And episode #119 of "Redman" has our kaiju hunter battle no less than five monsters in less than three minutes:
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Well, I guess that was all the Redman they were prepared to upload.
Anyway, episode #29 of "Ultraman Ace" has Hokuto share some questionable advice with an angry, prophetic orphan:
Anyway, episode #29 of "Ultraman Ace" has Hokuto share some questionable advice with an angry, prophetic orphan:
Well, the preview for this week's Decker was misleading. We didn't get a Dyna appearance, just a brief teasing glimpse.
We get answers about why Kanata became Decker and who was giving him these powers, but there are still a lot of unanswered questions. The other Decker turns out to be from the future, as I conjectured he might be, and Professor Asakage, real name Agams, is a humanoid alien from the future who blames the Sphere's attack on his homeworld on humanity's war with the Sphere (which Dyna is evidently a participant in), and thus has come back to destroy Earth. Though it's simple revenge, not an attempt to change the future, since they're going with the branching-timeline model where creating a new history doesn't erase the old. Or else they're just from a parallel "future universe" -- the dialogue was kind of ambiguous. The latter would fit with the relationship between the Trigger/Decker universe and the Tiga/Dyna World of Neo Frontier Space, having parallel events decades apart, and with the usual 21st-century approach to the Ultraman multiverse where different universes are at different points in the timeline.
And the Decker from the future turns out to be Decker Asumi, Kanata's descendant (using Western name order). So that's where the name comes from. But we still don't know how Decker Asumi gained the powers of Ultraman Decker, and even he doesn't fully understand it. I wonder if that will be answered later in the season and turn out to have a connection to Dyna. It'd be a shame if that brief cameo glimpse were all we got.
Decker gets his final form, Dynamic Mode, a hybrid of the first three modes, and of course it comes with a fancy new shield/blade weapon, continuing the asymmetrical design theme. It's Decker's first form that doesn't have a Dyna counterpart, which I guess is why Decker Asumi called it a unique Ultraman form.
We get answers about why Kanata became Decker and who was giving him these powers, but there are still a lot of unanswered questions. The other Decker turns out to be from the future, as I conjectured he might be, and Professor Asakage, real name Agams, is a humanoid alien from the future who blames the Sphere's attack on his homeworld on humanity's war with the Sphere (which Dyna is evidently a participant in), and thus has come back to destroy Earth. Though it's simple revenge, not an attempt to change the future, since they're going with the branching-timeline model where creating a new history doesn't erase the old. Or else they're just from a parallel "future universe" -- the dialogue was kind of ambiguous. The latter would fit with the relationship between the Trigger/Decker universe and the Tiga/Dyna World of Neo Frontier Space, having parallel events decades apart, and with the usual 21st-century approach to the Ultraman multiverse where different universes are at different points in the timeline.
And the Decker from the future turns out to be Decker Asumi, Kanata's descendant (using Western name order). So that's where the name comes from. But we still don't know how Decker Asumi gained the powers of Ultraman Decker, and even he doesn't fully understand it. I wonder if that will be answered later in the season and turn out to have a connection to Dyna. It'd be a shame if that brief cameo glimpse were all we got.
Decker gets his final form, Dynamic Mode, a hybrid of the first three modes, and of course it comes with a fancy new shield/blade weapon, continuing the asymmetrical design theme. It's Decker's first form that doesn't have a Dyna counterpart, which I guess is why Decker Asumi called it a unique Ultraman form.
This has been a pretty strong two-parter. Decker asking Kanata to save Agams is setting up a similar ultimate redemption we saw with the villains of last year's Trigger. The new Dynamic Mode served as a huge deus-ex-machina solution, but that's how introductions of new forms in toku shows work.
It dawned on me afterwards that the Decker/Agams backstory is a bit of a rip-off of Spock/Nero from Star Trek '09, though it doesn't bother me at all.
It dawned on me afterwards that the Decker/Agams backstory is a bit of a rip-off of Spock/Nero from Star Trek '09, though it doesn't bother me at all.
That reminds me (indirectly) -- I was struck by how differently the Sphere are being handled. In Dyna's universe, IIRC, the Sphere saw humanity as a threat to the universe because of how we'd screwed up the Earth (typical of the environmentalist themes of the franchise in the '90s and early '00s), so essentially they saw themselves as defending the universe against us. But here, the Sphere are active conquerors and destroyers. It disappoints me that they've been simplified like that, though I guess the ambiguity of Agams's motivation is a suitable replacement.
