Spoiler:
- This match has been planned for a while. All the way to Return of a Good Man nearly being finished, as I wanted to go from it being a one-off to developing characters like Ace and Taro further. Then, before we even got crossovers/collaborations approved, it would have only been Ace vs. Mefilas, Neronga and Gabora vs. Aribunta. Thankfully, crossovers got approved, which definitely improved the dynamic of the match with Z being added.
- This match was also not originally scheduled for Pride Month, but was added to make sure it happened. The event month was something the whole staff wanted for the longest time, but didn't have enough matches to make it happen. At that time, we only had three matches, with a potential fourth, so I suggested throwing mine in there, after figuring out what I wanted to do with Ace and the hosts' characters.
- Originally, TAC would have just been featured in the background, as Ayame was originally going to be a cop, but changed it to consolidate her occupation and the attack group. Plus, it also gave me a better idea on who I wanted Mefilas to disguise himself as.
- Compared to Hideki, I decided to go with original characters, because I'm not the biggest fan of them. They just don't really do anything for me, same with the show, even though I do like a decent number of its ideas. Plus, I figured I'd let someone who is a fan of those two hosts have the honor of debuting them.
- Sort of like Remi, Rutia is a deep dive character. She was a childhood friend and lover to Ace in the Ultraman Story 0 manga.
- The folks in the server will echo this, but I'm not a fan of New Empire. So, when the time came to pretty much submit the match, there was no way I could have finished this without making this feel rushed. And by rushed, I mean, by not giving Mefilas, TAC, and Ace Killer the development they deserved, making them feel underdeveloped. Basically, this was not intended to be a two-part story, but this got bigger than I anticipated to where I needed to cut it up to make it all work. Point is, I would have been a hypocrite if I didn't separate the story into two matches.
- One thing I definitely wanted to do with Ace is make him someone you're conflicted on. I wanted people to either emulate his loved ones by supporting him no matter what or be like Ayame who views him as a complete dick. I'm thrilled to see I'm getting comments from both sides about how they feel about him.
- Building up on that last point, adding Z helps give Ace not only a sense of responsibility, but as a subconscious reminder he can do better. Z was obviously going to be well liked and serves as a lighter reflection of him if things didn't turn out the way they did.
- And then for curiosity's sake, Ultraman Z is 99% canon to this timeline. Anything mentioning him not being on Earth before or not fighting a Chouju is ignored.
- This match was also not originally scheduled for Pride Month, but was added to make sure it happened. The event month was something the whole staff wanted for the longest time, but didn't have enough matches to make it happen. At that time, we only had three matches, with a potential fourth, so I suggested throwing mine in there, after figuring out what I wanted to do with Ace and the hosts' characters.
- Originally, TAC would have just been featured in the background, as Ayame was originally going to be a cop, but changed it to consolidate her occupation and the attack group. Plus, it also gave me a better idea on who I wanted Mefilas to disguise himself as.
- Compared to Hideki, I decided to go with original characters, because I'm not the biggest fan of them. They just don't really do anything for me, same with the show, even though I do like a decent number of its ideas. Plus, I figured I'd let someone who is a fan of those two hosts have the honor of debuting them.
- Sort of like Remi, Rutia is a deep dive character. She was a childhood friend and lover to Ace in the Ultraman Story 0 manga.
- The folks in the server will echo this, but I'm not a fan of New Empire. So, when the time came to pretty much submit the match, there was no way I could have finished this without making this feel rushed. And by rushed, I mean, by not giving Mefilas, TAC, and Ace Killer the development they deserved, making them feel underdeveloped. Basically, this was not intended to be a two-part story, but this got bigger than I anticipated to where I needed to cut it up to make it all work. Point is, I would have been a hypocrite if I didn't separate the story into two matches.
- One thing I definitely wanted to do with Ace is make him someone you're conflicted on. I wanted people to either emulate his loved ones by supporting him no matter what or be like Ayame who views him as a complete dick. I'm thrilled to see I'm getting comments from both sides about how they feel about him.
- Building up on that last point, adding Z helps give Ace not only a sense of responsibility, but as a subconscious reminder he can do better. Z was obviously going to be well liked and serves as a lighter reflection of him if things didn't turn out the way they did.
- And then for curiosity's sake, Ultraman Z is 99% canon to this timeline. Anything mentioning him not being on Earth before or not fighting a Chouju is ignored.
