Talk:Ultraman Taiga (series)/@comment-5243739-20191224084249/@comment-27186083-20191224121347

I'm putting collapsible spoiler tag because I don't want to hijack your review.

I like the positivity you're putting out here, Ex. More of these types of review and not something that would delve too much into what they didn't do, or get too philosophical about it. Please.

Let's just start by saying that I agree with a lot of what you said. Like say:


 * Them being exhausted after having fought off Dark-Killer.The neat torch-passing scene through the cold opening. The unfortunately rushed piece with the first episode.


 * Speaking of the actual episode itself, yes the majority of the time was taken up by the cold opening, but I think the way Taiga spoke to Hiroyuki could have been handled better. It was okay how he revealed himself, but let's try looking at this a different way.


 * Instead of outright letting us viewers hearing Taiga's voice, why not have Hiroyuki feel something and look around first? Sure, at that point we already know who Taiga is. Externally. The way he guides Hiroyuki could really have helped us into understanding better as to what kind of person he exactly is or wants to be. This helps in keeping Hiroyuki our lens into their world.


 * On to the guiding itself, Hiroyuki could probably have translated what Taiga said to him in a more instinctive manner; acting out on impulse and nearly endangering their lives. Sure it falls to the typical mould, but it could have actually helped segue better into Tregear claiming Hiroyuki is just as immature because we already have a basis on his character. Besides, even if he gives off the vibe of that typical Toku protagonist like I said, it can still be overthrown with the scene where Hiroyuki shows his resolve.


 * Ah yes, from Tregear to the rest of the Tri-Squad. I have to be honest, past the halfway point of the series, things have really changed. More on this in my own proper review, though long it may take before then. So yes, Tregear the episode. I was surprised they chose a name for an episode title. Anyway, I think a lot of things could have been improved. I was still satisfied yes, but as for the whole encounter? The set-up through Chibisuke was solid, it gives us a glimpse into Hiroyuki's past and what shaped him to the man he is now, as well as give us an understanding of his morale.


 * But when Tregear appeared... let's just say it was divisive. A lot of people didn't like how he was charading his whole business. While I agree, and that they should have withhold some of his words first, I don't think it was bad at all. Sure, through later episodes and from his appearances in UGF, he sort of changed fundamentally as a character. But at the time, while we all still viewed him as this mischief maker, I thought him messing with Taiga's head by saying all that stuff was great.


 * The common criticism was that Tregear sounded like a hypocrite. While there are merits to this, especially during later episodes, this is just unnecessary. Think of it this way, throughout the first arc, Tregear's goal was to corrupt Taiga, so having said what he said, it actually helps to enrage him and Hiroyuki further because that's all the first part was, to make it seem like he's giving them a morality test. Then the latter part, where he talks about no good nor bad, was enough of a glimpse of his beliefs. Which unfortunately, does fall short in the explanation department.


 * Titas and Fuma. As characters, they were solid enough. Titas is this gentle giant type of character, and Fuma's the surprisingly laidback speedster. My one gripe is that Fuma becomes heavily underutilized in later episodes while Titas doesn't really get much development despite how much screentime he has.


 * Another big gripe I have is the dynamics. I have said this over and over again, not so people listen to me, but so they could direct their attention to the more important aspects of the show that falls a bit short. They introduced three characters inhabiting one body, and made it as a sort of focal point of the series, but they never really put them on the forefront much, which at times irritates me. But not to the point of a certain someone.


 * I agree, while Photon Earth itself and what follows was great, the whole episode was sort of... weak, in comparison. I said the same thing, too, by the way. The form doesn't feel earned enough. What I mean with this is that throughout the two-parter, they've been setting up something more so on Tennoji's character and how she'll grow by the end, but she ends up getting sidelined for a lot of times until she was called to the spotlight. Not only that, but they never really made it clear that they could transfer the power of the Holy Sword into someone else, so Photon Earth does end up being a bit of an... out of the blue revelation.


 * To be honest, I was more so hoping that the monster could have been something else, like one that harms the Earth, and through Taiga's determination to protect it, he achieves Photon Earth via his powers resonating with the Earth's will. Because as we all know through the revelation of Ether and Takkong, this Earth is almost similar to the one in Gaia. It has a will of sorts of its own and has its own creation with differing tasks.

What's your thought on Episode 11 and 12, though? And Homare's revelation being an alien for that matter? Heck, why no Odyssa?

But this is your review, not mine, so it's really optional as to whether you want to answer or not.


 * Of course, the Tri-Strium arc, one of the best Final Form episodes so far. But for all it's worth, though, I feel that the whole desire for power business in Taiga could have been explored more, or sparked further to entering the second half of the series. This is also where the whole dynamic thing could have really elevated the series with. This whole time, they talk of friendship and teamwork. It is there. It is. But they're not experimented with enough. Strange, considering how even R/B which I liked less does that better in some ways.


 * Wait, relevance of Woola? Don't you mean revelation? And wasn't that back in 18? Well, I guess some people would inevitably not like this one much. But I thought it was good enough. It didn't rely on having some forced developments on the characters, and actually relied on the characters doing something. Kirisaki, as we all know at that point, wants Hiroyuki dead. Or something like that. But before that, he wants him to suffer first, and he did that by hurting his friends. Thankfully, since 18 was the end of that -sadly- short arc, Kirisaki instead found something else through Pirika.


 * I think 9/10 would be too much. But yes, the 23rd episode was a treat. We got Zero, we got Zero meeting and interacting with Taiga a bit, and we got the best gift yet.

ULTRA-RA-RA-RA-RA...!

BERI-BERI-BERI-BERI...!


 * Oh yes, Woola being different was a surprisingly nice change to what was supposed to be the final monster. Somewhat effective, too. The Pirika models were meant to connect with Woola and die alongside him by shutting down both their lives. I'd like to believe this all happened because Pirika gained a conscience and became an existence of her own that allowed her to feel sympathy for Woola suffering through an eternal hunger. But I sort of wished they actually tapped into that further so as to help better the whole ordeal. But you know, I am satisfied.


 * Tregear. The true big bad Ultraman, that unfortunately didn't receive some massive developments. A shame, because while it's amazing to see that Tregear was actually thinking about Taiga's words and was actually reminded of the warmth of the Light, we don't see much else because he insisted on being  a bad guy to the end. At least, until the movie, right? Hopefully there, we get to see an expansion to his character, and provide an explanation that can at least help us comprehend further as to what's really his deal.

Nothing more for me to say about the rating and character there, so yeah.

Order of relevance? Don't you mean the hierarchy as to which forms holds more relevance to  the overall plot of the story? But I've drone on for too long, so I think I should just cut it by now.

You know, this was surprisingly fun to do, I hope I get to say some things as well about the series as a whole once I finally get the whole series subbed and better understood. The Indo subs were helpful, but given that it would require a lot of translation as to what's there, I think I'll wait for the english subs. Besides, at least it's going steadier than R/B which was stuck at 15 until like the beginning of this year. But that's not the point.

And I've reached the end of me voicing out my thoughts on what you said. Not exactly how I think it should be done, honestly, but hey, I have my 2 cents out.