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Ultraman Z Discussion Thread
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I really loved this premiere, by the way. There was basically no fat on it, and that's always something to commend. It did a great job telling the story and establishing the world through the big spectacle action, rather than having to carve out separate space for each of those elements. There's maybe two scenes here that don't have something exciting going on, which sets a tone for a series that seems to be all about being hot-blooded.
The action itself is, as always, utterly astonishing at points, and "merely" totally beautiful at all other times. Kiyotaka Taguchi has proved how good his direction is again and again on these shows, and it's not letting up here. There's a lot of emphasis on scale, which is just what you want out of Ultraman, and I especially appreciate touches like having the first bit of action in the show be a fight between two people in suits that aren't the same size. I'm sure that takes a ton of extra work to pull off, but, you know, those are the production values you get with Ultraman. Speaking of that first scene, I remember being a little harsh on Taiga's opening for launching straight into the action with all the New Generation heroes before really establishing any stakes. That kind of big team-up has its own appeal, don't get me wrong, but for my money, an opening where the protagonist immediately saves a dog creates a way more immediate emotional connection to the story. It's a fun sequence that gets me liking Haruki and his overeager spirit right away, all while still being exciting. Bringing Z into the mix quickly leads to even more endearing fun. I'm always down for a good Showa throwback, and as if the unironic use of Sevenger wasn't enough, Haruki becoming Z's host plays out in a clear homage to the original series... until it quickly starts going wrong, because Z and Haruki are both pretty big goofs. Z miserably failing at speaking in a formal manner is hilarious, and Haruki struggling to figure out how his new toys works is even better. I love stuff like this. I'm not one to complain about toku heroes' seemingly innate knowledge of how to work their gear sometimes, but doing a subversion to this level is just so inspired. They were not afraid to undercut that moment at every turn, and I think for a show about two inexperienced heroes who are going to be doing a lot of growing together, that was a smart move. Beyond that, I don't know how much I can say that isn't obvious. Everything was awesome! The opening song: awesome! The ending song: awesome! Mamoru Miyano telling you to subscribe to Tsuburaya's channel: awesome! The way the Z Riser's voice says "Alpher" Edge: awesome! It's hard for me to even try analyzing Ultraman shows, because year after year, I'm just filled with total childlike glee every time I'm watching one. Z's looking to be another home run, so more than anything, I guess I just want to express again my sincere hope that everyone is giving this series a chance, even if they've never seen anything Ultraman-related before. Trust me, you'd have to be actively trying to not enjoy yourself! |
It's nice to see a classic monster hunter organization again. It's been a few years!
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So I just got done watching Ultraman Z a second time with a bunch of friends. I absolutely loved it. I know people want longer term Ultra shows but if they can compact their budget and make episodes like this premiere look as good as they do? Then I'm all for the standard 25 Episode series we're getting.
It was really fun, snappy, and hilarious, and just also yeah the music was top notch too. I just had a bunch of fun with this episode which was great. Not to mention just the dialogue and interactions, when both Sevengar and Z start going low on power Haruki immediately asks "You too?" since they decided to give Sevengar the same 3 minute limit that Ultra's have via 1 minute batteries. Plus just stuff like the transformation sequence, all the nice little callbacks, and the action as well, like, I wasn't expecting our first beam finisher to be a mid-air dbz power struggle. Oh and Z being extra and flying off with an energy trail that resembles a Z. Other than that, our villain looks to be very, very creepy, and we seem to have a third party in play. Not to mention just the general mysteries like the Captain just ducking out almost immediately after the big debut fight is over. And would you look at that this just turned into me rambling so much. But I guess that's just my excitement leaking through. But before I go, the OP was already good from a sound and vocal standpoint, but they really stuck the landing because the visuals really helped sell it even further. |
Yo! This first episode was fantastic. I am immediately endeared to the cast, tone, and action. I love all the quiet world building. Establishing a universe where monster's exist but no one has seen an ultra before I think hasn't been done before (correct me if I'm wrong though).
