Episode 8: Continues to be amazing. I love the helping the Mermen out and how that the SSP were scared at first but then Shin was right there helping the Merman kid with no fear at all. Gai explaining about how monsters aren't all bad was great too. Also Orb's battle with that familiar monster was awesome, his fights are amazing. Loving the series right now and I have to say the Something Search People are pretty damn enjoyable right now. I can't wait for more.

I enjoyed episode 9. It was a fun twist on the story they always seem to use with Babalu.

The next episode preview and the magazine scans make it look like shit's gonna start getting real soon though. Looking forward to it!

I did not expect the imposter plot to develop like it did but I enjoyed it a lot. Always love to see when evil goons rethink their ways. Also, nice meeting you again Black Baron ;)

Guess Juggler's gonna start acting personally now, awesome.

Episode 9: I wasn't expecting that with the Imposter plot, which is a very good thing. I enjoy when the Aliens turn good and learn helping people be happy can be better than people hating them. Babaryu was a great character and I hope he comes back later to help Gai. Gai's reactions to seeing the fake UltraMan Orb were priceless lol and acting to Naomi with how he fights was great. It's like he can't be Orb, I'm Orb lol. I really liked learning about Jetta and that him and the kids didn't care what Babaryu was that he helped them and they believed in him. This was just a spectacular episode and I can't wait to learn more about Gai and Juggler's past next week.

Episode 10: Well this was one of the best UltraMan Fights in history. Both Gai vs Juggler and Orb vs Black King were amazing. Gai vs Juggler was almost Dragon Ball Z level but still it was kick ass the two of them fighting. Orb had a great battle against Black King and Burnmite form really stole the show here. I am enjoying learning more about Gai and Juggler, that Gai might have fears with using too much of his power and Juggler being chosen by the darkness. Also Juggler's true form is totally badass and that was a pretty awesome ending. Poor Don Nostra though, however he might not be dead either if he had a card like Bemstar or something. We move on to the next arc of the show and it's just been so good right now, I can't believe how much I'm loving this show and the last 3 seasons were my favorites. I can't wait for more.

Yeah, episode 10 was pretty great. Juggler's true form looks boss.

Looks like Premium Bandai has put up the Juggler's Dark Ring for pre-order!
http://p-bandai.jp/item/item-1000106461/

This latest episode is kind of hilarious.

Just...Juggler's fucking face at the restaurant. lmfao. The poor bastard's just trying to be his usual smooth bastard self, but people just won't let him. And then a giant woman steals his thunder.

Just a damn funny sequence, that.

The rest of the episode was good too. Hard to beat some good comedy though.

Damn. Damn. That was a great episode. Starting with the hilarious bit in the Restaurant and shifting to just "EVERYTHING IS FUCKED" by the end was done really well. Best episode so far.

Maga Orochi looks awesome. I bet that DX Ultra Kaiju figure's sold out, isn't it?

...

yep!

Episode 11: Damn this episode was fantastic. That was hilarious having Gai and Juggler have their whole fight in the restaurant with Naomi's mom getting the way. Juggler is just a damn good villain right now with how evil he is and how good he is with manipulating Gai into helping him unknowingly. Naomi's Mom is something else but I get her concern though Naomi needs to be able to do what she wants. Maga-Orochi looks awesome and definitely has that look of power to him. Orb couldn't do anything to him using all his powerful attacks, damn this was just a fantastic episode. I can't wait for more.

This episode was a real treat and I enjoyed every second of it. The entire opening sequence in the restaurant is simply hilarious. So many great reactions. And I like how the spirit of the princess plays a role again, it’s always great when a show remembers the assets they have in their world and use them accordingly.

But my favorite thing is Maga-Orochi, that suit is simply badass. Like damn. Looks like something Godzilla would fight against in his primes, and that’s awesome.

I’m really looking forward to next week’s episode because Thunder Breastar looks really cool as well, always loved the look of Belial so having a fusion form involving him and Zoffy sounds amazing.

