NHK released their final Ultraman poll results! They posted 200 Kaiju results but I'll only post the top 15 below to keep it short. You can browse the rest here, though!
https://www.nhk.or.jp/anime/ultraman...html?cat=kaiju


Ultra Heroes
20: Trigger
19: Zoffy
18: Agul
17: Dyna
16: X
15: Geed
14: Leo
13: Jack
12: Gaia
11: Ace
10: Cosmos
9: Taro
8: Nexus
7: Orb
6: Mebius
5. Ultraman
4. Zero
3. Z
2. Ultraseven
1. Tiga

Kaiju
15: Mefilas
14: Kanegon
13: Tregear
12: Pigmon
11: Greeza
10: Jamila
9: Gatanazoa
8: Eleking
7: Metron
6: Belial
5: King Joe
4: Gomora
3: Baltan
2: Juggler
1: Zetton

Interesting to see Z this high. Might still be some form of new car smell, I'm curious to see if the popularity holds up. I sure wouldn't mind, I love Z.

As for Kaiju, I'm not surprised and similarly happy to see Jamila in the Top 10. For a monster that had one single appearance, it sure left an impact. Understandably so, it was an excellent monster with a fantastic story.

Plus, Juggler! Might again be due to his recent resurgence in Z, but number 2? Absolutely deserved but a little bit shocking that he was only beaten by Zetton while surpassing classics like Baltan and Gomora.

people really love Tiga, huh

Tregear is a kaiju?

The list counted all 'evil' Ultras in the Kaiju/Aliens list. So Belial, Tregear, Evil Tiga, Orb Dark, any imitation Ultras, edge-cases like the Dark Giants; even some that became allies later like Trigger Dark. Despite the latter, Agul and Justice are still on the Ultra Heroes list.

Here’s the list in terms of mecha.

20: Space Pendragon (Zap Spacy)
19: MAT Gyro (MAT)
18: GUTS Falcon (GUTS-Select)
17: Magma Riser (Ultra Guard)
16: Artdessei (GUTS)
15: GUYS Gun Phoenix (Crew GUYS)
14: MAT Bihaikle (MAT)
13: Special Airborne Unit 4: Ultroid Zero (Storage)
12: XIG Fighter EX (XIG)
11: Hyper Strike Chester (Night Raiders)
10: MAT Arrow No. 1 (MAT)
9: Nursedessei (GUTS-Select)
8: GUTS Eagle (Super GUTS)
7: Gun Phoenix Striker (Crew Guys)
6: Jet Beetle (SSSP)
5: Special Airborne Unit 3: King Joe Storage Custom (Storage)
4: GUTS Wing No. 1 (GUTS)
3: A Pointer (Ultra Guard/Earth Defence Force)
2: Ultra Hawk No. 1 (Ultra Security Force)
1: Special Airborne Unit No. 1: Sevenger (Storage)

Also, the last 5 on the top 20 monsters are If, Dada, Bemstar, Evil Tiga and Tyrant.

The best boy Sevenger coming up on top.

You love to see it.

If Shin Ultraman had any influence on this poll, I completely understand the Kaiju rankings. You'll see!

I gotta be like, the only person not completely in love with Sevenger

Sevenger is everything great about Tokusatsu.

Watching Tiga after Trigger, you really appreciate how much they went to the trouble of giving each of the cast focus episodes, which most of GUTS-Select didn't get outside when Kyrieloid was driving them crazy.

Otherwise it was the Kengo-Yuna-Akito show (and I liked that trio, admittedly, but still).

And despite this the three characters I thought were the most fleshed out were Ignis, Dargon, and Yuna's dad for what little he showed up for.

And he was actually from Tiga, technically lol.

No Taiga, Titas, or Fuma? Sad.

But in all seriousness, I do like this ranking, it pleases me to see Z, loved that show.

Oh, this only makes me more excited to see that film! It shouldn't be long now, and I haven't been spoiled too badly like with Shin Godzilla.

