Playing around with UltraSeven recently and between that and Z having the ability to appear in a human-sized base form in addition to Gamma Future's shrinking ability left me wondering: how many other Ultras can fight and interact on a human level?

I'm pretty sure all Ultra have that ability. But I definitly know that Tiga,Dyna,Gaia,Agul and Nexus have it.

Tiga for sure had an episode about it. :rock:

Seriously I remember watching it as a kid and was surprised that Tiga can go human size.

Before 2009 I was wanting Ultraman to have more hunan fight scenes, but thanks to New Generation it proved why Kaiju battles are an art and I just can't praise them enough for improving the fight scenes year after year.

https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...760&height=427

Ultraman R/B Episode 17: What the heck did I just watch? I'm not saying I didn't enjoy it - bizarre, off the wall episodes are often some of the most memorable - but "Aliens throwing a halloween party only to freak when the Ultras show up and also Saki is there and is totally an alien" is a new one. And I do like how we're getting more focus on Asahi and Saki, especially the former, after it felt like she spent a long time in the background through the show's first arc. Katsu and Isa are barely in this one, other than searching for vibes! I like Dada, he's got a cool design, Pigmon is weird but kinda cute I guess, hamster-dance just reminds me of Rabbit Conductor from ToQGer, all very weird but enjoyable stuff.

Then Saki announces the world is gonna get blown up to kill this incoming monster. That is not what I expected! What a place to put that bombshell! What a way to relate Asahi's innocent expression of how to connect with people from earlier to emphasize's Saki's fundamental awkwardness with the human condition. What a way to intreupt the dog show the Minamis are always watching!

Good episode.

https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...760&height=427
Ultraman R/B Episode 18: How do we react to the horrific news last episode? A breather where we have an alien news crew trying to save their ratings, and a focus on Ushio and his love for his family. And I loved every minute. Wonderful comedy episode, if incredibly bizarre.

Ultraman R/B Episode 19: King Joe is here! Isami remembers he took that coding course in college once! And we find out (some of) Tsuru's deal! This is another good one. "Monster takes person hostage" is something we've done before in this very season, but since the stakes are entirely different (plus it's King Joe!), I'm willing to roll with it. Add to that the reveal of Mitsurugi's past, and this is a good one!

R/B Episode 20: So yesterday, it was D&D night, and once again we tried diplomacy only for it to fail and they ended up fighting us anyway despite the common enemy. I bring this us because it's exactly Katsu's situation. He wants to try to talk it out with Tsuru, figure out some way through to her, but Isami just wants to skip the middleman and get her out the way, while Tsuru herself seems... a little more off the deep end than last episode implied? Idk, maybe it's something about morphing into Thunder-Robot-Dragon, but she seemed a lot more blood-thirsty this time round than in previous episodes, where she didn't *like* the brothers, but this time she had it in for them. I'm sure all will be explained.

https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...760&height=427

Asahi is better at art than I am.

https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_xEb00rZg...ltraman-RB.jpg

I've been avoiding talking about it because I didn't want to steal Akiba's thunder, and I ESPECIALLY didn't want to spoil them; but I've also been watching R/B -- in fact, I finished it last night and watched the movie and Ultra Galaxy Fight today. And BOY did I have a good time!

It's not exactly my favourite Ultra of what I've seen, but compared to what I'd heard about it being meh or middle of the road I loved so much of what it did. The first half of the series decided to be a meta-textual commentary on older fans' views on and reactions to Ultraman and arguably the Masked Hero genre as a whole, which. Love. A little earlier on in this thread some of you all described Katsumi and Isami as "Ultramen who don't care about Ultraman", and that so perfectly describes what I love about it. I'm not sure I need to describe what's so great about Aizen obsessively collecting Gai look-a-likes to become a warped screwed up version of Orb because of his half-remembered memories of his favourite Ultraman being cool and awesome and amazing; if you get it, you get it, and it's a great time. And then the season decides it wants to get serious at the halfway point! And despite such a sudden turn, it does it in such a way that it feels totally natural and cohesive and how the show was all along!

