Just a heads up the only English subs I found were reverse-translated from the Chinese subs. Some wrong names and some questionable pun translations.

Really fun episode. I absolutely loved the scene where the other Decker (from the future, I guess?) showed up and we, like Kanata, just had absolutely no idea what was going on. I'm very interested to see what's up with the shared history he has with Asakage and what that dude's whole deal is (never trusted him; always gave off some subtle "I'm the villain" vibes).

I knew he looked familiar! The blonde hair threw me but I should really learn to recognize that beard.

Taniguchi never disappoints. :rock:

I've been watching the original Ultraman recently and was wondering if anyone else feels disproportionately bad for the monsters in this show? I like the show but I can't help but find that the fact most of the monsters come across more like hapless animals than some malevolent force or twisted human makes watching them get beaten up feel a little depressing! I'm really curious to know if this issue extends to other Ultra shows too, of it is just a result of this show's age.

Part of it is due to age yes. But sympathy for monsters is a thing for Ultra’s show. As you watch the OG you?ll see what I mean.

Oooh, I'm intrigued! I'm still very new to Ultra shows, so I don't really get what the series is about yet. What you said sounds really up my alley though!

I agree, I also have those feelings. But it is worth noting that the characters sometimes talk about it themselves, like Ide in the Jamila and Wuu episodes. But still, in the same Ryder, where most of the enemies are reasonable and very angry, cruelty towards them is more justified.

You might like Ultraman Cosmos. The entire premise of it is that he rehabilitates monsters instead of destroying them.

To be honest I felt kind of bad for how savage Ultraman was to Jirahs when they fought.

Yeah that fight was strange. Ultraman was rater brutal in this one, it had a weird comical undertone and in the end they tried to play it sad and suddenly Ultraman was super respectful and covered Jirahs with its frill, you know, the one that he himself mercilessly ripped off earlier, like it was a shroud.

Then again you have another handful of episodes were Ultraman takes mercy on the monsters and the humans admit it was all their fault so - yeah.

I feel like the first Ultraman had some very interesting thoughts that inspired later shows to delve deeper. It's probably thanks to this that modern shows can directly have the theme of co-existing with monsters (X) and aliens (Taiga).

I think that the explanation is that the writer of the episode wanted the audience to understand that the monster is only a tool and even a victim, and the main evil is a person. And the fight director wanted a spectacular and funny fight. Well, the director closed his eyes to the contradictions and decided to leave both.

The Jirahs episode was definitely the one that seemed the most needlessly cruel to me and prompted me to ask in the first place. After a certain point I felt like I was watching Ultraman kick a dog.

And it’s weird because later on they did this:

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

I know a show evolves as time passes but it is astonishing how much they cared for this giant dinosaur skeleton baby from space.

That episode is easily one of the major highlights of the original Ultraman series. That poor kaiju….:(

It's also the episode I myself was thinking of when this whole discussion started!

It was a point in which the show started to reflect on its own history and really start to think about itself.

When you have an episode in which the Team that destroys Kaiju hold a funeral for them, then you have to think about this team differently and about yourself differently. It's not all about weird sci-fi mysteries and epic battles between giant lifeforms!

As to the franchise, it would become more contextualized in its approach to Kaiju while still riffing on the concepts put forth in the OG Ultraman.

Cosmos and X are definite high points toward the idea of peace toward Kaiju and an understanding as to why Kaiju do what they do. Kinda makes you wonder why they fight alongside other defense teams who just want to blow something or someone up! The Orb Origin Saga also tackled the idea of peace instead of war. Many Ultra Series try to strike some kind of balance between peace and war, but I think Orb Origin took a more unique and serious approach.

Of course we learn that not all monsters are the same. You have monsters that can be reasoned with and if they get what they want without hurting anyone then they go free alive and a lot of the conflict is usually by a misunderstanding from one or two sides and this will show a lot in later installments.

Other monsters are big animals that don't intent on hurting anyone but their existence on itself endangers everything around them and if there's no pacifist alternate then Ultraman and his team have no other option other than to terminate them.

Then you have monster that were victims of certain circumstances where they were results of mad experiments or horrific mutations that depending on the situation could or could not be reasoned with. But they're mostly killed to end their suffering when nothing could be done to save them.

And lastly evil monsters that are irredeemably evil who love to cause pain and suffering to anything they see, be it someone like Red King or Geronimo who are evil on their own free will or space monsters sent by aliens to conquer and destroy other planets and those are the type they choose to kill when all negotiations fail.

Leaked toy trademarks indicate that we’re going full on with the Neo-Odyssey schtick, with the next Ultra being Ultraman Kaia

As someone who was rooting for the next show to be called Ultraman Gayer, I am disappointed.

Oh. Then you probably won’t be happy to hear they’re calling his base form “Normal Type” rather than “V1”

I just want the 2 Shin Ultraman kaiju. For now I just want to see Neronga and Gabora. Th rest could wait but I so want the kaiju.

