You know, I feel like Max should've been in Mebius & Brothers movie. It kinda sucks that it took Ginga S movie to pay tribute to Max.

Max occupies a weird space in Ultra continuity. The show is sandwiched between the failure of the Ultra N project and the start of the nostalgia-focused era that began with Mebius. It doesn't fit with either one and there aren't any similar series to help form a small pocket continuity like we got with Tiga/Dyna/Gaia. It's just this wonderful little gem of a show that has mostly existed on its own until fairly recently. Before showing up in Ginga S and X, all Max had going for himself was a background cameo in the first Belial movie.

Elly is still one of my favourite supporting characters in any toku (I'll go ahead and say she is better than Kamen Rider's Izu...!)!

And sadly the Max in those movies are implied to be an 'alternate' Max, but I'd wager they retcon it back.

Since Max in his original series was stated to come from an 'alternate M78'

Thanks to the Double Feature release, I have finally seen the Ginga S Movie, but the subtitles on the disk left a lot to be desired! I just feel as though Mill Creek didn't give this the attention it needed.

I assume that the multiple villains Etelgar used were all "dark fear clones" as opposed to the originals, right?

What the hell is the etymology for a guy named "Etelgar" anyway?

Just prior to watching the movie, I did the first episode of Nexus more or less on a whim. After seeing the Ginga S Movie and its depiction of Nexus VS. Dark Mephisto, I'm wondering if maybe I should keep going with Nexus!

The Double Feature release does have the English Dub and I'm also wondering if that would make the experience more worthwhile.

Information on Anime Ultraman, Season 2... cause someone somewhere said that we wanted and/or needed one!

https://ultramangalaxy.com/special-u...roducing-taro/

Tatsuhisa Suzuki will play Ultraman Taro in season 2 of the Netflix ULTRAMAN show. He is no stranger to toku having voiced Kit Taylor/Dragon Knight in Kamen Rider Dragon Knight, Zack Taylor/MMPR Black Ranger in the MMPR reboot movie, and Usada in Go-Busters. Also he was Atsushi Domyoji/Green Hippopotamus in the Go-Busters V-Cinema film.

Oh ShyGuy, Tsuburaya's YouTube channel is going to stream Ultraman Max episode 1 tomorrow (based on Asia's timezones), so that might be a good place to start.

Although I think it's raw, not subbed.

Thank you for the heads up! I actually started watching it a few days ago, I'm up to episode 15 so far and really enjoying it!

I'll probably write up my thoughts in more detail when I've finished it, but a few quick notes for what I've seen so far:

I don't know how this compares to other Ultraman shows, since this is my first one, but it has significantly heavier themes than I anticipated. The overall tone is light, but the show constantly hammers in a strong environmental message and is very explicit about it, it's not just there as a generic theme and it's not treated as just a side concern to facilitate the plot. It takes its message extremely seriously, and almost every episode is asking questions or making points about the relationship between humans and earth. And the things its saying are nuanced and articulate, its far from just the basic "we need to take better care of the environment" message you usually see in things like this. It pointedly acknowledges humanity's responsibility for its poor treatment of the environment, while also holding out hope that humans can be convinced to do better and maybe things can turn around.

So that's been really interesting to me, because I was not expecting the level of thematic depth that I found, and definitely wasn't expecting the show to handle it so gracefully and intelligently. I'm very impressed by it so far and can't wait to see how it continues to develop!

Either this or X is probably one of the best shows to start because the core elements and feels of a classic/essential Ultraman show are all there while being modern so I think you are doing fine. And while X is more recent, this show probably gets my vote if I had to choose one out of the two since it was built upon the intention of REALLY GETTING BACK TO BASICS after the previous show was experimenting with darker tones and trying relatively newer things.