And how it achieves that is because... despite that new emphasis on a more higher-stakes story with legitimate emotion and feeling to it, R/B at its core is an emotional story about a dysfunctional family wrapped in comedy. The first fight in its entirety is joke after joke and gag after gag; Aizen gives Kuroto Dan a run for his money; whacky family hijinks are always present... and it all works. It just. All works. It never feels like it's going too far even when it's completely off the rails or that it's being too pandering or whatever; all the comedy just feels like a natural part of the show and a legitimate storytelling element, because... how else would you tell a story about the Makotos? Isami's an obsessive hair-trigger scientist who dives into danger at the drop of a hat; Asahi's a hyperactive schoolgirl who smiles at any and every situation; U-tan's the funniest dad with the worst fashion sense running a clothes store; and Katsumi's the only sane one of the bunch practically having to run the place. It's a wonderfully dysfunctional family that thrives on comedy, allowing them to both be entertaining and give way to some lovingly wonderful depth.

Not saying too much more to not spoil too much for Akiba (in short though: loved Asahi and Tsuru's relationship; the last few episodes adds a certain element that just makes everything better; the movie was great and episode 18 was nothing short of comedic masterpiece), but suffice it to say this was an Ultraman season that went out of its way to entertain me and surpass its expectations. I'd go as far as to say that it's my favourite Family Toku so far, and I'm so glad I took out the time to watch it.

Seeing so much high praise for R/B makes me so happy I'm just going to self-indulgently quote my review of it from way back in the show's own thread:

I think I actually agree with all of this more now than when I wrote it. I've mentioned this in this thread before, but R/B is a wonderful series that's basically a personal sleeper hit for me. I wasn't instantly, madly in love with it the way I was with Geed or X, but over time, it's sorta ended up on that same level for me.

It would be exceedingly hard to beat Geed or X in my eyes, so 'not quite as good as those' is very, very far from an insult! R/B is just a really, really nice show and one I honestly think I needed; it's very good at showing how diverse the storytelling in this franchise can get, but much more than that, showing how good it is at different types of storytelling. This and the two seasons that precede it are very different shows, and all of them are amazing at what they do!


(Also my opinion of Orb has gone up recently. I love it when a show can do that)

This suddenly turning into the R/B appreciation thread for a page delights me. I would really like for another Ultra series in the future that also mainly focuses on a small scale but more intimate cast and conflict. This franchise about living in peace with aliens seems ripe for a main character who is an alien bonding with a human family or vice versa.

R/B Episode 21 - Katsu and Asahi are very sure diplomacy will work, until it turns out Tsuru is very, very insistent that they die, and more than willing to do the job than work with them. The episode went in some weird directions, but the ending, with Katsu and Isa sparing her, calling themselves not Ultramen but a family, willing to do anything not for some grand cosmic sense of duty, but to protect the ones they love, I can vibe with that.

https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...760&height=427

Cougar?!

My subs translated it as 'Bewitching Witch', which is just slightly different!

This was going to bug the crap out of me, so I went and looked up the line, and the word Isami uses here is 美魔女 (bimajo), which literally means something like "beauty witch", and is used simply to describe women who look young for their age. As if by magic, you see. Both of those translations carry a little additional meaning that's ~maybe~ not meant to be there, but given that Isami is criticizing Katsumi for being distracted by Tsuru's appearance here, I'd argue they both still fit reasonably well?

I just want to dive in here real quick and say, I'm also watching R/B. I don't have anything super interesting to say yet though (maybe except that I like Horoboros quite a bit)

Sometimes the YouTube algorithm really shines.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pgpxg8B1s54

That is especially funny in hindsight of that Ultra Chronicle where Riku and Pega go watch New Generation clipshows at the theater.

Ah yes, the essential rules to follow when you're in a movie theater:

- Don't put your feet on the seats in front of you
- Be quiet when the film is playing
- Turn your cell phone off
- Please stop with the beams

The moral of that video is that it only takes one Belial to drag everyone down with him. Remember kids: never be a Belial!

The question I’m asking myself now: Is this maybe the real reason they banished Belial? Like, was he always using mobile phones in theaters? Or worse, listening to loud music while riding public transports? Cutting in line of the hot dog stand?

Was the Plasma Spark-thing really just the straw that broke the camel’s back?

I guess we'll find out later this year :lol

It's going to be a real Absolute Conspiracy when we got promised this exciting mini-series featuring all these obscure Ultramen in action and then it turns out the whole thing is just mundane scenes of Belial Early Style being kind of obnoxious in social situations. :lol

That might just be the kind of the content I'm looking for in 2020 actually.

...

No wait, that's exactly the kind of content I’m looking for in 2020.

The best part to me is that all those other Ultras didn't care at all when Belial was zapping the guys in front, but immediately stood up to wreck his life once he started chatting on the phone. This says a lot about our society

Man, the themes in this random 30 second PSA are deeper than the ones in the movie it was advertising!

