Another little thing I forgot to mention about the new episode: I adore that Z does the "Don’t just rely on your eyes"-thing again, same stance and all. This is usually a thing they do once in the episode the lesson was taught, then never again, but Z remembered it and did it once more against an enemy he couldn't see.

Bonus points for that enemy being the guy who taught him to do that :lol

My reaction to the purple Z Rider was “I smell a P-Bandai item incoming.” And I went on Twitter and I was right. It’s the latest announcement, along with the CSM Amazons Drive (ver. Alfa)

We have had some information from toy catalogues and unknown sources.

Z has a new form called Delta Rise Cross.
New DX weapon called Phantom World Sword Belialok/Belial Rogue
UMS 129-134: Shin King Joe, Bullton, Greeza (Second Form), M1, Ultroid Zero, Destrudos

Seriously. Major shout-outs to the slow motion rolling car interior shot.

1000x yes. Even going back to compare to R/B, which was 2 (?) years ago, the visual effects work on this show seems to be on another level.

Episode 6 is up:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ls3b-NQHRFU

EDIT: Well, looks like I just barely got beat to the punch on the link, so I'll just make this post my thoughts instead.

I thought this one was noticeably more clumsy than usual about how it presents the older material to the audience. I don't remember straight up flashbacks to old episodes and/or movies really being something the New Generation shows bust out in this manner, and having a scene of Riku meeting with Juggler essentially takes the perspective of the episode away from Haruki, making it that much weirder to anyone who hasn't seen Geed. It's still not anything majorly problematic, but I have to wonder if this was really the best choice of structure.

I did love just about everything else, though. Galaxy Rising is... I don't want to say a cool form, but I don't mind seeing it at all. Just, you know, go have Hikari fix up that Geed Riser ASAP, Riku, okay? Anyway, as much as I worry about the people only watching Z, as a massive fan of Geed, I can't not be happy seeing him again, with his theme song AND his insert song, no less! Riku's stock footage transformation stuff with the Z Riser also seemed notably more cool and dynamic to me than Haruki's, which I guess is just a perk of being a pro at this by now. The idea of his potential dynamic with Z is also fun for the few brief glimpses we get of it here, since Z himself took a major hit to his own screentime to fit everything else in.

So my thoughts on this are brief, oh my goodness Galaxy Rising Geed is really, really super cool and I love it a lot! Real glad I ended up grabbing the Riku Set before I bought the Z-Riser.

I think what also helped this episode though was that it was directed by Koichi Sakamoto I believe, and well, Sakamoto and Geed just go great together.

It was nice seeing how exactly Riku ended up switching devices (It's basically a Zero in Geed situation though in Riku's case it's his old toy). Also nice seeing that we cut straight to the chase with Juggler meeting Riku. I also like how, well, tense and awkward he is here, for good reason given well. The whole Devil Splinters being confirmed to be pieces of Belial deal.

Even dead that evil Ultra still isn't done plaguing the multiverse. Also I have to joke about that flashback but um... is it implying that this is basically all Taro's fault? :lol

That explains a lot! One of my favorite things in this episode was how Geed's initial appearance in it is a more-or-less direct recreation of his debut in his own first episode. It makes sense the same director would have an easier time doing a shot-for-shot remake like that, but still, very impressive work!

Actually from what demos and reviews I've seen the Z-Riser is perfectly capable of accessing all of Geed's original forms when you use the correct ultra-medals, so they could possibly have Riku use one of his older forms in the show to advertise that fact.

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I like the detail of Riku being hesitant to bring up the fact that Belial's his dad right away when first meeting Haruki. It's a small thing, but it makes the conversation feel more natural/in-character than Riku just going "Yeah, I'm hunting the Devil Splinters because they came from my evil dad."

You mean we could've had a Solid Burning/Beta Smash teamup just in this episode alone and they didn't go for it? I changed my mind, this is the worst episode of Z ever! :p

It would legitimately be neat to see that used in the show though.

I loved the episode! I think we are finally moving forward in terms of plot. I also like how we didn't see an ultra-obvious classic Kaiju this time. Galaxy Rising Geed feels awkward to me with Geed's face on a bulky body with a lot of color and detail, but Galaxy Rising has some strong attacks and doesn't sacrifice maneuverability for strength. Since Geed isn't using any of his older forms and weapons at the moment, he used a giant Z-Riser has a blade, and I liked seeing one used like that.

A little confused at that "Millennium Prize Problem" virus plan, though.

Next week...Zero Returns!!!

P.S.: Did we see a human-sized version of Z's base form in the preview for Ep. 7!?

P.P.S.: The Son of Seven will appear in Episode 7! Like that's a coincidence!

