ULTRA-THREAD 2.0

For the discussion of any Ultraman related shows, movies, comics, video games, etc.
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SaiyanRider54
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Re: ULTRA-THREAD 2.0

Post by SaiyanRider54 »

Ultraseven is really good. The cinematography is amazing. It kind of breaks away from the Ultraman formula in a way I haven’t seen since. Although they sometimes take a step back from the kaiju action, its usually to try to tell a real story. Some of the best episodes don’t end on a big conventional fight. But I do understand that if you’re looking for cool fights with giant monsters, you might be reasonably disappointed. When I first started watching back when Shout Factory released it, I got disinterested about 10 episodes in. But now, years later, after getting into film beyond just toku, I’ve grown to appreciate it far more. Would I be wrong in saying that Ultraseven is more like Star Trek to Ultraman’s Star Wars? I’m not a trek fan (yet) but I’ve always got the impression that it’s less focused on the action and spectacle, but more on character and philosophical messages. If you don’t like it though, that’s totally fine.

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Re: ULTRA-THREAD 2.0

Post by GodzillaXGomoraFight »

Sounds like I should definitely give it another chance. I'll report back when I finish!
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Re: ULTRA-THREAD 2.0

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SaiyanRider54 wrote:Ultraseven is really good. The cinematography is amazing. It kind of breaks away from the Ultraman formula in a way I haven’t seen since. Although they sometimes take a step back from the kaiju action, its usually to try to tell a real story. Some of the best episodes don’t end on a big conventional fight. But I do understand that if you’re looking for cool fights with giant monsters, you might be reasonably disappointed. When I first started watching back when Shout Factory released it, I got disinterested about 10 episodes in. But now, years later, after getting into film beyond just toku, I’ve grown to appreciate it far more. Would I be wrong in saying that Ultraseven is more like Star Trek to Ultraman’s Star Wars? I’m not a trek fan (yet) but I’ve always got the impression that it’s less focused on the action and spectacle, but more on character and philosophical messages.
It's the fact that every episode doesn't end on a conventional big fight that makes it more meaningful IMO. Not every episode has a monster (sometimes it's an alien) but it makes the series vastly more unpredictable. I like episodes like the one with Dinosaur Tank because it's not easily predictable, and without the monster the content is still entertaining. I also found that there's a good variety of creatures, like Narse that don't fit "big bulky dinosaur" cliches.

Anyways, I'm halfway through Taiga and I love it. Most of the two parters are pretty good and exemplify everything I like about the series.
Night Fang has a sufficient amount of lore built up behind it, and there's a unique setting (the creepy village). There's a message about the idol industry and there's a clash of cultures and ideas. The fight between Taiga and Barbaue was interesting enough, and it gets better with the ending. Same for the following episodes and other two parters. There's a variety of settings, lightings, powers all on display here. Unlike R/B, which is all the same shit.

Even after bringing back Nackle and Black King the series manages to deliver an emotional and interesting episode.

Taiga is good because Taiga's friends, Fuuma and Titas also are way more interesting than a lot of other Ultramen. I like the difference in physique, and how their powers are varied. I like that Titas' back is so strong it acts like a shield, and how Fuuma can spin around and cause dust clouds. They don't feel like generic ultramen and their personalities are nice as well.
Spirit Ghidorah 2010 wrote: Sun Dec 03, 2023 4:54 pm Anno-san pleasures me more than Yamasaki-san.

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Re: ULTRA-THREAD 2.0

Post by Mac Daddy MM »

eabaker wrote:Yeah, the particularly strong use of the whole ensemble is definitely one of the selling points of Seven, and it absolutely wallops the other Showa Ultra series I've seen in that regard. But on top of that, it's got a lot of compelling drama, fantastic creature designs, really cool fight scenes, and some of the strongest visuals of any Ultra series.
I just can not bring myself to agree with the bolded/underlined parts. I mean sure, Seven had a handful of really cool opponents like Dinosaur Tank, Eleking and King Joe. But A LOT of the fight scenes just lacked. Again, there's a handful that are pretty solid, but for every good one (such as vs. Alien Goron) there's several bad fights (like vs. Icarus, vs. Borg, etc). Even the Eleking episode's highlight isn't even Seven vs. Eleking, but Eleking vs. Miclas. I am firmly of the belief it is that fight that gave Eleking the status of a mainstay kaiju of the franchise.

And as I said before, creature design in Seven is EXTREMELY sporadic when it comes to quality. Yes, you have the established classics and some other good designs (I personally love Goron, Prote, and Borg's designs and wish they'd make comebacks in future shows)... And then you get stuff like this:

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Again, I am NOT saying Seven is an entirely bad series. But I do feel that it is easily the most overrated of them all (next to Leo) and its flaws are never brought up enough in comparison to its highlights. With that said, I will always prefer Ultraman, Return of Ultraman and Ultraman Ace over Ultraseven as a series.


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Re: ULTRA-THREAD 2.0

Post by daveblackeye15 »

Huh I didn't know Leo was highly loved. I figured it was okayish among the base. I mean my gripe with at least the first several episodes I saw was that I got tired of the bulk of the episode being Leo needed to learn a new move. Granted it did make monster fighting seem a lot tougher.

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Re: ULTRA-THREAD 2.0

Post by Gothicserpent »

Leo is not highly loved. Its easily the most divisive series.
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Re: ULTRA-THREAD 2.0

Post by Gigantis »

MM Raids Again wrote: Image
PFFFFFFFFFT. :lol: :lol: Oh god, this gets me every time i look at it. It looks like a bad Yeti costume!

Seven was pretty unique when it came to designs tho. Eleking is unlike almost any kaiju before and after, and of course we can't forget about the greatest monster of all.

