Seven Is Still Chasing Me, F**k! / 245. Thank You, Dagu

The moment the Ultra Brothers appeared, Li Ri'ang felt his emotions rise to a new level.

It was an indescribable emotion; if he had to describe it, Li Ri'ang could only choose one word—a sense of relief.

"So you've all been here all along..."

Li Ri'ang revealed a faint smile, while tears slowly streamed down his face.

Those weren't tears of sadness or grief, but rather tears of emotion and joy.

Although Li Ri'ang had a similar feeling from the moment he saw Hayata and the others at the beginning of the movie.

But it wasn't until the Ultra Brothers actually appeared that he was truly certain.

The heroes of the past have returned.

No, they never left themselves in the first place; they simply exist in this world in another form.

As long as there are people in this world calling for Ultraman, they will surely appear before them and become the heroes in everyone's hearts.

"This is terrible... I actually gave up because of such a small setback... How pathetic of me to say I want to become Ultraman..."

"But... but..."

Li Ri'ang thought of his childhood, when he was scolded by his parents for not doing well on exams and felt depressed.

Back then, I needed to turn on the TV, put the disc in the player, and see Ultraman fighting on the screen to cheer myself up.

Because Ultraman's indomitable spirit and tireless struggle for humanity will forever be his role model.

"Drink it!"

On the screen, watching Jack use the Ultra Bracelet to break through Jepandon's shield, the loud battle roars made Li Ri'ang feel light and cheerful.

"A clean and crisp battle cry... fists more powerful than ever before... a beautiful beam of light streaking across the night sky... no matter how many times, Ultraman will always lift my spirits."

Li Ri'ang clenched his fists, his smile growing more relaxed. He had completely let go of his burdens and, mimicking his nephew's tone, cheered for Ultraman on the screen.

"Go for it, Ultraman! You can't lose, right?"

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

Sitting in a North American movie theater, Milo Johnson, arms crossed, is pondering how to complete the new task assigned to him by the bigwigs above—a review of <Super Eight>.

Despite his undeniable commercialism, as a film critic with "exceptionally discerning" taste, he couldn't simply echo the average viewer's praise of the special effects, could he?

Even if movie fans are willing to buy it, the boss who pays him certainly won't.

I spent hundreds of thousands of dollars just to have you act as a broken record?!

So, for the sake of those greenbacks, Milo Johnson knew he had to say something that ordinary people wouldn't think of, such as the film's structure and narrative style.

However, the plot of the movie "Super Eight" is too simple, and apart from the sentimental mark, the character portrayals are too black and white.

Especially the biggest villain in the movie—the guy in the black hood—is a completely illogical jerk who only thinks about destroying the world and has no depth whatsoever.

Fortunately, the film's characters are simple to define, but it involves a large number of people and explores a wide range of emotions.

Throughout the entire movie, aside from the themes of monster attacks and how humans and Ultraman deal with them,

Director Shinji Matou also focused on the details, capturing the most important things in the lives of ordinary people.

These seemingly trivial details, which aren't even subplots, effectively soothe the audience's nerves after watching the grand scenes.

At the same time, it can also serve to embellish the theme, making the main characters more vivid and relatable within the limited film length.

For example, the film celebrates the bonds between family members from several perspectives.

Needless to say, the families of the Ultraman human hosts are also depicted. Even without Hideki Go's grief at his wife's bedside, Lena encouraging Daigo to find himself, and Ryo helping Asuka regain his confidence... these scenes specifically depict their emotions.

Just by looking at the various details of how the human hosts interact with their spouses—especially their frequent smiles at each other—viewers can feel how good their relationship is.

In fact, there were only a few scenes of these characters interacting, but the Director easily imprinted the image of "they are a model couple" deep in the audience's minds.

Milo Johnson knew very well that this "family first" concept would easily resonate with North American audiences, and this mainstream value orientation would undoubtedly please the mainstream audience.

People often like to say that Westerners have different family values than Asia, that they place more emphasis on individual independence and autonomy, and so on...

This is all nonsense. The universal values of most people around the world are actually quite similar, and family is always the topic that everyone cares about most.