Hope you're ready for Orb's fourth form Thunder Brestar

"Belial-san!"

Thunder Breaster just wrecks Orochi. Pounds him into the ground, rips his tail off, throws a goddamn building at him before blowing him the hell up. Pretty awesome.

Next week's a clip show HOORAY.

Episode 12: Thunder Breaster was a complete badass form! I freaking loved how freaking brutal he was to Maga-Orochi. That was an amazing fight. I did enjoy that Gai used the power of darkness to and that it seems like he has a dark past beyond what happened to Natasha before. Juggler continues to be intriguing, especially loved his breakdown when he lost to Orb again. Naomi and her Mom continued to be interesting as well and I am enjoying this team a lot. Gai's story has been amazing right now and I can't wait for more.

Yeah Thunder Breastar is all kinds of awesome. It really sucks that it seems like SHF / Ultra-Act completely ignore newer Ultraman shows, I need a good figure of that form.

Episode was awesome though, and I appreciate that we got it before the clip show.

By the way, I find it weird that everyone, including Belial, is called "Ultraman" by the ring but Zoffy is just "Zoffy".

Episode 13: The recap episode which was pretty good because of it setting up the whole thing with Don Nostra's Henchman wanting revenge on Juggler. Still pretty standard but damn this season has been fantastic so far.

Episode 14: Well this certainly went from fun to dark pretty quickly. Very enjoyable episode learning about Shin's history and seeing his mentor. Galactron looks completely awesome but completely devastating. Gai is just fantastic and the SSP are always fun to see now. I am intrigued to see where this goes and can't wait to see Thunder Breaster again.

Episode 14 is exactly what I like about Ultraman Orb: You have a perfect little slice of life moment which is just great to watch, then something happens but it’s absolutely in line with the setup. And even though they didn’t really had to open with flashbacks to put the emphasis on it, but this is exactly the kind of episode Shin-san needed.

I like Galactron’s design a lot, the monster suit is awesome (and I had to chuckle during the naming bit since they could also have easily named him Galvatron) and I enjoy having a monster which isn’t necessarily bad, only misguided. Or mis-programmed in this matter. I still fondly remember the episode of X with the guardian plant monster, and Tokusatsu in general makes some great "The monster isn’t really evil"-episodes. Those are my favorites.

I enjoyed how Galactron initially scanned Orb and was like "Oh hey, an Ultraman. 'Sup" and walked away without bothering him but continues to destroy the city. I was a bit surprised they didn’t use the opportunity to add some depth to Orb by identifying him as an incomplete warrior of Ultra, but I have the slight suspicion this will happen next episode so that the audience gets a hint on Orb’s next upgrade: His true form. Like, I fully expect Galactron to note that Orb is "damaged" in some way.

Anyways, it was a great episode, some really fun stuff (Gai bringing the heat at the grill), a cool monster, a character episode which is long overdue, and best of all: More Thunder Breastar next week. I can’t get enough of that suit, it’s gorgeous.

Galactron is so cool. I'm a sucker for giant robot dinosaur things.

That cliffhanger...!

Oh hey, they cut down the transformation stock footage! Good, it was way too long, especially when Orb starts changing forms mid-fight.

Orb Trinity Form(Ginga+Victory+X) and a new kaiju called Diabolic. I believe these are for the movie but don't quote me on that.
https://scontent-kul.xx.fbcdn.net/v/...b6&oe=589CDEEB
The Orb Slasher, Orb Trinity's main weapon.
https://scontent-kul.xx.fbcdn.net/v/...0c&oe=589FFE8A

Well, I really enjoy Orb's 14th episode. Not only does the OP and the ED changed a bit, but I love every inches of it. I must say I was surprised to see Shin-san got a bit closure episode and it's a two parter! We had a Jetta-focused episode way ago and it was primarily a breather episode there. But, we had a rather serious business about Shin in this episode. Not only that, even Captain Hibiki returned in this episode XD. I love when an Ultra series managed to bring back several alumni. I enjoy the comedy here much better than in Ex-Aid or even Zyuohger there; love when Gai went Burnmite when cooking XD