I think it's easy to write Ultraman off as being more kid-friendly because of the big monster battles, but a lot of the shows tend to be more complex then that. It strikes me more as a show that's meant for viewers of all ages, and the plots can get pretty deep into weird science fiction concepts and ethical dilemmas. Yeah, it has its goofy moments (if you haven't gotten to the space cats episode yet, you are in for a treat), but it can get a lot more serious and even dark compared to Rider or Sentai.

Breaking news, everyone! The movie release date for Ultraman Taiga: New Generation Climax Movie has been moved from March to August 7, 2020. While Ultraman Zetto/Z is currently airing on TV, the movie theaters and mall cinemas will have its limited capacity and social distancing, so that the Japanese movie-goers will watch the said movie safely despite COVID-19 Pandemic. Here is the link:

https://nihonhero.weebly.com/home/ul...-premiere-date

Just watched the space cats episode last night, it was incredible. :lol

But yeah you're right about the overall complexity of it, and I like how it addresses ethical dilemmas and other issues while also knowing how to just have fun alongside that. It strikes the balance between the two extremely well.

Today is Ultraman day! We can celebrate by watching this special short, fully subbed :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJJ3THk-FW0

This is clearly non-canon since nobody in-universe ever thinks about Man-niisan.

/sarcasm. ....mostly.

Remember that time Ultraman and N*Sync had a crossover?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf--mCg_KT4

That's just how you know Z is a good kid! Although I'm sure if Mebius were there, he'd have cared too. I guess I'll just have to settle for them using (what I'm pretty sure was) very emotional BGM from his show instead.

That was a really cute short! I always like when they do things like this where the little kids watching it for Z are going to be confused why their parents (or grandparents in this case?) in the room are getting legitimately choked up.

Speaking of Mebius, a shame Shunji Igarashi retired years ago. Would love to see him reprise his role.

Right? It's such a shame Mebius hasn't been able to be a part of anything post-Zero. The tribute they managed to pay to him in Taiga's voice drama's was pretty touching, but man, would I love to see him truly come back onscreen in some fashion one day.

Apparently after he retired he was last known to be running a cafe in Japan. I do find it fascinating that actors in Japan will retire and just carry on taking non-entertainer jobs. I wonder if it has to do with how entertainers are paid over there cause I heard from somewhere that Japanese entertainers are considered employees of the agency they are part of and are paid in salaries.

Whoa whoa whoa, Ultraman himself getting a tribute in-universe?! What is this?!

Hey where are this voice dramas available? I started watching Mebius back when it was on crunchyroll and was pretty fond of it, but I didn't get to finish because all the ultra stuff was removed. I'd really love to hear more about the character and their relationship to to Taiga.

Genm Corp subs have translated a good chunk of Taiga's voice dramas.

But they didn't finish it right? So far there's only 18 episodes.

We're getting an Ultra Galaxy Fight 2. I suspect it will focus on Tri-Squad.

So! Been a bit quiet on this, but I've spent the last month or so binging myself a toooon of Ultraman and I'm not slowing down any time soon!


Orb - This was a really fun series! I didn't exactly vibe with its... unique storytelling methods, but it did lead to a lot of fun stories and at the end of the day even it still told its story well and in a way I was able to take in. Juggler is a ridiculously fun villain with a ridiculously fun name, Gai is a really enjoyable moody traveller type, but the highlight's really gotta go to the SSP for me. I really, really like it when a superhero show decides to make its focus the smaller people, and at that journalists who just want to keep people safe and have no power of their own. It's very refreshing and very good to see!

