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I'm watching ahead on the Let's Watch Wednesdays stuff so I can get my articles written up a little early, no be so rushed each week. And having just gotten to episode 26 and been introduced to the new Nexus, I knew I'd seen Ren's actor elsewhere. Of course I have. He's Kamen rider TheBee/Punch Hopper. Holy shit.
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It's an anniversary series that IMO does a better job at the anniversary gimmick than Decade or Gokaiger, it has appearances and references to the Showa Ultramen while able to stand on its own as a series with likable characters. |
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EDIT: Wanted to add this link, which has a nice visual reference for each of the Ultra Heroes up to Zero, including non-stars like Zoffy, Astra, etc. http://m-78.jp/ultraheroes/ |
Just watched Max 16, in which three alien cats make all living creatures lose their memories. Definitely one of the funniest half hours of tokustatsu I've ever seen. Kaito forgetting how to transform, Max forgetting how to use the Max Spark, Elly freaking out, the whole DASH Mother catastrophe... this was a really fun episode. :lol
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Watched Ultraman Zero: The Revenge of Belial.
And I absolutely loved it! It was great to finally see more of Zero as a character, since his role in Ultra Galaxy Legends was rather small. The other characters were great too, Glenfire and Jean-Bot are polar opposites and played each other very well. Mirror Knight was definitely more quiet than the rest but I liked him too and he had some awesome moments. The human side was good too, I didn't expect Nao to actually be likeable; like Mirror Knight Emerana was rather quiet but I liked her role. Ran was simply Zero's host and nothing else, so nothing much to say there. The plot was simple but effective, a search to find the Shield of Baradhi aka Ultraman Noa, I have no idea how he ended up in an alternate universe though. And I seriously doubt Nexus will explain that. And the music was great too! Loved the opening and ending themes. On the other side I do have a few nitpicks, first of all the narrator, his exposition was completely unnecesary, everytime he says something it's either obvious or another character explains it too, making him redundant. I did like his final line. And Belial didn't feel like such a big threat this time, last time he took on all the Ultras by himself, froze the land of light and had an army made of all the dead monsters. Whereas in this movie neither his army nor his final form were particulary impressive, he simply was in the movie because they needed a villain, which is a shame because he was really cool in Ultra Galaxy Legends. But besides that I loved it, there's a certain charm about the Ultra heroes that the other Toku heroes don't have, like Superman I guess. On the other side the more I like Zero the less I like Seven, I know it's unfair to judge him based on two movies that don't focus on him, but Seven could have avoided most of the problems with Belial if he had been a responsible parent for Zero. |
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And the thing with Next/Noa/Nexus etc is that they're universe was originally conceived as a new alternate reboot universe to the original M78 Ultra universe. Nexus, or rather The Next, was meant to be the original Ultraman for a new generation. The basis of a rebooted franchise. But with poor ratings for Nexus, and it's abrupt cancellation Tsuburaya shifted gears to Max and went back to the original universe. Forgetting all about the Nexus-verse until the Revenge of Belial. Hence Noa became the lost Ultra. And being the lost Ultra and all that, that's why Noa never had crossovers with his "predecessors" and he was never really included in the M78 universe. Noa/Nexus, Jean-Bot, Mirror Knight, and Glenfire are from the same universe. Of course outside of Noa the others have returned to M78 with Zero. |
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I was aware that Noa was from another universe, the thing that had me confused is why the heck is he a statue? What could have possibly happened in Nexus that got Noa stuck on a completely different planet from Earth without his powers? |
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*Edit* --Killer the Beatstar-- Another solid entry in the Ultraman Zero series, it has me more pumped for Saga than Darklops ever did for Zero. Nice battles a good story, more Rei and Gomora (I love that design) and Jean-Killer was a good foe. Loved the explanation they gave for Jean-Nine's name. |
Wel I just finished Nexus for to get a jump on my Let's Watch Wednesdays articles and DAMN. That was an excellent last batch of episodes. Honestly the last 10 or so were a vast improvement on the earlier part of the series even if I found Ren to be unnecessary. I miss Jun :( but yay he'sa live at the end!
To finish our discussion algo, I have no damn clue how Noa ended up where he did on Mirror Knight's world :lol Unless time flows differently in the Nexus Verse, perhaps then Zero awakens him long before he comes to that Earth? Maybe that scene takes place hundreds of years later? I'm not sure, but the series definitely ends on a huge positive note. The're some fantastic twists and shocks at the end as well. A+! |
^So we can conclude that it's fanservice :lol
Anyways, glad to hear that Nexus ends up on a good note. |
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According to all the supplemental material I can find Noa is sort of a god like cosmic being who has crossed over into the M78 universe before when he battled Zagi before being returned to his world. Opening the portal back to the Nexus-verse is what powered him down to his The Next form. I won't spoil more before letting you finish the show though. |
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Thanks for the explanation its greatly appreciated :) |
After having just watched the Mega Monster Battle Movie I decided to give Ultra Galaxy Episode 1 a watch. Seems like a fun little show. I really liked Rei and Boss in the movie and in Darklops Zero, but it's odd to see Boss here without his beard :lol
I've been in an Ultra groove lately and am pleasantly enjoying all of it! |
I picked up the Malay DVDs of Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle and UGMMB Never Ending Odyssey a few months back, but then my friend promptly borrowed them and has not returned them yet! Arrgh!
