Of the New Gen shows I would definitely throw in X and Orb.

I would honestly recommend anything from New Generation except Trigger. Maybe save Ginga and Ginga S for later though, especially Ginga feels a bit "barebones" if you're used to stuff like Geed, simply because it was a first attempt after a while to get back into TV for Ultraman. I still like it, but it may require a bit more understanding to appreciate. And Ginga S is a straight-up sequel so you kind of need to watch Ginga first for the full effect, but it is closer to newer shows than Ginga was. And it has my favorite Ultraman episode ever in it so there's that.

If I had to recommend one, even if you didn?t consider it yet, I?d say go for Taiga. I don't see it getting a whole lot of appreciation but I think it's an excellent show. The characters are awesome, the concept of three Ultra sharing a host is fun, and some of the stories they tell are fantastic. Also, given that it s fairly new, effect work is top-notch. Some amazing shots that make the most out of miniature buildings and practical effects.

I can't speak much about Heisei, I only watched Mebius but that show was really good too. It was a bit boring to me at times though, maybe because I simply have gotten used to Ultraman shows being shorter nowadays.

But, knowing that you consider watching the original: I just finished it and had a blast. It's really good. I love the SSSP characters (Ide is my favorite) and most episodes are just amazingly shot, wonderful mystery and atmosphere. Sure, there are the more run-of-the-mill episodes "monster shows up, let's defeat it", and other episodes really feel like Ultraman is just tacked on for the last 2 minutes to defeat the bad guy, but even those are fun and most episodes are full of genuine wonder, fun characters and amazing suits and effects.

It's not difficult to see why this franchise lasted as long as it did, the seeds of success were buried with the first show for sure. I love it.

My favorite episode was 33, "The Forbidden Words" which introduced Alien Mephilas. I loved the setup, Mephilas is easily the best antagonist the show had, and I adore the scene where he addresses Hayata directly as Ultraman and asks the question which I had for a long time: "What are you? Human or alien?", I won't spoil the response ;)

Now I'm hyped to start Ultraseven, given the high praise I see it receiving from the fandom.

I would say that unfortunately Taiga (and Z and Trigger) aren't yet released by Mill Creek so wouldn't count for this blu-ray sale :(

I generally agree with what's been said. Ultraman, Ultraseven, Tiga and X are imo the best if you're into Ultraman's anthology angle, and I never hear anything but praise for Mebius

Am dumb, can't read

In that case I definitely recommend Mebius and the OG Ultraman.

I'd recommend Mebius tbh

Though I feel like trying to watch Ultraman for the "Story" is selling what Ultraman is a bit short. I feel as though while Ultraman can tell really good overarching stories, what it shines in are its individual episodes you can just watch randomly if you're in the mood.

It's probably why Max is one of my favorite season's, a fun bunch of characters and just a big mix of single episode plots, some of which are fun remixes of older Showa Era plots as well. It's probably why I enjoyed 66 as well, just the very episodic nature of the shows is a charm that I feel like is somwhat lost in the modern era where they try to do both that and rush to tell a story within 25 episodes.

Granted, I feel like there can be a good balance with that, as some New Gen Series have shown to be able to do, others... not so much.

That being said I'd agree with the notion of saving Ginga for like way later into your Ultraman watch. Ginga works better once you have immersed yourself in what Ultraman is, to where while it has the budget of a really delicious ham sandwich, you can see the heart put into that ham sandwich and really appreciate the story it tries to tell despite the clear budgetary issues.

My Showa Recommendations: Ultraman, Ultraseven and Return of Ultraman. Honorable choice: Ultraman Taro.

I've not seen most of the Heisei shows but Tiga and Gaia would be my picks.

I don't think there's anything I can say that hasn't already been said here.

New Generation are always a good pick, as they're shorter and some great episodes and story overall.

