[Fish Sandwich]

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Originally Posted by Salaryman Zero

Ultraman Orb The Origin Saga

Man, was this a let-down.

It's been long enough since I've seen The Origin Saga that I can't really fight you on this, but I would like to give a counterpoint here. It was a pretty strange beast in terms of its plot (especially since it's clear they deliberately made it a massive stylistic departure from a normal Ultra show), but as I remember it, it was a solid series once I adjusted to it. Gai and Juggler were absolutely the highlights the entire time. I think it was set at the most interesting possible point in their relationship, and explicitly breaking them up for a huge chunk of the show was the right move in my opinion. It allowed them to be developed more as individuals, and since the story was about them starting to drift apart anyway, it was a natural fit. It was cool seeing how they each had to adjust, and their respective attitudes towards the situation.

The actual nonsense sci-fi plot, I was never totally sold on either, but I disagree that The Origin Saga dropped the ball on the Gai/Juggler drama. They don't have to literally be together for the show to be about them. The way the guest Ultramen were handled was also a pleasant surprise at the time, so I'll let my past self explain that one:

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Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

One thing I was very impressed by was how the other Ultramen didn't feel shoehorned in. Dyna comes the closest, acting as sort of the idealized hero Gai wants to be, except that he never really does any mentoring or anything. Cosmos on the other hand fits in quite naturally, being the pacifist(ish) Ultraman in a story revolving around the irony of trying to create peace by fighting. Similarly Gaia and Agul serve as a nice mirror to Gai and Juggler's relationship as it starts to fall apart.

I'm sure they were only in there because Tsuburaya wanted to get more heroes in their big Amazon-original show (thus drawing in more viewers), and/or because there's some kind of quota for Dyna and Cosmos appearances they've been trying to hit ever since Saga, but their actual role in the plot felt significantly less arbitrary than I expected.

Besides, this is Orb's origin, right? Isn't getting his butt bailed out by four different awesome Ultramen in his first big adventure the perfect explanation for how he became #RespectfulGai?

Anyway, The Origin Saga is a long way from perfect, but I do feel like there's a lot to love about it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Salaryman Zero

Another question I had: If "Ultraman" is a rank/title given to Ultras who serve in the Space Garrison...what exactly is Ultraman's real name then? Does he just not have one? Or is it just "Shodai", because that's what TsuPro seems to refer to him as, on occasion.

You know, I was actually just thinking about something like this the other day. In my case I was wondering what Mebius and Hikari used to be called, because it was pretty explicit in that show that they each got those names after leaving the Land of Light.

The simplest explanation would be to assume everyone has names in their native language or whatever, but it'd be cool to know if this has ever been elaborated on officially. Although in the case of your question, I believe it's been said that all the other Ultramen are named in honor of him. I know that's hard to believe given how little respect it looks like OG Man gets, but they do care about the guy.