If we don't care about family, then why does Hollywood produce so many family-themed movies, and why do those big-budget films constantly mention "family"?

Of course, family values in Europe and America will definitely differ from those in East Asia, especially regarding the issue of "blood ties".

Europeans and Americans, especially, value "family" more than blood ties.

The most typical example is Shazam!, which was a flop in Asia but a huge hit in North America. One of the main reasons the movie was so popular in North America was that it tells the story of the kinship between families with no blood ties.

Such families are rare in Asia, but they resonate strongly with people in North America.

According to Milo Johnson, this is precisely the brilliance of the film <Super Eight>.

The human families that Shinji Matou presents can actually be considered a large extended family.

They often dine together and participate in activities together; everyone is part of this family.

It is precisely this way of getting along that makes the changes in Daigo and the others' mentality after Sakata Akiko's injury so convincing.

Milo Johnson knew very well that this kind of plot about striving for one's family, though seemingly extremely cliché, is often the most touching part of a movie.

Even if it can't become a "tearjerker," it can at least make the characters' actions seem more realistic and believable.

According to Milo Johnson, whether it's fight scenes, explosion scenes, destruction scenes, or family scenes, these are all techniques Shinji Matou.

This Director has only one goal: to please the market and the audience through these things. He doesn't care if they're vulgar, as long as he can make money.

Milo Johnson didn't seem to have any objection to this.

Wasn't the money he got from the Jidai Group earned through Shinji Matou's movies?

Ultimately, these moviegoers sitting in the theaters were actually customers who were giving money to Milo Johnson!

In that case, the more people the better.

"I wonder what the other industry peers will think?"

Milo Johnson, who has completely "fallen for money," wouldn't care about the vulgar scenes in " Over Super Eight," but other film critics certainly wouldn't think so.

"Hopefully they can be more rational and not start arguing with the audience in the theater."

Milo Johnson's idea might very well become a reality, given that other film critics in Europe and America are currently in a very bad mood.

Japan film critics consider Ultraman a children's tokusatsu film, while Chinese filmmakers view it as an animated film—both are categories for children.

Therefore, film critics in Japan and China were never prepared to give <Super Eight> a normal movie review from the beginning.

However, film critics in Europe and America have a different view. Because of the hype surrounding the battle between Super Eight and Godzilla, the European and American film industry categorizes Super Eight as a normal film.

The audience didn't care; the movie was action-packed, and they enjoyed it.

But film critics are different. They evaluate this film using normal cinematic reasoning, and they find something wrong with it no matter how they look at it.

In the eyes of these film critics, the entire movie is filled with simple and brutal fighting and sentimentality from beginning to end, and its biggest selling point is precisely the realistic special effects that they dislike the most.

For them, the question isn't whether they like a movie or not, but whether they'll suffer from it.

If I am guilty, please let me go to jail, not watch a movie that makes my ears ring.

This statement can be said to be the most truthful reflection of the feelings of all European and American film critics.

Fortunately, the movie was nearing its end, and they only needed to be patient a little longer for it to finish.

Actually, after the Showa Four Elders transformed into Ultraman, there was no suspense left in this movie.

After all, it's one thing to keep the story drawn out in the early stages, but it's pointless to create suspense later on by twisting plot points just for the sake of twisting.

So, after the Showa Four Elders appeared and rescued the bronze Ultraman Mebius, the rest of the plot was the familiar Ultraman fighting monsters.

The Heisei Ultraman Trilogy battle against the Martial Emperor Beast, while Jack, Ultraman, and Ace fight against Jepandon.

Seven's remaining task was to deal with the lone Hippolito Alien.

Back in the Showa era, Seven lost a one-on-one fight against Hippolito Alien and was then turned into a bronze statue.

This time, Seven declared that he would avenge himself and teach this guy with the hanging face a lesson.

So Seven transformed into Little Ma, unleashing a soul-stirring roar at the Hippolito Alien: "I've waited 34 years for this opportunity!"

Hippolito Alien tried to put up a fight, but he was no match for Seven, who was now using a cheat code with background music enabled.