Which is Mega Monster Whatevertheheck where Belial and Zero debuted, in case that wasn't clear.

I really want to keep this conversation about Belial's social incompetence going but YouTube isn’t slowing down today. What is this and why is it so perfect?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDS-Usij94U

I've never seen that before, that's awesome... I love Neos now?

I remember that one. I felt sad for Neos looking all dejected sitting there.

Neos' design is for its time a really nice balance of the old and new I think. Ultraseven 21 is cool too.

"Who could it be - hiding behind this devastated building?"

...

"It's the guy who said he wouldn't watch any old Ultraman shows mere three weeks ago!"

https://i.imgur.com/XhyCpS7.gif

Today was a rather strange day. I woke up relaxed and happy, as on most other Sundays. I went on a long walk with my dog, as on most other Sundays. I ironed my shirts, as on most other Sundays. I quietly ate a delicious breakfast, as on most other Sundays. But then I thought to myself "I should watch Ultraman Mebius"... very much unlike most other Sundays.

You see, there are a few factors that play into this thought. The first is that Kurona was right. Adoring Ultraman but not watching the vast library available is a rather confusing mindset for me to have. Second, Ultraman Mebius is one of these characters that are often used as fusion material in the "New Generation" shows. So I thought to myself: "There has to be a reason for that". And lastly - I never heard anyone talk about this show. Never ever. Which is great, because that means: No expectations, no reasons to hesitate.

And here I am now, as my journey into the 4:3-realm of Ultraman begins:

Ultraman Mebius - Episode 1: A Fateful Encounter

To put it into three words: This episode ruled. I couldn't possibly have asked for a better episode to start this new chapter of my "Ultralife" with. Life, with an "f", not related to Ultraman Ginga.

So, to properly explain why I liked this episode so much, I have to admit where I previously failed in the dimension of Ultra: Ultraman Max. I hear a lot of praise about this show. In fact, there exist people who call it one of the best Ultraman shows ever made. Since Switchblade is the spearhead of this movement, it's probably true.

But - I couldn't get into it. Of course I will try again, maybe once I as a human being have grown enough to properly grasps its excellence, but for now I shall abuse my limited knowledge of it to showcase what Ultraman Mebius, in my opinion anyways, did better.

- I very much dislike completely formed "Earth Defense"-teams that the protagonist awkwardly stumbles into. I rather have a complete team that the protagonist already belongs to or having him be part of its creation.

- I prefer Ultraman who either assume human form themselves or are in strong contact with their hosts. Unlike Max who just exists as a tool to enable transformation.

- I like to see at least a small legacy - a few ties to existing Ultraman fiction. Fresh starts can be fun but I like how vast the Ultraman universe is and how each show adds to it.

So, how does Ultraman Mebius manage to tick these boxes for me? Well:

The episode starts with Mebius being send to Earth. Father of Ultra appoints him to this position, and he follows the lineage of the Showa Ultra. Very nice, I like that. Also, interesting to note: "Ultraman" was apparently a term humans gave the residents of the Land of Light back in the day. In recent shows it's their own designation for themselves, although of course one could argue they adapted it when dealing with humans of the multiverse. Doesn’t explain them using the term among each other now but hey.

Mebius arrives in human guise to find a world that has absolutely no need for him. "Ultraman" is a thing of the past. Earth protects itself, and monsters rarely appear anyways. I like how this is basically just a sequel to OG Ultraman, even though Father of Ultra showcased all Showa Ultra as predecessors of Mebius. And I like it for two reasons: First, it keeps it simple. No need to count up 6 Ultraman who were already here. Second, it leaves interpretation open to the viewer, which "Ultraman" was addressed. If you were a kid during the Showa run that liked Ultraman Taro for example, and now watch Mebius with your own child, you can proudly say "He means Taro!".

But, peace doesn't last long. An evil saurian monster from space is on collision course with Earth - it is Gigan! No, wait... its "Dinozaur". Rookie mistake, they seem to share the same voice actor.

The man who proudly told Mebius (or as he is now known, Mirai Hibino) that Earth is doing fine without Ultraman, rushes away as he is a member of "GUYS", our current Earth Defense-force which always gives 1000% to protect us all. Before Mirai can react he is assaulted by a knockoff Ra-Baruba-De, a mysterious woman with a long tongue and other strange powers. By the way, I had to google Rose Gurongi's name because I obviously forgot it, but in doing so I typed "Ultraman Kuuga" and was very irritated about the search results. Do not overdue it with Toku cross-references on strange days such as this one I guess.

