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crimson-ace-reviews · 1 year ago

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Ultraman Blazar: Initial Thoughts

So as of this post, the first eight episodes of Ultraman Blazar have aired, so I thought I'd give my initial thoughts on it like I did with Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger. Of course, this means another plot summary.

One night, a leader of a military platoon named Gento (Played by Tomoya Warabino) is nearly killed by a giant monster, but unlike earlier Ultraman shows, the titular Ultraman Blazar already resides in him. After awakening his Ultraman powers and defeating the monster, Gento is recruited by Chief Retsu Haruno (Played by Masaya Kato) to lead a new military organization, the Special Kaiju Reaction Detachment, or SKaRD. Gento's team consists of Vice-Captain Teruaki Nagura (Played by Yuki Ito), a disciplined analyst who serves as mission control, Emi Aobe (Played by Himena Tsukimiya), a master of disguise who serves as the team's intelligence officer, Yasunobu Bando (Played by Hayate Kajihara), a skilled mechanic who created the giant robot designed to fight Monsters, Earth Garon, and Anri Minami (Played by Konomi Naito), one of Earth Garon's pilots who struggles to adapt to the less strict environment SKaRD operates under.

THE STORY

The writing for this season was meant to deviate from the usual style associated with the past few Ultraman seasons. For one thing, the titular Ultraman Blazar is shown to be more aggressive than past Ultras, not only forcing Gento to transform in Episode 1, but shouting and growling during a fight, almost like an animal. He still gets the job done and fights monsters, but there's an underlying mystery as to who he really is, making him even more of an enigma than the Ultras who also had mysteries surrounding their past, like Ginga, X, or Decker.

As for the episodes, while they're the usual monster of the week stories, but they're still enjoyable in their own ways. Episode 1 is dark and foreboding, Episodes 2 and 3 are more lighthearted and set up SKaRD as a team, Episode 4 has Emi go undercover at a chemical company almost like in a cop show, Episode 5 is back to the lighthearted antics involving a monster who accidentally had a pair of cannons installed on its back, Episode 6 is a serious story involving an alien who hijacks Earth Garon, and Episode 7 is the first of a two-parter exploring humanity's impact on the planet. There's genuinely a lot of variety with the writing here.

THE CHARACTERS

SKaRD is a pretty well-rounded cast, all things considered.

Gento being the team's leader is a first in the franchise, and it leads to a lot of interesting plotlines. He's shown to be someone who cares for his team, and wants things to be less formal than most military operations, but at the same time, you can see how good of a leader he is. He's also shown to be married and has a kid too, which also adds a little more to make him relatable to the audience. As for Blazar himself, while we don't know much right now, there are still moments that highlight how different of a fighter he is from past Ultras, coming across as a hunter than a hero.

Emi is easily my favorite character in the show. While not the actual second-in-command, she works as a foil for Gento, and the two have great chemistry together. You can genuinely buy their friendship the most out of the entire cast. I also love how good at espionage she is, showing she's more of a spy than a straight up fighter.

Anri is also a really solid character. I like how she struggles the most to adjust to being part of a team as informal as SKaRD, and genuinely lets her weaknesses show more often than not, like her social awkwardness or her disgust towards bugs.

Yatsunobu is a nice take on one of the franchise's character archetypes, the mechanic. While socially awkward at times to the point of talking with a washing machine (which he even named Cururu), he's not the bombastic or quirky mad scientist in the way characters like Ide, Doigaki, or Yuka are. He's a humble man who just loves working with machines.

Teruaki and Retsu are... kind of just there, for the most part. So far, neither of them have really gotten a focus episode, and don't have a lot in terms of personality. Other than that, it's a pretty solid cast of characters.

We also have tons of original monsters in this show, with only a single returning alien so far. The monsters are all pretty cool too. They have a very Showa-esque charm to them with their behavior, like Gedos trying to eat a bunch of processed fish, or Dorgo being a peaceful monster who just wants to sleep. They have their own memorable quirks that make them more than just things for Blazar to punch.

Overall, while I don't have a lot to say, I'm really interested in seeing where Blazar goes in the future.