Watched Ultraman Trigger Episode Z!

It was an Ultraman Movie alright. It was great to see Haruki and Z again, and I also love how Celebro was just vacuum packed at the end. But other than that it was a fairly standard movie that doesn't really do much aside from finish off the little hook they had at the end of the series.

With that done I suppose I can finally move onto rewatching Decker after taking a break to fully finish Trigger since I at least owed it a full viewing.

Decker Episodes 7-8

This was actually fairly good for a crossover. It definitely had a lot more substance in terms of who was crossing over thanks to the more direct connections. You get characters recognizing older ones, and I feel like Kanata gets something to chew on compared to Kengo when he met Haruki and they were just being buds. Kanata wondering what he's fighting for and still needing to find that answer but fighting anyway will be interesting to see. Curious if they'll tie that into the final form given how his other forms have been birthed via his different emotions in different situations.

There's a real interesting mystery in a very different Yuzare giving Decker/Trigger Equipment to Kengo. Plus we still don't really know who or what Decker is. And I do like how we do get Kengo explaining he's tried to come to Earth multiple times but was stopped by the barrier. Curious if that Sphere Card is a two time use thing or if Kengo'll come back in the future.

These two episodes alongside an earlier one and the next episode also do something I really enjoy which is give us a bit of an over-arching story without it being actually story related. In that we're reminded constantly that the Sphere are around and their presence has been kickstarting tons of things and also depriving people of being able to leave, especially aliens.

Carmearra coming back is something I'm a bit iffy on, if only because I feel like if anyone was closer to that sort of heel to face turn it would've been Darrgon (Who admittedly is now still around in some form thanks to the end of the episode) but they managed to make it work. I'm guessing the Dark Giant Trio are going to be in future Ultra Hero Fight stuff given their old story is basically done and they won't be interfering with Decker's story in the future.

Decker Episode 9

This might be my favorite Episode of Decker so far. Grace and his daughter were a delight to see, and it was a great story that I thought was going to have a tragic ending during the finale of the fight against Sphere Red King.

I'm really glad we have Miracle Type to just screw the rules and do some cool stuff.

Also I was not expecting Captain Murahoshi to shine here again. Just like with the Eleking situation he shows his big heart to trying to help as many people as possible no matter how small the situation might seem. He's been great to see this week and I'm excited to see that we'll learn more about Vice-Captain Kaizaki next week based on the preview.

I'm still waiting for Asuka to show up...

Got a lot of X vibes from the most recent Decker episode. Loved it!

Boxart for Mill Creek Ultraman Zearth, Neos and Cosmos revelaed

https://www.amazon.com/Ultraman-Zear...9VYFNSS4&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/Ultraman-Neos.../dp/B0B4Q1GMG1

https://www.amazon.com/Ultraman-Cosm...3085253&sr=8-1

https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/e3/cf/mbaUgW01_t.jpg https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/67/c2/4BGXOX1Q_t.jpg

Having ordered Aba from Shout what's the earliest Ultra out on DVD? Once I finish Zen I'll have seen all the shows post Zyu so I was curious. This will be after Galaxy Man - Aba and Kyo Ryu - Zen (Ryu Soul completed.) Delay for Don Bros.

Ultra might be my next franchise.

Earliest would the 1979 The☆Ultraman Anime and every show from that all the way up till Mebius have dvd only.

Shin Ultraman was great. Again the thought of seeing an Ultraman feature film in theaters is a great experience.

While there are plenty of references to the original series with plenty of in-jokes regarding the old special effects, do not expect it to be a straight up remake because there are plenty of new concepts never done in the original thought makes this film stand out more than say Shin Godzilla which was too close to the 1954 film. Also these in-jokes will be more familiar to the fans rather than the regular audience who would probably be confused or laugh at how they were executed like having Ultraman's flying model be just like the puppet they used in the past.

Due to it covering 5 events (6 if you count the Ultra Q prelude) in 2 hours you could feel it's rushing its plot but it's not a never-ending action sequence after another with no space to focus on character development because you get for both humans and aliens.

