“Ultraman Max” is one of the many series and audiovisual products about the character of Ultraman. In this case, we will talk about this series aired in 2005 and 2006, where Takashi Miike shot 2 episodes: 15 and 16.
In this case, will not talk about the series in general (40 episodes), but about this couple of episodes in particular, entering in the filmography of the talented Takashi Miike.
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Kaito Touma is a member of the special DASH squad (DASH: Defense Action Squad Heroe) created to fight the monsters that attack the Earth. Kaito is the one who receives the Ultraman Maxx (Maxx Spark) light spark with which he becomes a powerful Light giant. That said, as soon as episode 15 begins, we meet Akko, a little girl who has lost her vision, and Mizuki, a DASH fighter who takes care of her. Akko, after losing his vision, decides to devote himself to music, and is about to participate in a ceremony on the next day; however, the appearance of a monster will make DASH staff deploy and Akko to cancel her long-awaited musical ceremony.
This particular episode is a very emotional one, focusing mainly on the drama of the characters, especially on those of Mizuki and Akko. From the beginning, the viewer gets excited about his story. With this base, the rest of the episode is already contemplated with a huge plus of emotions. Subsequently it would go to the spectacularity part of the story, where they wake up the monster and try to discover how to defeat him. The way they tell the story is worthy of the best kaigu eiga, with large doses of destruction, where the monster destroys buildings without stopping.
The way it is shot is simple but beautiful at the same time. The effects and the cinematography may not be the best, but after five minutes you get fully into the story and all the deficiencies you may have go unnoticed, and that is the important thing. The end of the episode is a beautiful climax that invites you to reflect on how the world and art are. It will make the most sensitive excited.
On the other hand, episode 16 moves on another terrain. While the former was focused on drama and spectacularity, this one focuses more on comedy. The plot begins when several people in Japan start having memory losses. DASH then discovers that the origin of this is a number meteorites that fell a few days ago. It is then that these meteorites come out as beholder-cat monsters that are the ones that cause the waves that cause memory loss. Because of this, DASH fighters forget how to fight and how to pilot their ships, so they are unable to fight. Even Ultraman himself forgets how to fight, and so everyone tries to remember with funny moments how to fight against evil.
In short, the episodes end up being a very enjoyable product with great doses of emotion, action, lovely special effects and humor. It makes you want to see the rest of the series as such. Also noteworthy are the creative design of the monsters and some performances, such as Sota Aoyama, playing Kaito himself; Hitomi Hasebe, playing Mizuki; and Hikari Mitsushima playing Elly, the android who is the one who gives the telecommunication orders at the DASH base. For fans of the genre and the character in question, this series seems like a must, and for fans of its director, Takashi Miike, it also ends up being curious