#crimson ace reviews #ultraman #ultraman blazar

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sambart93 · 6 years ago

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2019.02.04 and 8th Amakuhanaize 3 [Review]

Official Website here Official Twitter here Official Online Store here Press Coverage 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

CAST and CHARACTERS

Itokawa Yojiro as Amami Annojyou Sakata Ryuichiro as Amakusa Tenshiro (10 Jin Actor) Futaba Kaname as Kakao Chiyota Futaba Yuu as Kakao Masubee Domoto Shohei as Sakamushi Manji Magoshi Takumi as Anou Kikai (10 Jin Actor) Matsushima Yunosuke as Haniitera Kazu (10 Jin Actor) Kajihara Hayate as Ogura Kanyou Mitsutake Shinnosuke as Origo Touji (10 Jin Actor) Yashiro Takuya as Kurumi Yuzunosuke Nishihara Kenta as Ameyatsu Nekichi Sekioka Mark as Clotted Scone (10 Jin Actor) Oribe Yoshinari as Shougoin Korekiyo Urashimantarou (Guest Act for Tokyo) Sato Chuuki as Kuzukiri Kuromitsu Nagome Jin as Taffe Natsu Shogun Aoki Shunsuke as Abekara Shinobu

As you can tell a lot of their names are things from dessert or sweet things (that's the whole theme and point xD)

NON-SPOILER REVIEW

Overall: This is the first time I’ve been somewhat disappointed in a Bancho stage. It was bound to happen eventually! Every time they’re one-upped, one-upped their performance, their stories, the quality, so we were bound to get to one sooner or later that just doesn’t quite reach the bar. This one is it. Don’t get me wrong!! It’s still: a very good play; lots of good comedy, lots of great acting, lots of really memorable moments, very funny, very enjoyable. But some aspects just weren’t good enough or at the standard of previous stages. I personally felt like there was too much exposition and explanation about the history and time period they were in (I found it unnecessary). I also felt like this was one big advertisement for 10 Jin Actor; I noticed pretty quickly that ALL the scripted comedy and all the major spotlight moments were given to them. Even though Yojiro and Kaname are supposed to be the main leads, I saw more scenes and more moments from the 10 Jin boys than from anyone else. So it definitely felt like this big 2 hour advertisement and push for their popularity. I also felt like it was their least funny play. I still laughed A LOT but you would expect a silly play like this to always be cranking out the laughs. I didn’t really laugh much during the first hour or so, but the final hour to 90 minutes are very funny. However, that first half is just a lot of character and history set up. The Bancho Boys themselves really got to shine during all the adlibbing. They pretty much adlibbed most of the time and of course they were more than capable, and got a lot of laughs not only from the audience but from the rest of the actors on stage which is great -- I personally love when actors break out of character and can’t stop laughing themselves, it just proves how much fun they’re having too! I have to say, seeing them (especially Yuu and Kaname) break into laughter on stage was the biggest reward for me and my favourite moments. Rating: 7/10 - Not their best but definitely not a bad play either.

SPOILER REVIEW

MAIN STORY

So Kaname plays a struggling chocolatier who has many worries as Valentine’s Day gets nearer. He falls asleep at a shrine after praying for his work to go well. When he wakes up, he’s back in the beginning of the Meiji Period (late 19th Century, 1868) in Fukuoka where his ancestors are from. He meets his ancestors and a range of characters who are trying to get through life during this difficult time of Japan’s transition to modern/western styles. In usual Amakuhanaize style, there is a food battle between the two opposing groups.

That’s the basic premise. I’d probably break the characters up into different groups though:

Running/Staying at an Inn and Minding Their Business: Kaname, Yuu, Domoto, NishiKen, and Magoshi.

Modernising Japan Team: Oribe, Hayate, Origo, Mark, Urashimantaro, Chuuki, Nagome, Aoki Shnusuke

Want to Protect Japanese-ness Team: Yojiro, Takuya

Converting Christians: Sakata, Yunosuke.

So there are really four different groups but some band together and that’s how we get two rivaling groups towards the end, a few of them switch sides and such too throughout the play, but this is at least how they start.

