Another good episode of Omega! Sorato is sick so he is stuck at home where he has to eat bland foods, while Kosei goes out to discover a new Meteo Kaiju at Rekiness's prompting. I found this episode particularly funny in some scenes, like the knockoff X Files theme that played over the faked video of Omega summoning shitty looking UFOs and Sorato's whole scene where he declared he will go to the hospital after he is better. But it was a pretty biting episode too, with a ruthless streamer who tries to stir up distrust against Omega for attention. It also debuts Trigaron, who honestly just looks really good for a quadrupedal kaiju. I'm a big fan of the design and how good it looks on motion. Omega and Trigaron's little hand to tail high-five was also adorable. I really appreciate how consistently useful the Meteo Kaiju are in this show, the Ultra series often struggles with making the human allies a big part of the battles. Once again Kosei is the only one who seems to be able to use the Meteo Kaiju (and Sorato still doesn't recognize them) but I don't think he has any special powers or anything, they just seem to respond to his bond with Omega. I still think my theory that they are transformed fragments of Omega's memories and powers is pretty sound. The episode ends with Sorato and Kosei officially friends! But, I can't help but find this a little foreboding considering two episodes ago we had an episode about a human-nonhuman friendship that ended sadly. I don't think that plot is going to repeat, but I think it will be important that the idea is on Sorato's mind. He'll probably take it pretty hard if Kosei ever gets hurt because of him.

If I had a nickel for every mysterious child who tried to ward people away from a Kaiju...I'd have wayyyyyyy too many nickles.

Dang, we're yet again beset by internet celebrities getting more involved in Kaiju situations than they should? Now they've even roped in Ayu! Who also ropes in Sorato and Kosei because, well, Sorato will do pretty much anything for food.

(also they don't feel self-conscious leaving their undies hanging up while Ayu is there? I guess she doesn't care or seem to view them as "guys")

I'll give Ghost Riders this much, they sure do have enthusiasm. They even have Sorato doing it! Yippie-Yi-Aie! Yippie-Yi-Oh!

I have questions about the tech level of his Earth where these guys have a working AI named "Jennifer" that they can converse and argue with as well as the ability to 3D project visuals from glasses. And that's before they built a machine that could break dimensional barriers.

Has Omega been to Earth before? Is Daidarabotchi meant to be him? Did they conflate his Ultra and human forms together in that depiction?

Dang it Ayu, you're not supposed to run off on your own!

The legendary "Aga" of Mount Kirifuri isn't "Aga" at all but MONS-AGHAR, the Destructive Kaiju! Who honestly seemed to be just minding his business while stuck in this dimension until the Ghost Riders' machine went haywire and started creating portals that took him to the general public. I almost feel bad for him.

I love how all the Mons-Aghar's these days seem collectively aware of their weakness now.

Good to know for future reference that the Meteor Kaiju don't work like Capsule Kaiju and can't be summoned all together.

I really have to applaud the suit actor playing Trigaron to be able to move as well on all fours in that suit.

Omega with the comedic job of trying to keep everyone from falling into a portal. Portals he closes with...Ultra Fission powers or something?

Trigaron showing more sentience when he recognized Omega's color timer kicking in and they needed Trigaron Armor. Granting Omega blazing fast speeds, a piercing claw gauntlet, and homing nail attacks!

Who was that boy? Why did Mons-Aghar listen to him? Why did he recognize Omega?

I see Ayu takes people treating science like a toy VERY seriously. Meanwhile Sorato is a food stealer!!!

Next week: Did you care about who lives above Sorato and Kosei? Probably not, but we're getting a recap episode with them anyways!

We're not even in the halfway point yet and I am already loving what I am seeing so far with Ultraman Omega as a series. I seriously hope they can keep it up until the very end of its run.

Yeah, I'm glad I took the plunge to watch this one live. I'm not really the biggest New Generation fan, but this show has been all-around great so far and has really broken away from a lot of the typical narratives the series tends to repeat.

