News Stay At Home With ULTRAMAN| Ultra Science Fiction Hour on YouTube

So, mixed feelings today. Episode #47 of "Ultraman Cosmos" does come with English subtitles:


But episode #3 of "Ultraman Mebius" does not:

 

Episode #14 of "Ultraman Trigger":

The FX team has outdone themselves with this one.

Spoiler: Thoughts and notes.

New enemies, Absolute Tartarus and Absolute Diavolo of the interdimensional "Ultimate Life Form" Absolutian. Tartarus first appeared in last year's YT-exclusive "Ultra Galaxy Fight: The Absolute Conspiracy", while Diavolo has not appeared before, but is announced to heavily feature in next year's "Ultra Galaxy Fight: The Destined Crossroads".
Also appearing to save the day is Ultraman Ribut. This Ultra has appeared all through-out the current YT-exclusive era of "Ultra Galaxy Fight". This marks his first appearance on a televised Ultra show, and also the first time his human form is shown.
It is quite interesting that a televised show now picks up characters and storylines from the YT-exclusive shows, as those are usually considered bonus content for the fans heavy on character appearances, action and lore that flesh out more about the backstory of the Ultras. Maybe Tsuburaya wants to interconnect the TV-shows more with the YT-content.

Edit: Just found out on the Ultra Wiki that Ribut and the Absolutians also appear in the voice drama series "Galaxy Rescue Force", episodes run for about five minutes, and the 16 episodes so far are available on YT with English subtitles. Just watched (watched?) the first episode, and it appears to be mostly character introduction and interaction. As said, episodes are short, so it's not that much of a commitment to catch up, but it is a bit weird. It is a Japanese language audio drama with English subtitles, so it's a bit of a combination of listening to the voice performance and reading.

Anyway, back to Trigger:

The Nursedessei's teased transformation has been spoiled by the toy ads. Still, looking forward to see the FX team do their thing with it.
Captain Tatsumi appears to figure out that Kengo is Trigger.

As per the preview of next week's episode, I presume Ribut will try and help Kengo learn to control the Eternity Core's power.

 

Okay, so now we get a crossover with the movies and another guest Ultra. I'm finding this show way too dependent on plot and gimmicks at the expense of character development. Too much of the supporting cast is still utterly one-note -- the captain is stoic and resolute, Sakuma likes to work out, Nanase is normally cool and goes hyper when she's piloting, and we know nothing more about them now than we did 12 episodes ago.

According to the Wiki, Ribut is apparently a character who debuted in a Malaysian-made animated series before getting added to the Ultra Galaxy Fight things, and he's the first foreign-created Ultra to get more than a cameo in the main franchise. His name is Malay for "Storm," though I wonder if it's also a pun on "Reboot," since he looks so much like the early Showa Ultramen.

The Nursedessei's transformation ability explains why it looks so weird. I figured it must have some ability to change form, though I wasn't expecting what was previewed.

 

In episode #15 of the classic "Ultraman", cosmic rays bring a kid's drawings to life, and the kid just loves drawing monsters:

 

I've found that children in Showa-era Ultraman shows are sometimes incredibly evil, rooting for giant monsters to go on rampages that must surely cause mass death and devastation.

 

Yeah. I kinda see what they were going with, trying to make the kids on the show similar to the kids watching the show, and back in 1966, kaijus were the biggest thing with Japanese children. But there's still a difference even with children between rooting for fictional action and rooting for actual mayhem.

 

Yeah, they blur the fourth wall in some weird ways. Like when kids in the show mimic Ultraman's henshin pose, even though nobody's ever seen him do it and nobody's supposed to know he's a transformed human. Or when the kids sing the show's theme song within the episode, never mind that its lyrics give away the Ultra's secret identity!

 

In episode #21 of "Mirrorman", the Invaders send out a blob-like liquid monster that absorbs other life forms for energy:

 

FFS! Episode #48 of "Ultraman Cosmos", without English subtitles again:

 

The 55th Anniversary Campaign presents (with English subtitles) episode #34 of "Ultraman Mebius", in which Mebius teams up with Ultraman Leo:

 

What the hell are Tsuburaya's YT doing?! Today's episode #49 of "Ultraman Cosmos" also has no English subtitles, and again despite such subtitles being promised in the video title:

 

I hope this subtitle neglect doesn't start to affect Ultraman Trigger. Although there's usually a point late in each episode where the subtitles stop for half a minute or so.

