ULTRAMAN (2019) season 1 CGI animated series review

Overall verdict: 6.5/10

Ultraman in name only 

The Good: Amazing designs and artwork, timeless hero's journey narrative, great Japanese and English voice acting, great tone of mystery and intrigue, decent character development

The Bad: cliched character portrayals, simplistic storyline, inconsistent CGI animation, unoriginal premise, overall "safe" feel to the episodes

***********Review***********

ULTRAMAN is a “broad strokes” sequel to the original ultraman tv series from 1966 but outside of familiar names, it serves more as a reinvention than a sequel. We follow main protagonist Shinjiro who has inherited super strength and speed from his father, the host of the original Ultraman. He is made to join up with the Science Patrol, an organisation who serves as law enforcement for alien activity on earth. Aliens now live among humans, and with the backing of the organisation, Shinjiro dons a power enhancing armour to become Ultraman, defender of justice. But balancing super heroics with teenage school life is no easy feat as Shinjiro’s personal values and idealism are continually put in conflict with what he is required to do.

Ultraman is a safe, familiar series that checks off on as many typical superhero story tropes as possible. Perhaps such familiarity may help it to reach out to a western audience already familiar with comic book superheroes. Inherited special abilities, powered armour right out of an iron man comic, different heroes with stereotypical personalities, deliciously devious bad guys, and our main character is a high school teen to boot.

Shinjiro as a character is clichéd to say the least. There is nothing that really sets him apart from the typical high school comic book hero protagonist we have seen so many times. He’s got a good heart, idealistic outlook, wants to help people, comes from a single parental figure family etc. Again, safe. Similarly, most of the characters are not given much depth beyond archetypes. Their personalities are simple, uncomplicated, with straightforward motivations. There is even the annoying cutesy acting idol girl that serves as a sort-of romantic interest for our protagonist. To call her irritating and superfluous to the plot is an understatement.

The episodes themselves do not particularly stand out, at least for the first half of the season. Each retain that element of mystery from the original Ultraman series that appealed to me. At the same time, the show crafts a nice identity feeling like a cross between MEN IN BLACK and a cartoon like IRON MAN ARMOURED ADVENTURES. The story is played mostly straight with clear good guys and bad guys. Again, very safe. Only around episode 7 does the series start to pick up.

After the clichéd comic book hijinks of previous episodes, deconstructive elements start to be incorporated from episode 7 onward. Idealism does not always solve problems, creepy looking creatures are not always bad, good guys may have darker agendas and your greatest supporters may turn against you at any moment. You could say that this is when the show finally grows up out of the whole “superheroes are for kids” thing.

The animation was a mixed bag for me. It never seems to decide if it wants to mimic the style of 2D animation, or embrace 3D CGI animation. Cel Shading is applied inconsistently with human characters and some alien characters benefiting from the toon shaded look. Other aliens, the armoured Ultraman forms and especially the backgrounds seem to be in regular 3D CGI which clashes with the cel shaded human characters.

There is something uncanny and lifeless about the way the human characters move and talk. The way their mouth flaps are timed or how they tend to hang open when there is no dialogue. This again was likely an attempt to mimic 2D traditional animation with 3D CGI but with less than stellar results. Then there is the framerate issue. Whenever characters move, it alterates between the overly smooth movements of 3D CGI, and what looks like a laggy video game.

In aiming conservatively, ULTRAMAN will no doubt have wide appeal for how safe it takes itself. Visually, it is unrecognisable as an Ultraman show, lacking much of the franchise’s trademarks like giant Monster battles. Taken as it is, it is a decent anime series. Just decent. The narrative risks come too little too late and leads up to a disappointing finale that only serves to tease a next better season. It is adequate but in no way as ground breaking with its themes and narrative as, say, SSSS GRIDMAN or the GODZILLA anime trilogy.

***********Review***********

Entertainment: B+
Art: A-
Animation: C+

Story: B-

Voice Acting (Japanese): A 

Voice Acting (English): B+ 

Characters: C+

Music: C+

Replay value: B-
"Brains": B-