[GoldenXtreme]

Another good episode of Omega! Sorato is sick so he is stuck at home where he has to eat bland foods, while Kosei goes out to discover a new Meteo Kaiju at Rekiness's prompting. I found this episode particularly funny in some scenes, like the knockoff X Files theme that played over the faked video of Omega summoning shitty looking UFOs and Sorato's whole scene where he declared he will go to the hospital after he is better. But it was a pretty biting episode too, with a ruthless streamer who tries to stir up distrust against Omega for attention. It also debuts Trigaron, who honestly just looks really good for a quadrupedal kaiju. I'm a big fan of the design and how good it looks on motion. Omega and Trigaron's little hand to tail high-five was also adorable. I really appreciate how consistently useful the Meteo Kaiju are in this show, the Ultra series often struggles with making the human allies a big part of the battles. Once again Kosei is the only one who seems to be able to use the Meteo Kaiju (and Sorato still doesn't recognize them) but I don't think he has any special powers or anything, they just seem to respond to his bond with Omega. I still think my theory that they are transformed fragments of Omega's memories and powers is pretty sound. The episode ends with Sorato and Kosei officially friends! But, I can't help but find this a little foreboding considering two episodes ago we had an episode about a human-nonhuman friendship that ended sadly. I don't think that plot is going to repeat, but I think it will be important that the idea is on Sorato's mind. He'll probably take it pretty hard if Kosei ever gets hurt because of him.

[Frontier]

If I had a nickel for every mysterious child who tried to ward people away from a Kaiju...I'd have wayyyyyyy too many nickles.

Dang, we're yet again beset by internet celebrities getting more involved in Kaiju situations than they should? Now they've even roped in Ayu! Who also ropes in Sorato and Kosei because, well, Sorato will do pretty much anything for food.

(also they don't feel self-conscious leaving their undies hanging up while Ayu is there? I guess she doesn't care or seem to view them as "guys")

I'll give Ghost Riders this much, they sure do have enthusiasm. They even have Sorato doing it! Yippie-Yi-Aie! Yippie-Yi-Oh!

I have questions about the tech level of his Earth where these guys have a working AI named "Jennifer" that they can converse and argue with as well as the ability to 3D project visuals from glasses. And that's before they built a machine that could break dimensional barriers.

Has Omega been to Earth before? Is Daidarabotchi meant to be him? Did they conflate his Ultra and human forms together in that depiction?

Dang it Ayu, you're not supposed to run off on your own!

The legendary "Aga" of Mount Kirifuri isn't "Aga" at all but MONS-AGHAR, the Destructive Kaiju! Who honestly seemed to be just minding his business while stuck in this dimension until the Ghost Riders' machine went haywire and started creating portals that took him to the general public. I almost feel bad for him.

I love how all the Mons-Aghar's these days seem collectively aware of their weakness now.

Good to know for future reference that the Meteor Kaiju don't work like Capsule Kaiju and can't be summoned all together.

I really have to applaud the suit actor playing Trigaron to be able to move as well on all fours in that suit.

Omega with the comedic job of trying to keep everyone from falling into a portal. Portals he closes with...Ultra Fission powers or something?

Trigaron showing more sentience when he recognized Omega's color timer kicking in and they needed Trigaron Armor. Granting Omega blazing fast speeds, a piercing claw gauntlet, and homing nail attacks!

Who was that boy? Why did Mons-Aghar listen to him? Why did he recognize Omega?

I see Ayu takes people treating science like a toy VERY seriously. Meanwhile Sorato is a food stealer!!!

Next week: Did you care about who lives above Sorato and Kosei? Probably not, but we're getting a recap episode with them anyways!

[GuardianAngel87]

We're not even in the halfway point yet and I am already loving what I am seeing so far with Ultraman Omega as a series. I seriously hope they can keep it up until the very end of its run.

[GoldenXtreme]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GuardianAngel87

We're not even in the halfway point yet and I am already loving what I am seeing so far with Ultraman Omega as a series. I seriously hope they can keep it up until the very end of its run.

