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So, the Dada. Yeah.
The hell is their deal? Yeesh! The most annoying monster so far in the series. Just... ugh. At least they have cool voices, I suppose. FINALLY got my Ultra Kaiju Series Bemular from my seller in Hong Kong. Well, this guy was worth the wait. The amount of detail which Bandai can get on these vinyl toys is amazing. His spines on his back, the fangs in his mouth, even the slightly glazed over look in his eyes, all of it is fantastic. Yeah, he is not the most poseable toy ever, but Bemular was not exactly doing cartwheels, either. This is the kind of monster where an Ultra-Act would be wasted, with his stubby arms and thin body. But for the cost ($20 shipped), I am very happy with his excellent levels of detail and the fact that he scales with my Ultra-Act Ultraman very well. Going to pop the tag off tonight and get some pictures! |
At this point you've gone further in watching the entire series in a row than I've done yet, so kudos to you! I think I stopped at the Gomora cliffhanger - don't ask me why I'd do that to myself. :lol
I think being a thin kaiju certainly leaves Bemular with some interesting possibilities as an articulated figure, but I agree, if I was going to ask for an Ultra-Act kaiju, he's not a character that I would demand. Never got around to buying him, myself, but there are plenty of holes in my vinyl collection, even the 2007-10 figures. |
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I'd really like to see them try to do an Ultra-Act of Jamila. I think with his long arms and thick body you could do a lot as far as stable, dynamic poses given the right level of articulation. Especially considering that Jamila was once a human, so it would make sense for his general skeletal structure to still be very human like; hence, a wide range of articulation. I want to get a few more Ultra Kaiju -- I have always liked Melba, and his vinyl looks super sharp. I've also eyed figures like Zetton, King Joe, Tyrant, and a few others. There are so many to choose from that it can be hard, especially on the Showa ones, since most of those shows are unavailable. On other news, I very stupidly took Daiketsu! Ultra Hero off of my GBA cart a few months back. I don't even remember why. So now I am fighting with my linking cable in order to put it back on. My linker used to work smoothly every time; now most of the time it won't work at all. So I keep fiddling with it -- I just need one connection to the PC and I'll get Ultra Hero back, then never remove it again. Hrrn! EDIT: Speaking of Ultraman video games, was playing Ultraman on my Game Boy (Advance) last night. That game is very much like the SNES versions -- which is to say an acquired taste. The controls are stiff and clunky, which is the biggest drawback. This is made doubly so on the Game Boy, as you only have 4 buttons to work with rather than the 8 on the SNES. Anyway, the game itself is the same as the 16 bit versions -- fight a monster, knock their health down to nothing, then hit the Specium Beam. That's the rub -- you have to use the Specium Beam to finish a fight. So it's a bit about brawling and a bit about strategery and timing. But for what it is, it's a fun game. The GB version does have an extra stage over the SNES version, and it actually has the monsters in the correct order, with one exception. The monsters are: Bemular, Baltan, Red King, Bullton, Jamila, Gomora, Mefilas, Baltan II, and Z-Ton. (Baltan II is the extra stage, and notice that he is the one out of order). I made it all the way to Z-Ton, and had him down to Finish, but died and had no lives left. Yeah, you get three lives, no continues. Ouch. (The difficulty seems a bit lighter in the GB version, but it's still tough.) The graphics are nice for a classic GB game. It is helped by playing through my GBA, where you can change the Super Game Boy pallette to add a little color. (Adventure Island is a good fit as it makes Ultraman red). |
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Downloaded Ultraman Leo episode 1 (raw) since I got my Ultra-Act of Leo in the mail on Monday. Skipped through it to make sure it played alright, and man, am I looking forward to watching this. Pure 70s Showa Ultra goodness. Episode 2 is downloading right now!
Leo is a great figure. I have him ready to whack some unsuspecting monster right in the head with his nunchucks. I love how his headpiece translates to the 3rd Dimension and I love the little bits of gold trim. Sharp design. Going to look great with Taro, I imagine. |
I've had a sudden itch to catch an Ultraman series, nothing too old-school. Something early Heisei. Is Tiga a good choice?
Coincidentally I remember hazy memories of Ultraseven which has by default become "my" Ultraman. Was his Ultra-Act figure any good? I might want to pick it up for Nostalgia's sake. |
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I couldn't tell you about the Ultra-Act of Ultraseven because of how expensive he is! But I like both of the Ultra-Acts I have so I imagine his will be good if I ever get ahold of him! |
I reference early Heisei basing on my experience on early Heisei Riders like Kuuga and Agito....basically I'm wondering if there is ever a Ultraman series with a similar dark tone?