Zero Movies - ... uhhh... I... didn't enjoy these, really. They got better with each one, for the most part I just found them a bit dull and boring. Monster Battle doesn't really seem to have any idea what it wants to focus on and Revenge of Belial comes off as very generic -- and, talking of which, unfortunately so do Zero and Belial as characters. Zero's like a void of personality (until he actually appears in other series, where he becomes obnoxious), and Belial is alright but he feels like he should be at least five times more fun. I also don't enjoy seeing the sort of Ultraman society set up in this? It has... implications I don't enjoy and kinda makes each hero feel less special to me. That said, really liked seeing what would become the Ultimate Force Zero! I'm a big sucker for seeing other non-big-franchise heroes getting the reverence and respect they deserve in a revamp, and that was EXACTLY what I got with Jean-Bot and Glenfire and Mirror Knight. Were their personalities also a bit heavy on the tropes? Sure, but they were still enjoyable and for one movie they do the job well. Jean-Bot was also a really fun case of me seeing the vehicle mode, IMMEDIATELY going "OH THAT'S A TRANSFORMER" and just being hyped to see that transformation the whole movie, where it STILL managed to surprise me in how it transformed! Just a lot of fun with that specific part.

That aside... I dunno, I just could not enjoy these. ... Well, except for...

Saga - Giving this one its own category because until about an hour ago this was my favourite Ultraman thing I'd seen. Zero's still a bore but he's hardly in it so who cares; let's just jump right into an awesome story about the last of humanity banding together to protect some kids with their bravery rewarded by Ultramen winning the day! This was just an awesome movie with the heart where it mattered; a really fun dynamic with Taiga (hey, uh, Ultra fans; does this just make the Ultraman Tiga/Ultraman Taiga differentiation even more confusing?) not wanting to BE an Ultraman, and overall the "EDF" just won the movie for me. Cosmos was great as well, and then you had Dyna wake up which... I could tell this was a big Dyna tribute and I knew nothing about Dyna, but I didn't NEED to, because this took me right back to Gokaiger where the tributes were so good and full of care and love that I could get so into it despite not even knowing the dude's name! Just such an extremely good movie.

Ginga & Ginga S - Grouping together even though they're very different because I have about the same things to say on them -- very emotional stories! Lovely characterisation, very personal; a lot of mystery that gets you invested and lures you into a couple seasons of joy and faith in humanity! ... aaaand I'm just kind of meh on them. I'm not even sure why! All the building blocks are there for some great (and short!) shows, but... something's missing for me. I dunno.
Like, I can go on about the positives all I want -- I adore Ginga's very cosy and very close-knit setting; which allowed for both close character dynamics and a wealth of outdoor settings which are rare for the usually urban-bound masked hero genre! Ginga S especially in its first episode done a phenomenal job of setting up a new status quo and really making it its own, while still honouring what came before! TARO!!!

But despite all that it was just alright. Again, didn't hate watching them; and there's so much good I can see about them. But I couldn't get into them that much, and it started to make me wonder if maybe the issue was that it was Ultraman as a whole. I already said that even Orb which I really liked had storytelling... quirks that made it hard for me to get into, and that kinda continued here. It really made me wonder if this was just how Ultraman did things, and maybe that meant it wasn't for me. That's okay, of course; I don't have to like every series! But it did make me a bit sad that with all said and done, Ultraman wasn't for me.

X - UH NO HANG ON A SEC, ME OF A WEEK AGO, TURNS OUT IT REALLY REALLY IS YOUR THING!

It's not been long since I finished but holy f*ck X is top-tier Toku! I, like -- everything I was liking about Ultraman is done here in the best ways I wanted them to happen; every character feels realised; the themes of the series are so wonderful and optimistic... I'm speaking in vague terms right now because I'm super super dosed on emotion at the moment! How could I put this into words when I'm so busy being in love!!

Like, where do I start? The tribute episodes? ... sure, good a place to start as any! Was a bit odd to me that there were so many returning Ultramen, especially with the 50th anniversary being next year, but I've hardly got room to complain when they're this good and all have something important to the story! The Ginga S crossover was a wonderfully surprising 2-parter that gave Daichi so much hope; the Max crossover felt thematically appropriate and gave the characters that boost they needed; the Nexus crossover... am... am I allowed to say one of the single best Tokusatsu episodes I've ever seen? It feels a bit early to judge that but WOW??? I was already loving Tachibana as a character and this just guaranteed first place ranking on my list! Is this, like, indicative of Nexus' quality as a whole? Because that, Tiga and Geed are the seasons I was most interested in and if so this has gotten me even more excited!!!

