ULTRA-THREAD 2.0

[G2000]

Ultraman is seriously depraved in the US.

Yes, anytime Ultraman crosses the Pacific to arrive on these shores, he abandons all morality.

All those rumors about "private parties" and all the girls being sent to his hotel rooms, it's amazing he hasn't been MeToo'ed yet

[Vakanai]

Besides the original series which I know is on DVD at least if not blu-ray, are there any other Ultraman series on disk for America that you would suggest checking out?

Seven. If you can find it for a good price, there's also Tiga. Otherwise, that's it. Ultraman is seriously depraved in the US.

I think you mean deprived, but yes. Especially if you're like me and don't go in for a streaming service (my internet is too slow to bother with that). Was hoping for more of a selection than that though.

Didn't Ultraman's company win some court case against some old shady distributer that might make it easier to release DVDs here in the west now, or am I misinformed?

[eabaker]

Didn't Ultraman's company win some court case against some old shady distributer that might make it easier to release DVDs here in the west now, or am I misinformed?

That is correct. Tsuburaya finally won in their decades long legal struggle with Chaiyo.

[Vakanai]

Didn't Ultraman's company win some court case against some old shady distributer that might make it easier to release DVDs here in the west now, or am I misinformed?

That is correct. Tsuburaya finally won in their decades long legal struggle with Chaiyo.

Any chance that'll result in easier access to previous series ala physical media sometime in the not too distant future?

[MaxRebo320]

Didn't Ultraman's company win some court case against some old shady distributer that might make it easier to release DVDs here in the west now, or am I misinformed?

They did, but we've heard next to nothing about it since. Tsuburaya has been extremely quiet in regards to US distribution for a good year or so. I have no hope whatsoever of Taiga being simulcast. It wouldn't be so bad if fansub groups like TVNihon or Over-Time paid half as much attention to Ultraman as they do Sentai and Rider, but they don't. Our only options are what's left on Crunchyroll and Toku, a streaming service that's run by a bunch of chimps.

As for DVD releases, there are the Malaysian sets for Return of Ultraman, Ace and Taro (plus Jumborg Ace), which are no less "legal" than the aforementioned Millcreek/Shout! releases.

what other handful of older kaiju do you hope to see revived?

In no real order...

Gudis - A long shot, but I'd love for him to return as the main villain of a movie, Gaiden or whatever. Hell, maybe even one that focuses on the "forgotten" Ultras like Great, Powered, Neos, etc.

Astromons - One of Taro's best-remembered monsters, yet he's never appeared since. Dude even has a toy currently on shelves.

Peguila - Tsuburaya have a perfectly good suit for him (Which made a mere cameo in X), yet they opt not to use it. Come on!

Noislar - Ditto with Peguila

Banila and Aboras - ^^^

Dorako - I know he has reappeared a few times throughout, but a proper "Ultraman vs. Dorako" episode would be real neat.

Baltan - 'nuff said.

Geronimon would also be really fun (I can also see him working as the villain in a movie or Gaiden), and would give TsuPro an excuse to reuse more monster suits.

[Kaiju no Kami]

Yeah, it's kind of weird how the moment Tsuburaya wins the court case, new Ultra shows suddenly stop being available for streaming. Makes no sense.

[SoggyNoodles2016]

Yeah, it's kind of weird how the moment Tsuburaya wins the court case, new Ultra shows suddenly stop being available for streaming. Makes no sense.

If I were to guess, Tsubaraya is now reconsidering their entire Ultra distribution with the orginal series now in mind and ended up cancelling many of their current deals in the process

[UltramanGoji]

If it results in more Region 1 DVD/Blu-Ray releases or a NJPW World-styled streaming app, I'm all for it.

[Kaiju no Kami]

If it results in more Region 1 DVD/Blu-Ray releases or a NJPW World-styled streaming app, I'm all for it.

I'd for the DVD/BDs, but not the streaming crap.

[Millenial88]

If it results in more Region 1 DVD/Blu-Ray releases or a NJPW World-styled streaming app, I'm all for it.

I'd for the DVD/BDs, but not the streaming crap.

The latter sounds more plausible than the former at this point, but not by much. An all Ultraman/TsuPro streaming platform could only exist in a section of the world where Tsuburaya has a decent share of the market. And outside of Japan and east Asia, there’s virtually nothing.

I’m slowly coming to terms with Taiga not being available on CR this year, unless the whole R/B debacle was just a hiccup and everything’s now smoothed out. It’ll be tough to go back to the slow chug of fansubbing after being spoiled by simulcasting, but I’m willing to wait if the quality is nice.