GENERAL COMMENTS

Depending on who wins the chocolate battle -- there is a 10 minute break towards the end of the play where we can try the chocolate they 'made' for that show and then vote which we prefer -- the ending is a little different. I was lucky that I got to see each person win between the two shows I went to! So I'll quickly write the difference between them:

1. If Amami/Yojiro Wins: Tenshiro walks off depressed but Kazu/Yunosuke runs after Tenshiro and tells him he'll always be there for him and Tenshiro feels better. 2. If Tenshiro/Sakata Wins: Yojiro comes back on stage and attempts to commit seppuku with an icing knife (is that what they are called? *googles* ... nope it's called an Icing Spatula! Well now we all know don't we ^_^) but obvious he is not serious about it and he tries to be positive about it.

Either way in the end he is able to open a pastry shop and welcomes in customers and has a grand opening. So the very last scene doesn't change just the scene immediately after the Win/Lose moment.

There is one part that is higawari and it's the night before the chocolate battle when all the boys in Yojiro's group have to answer some questions. The two questions are: What to Say When You Get Choco, and Choco You'd Hate to Receive.

My favourite scene without a doubt was the matsuri/festival scene and the opening dance number. In the matsuri they have this super fun dance number which just left me smiling from side to side. They looked to be having so much fun and were smiling too and the song had a great beat and the dance looked so much fun too! It was/is definitely my favourite scene out of this stage!

I have so many feelings about the characters in this. I enjoyed quite a lot of the character (why are we not surprised) so I'd like to just flail about them a little.

Character Break Downs and Comments

*I'll refer to them all with their actual real names though! Sorry if that's confusing.*

☆ Yojiro: Is one of the last remaining Samurai who are trying to hide from the changing political powers in Japan. I honestly don't know what to say about Yojiro... even though he's supposed to be one of the main roles, he had hardly any time on stage. And when he was on stage, he was playing a character I've already seen many times before from him. He didn't play anyone interesting; he didn't play anyone new; he had a very safe character and there was nothing amazing at all about his acting this time around. He was just alright both in terms of character and acting.

☆ Sakata: Catholic/Christian Priest in Japan. I went in really thinking I was gunna fall for this guy, but I ended up not liking his character at all. And just like Yojiro, he's advertised as a main role but was hardly in it! I can only remember about 2 scenes he was properly in. I am upset he ended up being an uninteresting character because Sakata himself has such a fun auro about him. He seems like a really nice and a really fun guy! Also he plays priest who is trying to spread the word of God... I am personally not a religious person and I prefer my stories not to have religion in it so this is just a me thing. His character IS a nice and good person but I just wasn't interested.

However, there is one good moment I liked from Sakata. There is a scene where he is capture and locked up but while talking to the guard, he all so easily opens the jail gates and gets out. But then like the good person he is, at the end of his scene, he gets back in the jail and closes the gate again xD

☆ Kaname: Chocolatier from Present Day Tokyo who Time Slips into 1868 Fukuoka. I really fell for his acting in this!! I really, really enjoyed his acting and his character! Also his dancing is very good! You can tell all that Tenimyu training really paid off! He character was fun and he had some ridiuclous moments and sometimes unfortunate things happen to his character too which was funny! And of course there were some classic moments with him and YuuKun which created hilarity too!

☆ YuuKun: Kaname's Mother and Ancestor, Also an Inn Owner. On my first viewing, I was 99.99% sure he plays a female this entire play but actually he just plays Kaname's mother in the beginning but then in the time slip he's a male ancestor of Kaname's family. But it would totally make sense if he played a woman the entire time. He has his onee-san voice for the entirety of the play! Also his character in the past is obsessed with a male Kabuki actor, his personality is very faint and soft and weak-looking, it would've made sense to have him as a girl the entire time xD SO in my mind he DOES play Kaname's mother and great grandmother the entire time hehe I absolutely loved how he plays a fan. He plays a Kabuki obsessed fan and he said a lot of stuff that the audience could clearly relate to and the way he flailed over stuff and spoke so passionately about his oshi/bias was so relateable and so much fun to watch! He was GREAT!

Once I saw the play, I soon understood why Kaname and YuuKun had both dyed their hair back black. YuuKun had to because he was playing a historical role, and I guess to make to MORE obvious they were playing family relatives xD

☆ Domoto: A Drunkard Who Lives at the Inn. I’m pretty sure he wasn’t ACTING drunk for this role xD his drunk acting was great! I also really loved this one scene bewteen him and Takuya:

- Takuya pretends to be a simpleton passing by when Domoto attacks him and of course Takuya, being a samurai, can dodge the attack and Domoto is super impressed and responds 'oh you not just a normal person at all. No normal person can avoid and react that well' but Takuya thinks Domoto will sell him out to the police but Domoto's character is a good boy so stays quiet and protects him. It was such a simple moment but I really liked this scene.