I recently started looking up Ultra Wiki and found several Ultramen that I grew up with. The "Australian" Ultraman Great was pretty good. In fact watching some shots of it on Youtube reminded me on how dark and serious that show was. The "Gudis" enemy was pretty cool too. |
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Tiga is the first Hesai Ultra series. Hence what I mean by "you can't get any more 'Early Hesai' than Tiga." It's a fairly straight forward Ultraman show, so it has some darker episodes but generally it's an adventure show. Ultraseven X is almost Orwellian in it's tone, if you want something dark and moody. Plus it's only 12 episodes. |
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I will look up both shows, thanks. |
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Went ahead and bought The Revenge of Belial and Ultraman Saga on DVD. My wife is going out of town this weekend so it should be a perfect opportunity to watch Ultra Galaxy: Mega Monster Battle: The Movie. :D
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DL'ed Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle: Never Ending Odyssey from Ultrafanz. Need to see the first UGMMB series first, though. I know GUIS had episodes 1-12 done, but I have not been able to get them. I'll have to try to find a torrent for them I guess.
I know that there is a poor HK style dub available online (in the first scene, the monster Chandora is translated as "Joan Dora," :lol) if it comes down to that. |
So, I got the complete series set of TOS (is that trademarked?) for Christmas last year, and I've been taking small bits of Ultraman when I've got the time and am in the mood for a quick burst of Showa kaiju action.
Definitely really like the suits, the vehicles, and most of the human cast. Choreography doesn't seem to take full advantage of the fact that the hero is humanoid, at least at the point I'm at now (just watched episode 3 today). The building miniatures vary in quality, but that's to be expected from a TV budget. Overall, a fun show. Really looking forward to watching more, seeing how the series evolves over time. Also, Hoshino is an idiot. They should strap that kid to a chair at Science Patrol HQ and be done with it. |
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And yeah, Hoshino is a pain, but don't worry -- he disappears for large patches once you get past the first part of the series. He is not a constant fixture over all 39 episodes. |
So I want to get into whatever Toku shows I can because well these are my type of shows. So what series of Ultraman are there, and what are they like?
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Ultraman properly started in 1966 with the series Ultra Q. This show is sort of like a Showa version of The X-Files. It did not have any giant heroes but did have monsters. The first Ultra Hero is Ultraman, who first appeared in his eponymous series in 1966-1967. This introduced the basic concept of the series -- giant alien hero helps a team of humans fight monsters and aliens. The progression in the Showa era is as such: Ultraman Ultraseven Return of Ultraman Ultraman Ace Ultraman Taro Ultraman Leo Ultraman 80 The series went on a hiatus for most of the 80s, save for a few specials and movies. It was revived in the Hesai era in 1990, with the Aussie co-production Ultraman: Towards The Future (AKA Ultraman Great). This was followed up with an American produced series (which never aired in America) called Ultraman: The Ultimate Hero in 1993 (AKA Ultraman Powered). Tsuburaya brought the show back in house in 1996 with Ultraman Tiga. Ultraman: Towards The Future Ultraman: The Ultimate Hero Ultraman Tiga Ultraman Dyna Ultraman Gaia Ultraman Neos (direct to DVD series) Ultraman Cosmos Ultraman Nexus Ultraman Max Ultraman Meibus Ultraseven X After Ultraseven X, the show switched up a little bit, and started the Ultra Galaxy shows, which lead into the Ultraman Zero movies. Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle: Never Ending Odyssey Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy The Movie Ultraman Zero: The Revenge of Belial Ultraman Saga After Saga, we got the "mini" show Ultraman Zero Fight, and the upcoming show is Ultraman Ginga. In addition to the shows there have been several movies throughout the years, ranging from re-jiggered episodes in the Showa era, to the relatively large budget Ultraman: The Next theatrical film from 2004. There have also been specials, gaidens some kids shows, remakes, and so forth. Most of the shows follow the same general format as I mentioned above -- the Ultra hero helping out a team of humans who defend the Earth. Within each series there will be different details, conflicts, enemies, and allies. Some shows break the mold. The Ultra Galaxy shows deal with heroes and villains who can summon classic Ultra Monsters to fight for them. Ultraseven X dispatches the Monster Of The Week format frequently to present a dystopian 1984-esque future. The Zero movies and Zero fight take place in the Land Of The Light, and thus focus on the Ultras themselves moreso than humans or Earth. Ultraman and Ultraseven are available on commercial DVD here in the US. Ultraman Tiga was available as well but those DVDs are out of print. You can get most all of the shows Raw, and there are some fansubs out there as well, though not nearly a complete set. You can find some on KRDL.info and more if you search. You can also watch Ultraman and Ultraman: Towards The Future in English for free on Hulu. Hope this helps! |
It does thanks =)
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You can get Raws of just about everything here at Tokuzilla, but they are very slow to download: http://tokuzilla.me/
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Watched Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy Legends The Movie this weekend. SPOILERS
