International Feature: Ultraman: Rising

What if a star athlete could save Tokyo from giant monsters? In our latest episode, we uncover the thrills and chills of "Ultraman: Rising" on Netflix. Get ready for an engaging ride as we explore how this unexpected gem captivated us. We share our insightful take on the film's plot and call upon hardcore Ultraman enthusiasts to share feedback and help steer our future Ultraman explorations.

You’ll hear our deep dives into the film’s animation quality and storytelling prowess as we also dissect why "Ultraman: Rising" appeals to both new viewers and longtime fans. Join our lively debate as we assess the film’s strengths, like its intriguing premise, and the areas we think could use a bit more TLC—think underdeveloped characters and a need for more kaiju action. Don't miss out on this episode brimming with excitement and thoughtful analysis of such an iconic international pop culture character!

Letterbox'd Synopsis:  A star athlete reluctantly returns home to take over his father’s duties as Ultraman, shielding Tokyo from giant monsters as he becomes a legendary hero.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to your go-to source for entertainment. Wait for it.

Speaker 2: 0:05

Gaming. Wait for it Anime PLUS ULTRA.

Speaker 1: 0:11

Mr Eric Almighty and Phil the Filipino.

Speaker 2: 0:14

Yeah, they've got you covered and all you gotta do is wait for it. This is the Wait For it Podcast. Hey, everyone, welcome back to the Wait For it Podcast. I am your co-host, phil Smith, aka Phil the Filipino, and joining me, as always, is your other co-host, mr Eric Almighty, and joining me, as always, is your other co-host, mr Eric Almighty, and Eric. We are here with the July International Feature episode. No-transcript. He was our creator spotlight episode a couple of months ago. You know that I have been because of my current Kaijuju journey and how all that has been going. You know that I have actually been thinking about jumping in to Ultraman. So the fact that Ultraman Rising came up this year, eric, and you preemptively and proactively watched it before even I got to it worked out perfectly and I'm very excited to talk about what might be a new fandom for us. We'll see how it goes.

Speaker 1: 1:44

I gotta say there's a lot riding on this, because I really feel like our friendship is gonna be on the line. I feel like, if I know you at all, you at least liked this movie, so that's gotta be a guarantee. We'll see where it ends up. This is our first time talking about it. For me, phil, I had no clue this was gonna be on my radar. It wasn't on my radar to start the year. I'm scrolling on Netflix and there it is. It just plays the trailer and I'm hooked and I watched the movie and I'm thinking about it the next day. It's everything I want an animated film to kind of give me and a Ultraman film. What I thought it could give me, it gave me. So I was very excited to see that. I'm really excited to talk about it to people that are new to this area of pop culture but very exciting to get into nonetheless yeah, so maybe we'll bring in some new listeners here on this episode that are very much hardcore fans of Ultraman.

Speaker 2: 2:47

Just remember what Eric said this is something new for us, a new journey, and we are very much open to suggestion, feedback, whatever it may be what you think we should do next. Now that we have watched Ultraman Rising, we are very enthusiastic about hearing from you as far as the community, and if you are new or if you need a little bit of a reminder as to where to find all the rest of our content, make sure you stick around to the end. We'll let you know where you can find all of that and plenty more episodes of International Feature, as well as our other series the Game Room, when it Happens what Did I Miss? Creator Spotlight, as well as Late to the Party. So, with without all being said, Eric, let's jump into a synopsis for Ultraman Rising and the tagline for this on Letterboxd is big hero, bigger responsibility. A star athlete reluctantly returns home to take over his father's duties as Ultraman, shielding Tokyo from giant monsters as he becomes a legendary hero. So, Eric, we have already touched on a little bit that this is something new for us.

Speaker 2: 3:49

So, again, take us back to that night you were scrolling through. Were you with your family? Were you just like, hey, let's take a flyer on this? Was it a little bit of? We've had a lot of faith in Netflix animation as of recently. What led you to this and how did you end up watching it? Because when you told me about it, I was like, oh, Ultraman, I've been kind of interested in that.

Speaker 1: 4:10

I was a little surprised that you had taken that leap. Oh, 100 percent. And it definitely was a family led decision. Because we're just scrolling on Netflix trying to see there's probably a movie out there that we've been putting off in our queue. And we look through our queue and you know what you do when a movie is in your queue and you're like I want to watch it, but I want to see what else is out there first. You know we're all guilty of it when we look at our list and our ongoing queue, that dead queue that continues to build up for years and years. We did that and I'm glad we did, because I may not have ever stumbled upon this movie. It was trending at the time. It had just released.