The thing that makes something a deus ex machina, in story terms, is that it comes out of nowhere and isn't earned, so it's just a story cheat when the writer can't think of another way out. If it is sufficiently justified in the narrative and earned through the characters' efforts, then it isn't really a deus ex machina. A DEM in Ultraman is more like when an Ultra just whips out a random new superpower that he's never had before but is just what's needed to destroy or cure the monster. That's happened a lot over the course of the franchise.
But it's not so bad as long as the new form or power is the payoff to a character achieving a milestone, a breakthrough they had to strive for or a personal epiphany. That way, the upgrade is earned dramatically and isn't just an out-of-nowhere solution or a gratuitous introduction of a new toy. (That was my guiding principle in my toku-inspired Tangent Knights audio drama series -- making sure that every new armor or power upgrade symbolized a moment of character growth or transition, so it had emotional meaning.) In this case, it was earned through Kanata's resolution, his decision that he would be the one to stand up and defend Earth in this era. Before, Decker's power was something that was just handed to him and that he accepted a bit passively. This was the moment where he actively claimed responsibility for it, so it is a big step forward.
A parallel, sure, but I'm certain ST'09 was not the first story about someone coming back in time to get revenge for something that happened in the future. Heck, that's basically The Terminator's plot, and the Sphere Builder plot from Enterprise season 3. And I'm certain I've seen some other story about aliens from the future trying to wipe out humanity before we destroy them, though I can't remember where. It might even have been done before in the Ultra franchise.
In episode #4 of "UltraSeven", nuclear ships go missing and Ultra Guard find them in outer space:
They really maybe should have put a few episodes between the last one and this, so it isn't so obvious Also, Dan's UltraEye is stolen by what appears to be a young woman. Again. They really should have put this one at another point in the series, so it wouldn't be so obvious they did the same plot point twice.
They really maybe should have put a few episodes between the last one and this, so it isn't so obvious Also, Dan's UltraEye is stolen by what appears to be a young woman. Again. They really should have put this one at another point in the series, so it wouldn't be so obvious they did the same plot point twice.
I always found it paradoxical that Dan needed the Ultra Eye to change back from his assumed human form into his natural Ultra form. It seemed like it should be the other way around. But of course, it was necessary to create an obstacle to Dan changing into UltraSeven and solving everything early in the episode. He didn't have his predecessor's (or successors') 3-minute limit, so he needed another mechanism to keep him from going Ultra until the climax. Hence all the times the Eye was stolen or lost.
In episode #30 of "Ultraman Ace", Hokuto makes a series of bad choices, resulting in the death of innocent people:
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Ultraman Decker #16:
So, Kanata has doubts about his purpose because of what he learned about the future. I'm not sure why mankind venturing into space being a possibly bad idea makes him freeze up on this particular monster, but I guess he's been portrayed as the sensitive type up to now. But he overcomes these doubts because of ... his team? And just saying 'team', it's not like they actually talk about his doubts, (not that it would have been a good idea at that moment).
Anyway, I didn't really enjoy this episode much, beyond the reappearance of a classic Ultra kaiju, Pandon. But that cliffhanger sure was unexpected, and has me actually looking forward to next week's episode.
Also, today's upload of "UltraSeven" episode #5:
So, Kanata has doubts about his purpose because of what he learned about the future. I'm not sure why mankind venturing into space being a possibly bad idea makes him freeze up on this particular monster, but I guess he's been portrayed as the sensitive type up to now. But he overcomes these doubts because of ... his team? And just saying 'team', it's not like they actually talk about his doubts, (not that it would have been a good idea at that moment).
Anyway, I didn't really enjoy this episode much, beyond the reappearance of a classic Ultra kaiju, Pandon. But that cliffhanger sure was unexpected, and has me actually looking forward to next week's episode.
Also, today's upload of "UltraSeven" episode #5:
I think the idea was that he's starting to think of monsters and aliens as victims rather than aggressors. He's no longer sure he's fighting for the right side.
I figure that just knowing he's not alone, that he has his teammates' support, was enough to ease his anxiety and let him focus on the work.