I really like the hazmat team at the end it's a nice touch to show how the world is cleaned up after monster explode which isn't often explored. I do wonder where zero was sent though. |
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I'm kinda glad I ended up watching quite a bit of Ultraman 66 before and saw Bullton's episode, this little cameo was a delight as a result. |
It was surprising to have the episode opens with STORAGE instead of Ultraman Z.
Although...... Z's grunts is very weird and doesn't match his voice at all. Maybe it's a throwback to how older Ultramen having different voices when they are speaking vs their grunts. Having Alpha Edge as the main form is kind of a genius actually, as it helps showing how beneficial is the need gor an Ultraman to fuse with a human host, as it grants them a special set if powers. This is likely inspired by Zero's fusion with Leito, as he can only access Beyond with Leito unless from an additional method. Finally, Z being unfamiliar with Earth's custom, or rather Earthese, is going to be a hilarious and highly looking forward to it becoming a running gag. |
It was awesome!
I really enjoyed this opening episode. The characters are already super likable, I love the Sevenger robot being used by STORAGE and the chemistry between Haruki and Z is so much fun. All of this alongside the amazing action and miniature settings Tsuburaya is famous for - I'm hooked! |
That theme song Ultra-rocks, and this whole episode was Ultra-great! Just right off the bat, the show really gives a strong and good impression that it will be a fun, high-energy adventure with plenty of smart and self-aware moments too.
I want to add that Sevenger is Ultra-cute (I'll stop now) and I hope it and Windam see plenty of use in this show. Also Zero was only in it for a minute or so, but his exchange with Z was really fun. I'm sure there will be more explored regarding their relationship down the line (unless it's all happening in those voice dramas that don't have subs...). By the way, is there going to be a topic for every episode or is this thread just going to be the Ultraman Z thread forever? I'm fine either way, personally. |
Love the attention to detail, the scale of things, and the writing. Fight choreo is on point as well. Final verdict?
ULTRA-GOOD |
Well, damn. They really wanted to make a strong debut with Z didn't they? The production and direction on this was just insane. I don't expect every episode to look like that but still... man. Man. Plus I'm really happy Tsuburaya are giving us subtitles too. Hopefully someone subtitles the Voice Dramas though. There was a lot of cool stuff in the Taiga Voice Dramas (That I wish were in the show for reals).
Oh yeah the Taiga movie. I wonder when that'll ever come out. The STORAGE crew seem like a fun bunch of characters. Based on one episode, I like them more than the E.G.I.S guys who I thought were all fairly flat. Is the captain literally just Juggler? The interactions between Z and Haruki were ultra-great. I hope they keep that up, there should've been more of it in Taiga. "The trigger. You finish by pulling the trigger" I still don't really like how Alpha Edge looks. But I like his Slugger... nunchuck things and how he leaves a big Z in the sky when he Shuwatches away. It's silly. Also, uhh, yeah, everything else about this was great. (Oh man that opening theme... and the closing theme!) If you haven't watched it yet, why haven't you watched it yet? Watch it. Osu! |
Great first episode, but not a whole lot that the franchise hadn't done a million times before. The overall quality of the more recent Ultra shows speaks for itself, but I do worry that Tsuburaya are getting a little too complacent and afraid to break the mould sometimes.
That concern aside though, there was a promise here and I'm very interested to see where the show it taking some of its characters - especially with how suspicious they presented Shota. Most of all though I'm just very up for the Sevenger show feat. Ultraman Z :p |
The episode was great I'll give it that, but that's just about it. I feel it just gets very samey and doesn't really bring a whole lot of new to the table, which then leads me to get bored of it.
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I liked the premiere. It definitely did a better job of getting me engaged and interested than Taiga's premiere last year (I'll get around to watching that, I swear; I have the whole series on my computer just waiting for me to get in the right mood). Yes, it's very Ultraman-y (saving the puppy is straight out of the first episode of Return), but it's Ultraman. Ultraman has always been very formulaic so I have a hard time really faulting the show for not doing something radically different, especially after how cold R/B left me.
