Saw Ep. 3, and it has some of the more "graphic" civilian murders I've seen in a Toku! Not to say that they're '80s Slasher graphic (though the first one was unexpected)! I don't fully understand why the human-sized extraterrestrial is so significantly different from the city-smasher!

Yeah, I should one of these days. It was a nice back to basics show looking back.

Currently watching the Return of Ultraman and even though the translation is a little ropey (god bless HK subs), it's understandable enough. I'm not expecting any complex lexicon from early 70s Ultraman anyway.

It's pretty good so far. I like that there's a bit more character to Goh than the previous Ultras. As much as I love them Hayata and Dan were for the most part respectable, flawless heroes while Goh can be cocky and insubordinate at times. Wasn't expecting to see him get fired from the MAT straight after getting hired. I imagine he'll fall back into the old Ultra hero archetype eventually but it was a good start.

I also like the different dynamic Ultraman Jack and Goh's bond has. While it's debatable just how much of Hayata was Hayata and Dan was literally Ultraseven, Goh and Jack are clearly separate entities - to the point where Jack literally jacks Goh's body when he needs it.

The only thing I'm a bit meh on right now are the visuals. Maybe its just me being a bit cynical since I know this was the first series done without Eiji, the visuals don't feel quite as polished as its predecessors. The miniatures not so much, but the monster suits for sure.

Still early days yet though, so I'm curious to see how it progresses!

Frist image of our two new Ultraman's
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DarqXcuUQAAYPPq.jpg
Ultraman on the Left: Ultraman Russo. Flame, Aqua, Wind and Ground forms
Ultraman on the Right: Ultraman Bull. Aqua, Flame, Wind and Ground forms

Tentatively, the new show will be titled Ultraman R/B.

Given that their names are Italian I believe the correct spellings are Rosso and Blu. Makes sense cause that is their default colors.
Also it seems that rather than my theory of the word for wolf or Luve, the trademarked Rube is actually how R/B is pronounced. And seems like Tsuburaya is giving us a season where two ultras are the main ultras from the get-go.
Speaking of... Imma start calling them Super Ultra Bros. :lolol

Oh wow, they look really cool.

I thought it was "Blu" at first myself when I looked it up, but the Katakana is different. Blu would be ブルー while the name we have is ブル, so I dunno if it's a weird alternate spelling if it's supposed to be the word for blue in a different language.

If R/B is pronounced as "rubu"/lube, that'll be another case of weird alternate readings. R/B would be closer to like... アル/ビ

That is because it is not the English "blue" but rather the Italian equivalent BLU like I said. It is obvious they are going for the red and blue setup and Rosso is clearly the Italian word for red. So it only makes sense that it is Blu and not the animal that is used as Chicago's basketball team.

I never said it was the English word, if it's a word for blue, it's either not in Italian or it's using a non traditional spelling. Blu is rendered as ブルー in Katakana, but that's not how the Ultraman's name is spelled, this Ultraman's name is ブル, so there's a difference in pronunciation.

I apologize if I seemed hostile.

But in Japan the Italian word Blu is primarily written as ブル. That is how it is written primarily in their language. Alternatively they will write it the same as Blue which is ブルー but primarily the popular way of writing it is ブル as shown in some of the examples I present below.

http://likeblue.net/%E9%9D%92%E3%82%...D%98%E8%AA%9E/
"イタリア語 blu（ブル）"

http://itacica.com/giapponese-italia...ingua/post_70/
"この「青」ですが、英語のブルーと同じく　blu　（ブル）というイタリア語もあります。"

https://iro-color.com/episode/world-color.html
"イタリア語：ブル(blu)"


http://naming-dic.com/word/it/88516458 < This site has it as both ブル and ブルー
"青（あお）のイタリア語 ブル"

Again, Rosso is the Italian word for red, and considering that they are paired up whether or not they start as friends or foe, it is obvious that they are going Italian with their naming scheme for these two. So thus it is not Ultraman Ferdinand but Ultraman Blu.

And Imma drop this here... :lolol
https://i.imgur.com/vMYmAr4.gif

Eh, live and learn. Rosso was obvious, I just wasn't familiar with that other rendering. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I'm hyped for this Ultra.

