[Kiwami]

Holy... episode 2 was amazing.

Like, where do I start? First of all, the dynamic between Taiga and Hiroyuki is great. I love how neither is necessarily wiser or stronger than the other, it really seems like this time around it's actually the Ultra who has much to learn from his human host.

Second, it is well known that I'm a sucker for the token "The monster isn't necessarily evil"-episodes in Toku and Ultraman always does these exceptionally well, but this one was among the best. For a few reasons, but the most important for me being the timing and how it ties into the early character development. It's only episode 2 for crying out loud, Hiroyuki has barely stared to grasp what being Ultraman means, but they already confront him with the fate of dealing with a monster, even if it is a friend, and he already has something taken by him. It is also a tragic bonding experience for our heroes as both now had to see a friend being destroyed by the same evil entity.

Which brings me to the next thing I highly enjoyed: Tregear. He's a fantastic villain. Evil, menacing, yet not the overwhelmingly dark brute type we see regularly. He's a bit more low-key, almost like a trickster, but even in his short appearance he already surpassed quite a few past villains in cruelty. I haven’t seen the R/B movie but apparently he was a scientist back in the day and it shows in his demeanor.

Tsuburaya is at again, this show is great so far. And I assume it'll only get better from here because next week the second of three Ultraman joins the show - and I already quite like where this is going.