The effects are mixed. For great amount of it it looked great as far as Japan's CGI and better looking than Tsuburaya's TV effects, but at the middle "Mephilas fight" it took a steep drop in quality to the "video game" level of quality and it sadly was distracting to me. It's also worth noting that prior to that point the film kept using the classic music and sound effects but once it reached that point they switched to the newer music and sound effects as if it was the turning point of the story arc.

The film was directed by Shinji Higuchi but Hideaki Anno is still the producer and his signature filmography is still there; the distant and close-up shots, focus on mechanical parts, the shadows, etc. Monster designs were a nice update to the originals with more emphasis on the aliens looking extremely alien rather than men in suits.

8.5/10

thanks. I'm working my way through the shows Zyu (MMPR 1) forward and Ultra is next. After I grab 5 Man and Jet Man I want to get the Ultra shows next. within 2 years I should be caught up to Zen so after this I'll start Ultra. Hopefully the Ranger shows will slow down a bit so I can catch up Ultra.

To be absolutely clear, everything else before the cartoon is out on blu-ray.

In fact, by November just about everything before 2019 will be out with English subs between DVD and Blu-Ray

Absolutely phenomenal episode today!

Amazing shots like Kaizaki and Shinenaga in the palms of Decker and Neomegas respectively gazing off at each other, and Decker's Strong Type Dive Bomb. There's a lot to enjoy about this episode.

I like the story they went with here, which is made better by the fact that not only do we get some development for our other GUTS Select Members, but also how there's no clear answer to the quandary this episode presents. It just adds some real meat to it when it's left open ended and up to the viewer to learn for themselves, something that's seldom done in some cases, but here it's done magnificently.

But this whole episode was full of amazing content (Hanejiro reading the report by having it put into his little robot hands was adorable), and a great fight with a cool monster.

Next Week: Ultroid Zero Take 2!

I wish more in this people in this franchise realized discovering stuff in mountains and ancient ruins almost never ends well...

Starting off with a Kajiu fight right off the bat! Poor King Guesra though. At least he got a fight, which is more than Sadolar got.

New Gen Deathfacer teasing!

The three recruits trying to be there for Kaizaki was adorable.

It's nice that Kaizaki learned that not all monsters are intentionally malicious despite the fact that one attacked her hometown and it's usually much more complicated than that. It's surprisingly reasonable of her!

Shigenaga looks great for 56!

Oh wait, so this is like that Dyna episode where the mad scientist was genetically engineering Kaiju to control and develop as weapons. Even the confrontation moment was kind of similar. Does that make Kaizaki Nakajima?

Decker vs Neomegas! It's good to know the Dual Sword is an effective shield.

Even I could tell destroying the pendant was probably a bad idea.

Hanejiro with the save! It's nice to see how much he cares about Kanata.

The GUTS Hawk and Decker team-up was pretty awesome! I wonder if they'd ever go for mecha like armor for an Ultra again after X.

Well, getting arrested is a better fate for an Ultra Mad Scientist compared to what usually happens between them.

Man this episode was really great, us getting some Kaizaki focus while also still getting some fun moments from the others. And the shots in this episode were also really phenomenal, my favorite two being the initial reveal of Decker utilizing the Hawk as a jetpack after the failed beam clash and then Kaizaki in Decker's palm as they stare down her mentor and Neomegas.

The topic of the episode was also good and I like how they decided not to go one way or the other on who is right or who is wrong. But I do love Kaizaki shouting her beliefs at the end even if they will fall on deaf ears.

It's crazy how I thought Episode 9 was really good and this episode shows up and also wants to take my spot of favorite Decker episode. We've had some really strong episodes these past two weeks.

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/...AC_SL1500_.jpg

Does anyone know what these cards are?
found an Amazon listing for 100 of them for like, 13 USD

They appear to be Chinese Trading Cards.

I don't see any Katakana.