Some of the Heisei Ultras since they're really good. I've seen Gaia, Nexus, Max, and Mebius, which are all solid picks. Tiga is really good, though I haven't seen it fully, but that's another high ranking one.

Again, I think everyone else here has already said everything that needs to be said, so I'm just giving them more credibility, but it's all up to you.

Done with Gaia. For now it's the second best Heisei series after Tiga. While it had a weaker mid-section the rest was great. Gaia as an Ultra was miles better than Dyna who tried to be a Tiga clone with his power-ups. While he eventually got a power-up form, Gaia was back to basics by relying on his normal powers alone and even had a unique finisher move; a head beam instead of the traditional hand beam, forehead laser or energy ball.

The conflict with Fujimiya/Agul was also one of its best parts since Agul wasn't an evil Ultra, but chose the wrong answers to solve his problems. And when he was absent from the story it was uninteresting until they brought him back proper.

I liked Gamu the Science Guy. Even if at times felt like they made him too smart or the only genius guy on the entire planet, but I liked this take and was refreshing to have the host being something more than just a soldier or a fighter. The news cast felt annoying at first but grew to like them as they got more fleshed out. XIG felt cluttered with the multiple teams they had with no way to tell them apart. Like c'mon, couldn't afford to have multiple colored uniforms assigned for each team?

And BTW, should this series really be considered part of the "Heisei Trilogy"? Tiga and Dyna are understandable since they're the same timeline, but Gaia is an alternate continuity but just because it's the third official Heisei series that makes it part of this trilogy?

I feel like Dyna's forms stood out from Tiga's because Miracle was so unique and Asuka had his own fighting style with Strong.

I am curious how they're going to end up handling New Gen Gaia since he only had the one form other than Supreme (which will obviously be his final form).

At least every team but poor Team Marlin got more than one focus episode. I also appreciated the variety in vehicles.

They did all appear together in Gaia's movie.

Funnily enough, I did order an Ultraman Gaia DVD set as of last night on Amazon along with the Blu-Ray set of Ultraseven. Have always been meaning to watch the former at some point either through the official DVD series set or TokuSHOUTsu. Same with Ultraman Dyna.

Mill Creek Ultraman Nexus/The Next DVD Boxart revealed

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

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

I actually yelled 'holy SHIT' at that boxart; I've praised the boxart on these releases before but this is easily the best yet. SO clean

That looks really nice, but it still isn't Max.

Indeed, it definitely, 100%, undeniably, provably is not Max.

I got you covered. Your prayers have finally been answered.

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

See, now that's all I've been asking for.

That Nexus art do be looking good though. Maybe I should buy one of these DVDs to sit around and look pretty.

Might have to get me Nexus

What precisely is "The Next"?

The form is similar to Noah, who is significant to Nexus if memory serves.

The Next is a movie that's part of the same project as Nexus. It's difficult to get into it without spoilers, so I'll just say the movie released shortly before Nexus started airing and has specific connections to it.

https://www.amazon.com/Ultraman-Max-...ransformers-20

This price cannot be right. There's no way it costs $40.99, right?!

it won't be there for long, if the other releases are any indicator
it says 40.99 for me

Stupid typo.

Still too high.

Ultraman Kids 3000 The Complete Series boxart revealed

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

wow, children

Incredible! I watched this show as a child and until today I didn't even know about his connection with Ultraman. And this is with such an obvious design!

Same here, although the bits I saw were cringe inducing so I don't know how I'll react to it now.

Looks adorable!

I've known about that series for a while, but even then, I'm still really thrown off by the human skin colors for their heads, which I'm not a fan of. And that they're all very bald except for the girl, who probably looks the best out of all of them.

Going to assume some of you heard of "What to do with the Dead Kaiju?" movie, right?

Well, I watched it, and what appeared to be an obvious parody of Shin Godzilla turned out to be an Ultraman movie in disguise this entire time.

a) It is absolutely worth that.
b) It will be about half the price when it's actually released.

