I watched episodes 39-45 tonight. There were some good episodes in this batch, but there were alot quite a few stinkers. I feel like the show is losing steam because they had 3 bomb plots in a row, and only one of them actually felt like it had heart to it (one that dealt with a kid strapping a bomb to himself). There was a really solid two parter than dealt with a clone army that was interesting, and then there was one that featured a terrorist mini nuclear bomb plot that was way too convoluted for its own good. I've also come to realize that there has not been a single episode dedicated to Walter. Bikel is the only one of the two to actually have a personality and interacts with others. Walter is just there because... well I don't know. I've got four episodes left, I really hope one of them is dedicated to Walter.

It would be nice if they had a criminal from a previous episode return too.

Well I just finished the series and the last four episodes were kind of meh.

First, 46 was kind of funny to see Barza's actor trying to play a gangster that got his idea from the movie The Godfather.

47 was a pretty good episode, but the ending made it sound like they were going to go after this crime syndicate.

48 had nothing to do with the crime syndicate and half of the episode was a friggin clip show. A CLIP SHOW!!!! The only other series I've seen pull this kind of bullshit stunt has been Gundam SEED Destiny.

49 continued the story from 48, giving us a nice tie into the first episode, and the ending was fine.

Overall, I enjoyed the show, but there was a lot of wasted potential. Walter never had a single episode dedicated to himself and Ryoma was as generic as you can get.

I'll save the rest of my thoughts for when I review the show.

Gone back to watch Tomica Hero Rescue Force with only six episodes left. Amazingly there are some silly jokes that probably make me cringe but here they make me laugh and cringe only a little. I hope Rescue Fire is as good or if not better than Rescue Force.

While I don't think that Rescue Fire is as good Rescue Force, or as good as Ryukendo, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't very satisfied by the character growth the main character went through over the course of the show. I was also very surprised by some of the plot twists in the show. They made what was otherwise a pretty average Tokusatsu into something that was surprisingly good at keeping you invested.

My review for Winspector:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyxvYqkr2M0&t=77s

Finished 70's Spidey. Christ, 36 episodes of it were mere filler

lol

Not surprised. I've only watched the first and final episodes and they were the exact same episode, just one being the villains getting defeated for good and one with him getting the spider powers.

Juspion Episode 17: All I know is Juspion is a Brave Badass and I love seeing him fight the Megabeast Empire. I like that it is more serial than episodic for a Showa Era Metal Heroes show. I can't wait for more.

Glad you're enjoying the show. I'm in the mid-to-late twenties at the moment but I'm finding the show, while not bad, boring as sin save for the episodes that really show its age. Its probably because I find Juspion and Anri to be boring characters.

I meant to watch the Belial/Zero movies earlier, before Geed started, but...I forgot.

So I guess I'm making up for that. Just finished Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy How Long Can We Even Make This Title Legends The Movie.

Was a rather annoying experience, though, since at least for the version up on Kissasian some silly goose accidentally uploaded their fanfiction instead of subtitles for the movie. It was rather distracting.

I guess it was still watchable though.

Movie overall was alright, I think. Didn't mean much to me, and I think Rei's actor isn't very good, but it was ok.

Do I need to watch those movies to understand Geed?

Yeah, that film is all over the place. It's the origin of Zero, a spin-off from the Mega Monster Battles web series, a follow-up to Mebius, a return of Hayato and Dan, and the really random return of Dyna, of all things. Plus the plot of an evil Ultra attacking the Ultra homeworld ropes in almost every other Ultraman ever. I totally get your fanfic comparison.

I haven't seen the third Zero movie, but I can tell you that the second one is much, much better. It's a really fun space opera with a bunch of cool supporting characters based on lesser-known Tsubaraya shows from the 70s.

Probably not. The only things you really need to know are that Belial is an Ultraman who turned evil, Zero is Ultraseven's son, and they fight each other a lot. The second film is totally worth watching for a good time, though.

lol That is pretty much all I know about Zero and Belial, which is thanks to the Ginga movie and X-Orb.

Yeah, I've watched that movie recently as well and it's definitely not necessary if you want to know who Belial and Zero are. Just read their articles on the fan wiki and save yourself the time.