Okay I hate being mean to Haruki and Z but...

Between Juggler and Riku showing their Rises with the Z-Riser, I just end up enjoying theirs a lot more now than Haruki's. I don't know if it's something about the style or how energetic they are, but they really snap and I love em.

In fact I am currently repeating Riku's rise scene right now as we speak because I loved it that much.

I wonder when Haruki's gonna find out about Juggler's identity? That goes for the Gamma Tiga+Dyna+Gaia fusion form?

Plus they better show us the green dude fighting Haruki & Z!

Okay, I'm going to have to take back what I implied last week about how this show not requiring you to watched older Ultraman material. Between the flashbacks to old movies, and the returning characters talking among themselves without any filling in of backstory, this show does not care at all if you are new and confused about all this.

I mean don't get me wrong, I like seeing Geed, hearing his theme song, seeing Riku talk with Juggler, but it's just surprising to me how the show just dropped any pretense of this being a standalone story.

Up until the Ep. 5, when we first saw Juggler reveal himself, this was standalone and probably an intentional standalone.

Since Geed's return has been teased for awhile now, I'm wondering if perhaps the first few episodes were an attempt to illicit support for the show's premise and Ultraman in general, while simultaneously advertising all that is to come. That would suggest that Z was meant to draw people in and inspire them to go and learn more about Ultraman, especially Zero and Geed since Zero was in the first episode and Geed's return was not a great big surprise! In addition, the hiring of Juggler's actor in a new role was probably meant to spur some questions of "Is it really just a new role for the same actor, or is this actually Juggler in disguise? Could he play both roles at some point?"

I'm suggesting that the standalone aspect was, in essence, "Ultra-Bait"! It was meant to seem that way, and then flip that aspect in ultra-obvious ways.

I'm also wondering if maybe some directors and writers have varying opinions, which could potentially lead to a clash in style and tone between episodes. In one instance, we have a standalone story. In another, we have a 'Multiverse-With-Decades-of-History' story.

OMG this episode was amazing!

As a huge fan of Geed his return made me super happy. Not only does he get a great new suit but the way they implement the combined powers of Ginga, X and Orb is fantastic! From the way they reuse X's cyber effects to the "Wrecking Phoenix" combining the stances of all three of Geed's predecessors.

The entire scene were Geed arrived and his theme started playing - I had a huge smile on my face the entire time. They even mimicked his first appearance from his own show which was awesome!

Also, yeah - continuity. As someone who has watched all of this stuff I'm glad they're doing it. The way they connect the Geed movie into this, how Juggler and Z already know Geed, I like all of this. For newcomers this has to be way more confusing than lasts week episode though. Oh well, maybe the flashbacks helped at least a tiny bit?

Back to the episode: Yuka continues to be my favorite character of this show. It takes a special kind of mad genius to upload a math equation into an enemy AI - yes to slow it down, but also, give me that prize money :lol

I wish we had a scene where she actually collects it.

More screen time for Shinya is welcome, I'm kind of surprised he's still working in his human guise but it makes sense. And Juggler - I do think he's trying to be better, that he enjoys being the captain. I don’t think he's faking it.

The action in this episode was fantastic too, from the initial Geed fight to the team-up at the end. So good! I love that Geed's more feral fighting is still present.

Lastly, we learned a few things lore-wise. Yes, Ultraman Hikari made the Z Riser. Unsurprisingly as it seems to be a direct upgrade to the Geed Riser but still nice to see. And of course, Belial is tied into this, the Devil Splinters are his doing, although a bit unwillingly it seems. Still, I wonder if Belial himself will be back in some capacity, maybe Celebro will resurrect him?

Next week - Zero is back! Nice, I expected them to keep him out of this show until the very end. I'm curious to see if h will take a more present role in this show or fly off and leave the Earth to Z and Geed.

I don't mean to do this on the regular or anything but just want to once highlight Sevenger's 'expressions'.

https://i.imgur.com/uAqiXEF.png

that is also my face when my arm goes flying off

I completely missed that! :lol

Yeah another thing that I love about this is how we have three different people transforming with the Z Riser but all are using it differently.

- Haruki holds it in his left hand turns the slider by the tip of the blade.

- Hebikura/Juggler holds it in his left hand but turns the slider by the center. He also imitates Orb with the pose.

- Riku holds it in his right hand and turns the slider by the bottom of the blade. He mimic’s his own transformation pose when he had the Geed Riser.

If what they're implying is true, then it looks like we haven't seen the last of Belial, the Devil Splinters could be the key to his resurrection.
You can't have a Zero anniversary without his arch-nemesis making an appearance.

