That tuna though. :lolol

I am also sad about sevenger's retirement

but my prediction is that King Zoe will betray Storage and they will have to bring Sevenger out of retirement to help combat it.

This! This was the resolution I wanted for Haruki's moral dilemma!

When he got transported back in time and the baseball came bouncing down the hill towards him I audibly gasped, because I knew what would follow. Excellent and creative use of Bullton's abilities and such a strong character moment. Couple all of that with the good comedy, the great miniature work (the scene with the miniature office going zero gravity was insane) and the amazing action - this is Z as I want it to be. So good.

And next week - Geed returns, the big bad from X makes an appearance and Z's new form - with the talking Belial sword. I cannot freakin’ wait.

I think something along those lines too, it’s the old mecha trope of a robot being retired for a newer super-high tech model but said new model is hacked / goes rogue so the old robot is brought out of storage (heh) and goes full underdog. But wins of course.

...

I want to watch the Patlabor movie again...

After Toei tried to celebrate the 10th with, uh, some cell medals and a Gaim movie; Z comes in swinging with a resolution that feels like it was pulled directly out of Kamen Rider OOO in the best of ways. Phenomenal

All I can manage right now are some scattered points that I really want to throw out there...

Seeing Sevenger get retired made actually kinda sad so I'm also hoping it gets to make a dramatic comeback later.

Hey, I think this is the most personality we've seen from Celebro.

Wow, that commercial just casually spoils Delta Rise and the Belialrok, huh.

When Haruki moved in for that handshake with his father, and how it starts to overwhelm him, and then his father slowly realises... One of the best scenes ever. I had to take a moment.

That fight with Bullton is no-joke the most fun and exciting action I've seen in Ultraman in a long time?! It's an incredibly creative and formidable back-and-forth, all done with a very unconventional kind of monster. (Also hey, we got to see Z's lance again for three seconds.)

I would probably buy the Blurays for this series as long as it doesn't take a sudden turn in quality for the remainder of the season.

I never laughed so hard at Juggler stopping for a bathroom break.

What if.... In the final episode, Haruki separates from Z and both of them tag team with Haruki using Sevenger to fight the final villain, throwback to their very first fight in the first episode?

Usually Ultraman is at their strongest when it comes to the second half. Orb, Geed and Taiga had amazing second half, Taiga even moreso when the first half was very standard. Hell, Orb's second half is basically where Juggler really gets to shine and become the fan favorite. So hopefully Z's second half is amazing.

When it comes to Juggler I'm always wondering if he will ever use his Z-Riser again or if they went to the trouble of explaining why he has one just to sell a P-Bandai toy.

Although he might use it again in the finale or something?

I generally don't like when the 2nd verse of the song becomes the opening, but Z's is still pretty good! The power of Masaaki Endoh.

This was a really good episode. Haruki's meeting with his dad definitely tugged at the ol' heart strings. Yeah, especially the handshake at the end. Good stuff. I also liked the little bit of continuity for why his dad took a weirdly long time to pick up a ball.

The whole fight with Bullton was very creative and fun. Gamma Future and Bullton flinging random magic shit at each other was really cool. Beta Smash diving on screen while screaming his own name amuses the hell out of me.

Z's such a goddamn dork that he sings his own theme song now.

That's... that is an extremely smart bit of plotting I did not at all pick up on. These have been some good episodes!