Still, I agree it was a bit of an unfocused story. The bit about the "Spinnie" baby Pandon reminded me of an episode of Ultraman Geed with a similarly spherical baby alien bouncing all over the place, but the alien was more sympathetic in that one. Here, having a cute baby Pandon seemed kind of pointless. At least, they didn't really do anything with the idea.
In this week's episode #31 of "Ultraman Ace", a weird comet shows up in the sky over Tokyo, and a harmless tapir is transformed into a Super Beast:
Decker #17
Good episode. The resolution could have come off as a big coincedence out of nowhere, but the storytelling of the episode makes it work. It also works to give two characters more depth.
Next week's another recap episode.
Also today, "UltraSeven" episode #6, in which a strange shadow creature appears in Anne's quarters, and a classic UltraSeven dilemma plagues the hero at the end:
Good episode. The resolution could have come off as a big coincedence out of nowhere, but the storytelling of the episode makes it work. It also works to give two characters more depth.
Next week's another recap episode.
Also today, "UltraSeven" episode #6, in which a strange shadow creature appears in Anne's quarters, and a classic UltraSeven dilemma plagues the hero at the end:
Not bad, though it was pretty weird that Nigel forbade the team from deploying against a kaiju just because their commander was under investigation. It makes no sense that they'd be paralyzed without the commander there to give the order, since you never know whether an attack might happen while the commander is on leave or overseas or injured in the previous attack or whatever. I suspected that Nigel was going to turn out to be behind Gomess's attack or something, but he was just an overly rigid bureaucrat.
Also, it seems inconsistent that explaining the suspicious thing Murahoshi did ten years ago would also somehow clear him of suspicion over working with Agams in the present.
Oh, yes. That was one of its most memorable episodes, a rare depiction of aliens as benevolent rather than invaders, but still with a dark and tragic twist. It had a sequel in Heisei Ultraseven.
This week's fill-in clip show with Marluru and Hotta in the tech division was pretty pointless. The first one was almost kind of worthwhile as these clip episodes go, but this one felt more like it was just filling time, just meandering from topic to topic without any real story beyond Marluru trying to cheer Hotta up. It started with a recap of last week's episode, which isn't a good way to begin one of these things. Then it ended up mainly being about Terraphaser and various other robots Ultras have fought, ending with Deathfacer from the Dyna movie, the inspiration for Terraphaser (which the characters lampshaded), but not really leading to any kind of point.
I remember to watch an hour earlier this week, because Japan doesn't have Daylight Savings Time, so what was 8:30 is now 7:30. I knew not to expect much from this one, but I'm under the weather and needed something mindless to pass the time.
I remember to watch an hour earlier this week, because Japan doesn't have Daylight Savings Time, so what was 8:30 is now 7:30. I knew not to expect much from this one, but I'm under the weather and needed something mindless to pass the time.
I tend to skip the clip shows by now. They don't spread the shows over the whole week like they used to, now Tsuburaya is kind of releasing them all on the weekend, so watching them all in that short amount of time can get a little exhausting (not helped by all the other media demanding my attention). But who still wants to watch, here it is:
Still, I did watch episode #32 of "Ultraman Ace":
And, of course, episode #7 of "UltraSeven":
Still, I did watch episode #32 of "Ultraman Ace":
And, of course, episode #7 of "UltraSeven":
Something just occurred to me this morning. I was going over my Tangent Knights annotations in preparation for tomorrow's release of the concluding book of the trilogy, and I was thinking about how the multiverse elements of TK are similar to the way the multiverse has become a regular element in New Generation Ultraman (though by coincidence, since I wrote it before I saw the New Generation shows).
Anyway, the thing that struck me is that the majority of New Generation Ultras are not native to the universes their shows are set in. I'm pretty sure that only Orb and Trigger are explicitly from their series' universes. X's origin was never addressed either way. Decker is from a "future universe," ambiguously either a possible future of the Trigger universe or an alternate one that's similar to it but further ahead in time. Ginga and Ginga S are set in a universe that had no native Ultras or kaiju, only the Spark Dolls that ended up there after the war. Geed, Zero, Taiga, and Z are from the Land of Light; Rosso, Blu, Grigio, and Fuwa are from Orb's universe; and Titas is from the '79 anime's universe.
