On May 4th, after getting off work, Daniel ordered some takeout from "Are You Full Yet?" and sat in front of his TV, eagerly waiting for the premiere of "Ultraman Tiga."
He had become a fan of Ren, even though Ren often left readers hanging at the worst times. Still, he felt it was important to support Ren's work, especially since this was one of Ren's projects. According to some insider information Daniel had heard, "Ultraman Tiga" was initially intended to be a manga.
However, when Ren's wife, Jada, saw the story, she bought Guyuan Company and decided to make it a tokusatsu series. This clearly showed how much she believed in the project.
At 7:30 PM, the commercials on Nanjing TV ended right on time.
Suddenly, a rhythmic, energetic, and catchy song began to play, grabbing Daniel's attention immediately. The words "Ultraman Tiga" appeared on the screen, coming together in a dynamic sequence.
"Just like sunlight breaking through the night,
Dawn quietly crosses the horizon,
Whose shadow traverses the cycle of life...
A new storm has already appeared,
How can we stand still..."
The song seemed to have a magical power that reached straight into his heart. Even though it was his first time hearing it, he found himself humming along almost instantly.
He couldn't help but sit up straight and listen attentively.
But the opening song was short, and soon it ended. The screen displayed the title of the first episode: "Heir to Light!"
"Wow, this song is really good. I didn't expect Ren to write songs too."
Although the song credits flashed by quickly, Daniel noticed that both the lyrics and composition were attributed to Ren.
"And it looks like an anthology series?"
Usually, only anthology series had titles for each episode, unlike serialized shows.
The opening scene featured a narrator, accompanied by images of nebulae: "In the early 22nd century, hatred and conflict have gradually diminished, and nature is slowly restoring its beauty. The wish for peace among all living things on this planet seems to be finally coming true..."
As these words faded, a meteor descended from the sky.
Daniel was left pondering the narration.
Peace, huh? If only the 22nd century could really be like that.
Recently, he had seen many short videos of war-torn areas.
A child, mistaking a camera for a gun, raised their hands in surrender.
A father and daughter, with the father telling her that the sounds of gunfire outside were fireworks.
Such videos made Daniel feel uncomfortable.
Though those people were of different races, from different countries, and complete strangers to him, seeing innocent people suffer due to the whims of their leaders and political conflicts made his heart ache.
It also made him more grateful for his own country. If his country weren't growing stronger, would they be like those war-torn nations now?
The initial narration had already hooked him.
Next, the TPC (Terrestrial Peaceable Consortium) was introduced.
This organization was described as an international group formed by scientists worldwide, initiated by the UN Secretary-General, surpassing national boundaries.
Besides small police weapons, it had no other armaments.
The name of this organization indicated just how peaceful the future world in the show was.
The scene then introduced a special team under the TPC called the Victory Team.
"These must be the main characters," Daniel guessed, noting their cool uniforms.
The scene shifted to the Victory Team examining the meteorite, which contained a triangular device projecting a hologram of a woman in a white dress.
"Is this what aliens look like?" Daniel wondered. But the woman's next words made his eyes widen.
She claimed to be part of the Earth Defense Force. If she was from Earth, why did the device fall from space? And why did it need a modern machine to translate her language?
Before Daniel could resolve his confusion, the woman warned about the appearance of two monsters: Golza, which would shake the earth, and Melba, which would tear the sky.
This reminded him of the monster emerging from the ground in the earlier scene, confirming it was Golza.
The woman referred to the current inhabitants of Earth as "my descendants," and tests revealed the artificial meteorite was about 30 million years old!
This suggested there was an ancient, more advanced civilization on Earth millions of years ago. What happened to it?
"Interesting, really interesting."
Even with just the opening scenes, Daniel was impressed.
The show had set up many intriguing plot points.
He was sure the series would eventually reveal the truth about the ancient civilization's downfall and perhaps link it to the current enemies.
As he pondered, people in the group chat began to discuss.
"An ancient civilization makes more sense. I never believed Darwin's theory that humans evolved from apes."
"Are you doubting science, using a tokusatsu show as evidence?"
"Why are you two arguing about this?"
The chat group erupted into debate over the ancient civilization theory.
Daniel sighed at their childishness and continued watching.
Just as Yullian said, the monsters Golza and Melba appeared. To save Earth, the Victory Team deployed to find the so-called pyramid.
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Just when everyone thought they couldn't find the so-called pyramid, a member of the Victory Team named Daigo seemed to hear a mysterious call. This confirmed to Daniel that this man was the main character of the tokusatsu series!