This week's episode was a more comedic one, and I couldn't help but feel like the Ghost Riders were some kind of parody of the SSP from Orb... who were already pretty silly. Omega even gets wrapped up in a game of portal whack-a-mole... and Kosei seemed even more exasperated by the ridiculous situation he had gotten involved in than normal (and he didn't even get any Loco Moco!). Still, the episode showed us some intereting stuff that will likely be narratively important. Turns out only one Meteo Kaiju can be used at a time and we have a mysterious ghostly boy that seems to recognize Omega along with what might be a depiction of Omega in the good old Pacific Records. Makes me wonder if Omega had sealed the kaiju of Earth in the past, but after so long they are breaking free.

Just started my rewatch of Ultraman Z via my copy of the series on Blu-Ray as released by Mill Creek that I ordered from Amazon just last month and I would be revisiting the series in its English dub format as well as the original Japanese. I have been looking forward to rewatching Z for quite some time especially in said dub.

It's finally happened: I've seen every New Generation Ultraman show now that I have finished up Ultraman Decker!

It was certainly a vast improvement over Trigger for me, and I would even say I think this is the best New Gen show with the traditional military defense team format honestly. Still, the ties to Trigger are easily the worst part of the show, with the setting and style of the two clashing so heavily (and with a completely unbelievable time gap to boot), that I desperately with they had been kept separate. Decker also has some issues of its own, with an inexplicable time lapse after the first episode too and the whole story with Agams feeling very underdeveloped. Not to mention this is another Ultra show where the secret identity thing causes so many problems I couldn't help but wonder why the hero didn't at least tell their allies. Still, I thought the setting with Earth being cut off from the rest of the universe by the Sphrre was a cool idea, and it granted the show a more introspective feeling than most Ultra shows, focusing on people who had to put their true passions on hold to deal with the Sphere while Kanata himself was a bit aimless as he tried to figure out what drove him. The cast has pretty simple personalities and character arcs, but they made for a compelling team and also have much more grounded and subdued personalities than in many contemporary Ultra shows. I found them all very pleasant to follow throughout the show! I also think the show had a lot of good and unique individual episodes (Lord Ragon was probably my favorite), though it certainky has some mediocre ones too, including a finale that just didn't quite land for me. The movie was a nice conclusion though, even if I laughed at the idea of Kanata somehow being made captain of a spaceship at the end there. Dinas was pretty cool, I liked how brave she was when it came to helping other planets, and how that inspired Kanata to head out into the universe. Overall pretty good stuff, I'll give it a B.

Since I finished all the New Generation shows, I also wanted to talk about my broader thoughts on the series too! I've seen most of the shows and movies from the Ultra series at this point and I certainly consider myself an Ultra fan. I do feel like at the end of the day I am more of a Toei tokusatsu kind of person though. I think it's a combination of the facts, like that I prefer more martial arts oriented fight choreography, I am very into the character drama angle that Toei leans more heavily into, and the fact that the Toei stuff tends to be WAY campier. I also just find that while there are plenty of Ultra shows I like, very few manage to achieve that illustrious "A tier", reserved for shows that make me go a little feral when I think about them, lol. Still, the Ultra series has an impressive legacy. I think the best Showa era Ultra shows were far more daring and ambitious than most of the Toei stuff, and combined whimsy with drama in ways that astonished me. I also quite like most of the Heisei Ultra stuff, which took in various influences from other popular series (and prior Ultra shows), but put a unique spin on them. But... I don't know, I find the New Generation era to be a real trend chaser, while also being prone to exploring the exact same concepts repeatedly. I really think they would benefit from more fresh blood in the writer's room and to reevaluate if they really need to many elements to repeat most seasons just because it is "standard" for the series. Still, I think things have been improving since around when the Reiwa era began, with more shows that try to break the mold and try new things. Omega has been quite unique so far, so I'm hoping we get to see a bright new era of Ultra shows that forge a new direction for the series!

Gubila is back, folks!

Kosei was probably already on a pretty basic budget, but imagine having to then add another guy to the mix. Next thing you know your rock-paper-scissoring just to see who gets to eat a banana and wondering how well the other half lives.

I guess Ayu also must now have a very skewed sense of "normal" to just roll with Kosei's excuses for Sorato's antics.

I know Sorato kind of tends to just do his own thing and doesn't quite understand social conventions...but you'd think Kosei and Ayu would've had more sense than to go along with his trespassing plan. Especially Ayu. They're lucky her job managed to save them from getting arrested.

