Where to start with Ultraman?
 

Where would you reccommend I start? It seems confusing, do I start with Ultra Q, the first ultraman series? one of the movies?

How did you guys start?

I'd start with Max. It's fairly recent, but a lot of the episodes are remakes and/or homages to Ultraman and Ultraseven. It does a really good job of giving you some idea of what the Ultra franchise is like but with much more modern and accessible special effects.

Thank you ^-^

Ultra Seven was the first one I saw (and still my favorite) but if I would have had the chance, I would have started with the first Ultraman series if not Ultra Q. In this day and age I guess it really doesn't matter which one you start with. Continue do a little research, like you are doing now, and see which series looks most appealing and dive right in. :)

With both Ultraman and Kamen Rider, I tend to like the older Showa Era characters and shows. Of course I'm an old man so I guess that's to be expected. ;)

I'm a big fan of the Ultra N Project it consist of 3 projects but only 2 are available.

Ultraman Noa stage show (Not sure on where to get that)
Ultraman The Next (It's a movie, you kinda have to search for it but it's out there)
Ultraman Nexus (A TV Series subed by TVN, it takes place after the Ultraman The Next movie)

These series are very different from other Ultra series as they are very dramatic and have a more serious tone.

Ultraseven X Is another series aimed at adults, also subed by TVN.

Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy Legend the Movie is a good start. The intro gives you everything that you need to know.

A lot of good suggestions here! I'd say Ultraman Mebius is a great place to start. All of the Showa Ultras appear for good story driven reasons. The Mebius series really encapsulates the foundational essence of what Ultraman is and the attachment to Earth. My favorite supporting cast, too.

I suggest you start with the first Ultraman and work your way up from there. That way if you're not getting into one, you can skip it and move on to the next one.

Here's a link to Ultraman Wiki: http://ultra.wikia.com/wiki/Ultraman_Wiki

That way you can get information on each one and decide which one(s) you may want to watch.

As long as one is careful about not reading too many details, researching the series to find one right for you is not bad at all! So long as you don't get disappointed easily if your ideal series isn't properly subbed yet...

I wholeheartedly agree with Ultraman Max as an introduction to the franchise, but support Mebius as a choice too. Both series offer slightly different takes on the classic Ultraman series in a near-future setting and are spectacularly done. Finding Mebius and most of its movies is simple enough too, but Max remains several episodes short of being fully subbed without resorting to HK subs.

Ultraman: The Next, with its subs ripped from the R2 DVD, and Ultraman Nexus as subbed by Ultraman-Nexus.com (James Ballard) were both uploaded here as part of our last Let's Watch Wednesdays.

http://www.tokunation.com/showpost.p...05&postcount=2

That's a much harder route when nothing Showa is readily available subbed beyond the three series licensed from Chaiyo (Ultra Q, Ultraman, Ultraseven) and at best a handful of episodes from the rest, if you're lucky enough to find them. Otherwise, Hong Kong subtitles are a poor way to really get into a show, and the Malaysian sets coming out now don't look like vast improvements.

I watched some of "Ultraman: Towards The Future", which featured Ultraman Great. I have the first 20 episodes of the original Ultraman on DVD. But a friend of mine, who's a huge fan of Mebius, reignited my fandom this past spring. Now I'm a huge fan myself.

I speak/read/write Japanese, so it's not a problem for me. I didn't consider that though. :o I figured some "fansub group" would've had subbed those by now.

But I'd still suggest starting off in order, with the ones which are subbed and KariTheVampire work his or her way up from there.

In all honesty, it really doesn't matter where you start with Ultraman (except for the Hesei Ultra Seven....).

Some simple Wiki searching will get you to understand/know most of the early and core Ultras.

Does it not matter because they're all good or they're all more or less the same? There's a distinction there I'd like to understand.

I'm currently watching Max, and I agree with it being a good place to start, but what I'd really like to know is favourites. What's the fan favourite amongst people who prefer Ultraman over Sentai or Kamen Rider, or other Toku for that matter? There's a whole bunch of tropes in ultraman that make reading summaries ... not entirely useful shall we say.

I found Mebius to be a good start. The beginning is a lot of Mebius but half way into the show they start introducing legendary Ultras.

I watched the original series first, but it was right after I had gotten into the older Godzilla films, so it was an easy point of entry for me. Of course, that's all i've seen when it comes to Ultraman, but still. It got me interested in the rest of the series and Tokusatsu tv shows in general.

I still want to get into Ultraman, which ones have a good story, and good action?

Mebius, Gaia, Tiga, Dyna, and Max. If you choose Cosmos, look for the movie where he debuted first.
http://ultra.wikia.com/wiki/Ultraman_Wiki

I'm gonna start with Ultraman Victory, a new series coming out this year. I was going to check out Ultraman Ginga, the latest series, but the Subber choosed to stop doing subs halfway through the series. Hopefully that doesn't happen this time wit Victory.

Honestly, I'd skip Ginga. The story wasn't that bad, but the show was painfully low budget and everything that wasn't the Ginga suit reflected that.

I thought Ginga had better looking effect battles then Wizard since both shows were airing around the same time.

All right I'll look into one of those then.

If you're talking about over-time, they have stated a couple of times that they haven't dropped Ginga. The editor they have for it has been busy in real life and once he has some free time they'll release it again

Okay, I'll put that into consideration.

That's good to know. I might check it out then.

As an Ultranoob, I found Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy The Movie to be a sublime entry point.

I had zero knowledge of the franchise and this movie blew my mind. Directed by Koichi Sakamoto, too, so it's stylistically familiar if you've watched modern Rider and Sentai.

Isn't Ginga being subbed by both Over-Time and TV Nihon?

He like me might of been watching it on YouTube.


Ohh and umm for anyone out there, is Mebuis a good starting point, I've read about the Ultras and their backstories but still, is it good?

A dream team up would be Tiga & Cosmos. Both are Ultras whose hosts had two great things happen to them after the final battle. I won't spoil it for those who've yet to see them.

Yeah, TVN is up to episode 9

The last Ginga I watched was Episode 7. That was back in November.

Yeah, but both of them stopped. Overtime at ep 7.