Speaker 1: 4:45

I believe that day and again I just play the trailer and film. I send you the trailer when the movie is over to let you know like, hey, we need to watch this. If you don't do, if you don't listen to me anytime, if you don't check out any of the stuff I send you, check this link out and make a decision. And I would implore anybody that's listening to this, give the trailer a watch, because I think it's a very impressive trailer visually, and I think it just kind of gives you enough story beats and elements to say, you know, that seems like an interesting premise, I want to check it out.

Speaker 1: 5:21

I was surprised to see this movie offered a little bit more than just that basic story. So that's kind of how it all kind of kicked off for me. And obviously, phil, I dragged you into this world, so I can't wait to get into your initial thoughts, because we again have not discussed this and our friendships on the line, so no pressure no pressure, no pressure, just the future of the podcast and all of our business ventures that we've, that we've coming up on five years, have plugged into this thing, but no again.

Speaker 2: 5:53

I had been reaching out to our friend Corey to talk about Ultraman because he brought it up pretty prevalently in our interview with him when it came to you know, only just Ultraman but Kaiju in general, godzilla, things of that nature. So I honestly didn't even know that this was like coming out until you had sent it to me and you know we're pretty, we take in a lot of animation as far as our entertainment. So the fact that this was like our first go around, the thing about Ultraman that is always kind of I don't want to say like, like turn me off from it, but like has kind of kept me at a little bit of an arm's length is like it does look a little campy, right, eric, when we're talking about like live action Ultraman, you know a big a guy fighting a guy, another guy in a suit, you know stuff like that hasn't always necessarily been something that interested me. Stuff like that hasn't always necessarily been something that interested me. But the character of Ultraman, because of his history and because of the popularity, I was like I think I have to check this out. And, eric, you know how it is pretty simple to drag me into something, to rope me in.

Speaker 2: 6:56

Obviously, kaiju number eight earlier in the year and ongoing you were like this is for you, this is something you're going to love, and there's Kaiju in this as well. And not only are there Kaiju, but it is a version of the story that's like not told very often because, you know, pacific Rim is one of my favorite films and the Kaiju obviously are the villains. They're very much out to just destroy humanity and that's not necessarily the case right here in this film and that immediately is a. You know something that's going necessarily the case right here in this film and that immediately is a. Uh, you know something that's gonna rope me in from the get-go and it's.

Speaker 2: 7:30

It's great that we followed up last week's episode which, if you don't know and maybe you skipped it, which I don't blame you was lego ninjago and you know, ultimately that movie was a pretty big miss for us because it did not do anything different and ultimately ended up being boring. And while there are tropes and things that we have seen in other films, in Ultraman Rising. They're done very well, as opposed to a Lego Ninjago in Ultraman Rising are done. You know what they do, are done very well and make you care about these characters, which is something that is hard to do, no matter what, no matter it be animation or live action, and they do that very well, right out of the gate.

Speaker 1: 8:17

Yeah, and I think the thing that I really appreciated was, you know, we get down to brass tacks pretty quick, like we get. We get into it and we jump into it pretty fast and I like that this movie doesn't really at any point feel like it's slowing down too too much. We're going to talk about the runtime and where I think some opportunities lies, but in the actual presentation of this to casual audiences I think it was very, very strong. I think you could come in here and I would assume, as an ultra man fan, there's enough easter eggs in there to get you excited, uh, talking, uh. You know we'll talk freely about the spoilerish parts of this movie towards the end. If that happens to come up, naturally we will warn you.

Speaker 1: 9:05

But I believe the ending has some stuff for existing fans as like a big hint to what's to come, potential sequels, which I think this movie deserves. But if you're a new fan to Ultraman like I was, like Phil was it just felt really good to get into. I didn't feel overwhelmed at any point and I think when you have an IP like this, that's extremely important. I also think it's important to appeal to multiple age groups and I think this movie absolutely does it. We're going to talk about a lot of great stuff like the animation, but I definitely have to bring out this mass appeal that this movie allows was just something I didn't expect. I expected to be out of my element when I watched it and I'm glad that wasn't the case.

