Talk:Ultraman Dyna (series)/@comment-27186083-20190328095004

Okay, I've finished Ultraman Dyna -Thank you TV-Nihon- and...

What a mess this series was.

Imma' be honest, I'm very mixed about the series overall. While it definitely has that Heisei charm, what with the wonky special effects and heavy 90's influence.

But that doesn't mean it's completely exempted from telling a proper story. You now, SoIzen was right, this seris was far too comedy-centric for its own good. Where Tiga succeeded, Dyna didn't quite do.

Portrayals.

The characters in Tiga were fully realized, heck, they even show us that with the little bits of background interaction. Dyna meanwhile, focuses too much on delivering its formulaic stories and comedy, causing a sort of disharmony with what's going on and the characters. The one character I dislike most is Mai. Although I don't  like usage of the word progressive, Mai's character is anything but.

Let's look back at Tiga. Let's compare its two primary female characters, Rena and Iruma, both of whom are fully realized characters whose motivations, desires and goals are perfectly clear. Not even halfway into the story, I might add. Wait, I think we did pass the halfway point by then. Anyway... now, let's take a look at Ryo and Mai. The former, we didn't even know anything about her until the episode with the scientist dude and her cliche backstory involving someone who she might like. Then there's Mai, a character that seems to be a complete void, unfinished and underdeveloped. Truthfully, I think her character pretty much reverts back to 0 with every episode. The only true continuity with her were her naming of Dyna, and her failed love lives.

Kohda, Kariya, Nakajima. Those three haven't done much of their own, either. Where Shinjoh was complete, the trio leaves us confused. Not a single one of them has ever been explored, even when the episode focuses on them. There's one episode with Nakajima that tried too hard to be like the one with Horii, but it just didn't work. Among them, Kariya is my favorite, even then, he's done very little that would elevate him as a character by the end of the show.

Hibiki? He's... okay. Nothing contradicts his character, but he also never really gets developed or grow more than being just the optimistic captain of the team. He also gets a little too screamy, more so than I could normally tolerate.

Focus.

The story, of course, like most during its time, doesn't really devote all of their time to telling the story. That's okay for me. But, a lot of them aren't really that special. I can pick off a couple episodes or so that stands out a bit more than the rest.


 * The episode with Planet Meranie (Because it's just a fun episode overall)


 * The episode with Lafreshion (The only one to actually get me to tear up)


 * The one with Bundar (Trippy)


 * Dyna vs Fake Dyna


 * Gaigareid

But really, what have they done, that Tiga hasn't done better? I don't like cherrypicking, but when your outstanding episodes are mostly overshadowed by the ones that are good, then it's not really anything special now, isn't it?

The first one, Tiga had loads more. The second, again, Tiga had more episodes that hit me harder than I'd expected them to. The third one, it's only amazing because of its premise and what it reveals to us about Dyna.

Actually, we need to talk about the episode with Bundar. That's actually really special, because it reveals to us that Dyna is a being that is beyond the confines of reality. Somehow, at least. I mean, up til this day, his origins are never explained, making him one of the greatest mystery Ultras out there, alongside Cosmos and a few more.

Dyna vs Fake Dyna ultimately ends up being only above average because Asuka never really learns anything by the end and it never leaves him with question.

The last one? Well, admittedly, that one is actually pretty amazing. It actually presents Asuka with something that presents his worldview, pushing him to be better than he was. Unfortunately, it's similar to the others, there's little to no progress on his character by the next episode.

Story.

Okay, this one's its own category because why not? Most of the episodes do feel honest, at least, that's a primary point for me when it comes to judging an episode of a show. The main story of the series, though? It does do many things right. I'm gonna skip ahead and talk about the finale.

It was a good decision that they made when they decided to stop it with the comedy acts. Athough it doesn't really change the mistakes it did before, it was still fun to see the biggest change to the series by the time it reaches its end.

The only problem I felt with the finale -and by extension "Goodbye Hanejiro"- was that it doesn't quite have the emotional weight that we feel from most other Ultra series. Good job to R/B for topping Dyna, though.

But seriously, though, while the last 3 episodes were one heck of a journey, it ended up being inconsequential. Why? Because character mishandling. They start talking about how Asuka will one day return, but we never really feel that they have an actual close relationship with him. Only Ryo really has any semblance of weight in her words, but that's only because she was with Asuka during the first of the 3-parter.

So, what do I think about the series overall?

Well, it's charming, at least. But it's mostly a mask to its less than stellar run. There's a lot to be desired from Dyna as a whole, like what do the other characters fight for? Why did they join Super GUTS? Only Nakajima -aside from Asuka, of course- has that answered, and it's only because he wanted to be different, not for any other cause.

I'd say, give the series a shot. But, do avoid Mai-centric episodes. Good lord.