Really enjoyed the heck out of this movie. Taking the idea of the Ultra Heroes out of the normal realm of the shows, it lets the concept move in new directions and really lets them shine. The "team up" aspect of Ultra Galaxy with the traditional Ultraman stuff is a lot of fun. There's action to spare, though not a lot of characterization. Zero is introduced, though we don't get to know him much beyond the "grimly determined hero" bit. Which is fine, as that's a fairly standard trope of tokusatsu cinema. Actually of all of the Ultras, Mebius and Taro get the most development. Favorite bits: Bemular starting the movie off (woo!), Gomora versus Zaragas, Ultraman Leo as Zero's sensei, Hayata and Joe Moroboshi as a pair of grizzled old badasses, the Monster Graveyard, and all the classic Ultra Monsters. I watched it from the Malay DVD release. The English subtitles were good, no real wacky stuff. A few of the names are slightly off from what we normally consider them in English (Rei becomes Ray, Reyblood becomes Reybrad, etc.) but nothing to cause any real agita. All in all a really kickass movie. |
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Also, to address your "slightly off" example, SPOILERS FOR ULTRA GALAXY (THE SERIES): It's supposed to be Raybrad Seijin. As in Bradbury. Ultra Galaxy has a clever and almost baffling series of homages to classic Western horror and science fiction. The planet of monsters in the first series? Planet Boris. The island Rei kept flashing to? Vincent Island. The Reionyx commander in the sequel series Never Ending Odyssey? Harlan. Reionyx (or Rayonyx) homeworld? Planet Hammer. There are likely more homages I don't know about simply because there's no good translations yet or they're slightly too obscure to pick out easily. Maybe even the ZAP Spacy crew's names too. |
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I went with the Malay DVD because I do not have a Blu-Ray, and I had seen enough samples of the subs to know that they were good. Also, the cost was a factor, as I got the disc for like $11 US shipped. Similarly, I have the Malay releases of Revenge of Belial and Ultraman Saga, and in the mail today I got the DVDs for Ultra Galaxy: Mega Monster Battle and UG:MMB NEO. The subs on UG:MMB are of the wacky variety, but oddly, the ones on NEO are really quite good. So strange. But bad subs never really bug me that much, I guess from years of watching Raws. Very much interested in watching those shows, once we finish with Nexus, I guess. |
I'm catching up with nexus for future Let's Watch wednesdays, finished 3, 9 to go I guess.
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So I watched episode 14 of Nexus today for LWW but then decided that, instead of moving on to 15, I'd take a quick look at Max, which is at least partially subbed and up on YouTube. It's very clearly the anti-Nexus in almost every way possible. I was really surprised when the main female member of DASH came up to Kaito at the end and was actually just nice to him. :lol
I may check out some more of this. Between Nexus and Ginga, I'm kind of up for sampling more of the franchise. |
Max is a FANTASTIC series and I frequently cite it as my favorite Ultraman series entirely (a rare few times I'm in more of a Nexus mood). The absolute only reason I did not champion it for LWW is because it's not fully subbed. Tokuplex popped out of nowhere after years of silence and finally released episode 30, but there's still many more to go.
It is definitely the polar opposite of Nexus... which is where most Ultraman series happen to lie. In that sense it's a far more appropriate introduction than a grimdark series like Nexus or Ultraseven X to a newbie. |
I'm up through episode 6 of Max - the phantom island, Pigmon, and Redking arc. Holy crap, this show rocks. I'm having a lot of fun watching this, even when the big scary monster looks like the offspring of Godzilla and a corn cob. :lol
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Hey all! New guy here.
Just wanted to say I've loved Ultraman since I was a kid and I recently ordered the Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy Legend movie on eBay. I've also been watching Mebius thanks to a guy on YouTube. Really liking it so far. |
Welcome, Slimer! Ultra fans unite!
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i know nothing about ultraman but hes a part of toku history and his ultra act figures look cool so i want to watch at least one ultraman series. so which ultraman would you guys suggest this total noob stzrt with
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Ultraman Tiga or Ultraman Max would be good choices as well! |
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Definitely don't go with Nexus. I like what I've seen of it, but it's really not representative of the franchise. Same thing with Ginga. |
I'm watching episode 11 of Max right now. In addition to some nice model work and iffy blue screen scenes, it also starts with a couple of kids playing with Godzilla and Gamera toys. That struck me as really odd, given that they live in an Ultraman show. It's like if a couple kids in the real world were sitting around playing with Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein dolls.
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Really random, but found this on Tumblr-
http://24.media.tumblr.com/92e51aa69...hnmco1_500.jpg An Ultraman made out of Ultraman vinyls. |
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Just started episode 14 of Max. I was thinking all through episode 13 yesterday that the actress playing Natsumi looked really, really familiar. I couldn't find any information on her, though. Then I remembered to watch the credits for 14, which thankfully translated the names of all the actors. She's a few years younger, which is probably what threw me. It's Nao Nagasawa, the most prolific actress in tokusatsu. Can't believe I didn't recognize her immediately.
Also, episode 13 with Zetton and Ultraman Xenon was great. I'm having so much fun with this show that I don't even want to go back to Nexus. :lol |
So I just saw episode 5 of Ginga, which while good isn't the point of my post. Every time I see an episode I hear Taro's voice and think "damn that sounds familiar". Well of course it does. Taro is 2 of my favorite Japanese characters ever.
Ultra Man Taro = Rodimus Prime & Sharkie Chan!! |
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