This was really good! The main takeaway from this episode is that continuity is fun. I like having Riku, Juggler and Zero being characters in this show. I like that Z and Geed already know each other. I like that Gilvaris is back because he's so cool. I still feel kind of bad for the guy in that suit.

Sevenger's "aw shit" face is hilarious.

Riku's transformation doesn't have enough "GEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED" in it. I don't dislike Galaxy Rising, but it might be my least favourite Geed form (hmmm maybe it's better than Ultimate Final?). He's got some cool moves though! Plus him doing those moves with the Geed theme playing is double cool!

Based on what we know about Devil Splinters and the preview for next week, are we just going to get all of the Geed fusion monsters again?

Thunder Killer and Pendanium Zetton got new toy releases so - maybe?

I do hope we either get an original one or the final boss will be some kind of new Belial suit.

I think Skull Gomora and Pendanium Zetton are two of the coolest monsters in the entire franchise, so I'm happy for an excuse to see them again. That said, Shinya/Cerebro really needs an original fusion monster of his own at some point in order to establish themselves as a distinct villain.

Hey rememeber last week when I whined about not knowing who or what a Juggler is? Replace the word "Juggler" with "Geed" and you have some of my thoughts for this week. Ultraman Z is not the kindest show to come into fresh. Seriously, it took me a minute after they mentioned Devil Splinters to go "Oh, wait, hang on, this is Z lore, not something from a past show."

First, the positives, because there is a lot of positives. Action, as always, is amazing. Geed *looks* wonderul - I have no idea if this is how he's always looked, but if so they did a good job on his design. The STORAGE team doesn't have that much to do (and, between electrical engineering, exo-biology, and trying to solve a millenium prize singlehandedly (????), I'm starting to think Science-Lady is wasted there), but what they do have is nice. And, while it's tough, you can sketch the vague bits of the non-Z stuff. Geed's host (Riku?) and Juggling Captain know eachother, Geed doesn't like him, and the problems in this series is due to some bad stuff that happened in the past betwene Bellial, who I've at least heard of! And, for it's credit, Z and Geed's interaction is cute. Z's attempt to explain Geed does better than the entire rest of the episode, tbf.

But yeah. If last week felt like I was missing something, this week felt like I was missing a lot more. Haruki takes a backseat, and it's Mr Geed's story at heart, so any nuance about his character is lost on me. If they'd maybe focusued more around Haruki interacting with Geed-man, so we can learn about him as our main character does, in a natural way, it could have worked better, but the two don't even exchange names until the last scene! The flashbacks help a little, but they're all action scenes, so it doesn't do much to establish character, and takes even more time away from our ostensible protagonist *and* villain! Also, Geed is another fusion Ultra, so that's another 3 Ultras for me to not remember. And it's regular Orb, not even Orb Dark Black Noir Schwarz, so points down for that.

I want to like Z. And a lot of it, I really do! If nothing else, it's visually stunning, and the core cast is likeable. But we're 6 episodes in, and already the deep lore is coming. And given they had a Bellial medal in the "buy the merch" section when all of them are accounted for other than that one which disintegrated in Celebro's hands, I get the feeling it doesn't stop coming.

FYI, Geed doesn't have a host. He's a genetically engineered Ultraman cloned in human form, so Geed and Riku are the same person.

Some Ultras have Human hosts and some have a human form instead. At least one has done both at different times.

Yup, some Ultras have human hosts, a trope started with the original Ultraman and continued with Z, some others, like Ultraseven, assume a human disguise.

Then there are other cases like Orb who was once a normal mortal but "granted" the powers of Ultraman through the light. So he himself becomes an Ultraman.

Riku is similar to Orb, but has a different origin: He’s an altered clone of another Ultraman (I won’t spoil who since you seem unaware) but he grew up as a human and can assume an Ultraman form as well. Although Riku seems to need fusion material as his own Ultraman form is either not available to him or he hasn’t figured out to use it yet. You can see what would be his "original" form before the other Ultras join into him in this very episode.

It’s interesting reading your thoughts by the way. Ultraman is always a bit more reliant on what came before, as apparent through the non-ending reuse of the “past Ultraman as transformation items”-trope, but some shows manage it better than others.

Z as a (self proclaimed) pupil of Zero brings his entire mythos into the fray, of which Geed is a big part of. Maybe you’ll get interested enough to check some of it out one day, Ultraman Geed is a fantastic show.

The noises you can hear are me screaming in ignorance at the deep lore.


Thanks! I'm just trying to give my own dumb perspective, since it seems everyone else here has watched the Tsubaraya recommended amount of Ultra to understand the show properly!