Because while the movie is watchable, and some individual scenes are fun, there's no substance to it at all. It just throws thing after thing after thing at you and then moves on to something else.

I think the story behind Belial (and Zero) is cool, I think the opening scene with Belial invading the Ultra planet and the fights in the Monster Graveyard are awesome, but it's not really tied up properly.

It really is just: Belial escapes prison, takes Plasma Spark, Ultra homeworld is in danger, they recruit this dude to help them because he has powers like Belial, they are held up on the Ultra planet for a while, then they move on the Monster Graveyard, they lose, Zero shows up and beats Belial, Belial fuses with 100 monsters, gets beaten again, the end.

There's nothing compelling or clever about it. The only thing which is a bit heartwarming is Zero's moments with Ultraseven.

The main problem for me was I didn't know this whole Ultramonster-Pokémon thing, and while I quickly understood what it was, I didn't feel like it was worth remembering considering how much they reference it today. I mean Belial pretty much uses his Pokécatcher-thingy exclusively as a staff nowadays.

But, I liked that they explained how the Ultraman came to be. I was wondering how this worked considering I only knew Ultraman who came to Earth and then found a host in a human, but Gai from Orb for example just straight up becomes an Ultraman himself. Now I know how this worked.

If you really, really want to know where Belial and Zero came from and how their battle started and if you have 130 minutes to waste I'd say go for it. Otherwise? I'd say just skip it.

One thing I really have to give this movie credit for though: It features the most acrobatic Gomora I have ever seen. I feel terribly sorry for that poor soul who had to wear the suit during all of this :lol

Oh, that's actually not what I meant at all. That was just a roundabout way of saying that the subtitles were just god-awful and wildly inaccurate, to the point where it was so different from what was actually being said that it may as well have been fanfiction.

Juspion is a fun character and I am enjoying this slightly more than Space Sheriff Gavan. Though I do understand it being boring. It has been a slosh for me to get through.

Juspion Episode 18: This was a magnificent episode. I loved actually learning about Juspion's parents and their connection to Zamba. It felt like we actually got to connect more with Juspion this episode. Also, he continues being the badass hero that he normally is with taking down another of the 4 Generals. This was an amazing fight this episode. I can't wait for more.

So I watched Space Squad the other day and I meant to post about how fun and cool it was, and how as someone who's been a fan of Gavan Type G since day one (not counting those darn Go-Busters episodes I mean) it was super rewarding seeing what it does with Geki, BUT then I finally watched the Ultraman X movie after constantly forgetting to for however long now.

It was like, a masterpiece, as far as I'm concerned. The plot can be quite accurately summed up as "a big monster attacks the city" for a little over an hour, but considering the whole film is ultimately just a vehicle for celebrating the franchise's 50th anniversary, the simplicity isn't a bad thing.

It feels like a party and does a fantastic job of staying focused on the X cast, acting as a solid epilogue and giving nearly everyone a moment to shine, and while it doesn't go as far as something like Mebius' movie, it still gives the other Ultramen that show up the distinct impression of being awesome in comparatively limited screen time. It wraps all of this up in highly spectacular action that just screams "production values".

I'd sincerely recommend this movie to, well just about everyone really. Even if you've been ignoring the awesomeness that is the past few years of Ultraman I think this makes a good gateway. It's short, you don't need any backstory to understand it, and while it opens with a (very) truncated recap of the series, nothing is really spoiled beyond "the good guys won" and a "twist" that happens at some point in pretty much every Ultra show (and superhero fiction in general). The whole thing is loads of fun and I don't think you'll regret spending the time to watch it.

After finishing Bioman I decided to take a break from Sentai and get into Metal Heroes for now. Watched first ep of Winspector and it look promising so far.

Juspion Episode 19-Juspion is a badass once again. I like that we are continuing the story with the Kids and their Dad. I feel that the action scenes have stepped up along with the story. I can't wait for more.

I tried Ultraman Orb again and I'm liking it even if I only saw 2 episodes this time

Juspion Episodes 20 and 21: Episode 20: This was an amazing episode, it was great to see a bounty hunter that could take Juspion to his limit. Juspion basically lost like all of his equipment, but just with his suit and last bit of energy survived based on courage, skill, and a little luck. It was great to see him overcome the odds and defeat the next set of baddies that the Megabeast Empire threw at him.