I figured it would be New Gen Gaia but it would keep up the "-er" naming convention between Trigger and Decker.

Honestly, Kaia is a cool name, but it's also quite lazy compared to Trigger and Decker.

Probably couldn't license Gaiver.

Anyway, I'll wait for the trademark to be revealed before diving into this.

Oh hey, we finally got to hear the Decker dialogue Kanata's been talking about since episode 1! I was always curious about it.

Asakage/Agams and Terraphaser now get their own villainous segment in the Opening! I'm guessing Decker Dynamic will be added next week.

Man, the Nursedessei hasn't been that trashed since the Trigger movie. Also, not Hanejiro!!!

I really love Future Deckers' whole vibe.

Well, one good news about the future. The Asumi family business expands to Mars! And potentially beyond!

So basically in the future...it's like Dyna. Humanity expands into space, the Sphere don't like it, and then they try to assimilate it into their hive mind. And somehow Dyna got involved in the future. And it sounds like the Mother Sphere is heading for them like in Dyna.

We also don't really get much of an explanation for what Decker is,just that Future Decker passed it onto Kanata in the past bcause he had affinity for being a host.

So Agams holds a grudge because his involvement/support of the Earth ended up risking his home planet (and probably his girlfriend), Planet Bazdos, and he sold out to the Sphere to get revenge on the Earth in the past.

Y'know, Asuka would totally be proud of the way Kanata stood up for himself to stake his claim as the Ultraman of this era and that this was his problem, and his time period, to resolve. I love confident Kanata!

Of course, a strong resolve is one thing, but it can't make up for the sheer power gap between Decker and Terraphaser. Luckily Future Decker's energy and Kanata's own will has granted him the true power of Kanata's Decker...Gush Beyond! Dynamic! And Ultraman Decker Dynamic Type is born with a spectacular transformation!

Dynamic Decker knows how to use it's Shield Calibur to great effect, and it's kind of funny that his transformation into his final form is like his debut in terms of killing a bunch of Spheres and killing Spheresaurus. And he finishes Terraphaser off with a Dynamic Ultra Beam.

So Future Decker...is literally named Decker. Except he's also Kanata's descendant, which I think most people figured out Which means Kanata's probably gonna get laid at some point in the future. So another thing to look forward to! Of course, first he has to figure out what to do about saving Agams as the last will left to him by Future Decker...

That's a cute scene of Kanata reuniting with GUTS-Select in the credits, but, like...how did Kanata explain what happened? Especially about Asakage?

Next week...you thought this was a cute monster episode? No, it's Pandon!

What can I say but that this was a phenomenal episode?

Also, Asakage/Agams now has a spot in the Opening, which I guess was the first sign he was a villain.

Loved the little moments with Decker and Asumi, the backstory (or future story in this case?) of Agams and Decker, and the debut of Decker Dynamic. The explanation for Decker's powers and how they made it to Kanata was terrific and the conflict of those caught in the Sphere's crusade was also well done.

And Dynamic, oh boy. Love the shield and the sound chimes for it, and the form itself looks great, nice and simple, though I do miss the cosmic details.

Also, I was wrong about the White Yuzare, since it is actually Yuzare from the future and not the woman Agams and Decker know. But for what we got of him; I enjoyed Decker Asumi.

Next Episode: Pandon comes in fun size!

Why do I get the feeling that Asumi Decker is going to have a AMAZON Prime mini series about him and Dyna in the future just like Orb Origin. Which also was the last time we saw Shin Asuka/Ultraman Dyna. ��

Take it with a grain of salt toy listings for next years Ultra and Galaxy Fight has cropped up

https://twitter.com/ZangBerries/stat...ijxaSaE8w&s=19

Alright time for catch up!

Episode 12: A good official showing for the fully functional Terraphaser. It was nice to get two episodes of it fully coming into play to debut it. Though of course as this series has shown, it's not just Terraphaser alone that can help turn the tide but Decker as well.

Episode 13: Fairly standard clipshow episode, though with a fun premise. The end where everyone was worried about Kanata and them all pulling through was a real good character moment.

Episode 14: Holy shit, like, I sorta figured this was likely to happen but it was nice that we had a full 3 episodes to sort of chew on this beforehand. Which is why I consider Terraphaser a better Ultroid Zero in how they were done. Given Ultroid Zero showed up in one episode only to be used for evil in the very next episode, it was nice to give some breathing room and hope that Terraphaser would turn out differently.

It's also nice to see Spheresaurus again, as well as over the course of these past several episodes the contextualization that it isn't a unique enemy and is merely just a high level Sphere soldier.

Episode 15: Goddamn, I was expecting something big after the last episode and this episode can be described in one word alone: satisfaction. It gave us a lot more information on past clues and events that helped set the stage for the latter half of the series.