As for other shows, I'm very, very slow at watching stuff independently, but I'll note it down for the future. Maybe after I finish my attempt at Kamen Rider X. Which is coming after I finish R/B. I'll let you know in a couple years' time.

Would it be a stretch to call Belial the DIO of the Ultraman Franchise? Just asking given well, big bad evil that was nigh unstoppable, finally put down in a climatic showdown only for his legacy to live on (Devil Splinters)

Will say though I like that they're expanding what they already introduced in Taiga, it made you kinda wonder how exactly aliens were getting Belial DNA for some of the stuff they did in that show. Well, this explains it.

Actually Orb is, as far as I know, a unique case. He's the only known humanoid to be turned into an Ultraman. There are many cases of the reverse (an Ultraman assuming human form) starting with Ultraman Leo back in the 70s, but only one Orb. Geed I would argue is an Ultraman given human form, but done so artificially and without his consent. If you know his origin, you know his Ultraform should be his true form.

None of which have much to do with this show, but you know, lore and such.

Watched the latest ep, and man I really enjoyed it!

A lot of you have said what I think of it.

The one thing I want to bring up is Jugglur being actively concerned about the safety of storage when Gilvallis first appeared. I think things are going to get to get interesting with Jugglur in the future. Atm my best guess for motivation is "you humans are cool, but also I enjoy beating up ultramen so cut me some slack"

It took a while mind you, I started with Ultraman X and had to watch / read up on a few things I didn’t understand :lol

But I got comfortable very quickly. Modern Ultraman shows are short & sweet and after 2-3 you've seen most returning characters and monsters.

I look forward to it :lol

I’d call him straight up Satan but this works too ;)

Yup. Although Fukuide Kei / Alien Sturm might've played a part in how Belial's DNA ended up in the criminal underworld as well.

The original Rosso & Blu as well as Fuma gained their powers in the exact same way as Orb so I assume it’s safe to say they can do what he does. We just never saw Rosso or Blu do it because they died long before their powers were inherited by the Minato Bros. and Fuma apparently chooses not to do it. Plus, his current state probably wouldn’t allow him to change into his original form anyways.

That I can agree with though.

I do think this will end up as a plot point in the future. The time will come when Juggler's past is revealed and he is questioned abut his true nature. But I believe Haruki and the gang will believe in him, because like them I think his actions are genuine.

He just has a few setbacks out of boredom; he can't help himself but to beat up an Ultraman every so often ;)

And while the GEED hype is real might as well drop this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQO9p2hPcIw

It's a real banger. Probably my favorite Ultraman OP, although Z's is fantastic as well.

I really like the geed theme. It gives me a very classic toku themesong vibe (though maybe it's more 90s then classic) while still being very modern feeling.

Kenji Kawai's entire soundtrack for Geed was some masterpiece level stuff. Really elevated an already excellent series.

How will Haruki react to learning Belial is Riku's father?

Bah dude, spoilers! We just had AkibaSilver talking about how she doesn't know anything about Geed yet.

To answer your question - I wonder if Z knows? If so it shouldn't be a big deal, and Riku hasn't given them a reason to doubt him anyways.

Oh, don't worry, I'm sure the show will expect me to know it soon enough :P

Okay, so having Geed back is fun. I really liked that show (that I still haven't finished watching) and it's cool seeing him again. It does feel a little weird having it just be Riku, though, considering how much his supporting cast was a part of the story. The Pega cameo was nice, but I'm really feeling Laiha's absence. With that said, I really like how much of a dork Z is around Geed. It really brings out the whole "Zero's annoying tagalong kid brother*" vibe of Z that I picked up on from the early episodes. The double transformation scene, however, brought back some painful memories from R/B - there needs to come a point where you start streamlining these things, Tsubaraya.

Also, kind of annoyed that we're apparently doing Belial again. I know Ultraman as a franchise loves to bring back old monsters and aliens, but it feels like we just keep going back to the Belial well over and over and over again.

*Yes, I know he's not Zero's brother.

Yeah, that's definitely a big plot twist for Geed. I remember how carefully they were advertising that show not to give it away. Knowing who Riku's dad is would ruin like, a good 20 minutes of the first episode!

In all seriousness, I'm legitimately confused why this would be worth worrying about? I get that Riku doesn't bring it up in this episode, but this episode is also making it exceptionally clear it thinks everyone watched Geed, and it was central to the premise of that show from the start. It's really no more of a spoiler than saying Taiga is the son of Taro. It's not meant to be hidden, and hearing it would be meaningless to a fan unfamiliar with those names anyway.

It'll also be pretty meaningless to Haruki for much the same reasons, which is why I'm looking forward to the inevitable confused shrug when he finds out in a future episode. The new viewers could really use something they can relate to again after this one.