I'm gonna agree that ultraman definitely needs some new monster designs. On the other hand I actually quite like the dx toy design for the shows.

I don't know, they feel too sterile for me. A few of that kind can be neat, but if all of them are, they just get boring. They honestly feel like afterthoughts which just feels off compared to Rider and Sentai toys.

I guess I can kind of see it for some of them, but Ultra henshin devices in the last 5 or so years have been very different from each other with their own distinct aesthetic, style and gimmick. The Orb Ring, the Geed Riser, the R/B Gyro, the Taiga Spark, the Z-Riser, the Trigger Spark... I really couldn't call any of these similar to each other beyond being handheld devices!

The only real repetition here is the use of Legacy Ultras for the item themes, which... yeah, kinda sucks; but not exactly an unpopular opinion and doesn't really apply to then henshin devices themselves. In Showa and early Heisei the devices stuck pretty strictly to Sparks and Eyes, but not so much recently; and really at that point you could criticise most pre-W belts for being samey or most Sentai devices being bracelets.


(I also think there's, like, infinitely more value you can get out of them as toys compared to what Rider has been doing recently but that's neither here or there)

It's not, but man, I'm gonna kick in a mention that Ultraman toys are basically objectively better than Rider tends to get anyway? Even if those designs themselves ARE stale (which I don't feel either), there are a lot of really nice considerations Bandai and/or Tsuburaya seem to give them that Rider and Sentai don't get. I'm pretty sure they're always nearly 1:1 with the props you see the actors holding (Orb wasn't afraid to show Gai holding a tiny knife the way Saber is!); the music cues for the different forms are from the shows' own composers; the upside of using those legacy Ultras and monsters as the basis for the collectibles being that most of those transformation devices double as like, Ultra soundboards...

If the designs are afterthoughts, they're maybe the only thing about them that's an afterthought?

The thing that really gets me is how much you can do with what you get? Like... alright, let's compare a purchase from each franchise.

If you get the Flaming Tiger Progrise Key for 1650 Yen, then... you get the Flaming Tiger henshin and finisher in the 01 Driver, and lesser versions of that in other Drivers and weapons.

Now, if you get the Geed Access Card & Medals set for 1045 Yen? Oh boy! So, first of all you get the Galaxy Rising henshin and finisher in the Z-Riser; but you also get individual henshins and finishers for all three medals you got in this set (Ginga, X and Orb Origin), and Geed's individual henshin and finisher by using the card alone, and then both the Orb medal and the Geed card opens you up to the comprehensive library of their fusions as well; of which you can already do Orb's Zero Knuckle form and Geed's Solid Burning form with just the medals already included with the Z-Riser -- and probably a couple others I'm forgetting! And this list of combinations you can do only increases exponentially with each set you get -- the Legend Set 2 will now give you Geed Magnificent; the Gamma Future set will now give you Orb's Spacium Zeperion and Zeperion Solgent; etc! The Galaxy Rising medals were also pretty special in that they gave Z a new attack when used with the Haruki card, so that's yet another thing!

Granted of course I did choose the set that opens up more things in the Z-Riser than any other due to the Orb medal and Geed card; but even then they later released Orb again through the New Gen set and a Geed medal three times through New Gen, EX01 and Delta Rise Claw -- if you're collecting Z Medals in any capacity you will almost certainly have gotten at least Geed at some point, and even without him the fact that each medal has individual henshins and finishers on their own is a lot more bang for your buck than simply giving you the new form alone. Heck, there's other combos beyond that that don't even require Geed or Orb like Ginga Strium or Ultraman Legend! Each purchase gives you a lot to do on their own, and adds to what you already have. And the same was true for the Orb Ring and the Geed Riser; there's just so much more content packed into these things vs basically anything Rider has done.

Mine: Even for a early 70s toku, Kikaider kinda sucks.

North Korea's Pulgasari is one of the best kaiju films of all time, with definitely the best monster costume. And also a deep plot and beautiful, memorable music.
https://cs8.pikabu.ru/post_img/2016/...7245382739.jpg

Definitely a spicy take. :lol

not necessarily a hot or spicy take but i would like to see different main producers tackling the ultra series. I don't think that the current chief producer (tsugumi kitaura) is doing a bad job, i mean he did carry the franchise since ginga. I think the man deserved a big fat break, or he'll turn into takeyuki suzuki 2

Power rangers should have never existed, the show is nothing but american garbage and the fact hasbro is finally putting it in the ground is a good thing. If they want to import sentai, it should done through subs only without any alterations.