But do you need direct crossovers to be great individual episodes? NO! Kamiki's focus episode with him and his daughter is a beautifully complex story about the dilemma of being both a soldier and a father; which doesn't dare to take lightly how complicated that situation can be. The daughter in particular I was so so happy to see -- "I know that ultimately this has to happen, and I won't complain; but it still hurts" is a very difficult very mature theme to nail and they just landed it first try. It sets the scene for the whole episode -- it doesn't try to tell you whether one way or the other is correct, it doesn't try to tell you one of them is completely in the right, because that isn't the case at all. It just hands you a relationship which is full of realistic uncomfortable feelings, but with an undeniable love and bond between father and daughter that gets that situation. Beautiful!

The episode where Gomora gets to come back to life? Wonderful! Gomora being treated as a friend the whole season is emblematic of Daichi's goals and dreams and ideals and they know it and go out of their way to make this episode go as hard as it can! I'm a bit bothered by parts of M1's monologuing (a LOT of what he says does not fit the 'cold logical conclusion' when it is straight up not indicative of the situation he's observing), but the overall idea is still there and still works. Daichi still reaches Gomora with his ideals and he barrels through an impossible situation on that alone. Beautiful! Oh, and I already said his name; but what a sick use for an old Ultra Q monster! Between this guy and Kemur Man I'm really gonna have to check that out one day, it literally looks like classic doctor who with giant toku monsters and I'm all for that!

I could go into so, so much more. How the final villain isn't some mastermind or evil organisation or whatever but just a nightmare from the depths of space; how the Rugby episode really made me feel for a group of suits I was rooting against just a series prior; THE PIGMON EPISODE THAT MADE ME CRY! But I think I'll just leave it here at... X is fucking incredible. Watch it. Please, please, PLEASE watch it if you haven't. My god. Geed, I'm excited for you; but you have GOT to do some legwork to match this!

The very good news here is that X is by far the most representative of what the "default" Ultraman show is than anything else you've watched so far. I think you'll absolutely adore shows like Max and Mebius if you loved X.

Saga is a great movie, by the way. It's no coincidence Dyna shines so much in it, because it was written by Dyna's head writer, Keiichi Hasegawa, who also poured his heart into doing series composition and writing for Nexus (which is hugely different tonally, but arguably not thematically). On top of all the other Ultraman shows he's written for. The Gokaiger comparison is apt, because I've always considered him a sort of broad equivalent to what Arakawa is for Sentai. A super prolific writer with a clear passion for the franchise. And I mean, he wrote like a third of Kamen Rider W, too, which isn't strictly relevant to this thread, but... the man does good work, is the point.

Max I consistently hear good things about! Namely that it's an environmental messaging show that actually has complex messaging and goes into why things are important rather than just telling you they are? That's great! That sounds awesome!

Please watch Max and Mebius. Like Fish Sandwich said, good shows.

X and Gokaiger are among my most rewatched Toku series. I've watched X like 3 times now. The fact that it only has 22 episodes makes it far easier to restart it again. But yeah shamefully it only had 22 episodes.

I do hope X gets a tribute since he's pretty underrated among New Generation brothers. Still hoping for that self speculation that Z is related to X.

Ultraman X is so good. It's the series that introduced me to Ultraman and I'm hooked ever since. I should really watch it again someday.

By the way Kurona - I hate to agree but Zero is kind of a boring character in his own movies, isn't he? He works best in Ultraman Geed IMO, where he's more of a side character but also has a fantastic human host.

I'm interest to read what you think about Geed once you finished it. I personally would call it the best NG Ultraman show.