Speaker 2: 9:56

Yeah, I mostly find that in terms of like just being overwhelmed with like video games, like I know I want to, just as kind of getting off topic, but like I'm really excited to play the Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater like reboot or remake later this year or next year. But I'm also very worried that I'm not going to understand anything that's going on. And with Ultraman, as we already mentioned, having such an incredibly historic backlog, it is kind of concerning and that's one of the reasons why I've enjoyed not only the Monsterverse but also Godzilla Minus One. So much is. Yes, yes, you know there is so much history here with this, these characters, but at the end of the day, you can jump it. I can watch Skull Island on a one-off, I can watch King of the Monsters, I can watch minus one and just have a good time. And that's what's happening here with Ultraman Rising. You don't have to be intimidated, like Eric said, to just dive into what this character is. Yes, there is a little bit of a lore here and they allude to that, but it's the type of lore that doesn't make me confused, eric. It makes me want to do research, like I want to know about the original Ultraman now I want to know about the choice that Kenji had to make here and to talk about Kenji's that we know, with daddy issues right Now we have a couple of them.

Speaker 2: 11:13

Some would say too too many. So this is this poor, poor, um, baseball star. But I also very much loved the uh, the attention to detail when it came to like uh, mentioning like as I used to be a big baseball fan like mentioning hideki matsui and shohei Otani and things like that. So there's the, you know, sprinkling in things for people that might be fans of stuff, some other things such as sports and things of that nature. But yeah, you know, talking about animation is low hanging fruit because it is excellent here and I want to know if you got some of these vibes, eric. And obviously the animation is very different in terms of stylistically, but the moments where they're focusing on the character and then their splashes of color, that's very Into the Spider-Verse to me and that's I loved it so much and, like I said, even though it's totally different, that's what I got vibes from whenever we saw those really cool action moments in the film.

Speaker 1: 12:11

Yeah, I think that this movie because I knew Into Into the Spider Verse was going to come up I think this movie takes just some nice elements. I think every animated movie has to take elements from Into the Spider Verse moving forward. But where I felt like other movies do it a little bit too much to its detriment to be like a comparison I felt like this one was very different, like it definitely had some smaller elements, but for the most part it's kind of doing its own thing and I really appreciated that about this movie. I think this movie is gorgeous to look at. It is very visually appealing.

Speaker 1: 12:45

I love the character designs. I love the artwork uh, the splash backgrounds that you mentioned, with the use of color in certain scenes, like it's just absolutely mesmerizing and this movie did not need to do that, like that's just again. Maybe it did because Ultraman is such a big IP internationally. But again, phil totally caught me off guard and the animation is excellent. One of my favorite animated films I've seen in recent memory that isn't spider-verse or puss in boots, like those are my two pinnacles recently. Ultraman rising is going to be up there for me well, let's.

Speaker 2: 13:26

Also because everybody has been talking about shrek 5,. Don't you dare, any of you, skip Puss in Boots before Shrek 5 comes out. I am just putting it out there because there are going to be some new characters, most likely in Shrek 5, eric, that we love very, very much, and you better watch Puss in Boots before Shrek 5 comes out. You got like two years, so don't you dare skip out on Puss in Boots, Just like you shouldn't skip out on ultra man rising to bring it back, to circle back around, because, yes, like you said, eric, this is one that I I'm very excited to share with people. I did watch it by myself. I didn't get a chance to watch it with my family like I wanted to. Um, and like you said this, this appeals to so many different audiences and it just goes back and goes to show you again.

Speaker 2: 14:09

Netflix is in its bag right now when it comes to this animation, their animation department. I haven't gotten a chance to look and see if Ultraman Rising was brought in from another studio because another studio passed on it, kind of like Nimona and Mitchell's versus the machines. But the fact that they have the ability to identify, know these hits is a big deal and I hope people aren't continuing to sleep on them because, I mean, I have moderately high hopes for, like you know, moana and inside out 2 was fine. I I think it was an above average movie. But you're missing out on hopefully you don't have just disney tunnel vision, and missing out on hopefully you don't have just Disney tunnel vision, and missing out on the Ultramans, on the Puss in Boots, on the Nimonas. You know things of that nature because you're so focused on on one thing. So would very much be interested. This is definitely one of those rabbit hole films, eric, that I'm going to go down and find out and learn as much as I possibly can.