Kanenari is super rich but only gets lunch from 3-star restaurants!? Kosei never even got to eat any of it!

Musashi would appreciate Kaiju preservation, but not to make a spectacle of it. But count on our penniless himbo to wonder what the big deal about money is. Does it really make you happy?

Feel bad for Ayu that Kosei totally thought she had sold out and really didn't understand her job at all.

Gubila, the Abyssal Kaiju! And a crafty one at that! He may not have the sea around him, but he knows how to play dead and gather up as many things to eat as possible before pouncing! Watch out for his drill AND his water/acid? bombs!

Battle of the Quadruped Kaiju!

Say what you will about Kanenari, he still went back to help Ayu solve one of his employees.

Aw, Trigaron protected everybody! I think the implication was also that he did it on his own, Kosei didn't need to tell him.

So because Omega isn't actually in control of his own form changes, he needs to actually use charades to make Kosei actually give him his armors when Kosei is kind of falling behind the fight pacing. He even makes sure Gubila is fully aware of how he beat him! Cut him up good!

Honestly felt like they should have realized they could share/cook the bananas far sooner than they did.

Not the most substantial Omega episode, but fun enough I suppose. Poor Kosei (in both sensea of the word "poor"). Money can't buy happiness, but there is plenty it can... like food! I kind of wish the whole Kaiju Park angle had been played up more, I would have loved to have seen a bunch of ill-advised rides and merch that was going to be available at the park. Probably the most important piece of character development this episode is that Sorato actually shared his food for once.

I get the sense they're being very budget-conscious with this season.

RECAP TIME (for me)! Here's some highlights!

-Kaiju has Cold Feet!

-Iron Giant with Snake!

-Taking a shot at nuisance streamers and AI!

-I love Meteor Kaiju! Seriously, these are some of my favorite allies and Kaiju, with great forms to boot!

-Sorato and Kosei having horror entrances!

-I knew the Radio Hosts would be the Recappers!

-And my personal favorite, the Ghost Rider Crew and Sorato being easily influenced. Yippie-Aye-Ayy! Yippie-Aye-Oh!

This show has been a delight. Not quite as flashy as other Ultra Shows (then again Arc's fights always had some iconic moment), but I think that's fine. The dynamics of the cast and monster fights are always enjoyable. And that's good enough for me!

Next Episode! Demaaga! My boy!

It must be surreal to be someone whose job is literally to investigate Kaiju...and a reporter would rather interview two guys who always seem to have more information/insight than you do.

Sorato feels like the type of guy who will try anything once.

Oh sweet Mother of Ultra, she's NARRATING while she's filming. And Kosei has virtually no privacy.

Demaaga! Still as fiery as ever!

Trigaron: (After seeing Demaaga sink into and escape via the magma underneath) "Yeah, I ain't going into that."

I really thought Maki was going to pursue the lead with how suspicious the duos' disappearance and reappearance was.

I love how resigned and accepting Ayu has become of how weird Sorato and Kosei are. She's basically just numb to their antics.

Dang, it's only the 2nd day of filming and the dream team is already having problems.

I mean, I get where Sorato is coming from, but this worlds' government probably WOULD experiment on him and it really would be a bad look if they told this reporter lady they've only known for two days his secret before they told Ayu.

Honestly knowing how Japanese citizens can get and how the Kaiju outbreak is relatively recent, I can totally believe how apathetic the average joe is about the situation.

I love how we've gotten to a point where the Meteor Kaiju are fighting each other for who gets to get summoned.

What to do when you're getting bombarded by fireballs? Summon Rekiness and have him use his TK to throw them away! Whose a good boy? Rekiness is as good boy!

Omega has really mastered Armor call charades.

It was probably smart to lift Demaaga into the sky to destroy him considering how much heat he absorbed and how big the explosion was.

I love how they didn't bother to name Demaaga until AFTER he was dead and they give him one big beautiful RIP tribute in the process.

Congratulations Omega, you have a fangirl! Even if she doesn't even know your name!

Next week: The return of Graim!