[Kaiju no Kami]

The latter sounds more plausible than the former at this point, but not by much.

See, I won't support streaming, even for Toku. I support stuff I can actually own and put on my shelf.

[Millenial88]

The latter sounds more plausible than the former at this point, but not by much.

See, I won't support streaming, even for Toku. I support stuff I can actually own and put on my shelf.

For ethical reasons or just for posterity?

[UltramanGoji]

The latter sounds more plausible than the former at this point, but not by much.

See, I won't support streaming, even for Toku. I support stuff I can actually own and put on my shelf.

So start downloading poop or buy bootlegs cause you're not getting stuff like Ultraman Orb or R/B at Walmart.

[Kaiju no Kami]

The latter sounds more plausible than the former at this point, but not by much.

See, I won't support streaming, even for Toku. I support stuff I can actually own and put on my shelf.

So start downloading poop or buy bootlegs cause you're not getting stuff like Ultraman Orb or R/B at Walmart.

Why would I buy bootlegs when I can download fansubs for free? No need to pay pirates.

And obviously I do fansubs of things that aren't licensed here. That's how I review all of my non-licensed Toku shows. Your entire statement just seems kind of obvious.

Added in 1 minute 57 seconds:

The latter sounds more plausible than the former at this point, but not by much.

See, I won't support streaming, even for Toku. I support stuff I can actually own and put on my shelf.

For ethical reasons or just for posterity?

I don't pay for media if I can not physically own it. In fact, I sell off all of my digital copy codes that come with my BDs because I have no use for digital copies. I will never watch them, so I might as well make that $5-10 back I was forced to pay on a movie due to the code.

[MaxRebo320]

I''m confused. So even if you want to see a show where the only legal option in the US is streaming, you refuse to support the platform, while also not wanting to illegally download them/buy bootlegs because you still want to support official releases (Therefore never seeing the show)? Don't get me wrong, I too prefer physical releases (I think we all do here), but boycotting streaming isn't exactly going to encourage Tsuburaya or whoever to invest in home video. Quite the opposite, in fact. Maybe your misguided protest is what led Tsuburaya to abandon Crunchyroll and put US distribution in the limbo its in now. And really, would stuff like Mirrorman or The ☆ Ultraman ever stand a serious chance of getting DVD releases here? I didn't think so.

Granted, Toku (The "streaming service" that currents holds the most Tsuburaya content) *IS* poor (Bad customer service, faulty videos, cringe-inducing social media posts, etc.), and I'd rather not give them my money...but again, boycotting it isn't really going to help matters at all, and might just convince Tsuburaya (Though then again, they don't seem to be paying any attention to US fans and just seem to let Toku run their shows like a bunch of donkeys) there's no interest in the US at all, bringing us back to the dark times before Crunchyroll.

[MM Raids Again]

See, I won't support streaming, even for Toku. I support stuff I can actually own and put on my shelf.

So start downloading poop or buy bootlegs cause you're not getting stuff like Ultraman Orb or R/B at Walmart.

Why would I buy bootlegs when I can download fansubs for free? No need to pay pirates.

And obviously I do fansubs of things that aren't licensed here. That's how I review all of my non-licensed Toku shows. Your entire statement just seems kind of obvious.

Added in 1 minute 57 seconds:

See, I won't support streaming, even for Toku. I support stuff I can actually own and put on my shelf.

For ethical reasons or just for posterity?

I don't pay for media if I can not physically own it. In fact, I sell off all of my digital copy codes that come with my BDs because I have no use for digital copies. I will never watch them, so I might as well make that $5-10 back I was forced to pay on a movie due to the code.

Well, I guess you just won't be able to watch Ultraman while the rest of us can. Sucks to be you.

[MaxRebo320]

Also, I love when people go on anti-bootleg crusades, but then recommend the Mill Creek/Shout! releases for being "officially licensed".

[Kaiju no Kami]

Also, I love when people go on anti-bootleg crusades, but then recommend the Mill Creek/Shout! releases for being "officially licensed".

Huh?

Added in 12 minutes 29 seconds:

I''m confused. So even if you want to see a show where the only legal option in the US is streaming, you refuse to support the platform, while also not wanting to illegally download them/buy bootlegs because you still want to support official releases (Therefore never seeing the show)? Don't get me wrong, I too prefer physical releases (I think we all do here), but boycotting streaming isn't exactly going to encourage Tsuburaya or whoever to invest in home video. Quite the opposite, in fact. Maybe your misguided protest is what led Tsuburaya to abandon Crunchyroll and put US distribution in the limbo its in now. And really, would stuff like Mirrorman or The ☆ Ultraman ever stand a serious chance of getting DVD releases here? I didn't think so.

