The Z Riser did originally belong to Zero. And we even see him using it in The Absolute Conspriacy. So I can see at the end of the show trying to return it back but Zero fully acknowledge Z and lets him and Haruki keep it. And Alpha Edge would be seen as his base form.

Z is absolutely going to be most strongly associated with his Original form in the long run. Keep in mind that Anphans is considerd the "default" Nexus nowadays even though promotional material and merchandise at the time placed Junis at the forefront at least as often.

Alpha Edge is never going to go away or anything, especially since New Generation Ultras pretty much always run through their basic forms whenever they show up in a movie or whatnot, but I have trouble imagining them going out of their way to keep it more prominent than any of his other ones. Not that I would be opposed to being wrong, for the record! Alpha Edge is still probably my favorite Z form.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXDjoJIQGCI

This week on Ultraman Z, obstructive bureaucrats do as they do.

I totally adored this one, by the way. The pacing and sense of escalating tension are downright masterful. Probably one of the best episodes of the show so far.

This was an absolutely tense episode, the atmosphere was so thick you could probably cut it with a knife!

Just the dread and everything in the air as well as all the shots and music, it was just, really well put together. And this is definitely a really good episode to start off our final stretch.

And as I suspected from last week, next week's episode:

I have a lot of grievances with Ginga S (perhaps I should go into that some day!), but one thing I will always stand by is that they nailed the ending as a highlight of the danger of escalating weapons. That's a very classically Kaiju Toku genre staple to get into (and I believe Ultraman does it a fair bit itself), and it will always stick out as something that saves the show for me.

And boy was I getting flashbacks here. It doesn't go too outside what you'd expect from these characters and that episode preview, but it delivers exactly what it needs to. Phenomenal episode and I really think Z's coming together now.

Next time: Sevenger returns, Juggler probably jobs off to the woods, and Celebro totally didn't get a new host who was acting strangely triggerhappy and power-abusery this episode!

I think Haruki and Z will still remain together even after the end of Z. This universe Earth still has monster attacks even without outside influence / Devil Splinters.

It won't be anything like the end of Taiga where Taiga and Hiroyuki bid farewell at the end.

And we know Tsupro has better relations (contracts!) with their main actors and can probably easily get them back when they need a crossover episode / movie.

So, then where does Ultroid Zero fit in all this?

I still can't get over how badass "Swallow the darkness, golden storm!" sounds. Looks like Sevenger comes back next episode.

Ultroid Zero is probably the next step in Global Allied Force's escalation of weapons. The GAFJ representative in this episode expressed interest in Delta Rise Claw after seeing him push back the Dimensional collapse with his beam.

Also yeah, Haruki's chant for DRC is easily my favorite out of the phrases he uses for the forms.
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On an unrelated note, wow. After ending this ep on the bombshell of STORAGE being disbanded, I'm kinda surprised they actually have preview for next episode depicting everyone already settled in and moderately happy with their new jobs/lives.

I was sort of expecting something a bit more depressing, since... y'know... they all just got fired. But if these two episodes and Aruto's transition from Hidden Intelligence to Hiden Manufacturing are anything to go by, I guess the overall outlook of loosing your job has apparently changed in japan?

There is probably a short timeskip in between the episodes.

So, the head honcho claims to understand their arguments and then complains of body pains and then gives them one questionable order after another!? Yeah, he's absolutely fine. Nothing wrong here. Also, the Pro-D4 arm-twister in semi-militaristic fatigues who we've never seen before is TOTALLY TRUSTWORTH... nope, not in the slightest!

I was moderately surprised that Mother Kelbim was defeated so easily, but Kelbim was just there to make the threat so desperate and dangerous to "justify" the use of D4.

Not surprised that D4 is loaded into King Joe, as both are part of the same theme of "dangerous weapons might be too dangerous to have." The obvious indifference on the part of the higher-ups dispenses with the pretense that they're anything but corrupt and morally bankrupt.

Z apparently believes in Starfleet's Prime Directive, with key differences. He'll save you from outside threats or cataclysmic events brought on by hubris, but you're decisions and actions are still your own!

In the next day or two... THE ABSOLUTE CONSPIRACY BEGINS!!!!

Way ahead of ya*starting popcorn machines*

I really enjoyed this episode for all the reasons stated by others, but I think I was even more excited for this week's voice drama just to see and hear Mebius chatting it up with Z and Zero.

Voiced by Jun Fukuyama aka Baron Nero from ToQger.

I've been wondering if the show had just dropped the dude from Wizard and never bothered to update the opening credits. Kinda wish they had. What a dick.

Really good episode, though. I honestly wondered if they were really going to kill Yoko there for a second.

Reality itself collapsing getting magically fixed by Z shooting a beam at it is a bit of a cop-out. But still a really good, tense episode. I'm excited to see where the whole endgame of this series goes now.

I don't know if like Mebius' new voice. He sounds better than he did in the Ginga S movie I guess?

I think that's Celebro controlling him?

What throws me off is how articulate he is which is not something I would associate with him, but after they met the personality of this guy turned 180 so...

