BAAAD WOOOLF-I mean AQUA PROJECT

It’s finally happened folks. That time of year where the people who have been going on and on about this year’s shows suddenly start to realize that maybe their new Numer One Hero is anything but.

Sadly, I’m no exception to this phenomenon…but not for the reasons you’d think.

You remember awhile back when I talked about Ultraseven X? I’ve been saying that Tsuburaya managed to pull out the stops to manage a return to their hardcore sci-fi glory days with Seven X, I even say this in my next column for Otaku USA but that was after viewing the first 5 or so episodes.

…Then it started to slip.

Find out why after the jump.

So how is it possible that such an apparently awesome show such as Utraseven X could slip up and get me swept up in New Show Fever? Numerous reasons.

The “.3 Second Fight” argument, where fans complained that the fights were too short, seemed to be the big issue and it really has come back to haunt them, turning the final confrontation at the end of each episode into a MASSIVE anti-climax. Sure you can get away with quick fights when you’re going for dramatic effect like in the episode “Blood Message” but when it’s a constant thing, it really ruins the flow of the story and takes away from the impact.

Biggest example of this is in the episode “Your Song”. We’re expecting a throwdown against the rather intimidating and awesomely designed Monster of the Week. What do we get for all our trouble? An Eye Slugger for all our trouble.

Compare that to the first episode when Seven takes out the first monster and the alien ship. That shot where he just looks at the ship before taking it out, you can really feel a sense of “Holy crap, this guy is badass”. The old saying of “Too much of a good thing is bad for you” couldn’t be anymore right in the case of this series.

But that’s not to say that it’s all bad. The plots are a lot more solid than say Nexus (which started a ton of mysteries and only managed to resolve half of them) but I still tend to prefer the self-contained stories than the one pertaining to the main looming plotline.

Sure we can blame the producer and all those in charge but the main problem of the series and shis has been the main crutch of it; Time. A friend of mine watched a few episodes and she agreed that the show could really shine if they weren’t restricted to 23 minutes a show.

Two to one if the show were allowed to go maybe 45 minutes, they’d be able to shine and it’d be worthy of being made for Seven’s 40th. Otherwise, the show just seems like Kaiki Daisakusen: Phase 2 or the first 12 or so episodes of Silver Kamen.

(…In that case, if that’s what they really want to do, Tsuburaya just needs to do a direct to video sequel of the recent new version of Kaiki Daisakusen and just get it out of their system.)

I do like Ultraseven X in spite of its flaws. It’s a nice change of pace in the same way Den-O was after enduring Kabuto and the many years of Serious Business but it isn’t THE GREATEST EVAR OMG! like some people are making it out be. I’d still prefer Mebius over this hands down and I wish that they’d do a Hesei-styled Direct To Video special for the series. The story is still going on in the Ultra Cockpit DVDs and I’d like a way to enjoy it that doesn’t have my friends looking at me funny as I’m screaming “GANBARE MEBIUS!!!” while fiddling with plastic joysticks.

In the end, however, I’m thankful to Ultraseven X for one thing.

…At least it wasn’t a sequel to Ultraseven Evolution.