Oh no, it's Deathfacer! Oh wait, no...it's Terraphaser! GUTS-Select's new personal Mecha! I'm sure basing it off one of the major threats of the Dyna movie will totally end well!

Random Gazort appearance! Because we can even get another Tiga Kaiju in New Gen Dyna! I like how they don't really know much about it because it just randomly showed up in Trigger and they never gave it an origin episode like in Tiga. I wonder how many critters are in that cloud...

It's a nice bit of lore-building that King Joe Custom arriving out of nowhere in Trigger during the Z crossover episode ended up in the history books and lead to the existence of Terraphaser. It was even supposed to be used to help fight the Dark Giants (OG GUTS-Select and Trigger could've used the help).

Raibasser! The Gold Basser! And even human-sized Hinabasser! The suits look as great as ever!

I see the old adage that men love Mecha and women don't see the appeal is true here for our main trio.

The moment they realized they'd need to use Hanejiro to pilot Terraphaser was priceless. But what was even better was them playing football with Hanejiro and Dr. Asakage having to run too even though he's obviously not a field guy.

Don't you appreciate it when the monsters make it convenient for you to transform? Although Kanata wasn't expecting human-sized Decker! Neither was anyone else. And Decker isn't prepared to answer all their questions because he can only grunt, but thankfully Hanejiro ends the game of charades by providing an explanation for what happened to Kanata.

"Sometimes we need to help Decker too!" Um...don't you guys help/save Decker practically every episode? I was almost surprised Decker got to be the one to finish off Raibasser (in an immensely awesome finisher, mind you), but that was only because Terraphaser overloaded.

I love how Decker Miracle just transported them into the thing which would've saved them so much trouble if he had just done it to begin with.

Wasn't Ryumon supposed to pilot Terraphaser? Maybe Asakage saw at the end the human component they'll need to pilot it.

Next week...The Sphere on the offensive with Sphere-Neomegas!

I only saw it for a bit and already love Terraphaser.

Another enjoyable episode of Decker. What's great is that they went a much different route than what they did with King Joe and Ultroid Zero, which I thought they might try to replicate, but it turns out they did something better. Terraphaser being based off the Z Crossover episodes from Trigger was neat how the main trio recalls seeing King Joe, but the fact that it really does show it as an incomplete robot was fun to see.

And I already love Ultra Fight Decker. Ha ha! I always enjoy seeing the Ultras in human scale, but the fact that even the Kaiju were small as well to give us the opportunity to see GUTS Select fight them alongside Decker in the most literal sense was great. I love how the Ultras communicate through Grunts like Link or a Monster Hunter Protagonist.

And those shots of Terraphaser were amazing, like when it was rising in the rain, just great stuff all around this season. Also our boys nerding out over mechas will never not amuse me.

Next Episode: Neomegas is back not even two episodes after debuting! MORE TERRAPHASER!

I also appreciated seeing Decker fly off at the end. I always miss those at the end of an Ultraman episode.

oh das right.

also hehe
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...14/unknown.png
they gave him an ice pack because he overheated

Decker's the most ineffective Ultra we've seen in a while. He just gets stomped by everything.

But this episode was great. I didn't expect it to get so goofy! All of the stuff with Small Decker was fun, although they didn't explain why he was small?

Terraphaser's cool and I like that it's origin is tied into Trigger (and Z). I'm sure nothing will go wrong with it!

Also, we finally got the Dyna Thumbs Up!

Terraphaser is pretty cool, it's nice to see Z still having some influence on certain events and yet again more connections to the prior series.

I loved the ground fight we got in this episode though, it was great seeing all the mini monsters and everyone fighting them off, Decker included. I'm going to assume that they're going to install a Hanejiro Unit into Terraphaser so that he can take control like he does with the Guts Hawk and probably with the right specifications so he doesn't burn out mid-battle.

Next time, Neomegas 2: Sphere Boogaloo.

Decker's final form, Decker Dynamic
https://tsuburaya-prod.com/news/4836