 

Those are the ads and the "Hit like and subscribe" messages, those have never been subtitled. I also think Trigger is going to be pretty safe, they appear to take greater care of the first-run shows.

They just uploaded episode #4 of "Ultraman Mebius", and that, too, has no English subtitles:

The lack of English subtitles on Mebius is especially baffling, as this run is intended for the international audience, they are region-blocked in Japan. And it can't be a rights issue, either, the Mebius episode from this week's 55th Anniversary Campaign did have subtitles. And yet, of the regular run, only one of the four episodes uploaded so far has had subtitles.

I have to admit, I've started to ignore those uploads without subtitles and instead seek those episodes out elsewhere.

 

Give me some credit for not being an idiot and knowing the difference between the show and the damn commercials. I'm talking about moments within the episodes where the subtitles drop out for a time, usually in the final act. Maybe it's just a glitch with my browser or something, maybe it doesn't happen to others, but it happens for me almost every week lately.

 

This week's Trigger resolves the cliffhanger from last week, and unveils the Nursedessei's new dragon-like Battle Mode, which is pretty silly-looking. Ultraman Ribut helps Kengo learn control to master Glitter Trigger's power, and I like the very calm, graceful martial arts style Glitter Trigger uses after that -- I think it's maybe Shaolin kung fu? Ribut has a distinctive fighting style too, but I don't know what it is.

We get an interesting bit of info from Ribut, that once an Ultra takes human form, they need a device that can harness the power of light to change back. I guess that explains my question from Ultraseven about why Dan needed the Ultra Eye to change back to his true form. I guess it's since humans aren't beings of light, so they need external help to summon the light.

I'm still frustrated by the one-note characterizations. Kengo's big insight that helps him master his new power is merely to restate the same damn slogan he's been spouting since episode 1. Sakuma and Nanase get to go on location for a change, but otherwise nothing is new about them.

Ignis finally powers up in the cliffhanger, after learning how by watching Ribut train Kengo and Yuna. And he turns into Trigger Dark. Why is that? I guess because the prototype Sparklence he stole was designed to tap into Trigger's light, but he powers it with dark energy.

Oh, and there were no subtitle dropouts this week, fortunately.

 

I really like Ribut, and I'm hoping he'll get gradually more used outside the Ultra Galaxy Fight series, similar to how Ultraman Zero was introduced in the movies and became a major part of the New Generation shows (and even a regular on "Ultraman Geed").

The Nursedessei's Battle Mode design was pretty much dictated the moment they decided to resurrect the concept of the Nurse ship/dragon from UltraSeven. Back then they used a puppet on strings, which made it charming in its own way. The Nursedessei uses a lot of CG, which is not quite as charming.

The part of Ultras, after taking human form, needing a device to turn back is not quite true. There have been Ultras who transformed without a device, prominently Jack, Great and the Ultraman from the 2004 film. Also, Carmeara takes human form in this episode, and I don't think we saw her use a device to turn back.

As for the characterization, yeah, it is a bit disappointing on this series. Last year's "Ultraman Z" did way better character work.

 

Oh, that thing. I had to look it up on the Wiki -- I'd forgotten it. Now I understand the reason for the name and the design. It's still weird as heck, though.

I had the impression that Ribut was talking specifically about Ultras like himself and Seven/Dan who were pure Ultras disguised as humans, so maybe it wasn't meant to apply to the usual kind like Jack who are bonded with real humans. Although most of those do need devices as well.

But she's empowered by dark energy, not light energy. So the same rules might not apply. And maybe it was simply an outward glamor or a mentally projected illusion rather than a real transformation.

Anyway, human Carmeara is beautiful. I hope we see more of her.

Glad to hear it's not typical of the modern run of shows.

 

First off, I have to correct myself on Ultraman Great, I misremembered him transforming without a device, he indeed did have a small amulet he used to transform. Jack and Next (the one from the '04 movie) did transform without a device, though.
Second, if the rule did only apply to Ultras not bonded to other beings, it wouldn't apply to Ignis.

 

I didn't say it only applied to unbonded Ultras -- just that if Ribut was only speaking about unbonded ones, then his words don't contradict the known existence of exceptions to the rule among bonded ones, because he wasn't addressing them one way or the other.

 

The Baltan return as the SSSP goes to space in episode #16 of "Ultraman":