Delightful episode of Omega this week! The antics of the reporter and everyone's favorite pair of weirdos were very funny, but I also liked some of the more serious details too. The populace being apathetic towards kaiju as long as they were not directly affected is an interesting and very realistic little element to throw in there Meanwhile, though Kosei and Sorato's fight was largely played up in a comedic way, we also got to see the difference in priorities between the two, where Sorato is only willing to hide his identity as long as it doesn't interfere with dealing with the kaiju, while Kosei (badly) tries to maintain the secret since he is still worried about what will happen to Sorato if the government gets wind of the whole alien thing. A fun episode with a cool framing device and lots of good moments of characterization!

Hey, it's Leodo, the Ancient Kaiju! Kind of feel bad for him that Omega straight up wrapped up his trunk because I can imagine that's super uncomfortable. Also it's nice to see Omega use the Omega Slugger again after what felt like 4-5 episodes of not using it.

Kosei's become that partner who is upset when you do anything without them. I mean, objectively, the Meteor Kaiju would clearly be overkill against Leodo but Kosei is convinced Sorato always needs him. He even seems upset Sorato did something and saw Ayu without him.

So are they actually forming a quasi-Attack Team group mid-season? I'm guessing we'll eventually see Ayu's mentor since they gave out her name and everything (is that her in the sunglasses in the next episode preview?).

If someone as low-key and casual as Sorato has bad vibes...those are REALLY bad vibes.

If you're going to acknowledge Ayu is a Graim expert, shouldn't her input be more valued? Then again, Taira did also tell her straight to her face that she needs to be more outgoing and direct with what she wants, which is probably something she needed to hear.

Hey Graim, nice to see you again!

Team EYES would approve of this Kaiju capture method.

Kosei really just jumped the gun here. He was so convinced that they HAD to kill the Kaiju, that he HAD to do something, that he ruined the NDF's operation. And even if it hadn't worked, he summoned Trigaron too early before the bigger threat showed up and overpowered him leaving Omega without his best supports. And that's not even getting into Sorato having to protect Kosei and getting hurt in the process leading Omega to have an "ooh, my back!" moment.

Eldeghimera! Sorato has no idea what it is, but it's dangerous. It has a Venom tongue, massive power, and the ability to absorb like Cell that lets it take the power of Kaiju onto its shoulders. What will it absorb to fill out its left shoulder?

Dang, Omega got defeated! Blasted straight through! But was that purple beam Sorato remembering something...?

Kosei sure doesn't like getting left out, nor does he seem happy that Omega isn't more accepted by civilians. I suppose he really wants to be seen as helpful, and by extension he wants people to feel the same way about Omega, but in this episode his excessive desire for this leads to a complete wipe out against a powerful predator kaiju!

It iss interesting that this show has the main characters not as members of the defense team when the defense team exists, I think Orb is really the only other show that did that and even there VTL was downplayed a lot. Not the mention the fact the defense team only gets formed halfway through the show here. I wonder if Ayu will end up joining up with them for good, or if they militarized nature will conflict too much with her interest in kaiju from a biologist's perspective? Sorato also had some odd behavior this episode, apparently picking up such atrocious vibes from the new monster that it put him on edge, all in spite of not actually recognizing the dang thing again! He also seems excessively worried about Kosei specifically this episode. Maybe he was just worried since the dude was acting off, but it seemed like it may have been more than that to me. I'm kind of moving back towards an idea that crossed my mind early on with this show, I can't help but feel like Omega had a previous partner at some point, one who perhaps met with a bad fate. So maybe Sorato's nervousness this episode was him subconsciously remembering that. We do see some fragment of a memory from Omega this episode, seemingly of a prior defeat of his too...

Next week... we resolve this mess somehow!

There was also the GDF in Arc who were kind of like an Attack Team even though the main focus was on SKIP where the protagonist worked.

Oh, that's true. I knew I was forgetting something!

Very foreboding and tense episode thanks to the Kaiju this time around for multiple reasons. Which while we didn't learn its name via Sorato, the sponsor segment at the end with the banners did give us a name, Eldeghimera.

Might be one of the vilest Kaiju in a while purely because it looked to be purposely enjoying itself what with those mannerisms. Not to mention the fact that its mere presence seems to affect Kaiju in different ways (and not even just regular Kaiju either).