This may be retroactively true of a lot of the Heisei Ultras as well. I think the later Koichi Sakamoto movies/miniseries imply that some of the older Ultras may have been native to the Land of Light despite their series being set in other universes, since we've seen cameos of Ultraman Great, Powered, Neos, Ultraseven 21, Max, and the Hanna-Barbera "Ultra Force" in the Land of Light. And I think Ultraman Next/Nexus/Noa was established to come from a different universe than the one his movie and series were set in.
Anyway, the thing that struck me is that the majority of New Generation Ultras are not native to the universes their shows are set in. I'm pretty sure that only Orb and Trigger are explicitly from their series' universes. X's origin was never addressed either way. Decker is from a "future universe," ambiguously either a possible future of the Trigger universe or an alternate one that's similar to it but further ahead in time. Ginga and Ginga S are set in a universe that had no native Ultras or kaiju, only the Spark Dolls that ended up there after the war. Geed, Zero, Taiga, and Z are from the Land of Light; Rosso, Blu, Grigio, and Fuwa are from Orb's universe; and Titas is from the '79 anime's universe.
This may be retroactively true of a lot of the Heisei Ultras as well. I think the later Koichi Sakamoto movies/miniseries imply that some of the older Ultras may have been native to the Land of Light despite their series being set in other universes, since we've seen cameos of Ultraman Great, Powered, Neos, Ultraseven 21, Max, and the Hanna-Barbera "Ultra Force" in the Land of Light. And I think Ultraman Next/Nexus/Noa was established to come from a different universe than the one his movie and series were set in.
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Haven't had time yet to watch any of the episodes of this week, just checking in to inform you all that Shin Ultraman will get a two-night Fathom Event screening at selected U.S. theaters in January.
This week's episode was a blast from the past, with Yapool showing up as a guest villain working with Agams. They went back to the early Ace depiction of Yapool as a distorted, blurry, pointy-headed blue figure, rather than the later blocky-headed red monster form that's usually been used. Aribunta was along for the ride, fighting alongside Terraphaser, and they had Ryuumon independently coin the term "Choju" for it, which I'd say was a coincidence if it weren't for so much else in this universe paralleling events in the Neo Frontier universe. Fictional mutliverses tend to have these resonances.
Kanata is trying to honor his descendant's request to save Agams, but struggling with the idea of saving someone so unambiguously hostile. It's kind of an interesting character bit, but they don't do enough with it. This show often has Kanata wrestling with questions about his intentions or goals, but he never really arrives at an answer beyond just choosing to act in the moment.
There was a moment where Aribunta had Decker in an armlock and Terraphaser was building up to fire, and Decker went Miracle Form and teleported out to attack Terraphaser while it was building up. It would've been smarter to wait longer and teleport out at the same moment Terraphaser fired, since then the beam would've taken out Aribunta. But then, Kanata isn't a particularly smart fighter.
Kanata is trying to honor his descendant's request to save Agams, but struggling with the idea of saving someone so unambiguously hostile. It's kind of an interesting character bit, but they don't do enough with it. This show often has Kanata wrestling with questions about his intentions or goals, but he never really arrives at an answer beyond just choosing to act in the moment.
There was a moment where Aribunta had Decker in an armlock and Terraphaser was building up to fire, and Decker went Miracle Form and teleported out to attack Terraphaser while it was building up. It would've been smarter to wait longer and teleport out at the same moment Terraphaser fired, since then the beam would've taken out Aribunta. But then, Kanata isn't a particularly smart fighter.
Incidentally, I happened to discover that the YouTube channel is finally releasing Ultra Galaxy Fight: The Destined Crossroad for free viewing. I happened to catch Episode 1 live today, then realized I'd missed the Prologue and went back to watch it. Here are the Japanese versions, with subtitles available:
Prologue:
Episode 1:
I'm guessing these will be once a week?
Prologue:
Episode 1:
I'm guessing these will be once a week?
Sorry, have had a busy weekend, and I still only started to catch up with this week's Ultra episodes. Watching episode #33 of "Ultraman Ace" right now:
Will follow up with "Decker" #18:
"UltraSeven" episode #8:
And, of course, the start of "Destined Crossroads", which @Christopher shared above. Notes and opinions on my part will have to wait till later.
Will follow up with "Decker" #18:
"UltraSeven" episode #8:
And, of course, the start of "Destined Crossroads", which @Christopher shared above. Notes and opinions on my part will have to wait till later.