Speaker 1: 15:06

I just didn't get to do it ahead of time this time around because I watched the movie today, so yeah, and one of the things that made it interesting, phil, was this is actually a Japanese American co-production, which is why it's our international feature, and this was between Netflix Animation and Tsubayara Productions. I'm probably saying that wrong, but, yeah, definitely a co-production with Netflix animation. So I think that in itself, phil, you know Netflix being in its bag, that's like your, your go to, and it just continues to be proven right every single time. You say it At this point, people need to take notice. This is also directed by Shannon Tindall in his feature directorial debut, which I think is so, so interesting. But Shannon Tindall has been in a lot of things and I know I was supposed to write it down, but if I remember correctly, yeah, and I'm seeing here he was a character designer on things like the Croods, kubo and the Two Strings. I think I also heard he had a little bit in Coraline or some type of role in that. So, again, just a mixture of animation styles there that I feel were maybe brought to this film and I really, really enjoyed.

Speaker 1: 16:22

But first time director as well, I think, extremely positive. This movie is not without its flaws. So, phil, are there any other kind of positive items that you want to talk about. I know for me, this movie's story, I think, was really special in the fact that it is juggling a couple of things which we'll talk about momentarily, but at its core it's not just about a baseball star or a fightingaijus, it's really a story of single parenthood and I really liked that element, in addition to having that father-son dynamic at the forefront, that family kind of dynamic being such an issue. So I really liked those elements being introduced to the movie and it not just being a full kaiju fest. But what did you think?

Speaker 2: 17:13

Yeah, and I kind of alluded to it in the beginning where the monsters in this are not just straight up villains. You know, there is a, there are layers to them, and my whole understanding, or at least my assumption, of Ultraman was, oh, he kills monsters and saves the day, and I thought it was that shout. You know, that was my very shallow understanding, and not even an understanding, that was just an assumption of what Ultraman was. And you know, I don't know if that's the kind of depth that is explored in all of the Ultraman properties, but I certainly hope so. So, like you said, it is a. You know, a surface level baseball star reluctantly comes back to Japan to be Ultraman. They don't want to do it and they shut everybody out and that's it. You know I didn't know anything about the primary plot. You know, like you said, of Parenthood and Parenthood and not Parenthood in a traditional sense, which is what's happening here with our main characters. So really, really great.

Speaker 2: 18:10

I also love that and you talked about the ending already, a little bit like a tiny bit, but I love that they are constantly setting up for what's next and not throwing it in your face like a Marvel project. You know what I mean Like, oh, we mentioned Red Hulk and here he is. You know, like just stuff like that or that's just gotten really tiresome in a lot of productions, so that subplot about what is coming up next is always prevalent. You know he's mentioning it in an interview, he's talking to his dad about what happened. You know all of that is there just planting seeds here, and that's when you just know a story is really really well written and well done. So, um, yeah, I just I loved that it wasn't akin to some of the lazy writing that we're seeing, um kind of uh, in a lot of places here recently.

Speaker 1: 19:04

Yeah, yeah, great call outs. I think, uh, now's a good time to to, as we are discussing this film as our international feature. Uh, just like we do with late to the party, we do talk about the opposite side. Were there some opportunities, things that going in you might want to know before you check out this film? Phil, very curious to see where you landed. I think my biggest criticism of the film is that it didn't have enough time to cook all of the storylines it was necessarily serving up. I would have loved to spend more time with this movie. I think there was definitely more that could have been presented and provided from a story perspective. It feels like towards the end, we're kind of rushing to the finish line and I really think that we could have fleshed that out a little bit more in a couple different areas. Without getting into spoilers, phil, any opportunities that you took away from this, phil, which admittedly surprised us and is a win here, but any opportunities that you kind of walked away from yeah, I don't think it's necessarily like a negative thing.

Speaker 2: 20:07

I just felt like maybe Mina wasn't the best storytelling vessel for Ken's growth. You know, and it makes sense. It totally makes sense in terms of the lore and what's happening and him coming over from the US as this star baseball player, which is something that is kind of unheard of. Right, we hear about Japanese stars going to the States to play in the Major League Baseball. So to see it kind of in reverse, I thought was very fascinating and I thought, as far as the character, I think she's totally fine. But in terms of his journey, it felt like Mina was just there specifically for Kenji to realize things. You know, and just be that, be like the, the flame that carries us to the very next plot thread. You know what I mean. I think she's a fine character and you know, daughter was adorable, love that she was an Ultraman fan. But I'm wondering if maybe it could be done a little bit differently. But you know that's a maybe a nitpicky thing, I don't know. You tell me.

Speaker 1: 21:08

Yeah, no, I wouldn't say nitpicky. I do love all the characters. I would say on the list of them, mina is towards the bottom, but I think all the characters were great. I think that's where maybe it could have been executed a little bit better. It's kind of the same thing, phil. You know how I am with my films I love a good villain. Know how I am with my films I love a good villain. This movie paint by the numbers villain felt like there could have been a little bit more that we did.