Following this call, Daigo found the pyramid. Along with the other team members, he went inside and discovered three stone statues. Unfortunately, although they found the statues, they didn't know how to revive them.
While they were stressing over this, they received news that the two monsters were heading towards the pyramid.
Golza easily reduced the pyramid to rubble, exposing the three stone statues. Golza and Melba then started destroying the statues. The outer two statues collapsed, causing the middle statue to fall due to the tremors.
This was a change Ren specifically made. In the original work, Golza pushed the statue over. Ren thought this was very unrealistic and could easily attract criticism from viewers. After all, if Golza could push it over, why not just slap it down? The tremors causing it to fall seemed more believable.
But Daigo couldn't stand it. Even though his plane only had smoke bombs, he still wanted to protect humanity's hope. However, if human machines were effective, why would giants be needed for protection?
The plane's tail was hit, catching fire. At this moment, Daigo was surrounded by light, which pulled him from the plane into the statue.
Just as Golza's foot was about to crush the last statue, the statue's hand rose, blocking it and then throwing it off. The once stone-covered giant... revived!
The giant's body shone in red, purple, and silver! (Some say it's red, blue, and white, but I see purple and silver.)
"So this is Ultraman? Looks pretty cool!"
Watching Ultraman fight two monsters at once, Daniel was amazed. When he saw Ultraman change colors, his interest was further piqued.
"Is this a power-up?"
Seeing Ultraman, who had been losing to Golza in strength, suddenly overpowering Golza after turning red, Daniel made a guess.
As Golza was about to be defeated by Ultraman, Melba intervened, using its speed to distract Ultraman. Meanwhile, Golza started digging to escape, with no intention of helping Melba.
When disaster strikes, everyone fends for themselves, as the saying goes.
But Melba, being a true comrade, continued to distract Ultraman, allowing Golza to escape. This act didn't anger Melba; instead, Melba kept drawing Ultraman's attention, ultimately allowing Golza to flee.
Ultraman, seeing Golza escaping, decided to ensure Melba didn't get away. Switching to his purple form, he delivered a powerful kick, sending Melba crashing down from the sky, and then finished it off with a beam attack.
After defeating the monster and reverting to Daigo, the Victory Team left. Meanwhile, the ancient projection device from 30 million years ago activated again.
The woman with white hair appeared once more.
"The only way to revive the giant is for Daigo to become light..."
Just as Daniel was about to turn off the TV, another song began to play.
"The earth gradually awakens, a ray of dawn breaks the silence of the night, passionate hearts beat, praying for peace to descend..."
This song wasn't as intense as the theme song but was soft and beautiful, making Daniel pause and listen.
The chat group was buzzing with excitement.
"Wow, Golza really abandoned its comrade quickly, fleeing and leaving Melba behind. Friendship over!"
"Melba: 'You youngsters are treacherous!' Golza: 'Before I go, I'll advise you to behave.'"
"Am I the only one who misheard 'Daigo becomes light' as 'Daigo becomes soup'? I was so confused."
"+1"
"+10086, I heard it wrong too! Covering face.jpg"
"Thank goodness there are two episodes! I can't wait for the ads to end!"
"What were the names of the opening and ending songs? They sounded great."
"The opening is 'Miracle Reappearance' and the ending is 'Forever Ultraman.' Both were written by Ren!"
"Damn, this guy can draw, write scripts, and compose music. What can't he do?"
Even after the ending song finished and a minute passed, Daniel was still thinking deeply about "Ultraman Tiga."
Since the show's promotion began, many people had been paying attention. After all, the script was written by Ren, a Golden Mouse Award winner. However, many were skeptical, thinking that writing manga and writing scripts were different skills.
Supporting Ren since "Your Name," Daniel had his concerns. What if the show flopped terribly? Critics would undoubtedly pounce, mocking Ren's overconfidence.
But after watching, he felt reassured.
While it's too early to judge the overall plot since it's likely an anthology series, the first episode didn't reveal much. However, "Ultraman Tiga" was well-made, with excellent cinematography, special effects, and editing. The attention to detail was clear, and the effort was evident.
The cast consisted of talented young actors, delivering above-average performances with many commendable moments.
The theme songs were another highlight. The opening song was intense and suited the hero genre, while the ending song was gentle and harmonious, contrasting with the opening.
Though it's hard to predict the show's success, based on the discussions in his group, Daniel believed it had a good chance. At the very least, it wouldn't tarnish Ren's reputation.
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