Meanwhile we're introduced to a colorful set of characters - a kindergarten teacher, a professional motorcyclist, a top-league soccer player and a student doctor on his way to greatness. In a flash of revelation as they slowly realize the law of Toku may dictate them to play an important role to the plot they start their heroic career by trying to save the most valuable citizens of all: Bunny rabbits. Because the kindergarten teacher decides to run back into the monster mayhem zone to rescue them since their students cried about leaving them behind. I like the teacher already, she's got her priorities set straight. Pension is overrated!

Anyhow, the BOYS successfully hold their ground against the monster just kidding they are getting freakin’ annihilated. Destroyed. Torn apart. And they all die. Except for our Ultraman-critic, Ryu Aihara, he gets saved by his captain because the captain intelligently realizes we need Ryu's skepticism about giant beings made entirely out of solid light later.

After all this happens and Mirai's little skirmish with "Rose", as I call her now, is over Mirai gets together with the rabbit rescue party before the monster now targets them specifically (filthy rabbit-hating fiend!). Mirai only then decides it's time to save what’s left of Japan and maybe fight the monster. Again, priorities, if you threaten innocent animals you deserve what's coming for you.

Mebius appears in glorious teasing fashion, semi-immediately filling the souls of the people with hope and joy after they nearly all suffered collective heart attacks because following the giant flash of light nothing happened for about half a minute. But then he drops in, our glorious hero in red and silver. The suit looks cool, I really like it. Mebius takes care of the monster without remorse, defeating it in supreme fashion. Before Ryu rightfully points out that Mebius fought like an absolute idiot by dodging for like 2 minutes and thus enabling the monster to destroy the whole city. I'm not kidding here, he literally chews out the new Ultraman for this. I love it.

So the episode ends with Ryu at the MENS headquarters sulking about the events of the day before new recruit Mirai surprises him with his presence, and the promise of new action with a new CG vehicle! It's time to form a new group! Thank goodness we have a long list of capable candidates to go through. If the rabbits aren't mentioned again I riot.

Yes, this was entertaining as hell. Super cool action, awesome miniature work (the destruction caused by Dinozaur was insane!), fantastic effects, and an interesting premise with an immediate array of likable characters. That's how an Ultraman show needs to start, no scratch that, every show ever!

I very much like the idea of a new team needing to be formed following the destruction of the old one, especially with characters that all have dreams of their own to fulfill but may need to sideline them to serve a greater good.

As I have a week off now I shall further engulf in this show happily. But please don't expect any further posts of this magnitude, I really have no idea what came over me. It must've been linked to the mirror dimension, as I now have a strong craving for a good fish sandwich.

Mebius was actually the very third Ultraman show I watched after Dyna and Max (with bits of Tiga and Gaia way back as a child), and I don't know if I even knew it was meant to be a celebration of Ultraman as a whole at the time, but I can vouch for it's wonderfulness. The Tsubaraya youtube channel recently uploading some of my favourite episodes of it made me think about how nice it is again, so it's nice to see that it (or at least it's first episode!) has touched one more person! It honestly might still be favourite Ultraman series to this day, or at the very least the one I find the most emotional connection to (nostalgia for the 90s series notwithstanding).

By the way, Kiwami, about your thought of the term 'Ultraman' among the Ultraman themselves, most of the time I just sorta headcanon that when they say that word among themselves, that's just for the audience's convenience and they are really saying whatever their species name is in their own language.

F***ing what???

Kiwami, if I weren't so proud of you for writing a huge novel on why Mebius' premiere is so good right now, I'd be very upset with you right now! :p

Now I want to know what they call themselves.

...

Crystal Gems?

I know you mean well, just letting you know that these posts of yours are not fun. You may have noticed that I don’t always reply to comments you directly address at me anymore, this is why.

It feels like you're constantly rubbing stuff into my face when I post things and to be frank it’s annoying. I wasn't active in this thread 3 years ago and I don’t take much notice of recommendation posts not explicitly directed at me. For someone who only watched NG-stuff before and is only semi-active in this thread ever since maybe Geed aired, I really haven’t seen anyone talk much about Mebius.

Maybe it's enjoyable for you to go back and find these posts from way back when, I also enjoy being reminded of old conversations, but I really don’t need 6 weaponized counterexamples, not even for comedic effort. I will admit that our dynamic was always passive aggressive at best and toxic at worst, mostly because I decided to put salt into the Kamen Rider Ghost wound whenever I could. Still do, I should really stop that.