Also Domoto's eye makeup is so nice up close!!! I got a good look when I took chekis with him and it really is nice! There is one other moment from Domoto that really hit home for me. Lately, I've been having a really rough time mentally but this simple line from Domoto gave me so much strength: "None of my friends made it through the war. They can't drink stupidly. They can't wear flashy over the top clothing. I living their life as well as mine." It really hit home but it gave me strength that I really need right now.

☆ Magoshi: A Crazy Inventor Living in the Inn. His character had two very funny personalities: when his goggles were off he was very confident and very sane. But whenever he wore his goggles, he became geeky as F. He gave everyone many many laughs with his flawless switching between the two roles! He did very well! His name was also a play on words. His name is Anou Kikai which means 'That Chance' but also 'Ano' is what you say when you want to say something, it's the English equivalent of 'ohhh / ahhhh / ummm' when you want to start saying something. So many times Kaname's character wanted to offer to help or wanted to suggest things but he always started with 'Ano = Ummm' and Magoshi would immediately butt in like 'Anou Kikai shall do this task!' and Kaname always looked so sad every time he got shot down xD

☆ Yunosuke: Sakata's Disciple. He has a very interesting story arc and his character development is very fun! I don't quite remember how he ends up like this but Yunosuke very quickly joins the 'money' side of society and gets obsessed with gold and flashy jewelry and he is very ridiculous and very hilarious. He gave me a lot of giggles with his overconfidence and with his loud voice and his ridiculing of others! But then towards the end, he sees Sakata give guidance and attention to someone other than him and he just completely explodes with jealously, which again he does in a very hilarious way. I thoroughly enjoyed his character! And he is beautifully tall and very good looking. It's a shame he's only 19 because he was gorgeous. I really liked his character and how he looked!

☆ Hayate: A Reporter. He was a reporter who turns from a dirty gossip reporter to a report who actually wants to do good for the people. He gives Oribe a run for his money because he's constantly following him and trying to get the true story. Hayate showed off his skills throughout this play with his acrobatics and his flips. He would make an entrance by flipping, or in some fights he got caught up in he would do a flip, or during the dance scenes he did some hiphop spin moves. So he really find many chances to show off what he can do; I assume this is part him personally enjoying doing these stunts and part him showing what he can do incase casting directors turned up to the stage.

☆ Mitsutake: Oribe's Henchman/Guard. I absolutely loved that he got nicknamed 'Beard / Hige' by Sakata in this. It gave everyone giggles everytime he was called xD I also loved his character arc too! At first he's on Oribe's side but thanks to Sakata, he has a change of heart and decides to do the right thing and starts helping us just because he should, because he wants to, and because it's the right thing to do.

☆ Takuya: Yojiro's Disciple/Follower. Takuya is getting so damn good looking as he gets older! I don't know why but as soon as he came on stage in the semi-modern samurai attire and his sword, I was in LOVE! I absolutely adored his look! And with is now longer hair!! OH MY!!! Seriously, he's gunna be dangerous soon. He's still only 19! *cries*

☆ NishiKen: A Neighbour Near the Inn. Luckily there was no black face or racism in his character this time xD he was just a neighbour who is slightly strange. He's dressed like a fox and helps out at a local matsuri/festival. I really liked the opening scene which is just him and wooden blocks and with the blocks he starts a beat and gets everyone in the audience clapping and singing We Will Rock You but then is like 'you're so loud! Shhhh!' which is ironic. He's always the most loud xD

☆ Mark: British Politician. I really really enjoyed his pompousness and the stereotypicalness of his British character. Also loved the American Accented English words he would speak. He was a fun character, he had this funny way of walking too; he would skip or spin in and out of his entrances which were very amusing. I also loved his outfit and his hat.