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Re: ULTRA-THREAD 2.0

Post by LSD Jellyfish »

I think Ultraman Taiga is probably the best since Mebius. Definitely better than Geed, R/B and Ginga.

Added in 11 hours 32 minutes 9 seconds:
The episode with Takkong was fantastic! I’m almost done with taiga. Again, most consistently best series in a long time, I’ve really enjoyed most episodes independently rather than them being something to watch to “get to the good stuff”.
Spirit Ghidorah 2010 wrote: Sun Dec 03, 2023 4:54 pm Anno-san pleasures me more than Yamasaki-san.

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Re: ULTRA-THREAD 2.0

Post by daveblackeye15 »

@GodzillaXGomoraFight
Also I assure that not every fight in Ultraseven is brief like in The Targeted Town. King Joe is a full on unstoppable tank, speaking of tank there is the Dinotank, Alien Bell the cicada monster, Gandar, Gyeron and more. There will be some quick fights but I think in the second half there are less.
I mean The Targeted Town is one of my favorite episodes because of how its shot and there's something awfully brutal about it.

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Also I found this neat blog covering the Showa Ultra uniforms.
https://himitsusentaiblog.tumblr.com/po ... s-uniforms

Ultra Guard does have the best uniforms followed by Science Patrol. The TAC helmets in Ace are stupid as hell though. But Taro easily has the worst uniforms.
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Re: ULTRA-THREAD 2.0

Post by Tyrant_Lizard_King »

King Joe is also a 2 parter so it's got more time to do its thing.
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Re: ULTRA-THREAD 2.0

Post by LSD Jellyfish »

Not gonna lie, the ending to Taiga was probably the biggest let down and the worst part of the show. It was fine and underwhelming, especially in comparison to everything preceding it.
Spirit Ghidorah 2010 wrote: Sun Dec 03, 2023 4:54 pm Anno-san pleasures me more than Yamasaki-san.

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Re: ULTRA-THREAD 2.0

Post by Tyrant_Lizard_King »

Big announcement coming apparently. From August Ragone's Twitter.
A WHOLE NEW GALAXY IS ABOUT TO OPEN FOR AMERICAN ULTRA FANS! Stayed tuned for the EXCLUSIVE announcement and launch tomorrow at 9:00 am Eastern/6:00 am Pacific - on my Twitter account! Here's to a new world of Ultramen and Monsters... #Ultraman #UltramanGalaxy #Tsuburaya https://t.co/mb3GTXI5i8
Added in 6 hours 52 minutes 8 seconds:
First official English language Ultraman site. Also it sounds like Ultraman is gonna have a major presence at Toy Fair this weekend.

https://m.facebook.com/august.ragone/po ... 7466258185
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Re: ULTRA-THREAD 2.0

Post by Millenial88 »

LSD Jellyfish wrote:Not gonna lie, the ending to Taiga was probably the biggest let down and the worst part of the show. It was fine and underwhelming, especially in comparison to everything preceding it.
Pirika’s backstory reveal retroactively makes the 5th episode markedly better for me, but yeah, the plothole in that last episode kinda sank it.

Unrelated, I’m seriously excited about the prospect of getting 1:12 Ultraman toys from Mezco, based on their new license
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Re: ULTRA-THREAD 2.0

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What makes Taiga good? I've usually heard its bad to mediocre.
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Re: ULTRA-THREAD 2.0

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaZ4pxsRHVo&t=6s

I just finished this video up, it's basically just a stop motion battle between Ultraman and Zetton but with some outside influences.
Gothicserpent wrote:What makes Taiga good? I've usually heard its bad to mediocre.
It's got some really great action scenes, a side from that I found it pretty standard.
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Re: ULTRA-THREAD 2.0

Post by LSD Jellyfish »

Gothicserpent wrote:What makes Taiga good? I've usually heard its bad to mediocre.
At first, I really liked the main surrounding plot, of the cast being people that deal with literal illegal aliens, and the episodes that explore this issue. I also liked the characters for the most part, and the fights were really good. The series wasn't super dark, but had a legitimate sense of threat and imbalance. A lot of episodes work well as stand alone episodes, and have a deep emotional core.

EVen despite reusing Nackle and Black King for the nth time the episode with them is fantastic, delivering a satisfying tale.

The main issue becomes the ending, where you realize how underdeveloped the series is. Could've easily had ten more episodes. A lot is left unanswered. They have a plot with aliens selling illegal monsters on earth, and some sort of syndicate, but this never amounts to much other than a fight with a cloned Belial. Tregear is super built up, but the climax with him isn't so satisfying. Same thing with one of the main plot members.

For example, Homeru is an alien, but we never get an episode based on his backstory or race. Maybe that's the point, his identity isn't contingent on where he is from. I have a strong feeling, the movie that will be revealed in a day or two will focus on this.
Spirit Ghidorah 2010 wrote: Sun Dec 03, 2023 4:54 pm Anno-san pleasures me more than Yamasaki-san.

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Re: ULTRA-THREAD 2.0

Post by Jetty_Jags »

This actually is looking really cool
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Re: ULTRA-THREAD 2.0

Post by LegendZilla »

^If this sells well enough, could Disney do their own Ultraman series?

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Re: ULTRA-THREAD 2.0

Post by Tyrant_Lizard_King »

On disc 2 of Return of Ultraman and its pretty meh so far. There's some pretty decent episodes but I feel it lacks the overall narrative strength of Ultraseven so far. Plus all the characters tend to blend together. One thing I'll give to the original is that every character is distinct from each other with unique personalities and a cast of actors that are easily distinguishable from one another. I feel Return lacks that. Seven is still my favorite of the Showa era so far. We'll see how things shake out the further into the series I get.
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