Leodo was cited by Sorato as being more violent than usual, Graim suddenly broke from being dormant to surface and was likely being chased by Eldeghimera. And then there's Kosei, who seems weirdly out of character and I don't know if it's just me and who knows if they'll confirm or deny this next episode, but I think it's because of Eldeghimera too. Cause we know he's linked and bonded to the Meteokaiju, so who's to say that they aren't affected as well?

Then there's the flashback we saw, which was likely Sorato's life flashing before his eyes and him recalling a prior memory. Whatever it was looked like it was holding a heavy weapon to parry his beam but also... that purple beam and that noise it made. I got curious and decided to check back.

That's the mystery Entity that blindsided Omega during the premiere. And it looked like Omega had a bit more of a fight with it than we saw since this was slightly different but also, had a similar obscured shape and noise when it fired a beam.

I just started Ultraman Nexus!

Sorato and Kosei are still reeling from last episode...but if Sorato is still hungry for some of Kosei's cooking, you know everything is going to be okay!

Well, yeah, Sorato did kind of just show up in Kosei's life and rope him into fighting Kaiju (albeit only because the Meteor Kaiju chose Kosei), but the last thing Kosei needs to hear is that Sorato is leaving him. It's hard enough for him seeing Eldeghimera on the loose and the fallout of his failure.

First they tell Ayu she needs to shift her research into Kaiju, now she needs to look up mythology! When will it end? But at least she found the motivation to put the work in, figure out a way to weaken Eldeghimera, and gain Captain Taira's respect in the process.

Who better to help Kosei out of his funk than a hot research lady who I'm assuming will probably turn out to be Ayu's mentor?

Does kind of make you think about the kind of residue left behind during Ultra vs Kaiju fights.

Oh yeah, Kosei was kind of looking for his life purpose, wasn't he? Well, protecting people from Kaiju is a solid enough life goal.

Those poor Meteor Kaiju being left all alone!

Well Dugrid you made a valiant effort before joining Eldeghimera's shoulder armors. He's not the cell proliferation Kaiju for nothing (get it? CELL?)

I really liked seeing the NDF put their all into their mission and actually succeed a bit. Also do my ears deceive me or did I hear a wandabada in the background?

Nothing more Ultra than tanking a hit to protect humans!

Rekiness still the MVP with his telekinesis helping Omega shove the anchor into Eldeghimera enough to remove his Ghimera Cells and let Omega finish him off. Watching him slice off that tail was VERY satisfying. Also did I mention the insert song?

Welp, Ayu saw Kosei use Rekiness so the cat is out of the bag now! In fact it looks like they're going to use explaining everything to her as a stealth recap episode?

Once again Kosei and Sorato's bromance is solidified, as is their dynamic duo partnership in battling Kaiju together. It's enough to bring tears to your eye and want to eat Kosei's cooking.

A nice ending to our little Omega two-partner! Kosei continues to just be a damn good character, I liked his arc about realizing that he simply wants to help people, which got a little twisted into becoming obsessed with being useful for his own ego's sake. Sorato meanwhile seems to have felt guilty for getting Kosei involved with the kaiju, not realizing how much Kosei genuinely wanted to help. Nothing a little talk (and yakisoba with fried egg) couldn't fix. Ayu found out about Rekiness though, so I guess she'll be in on the whole secret starting next week. Honestly after seeing her performance this week with throwing herself into researching a kaiju as unusual as Eldeghimera and coming up with a useful plan, I think she will make for a pretty amazing ally.

This episode makes it clear that if you're going to have a clip show, it's better that it actually features the main cast and, if possible, has actual plot relevance to the show itself.

I love Ayu's "I know you boys have been lying to me so you better come clean now or else!" look.

I was expecting a more in-depth and explicit reveal dialogue but it kind of got hijacked by a wounded Pigmon appearance. I mean, it's nice to see Pigmon, just felt kind of random to deflect from really diving deep into explaining things to Ayu or exploring her feelings about everything.

I love how Pigmon's normal habit is deserted islands. Because Pigmon's are always on deserted islands (that also usually have Red King on them).

