I think it's easy to write Ultraman off as being more kid-friendly because of the big monster battles, but a lot of the shows tend to be more complex then that. It strikes me more as a show that's meant for viewers of all ages, and the plots can get pretty deep into weird science fiction concepts and ethical dilemmas. Yeah, it has its goofy moments (if you haven't gotten to the space cats episode yet, you are in for a treat), but it can get a lot more serious and even dark compared to Rider or Sentai.

Breaking news, everyone! The movie release date for Ultraman Taiga: New Generation Climax Movie has been moved from March to August 7, 2020. While Ultraman Zetto/Z is currently airing on TV, the movie theaters and mall cinemas will have its limited capacity and social distancing, so that the Japanese movie-goers will watch the said movie safely despite COVID-19 Pandemic. Here is the link:

https://nihonhero.weebly.com/home/ul...-premiere-date

Just watched the space cats episode last night, it was incredible. :lol

But yeah you're right about the overall complexity of it, and I like how it addresses ethical dilemmas and other issues while also knowing how to just have fun alongside that. It strikes the balance between the two extremely well.

Today is Ultraman day! We can celebrate by watching this special short, fully subbed :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJJ3THk-FW0

This is clearly non-canon since nobody in-universe ever thinks about Man-niisan.

/sarcasm. ....mostly.

Remember that time Ultraman and N*Sync had a crossover?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf--mCg_KT4

That's just how you know Z is a good kid! Although I'm sure if Mebius were there, he'd have cared too. I guess I'll just have to settle for them using (what I'm pretty sure was) very emotional BGM from his show instead.

That was a really cute short! I always like when they do things like this where the little kids watching it for Z are going to be confused why their parents (or grandparents in this case?) in the room are getting legitimately choked up.

Speaking of Mebius, a shame Shunji Igarashi retired years ago. Would love to see him reprise his role.

Right? It's such a shame Mebius hasn't been able to be a part of anything post-Zero. The tribute they managed to pay to him in Taiga's voice drama's was pretty touching, but man, would I love to see him truly come back onscreen in some fashion one day.

Apparently after he retired he was last known to be running a cafe in Japan. I do find it fascinating that actors in Japan will retire and just carry on taking non-entertainer jobs. I wonder if it has to do with how entertainers are paid over there cause I heard from somewhere that Japanese entertainers are considered employees of the agency they are part of and are paid in salaries.