better
you know kaiju killer or whatever but I did like the fact that this kaiju specifically
had these parasites in it and that was an issue and that's something from Ultraman
Z sort of.
It is an idea I like because I don't know something about the kaiju being completely
like irredeemable and being these completely like foreign beasts that don't belong on
earth and that continues to be part of the lore of Ultraman in these modern shows like
it really bothers me because they have familiarity with these kaiju and they know who they are
and like why skip like cataloging them and why is Yuma able to be like a kaiju biologist
and what does that mean?
Like what purpose do kaiju if kaiju are naturally occurring on earth what purpose do they cause?
This is something I think about in every Ultraman thing I watch pretty much and it always bothers
me and it's interesting to see how it's dealt with in different shows so I'll be curious
to see what they do with it in here.
One thing I really like is besides the arc cube thing that Yuma has in his pocket I guess,
I love that the transformation device, this diamond thing that he loads it into comes
out of his chest it just manifests and appears magically that makes me very happy and then
I thought it was very cute that Mr. Ishido gave Ultraman Arc the name Ultraman Arc because
of the little arc rainbow thing he left in the sky when he flew off and he swatched out
of there and I think that's kind of cool.
Yeah that's about it.
Oh I also like the fact that nobody at the skip office had coffee and when Ishido comes
to be a permanent part of them to be stationed at the office he brings like an espresso machine
that's really funny as somebody who drinks coffee daily and who wants to drink coffee
in a couple minutes I can appreciate Ishido and I like him I like the vibe of everybody
this smaller core team four plus UP is interesting and I'll be curious to see how this cast
works together I think they'll be a fun bunch and I don't know it seems like an innocent
sweet show but like that Kaiju that first appeared from the footage from three months
ago was like a devastating scary looking guy and I'm curious to see if there's more of
those unless you know kind of cute Shagong-type Kaiju and what exactly the story is going
to be and this difference between the space people the space division of the defense force
Kaiju defense force and or self defense force SDF and the skip branch is interesting I'm
curious to see where that stuff goes by the way if you are familiar with me at all I've
been away for a long time because I've been writing my book and it's almost done and I'm
very happy about that and I'm going to keep writing and doing this stuff I hope you enjoyed
that subscribe to keep up with me like and share to help me reach more people like you
and go to MJMunoz.com to find your next favorite thing and don't forget to let your
voice be heard stories are always better when you're part of the conversation until next
time be well this is MJ signing out this has been a story over everything production