For Galaxtron..... I don't know..... But, there seems to be a much deeper meaning in Galaxtron's appearance but I doubt the series will cover it later. I'm intrigued to see why other-dimension people created this "misguided" robot there. Anyway, the fight's tense here was toned down a bit thanks because they cut most of Orb's transformation. Though, I love it because it gave more duration and kept the tense. Uh oh, you know what? Orb has been spamming Hurricane Slash lately and seeing it being thrashed lately, it doesn't mean good. And..... Man, that ending.........

Next episode: I didn't expect we would see Thunder Breastar so fast here and poor Galaxtron....... (But yay, two more weeks for Orb Origin)

Episode 15: Man this was a really dark episode. I totally enjoyed it though and enjoy Gai's struggle because I was sympathetic to that struggle with the darkness. I had this feeling this was going to happen to parallel what happened in the past. I hope he gets control of Thunder Breaster so he doesn't go out of control again like he did. This was just great emotions from Gai and the entire Something Search People. I can't wait for more.

I really fell behind on this show awhile back, but I'm starting to catch up again (Orb first, then Zyuohger). I just finished the episode with Naomi's mom. I really liked how that one blended humor and seriousness - very light and fluffy at the start and incredibly tense and gripping at the end. I"m really eager to see how this Maga-Orochi arc plays out.

Also, I am so glad that someone finally called out the horrible Engrish that is "Something Search People." Naomi's mom is the best.

Episode 15 was a god damn tour de force. I feel the survival of the pilot was a bit of a cop-out, but I guess it validates spending so much time on springs last week. The action scenes were incredible and the whole thing just felt really well done. I'm eager to see what the show does with the SSP gang from here on out, particularly Shin after the emotional and ideological rollercoaster the past two episodes were for him.

This episode was way more dramatic than I thought it'd be. "Oh I'm sure Gai will come to his senses and rescue Naomi at the last minute and" NOPE. It'll be interesting to see how everyone deals with what happened.

I didn't notice it the first time, but you see the prison that Belial was locked up in when Gai transforms into Thunder Breaster. That's neat.

These last few episodes have been fantastic.

Man........ I'm at lost of words on Orb's latest episode. I mean do you think Ultraman is for kids anymore? First, we got a superpower deadly upgrade that is a walking killing machine, next we have a misprogrammed robot who keeps talking about justice, then we see it was ORB who made a plane crashed in the most dramatic way! Lastly, it was surprising to see Naomi survived the ordeal like that. I mean, for surviving a gigantic explosion and falling from a great height, she must be a strong girl.

As I said, I must say that despite Orb lacks the usual concept of attacking teams, it proves to go beyond that! You could say you combine normal Ultra series with Nexus' elements and we got Orb. Ever since we saw Belial Card, it really give more tenses to the series. Even the build-up for Orb Origin was great! I don't even remember Exceed X even had a great build-up like this. I was surprised either because basically, many people thought Shin-san, and by extension Jetta, to be a comic relief here.

But, it's wrong, both of them shared an equal screen of time and they got a pretty good development here too, especially Shin-san for his clashing ideology. No one even know that a nerd like him could shine like this. Gai himself proves to be a very good protagonist here. You could say his condemned and sealed emotions really give a very huge stake. I don't want to talk much about Thunder Breaster other than it really feels to be a Belial-oriented form instead of Zoffy and Belial's fusion form. Once he got on the screen, you're SCREWED!!

All in all, I must say Orb is really really really the Ultra series that we hoped for. It has a great and advancing plot without the toys are getting in the way. I hope Ultra series will be released yearly like Sentai or KR series, but keep the half a year format as it gives more preparations in there. For other series like Sentai or KR, I think it would be better for them to be on hiatus for a while to think a better plot like Orb. Despite how popular Zyuohger, Ghost or Ex-Aid is, I think Orb is another brother series that might even surpass those shows.