Well, I guess Ayu doesn't need to be outright told Sorato is Omega, she's gleaned enough to realize it and that Omega is an ally she can put her faith in, same with Kosei.

I feel like if they had more budget we'd have CG Rekiness and Trigaron having a lot of havoc in the office when Kosei and Sorato can't see them.

Next week: The final Meteor Kaiju! And someone out for Sorato/Omega's destruction!

Honestly kind of weird that the episode settled on Ayu just being vaguely aware of Sorato and Kosei's real circumstances instead of getting into a real discussion about it. Kind of feel like the staff wanted to have their cake and eat it too, where Ayu treats them the same as always but doesn't have conveniently look away when the Meteokaiju and Omega come out. Somehow the most important thing I learned this episode is that someone gave Sorato clothes when he crashed on Earth, so he didn't just obliviously steal them off a clothesline or something.

Omega's not the only alien being arriving on Earth in a sphere of light...or naked...only this time he's Kamen Rider Zeztz'(suit actor) and kills a guy in the process! Jeez!

Who is this beautiful and classy woman entering into the warehouse? It's Sayuki Uta, Ayu's brilliant professor and mentor, Kosei's one-time science buddy, and an all around carefree and free-spirited woman driven by science! Who also just peppers her dialogue with English when she feels like it! They even added her to the OP!

It's kind of wild how we're 15 episodes in and people still aren't sure that Omega is trying to protect them. Like I think even the Night Raiders by this point had an idea that Ultraman was trying to help people. I think there's even more objective evidence than Sayuki is willing to admit.

It would be nice if Sorato remembered more than just Kaiju names and base Kaiju facts.

It's nice to see the supporting characters from one-off episodes are still remembered. Though is Kosei's mom going to pop up at some pint?

Sorato basically just jinxed himself saying he was fine with the status quo and not having his memories back, because his past rears it's ugly head in the form of the annihilative genesis being...Zovaras...

Out-of-suit fight! Out-of-suit fight! I also love how they just went straight up superhuman by flying and tossing each other through a Ferris Wheel.

So Zovaras is an "old friend" and by old friend I mean the being that blasted Omega in the prologue and caused him to fall unto Earth. And it seems like this all stems from the Geness, a race that seeks to conquer Earth and Omega thought he had defeated in the prologue, but now they reside in Zovaras. Is this a Baltan situation?

As far as designs go, "Cyber Zetton," isn't a bad look.

Did Kosei just forget he can only summon one Meteor Kaiju at a time?

Don't you just love it when a CM spoils the Final Form and final Meteor Kaiju?

Trigaron can't do much but he can at least distract Zovaras long enough for Omega to get a good hit in and give Omega speed boost. Too bad Zovaras has a Meteor Kaiju of his own..Valgeness. And sweet Father of Ultra, that suit is amazing. And Valgeness is no slouch either, with a mastery of all four elements that make it pretty overpowered. And that's before it equips Zovaras with a halberd.

Zovaras' control of Meteor Kaiju even stems to Trigaron. STOP HITTING YOURSELF OMEGA! Or I guess stop hitting Omega Trigaron!

Guess they're lucky Zovaras has a timer too, though it's clear this is bad news for Sorato and Kosei. Even the new ED by Ash and MindRayn is much more hardcore and serious.

I love how the female announcer has Omega as her "best boy."

And thus the second half of Omega's story begins! I'm honestly not thrilled at the direction the plot seems to be going between this first episode and the promo materials for the second half of the show Tsuburaya has put out. Between the alien antagonizing the main Ultra and Earth over what seems to be an old grudge and the promo stuff showing off the main characters joining an anti-kaiju organization I just can't help but feel like the show is heading into some very familiar territory for the Ultra series. Omega is a show I like partially because it felt very fresh, you know? At least I'm excited we are probably going to unravel what is up with the Meteokaiju now though, plus I do enjoy the cast a lot. Hopefully the show can find some interesting ways to keep things unique as it gets further into this new storyline, right now I'm just vaguely dissatisfied.

So how much of that was a flashback and how much of it was a dream? Omega and the Meteor Kaiju battling Zovaras until Valgeness gets nabbed and Omega takes in the other Meteor Kaiju to protect them until Zovaras blasts them seems like it actually happened...but what about Zovaras having the same human form as Sorato? Or Sorato wearing the same clothes he only wore on Earth now?

