Review and Statement Regarding Seven X

Most of you may not know much about Ultra Seven X, and some might not even be aware that such an Ultraman exists. It truly belongs to that group of forgotten Ultramen. Yet, in reality, Ultra Seven X is hailed as a masterpiece within the entire Ultraman franchise.

This is precisely why I went to great lengths to write the Ultra Seven X arc, desperately wanting to try my hand at crafting a story featuring such a legendary Ultraman. However, things have not gone well, and the reception has been so abysmal that it makes me question my life choices.

Ultra Seven X aired in a late-night time slot, so its cinematography is saturated with a strange, nocturnal eerie atmosphere. As you all know, the battles in Ultra Seven X take place entirely at night, and they are almost always life-sized combat engagements. Furthermore, the fight durations are extremely brief—usually wrapped up in a minute. If you were to time it, the actual screen time for combat is so short that he practically obliterates opponents in seconds, earning him the moniker of the "One-Second Master." This is precisely why, in the Ultra Seven X arc, I placed heavy emphasis on the human characters; relatively speaking, the narrative screen time for Ultra Seven X himself was drastically reduced.

Because the nocturnal atmosphere is chillingly bizarre, a great deal of the filming techniques leaned heavily into horror cinema. For instance, the two-second sequence in Episode 8 bears a resemblance to Psycho, alongside numerous other horror-film production tropes that I will not list exhaustively here. Moreover, the cinematography frequently utilizes the opening sequence of Episode 1, where Jin is submerged in the blue ocean—the moment he merges with Seven—which is sometimes reprised in the endings. Fortunately, this show did not pull high viewership ratings; otherwise, it might have sparked another wave of parental complaints similar to the broadcast of Ultraman Nexus. (Due to its late-night slot and low ratings, very few people even know of this Ultraman's existence.)

The cinematography heavily employs night scenes, and almost every episode begins with the sudden appearance of aliens or brutal homicide scenes. For example, Episode 3 features a gang robbing money; Episode 7 shows a female musician playing an instrument when an alien suddenly appears; and Episode 8 depicts Kyosuke Ata transforming into an extraterrestrial being to commit murder. It is exceptionally terrifying, and those who are faint of heart would do best not to watch it in the dead of night. Notably, to heighten the eerie atmosphere, Kyosuke Ata hallucinates that the wife he murdered is still alive after killing her; that sequence is utterly spine-chilling. When Jin punctures Kyosuke Ata's illusion, Kyosuke is dressed in red, and that scene is genuinely terrifying. (To be completely honest, when I was catching up on the series and reached this episode, I felt a bit scared myself, as I am somewhat faint of heart.)

This terrifying and bizarre cinematography, heavily borrowing from horror movie techniques, is precisely the highlight that makes Ultra Seven X an outstanding representative of dark-themed Ultraman series. Yet, personally, I feel that if this show were to be imported in the future, many children might suffer from nightmares every single night.

It is worth mentioning that in the ultimate finale, the dozen-or-so seconds where Dan Moroboshi and Anne reunite by the sea are brimming with a surreal, dreamlike quality. The scene we anticipated for a full forty years was finally realized.

Therefore, it can be said that the overall theme of Ultra Seven X remains heavy and bizarre, earning it the reputation of a dark-leaning Ultraman.

Consequently, the reception has been terribly poor. As a first-time author, I failed to communicate properly with my editor when the book was first put on shelves, and I immediately ran into severe writer's block right at the commercial launch. On top of that, everyone seemed stubbornly fixated on the idea that the protagonist was merely sidelined as a background character, and that everything ought to revolve strictly around him—a situation I find quite helpless. As I already stated in the synopsis, my greater ambition was to showcase the broader history and worldview of the entire Ultraman universe. That is precisely why, during the Civil War in the Land of Light arc, the protagonist (his second personality) barely made any appearances; in reality, the main narrative perspective at that time had already shifted onto Zearth, that tragic hero.

Moreover, in the rush to wrap up the Civil War in花的 Land of Light arc, the transitional writing to shift the perspective back to the Ultra Seven X arc was poorly handled and felt abrupt, prompting some readers to leave complaining comments in the review section.

Shortly after the commercial release, I found myself overwhelmed with final exams, which delayed updates by nearly half a month and caused the book's performance to plummet off a cliff. Because of all these factors combined, I am feeling utterly exhausted and am currently wondering whether I should continue writing at all.

After much deliberation, I have decided to finish my very first book properly, but I will also begin planning a new project and gradually shift my focus toward it.

The above constitutes my full statement.

Presented by Ink-Stained Rainbow
(To be continued.)