Speaker 2: 21:34

I actually forgot about him during this conversation. So, yeah, that's a good. We're talking about all these positives. I forgot there's technically a villain.

Speaker 1: 21:40

Technically a villain, that's not a kaiju, yeah, so not too spoiler, is she? Because in any movie there's always a human antagonist, and that's no different here, phil. It's not as much of a negative. But I also, with more time, would have liked to see just a little more Kaiju. Just a little bit more. I think they did a really good job, not overwhelming us. Especially if you're a first-time viewer, maybe Kaijus isn't your thing, maybe that's why they did it, but I would have liked to see maybe one more kaiju be introduced. Uh, maybe see that fight.

Speaker 1: 22:19

For the most part, there's like a span of this movie that is just kind of fast forwarded through Um and again. I think that's where a lot of the runtime got shaved off and I would have liked to see just a little bit more spent during that time. But these all are and, phil, they all could be taken as nitpicks, because the overwhelmingly positive thing about this movie is that it has so much to offer and it does so much well. So I don't think it's nitpicky by any means. Just a couple opportunities here and there that I think we found by any means just a couple opportunities here and there that I think we found.

Speaker 2: 22:50

Yeah, and this is also. There's also an attempt to make them a sympathetic villain, and you know that's done to moderate success and but I never really felt for this character, and not that I needed more backstory, I'm sure I guess the thing is Eric like probably a lot of people feel this way he just seemed to have the money to do something about it. So that doesn't necessarily make them unique, it just makes them like Elon Musk. Essentially, he has the money to try and take care of a problem that is not specific to him and he tries to do it, and not very well either. So I think that was also.

Speaker 2: 23:33

The thing is, like I never really felt like this person was an actual threat, and that comes up a lot when we're talking about cookie cutter Marvel and Disney villains, and that's kind of what we got here. So I'm hoping whatever they have next in their bag, I think, will certainly surpass this and ultimately will forget about this villain. I mean, I thought I obviously forgot about him immediately. So you know, that kind of tells you everything you need to know.

Speaker 1: 23:57

Yeah, and I think the next conversation obviously is going to be a little bit more into the deep dive into the story as well as what the future may hold for two people who have no freaking clue what's to come. Uh, I think those conversations will be perfect next If we do end up getting into any type of spoiler territory. But first, Phil um, now might be a good time to discuss how this movie was received, what we rated this movie. I think those things are definitely going to be a good talking point for us. Uh, but super glad to hear that you liked it and I think our scores are going to be pretty reflective of that as well. So let us know, kind of, how this movie has turned out so far and what did you think of it with your score.

Speaker 2: 24:40

Yeah, as far as Rotten Tomatoes goes, 83% certified fresh tomato meter score, 92% audience score. So, and that's something we kind of see when it comes to, I would say, things such as this that deal with, you know, like a like kaiju related projects usually see the audience score a little bit higher because, at the end of the day, audiences like to see giant man fighting giant monster. I mean, what's there, what's not to like? Right, as far as the letterboxd average, it does have a 3.7 star rating and that's pretty reflective of where I landed as well.

Speaker 2: 25:17

Eric, I gave this a four out of five stars and, you know, I think probably that memorable villain would have easily bumped it up to a 4.5, bare minimum, but I don't think you can really give this anything lower than a 3.5. If you're like a casual fan of this style of storytelling or animation, I just don't see how you could rate it any lower than that. But it's a lot of fun and one of the reviews here that I really, really loved is any idiot can be a hotshot baseball star slash, monster fighting superhero, but it takes an Ultraman to be a girl dad, and I really loved that review from this user here on Letterboxd.

Speaker 1: 26:01

That is hilarious. I'm really glad to hear you say that Phil Four is exactly where I landed on my first viewing and, to be completely honest, I will watch this again. I have already watched half of it a second time because my son loved the movie as well, so he ended up playing it the next day. This is exactly the type of movie that I'm gonna get sucked in if it's on, and I happened to catch like the middle of it when I had another weekend where we had it on. I think a four is perfect for first view, but I think a four and a half is absolutely achievable with multiple rewatches.