I imagine Sorato is speaking from personal experience about the fate of Planet Geness...

Thank goodness Professor Uta just rolls with things, though it helps when there's some scientific basis and also a strong gut instinct she can get behind!

To think our major antagonist would be undone by the sound of crows.

Sorato has always cared about and been fascinated by humans. Now more than ever he wants to protect their happiness, especially all the one-off characters we've met along the way.

"Space..." space what? Space Garrison!?

Laudable that Omega held off the Final Form weapon with the Omega Slugger.

Remind me to never get on Valgeness' bad side.

Wow, shows how far Kosei has come that he was able to chain combo Trigaron and Rekiness and still had enough in the tank to summon Valgeness even though he seemed to take wayyyy more than the other other Meteor Kaiju do.

Did Omega even really need the Valgeness armor to defeat Zovaras? They seemed about even. Heck, Valgeness looked like he probably could have soloed Zovaras too. But I guess I won't complain about getting to see a halberd that can control the elements in action.

Look at our two Best Boys both collapsing from sheer exhaustion together!

Oh snap, they finally called him Ultraman, coined by Professor Uta! Ultraman Omega! And let's make it even more official by inducting our main cast into the Attack Team, the KSCT! Feels like we're a real Ultra shown now!

I have a feeling the show is trying to mislead the viewers through that little dream/flashback sequence at the start. In particular, I can't help but think that the Meteokaiju originally belonged to Zovaras, especially given his ties to the Geness aliens and Valgeness's very name. The story left a lot of questions unanswered that I am sure will be explored later... Anyways, I'm kind of amused the plan this episode was literally "throw Kosei at Valgeness and hope something happens". I guess it worked out fine, and we get to see our cool elemental halBIRD (see what I did there?) in action. Looks like next episode will feature the protagonist in the newly formed anti-kaiju team. I'm not a fan of the idea, but I hope after this change the show continues to capture the mundane, everyday energy that makes Omega so charming. i have noticed that Omega being more character-oriented than normal for the Ultra series does a good job keeping me onboard with what the show is doing, even when it has weaker moments too.

Arc got his own Zetton and now Omega gets his own Zetton. I like Zomaras a lot though, he's a martial arts terminator who is also a kaiju. That's cool.

So, with Omega reaching its halfway point, wanted to give my thoughts on the show so far. I think the show up till now has been fine. There were some good episodes, some okay episodes, but overall its been serviceable. But I also think that the show has been intentionally more low key and slow burn than the usual Ultra fare in order to set up this upcoming mid-series shift, so I'm excited to see where the show will go from here. On another note, I really like Sayuki's character and I think she brings a whole new energy to the shows dynamic.

Don't you just hate it when a Kaiju interrupts your date night?

Bummer they didn't do the second verse of the OP...but still, nice to see the Valgeness armor added and fighting...two Gomess'?

It's like it's the first episode of a brand new Ultra show now that we're introducing the SKCT as the new anti-Kaiju force in Japan! They look so professional in the video! Even if the unit we're following is based out of a warehouse that they just got loaned by a former Ultra Captain! But hey, first proper female team captain since 1997 (unless you count Taiga)!

Other Ultra protagonists don't have to worry about resume's or proof of residence...luckily Uta just rolls with everything and isn't that fussy about the details versus results. Though I am curious if our trio will have to go through the physical assessment.

I love how they're finally calling him "Ultraman Omega" now.

Oh wow, they've got gear, stun guns...A FRIKKIN' NEW VTOL MODEL!? And is that a miniature instead of CG!?

I love how the hunt for the Kaiju turned into a bit of a Scooby-Doo chase, complete with Kosei as Shaggy. Sorato providing the surprising level head the team needed to come up with a plan, plus Ayu's science smarts.

Sorato fighting a Kaiju in human form! You love to see it!

King Alligatortois, the Abyssal Kaiju! Watch out for his size-changing and how slippery and slimy he is!

Sorato transforming while Kosei summons a Meteor Kaiju...does that count as a dual transformation? Feels like it should.