Granted, Toku (The "streaming service" that currents holds the most Tsuburaya content) *IS* poor (Bad customer service, faulty videos, cringe-inducing social media posts, etc.), and I'd rather not give them my money...but again, boycotting it isn't really going to help matters at all, and might just convince Tsuburaya (Though then again, they don't seem to be paying any attention to US fans and just seem to let Toku run their shows like a bunch of donkeys) there's no interest in the US at all, bringing us back to the dark times before Crunchyroll.

Okay, I think I've gotten everyone confused.

What I'm saying is I don't pay for any streaming service outside of Netflix. One of my friends pays for Crunchyroll, another pays for Funimation. I think paying for streaming services is a waste of money because you get nothing of physical value out them and they add up when you have too many of them. $10-15 might not seem like much a month, but then multiply that by 8 different services. I just can't justify that when I get nothing of true value out of it.

I get value out of DVDs and BDs. Stuff I can actually own. They're mine to do with as I please because I paid for them. I can sell them if I want, I can let friends borrow them, I can put them on my shelf, I can do whatever the hell I want with them because, as I said, they are mine.

The other aspect comes with doing reviews of these shows. I don't have too much time to watch a lot of Toku series right now outside of those I'm reviewing for my channel. I can't rip streams, so I have no way I can rip clips for my reviews. As such, I can't review any of the Ultraman series that are on TOKU/were on Crunchyroll. Furthermore, this means I would rather just watch the shows that are not licensed in America that have fansubs available I can rip footage from since those are quite plentiful. Or, as I've been doing, reviewing the shows that have official releases like all of the Sentai shows Shout! has released so far, Garo from Kraken, and the upcoming Juspion release from Discotek.

I would love to support Ultraman legally, but I need to do it through a means that would make it seem like it is worth my hard earned money. Streaming is just not for me. Oh, and clearly my watching the Ultra shows through my friend's account didn't keep them on Crunchyroll.

Added in 3 minutes 4 seconds:

Well, I guess you just won't be able to watch Ultraman while the rest of us can. Sucks to be you.

Considering I also watch Garo, Sentai, Kamen Rider, and Metal Heroes, I don't see how that is an issue. I've got plenty of Toku series to get through before I need to do Ultraman in the worst case scenario.

[MaxRebo320]

Also, I love when people go on anti-bootleg crusades, but then recommend the Mill Creek/Shout! releases for being "officially licensed".

Huh?

Dude, we were just having the discussion about Tsuburaya gaining back the rights to the several shows (Only for them not to let out a peep about it since). But yeah, if you were somehow unaware, the sets for Ultra Q, Ultraman and Ultra Seven were licensed through Golden Media Group, which in turn is licensed through Chaiyo. So one looks pretty silly disavowing any bootlegs for Ultraman when they supported those releases.

Considering I also watch Garo, Sentai, Kamen Rider, and Metal Heroes, I don't see how that is an issue. I've got plenty of Toku series to get through before I need to do Ultraman in the worst case scenario.

Ultraman is the best tho.

So basically, you want to watch Ultraman legally, but don't want to support streaming services, so you're just not going to watch it in general? Alright. You're missing out on some great stuff though.

[Vakanai]

Also, I love when people go on anti-bootleg crusades, but then recommend the Mill Creek/Shout! releases for being "officially licensed".

Huh?

Dude, we were just having the discussion about Tsuburaya gaining back the rights to the several shows (Only for them not to let out a peep about it since). But yeah, if you were somehow unaware, the sets for Ultra Q, Ultraman and Ultra Seven were licensed through Golden Media Group, which in turn is licensed through Chaiyo. So one looks pretty silly disavowing any bootlegs for Ultraman when they supported those releases.

Considering I also watch Garo, Sentai, Kamen Rider, and Metal Heroes, I don't see how that is an issue. I've got plenty of Toku series to get through before I need to do Ultraman in the worst case scenario.

Ultraman is the best tho.

So basically, you want to watch Ultraman legally, but don't want to support streaming services, so you're just not going to watch it in general? Alright. You're missing out on some great stuff though.

I'd be willing to support a streaming service if I had better internet, but on the wifi hotspot on my prepaid phone that ain't worthwhile to bother with, so I'm really hoping they see potential profit in DVDs.