They were not the same clansmen as before. Even though they both had drooping hairs on their faces, one was erect and the other was impotent, making the difference in their combat power obvious.

The Hippolito Alien, who was completely defeated by Seven's punch, could only fly away, and then Seven toyed with him in the air like a dog.

With the help of the headshot attack, Seven could easily intercept enemies one-on-one in the air.

Upon seeing Seven relentlessly pursuing him, the Hippolito Alien uttered an alien curse.

"Seven is still chasing me, damn it!"

"Puff----"

Upon hearing the familiar lines, Li Ri'ang almost choked on his food.

"Wow... no wonder the voice acting for the Hippolito Alien sounded so familiar, oh, it's this one..."

Chapter 245 Thank you, Daigo

"Seven is still chasing me, damn it!"

This line comes from episode 44 of the TV series "Ultraman 80". It was originally just an ordinary line, but because the voice actor Gong Ming pronounced it so clearly, it became unusually funny.

In fact, older generation voice actors not only pronounced their lines clearly but also conveyed rich emotions. Although they might occasionally have a "translationese" feel due to translation issues, they left a very deep impression, some even surpassing the original.

It was completely different from the emotionless, chanting-style voice acting that came later.

However, because of the excessive emotion and the fact that he didn't mind using profanity when translating lines in the past, many classic insults have been created that have stood the test of time.

Lines like "Babarboss, you bastard!", "Brothers, the situation is urgent, kill the traitor Asrat!", and "Seven is still chasing me, damn it!" are all famous scenes that you can imagine the sounds just by looking at the pictures.

This is why, before, Li Ri'ang only felt that the voice of the Hippolito Alien sounded somewhat familiar, but when this line came out, it awakened his memory.

Even after recalling the source, Li Ri'ang only found it amusing.

He was unaware that, in order to ensure the authenticity of this line, film Director Shinji Matou had specifically sought out Gong Ming, the "King of Zhu Zi Kingdom," to voice the Hippolito Alien.

Not only Mr. Gong Ming, Shinji basically searched for all the older generation of voice actors he could find back then.

For example, the most famous lines of the voice actors for Yapool are actually spoken by Chen-kuang She, who Hideki Go, Zheng Yu-zhi, and He Yan. After checking the dubbing of the Shanghai Film Dubbing Studio, Shinji basically found all the voice actors he could hire.

These voice actors were also surprised that Tsuburaya Productions would invite them to do voice acting. It was the best gift for them that someone remembered them and affirmed their work from back then.

Incidentally, the teachers also had the opportunity to reunite with their former colleagues and work together again, making them feel as happy as if they were having a reunion with their old classmates.

Shinji's achievement in doing this can also be seen as a reunion of the older generation of actors.

All I can say is that this beastly Director, despite his despicable nature, really went to great lengths to fulfill his childhood dream.

The final result of the film was, of course, satisfying.

Watching the eight Ultraman on the screen use their signature beams to defeat Wudi Beast, Jepandon, and Hippolito Alien, viewers of all ages felt a satisfying sense of exhilaration.

But just as humanity celebrated its victory once more, darkness descended once more.

Undeterred, the Dark Shadow Mage transformed into a gigantic form and appeared before the eight Ultraman and humans.

"We will not disappear! We can summon powerful monsters countless times, shrouding humanity's hearts in despair and darkness, and annihilating all the Ultraman in Parallel world! Hahahaha~~"

Accompanied by the giant Shadowmancer's rampant laughter, the Earth began to be shrouded in Black Mist, and various disasters occurred all over the world as this enormous figure began to influence the planet.

Tsunamis, earthquakes, typhoons, volcanic eruptions, torrential rains, cold waves...

The Earth, ravaged by various disasters, once again appears to be in a state of apocalyptic devastation.

Unfortunately, the people this time were significantly different from those in the previous instances.

Because people have Ultraman.

"Don't underestimate the human spirit! You're the one who deserves to be wiped out!"

As the undisputed leader among the eight Warriors, he angrily denounced the Shadowmancer's arrogance and conceit.