Speaker 1: 26:38

I really just enjoyed this movie. It reminds me of, again, puss in Boots, in the sense that I almost wanted to deny how great Puss in Boots was when we first watched it, and that was reflective in my initial score. But the more I watched it, the more I grew to appreciate and love it and really consider it to be excellent. I don't know that Ultraman is at that level, but I do think there's room for me to love it more and I'm very excited to go on that journey. Phil, for perspective in 2024 movies. I am curious where if you have that answer where it's landed in your clusterfuck of movies you've seen this year? I have not seen nearly as many. It's my number two movie behind Dune Part 2. I haven't given any other movie a four this year, to my knowledge, and Dune Part 2 is a five, obviously. So where did it land for you in this year's movie so far?

Speaker 2: 27:33

Yeah, it is for reference. Reference. I have now watched 27 films this year. Uh, new films. As far as movies overall, I am actually at 40. Oh, hold on, I am as far as like, because I have the new films that I'm watching and all films that I'm watching for the first time. I'm at 43 for films overall. So this was I have it currently sitting in third behind Godzilla X Kong, the New Empire which, if you're Eric, every time he hears it and Dune Part 2, and then right in front of Fall Guy. So and then I believe I actually have it in terms of all the films I've watched this year. I think it's number four behind Mad Max, fury Road, dune Part 2, ultraman Rising, and then again ahead of Fall Guy.

Speaker 1: 28:20

New Empire is also number one on that list, just to repeat again, if we just ignore New Empire me and Phil are right there one and two is Dune and Ultraman it's the best movie of the year you can't ignore it and we will when it comes to best movie of the year. You can't ignore it and we will when it comes to the end of the year awards, because I'm so tired of it, because it's my list.

Speaker 2: 28:40

You can't ignore it. We're going to have to do a whole, Because I've watched so many movies this year. We're going to have to do a separate episode with Letterboxd rankings it's listen, how about this?

Speaker 1: 28:57

we'll do, we'll do a p, I think we talked about this.

Speaker 2: 28:58

We'll do like a patreon pre-show where we cut the list in half.

Speaker 1: 28:59

I'll just do the whole thing, but we also put godzilla in there, so we don't have to talk about it on the actual end of year.

Speaker 2: 29:04

Well, it's still going to be number one, unless I mean, you know, maybe deadpool or versus wolverine or no. I don't think so uh.

Speaker 1: 29:10

But yeah, phil, I think that's a uh, a great conversation point where we can kind of now interject any potential spoilers that we may want to discuss. Get out, get out. So that's your cue in editing. So yeah, this is your warning. We're going to talk If we do talk, spoilers, it might be really brief here, but we may bring those up in this part of the episode.

Speaker 1: 29:34

We're also going to talk about what we might see or might want to see in future iterations of this, and then we'll kind of wrap things up, phil. So anything you want to talk about, obviously the main story is that, as ultraman, he now is taking care of this baby kaiju, the cutest, absolute cutest. I was sucker for it. Uh, baby kaiju, so funny. My son was laughing off the wall. I've never seen him like laugh so loud and obnoxiously at this kaiju. He loved it. I thought it never and maybe that's where the movie being longer wouldn't have worked because, like it never overstayed its welcome as far as the silliness and the campiness of it, but I really enjoyed that whole relationship. I felt like over the course of the movie it got really strong between those two characters. Like you could believe that he was having like a paternal instinct to defend her. So just curious if that uh any kind of conversational points or spoiler stuff that you wanted to get into here.

Speaker 2: 30:41

Yeah, super cute and, as we mentioned, you know we've seen this done before in terms of a reluctant father to a human right that happens all the time and the fact that, in this case, because of the morals and the beliefs that his father has, you know, imprinted on him, he's taking care of this creature like he could have easily just been. Like I'm not gonna like just leave it for the kaiju defense force and wipe my hands of it and focus on baseball. You know, my, my whole thing is I need to make sure people are safe. People are now safe. I don't care what happens to, uh, the. What was airy, right, that was that the name of the, the kaiju. I am yes blanking on it.

Speaker 2: 31:23

Yeah, okay, so that worked out very, very well. And yeah, there's that. You know, like you said, there's that montage when they bring, bring the dad back around. That you know. I think you're right. I would have been okay with sitting in that a little bit longer and seeing the relationship building, because it does happen very quick, like I don't want you in my life, dad, dad, I need you, I love you, dad, like it happens pretty quickly and which is fine, but I would have liked to sit in that a little bit longer. But yeah, it was really really great to see that relationship build and watch him kind of teach her like the stuff with her learning baseball, like that's adorable, like so cute. So, yeah, really enjoyed that stuff.