Clearer images of Orb Trinity
https://scontent.fkul2-1.fna.fbcdn.n...f5&oe=58A83AA7
https://scontent.fkul2-1.fna.fbcdn.n...g=eyJpIjoidCJ9
Also they are apparently after Ultraman Orb, they are going to re air Ultraman Zero: The Chronicles in Japan. Ultraman Zero: The Chronicles was basically a supercut of all of Ultraman Zero appearances ie. the movies and the Ultra Zero Fight into a tv format. It only aired in southeast asian countries at this point.
https://scontent.fkul2-1.fna.fbcdn.n...g=eyJpIjoidCJ9

Episode 16: Damn the fight between Juggler and Gai was awesome. Almost Dragon Ball Z-like in the beginning. The battle in the transformed states was awesome too. Though learning more about Gai's history and Natasha was intriguing and definitely getting more connections with Naomi and Natasha that I thought there would be. That Naomi's great-great grandmother being from the same place is intriguing. Also, being Great-Great grandmother would put her definitely around the time of 1908. Definitely like the whole realistic part of the people being worried about Orb when he did one thing bad. Well I can't wait for more.

Orb November scans showing more of Orb Origin and a revied Maga Orochi
https://scontent-kul1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...34&oe=58927A24
https://scontent-kul1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...16985366_o.jpg
https://scontent-kul1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...84826524_o.jpg
https://scontent-kul1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...72999445_o.jpg
https://scontent-kul1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...c3&oe=5888D508
https://scontent-kul1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...63&oe=588EF0AD
https://scontent-kul1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...d3&oe=58960BD3
https://scontent-kul1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...a0&oe=58A72A84
Also new Fusion Fight form, Specium Storm. Nexus Junis+Ultraman.
https://scontent-kul1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...0b&oe=5888B13D

It's nice to have all of the scans in one place! New Orochi looks cool and creepy.

Bloody Birdon. I swear to god if they put that ugly thing in this show as well...

I may be wrong on this but I believe Ultraman Zero will be showing up in Orb soon. This is the only image I got that says anything about that.
https://scontent.fkul3-1.fna.fbcdn.n...4f&oe=58A5D7FC

Caught up with episode 16 today. Oh man, this show just keeps getting better and better. We finally got a more detailed explanation of how Orb lost his powers, a cool fight with one of Jugglar's fusion monsters, and some good moments with Naomi and the SSP (Naomi's mom is still the best). I'm really enjoying this Thunder Breaster plot arc and look forward to the resolution.

Just watched episode 17. Was pretty good, but I felt a couple of things detracted from it...

Like, the VTL really do come across as huge fucking idiots in this. I get what they were trying to do with the whole "humans turning against Orb" deal, and that's cool, but their actions make no sense whatsoever. It's dumb. I know the characters point out that it's dumb. But it's still super dumb.

And during the fight...Orb Origin is cool, but the whole thing would have been cooler without cutting away to Gai playing around with his little toy knife. It felt very toy-demo-ish. Particularly the shots where it was just a focus on the calibur with the disembodied hands doing whatever. Inserting these very commercial-feeling shots into what should have been an emotional and intense fight was...not amazing.

Good episode otherwise, but egh. At some point it's just too much toy.

They've been doing this kinda thing since Ginga though so it's not entirely unexpected.

Episode 17: This was a fantastic episode. Completely loved the emotions of both Gai and Naomi. They were totally amazing. Gai was brilliant and finding out that Naomi was related to Natasha was just such an emotional moment that he handled great. I just love how the Something Search People also helped clear Orb's name too. Orb's Origin form kicked ass, I freaking love his sword and his elemental powers. I can't wait to see how more of his powers work. I am intrigued with where Juggler goes now, this will be interesting for the rest of the series. I can't wait for more.

