[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.

[Frontier]

It's kind of surreal seeing a government agent playing with a soccer ball in a suit, but I guess that's how the SSP rolls sometimes. Also I guess Ishido was always investigating exactly WHY Hoshimoto has seen so much Kaiju activity and that it's all connected to the "Onyx."

THE 2ND VERSE VERSION OF THE OP IS BACK!!! Complete with new Kaiju!!!

Monohorn acting up? Definitely a job for SKIP, and Ishido takes plot relevance over YouPi (sorry)!

Aw, Ishido is being considerate of Yuma going back to the place where his parents died! That's really sweet of him.

Giant flying object with sinister female voices? Ishido won't waste time before shooting at it.

You know it's serious when Arc, nay, Rution needs to extend his power when Yuma isn't even transformed or taking him into an imagination space give him all the necessary backstory.

How nice of Rution to make his exposition into a childrens' movie they can sit back and relax to! Granted, it's not a happy story...Rutions' people were much like the land of light until the sun that gives them power, Sonia, was about to implode and take them with it. And radical Ze Su planned to use a wormhole to divert the suns' energy away from them, even if it meant destroying Earth. Points to the people of Rutions' planet for opposing them enough to send Rution to stop it, and that's how he sealed up the wormhole and fought the Monogelos (sent by Ze Su) to protect it. And the sealed up wormhole is the fabled "Onyx."

Obviously we don't want to see Earth destroyed, but will Rutions' allies back home find a way to save their planet? Ze Su and his lackey Sweed obviously don't think so, hence their plot to get the wormhole back up and running.

Arc has nothing to feel guilty about when it comes to Yuma's parents' death, but that he still feels guilty enough shows just how kind and caring he is.

Rution wasn't kidding about that conversation draining their energy, starting off with the color timer beeping is NEVER a good sign, even if it gives them access to Lunar Armor.

Zadime, the Galactic Beast! An imposing energy colossus that can dish as much as it can take! And nothing Arc has can really do enough to damage it.

Brave of Ishido to blast Zadime with his gun, which gives Arc enough of a break to fire everything he has left in an Ultra Beam. But Zadime has a tail that can open up wormholes for him to escape, which feels like cheating.

So, is Ishido going to put two-and-two together after seeing Yuma like that or...? Granted, he has enough else on his mind.

New Arcana Project ED! Still as cute and easy on the ears as the previous one, talking about the stars, the sun, the moon...all of Arcs' powers that we can rely on!

Next week: The Final Form!

[GoldenXtreme]

I watched Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle, Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle: Never Ending Odyssey, plus Mega Monster Battle Ultra Galaxy: The Movie! I got tongue tied just typing all that. In addition, I also think now would be a good time to talk about how my journey with the Ultra series has been so far, since I am rapidly approaching the New Generation stuff. Sooo, I guess I'll get started!

First off, MMB. Tsuburaya was obviously not in a good financial place at this time and it does show. Lots of standing around on green screened sets and nondescript rocky areas. In a way though, this gave the show the freedom to really commit to their setting of a distant planet that is overrun by monsters, with the human outposts there in ruins. Indeed, the show is unique in other ways too, from the monster vs monster battles to Rei just being an unusual protagonist for an Ultra show, not able to become an Ultraman at all! So I think the show made good use of what it had to make something very unique. However, between this show and its sequel I just did not have enough episodes to get fully invested in the characters or the plot and the breakneck pacing definitely resulted in the plot glossing over details. Why does Kate know about Reionics but Rei doesn't? Why the heck was Rei a meteor baby? So much stuff like this. Still, it was a cool show and I appreciated that it tried to do something new even as Tsuburaya was really struggling.

NEO I enjoyed a lot less unfortunately. The 13 episode shounen battle royale situation and Rei's struggles with his Reiblood genes were just painfully predictable and not very interesting. It lost a lot of that sense of mystery and exploration that made the first season work. Since one season of the show doesn't really work without the others I would probably give the two of them a D overall (though I might give the first season a C on its own). I wish I liked them more because I really like the monster tamer idea!

Now for the movie! Honestly, a lot of fun as far as big ol' crossover films go. Lots of wild Sakamoto action and character cameos that are sure to make any Ultra fan happy. This movie also made me realize that whenever Taro shows up in post-Taro stuff I almost always go "he's become such a respectable adult" like some kind of proud parent, lol. This was also Zero's debut. He seems like a popular character so I'm looking forward to seeing more of him! Very enjoyable!

Alright, finally my thoughts on the Ultra series so far. I've been watching vaguely chronologically and have been struck by how many of the shows are just *good* in this series compared to Sentai and Rider. Rider, in my mind at least, is often amazing or terrible, with middling series being fairly uncommon. Sentai is usually fun for me, though rarely super bad or good. But I've honestly given most Ultra shows a B grade! So needless to say, I've had a lot of fun with the series, even if shows often have enough issues to stop me from completely losing my mind over them. I think the biggest real issue I have noticed with Ultraman vs the other 2 big tokusatsu series is that its format is inherently more restricted. Rider shows can really be about... anything and Sentai is similar with perhaps an additional requirement for a team of heroes and mech fights. But Ultra shows are almost always about alien heroes (whether transformed into humans or using one as a host) who are members of some kind of militaristic organization that fights monsters to protect Earth. A lot of variety can still be had with that framework, and there are some shows that fall outside of this (such as Mega Monster Battle), but overall I can't help but feel this blur together sometimes... The New Generation shows excite me because a lot of people really like them, heck some people ONLY like them in the Ultra series! At the same time, the inherent restrictions I mentioned, combined with the increased reliance on legacy elements and 2 cour episode counts make me very nervous! The low episode counts in particular worry me, that was a huge issue with MMB for me and even with a lot of Ultra shows I ended up really liking, I was slow to warm up to them. Part of the reason I became a tokusatsu fan is because 50 episode shows tend to work perfectly for me in terms of getting invested (though things in the 3 cour range tend to work well too). Hopefully it all works out though, at the very least I am sure I will find a few new favorites among them!

[Switchblade]

I started watching MMB this summer because I just found out this year that Mayu Gamou was in it. Only got a few episodes in, but I liked it and definitely plan to finish it at some point.

[ZeroWolf]

Caught up with Arc again and things are certainly heating up for Yuma and 'Rution' (nice to have a name). I'm wondering what's next for our heroes as now the 'Onyx' is uncovered. Does Sweed need a kaiju to break it though? She uncovered it and then ran?

[GoldenXtreme]

Tried out the Superior 8 Ultra Brothers. I wasn't sure if I would like the whole alternate universe where Ultraman is just a TV show angle, but it was a surprisingly heartfelt film. Perhaps it was made extra poignant because the movie is a reminder to keep the dreams and joys you found from the Ultra series with you, when in real life the series itself would go through a largely inactive period around this time. Sweet little movie, and also a nice last appearance from Daigo's actor.