Speaker 2: 32:09

Here's another review, not Ultraman being the first father who ever mothered. So that's another review. Oh, I also would like to hear I meant to mention this a moment ago I would like to know from people who have seen both of these movies who are we? Because I'm seeing a lot of reviews that Kenji is a very attractive man and he is, he's very attractive. I would like to know how people are ranking them between Tadashi in Big Hero 6, who a?

Speaker 2: 32:33

lot of people are big fans of and Kenji, so maybe we can make this a TikTok clip, eric, and see how people fight it out, because I think there's some conversations to be had here.

Speaker 1: 32:45

Both very good looking guys maybe I'm now also realizing so I was looking up some characters that from the film I didn't realize you were talking. When you said Mina, I forgot that that's the robot. I didn't realize you were talking. When you said mina, I forgot that that's the robot. I didn't know. Oh, are you okay? No, you meant ami, right, I meant yeah, I meant the the therapist like the therapist.

Speaker 1: 33:05

No, no, the reporter the reporter is who I meant yeah, okay, you scared me because I was like, wait, no, I love mina the robot. Yeah, no, mina was great Mina was great.

Speaker 2: 33:14

Yeah, my mistake.

Speaker 1: 33:16

That's a damn shame. But yeah, no, I loved Mina. Her dying at the end like that got me. I was like no.

Speaker 2: 33:26

I was like just kidding. It feels like they should just be able to put her programming into another robot.

Speaker 1: 33:31

I mean it's possible. I mean it is movie magic. I'm sure that'll probably happen. But for me, when I put two and two together, that like oh, she's not going to make it Like I was honestly hurt, it hurt my heart there were some moments where a lot of people shouldn't have made it Like dad should have been dead multiple times. How did you feel about small old dad, ultra dad?

Speaker 2: 33:55

I thought it was funny that he had a mustache. I don't think he had a mustache when he was old, so this is what I need to know.

Speaker 1: 34:01

I think he got shorter as well, he definitely got shorter.

Speaker 2: 34:03

This is what I need to know Is the Ultraman thing like a within thing, like it manifests based on your physical manifestation or your body? So like, how does it work? Is it like a?

Speaker 1: 34:17

I don't know, I don't know that they really explain that very much as far as like you also kind of have to like keep your composure right or you lose it. Like it was a pretty simple premise. Again, as a casual audience goer, I was able to understand how it worked, but the why behind it I felt like yeah, again, that's where I felt like there were several elements where the movie could have cooked a little bit longer it could have cooked a little bit longer, could have really developed a few things, but I really do feel like you know, this movie, especially domestically, had something to prove, I would assume.

Speaker 1: 34:51

So it's not like they could just do what they exactly wanted to do, and I'm sure some of that's being held for the sequel yeah, but I mean overall it was 11.

Speaker 2: 35:00

And, for reference and for those of you, for the youtube audience, when I talk about how cory has given me a crash course at ultraman, uh, this is everything that I got in terms of finding out where to start. I think that was. This is me like looking at the list of stuff that he had sent me and that's why he made that post on instagram about telling me about where to start for ultraman. So I'm very excited to dive in and and I'm sure there is uh, as far as uh, ultraman goes, but I mean this would make a really great manga. I'm sure there is an ultraman goes, but I mean this would make a really great manga. I'm sure there is an Ultraman manga. So it was very much an incredibly enjoyable and surprising experience.

Speaker 2: 35:42

I think that's what's been so great about doing this over the last few years is, you know, last year was Nimona, which I absolutely loved and you definitely enjoyed and your family enjoys as well. We're coming across these hidden gems and uh, because we are looking for ways to find new content and uh, for every lego ninjago, there is an ultra man rising out there, which is is great. But yeah, damn I. I will have to. Unfortunately we can't go back and correct.

Speaker 1: 36:09

But yeah, I did mean the uh the interviewer the reporter character, yeah, who had the daughter, yeah, so, yeah, uh, that's um, and I think you know, when we talk about sequel to this, like, again, I would love to see, like them take it up a complete notch in the action department. I think they could really go that way. I think they had the heart in the story. Um, I'd love to see I don't know how that would work or what it would look like. Uh, again, team up with emmy and kenji. Again, maybe emmy's a little older, you know, maybe maybe she advances faster and she's like this big kaiju now. Would love to see that. But I really really connected with these characters, really really enjoyed the film overall, really glad that you did and, yeah, super, super happy that this worked out, because, again, we wouldn't have been friends. I would have just been like I don't know you, so like, was this not?