All of the shots of the Orb Calibur were the most blatant "LOOK AT THIS TOY!!! BUY THIS TOY!!!" thing. It certainly made what was supposed to be a dramatic fight way less dramatic. I hope it's not that bad in future episodes or it'll be even more annoying than That Shot of the X-Lugger.

And yeah, VTL are dumb. I wouldn't have a problem if they weren't in the show at all.

These last 2 episodes were still cool though. I like Zeppandon, he's a cheeky bugger.

So I've been pretty quiet about the love of Ultraman I picked up a couple years ago but I finally caught up on Orb and um... Wow. I might ramble for a bit here, so bear with me.

I fell way behind on Orb really quick because, even though I liked it and I thought it was the most solid Ultraman show we've gotten since Ginga kicked things back off, it wasn't clicking for me nearly as much as X did. That show basically embodied everything that makes Ultraman cool and unique to me, whereas Orb has been a more straightforward superhero show, though still unmistakably Ultraman, of course. I must say however, it's only gotten better and better.

I think I was sort of let down at first by the how it opened with that super somber flashback that Gai's whole character centers around only for it jump straight back into the same lighthearted tone we've been getting these past few years. For a while I felt like it was a show that wanted to be a bit more serious than it was but in light of the past few weeks I think it handles the contrast between its various elements pretty well and arguably it's only better for it, since it makes the dramatic moments feel that much more dramatic.

Thunder Breaster's debut really kicked crap into overdrive though. I went from being thoroughly entertained to downright compelled after episode 12 and I'm really impressed by how much the show actually let Orb act like a bad guy. He's f***in' scary man. Usually when a story does the whole "rampaging hero" bit, it doesn't amount to much but here it's very easy to understand why Gai is so angsty about it.

Speaking of Gai, he's great. He's at once a very old-school type of larger than life toku hero we don't see much these days and also something pretty unique, being a very broken individual who isn't traditionally mopey (or an a**hole) so much as kind of empty, but not to the point he can't crack a joke or enjoy himself a bit. Just a really well-rounded character and I like the break from the norm, which I guess they felt comfortable doing because Naomi functions as the POV character/audience surrogate/co-protagonist/whatever.

I'm pretty impressed by Orb at this point and I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes from here.

Still kind of bummed out by the official subtitles though. They're subtly clunky in spots for one but mostly I just consider it an unforgivable sin they don't translate the songs, especially when the lyrics are so relevant to the show. I'm sure a lot of people don't care either way but in my opinion that's an important part of the experience to just miss out on.

Just watched episode 18. This show is on such a roll right now.

It probably helps that the premise of this one is so up my alley. Shibukawa was an lovable enough character for how unimportant he usually is so I'm super happy to see him get an episode to himself. The premise is a little stock but it was done really well so it's hard to complain.

It's also downright endearing at this point how dedicated Orb is to NOT showing us anything about VTL. I personally choose to imagine they're based out of some rundown building in the middle of nowhere and are staffed by like 12 dudes total. I mean, have you seen any other officers patrolling the streets? I'm pretty sure Shibukawa has to cover the entirety of Japan all by himself. Poor guy. No wonder he doesn't have any time to spend with his daughter.

To be fair, it's probably more of a case that "they can't" rather than "they won't". From what I gather music translation is a whole other ballgame to translating a show and requires a bunch of other rights, which often doesn't prove cost effective.

It's why despite having a huge anime back catalogue on their site, only a fraction of them have songs translated.

Huh, is that why? I always thought that fact that the vast majority of things on Crunchyroll lacked op/ed subs (even in cases where the lyrics are literally on screen) was just because they were arbitrarily lazy. So it's a rights thing? That's....weird? Why would there be different rights involved in having the song and providing translations? Weird.

Latest episode was good, anyway. Finally seeing some focus on Shibukawa and his work was fun, though the daughter was pretty obnoxious (which was I suppose the point, but eh. Between this kid and the latest episode of Zyuohger I'm kinda burned out on annoying kids in my toku right now). The punchline with the name at the end was pretty funny.

(Gai playing with his knife during the fight is still uncool though).