OK RANT TIME
This inspired by @ben-10-setting-omnicrom and their Omni-Rant so bare with me.
I've always seen way too much flak being flung at Ben 10 so I feel like ranting and sharing what I personally find to be particularly awesome/enjoyable about the series.
First, the art style/animation
Why did people hate the art style so much? Like, I thjnk its the most dynamic thats the series has had do far. It helps the characters look more fluid I think and it just looks really cool. Also i think the character designs get too much flak. I mean yeah they have WAY more green then alot of the older designs do, but cmon. They look awesome.
Next up, the villains.
I absolutely love the villains in Omniverse, both big and small, though for now im focusing on the major big bads for the purpose of this.
- Albedo is put to some of the best use in this show, even if he just becomes a sort of M.O.D.O.K clone. He has good banter when he's around, the ultimatrix is put to better use here then in Ultimate Alien I think, and the fact he remains a more active presence then Vilgax says alot. I'll admit I never saw too much of his inclusion in UA and AF, but what I like about Omniverse is that it still manages to still keep his inclusion so solid that it doesn't feel kike you have to watch the previous shows to understand his motivations as a villain.
- Khybar is by far a fan favorite, and his sheer determination for trying to kill Ben keeps him interesting. Plus he introduces Skurd so that helps (Also the nemetrix is by far my preferred alternative to act as the opposite Omnitrix) I think hes one of the best reacurring villians the series has and, while i acknowledge he has flaws as a character, I think they can be looks past pretty easily.
- Ghost Freak (Zs'Skayr) is put to SUCH GOOD USE. I love the fact that Omniverse went into more detail about his home planet, and they even brought back Dr Victor as an active part of the story. Also was Cujo supposed to be the Yenaldooshi? Cause it always bugged me why he looked so different from other Loboans, including Benwolf and Scout) And yes there's the obvious fact that he has a much more apparent alterations to his design, but I like hoe they tried to make him look more like a Grim Reaper. I think it works and I believe that it can stand well next to the classic Ghostfreak design.
- Malware is hands down my favorite villain. Not only is he voiced amazingly by Corey Burton, who also played Megatron in Transformers Animated, he's also just hands down an amazing villain. Yeah they could've gone more into his potentially sympathetic side, but even still he's so well written, and even has a major part in the first couple seasons of the series. I'm still annoyed at how he wss essentially turned into a suit for Vilgax but nonetheless it doest change anything.
- Maltruant is a great series finale villain, and while i was never a huge fan of Clockwork as a alien or character, I like how they put more focus on the Chronosapiens as a species with Maltruants character. Plus we get more Time Travel antics and while this isn't necessarily a beef I have with Maltruant, I just think this treatment shouldve been stretched out to Eon who, frankly, got sidelined pretty hard outside of his inclusion with Proffesor Paradox. Also last thing, HE'S VOICED BY MARK HAMIL! I SWEAR MARK HAMIL NEEDS TO MORE VOICE WORK AS ANIMATED VILLAINS.
- PSYCHOBOS IS THE FUNNIEST FUCKING VILLAIN HANDS DOWN YOU WILL NOT CHANGE MY MIND ON THIS.
Legit I love everything about Psychobos. His banter with Asmuth and the galvans, the fact he has such a massive ego he could give The Leader a run for his money, and he's seemingly outsmarted by both Blukage and Driba its just stupid funny to me. And like he can actually be a semi threatening villain. When I was first introduced to Alien Force as a kid I loved Brainstorm, just for the fact that he's a super intelligent crab. It just stuck with me.
And this isn't even including the other side villains in the series. Psyphon, Fistrick, Fistina, hell even fuckint Thunderpig, they're all enjoyable villains. Really theres only 3 villains I actually dislike, and thats Vilgax, Kundo, and Eon.
Kundo was just meh to me, Eon I feel like was rather underused outside of Proffesor Paradox (yeah I know I said it twice)
And Vilgax... Vilgax got sidelined heavily, to the point his most interesting inclusions was when a janitor/plumber was mistaken for being Vilgax. And I think this comes from how oversaturated he's become.
He was such a central villain in the original series, up until Sectret of the Omnitrix. But after that I think he was just, kinda overused. Yeah in the latter half of AF and part of UA he was fine, but he just got overused. He's basically a Cthulu version of Thanos with his reputation and all.
This is all personal and I know some people still think he's one of the best villains in the show, and I agree. I just think that he started to lose his touch after the original series ended. Plus, I just didn't like his various redisigns. The tubes and the massive dark armor just stuck with me more.
Tell me, which one looke like an extremely intimidating villain who could slaughter planets? And which one looks like an amalgamation of Thanos, Darkseid, and Cthulu?
Finally, my overall thoughts on the show as a whole and Bens growth throughout it, compared to previous shows.
I think the show does really well for what it tries to accomplish, and I don't quite understand the hate. Yes I admit, it has some rather crude or cringe worthy moments, but it has some equally funny and heartfelt moments,, intercut with some fun and enjoyable action all throughout the series.
And for those who think he's at his worst as a character in this series. How is it compared to how Ultimate Alien essentually turned the Ben we knew from Alien Force back into immature and clueless 10 yr old Ben? The Omniverse interpretation actually has more explanation for his more slacker/relaxed moments.
Like @ben-10-setting-omnicrom said, he isnt just a hero on his own or working with a nonexistent alien government like the plumbers. He's been doing this for so long now its become second nature to him at this point. I like to tbink of him as the "Tony Stark of Bellwood". He's a celebrity and for him, all of this is just second nature of force of habit, so he acts more freely and cocky with situations, because he knows how they'll always play out.
That is to say, he isnt without his mature moments or losses. He loses plenty of times in this show, or he is forced into situations where he can't be his usual cocky self.
When the Incursians invaded earth and he was banished, forced to stay away at the risk of his whole planet being destroyed? He planned an infiltration strategy, executed it with minimal to no issues, and managed to return to earth and save the planet.
When Feedback was erased from the Omnitrix and he was forced into an emotional slump, losing what he believed to be an integral part of his being, what did he do? He grew from the situation, learned to never heavily rely on one alien (for the most part), and he grew to learn form that loss and become the hero he is today.
If he was just an immature teenager who didn't really bother to care for fights or their outcome, shy would he jump headlong first into a literal big bang. He was willing to sacrifice himself and risk never even existing, just to ensure a villain didn't win.
Thank you for coming to my TedTalk, I'm gonna go sleep this off now.