Might even watch it the whole way through.

Looks like Orb's gonna feature prominently in R/B.
Orb Ring NEO, Orb Dark, Orb campaign item, Orb logo on the toy holder.
Trinkets are Rube (R/B?) Crystals.

Lots of stuff.

New forms still based on old Ultras evidently, but at least they're not fusions.

Rosso and Blu are apparently brothers, the former being the older one.

Four main Crystals and their elemental attributes

Fire > Taro
Water > Ginga
Wind > Orb
Ground > Victory

Rosso's main choice is the Taro Crystal, while Blu's main is the Ginga Crystal.
Two horns means it is for Rosso, one is for Blu.

Looks like collecting all crystals and setting them on the R/B crystal collection case will summon the Orb Origin Crystal.

The Matrix of Leadership looking thing is called the R/B Gyro.

Just another image totally confirming the English spelling. Also the show starts July 7th.

Ooh that's a kickass henshin device, I'll buy these, wallet be da-*past Ultras as trinkets* Never mind

I loved Geed, (and Zero and Moa) so much I'm having a real, "YOU'RE NOT MY REAL DAD!", feeling looking at all the pics and info coming out on the new Ultraman.

*sigh*

...I miss Moa and Riku.

https://i.imgur.com/7JKbGRw.png

Chaiyo's reign of terror is finally over
http://augustragone.blogspot.com/201...-wins.html?m=1

Thank god this mess is finally over.

Dear Chaiyo,
https://i.imgur.com/qnk3n1D.png

I’ll believe that only when I see Chaiyo publicly accept the verdict.

Our new Ultraman actors
Ultraman Rosso: Yuya Hirata, age 23
Ultraman Blu: Ryosuke Koike, age 22
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DbkP3_PUwAY5v9e.jpg

That is a crazy looking henshin device. The actors look really cool back to back like that though. I've always been a huge fan of 'duo' heroes.

At first glance Rosso looks like he will be more reserved and Blu seems more active. Looking forward to this.

Part of me thought there'd only be one Gyro and they'd both have to share it, so only one Ultraman at a time. But it looks like they have one each.

Oh wow. That's a big deal!

More info
https://en.tsuburaya-prod.co.jp/news/397

Gyro's too bulky for my liking but I'm excited for the idea of a brother duo as main protags

2018 New TV series "Ultraman R/B" Special trailer…: https://youtu.be/zjju4AaHxnA

Sorry didn't see that it was already posted elsewhere on the board.

idk,...I don't think it looks that great. Trailer is just a big toy commercial for the henshin devices. Looks kind of "cheap", too.

Ultraman Geed was sooo good. This (imo) looks weak in comparison. The costumes don't look all that great to me either.

Oh well.

Geed was good. Can't expect greatness back to back I suppose.

I want to like it.


....I don't mean to be negative.

The gyro looks far too toy-ish but the brothers could be interesting.

Why is the original Ultra Seven Ep. 12 "From Another Planet with Love" banned in Japan, and subsequently missing from the SHOUT! Factory release?

It sounds like a parody/reference to the James Bond film "From Russia with Love", but that doesn't feel like a large enough reason to ban it!

Link to Ultraman Availability (which notes the issue with the aforementioned episode): http://ukiyaseed.weebly.com/ukiyasee...-what-ultraman

Because the Alien that appears in said episode, Alien Spell, looks very similar to victims of nuclear bombs. The episode was met with heavy criticism after it first aired since actual survivors of the nuclear bombings in Japan were offended, so the episode and its monster are banned ever since.

So, what message were they trying to send? Classic Ultraman dealt with a story which "incorporates a message" of some kind...but this feels like something where authorial intent didn't land as intended!

Ultraman legal disputes and Classic VS. Modern Ultraman intent: http://tokusatsunetwork.com/2018/06/...aman-globally/

First trailer for the anime https://youtu.be/LtOJidBvZTE

Next year is Ultraman Zero's 10th anniversary, although his debut was in December 2009 you might as well consider him debuting in 2010, which would make 2020 his actual 10th anniversary!