Speaker 2: 37:06

I mean essentially, and not that this is a bad thing because we love this movie I mean, it was basically how to train your dragon, I mean, and I love that film yeah. So we have a dad that he's you know that him and the dad him hiccup, and his dad didn't have like the best relationship until he reluctantly became a dragon trainer. So, um, yeah, no, that's not a bad thing because I love, yeah, but we threw in baseball there.

Speaker 2: 37:31

Well, they play some sort of sport and in bur God, I can't wait for the live action of how to Train your Dragon. It's going to be great. Super excited for that. What's-his-name has definitely aged out of that role the voice actor.

Speaker 1: 37:45

Oh yeah, Jay Bershell. I think one of the only main people that's coming back is Gerard Butler.

Speaker 2: 37:50

Yeah, that's easy you throw a beard on him and have him talk like Gerard Butler.

Speaker 1: 37:57

All right. Well, I think that that wraps it up for this episode of International Feature, Like you mentioned, really glad that we did this, phil, this was a movie that I had to literally stop everything and say you know what, fuck it, I'm going to make you watch this. Normally, I don't play that card for the podcast. You usually have a discussion, as we'll talk about patreon in a minute, have a discussion post show about what's coming up, but I literally said no, we're gonna watch it. Everything's dependent on it. So, yeah, we could continue the podcast. This is great, uh, phil, if you want to let everybody know where they can listen to old and now new episodes of our ongoing podcast, let them know and we'll wrap this up.

Speaker 2: 38:40

Another quick review here from Letterboxd Sexy, hot, yet deadly single dad and cute, snarky, shunned by society found daughter duo. I've seen enough. Welcome back Joel and Ellie from the Last of Us.

Speaker 1: 38:55

I had a feeling the Last of Us was going to come up at some point, and you just managed to sneak it in there right there at the buzzer.

Speaker 2: 39:03

So, yeah, folks, if you enjoyed this episode, I think you'll enjoy the rest of our content and everything you need to follow. The WayForward podcast is in the Linktree link of the show notes. You'll find our complete library. As Eric mentioned, for all of our previous episodes, we have had a blast here in July and we still have a couple more great episodes coming up, including our really, really fun conversation with the Cheese, who is a professional wrestler based here in Florida, and we had just a great time nerding it up with him. And that's not only professional wrestling we talked about. We also talked a lot of pop culture. So please make sure you stick around for that.

Speaker 2: 39:41

Follow us on social media, the most important ones being Instagram, tiktok, our growing Discord page, as well as Twitch, where we stream every Thursday night. If you want to support the show, you can do a couple of things. You can head on over to Apple Podcasts, leave a five-star review, or on Spotify that helps tremendously. Or you can go on to YouTube leave a like, follow all of that, hit the bell icon, whatever it is that YouTubers say. All of that is very, very helpful and if you want to maybe get some extra perks, see some behind-the-scenes stuff and get access to that Letterboxd episode that's coming later on in the year, eric will let you know how you can join a very, very special community yeah.

Speaker 1: 40:19

So there's a couple different ways you can support us that are free. Phil mentioned them. Of course, all of the growing communities that we're building, but we're also wanting to build our community on patreon, where patrons like stefan briar and t3 Kato are supporting us and we truly appreciate that. They're getting that behind the scenes exclusive access that Phil talked about, as well as early access to episodes like this one. So, as we continue to grow that platform, we truly want to do a lot more, but there are free tiers if you want to just get a couple access to clips before the episode releases. There's also free trials on patreon.

Speaker 1: 40:57

Somebody actually tried that out and may be a subscriber after a period, so we might be shouting that person out in addition to our other patrons. With that being said, you don't have to do all that. Of course, you could give us the likes, the comments, the shares, the engagements, all of that jazz. Don't feel threatened at all by my co-host, but, yeah, if you don't do it, bad things will probably happen to you. My name is Mr Eric Almighty. That is my co-host, phil the Filipino, and please don't forget, we release new episodes every Wednesday on the podcast, with bonus content on platforms like TikTok and Twitch and all you got to do is wait for it.

Speaker 2: 41:41

So I heard you're looking for a go-to source for entertainment. Wait for it Gaming, Wait for it Anime.

Speaker 1: 41:50

Plus Ultra, mr Eric. Almighty and Phil the Filipino yeah, they've got you covered, and all you gotta do is wait for it.

Speaker 2: 42:10

This is the Wait For it Podcast.