Yeah, I figured a lot of things made it obvious -- we don't see the outcome of Celebro and Wajima's scene; Celebro is nowhere to be seen in the rest of the episode despite clearly having his sights set on D4; Wajima has a complete 180 in personality and opinions... everything's pointing towards Celebro so much that if it's not him it's a deliberate fake-out.

The one thing I'm missing which I would assume they would do to let the viewer know is just one small scene at the end where Director Kuriyama walks away and one eye starts glowing red. But maybe they don't want us to know yet.

So I'm not 100% sure it's Celebro although it would make perfect sense.

Hang on the Commander's been Wajima from Wizard the whole time? Knew I recognised him from somewhere.

Yeah, I'mma just jump on the Celebro's still in the random dude and is planning on hijacking stuff once things get far along.

Because as interesting as the Commander dude would be, being controlled by him. I honestly think this is just a simple case of the higher ups over STORAGE just getting incredibly annoyed and overconfident at Storage and their new technology respectively.

I do think that Celebro is going to hijack whatever the big end goal is, but right now it is absolutely just Human Hubris in full swing which honestly fits with what we've seen of the Allied Forces being built up as, a bunch of maniacs who think having the bigger gun is the selling point.

Also this is coming off the M1 episode, and while that episode was comedic, remember it had Hebikura stalling the hell out of the hire ups with thinly veiled excuses. So Wajima getting mad at Hebikura and having that sort of personality shift makes sense given not that long ago Hebikura was already defying orders to kill M1. They're probably just fed up with them at this point.

Another great episode. The bureaucratic conflict was good, and I loved seeing Z fight a giant monster in space. Kinda wish the dimensional collapse was a bigger deal than it ended up being, but I see why they did that.

Can't wait to see everyone in their civilian lives next week!

Found this. Ultroid Zero is evil robot.

More scans. Our final kaiju, Destrudos

Ah yes, humanity's hubris ends up becoming their downfall.

Can't believe we're going the Eva route, granted we've done a lot of Mecha Genre stuff already, time to check off Eva.

So Ultroid Zero has the D4 Ray mounted on its chest where the color timer is supposed to be. Destrudos happens when Ultroid Zero absorbs the kaiju medals and kaijus. Dang, it's got a reality-breaking gun in its body and then it just sucks in all the kaiju medals and kaijus and turns into that. By the way for some reason I find it funny how Redking's head protrudes from the back. :lolol

Wow this is Dyna finale all over again. Humanity creates an artifcial Ultraman and it goes evil.

Ah, it's a tradition by now. I was hoping this one was different but guess not. :lolol

You know Z actually seems to share some similiarties with Dyna. The whole flashback with the MC and his Dad playing baseball down to sepia filter for the flashback lol.

It's dissapointing that the Z Riser don't recognise either Mebius Infinity or Phoneix Brave using the 6 Ultra Brothers Medal or Hikari. I honestly question why they made a Ultra Brothers Medal if not for getting Mebius Infinity.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rAJ1NQ...channel=k2eizo

Phoenix Brave is a fusion involving Burning Brave Mebius, not base form Mebius.

And the 6 Ultra Brothers having an item that isn’t compatible with Mebius was previously done in Geed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aHZGlETRfk

This week on Ultraman Z, Juggler does his thing, and so does Sakamoto. Plus: Sevenger proves you can't keep a good robot down!

Very confused on what's Juggler's endgame here. I think it's "human hubris bad".

Seems as though he's enabling the Allied Forces to get their end goal just to see it blow up in their faces, given well the info we have on Ultroid Zero now.

So that inexperienced pilot, that was Zena from Geed. The Seiji Takaiwa of New Generation-era Ultraman meaning he is the suit actor for the titular Ultras.

One thing that caught me off guard... was not expecting boba tea to be the thing that made Barossa grow.

That must of been a gag at Sentai's expense. There is nothing funnier than seeing an extraterrestrial or monster doing the "Make My Monster Grow" trope with what is apparently a tapioca-flavored boba smoothie/tea!

But that doesn't begin to top Sevenger stealing the show with "Sevenger Wave-Riding Special Slash"! That was a total Sentai riff done in such a manner that it beat Sentai in ways I once thought were near-impossible.

SEVENGER RETURNS! Loved seeing it fight alongside Beta Smash. And taking out Barossa with Belialok was awesome!

Really fun seeing the crew in casual situations. Haruki and Yoko have great chemistry, but it feels unearned to have them end up together (if that's what the show is heading towards).

Hebikura pretending to be a pizza delivery guy is hilarious. Still not sure what his goal is, though.

I wonder who grabbed those medals. I'm thinking it's the Commander, possessed by Celebro.

It definitly the commander because of the guy more wrinkly hand.

I was a bit suspect that the Commander got possessed, if only because I'll be real when I say Celebro doesn't seem like the type to really act too well around other people.

Though the episode preview for next time confirms it with his right eye turning red.

I loved the fight scene (seeing Power Type and Strong do their finishers was so!!!!) but why did Spikey even stick around as Five-King to keep fighting Z after he did what he wanted to...

Anyhow Sevenger absolutely MVP. Yoko I think had a better showing with it here than she ever did with King Joe!

Also, the latest voice drama is good just for Z sounding like a total doofus.