Yeah, I'm glad I took the plunge to watch this one live. I'm not really the biggest New Generation fan, but this show has been all-around great so far and has really broken away from a lot of the typical narratives the series tends to repeat.

This week's episode was a more comedic one, and I couldn't help but feel like the Ghost Riders were some kind of parody of the SSP from Orb... who were already pretty silly. Omega even gets wrapped up in a game of portal whack-a-mole... and Kosei seemed even more exasperated by the ridiculous situation he had gotten involved in than normal (and he didn't even get any Loco Moco!). Still, the episode showed us some intereting stuff that will likely be narratively important. Turns out only one Meteo Kaiju can be used at a time and we have a mysterious ghostly boy that seems to recognize Omega along with what might be a depiction of Omega in the good old Pacific Records. Makes me wonder if Omega had sealed the kaiju of Earth in the past, but after so long they are breaking free.

[GuardianAngel87]

Just started my rewatch of Ultraman Z via my copy of the series on Blu-Ray as released by Mill Creek that I ordered from Amazon just last month and I would be revisiting the series in its English dub format as well as the original Japanese. I have been looking forward to rewatching Z for quite some time especially in said dub.

[GoldenXtreme]

It's finally happened: I've seen every New Generation Ultraman show now that I have finished up Ultraman Decker!

It was certainly a vast improvement over Trigger for me, and I would even say I think this is the best New Gen show with the traditional military defense team format honestly. Still, the ties to Trigger are easily the worst part of the show, with the setting and style of the two clashing so heavily (and with a completely unbelievable time gap to boot), that I desperately with they had been kept separate. Decker also has some issues of its own, with an inexplicable time lapse after the first episode too and the whole story with Agams feeling very underdeveloped. Not to mention this is another Ultra show where the secret identity thing causes so many problems I couldn't help but wonder why the hero didn't at least tell their allies. Still, I thought the setting with Earth being cut off from the rest of the universe by the Sphrre was a cool idea, and it granted the show a more introspective feeling than most Ultra shows, focusing on people who had to put their true passions on hold to deal with the Sphere while Kanata himself was a bit aimless as he tried to figure out what drove him. The cast has pretty simple personalities and character arcs, but they made for a compelling team and also have much more grounded and subdued personalities than in many contemporary Ultra shows. I found them all very pleasant to follow throughout the show! I also think the show had a lot of good and unique individual episodes (Lord Ragon was probably my favorite), though it certainky has some mediocre ones too, including a finale that just didn't quite land for me. The movie was a nice conclusion though, even if I laughed at the idea of Kanata somehow being made captain of a spaceship at the end there. Dinas was pretty cool, I liked how brave she was when it came to helping other planets, and how that inspired Kanata to head out into the universe. Overall pretty good stuff, I'll give it a B.

Since I finished all the New Generation shows, I also wanted to talk about my broader thoughts on the series too! I've seen most of the shows and movies from the Ultra series at this point and I certainly consider myself an Ultra fan. I do feel like at the end of the day I am more of a Toei tokusatsu kind of person though. I think it's a combination of the facts, like that I prefer more martial arts oriented fight choreography, I am very into the character drama angle that Toei leans more heavily into, and the fact that the Toei stuff tends to be WAY campier. I also just find that while there are plenty of Ultra shows I like, very few manage to achieve that illustrious "A tier", reserved for shows that make me go a little feral when I think about them, lol. Still, the Ultra series has an impressive legacy. I think the best Showa era Ultra shows were far more daring and ambitious than most of the Toei stuff, and combined whimsy with drama in ways that astonished me. I also quite like most of the Heisei Ultra stuff, which took in various influences from other popular series (and prior Ultra shows), but put a unique spin on them. But... I don't know, I find the New Generation era to be a real trend chaser, while also being prone to exploring the exact same concepts repeatedly. I really think they would benefit from more fresh blood in the writer's room and to reevaluate if they really need to many elements to repeat most seasons just because it is "standard" for the series. Still, I think things have been improving since around when the Reiwa era began, with more shows that try to break the mold and try new things. Omega has been quite unique so far, so I'm hoping we get to see a bright new era of Ultra shows that forge a new direction for the series!