alchemicink (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
alchemicink) wrote2024-08-01 11:00 pm
alchemicink) wrote2024-08-01 11:00 pm
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Ultraman Arc eps 3-4: Hometown Hero
The alternative title for this post was "Who's that kaiju?" in the spirit of those old Pokémon eyecatches.
Episodes 3 and 4 of Ultraman Arc take some time to devote to developing its characters, which I really enjoyed. Plus, Arc's fights continue to be so fun to watch!
Some spoilery thoughts under the cut (hopefully more coherent than the last post lol)
Episode 3
This is probably my favorite of the four episodes so far. Most of the episode is a dream-flashback to three months ago when Yuma first started working for SKIP and when he first became Ultraman Arc.
But there's also a flashback within the flashback, showing what happened to Yuma and his parents on K-day 16 years ago. It was heartwrenching to watch, but that scene showed us so much about why Yuma is the way he is. Learning that Yuma's motivational "time to run" catchphrase is just his father's final words to him is so moving 💔
I rewatched this episode a couple of times and I'm always surprised at how much they pack into a 25 minute show. There is time for Yuma and Rin to get to know each other a little better, time to see Yuma interact with his grandmother, and even time for Yuma and Ishido to discuss coffee again 😂 nothing felt like a wasted moment.
Plus the kaiju fight feels genuinely threatening. Especially because this is Arc's first fight, and he's just getting used to it. I absolutely LOVED how half the fight was shot through different video cameras. Very innovative!
Episode 4
Since I loved the previous episode so much, this one was a little disappointing in comparison. But it wasn't bad!! It's just that the emotional stakes were so much lower.
It was nice to see Rin get a little more screentime and something to do in the field. But I didn't really learn too much about her like I did with Yuma in episode 3. I wish they'd stayed together for longer instead of her going off with Youpi to investigate. I would have loved to learn more about why she loves Hoshimoto City out of all the places she's lived before, instead of just that one mention at the end of the episode.
But her scenes with the shopkeepers were really sweet!
I didn't really care for the rat kaiju, but that's because I don't really like rats in general 😂 Arc's armor upgrade was cool tho!
Miscellaneous things:
☆ I watched episode 4 with my brother who was very unimpressed and probably won't watch any more episodes with me unfortunately 😂 he also thinks Rin's supposed to be Yuma's love interest, but I don't get that vibe at all!
☆ I don't get the Yuma/Rin vibe mostly because I'm shipping him with Ishido 😁 their conversation about coffee at the end of episode 3 was so funny and cute! (I am going to have to write fic sometime lol)
☆ I was surprised to see Yuma have a brief panic attack in episode 3 but the reaction felt very realistic, considering everything. Nice to let heroes be human sometimes too.
☆ For upcoming episodes, I'm excited to see how interesting Arc's fights can become since his finishing moves are all just whatever fantastical thing he can imagine. But I do wonder, if he can just imagine winning every time, will he ever lose a battle? 🤔
My previous post for episodes 1 & 2 is here.
If you wanna watch Arc as well, the English dub playlist is here and the Japanese version is here. (Both playlists unfortunately are currently in descending order for episodes 😒 which is not really helpful for a playlist)
Episodes 3 and 4 of Ultraman Arc take some time to devote to developing its characters, which I really enjoyed. Plus, Arc's fights continue to be so fun to watch!
Some spoilery thoughts under the cut (hopefully more coherent than the last post lol)
Episode 3
This is probably my favorite of the four episodes so far. Most of the episode is a dream-flashback to three months ago when Yuma first started working for SKIP and when he first became Ultraman Arc.
But there's also a flashback within the flashback, showing what happened to Yuma and his parents on K-day 16 years ago. It was heartwrenching to watch, but that scene showed us so much about why Yuma is the way he is. Learning that Yuma's motivational "time to run" catchphrase is just his father's final words to him is so moving 💔
I rewatched this episode a couple of times and I'm always surprised at how much they pack into a 25 minute show. There is time for Yuma and Rin to get to know each other a little better, time to see Yuma interact with his grandmother, and even time for Yuma and Ishido to discuss coffee again 😂 nothing felt like a wasted moment.
Plus the kaiju fight feels genuinely threatening. Especially because this is Arc's first fight, and he's just getting used to it. I absolutely LOVED how half the fight was shot through different video cameras. Very innovative!
Episode 4
Since I loved the previous episode so much, this one was a little disappointing in comparison. But it wasn't bad!! It's just that the emotional stakes were so much lower.
It was nice to see Rin get a little more screentime and something to do in the field. But I didn't really learn too much about her like I did with Yuma in episode 3. I wish they'd stayed together for longer instead of her going off with Youpi to investigate. I would have loved to learn more about why she loves Hoshimoto City out of all the places she's lived before, instead of just that one mention at the end of the episode.
But her scenes with the shopkeepers were really sweet!
I didn't really care for the rat kaiju, but that's because I don't really like rats in general 😂 Arc's armor upgrade was cool tho!
Miscellaneous things:
☆ I watched episode 4 with my brother who was very unimpressed and probably won't watch any more episodes with me unfortunately 😂 he also thinks Rin's supposed to be Yuma's love interest, but I don't get that vibe at all!
☆ I don't get the Yuma/Rin vibe mostly because I'm shipping him with Ishido 😁 their conversation about coffee at the end of episode 3 was so funny and cute! (I am going to have to write fic sometime lol)
☆ I was surprised to see Yuma have a brief panic attack in episode 3 but the reaction felt very realistic, considering everything. Nice to let heroes be human sometimes too.
☆ For upcoming episodes, I'm excited to see how interesting Arc's fights can become since his finishing moves are all just whatever fantastical thing he can imagine. But I do wonder, if he can just imagine winning every time, will he ever lose a battle? 🤔
My previous post for episodes 1 & 2 is here.
If you wanna watch Arc as well, the English dub playlist is here and the Japanese version is here. (Both playlists unfortunately are currently in descending order for episodes 😒 which is not really helpful for a playlist)