Ultraman Ginga episode 3 (I suck at post titles)

So now we're at episode 3. And the show is strarting to become satisfying. Like previously, images are from screencapping my browser window, and (although I didn't specifically mentioned this before) I only read Over-Time's translation using the script, without downloading the episode torrent.

This episode focuses on Kenta and his dream of becoming a photographer. Unlike how the first episode dealt with Hikaru's dream of exploring the world just by having characters talk about it, this episode actually shows a person doing things relevant to said dream. The episode starts with Kenta looking at pictures in his digital camera. Apparently, his dream was to become a professional photographer, but he had given up on it at some point, until this week's villain convinced him otherwise.

Speaking of the villain, she's some lady who named Yuuka, who used to go to the now abandoned school Hikaru currently stays at. Somehow, meeting her has rekindled Kenta's dream of becoming a photographer. He gets pretty excited about it, and demands to use Hikaru's makeshift bedroom as a makeshift photo studio. But Misuzu somehow senses something suspicious about Yuuka who, as it turns out, intends to burn down the school building.

She turns into King Pandon and Hikaru (who transformed into Kemur man/being/whatever) confronts her. There's some mildly interesting dialogue about Kenta's right to pursue his dream, even if he might not have what it takes, and nobody else can decide his path. I like it better than any talk about dreams in previous episodes because it does tie very much into the things the characters actually did in the episode. Yuuka does come across as incredibly mean-spirited for trying to burn down the building just to make a kid give up on his dreams, and it's honestly a little baffling as to why she would want to do that. But she's not really lamer than the previous villains so far.

The fight in this episode was... well, not much of one. Ginga still takes his sweet time to let Hikaru use his doll, and afterwards Hikaru easily deals with his opponent. They looked less gigantic in this episode, considering their sizes in relative to the trees. Which brings me to the miniature work, which is overall still not all that impressive. Sure, they had large prop trees, but the fact that Ginga and King Pandon were standing in a strangely clear patch of land somehow bugs me. Ginga has yet another finishing move in this episode, using a sword reminiscent of the Mebius duo, or maybe Ultraman Agul. Yuuka survives, like the previous weekly villains. But she immediately showed regret over her actions, and did not demonstrate memory loss, unlike the previous ones.

Overall, this was a pretty good episode. It delivers on the "hopes and dreams" aspect mentioned in that press conference thingy* with the cast, and that was really my main expectation for the show. The production values do leave something to be desired, but I can live with that. The episode ends with Taro (still in doll form) getting kidnapped by Tomoya, and both of them are inside the body of Jean Killer!

The next episode will apparently focus on Chigusa and her dream of becoming an idol. I almost want to go "why?" at the thought of that, but then I'm reminded of the actors in Ultraman Saga and how Ultraman Tiga's lead actor was from a boy band.

Ultraman Ginga © Tsuburaya Productions 

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* See this old post.