Seems like Kosei is always defaulting to Trigaron these days...though he doesn't do much good here because he keeps slipping, gets distracted by a jet, and kind of launches Omega into the sea because cats don't do water. But Omega riding him to chase after Alligatortois was cool. Also they really turned up Trigaron's cat noises for comedic effect.

If Trigaron can't swim, thankfully Valgeness can! And provide the elemental advantage to overwhelm Alligatortois with water and freeze him until he shrinks down!

Kind of surreal the Kaiju isn't destroyed but instead stunned into unconsciousness by our resident science lady. But hey, at least the Stunzer works!

The KSCT nailed their first mission, Alligatortois is likely to get thoroughly dissected, and the day is saved! I wonder though, does Uta consider Omega part of the team because she's sniffed out Sorato's secret or because she considers Omega part of the team like Ultraseven was the seventh member of the Ultra Guard? Maybe both.

Now let's take this momentum and...bring back the guy living above the warehouse for a recap episode!

Y'all know that I was not too enthusiastic about the the new anti-kaiju team angle, so this episode had a lot to prove to me. They went for a really bizarre direction, what I can only describe as a combination of extreme slapstick mixed with workplace safety violations (what with no one having the training they needed). Didn't really work for me either tonally or in terms of proving that the new team was a good idea. I guess this show is also going to need 2 weeks to try again since there is a recap episode next week too!

For me it works because it's still the main trio just vibing even if now they're more directly investigating Kaiju now.

I'm hoping I like it more as the show settles into the new format, but it wasn't a strong start I think, even if I'm always quite fond of the main trio. Probably not helping things were my very pertinent real life frustrations with my job not giving me adequate training and throwing me into something. Hitting too close to home Omega!

I started Ultraman 80 on a whim and was immediately hooked on the "Ultraman as a human teacher"-premise. Only to be told that they drop the school setting by episode 12 or so. Dang…

But I like it enough to keep going. Episode 4, "From the sky with love" is just fantastic Ultraman-nonsense. "Parent and child monster are fighting! Okay, I just beat them both up so they have to team up!", and of course it works :lol

Then episode 5, "The Phantom Town", our protagonist gets kidnapped into another dimension via the last late night train, which was honestly pretty creepy and eerie. Loved it.

Honestly I get why people disliked it but I found UGM to be a solid Attack Team so I didn't end up minding it that much.

I watched a tiny little chunk of 80 way back when... like, somewhere around when X and Orb and Geed were being simulcast on Crunchyroll and I think 80 was randomly one of the first earlier shows to get picked up? If I'm even remembering that right? Kind of a while ago, at this point, apparently, but even now, I can still remember with certainty that this was the episode that left the biggest impression on me. Very strong atmosphere throughout, as I recall.

(Also, funnily enough, despite dropping the show because I didn't like the idea of it ditching its unique premise either, I think it was also the first episode to not involve the school stuff in any way? So clearly 80 *can* work without it, I guess!)

Speaking of 80, the upcoming Wave 14 of Ultraman Converge Motion which will be out in Japan on March of 2026 will include Ultraman 80 in his Dynamite Ball form. :lolol

https://www.bandai.co.jp/candy/produ...926365000.html

Also, this form of 80 is available as a soft vinyl toy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqQYOAm-Z3k

I like UGM so far so I'm definitely interested to see how the show changes!

But I'm getting so into the school setting, all the kids have cute nicknames like "Professor" or "Fashion" and they all seem like a big family now. Sucks that it won’t last.

It had school stuff, Ultraman 80 / Yamato misses the train because he was at school grading papers until late, his disappearance once kidnapped into another dimension sparks outrage at the school and the students are looking for him, and it's their cries for him that help to find a way out.

It is the first episode were the central plot isn't related to school or a singular student’s problem though.

Fantastic. I haven’t seen this attack (I assume it is one) yet though, but this is fun merchandise!

Dang, the episode's probably even better than I remembered then! Those all sound like really cute plot points! :lol

It's just a great piece of television all around.

If you have the time to spare, this is a perfect single episode to enjoy (again) :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdV5...2sq4Q&index=26

I'm watching Blazer with Kyoryuger rn. Blazer has been fun