That being said, it's obvious they will pay tribute to it somehow, seeing as Zero is responsible for the reemergence of Ultra series as a whole. I'm hoping they'll do a special movie for him or something, and maybe see a new form of him, maybe combining Shining and Beyond powers.

Just in case anyone was unaware, Tv-Nihon finished subbing Ultraman Dyna a couple of weeks ago. Its a sequel to Ultraman Tiga but you can watch Dyna by itself and still fully enjoy it.

Ultraman New Generation Chronicles, debuting on Janurary 5th.
https://twitter.com/tsuburayaprod/st...496282625?s=19

Akin to the Retsuden, Zero the Chronicle and Orb the Chronicle before hand, it's a clipshow series that recounts episodes and events from past series, this time being the entirety of the New Generation Ultras. The show will be hosted by Pega and Booska. Riku will also be a guest to promote the upcoming R/B movie.

Edit: New link that has a bit more info
http://augustragone.blogspot.com/201...hronicles.html

Haven't bothered with the other ones but that's a big enough variety that I might actually watch it.

Also, Booska? ...Interesting choice.

And I did. Well, the first one, I just started Ginga S.

My history with Ginga is weird: I watched the first episode like 5 years ago and then just never continued. I wasn’t familiar with Ultraman at the time, it was barely a few months after Toku became a thing for me and I was mainly exploring Kamen Rider at the time.

Ultraman seemed like a natural fit for me at first because Godzilla was my favorite thing as a kid so giant monsters wrecking stuff is just up my alley.

But for some reason the vast Ultra universe with all its characters and monsters overwhelmed me a bit, and maybe I just wasn't accustomed to the style just yet. I also remember thinking Spark Dolls were the dumbest thing ever.

Luckily Ultraman X really grabbed my attention back when it first aired, I loved the show and that’s what I needed to fully embrace and explore the Ultra-series. I watched every new series ever since, plus a few movies, and now with the announcement of Ultraman Victory in SHF-form I felt ready to dive back into Ginga, to complete my "New Generation Hero"-journey.

And I gotta say, Ginga was a nice show to watch. Not mind-blowingly amazing, and very much a "restart" with much less ambition and budget than later entries in the series (which makes sense because Ginga was the first re-emergence of a new Ultra show in quite some time, as far as I know) but it's still really fun.

I find the limitation of the story and action to one particular location, the school building, enjoyable and even refreshing to a degree. Nowadays Ultraman protects cities and continents with a variety of locations to choose form, back in Ginga it was one building and the surrounding woodlands.

It all feels limited, like a short web-series, but that also gives it a strange kind of focus. Each character has their time to shine, they work as a group and the overall narrative is simple yet fulfilling.

It was a short experience but a fun one. I enjoyed it very much. And thankfully I have arrived at a point in my Toku fanboy life where I find the Spark Dolls charming to a degree. I'm still glad they're not a thing anymore, but I also wish we could go back to Ultraman having his own origin and powers instead of fusions or borrowing powers from past Ultras. It’s so weird too since all the recent Ultraman have origins of their own, yet they need collectable past-Ultraman tokens to transform regardless.

Anyways, a final yet important note: This show made me become a fan of Ultraman Taro. It’s probably for all the wrong reasons but he was great in this one. The flashback scene with him as a child is especially awesome. Also the comedy was on point with his struggles as a doll. "I want to be big again!". The payoff to this in the final episode was fantastic.

I checked out the first episode of Ginga S today too, because well, Ultraman Victory was the main drive behind me going back, and I like it already. The military organization / defense force theme in Ultraman is my favorite, so I'm glad they're bringing it back. Plus, the subterran people thing makes me incredibly nostalgic because that's an old theme from the Godzilla movies as well. Many others too, but in the context of Toku Godzilla comes to my mind first.

Ultraman Victory is great; I love his Kaiju-arm gimmick. I binged all of Ginga during the weekend and I will continue to pop an episode of Ginga S daily now, I will have it finished by the next weekend I think, so I'll write down my final thoughts on the Ginga-series by then. But so far? I love it.