ULTRA-THREAD 2.0

[JAGzilla]

Just got done with The Rascal From Outer Space. I love how varied the original series is. There are so many writers that bring different styles to the table, and the distribution of the budget was so all over the place, and you just don't know what the heck to expect from episode to episode. This one was ridiculously fun.

[daveblackeye15]

Finished Geed and started the movie.

Spoiler:

Happy to see Juggler is back. WTF at him grabbing Leito's butt though.

I'm enjoying that there is a little more character arc in this movie with Geed than Orb's movie. I mean Orb's movie wasn't bad just big fun. Nice to see Leilah get in on some fighting.

[MandaSaurus]

Got to agree on the design. I think if there was EVER a time to introduce another base color to an Ultra, now would be the time. I've been wanting to see a green and silver Ultra (not Mirror Man and crew...) for a good while.

Heartily agree. Z has a wee bit of red, but he's predominantly blue and silver. Looking forward to the inevitable SH FiguArt...

[Mac Daddy MM]

Got to agree on the design. I think if there was EVER a time to introduce another base color to an Ultra, now would be the time. I've been wanting to see a green and silver Ultra (not Mirror Man and crew...) for a good while.

Heartily agree. Z has a wee bit of red, but he's predominantly blue and silver. Looking forward to the inevitable SH FiguArt...

I think we all are ...

[Tyrant_Lizard_King]

I'm pretty luke warm on The Return so far. There's some good episodes throughout, particularly the two-parters, but I feel some of the emotional moments fall flat.

Spoiler:

I mean outside the episode it happened the death of Ken and his sister feels largely forgotten in the following episodes outside it being referenced in the Baltan episode.

Still have half the final disc yet so maybe they touch on it more towards the conclusion.

[daveblackeye15]

I'm watching the episode with the super ugly invisible neutron monster. God damn every one is being too hard on Go and MAT for not being able to kill it in their initial battle. "Go you joined MAT and became a loser!" It's not like anyone knows he is Ultraman Jack. Okay you try shooting the invisibly hairy elephant monster next time.
"Go-san you can beat the monster. Get revenge for Pyonta." Kid, no one cares about your stupid rabbit.

[LegendZilla]

I'm watching the episode with the super ugly invisible neutron monster. God damn every one is being too hard on Go and MAT for not being able to kill it in their initial battle. "Go you joined MAT and became a loser!" It's not like anyone knows he is Ultraman Jack. Okay you try shooting the invisibly hairy elephant monster next time.
"Go-san you can beat the monster. Get revenge for Pyonta." Kid, no one cares about your stupid rabbit.

Which episode number is it?

[daveblackeye15]

Episode 19. I mean, can't blame Go's friend, his little brother is in critical condition and yeah he gives a pep talk but still...

Episode 21. Wow these kids are gonna be traumatized. They're basically watching snuff films thanks to the alien.

[Tyrant_Lizard_King]

I'm watching the episode with the super ugly invisible neutron monster. God damn every one is being too hard on Go and MAT for not being able to kill it in their initial battle. "Go you joined MAT and became a loser!" It's not like anyone knows he is Ultraman Jack. Okay you try shooting the invisibly hairy elephant monster next time.
"Go-san you can beat the monster. Get revenge for Pyonta." Kid, no one cares about your stupid rabbit.

Yeah every few episodes people are pissed at MAT or their superiors threatening to dismantle them over shit typically out of their control. It's one of the more annoying aspects of the show.

[Angilasman]

^ It makes me laugh. After 30 episodes of defending the Earth they have slight trouble in defeating a new monster and everyone's demanding their resignations! How fickle people are. You can't say it isn't realistic.

[daveblackeye15]

Okay we got a focus episode with Kishida and the mustard gas monster. Now we got one for Minami and him being the village wimpy kid.
LOL at this part. I wish the Ultraman Jack Out Of Context used this bit instead.
https://youtu.be/r5fI53THyO8?t=1402

WTF!? XD

[Tyrant_Lizard_King]

Another thing I notice in Return of Ultraman is how there's a major uptick of alien episodes in the 2nd half. Like they're almost nonexistent in the first half then all of a sudden its like every episode features an alien invader of some kind.

[daveblackeye15]

Well it was sort of a big deal with Bemstar showing up. 'We never fought an alien monster before!' I got the impression there was an even bigger un-tick in alien monsters due to the Nackle two parter? I've only watched 25.

[Angilasman]

One complaint I have for Return is the captain being promoted and replaced by the gruffer, older Captain halfway through. I actually like the second guy, but the first was such a likeable presence in the show that he is very missed.