The whole mirror dimension spiel is cool every once in a while, but if we could just interact eye-to-eye in the future, that would be nice. Since I root the entire thing in my misbehavior during the past I want to apologize for it.

I watched the first episode of Mebius forever ago, and I really enjoyed it. The whole collateral damage thing always sticks with me and makes me worry when I see other ultra's doing back-flips to avoid lasers.

It wasn't a pretty sight now was it?

The scene itself was fantastic though. Blaming the hero who just defeated the monster and then immediately punching yourself in the face mentally for being a "failure" as well.

I hope these feelings are explored further into the show but I don’t expect it, or rather I won’t be disappointed if it doesn’t happen.

https://i.imgur.com/aNWU5LF.jpg

Oh god, I honestly never even considered that. I'm really sorry if I've been dragging out this whole rivalry shtick well past the point where it's any fun for you. You've legitimately been one of my favorite people on this site ever since we were arguing about Ghost back in the day, and I can't apologize enough if I've been upsetting you like this. Making people feel bad is the last thing I want to be doing on these forums.

I sincerely hope you enjoy the rest of Mebius, and I'll try my best to be less obnoxious towards you in the future. Thank you for being honest about this.

Thanks, that's all I wanted, just to clear up some confusion so we can all have a better time around here :)

Speaking about good times:

Ultraman Mebius - Episode 2: Our Wings

The big recruiting wave starts and it begins with a great point - why would anyone want to serve in the Global Defense force if Ultraman is around? The potential candidates all refuse for the obvious reasons I thought they would use, which is good, but Mirai is not giving up: The organization of LADS needs reinforcements!

And what better way than to - paint their new battle ship. I'm all in for team practice but this was a bit weird. But I guess they wanted to show that you just need one mundane task to break the ice so people open up. Plus – these wings were super important to Ryu and it carried them all forward in the end.

But then our next monster shows up: Gudon! At this point in the episode it becomes obvious that this show is meant as a successor / celebration of Showa Ultraman, as the newest BUDDIES member, medical student Teppei not only identifies this monster but tells of its previous appearance on Earth and its rivalry with Twin-Tail. Hell, he even explained the Color Timer later.

Long story short, the potential candidates identify with the cause, join the group and Gudon is defeated by the combined effort of the new ship and Ultraman Mebius.

I really liked the lighting in this episode, it made the monster fight really nice to look at. Plus, the characters are growing on me fast, I like them already. So many cute moments between them, I think at one point when they were discussing how to paint the ship they had a model of a Showa battleship? Adorable. Also Mebius as Mirai tastes solid food for the first time and is super into it, aw.

I really like this show so far, it's great!

https://i.imgur.com/ovAdudP.jpg

It's only the second episode, but this has always been one of my favorites. I always thought GUYS being this assembly of what are essentially random people off the street who have to grow into the role added a ton of heart to the show, so this plot that's really all about them coming together for the first time, I guess it just really stuck with me. Maybe part of it is just that lighting in the fight at the end, which is indeed super appealing. I still vividly remember moments like Ryuu's little "...he's choosing where to fight!" or whatever when he notices Mebius is making a conscious effort to avoid collateral damage. I always enjoy seeing those little bits of character development early on in a series. There aren't many Ultra shows I'm aware of where the paintjob on the jet holds plot significance, you know?

Personally I think Mebius is an important show. Reason being the show helped set the foundation for future shows and movies after it by relating it to the OG Ultraman shows pre-Tiga. Also I give credit to Ultraman Max for being the catalyst that course-corrected the franchise.

I also really enjoy not only the idea that the old guard dies almost immediately and new recruits need to be found, but that they are "regular" people as well. Some who excel at what they are doing no doubt, but not super soldiers.

And yes, Mebius learning from his mistake made in the first episode and throwing Gudon into an abandoned construction site was sweet.

By the way, I learned about Ultraman music today! The second episode of Ultraman Mebius had this theme playing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_2mn7Uj8bU

And I wondered: Where have I heard this before? Well, Ultraman X has a very similar theme for XIO (can't find it on YouTube sadly), also featuring the "Wandaba" chanting. I was trying to figure out where it originally came from, and if I'm correct this is where it originated, in Ultraman Jack, and every Ultraman series featuring a variety of it after pays tribute to it. That's awesome!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7QSMbDfDTU

Is Grigio in the Taiga movie?