I loved the scene where Z had to explain how the transformation gadget worked to Haruki. It reminded me a lot of Den-O and Ryotaro's awkward first transformation. You could probably argue that it was kind of an instruction manual for the roleplay toy, but I still thought it was a cute scene that ended on a good joke. My only real complaint is Z's tendency to add "Ultra-" to the start of some phrases. I grew up in the 80s and this just makes me flash back to the Captain N version of Mega Man. That is not a good thing. |
Kinda bummed they didn't subbed the voice drama. It looked hilarious and really adds to the Z and Zero's dynamic.
Hell you can tell every time Zero returns to Land of Light Z would be there pestering him all the time, no wonder he preferred travelling to multiverse. Also love Z's battle theme. It felt like it's medieval/high fantasy Ultraman. |
The Voice Drama has subtitles now:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WJK...ature=youtu.be Yeah Z's a bit of a dork. |
Note that these seem to be community added subtitles and not official ones, if only cause, they seem a bit rough.
If you're looking for subtitles though it looks like Genm Corp is gonna be releasing them for the Voice Drama's since they released the 1st episode like an hour before SHT yesterday. Speaking of the "Voice" Drama, I like how instead of a background this time they actually have stills of the suits in various poses. Makes it feel a lot more lively and a lot more like a visual novel. |
Oh, and one other thing about Z I'm really appreciating? The return of the Orb-style super artistic episode title cards. I started taking them for granted by R/B, but, while that Sakamoto-style explosion was cool, by the end of Taiga, I found myself looking back at some of the ones from Geed and the like and being seriously impressed with how beautiful they are. Very happy to have them back!
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A few days later and I'm genuinely starting to think that this is my most favorite first episode of a modern Ultraman show yet. I don’t think any are bad of course, but some of them do have downtime I'd like to skip. I usually wind up rewatching only selected scenes.
With Z though? I start the episode because I really like the first scene with Sevenger and the awesome opening song... and then 20 minutes later I find that I watched the entire episode again because I couldn’t stop. I feel like this is the kind of fast pace that rarely works for me, Sentai tries something like this on a yearly basis but it feels way too fast most of the time for me. With Z I just adore everything. The starting scene with Sevenger, the short scenes with the STORAGE team, the space fight with Z and Zero, Haruki and Z meeting while fighting against Genegarg, them merging in a very funny scene the hilarious payoff (press the trigger!) and then a really, really well done action scene to finish it all. I really like it when a suit performance can convey character. Like Geed being a bit clumsy at first, the R/B brothers just being brothers tossed into being superheroes, or in this case Z with the might of three space martial arts users at his disposal and boy does it show. I really liked the way they had Alpha Edge perform. I rewatched this episode about 6 times now and I feel like it'll be more before episode 2 comes by. I really hope the rest of the show can entertain me this much, that's all I'm asking :) |
Oh wow... a cardass game exclusive form of Ultraman Zero, and it's happening through Leito using the Ultra Z Riser with the Ultraman, Ultraseven and Ultraman Ace medals. It’s called "Gransabered Zero". I don’t like the design of this form very much, but man, if they would feature Zero again somewhere down the line in Z, bringing Leito back would be the perfect way to do it IMO.