[daveblackeye15]

Oh yeah I forgot about that! I knew he was getting changed out but I feared he'd simply be gone the next episode with only a word. So I'm super glad he at least got a send off. I liked Kato but...eh it seems like all the captains of the teams are too similar. Very y'know fatherly and even the Mill Creek booklet can't help but call each one 'father' of the team.

Ibuki is stern and seems more like a leader of a military team would be like so I do like him. Plus he did have a really good introduction showing. Plus they did the smart thing of making him different from Kato, like what they did with the first Kamen Rider show. Making an effort to keep them different.

[Angilasman]

^ Yeah, I think Ibuki is good - I just thought thought Kato's actor was just a super-likable presence beyond anything on the page.

Come to think of it, I wonder how different the actual scripts were for either captain. I suspect their difference in character is almost entirely due to the performers and not the scripts (aside from the introductory episode). It wouldn't surprise me if any of the Ibuki episodes we're already written for Kato and were basically unchanged.

Added in 12 minutes 56 seconds:
Recently watched the episode that Akio Jissoji wrote but didn't direct (he won't be back behind the camera until the Ultra Q movie). It's the one with the weather controlling jellyfish kaiju. Some of his common themes ate still present, such as...

Spoiler:

the stinger at the episode's end showing Tokyo becoming choked in smog right after the Monster is killed and life returns to normal.

Added in 1 minute 58 seconds:
Oh, and the episode that kinda plays on the '66 series Gavadon episode! Great one, and it stars the kid from Hedorah and Megalon!

[Millenial88]

So I’m right at Kato’s second to last episode of Return and I’ve seriously begun to notice and appreciate Tsuburaya’s approach to filmmaking during the late 60s and early 70s. Q and Man ended up not clicking with me as much as I thought they would (with the exception of Jissoji’s episodes of the latter), but Seven and Return have seriously locked me in thanks to their visual storytelling. The Terochilus episode of Return, for example, got me to be invested in Saburo and Yukiko’s story just through shot composition and cinematography alone that I managed to overlook such a clunky looking monster.

It’s that distinctive eye that gave TsuPro part of its voice. Place a standard episode of Seven or Return next to a standard Kamen Rider ‘71 episode and you can just feel the difference in execution. Toei’s just so condensed in terms of action that they have no time to let some scenes breathe. Of course, we all have different tastes, but TsuPro’s openness towards atmosphere and the avant-garde in terms of filmmaking style during this time is my thing. It just sucks that they had to flatten it out later in the decade in the pursuit of that kiddie audience.

I just hope Higuchi and Anno, being reported fans of this era, manage to tap into that atmospheric direction in Shin Ultraman

[Angilasman]

^ I enjoy other tokusatsu shows, but I definitely prefer the Tsuburaya ones. Not just because of the Kaiju, although that's a huge factor, but because the episodes give time for the story to breathe and devope things like the mystery of the investigation of the weird incident and the introduction of guest characters. Toei shows have so much action that, as you say, I end up wishing they had more time to breathe. It can be fun to break a formula and have Ultraman appear at the beginning or middle of an episode, but I understand the wisdom of mostly keeping the big showdown for the end of the story.

Added in 2 hours 43 minutes 17 seconds:
Hey! Like many of us, comic book artist and Hellboy creator Mike Mignola is stuck at home. He's been just doodling and putting the sketches up on his social media. He knows nothing about Ultraman, but based solely on the designs of characters has been turning out sketches all day!



https://mobile.twitter.com/artofmmignola

[daveblackeye15]

Oh nice! I hope he tackles Eleking!
I'm on another binge, starting episode 30 but wow I really got into episode 27 with the boxer. I mean yeah the buzz-saw monster is a fun gimmick but I was like 'c'mon is he gonna win the bout or not!?' And they did the fun thing of showing it alongside Jack's fight. I liked that they showed Saburo's opponent wasn't a jerk.

Oxter episode was really good with atmosphere. Yeah Super Sentai episode's are pretty actiony, at least Zyuranger and Dairanger are, but damn can I binge through them quickly.

Added in 22 hours 22 minutes 20 seconds:
Oh the Muruchi episode was great. Glad it didn't get overhyped for me.
Wathing the plant-animal one. Hm seems like they forgot Sagata is supposed to need a cane since he's walking around without it.

[Jetty_Jags]

I just hope Higuchi and Anno, being reported fans of this era, manage to tap into that atmospheric direction in Shin Ultraman

Me too. I'd have no worries if Anno was at the helm, as many shots in nge seemed inspired by this, and some of anno's fan works similarly replicate this. Higuchi definetly could do this, but I'm not as confident with him.