Episode 21: Juspion just continues to be a badass and Satan Gorth continues to get desperate. Can't wait to see what happens next.

Just got done watching Juspion episode 30 and, as usual, this show is at its best when its showing its age. She's only been in a couple of episodes but Galactic Witch Gilza is probably my favorite thing to come out of this show. The 80s special effects, her performance, her appearance, I love everything about her. I was so caught off guard by Juspion's attack on her at the end, which I won't spoil since KyoryuGreen isn't as far ahead as me, that I began laughing out loud.

On a side note, anyone else sad that there's no magic themed Metal Hero? I'd love to see a Metal Hero do some of the stuff Gilza does in this episode.

Since you've watched it, is there anything important in the 20's? I liked the early stuff with the Family and the golden bird, but I don't really want to watch like 5-7 more episodes of random evil plot from Mad Gallant lol.

Juspion Episode 22 and 23: Episode 22: This was a great to get the family back together and see the Golden Bird for a little bit. Crafty planning by the Megabeast Empire, the one girl's teacher was a great enemy with her illusions. I enjoyed Juspion fighting back against them and saving everyone.

Episode 23: Poor poor Shishion, damn you Mad Gallant and Satan Gorth! My poor feels this episode and Juspion having to do that. Though I do love that Juspion is resolved to saving the universe even if he has to take out possessed/berserk beings to do it.

I just started watching Armor Hero on youtube and I'm up to episode 4 now. The dub is... different compared to what I'm used to hearing from a dub, but apparently it's an exact translation of what the characters are saying so I guess I'll just have to deal with it.

Just finished Winspector the other day and it was quite fun. The main cast might not be the deepest (considering that even one-offs might have gotten better treatment in that regard) but they kinda worked for what they were. While somewhat generic, Ryoma was too much of a nice guy to really dislike him and he got enough of my interest to make me wish for more background surrounding him.
The episodic format didn't really bug me that much but considering that I watched 4 seasons of Power Rangers and 7 seasons of Sentai this year alone, it might have been somewhat refreshing to see something new, as it was slightly less formulaic than the other shows before (even though there was always at least one time where Ryoma entered his car to don the Cross Tector).

On to Solbrain I guess.

They really should have used the convenient amnesia episode to show how Ryoma became a member of Winspector.

My favorite episode of the show is the one with the 100 year old woman with the super natural powers and her KKK squad. That was a really good episode. I also enjoyed the one with the dude who had been cryogenetically frozen for a few years.

On the other hand, the show suffered from too many plot conveniences. "Hey, this girl will die if we don't find her brother she hasn't heard from in 10 years to give her a blood transfusion. Hey look, a bank robber and it's her brother!"

imo nothing trumps the episode, where Bikle's and Walter's brother robo returns from his service in the US, only for Winspector to find out that he has been turned into an emotionless killer machine by the Americans.

Oh yeah, that one was hilarious. I loved the digs at how ridiculous the American viewpoint of security is because it is so true.

Well with Geed now in full swing I figure it's a good time to go back and fill a few gaps in Ultraman-wise, starting with Ultra Fight Orb and The Origin Saga.

Ultra Fight Orb is what you'd expect. A quick little thing with a thin plot and tons of action. It's fun for what it is, and I'd be lying if I pretended seeing various Ultramen team up isn't always a good time. It's also sort of an impromptu Geed prequel? Not directly, unless his seemingly nonsensical cameo here actually gets explained later (which would be both crazy and awesome), but Zero is as big a part of the whole thing as Orb, and Belial comes up a few times, so it sorta kinda preps viewers for Geed in that sense. Although the segments aired as part of Zero's own "show" that was definitely meant to catch people up for Geed, so I guess it's not really that surprising.

Of course The Origin Saga is the main event here. Overall I'd say that, while it wasn't anything spectacular, it was pretty good and an interesting, experimental take on an Ultraman series. Which was already kind of what Orb was, but this takes it to the next level. The narrative is completely serialized, the tone feels noticeably more "adult" without being too alienating to kids (it's not Amazons, basically), and the style can adequately be summed up as "What if we made Orb the star of a fantasy space opera?".