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I just torrented all of them earlier in the week :p
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So of course I'm up til 2 or 3 at night watching stuff usually. Galaxy definitely has lower production values than I expected but that always seems to happen when I come off of an Ultra movie into a show. But just like in the movies Rei and Gomora are badasses. |
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Just caught Ultraman Saga and what did I immediately take from it? Ultramen should do the fusion dance more often :lol
This was a pretty excellent movie. Despite having yet to see Dyna or Cosmos I feel like I got great feels for their characters here. Asuka was great for what little bit I saw him in Mega Monster Battle and here it's really incredible how his character is the guiding force of the story without appearing for real until the last 30 minutes. Taiga is also a great sort of successor to Asuka's legacy and he's a way better host for Zero than Ran was. Cosmos seemed a bit flat but Musashi himself was interesting. Overall it's right up there at the top with the other Ultra films I've seen. Though I think the complexity of which universe what's happening in and when is getting a little muddled. Asuka/Dyna disappeared in his universe, turned up in M78 to help in Mega Monster, left at the end and appeared on this Earth an undisclosed amount of time before Zero and Cosmos, then when he's done leaves this universe, passes by his own, and goes off somewhere new again. The reality hopping was a little out of control here but that's cool. I suspect Ginga will be using a lot of that logic in it's films too :lol |
My Tiga torrent finally finished yesterday, so I checked out the first episode. It looks pretty good so far; kinda standard Ultra, but it was the first series in 15 years so I suppose that's to be expected. The idea of Tiga being an ancient protector is interesting and the effects are pretty decent, given their age. The defense team in this one is huge, though. Almost twice the size of the one in Max. I'm not sure we need all of these characters and I hope they're all developed well enough to feel like real characters (unlike Not-Nagi and Other Dude from Nexus).
Honestly, I'll probably finish up Max before I really delve into Tiga, but I'm liking what I'm seeing so far. |
Didnt realize there were full subs of Tiga. Good to know, it shall be my next watch through :D
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The newest episode of my daikaiju podcast, Earth Destruction Directive, is posted. In it, I talk about episodes 3 and 4 of Ultraman -- where our hero battles Neronga and Ragon! (Also covered in an issue of Marvel's Shogun Warriors comic!) You can DDL it with this link:
http://twotruefreaks.com/media/podca...irective22.mp3 Or hit the link in my signature to see all of the episodes. Thanks! |
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Midnight Crew still went ahead and did Tiga themselves, I think mainly to fix the minor issues with the DVD release. Minor improvements and a great alternative to paying the ridiculous prices that volumes 2 and 3 of Tiga command. |
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Unfortunately for many years, the 4kids dub tainted Tiga for me. Much like how because Power Rangers Wild Force was so awful that I was afraid to check out Gaoranger. However Gaoranger turned out to be excellent. So I'm very interested to see the real Tiga.
And I'm going for the free subs too :) |
Decided to watch the Zero movies since I have a long weekend. I'm currently on Mega Monster Battle Ultra Galaxy Legend The Movie. First of all, that title is ridiculous. Second, Mebius's human form has the most amazing hair ever.
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Mega Monster is a great film man, really solid. Though the whole "Zero is the greatest young warrior ever" is a tad cliched :lol |
Okay, yeah that movie was amazing. Loved the action, loved seeing so many Ultras (including a quick cameo by Max), loved seeing the original Ultraman and Ultra Seven actors... There was so much fun stuff in here, even if I did have to stop and keep looking up Showa Ultras. :lol I'm definitely going to catch at least Belial's Revengw tomorrow, maybe Saga, too, if it finishes downloading.
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Revenge of Belial was so excellent. Zero really gets to shine there, and that's also where they tie into a little bit of Nexus ;)
Saga was a fun watch but being unfamiliar with Dyna and Cosmos hurt me there. So now I'm watching Tiga so I can get up to Dyna and see how awesome Asuka was back in the day! |
I have secured copies of Tiga, Dyna and Gaia the last weekend. evenings are going to be my marathon to watch all of them.
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Well I just caught the first 5 episodes of Tiga and I've gotta say that the DVD rips go a long way to making this show look better than it should for it's age. The CG may be pretty dated but the action scenes and the miniatures work is just as good as I've seen with the more recent Nexus.
Of the GUTS members only Daigo is striking me as memorable but being the main character is a advantage to him. Being as there are 6 other members it's hard to keep names straight right now. But I like the general structure of the team and the premise of the show. Very enjoyable, very classic without felling overly dated. The only thing that gets me is how he's not really trying very hard to hide his identity but it't totally working :lol |
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Even when it aired Tiga looked years ahead of the sentai series running along side it lol. Toei doesn't care much for video quality. |
Didn't have time to watch the Belial movie today, but I did squeeze in episode 22 of Max. Kaito and the episode's writer kinda trade places with each other in their dreams. The story is very surreal and the cinematography even more so. It was... weird. Really, really weird. Good, though.
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I'm just so happy to see this thread finally getting some attention and getting a post count. For a long time it was just Baltan II and I! Woo! Ultra!
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But yeah, just watched Revenge of Belial and really, really loved it. There was a definite fantasy quest structure to the film that I really liked. It reminded me a bit of 80s fantasy films like Neverending Story or Krull, and as a big fan of those films I definitely enjoyed this. The visuals were amazing, too. Outside of the few shots where the suit actors were clearly standing on solid ground in the middle of space, the greenscreen work was fantastic and the overall visual design was incredibly inventive and well-executed. Honestly, the whole film really feels like Tsubaraya let the creators just go wild with whatever crazy things popped into their imaginations. This film clearly had a high budget and you can see it in almost every single shot. It's kind of hard to gather all my immediate love for this film into coherent thought, as there were just so many aspects of it that worked for me. The characters were all great, the suit designs were both varied and fun, the action was good, and the story was really enjoyable. The climax was kind of an ass-pull with the Noa ex machina, but I think it worked better than The One With the Ridiculous Title, if only because that film crammed way, way too much into one movie (Dyna's cameo was great, for example, but also totally out of left field; same with pretty much every aspect of Zero's existence). Still, it was a really fun movie and I know I'll be watching it again at some point. |
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