[Switchblade]

Got caught up on the Rin's teacher episode last night. Speaking as a college professor, if I were spending that much time hanging out with a high school girl I would absolutely be fired. There are so many lines being crossed here. Really good episode, still.

[Frontier]

SKIP is out in the field and investigating tremors around construction going on in the city! Could it be a Kaiju? Probably!

I mean, Ishido's been with you guys for like 10 episodes, I think that's enough time to be part of the team. You even became VTubers together!

Oka-Gubila! The Ancient Underground Monster! Which I guess means he's a Gubila variant that prefers the Earth to the sea!

But if you thought this was a Gubila episode, you'd be wrong, as instead it's an episode all about the Arc original robot and the only remaining thing in the OP we've yet to see...Givas, the Mechanical Colossus, who has an ear-screeching call out of its name, a piledriver that can match Gubila's drill, an alternate form with a chest claw that can grab you and bring you in close, and even the ability to throw Arc's Ultra Slash back at him. He made Arc bleed!!!

And caught in the middle of this massive fracas is siblings Yumi and Dai, and Yumi despite her young age is the best big sister ever, being there for her little bro when he needs her the most and protecting him from Kaiju! And the first sign that there's more to Givas than fighting is when he steps in to defend the kids!

No time for a flashy transformation, just use Lunar armor and block an attack to save some kids!

Oka-Gubila: "Screw you guys, I'm going home!"

Well, yeah, SKIP is more like a civilian team so it figures they would have to field the calls from the terrified populace than actually do anything about Givas like the GDF is.

I don't get the sense Givas is there for an invasion. I get the sense that it's looking for something to fight (which is why it's in standby mode) and is ALSO meant to be seen as an enemy for people to rally around and defeat?

Oh hey, Numa! Did he offer any insight into Givas or was he just there because he's living at the Science Division?

Yuma runs on emotion, Ishido runs on logic, but that also means Yuma runs his mouth and denies that Ishido was ever really a part of SKIP. Jeez. And what a way to end the episode on with depressed Yuma.

[Daikaijuman54]

Catch up time! And both episodes involve communication, what is this? Ultraman Blazar?

A sweet episode last week, where there really is no alternative solution to saying goodbye to Fio, and boy... This kind of hurt for me. I don't know if I've just gotten softer since events that happened last year or what, but I feel like either Ultraman and other shows have been hitting harder and getting better or I'm just an emotional wreck. But anyway, fun fights as usual, always neat to see Arc come up with imaginative ways to use his powers.

Now we have The Iron Giant, which is a cool design. I do like how we're getting to see some of that divide between the GDF and SKIP, and the curveballs being thrown this episode are definitely interesting, curious how the Mushroom Alien plays into this, but seeing what's inside Givas is going to be fun as well. Love how Givas just shouts its name like Moguera in the Pipeworks Godzilla Trilogy.

And on another note, I find it funny the propellor hat is still in style.

Next Episode: Are we reenacting that scene from Godzilla X Mechagodzilla?

[Frontier]

I like it when an Ultra is dealt such a serious blow that the Host actually shows visible scars from it.

Sometimes after an intense fight where harsh words were said...you need to cool off and let an alien wash your back while you're buck-naked. I'm only disappointed we didn't have Numata in alien form in the bath with Yuma. But at least he got to go back to the inn!

Yuma didn't even need a big apology scene, SKIP has been working tirelessly to figure out what's really going on with Givas, just like Yuma wanted! No matter what, SKIP as a team, and in particular Ishido, believes in Yuma!

Honestly it's usually 50/50 whether an Ultra Mecha actually has a cockpit or not, come to think of it.

If I've learned anything from watching Ultra shows, it's that the Japanese government (or governments in general) never leave well enough alone.

Look at Ishido using his GDF connections to distract them so Yuma can go past! I'm so proud of him!

Climbing a robot has got to be great cardio.

That Alien Meguma corpse was...not pretty.

If I had a nickel for every advanced alien civilization that fell apart and left one last lingering remnant that land son Earth...I'd actually have a lot of nickels, though basically a man and his giant Mecha pal just traveled the stars and now said man wants his Mecha pal to find a friend and a reason to live again.

Oka-Gubila: "I'm back for revenge!" Also Oka-Gubila "Screw you guys, I'm going home...again!"

I love how Arc gets in-between Givas and Oka-Gubila and catches Gubila's drill and Gubila is like "where the heck did you come from!?"

How does Arc win a fight against a Mecha and a Kaiju? He doesn't. He just gets in-between them and transforms back into Yuma so Givas can realize that he's a friend, and not an enemy, something his old master wanted him to find for so long after his passing.

Farewell Givas. I guess maybe you'll live on the moon now and maybe come back in the final arc?

Next week: Clip show #2, Ishido edition! This might actually have some plot relevancy in terms of how Ishido views Arc and possibly suspects Yuma...

[GoldenXtreme]

I gave Ultraseven X a watch. I was honestly expecting it to be a bunch of tribute episodes based on Ultraseven stories, so I was pleasantly surprised the show had its own plot (with the reveal at the end that the protagonist was actually the host for THE Ultraseven from the original show). The extremely sincere yet kind of stupid cyberpunk setting was... oddly charming? The plot only tenuously made sense too, but it certainly made for a more memorable miniseries than something like Neos. I'd actually kind of hesitate to call this a tokusatsu though, since there is very little in terms of practical effect work to gawk at. Interesting little experiment of a show overall.