The Next actually released after Nexus started airing. Nexus started airing on October 2nd 2004, The Next released on December 18th 2004

Yeah with all the problems with the Ultra N Project and Tsuburaya as a whole at the time it was intented to be released before but was delayed.

Oh, it's out now? Nice!

I had a premonition during the trailer for this episode, and I'm not too surprised to see the guy who has had the least development and spotlight turn out to be a villain. Heck, he recently found out about Kanata being Decker, so...

And ultimately, this was a fantastic episode! Twist villain and all. I think they nailed it making this the point we actually know what's going on besides the Sphere.

It's cool how The Doctor has a device similar to the Trigger Spark, but evil and TerraPhaser themed, even the voice is similar! A neat way to introduce a "rival/villain" and not just give him a dark version of the main transformation item (not that those are bad or anything).

Lots of great action scenes like at the start with the upward facing camera fight, or the Spheresaurus fights. Really happy to see Spheresaurus again, and that Alternate Decker fight was amazing to see. Given how he also has the power to break the barrier, I wonder if he's connected to that Yuzare lookalike from the Trigger Crossover, possibly even being that woman they were talking about. Also, Time shenanigans!

Next Episode: Whoa, whoa, Dyna(mic)!

Noiseler! Finally upgraded from being just in the Opening to dying in the introductory sequence. But it was nice to see him and find out how much of a dynamic duo Decker and Terraphaser are! That attempted fist bump was hilarious.

So the Sphere's big plan was...reviving a more powerful Spheresaurus. Well, it's a good suit, may as well not waste it.

Kanata shooting down Sphere in a dogfight! Asuka would be so proud!

So it turns out the Big Bad was...Asakage!? In a snazzy new outfit!? And with a dark version of the Ultra hosts' transformation device that lets him control Terraphaser (which is now basically just New Gen Deathfacer) and summon the powers of the Kaiju they've slain this season? Yeah, he's a New Gen antagonist all right.

I hope Hanejiro is okay...

"So you're the Decker of this age." Seems those rumors about Decker and the main villain being from the future were actually accurate. Is the bob-cut Yuzare meant to be this "Leila" that Asakage and Future Decker mentioned? Definitely some bad blood there.

Holy crud Future Decker! Did not expect him to show up and take over from Kanata almost immediately. Not only is he basically an example of a seasoned and experienced warrior Decker, but he has more of that Asuka/Dyna swagger behind him and knows how to perfectly implement his forms and Monster Cards. He even finally used Miracle Type's multiplication ability! Kanata might learn a lot from this guy!

Next week...the truth about Sphere! And the future! And Dyna! And the debut of Dynamic Decker!!!

Today's Decker, just all of the things that are happening. Felt like we kept getting bombshell after bombshell. My thoughts range from "WTF just happened" to "OMG what's going to happen next", and I mean that in the best way possible. Decker has been a really great show so far and this start for the 2nd half has me all excited for what's coming in the future

Fun fact: With Masashi Taniguchi transforming into Future Decker, he is now only the second actor to play an Ultraman, a Sentai Ranger (GoBlue) and a Kamen Rider (Amazon Alpha/Falchion). Kane Kosugi became the first just a few months ago.

Will Mio Kudo become the third? Hmmmmmm

wow

that was a lot!

new Decker seems pretty cool ngl

Totally the best episode of Decker so far! Loved it!

We finally get to see Noiseler in the show and he gets blown the fuck up before the opening credits. Poor Noiseler.

Have we seen Hanejiro move around on his platform thing like a cute Dalek before? I like that.

Spheresaurus is still ridiculously cool.

A lot of "whoa what? Whoa WHAT?!" in the second half of this episode. Future Decker is badass. I liked that Ryumon noticed that Future Decker was a much better fighter than modern Decker. Even in-universe our Decker's kind of useless. (I like Taniguchi. I dunno, he seems cool.)