I've only seen a handful of older Ultra shows, but I get the impression the Ultra series leans into cross-show continuity far more than Rider or Sentai tends to. Are there any shows that people suggest watching only after seeing specific older entries first? I'd like to try something more modern at some point but I'm nervous I'll pick something and it will be like "you fool, you didn't watch Orb first and the plot is ruined now" or something like that. Maybe I'm afraid of nothing, you tell me!

It does do crossovers and such a lot more, but I feel you don't really need any context for them beyond what's provided in the episodes. I'd compare it to say Gokaiger's tribute episodes for the most part.

Even looking at more extreme examples, Geed and Decker are shows that are made completely on the basis of being follow-ups to previous series -- the Zero movies and Trigger, respectively. But Geed basically explains everything you need to know in the first couple minutes, and Decker basically never draws on anything specific from Trigger and plays more on its nature of being a sequel in general rather than needing to know what happened in this one Trigger episode or whatever. Both shows to begin with focus much more on the new characters, and there's an argument you could replace the returning characters and plot threads with completely original ones and not lose much.

It can look a bit intimidating (and a few movies and episodes do handle it as subtly as a bag of hammers) but it's really fine in the long run. It obviously is a lot more enjoyable if you've seen a previous show before their characters show up in a new one, but I'd say the same about like, if you've seen Hurricaneger before you saw their Gokaiger episode or W before you saw Revice: The Mystery. Absolutely not necessary and is just a little bit more fun and cool if you have seen them.

... the exception to this is Ultra Galaxy Fight; I find it really funny that they do English dubs specifically for those as if they're a good entry point for newer fans, but they consist almost entirely of just fanservice for existing fans

It usually isn't that tight. Sometimes you'll have characters that are related to each other, but that's usually just a tangential detail and not incredibly central to the plot. And honestly, given how episodic all the old shows were, it's not like you're missing huge sprawling storylines.

I came to Ultra pretty recently in 2021. I watched Ultra Q and Ultraman 66 then just skipped right to Ultraman Orb. I saw ultraman X was going to be in the Orb movie, so I watched Ultraman X. Then I decided to watch Ultraman Z. I got to an episode where Geed showed up, so I decided to pause Z and then watch Ultraman Geed.

I think this can be applied pretty well to anything in Ultra, if you are feeling adventurous.

Only caveat I would offer is that you probably would be better off watching Ultraman Orb before you watch the shows that came out after it. At least two shows that come after Orb built some pretty big references from Orb into their plots.

So Tsuburaya is collabrating with TBS for new projects.

There first announcment is going to be this fall.

Some exciting stuff. Feels in line with the rumors going on.

https://twitter.com/livedoornews/sta...ghtmode%3Dtrue

Shin Ultraman gets an updated Mafex release which includes Imitation Ultraman's head
https://images2.imgbox.com/b3/01/97vVESdi_o.jpg
https://www.bigbadtoystore.com/Produ...Details/236712
$94.99
January 2024

Now THIS is something that makes me want to consider the Mafex over SHF. SHF makes you buy the first contact version if you want the beam and beta capsule, but Mafex just did a re-release with those parts (plus Imitation parts which is also cool) like a reasonable company.

I, uh, already paid for my SHF Shin Ultraman though and it's due to ship soon, so... kinda locked in!

Reported from Ryu Manatsu(Ultraman Leo), Jiro Dan(Ultraman Jack) has passed away.
https://twitter.com/manatsu_ryu/stat...48777356173312

May he rest in peace.

Edit: an article reports that he passed away from lung cancer
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/bd...ae615931e2b00c

RIP.

Tsuburaya have officially posted the teaser they had in the Decker Movie on their Youtube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meM4e75KrAk