Yeaaah, I... when I was watching his movies I was wondering why he was so popular and what on earth I was supposed to connect with? Like everyone has their own tastes and all, but to me he was just... he sure is Ultraseven's son! He sure did beat Belial, somehow! He sure is, like, slightly smug but not enough to be fun or interesting or even obnoxious until Ginga S; just like 5% smug and 95% boring.

I HAVE been liking him in Z though, at least! I mean he's got all of one scene, but advancing him into a direct mentor role like the other past Ultramen and having him just be absolutely fed up with someone who's looking at him with big puppy eyes? LOVE it. THAT'S fun, and I can't wait for him to come back in that! Hopefully I'll enjoy him in Geed too :D

I HATED Zero for the longest time from a distance. Everything about him as a character reeked of trying too hard to me, like a financially desperate Tsuburaya just piling on traits they figured would make him mathematically successful. He's the son of arguably the most popular Ultra ever! He's super tough and can beat anyone! He's brooding and cool! To be fair, I mean, it worked, and he played a massive part in reviving the franchise (his defacto mentor role to the New Generation Ultras is well earned), but he also sounded like a stereotypical fan fiction character. Mind you, this was only having actually seen him in X, where he weirdly seemed desperate to do anything except hang out with X, which is hardly going to win me over when I was basically worshipping X at the time.

I pulled a total 180 on the guy watching Geed, and now I can't get enough of him. I went back and watched all the stuff he was in, and found that, aside from his unflatteringly shallow debut in Mega Monster Word Salad, he was a pretty cool character. I think he works best the more he's part of an ensemble. Elements like his camaraderie with the Ultimate Force Zero and his relationships with his human hosts do a lot to make him a more endearing character. He's ended up doing a lot of growing over the course of all his appearances. The more recent you get, the more refined his personality is. He's wonderful in the Z Voice Dramas right now.

Being Ultraseven’s son and having cool action scenes mostly is all he had going for him. Which hey, I'm down for! I'm rewatching Zero's first fight at the Monster Graveyard sometimes, it's great.

But character wise - I don’t want to spoil Geed so I won’t continue too much but he's at his absolute best here mostly because of how different his human host is in terms of personality. And he’s not always the star, he takes second place to Geed - to which he's connected beautifully from the get-go since hey, his dad is Zero's sworn enemy.

The one thing I do want to mention which I really liked from the very start was how they connected Zero and Belial during their first appearances. Belial took the Plasma Spark and was banished, Zero tried to do the same but was stopped in time - Zero is what Belial could’ve been, and Belial is what Zero would’ve been.

I did like that; it's a very classic way to make rivals out of two otherwise unrelated characters and really draw a schism. It's fun!

The only thing is, it... doesn't really seem to actually matter? You could have taken it out of the movie and I wouldn't have noticed; I frankly forget it's a thing with Zero most of the time! He's never really tempted by power, or lament his past, or make it a part of how he relates to other characters... hell, I don't think it's brought up even once after it's first stated! Even in the Belial fight!

It's a fine idea but one that they just didn't do anything with.

I really liked the second Zero movie - the one that was basically Star Wars but with a bunch of more obscure Tsubaraya characters. I thought it was really fun.

The first movie was definitely a mess though, since it was trying to be at least three different films all crammed together in one: it was a Mebius movie, it was a Mega Monster Battles movie, it was a Zero movie... there were some cool action scenes, but the plot was all over the damn place.

Sad but true.

It only really functions as a tool to explain why Zero was kept at a remote planet and trained relentlessly by Leo and Astra.

Eurobeat artist Dave Rodgers has uploaded an English-language version of Tiga's "Take Me Higher".

https://tokusatsunetwork.com/2020/07...heme-released/

That makes sense, I've always thought "Take Me Higher" sounds like a Eurodance song.

Specifically, it sounds a lot like "Everytime We Touch" by Cascada.

Really? I keep hearing Runnin' In The 90s