Also it looks like Agams is going to be our recurring bad guy for the rest of the series, which makes sense. Even though we had Celebro in Z, it feels like it's been a bit since we've had someone like him. Also helps that his situation is unique in that he started as an ally before revealing his true nature.

But man, seeing Decker interact with Kanata was fun and I was curious as to what specifically his deal was. His little namedrop at the end definitely makes a lot of the moments with him and Kanata more heartwarming in retrospect.

Yeah, Decker's definitely becoming a series I'm enjoying more and more as each episode passes.

I guess I'm not surprised New Gen Gaia might still have form changes.

I'm genuinely surprised there's no listing for Gan-Q.

"Absolute Gabriel" - The Absolutian Lord?

"Absolute Grateful" - The Female Absolutian?

I heard those leaks are bunk, but even if I didn't hear that from multiple sources, I'd know they're fake because of the naming scheme for the important Absolutians, with each of them being named after something mythological, which Absolute Grateful doesn't follow to my knowledge.

Wrapped up the original Ultraman! I'll be real here, this is an incredible show by 60s standards and is still a great watch. I'd even go as far as to say I like it more than every single 70s tokusatsu I've seen even though that era is more modern. There's just a lot to like! A lot of the monsters are really cool, the effects are charming, and there's a surprising amount of episodes that are just dang good! Oil S.O.S. was a crazy visual spectacle that also gave some great drama for the SSSP. The episode with Skydon was just funny. Another thing I have to hand to the show is how a lot of older toku can have their characters feel a bit interchangable, but the SSSP members were distinct people and I appreciated that. There were definitely weaker moments both visually and in writing, but I'm super pleased with the experience as a whole.

I can only agree wholeheartedly. Compared to other Toku-shows I've seen of its time, Ultraman certainly aged well. Some episodes were amazingly shot. The one with the mummy comes to mind, the camerawork was fantastic, like the shot in the empty warehouse. The show is just a joy to experience on all levels, suspenseful stories, amazing visuals, but most importantly - the characters.

I really enjoyed all the performances, they work beautifully together.

As a complete and utter Showahead, I also like Ultraman more than just about anything I've seen from Showa with only KR Black giving it competition! I daresay it's my favourite Ultraman series, even, though there's some strong competition from that.

I'm very happy to see something I hold dear to my heart being enjoyed so much by so many other people :)

The Original Ultraman. My gateway into Tokusatsu shows as a whole outside of Godzilla. It's certainly one of my favorite Tokusatsu shows out there, heck, it's one of my favorites, period.

It's a delightful show, and it's why I adore Ultraman in the first place. Glad you enjoyed it!

Now I just have to find time to watch Shin Ultraman.

This is how I rank all the Ultra shows I’ve seen a significant number of episodes for (Return of, The, Nexus and MMB are excluded, since I haven’t seen them) https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...AF6BF35E39.png

You might be like, the first person I've seen to rank X that low-- myself aside.

I've actually just started watching the original Ultraman show myself and am enjoying it quite a bit! It's funny seeing all these Kaiju make their debut appearances knowing how much more common they would become in New Gen shows or would make random appearances in later shows just to remind you they exist.

Also I think the stylized intro of some New Gen shows comes from the stylized OP for the original show?

And Akiko is the same actress as Yuriko from Ultra Q, right? I always thought that was funny. I keep expecting to see Jun or Ippei show up.

I still have no idea to this day why the SSSP had Hoshino just randomly there or interacting with everybody. Was he a trainee the whole time?

I would totally watch an Ide and Arashi buddy cop show.

Personally, it seemed to me that Ide was the real protagonist of this team show, and Hayate just turned into Ultraman. At the very least, Ide definitely got the most character development.
Speaking of kaiju from the original show, I wish Wuu would come back more often. I remember that the mystical yokai doesn't really fit in with the sci-fi backbone of the franchise, but I still feel like there are a lot of interesting stories to come up with this kaiju.

Yup!

That's another thing that's fun about watching Showa; I recognized a lot more references in my favorite scenes from newer shows. Especially sound design, like reused transformation sounds for the New Generation fusions.

Or how the "fourth gate open" from Ultraman Z when they get their mecha out of the base is directly inspired by the same line from Ultra Seven when they open the base to let the planes fly out.

Random kid, they later make him an "official" member. I don't think they ever explain why he tags along. As for the real world purpose, it's obvious, they wanted a kid character for the children watching the show to identify with.

Definitely the best comedic moments and reaction faces come from Ide. As does Arashi being a bull in a China shop and talking about his Spider Shot.

I wish they'd do a bit more with Hayata...

Yeah, Ide is easily the best character in the entire show. I also have to agree regarding Hayata. He's not a bad character but he sadly does fall rather short compared to the rest of the cast in the series and especially in comparison to most of the Ultra human hosts and/or Ultra Heroes that came after him.