https://twitter.com/tsuburayaprod/st...00456795320320 https://i.imgur.com/lUvbTDd.jpghttps://i.imgur.com/OhnLGqh.png |
Thought I'd chime in as a very new Ultraman fan who's so far only watched through Orb and its movie? (pretty great, by the way! Not phenomenal for me and its storytelling methods weren't quite my thing, but at worst it was just some great Toku fun and at best had some wonderful touching character moments and themes going for it)
Uh, right, digression. As someone who's only just gotten into Ultraman and has yet to go beyond one season? This was AWESOME! I'm immediately liking so much of what's going on here -- how much care and attention goes into the sheer scale of Kaiju battles and the collateral damage and fear to the general public that would naturally cause; the cold opening setting things up so wonderfully; the humans actually being capable on their own with their own techs and anti-Kaiju measures; the clear callback to and reverence of older material without me having to even known anything about it to appreciate it; what little characterisation we have being endearing in its own way! It's... a little funny going from a big anniversary season whose main hero's forms were fusions of past heroes using a circular motif; to a big anniversary season whose main hero's forms are fusions of past heroes using a circular motif. ... and Juggler's here too! But that only means that I can draw positive comparisons -- much of what I liked about Orb's first few episodes are present here; and much of what I didn't enjoy about Orb is completely addressed as well! I'm very new to Ultraman so I can't say for sure which parts of my praise are unique to Z and which parts are just common to the franchise (which would imply that, oh boy, I'm gonna have one hell of a time getting into this), but either way I just found this an extremely strong opening and I immediately want more! |
Like Kurona, I'm new to Ultraman too, in fact this is the very first episode of it I've ever watched! Decided to give it a shot since they made it so easy with the official YouTube subs, and I'm glad I did.
It was a very fast-paced premiere, but didn't feel rushed. It provides just as much information as necessary, while keeping things moving and getting right into the action. That was the thing that stood out to me most actually, the amount of action involved. It was almost non-stop action from beginning to end. I have no idea if that's what Ultraman is normally like or not, but I really enjoyed it. Very flashy and fun, and the show kept finding new ways to keep the action fresh. If the action remains that great all the way through, I'll be impressed. I also really liked the characters, even though it's only been one episode they did a good job of clearly setting up each person's personality and the general dynamic they have with each other. I'm especially fond of the relationship between Z and Haruki. they played off of each other great, and I thought it was very funny when Z gave the big encouraging speech and set Haruki up for his heroic moment, only to have to quickly tell him how to actually use the device he was encouraging him to dramatically use. But even beyond the comedy of it, I really like the little glimpse that gives us into Haruki's personality, in that even though he had no idea how to do what Z was asking him to do, he was clearly willing to throw himself head first into it if it was going to help people. The only issue I have, and it's not really an issue as much as it is a question for Ultraman veterans, is how Ultraman seasons connect, if they do at all? Most of my toku experience comes from Kamen Rider, where each season is completely its own thing with no relation to other seasons. But here, it seemed like it was directly connected to previous stuff, with all the glimpses it had of what I'm assuming were previous Ultraman characters. I didn't feel like that had any impact at all on my understanding of the story, and it definitely felt like this still stands as its own thing, but I'm curious if Ultraman is different from Kamen Rider in that respect because I genuinely don't know. But yeah overall I had a great time with this show and will definitely continue with it, looking forward to expanding my toku horizons! |
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Essentially, while there is a lot of connection between shows, it tends to be pretty strictly focused simply on allowing for returning characters, with elaborate world-building and overarching plots you need to be caught up on being close to non-existent, which is why I'm happy to see people jumping into Z and liking it! |
Two questions for everyone here.
Who is your favorite character? And why is it Sevenger? |
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https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EbaNY2iU...jpg&name=large |
Yeah no shit, AmiAmi is sold out of Sevengers too. I'm hoping for restocks as I want to grab one myself.
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Wow I'm nostalgic for the old soft figures I had of various ultraman and monsters I used to have now. I feel like I'd know exactly how that Sevenger would feel in my hand.
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Speaking of Sevenger, something else I really loved about the premiere I didn't really touch on that much was seeing Haruki and Z get to do some bro-bonding fighting alongside each other. That little synchronized punch grabbed my attention right from the trailers for the show. Something Mebius made a huge point of, that I always loved, was the idea that Ultramen and whatever Science Patrol equivalent of the month fight as equals, and this was a very direct version of that, right down to the hilarious moment where Haruki observes that Z's batteries are running dry too, which might even surpass the photo booth gag from Orb when it comes to cheeky ways to explain the concept of Color Timers to new viewers.