☆ Oribe: Japanese Politician/Leader. He had a very small role which made me upset but he was still good! I like how he spent most of his time running away from Hayate but then the moment he realises someone else's corruption he runs to Hayate like 'I'll tell you everything! Just please protect me!!' xD he looked very dashing in his suit!! But again, I was like 'damn how are you STILL only 18?!' xD His dancing during the two major dancer parts were wonderful!

Now onto some differences between the two shows!

First Show

☆ There is a scene where Yuu pushes Kaname to the side. But at my first show, Kaname went flying the end of the stage and into the stage light because of Yuu’s push, and Yuu threatened to do it again but Kaname was like 'No it's okay! I learnt my lesson! Just don't do it again!' he was half smiling as he stood up and rubbed his back and butt xD

☆ Akira and Shuji were sat two rows in front of me and during a scene where Hayate runs around the theatre, he spotted them and was like 'you look very familiar... aren't you (enter their Amaku Character's name)?' but both of them got really nervous and shy and denyed it, hoping he would leave quickly xD

☆ For the Higawari scene, I remember Mark having a drawing of Domoto, and YuuKun's answers were always baseball references xD

Second Show

☆ The second show was a hot mess of hilarity! Everyone, the cast AND the audience, were just high on giggles. The entire play there were so many line mess ups and the boys couldn't stop laughing for most of the time. Even when they tried really hard, they ended up breaking halfway through their lines and such. It was so much fun seeing all of them completely break xD I'm glad it was my second viewing and not my only viewing of it. Maybe if it was my only viewing I might've been a little miffed but because it was my second viewing I could just enjoy the ridiculousness that went on!

☆ YuuKun didn't push Kaname as hard this time so when Kaname asked for the chocolate back, YuuKun just gave it back nicely hehe

☆ For the scene where they had to give an answer to: What to Say When You Get Choco, Mark's answer was all in Filipino and everyone was like '????? what did you just say?!'

☆ Because everyone was high on something, during Sakata's very important line of serious, he held it together right well until right at the end of his line and he just broke into a squeal of laughter. Everyone was dying.

NEGATIVES

A lot of these points are just extensions of what mentioned in the non-spoiler section:

☆ I realised very early on that the 10 Jin boys were getting more lines and more moments and more comedy than our Bancho Boys so it really did feel like an advertisement for their acting group.

☆ Also this is the first time I’ve been somewhat disappointed in a Bancho stage. This is a SOLID installment but it was just the weakest one I’ve watched of theirs so far. Especially after the amazingness that was Nemurenai Hitsuji and Saraba Gold Mountain (review) that we got last year.

☆ I was very much expecting for myself to really like Sakata Ryuichiro (especially with the whole blonde look -- we ALL know how I feel about blondes!), but I ended up finding his character really, really boring, and he was playing a heavy Christian believer (side note: I am Agnostic after being brought up in Catholic education for 12 years) so I personally lost all interest in him straight away.

PHOTO & CHEKI TIME

I got chekis with my usuals: YuuKun and Domoto! As usual they're both just so great! Even though it's a small, minute moment, it still means a lot to me.

So first I went to YuuKun and can he get anymore perfect?!?!?!?! He's just the sweetest fucking thing every time! And he always takes the lead and asks me questions and such xD So our conversation was:

Me: Otsukaresama desu / Thanks for the good work Yuu: OH! Thank you! I asked to do the heart pose but just before it's taken, he prods me, 'hold on. let's move over here, it's a better place. Is that okay? Are you ready?' so naturally I was like 'oh, okay. Yes! I'm good!' so then we took the picture. Y: Did you have fun? M: Yes I laughed a lot! Y: Don't forget our lives too! M: I already have tickets! Y: Oh thank you! M: And I'll come back on Friday (to see this) Y: Oh really? Thank you! *hands me the cheki* bye! *waves* M: Bye! *waves*

Then with Domoto...

M: Otsukaresama desu / Thanks for the good work D: Thank you! You too! Do the heart pose and take chekis M: I'm really sorry I was too sick to come to your birthday party. D: Oh don't worry about it! It's fine! Please don't apologise! M: Really? Oh thank god. *hands me cheki* M: get home safely! D: You too! *mutual wave*

I finally got to properly apologise to Domoto which made me feel a lot better xD Also I love how awkward he is in the chekis. He has such an awkward adorableness hehe

At the end of every show too there was a 'Photo Time' so here are some I took:

And that’s that!

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