So I recently heard that manga artist Kazuo Umezu, who is known for his contribution to the horror genre within manga, has passed away. The reason I mention this here is because when learning about his passing I also learned that he drew an Ultraman manga back when he was younger.

Zangill has returned! And has seen better days judging by his exits!

Aw, Shu-dono has found a coffee buddy! And is laughing creepily! And SKIP has found a ghostly alien samurai ready to help them fend off an alien invasion by the Dark Shogun Hellnarak and his army of Ghost Kaiju from Ultraman Blazar!

Yuma gets his identity nearly outted and gets introduced to the Ultraman Multiverse! Including mentioning GENTO and alluding to ULTRAMAN BLAZAR holding off Hellnarak in the ghost dimension!

I guess while Zangill is there, it won't hurt to mentor Yuma a little and teach him what Zangill knows, especially when it comes to wielding a blade!

Anyone who watched his appearance in Blazar probably realized Zangill was one of the ghosts summoned and this is likely to be his (second) last battle, but he's still willing to fight for the sake of Earth!

Nice of SKIP to make a real effort here, especially once they learn how to utilize the frequency Zangil had to effect the Ghostly Kaiju!

Gedos and Taganular! Nice to see some old Blazar Kaiju!

Aw, I missed a good Ultra Throw and bisection!

Okay, a swarm of Taganular is the LAST thing I want to see, but it's a good thing Arc's Galaxy Armor can not only teleport but LITERALLY SUMMON COPIES OF ARC'S OTHER FORMS TO DO BATTLE!!! And then to finish it off with Arc having learned Zangill's signature move and a bow and arrow finisher to wipe the rest of them out! It's so impressive Zangill is straight up seeing Blazar's silhouette in Arc!

I don't think this will be the last time we see Zangill, but at least he got to go out with his favorite coffee.

I don't comment episode by episode but I just had to make one for this one... and that's mostly because...

I think Zangill has cemented himself as one of my favorite Kaiju/Aliens of the franchise thanks to these episodes.

I already enjoyed him a lot when we first saw him in Blazar, but this follow-up to his appearance there was a legitimate incredible thing to see. The interactions he gets to have with SKIP and the little references to his past final battle in Blazar, it's great stuff. Especially with that final scene at the end, like, that was just incredible.

Neo Ultra Q complete! In a sense, this was a perfect stylistic sequel to the original Ultra Q, with its largely standalone episodes with a high degree of surrealism. I mean dang, that episode with the monster that runs a dry cleaning business might be one of the greatest things I have ever seen! In the end though, I just didn't find it as brilliant as the original Ultra Q. Fundamentally, the episodes were in a huge variety of different styles and levels of quality, much like the original. But between the lower emphasis on cool special effect shots and the incessantly ambiguous endings it was hard to say it reached the same heights. The main trio of characters also largely feels like an afterthought, while the recurring cast in Ultra Q did a lot to help bring consistency to the show. Finally, perhaps the biggest strike against the show vs the original is the fact it just does not have the level of visual flair Ultra Q achieved. Ultra Q was in black and while, but always used excellent contrast to really bring shots to life. Neo on the other hands tends to have poorly lit dark scenes and an excessively washed out color palette for no reason. It looks like a 2010s show in the worst way possible in that sense. Interesting little diversion, but it isn't one of the greats. C tier!

Shu & Zangill: Super Coffee Bros :lolol
And that dynamic exit in the beginning was :lolol

I am finally back to watching Ultraman Arc and I am slowly but surely catching up on the show's latest episodes both in Japanese and in English. Just finished up on its recap episode that officially marks the halfway point to the series.

I'm about 2-3 weeks behind on Arc. I'm not entirely sure what it is, but the show really isn't gripping me.

Watched and finished Ultraman R/B.

At first I wasn't really into it. I was in the mindset that I wanted to get this over with so I can't move to Taiga, but I found myself actually enjoying it. Aizen was a refreshing villain and he was oozing with personality and his relationship with the brothers was an interesting take. So, it was a shame he got instantly kicked out and replaced with the so, so boring Mitsurugi; a character I swear I've seen done so many times in Super Sentai to the point it became a lame cliche token. The second half had also this subplot around Asahi that came out of nowhere but all of a sudden it became a recurring plot that I didn't really care much.

If you're talking about the revelation that Asahi originally didn't exist, there was a lot of hints about that in the first half of the show. Various characters not remembering certain details about Asahi, and the most notable one is that Asahi didn't appear in the first episode until after Katsumi and Isami became Ultramen

Also while I do like Aizen, I also like Saki a lot. She contributes more to the show's theming of family and her relationship with Asahi is one of the highlights of the show for me

R/B had probably my two favorite antagonists from the New Generation era. Not to disparage Juggler or Tregear, but Aizen and Saki were both just so great and in such different ways from each other.