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And... okay, sure, Z is absolutely 100% stronger than Sevenger, but the way it's framed genuinely has you thinking this goofy little robot is capable of not just support but winning the day! He feels less like a failure and more like an actual team member, and I love love love that. Hell, even though he died; he died from the same thing that killed Z! It's like... I dunno, this is just great. It's a great little touch. Talking of tropes getting turned on their head in that scene, I really like that there's no fighting or ~misunderstanding~ between Haruki and Z -- Z clearly acts like an inexperienced hero trying his best out there and knowing that he has to protect these people even if he knows nothing about them; and Haruki literally says "he's obviously the good guy". It's... it was just really nice, y'know? And because I can't stop talking? LOVE how much is conveyed about Z's character through body language alone in that scene. I said 'inexperienced hero', and sure Zero literally said that in the scene directly before; but this made me really really believe it. He acted like an amateur whose heart was in the right place and it really endeared me to him! |
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And to give you another treat, the captain of Xio is also Dr. Maki from OOO ;) https://i.imgur.com/kYKgdrt.png |
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfarlIhl4uo
Another brilliant episode of Sevenger feat. Some Other Guy. |
Okay so this episode was pretty cool.
Hebikura continues to show more Juggler Vibes, and he clearly knows more than he let's on. Also this episode basically indirectly confirmed he has the Tiga, Dyna, Gaia Medals. Because when sparring his neat hair ends up unfurling and he gets a bang, the same bang we saw from last week from what little we saw of our mystery man. Neronga was also a nice choice, and an obvious one given its specialty to drain electricity as well as it's electrical based attacks. Will say though, I am loving Haruki and Zett's dynamic so far, it's honestly hilarious. But what I loved about it was the little callback to Ultraman 66. The line about "Until we try as hard as we can." reminded me so much about the line from the A Little Hero episode of 66, where Hayta tells Ide, "Ultraman will only help us when we're fighting as hard as we can." And I just loved that callback because it just fits so well when it comes to having defense teams and the like. |
I joke about Sevenger stealing the show, but being completely serious, my favorite scene in the entire episode was by far Z's chat with Haruki. His inability to stick to one tone when speaking continues to be hilarious, to a level I'm not sure the subs are doing justice. Which isn't a knock against them, it's tricky stuff to translate, but... I don't know, imagine a fireman who occasionally speaks in the formal manner of a butler, yet is also just as liable to end a sentence with "brah". That's an exaggeration on my part, but I think it gives you a better idea of just how odd Z kind of is when he's talking. Sometimes the awkward switches even happen in the middle of a single sentence.
Putting aside the way he's saying it, the things he says in that scene are great either way. It's a lot more meta comedy, which is the kind of thing that often becomes self-indulgent and unfunny in large doses, but I found it continued to work very well, especially since the scene is taking time to further address standard toku tropes in a way you don't see too often. Even though there's not much an actual explanation, I was pleasantly surprised to see Z explicitly say Haruki only gets to transform after he's given it all just as himself first. It's one of those oft-unspoken rules of Ultraman, usually justified simply by an overall idea that Ultraman isn't meant to just be an omnipotent savior who solves everyone's problems for them, but to see Haruki actively try to give up on fighting a monster without Z's help, it was a nice way to drive that home a bit. It's a strange thing to see happen, and feels faintly wrong. It doesn't explore all these concepts in a particularly deep fashion , but it was still cool of the show specifically write in an instance of Haruki breaking the rules onscreen as part of establishing their importance. It's something I, and probably a lot of other viewers, like to ask questions about and poke fun at, so seeing the show get in on the joke, down to going "look, nobody can see Haruki's giant blue coin purse please stop worrying about it", it makes me feel... I don't know. "Heard" is too dramatic, but you can tell Kouta Fukihara was having loads of loving fun with all the little quirks of the franchise, and it's bittersweet that these episodes are so sharply written knowing he didn't get the chance to see the final product. Which is a heavier note than I expected to end this post on, but I guess my main point is just that I'm getting a ton of enjoyment out of the work he did. Z has been as fun as an Ultra show can be so far, and I'm eagerly awaiting the next episode. |
If the captain ain't Juggler, the creative team's being one hell of a tease
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