Strangely the actual origin part of The Origin Saga is only slightly less glossed over than in the TV series. I actually really like that they went this direction as I feel it's ultimately unimportant how Gai became Orb. What is important, and what this series does focus on, is how the events taking place immediately after he gains his powers shape him and Jugglus Juggler into the characters we saw on TV. In that respect I think the series succeeds spectacularly, adding a lot of depth to the both of them and giving them each very solid arcs.

The actual plot is where things get a little crazy. This post is long enough as it is so I won't go into too much detail, but basically, Gai's adventure here makes everything that happens afterwards feel like a vacation. Dude had to save an entire universe on his first day as a hero. There are a few elements that fell a little flat for me (like everything with Shohei, even though it IS important), but it was still pretty interesting. One thing I was very impressed by was how the other Ultramen didn't feel shoehorned in. Dyna comes the closest, acting as sort of the idealized hero Gai wants to be, except that he never really does any mentoring or anything. Cosmos on the other hand fits in quite naturally, being the pacifist(ish) Ultraman in a story revolving around the irony of trying to create peace by fighting. Similarly Gaia and Agul serve as a nice mirror to Gai and Juggler's relationship as it starts to fall apart.

At the end of the day I had a lot of fun watching it. This is sort of a weird compliment but I think you could conceivably watch this and Orb proper in either order and both shows would add to the other. Ultimately I don't think there's much higher praise you can give a prequel than that and it's kind of a shame The Origin Saga isn't more readily available outside of Japan.

First off, there's an actually Ultraman discussion thread. Not really important, especially since it seems kind of silly to go to another thread to continue this conversation, but it is there. Second, I also enjoy Origin Saga very much. It was very different then I expected and, while I may have been a bit disappointed at first, the fact that I blew through all 12 episodes in three days when I normally don't watch more then a couple of episodes of a show at once means I warmed up to it real quick.

Something that I'm also excited to see is the rest of the Ultraman Orb 10 Episode Plan. I'm specifically interested in seeing how Orb got the Orb Ring and Juggler got the Dark Ring.

I haven't seen Origin Saga as I'm waiting for it to come out in the US subbed.

Juspion Episode 29: Well, I skipped a few episodes because I heard they weren't very plot important and I watched parts of episode 27 which was important because of the Nanbara Family leaving. This was great bringing back Sachi and Lott from earlier in the series and finally getting them to safety. Also, Mad Gallant vs Juspion was amazing, especially that ending there. Though Gilza was something else and it was great to see Satan Gorth actually talk. I am excited to see what happens next.

How are the Origin Saga subs? I know of their existence yet know very little about their quality or even where to find them.

I can't say anything about the quality of the translation since I don't know Japanese but I thought they were pretty good. No major grammar issues come to mind, or any grammar issues in general honestly, and the video quality is really good. They're available on Facebook, by the way.

I'm up to episode 15 of Armor Hero now. Apparently the main villain up till now was actually just a minion for some other evil old guy. And now there's a fourth Armor Hero, who's based off a Mastiff (a Tibetan dog) for some reason.

Well first off, here's a link:

Second, while I felt the wording was often just a tiny bit clunky, there wasn't a single translation error blatant enough for me to catch. If you're worried they'll be so bad you might as well be watching the show raw, don't be.

Unstuck for a moment.

Just finished Solbrain the other day. All in all it's a worthy successor to Winspector and I like how it sheds some light on the issue of criminals being in fact victims of society (which was already addressed in the last episode of Winspector).

Afterwards I gave Lady Battle Cop a try and yeah, it's a pretty mindless flick. It doesn't even really qualify as a proper Robocop ripoff, as the titular character barely received any development aside from turning into a cyborg and exacting her revenge on a crime syndicate.

As Exceedraft still needs to get subs, I thought about trying out the other few fully subbed Metal Hero shows. So I decided to go with Gavan and I already like this show after two episodes. The return to the usual Toku MotW routine slightly threw me off, as I got used to the human villains of the Rescue Police shows.