What makes for a good anniversary series?

[lazycoconut]

I don't remember enough of Mebius to agree or disagree with the praise it's getting here - it was only the first or second Ultra series I watched. But I do not think there is anything wrong with a series mostly based around fanservice. I frequently see people argue that Boukenger is a better anniversary series than Gokaiger because "Boukenger had its own story!!!!1111" I found Boukenger's story dull and its characters thoroughly unlikable. I would much rather see a series based around fanservice than a more substantial one that wasn't enjoyable. Similarly, Fourze wasn't based around the anniversary concept, but I'm sure that a lot of people who didn't enjoy Fourze would much prefer Decade.

 

[Aoi Kurenai]

I've always pictured Ultraman Mebius as the spiritual successor to Skyrider in what it did. It kind of feels like it hits all the points NeonZ was talking about. When a past actor came in, it was to impart some sort of meaningful lesson or help the heroes out of a pinch. The show never made you forget Mebius was the star, but it portrayed the older heroes in a way that makes you idolize them as well.

 

[Shougo B'Stard]

I think it's this simple: have the show respect the past. Mebius respected the past, Gokaiger respected the past. Decade pissed all over it. Boukenger couldn't be bothered, Gaoranger couldn't be bothered. Even Ohranger tried to respect the past.

 

[Shynilyte]

We were given the return of some of the best villains in Ultra history (all of which were also given respect), along with some new instant classics (Enpera making Belial look like an afterthought).

Actually Empera/Emperor wasn't actually all that "new". From what I can tell, he was alluded to way back during the Showa era. (the old Absolute Ultraman website has some info, and it was written years before Mebius aired) So uh, considering that he was already part of the greater backstory for decades, Belial kind of is an afterthought in comparison.

 

[Tendou Soujiro]

Decade pissed all over it.

More like he took a gigantic ****, threw it into a bucket, pissed in it, mixed up the **** and piss, rubbed the **** and piss all over his foot, and Rider Kicked every single past Kamen Rider.

 

[Ryuutaros]

Mebius, to me, handled the anniversary aspect the best. Other people have already explained why so I won't repeat them.

 

[FlashNeko]

There's a bit of a problem in that all three of the big shows being held up as the examples of "anniversary shows" have all massively failed on some level.

Decade tackled the problem of not having been budgeted/noticed enough to bring back a lot of the actual old Heisei Riders in an interesting way. They compensated in the earlier episodes by trying to do indirect (and sometimes out and out weird) ways of referencing elements of each show's high concept which lead to episodes that were a more meaningful and respectful than one would think on first glance.

... Then the second half and the movies happened and any attempt to play along with anything flew out the window because nobody seemed to know what to do beyond "have Decade beat everyone up forever".

Gokaiger was able to get many past actors back (more than they even planned for) and that did lend the show an air of credibility that Decade lacked.

... But all this was ruined by the main cast being an unlikeable crew of chucklefucks who rolled their eyes and sneered endlessly at their fore-bearers (and on some levels that's worse than using a stand-in for the original) while seeming to never really let any of the lessons they had been taught sink in. It also had an over-reliance on Idiot Plot to cause tensions with some of the older teams (the Gokai vs Gosei fight at the start of 199 Heroes being a REALLY big example of this) and generally all the new guys were acted circles around by men more than twice their age.

Mebius had both respect for its rich history of Ultras AND the ability to bring almost all of its older heroes back. In terms of honoring its past, Mebius was certainly the most reverent of the three.

... But perhaps it was a little TOO reverent as many of the episodes featuring classic monsters or referencing classic plots from older shows came with an expectation that the audience would already know or care why these things were so important without giving those new to Ultra shows any frame of reference to work with. It also had a pretty uninteresting main cast that was either boring or irritating (well, one that was memorably irritating at least).

This was compounded by the problem that not only did you have them getting acted circles around by men more than twice their ages but with the fact the old Ultras kept their powers you had them FOUGHT circles around by men more than twice their ages too. This made you wonder why Mebius was even there half the time and while respect for the past is good, it's bad form to make the guy who's supposed to represent the next generation be completely irrelevant too. It's especially telling in Mebius' case because they basically called a Mulligan on the "inheritor of the next generation" idea with Zero.

 

[Mr. Rhythmic]

Actually Empera/Emperor wasn't actually all that "new". From what I can tell, he was alluded to way back during the Showa era. (the old Absolute Ultraman website has some info, and it was written years before Mebius aired) So uh, considering that he was already part of the greater backstory for decades, Belial kind of is an afterthought in comparison.

Way to be literal. I mean what we saw on screen.

 

[Shynilyte]

This was compounded by the problem that not only did you have them getting acted circles around by men more than twice their ages but with the fact the old Ultras kept their powers you had them FOUGHT circles around by men more than twice their ages too. This made you wonder why Mebius was even there half the time and while respect for the past is good, it's bad form to make the guy who's supposed to represent the next generation be completely irrelevant too. It's especially telling in Mebius' case because they basically called a Mulligan on the "inheritor of the next generation" idea with Zero.

Didn't the Mebius movie explain that the older Ultra brothers were not actually capable of fighting since they risk death by transforming, and that the crisis during the film was an exception? Had that condition worn off later during the series?

Also, does anybody think Zero might be a little too far in the opposite direction when it comes to fighting ability? Just in his first appearance, he tore through the monster army like it was nothing, and he keeps getting more powers after that. The plasma spark enabled him to turn his sluggers into a large sword, Seven gave him a bracelet like Jack's, Noa gave him his Ultimate form, and in Retsuden he gets form-changing powers based on Dyna and Cosmos.

Of course, from what I've seen, Zero-focused media has never really been disrespectful towards older Ultras.

Way to be literal. I mean what we saw on screen.

Okay. But I don't really agree that Empera was more memorable than Belial. His schtick was basically DARKNESSDARKNESSDARKNESS. Belial at least had the whole Reionyx thing and the tendency to form super kaiju (Beliudora and Arch Belial).

 

[NateRiver]

A show that can be a good show even without being an "anniversary show."