HOLY FUCKING SHIT! ANNO WRITING AN ULTRAMAN SCRIPT? I know this is his dream come reality. His first project was a fan made Ultraman film after all. Also - don't sleep on Shin Godzilla. I think looking at reviews of Godzilla films is absurd because the franchise goes beyond that anyway but if you want any type of recommendation just know that it won best picture in Japan at the time of it's release. It's a fucking masterpiece and resonated with the struggles of modern Japanese government. If you like Anno, you'll love it.
Holy crap the latest episode of Ultraman Taiga had the same actor reprising his role as Saburu, the boy who saw UFOs from episode 45 of Ultra Seven and also had the Alien Perolynga from that episode appear at the end for his first showing since 1968. That's the longest callback in any Ultra series I can think of. Taiga is really, really good. The production values have definitely taken a leap forward and the storyline is a lot of fun. The fact that Ultraman Titus is from Ultrman Jonius' planet is really neat and the personalities of all Tri-Squad is a lot of fun. Treigar continues just to be a dick. I was hoping to get a bit of an origin from the R/B movie with him, but he's still very mysterious as an antagonist. Also those HD clips from the Mill Creek releases look great. I always love Ultraman's laugh from his first appearance. Steel Case releases are just that, they come in a steel case for collection purposes instead of the usual plastic case. Sometimes they come with an extra booklet or something but I don't know if that's what Mill Creek is planning for theirs. I rarely get steelcase releases but I'm going in on these for sure. Edit: Shin Godzilla is the first 4K UHD disk I bought haha. It's fucking brilliant, but completely polarizing to Godzilla fans outside of Japan it seems. I really love watching G films, but to me Shin is one of only 3 G films that I consider actual Good Cinema™ (Original Godzilla and G vs. Hedorah are the others) but that's honestly because those three are the only G films I consider fucking horrific.
Because sharing is caring... Never knew they knew each other. Makes sense, working so close to one another and all.
I love the effects and creature designs in Shin Godzilla. I however have NO idea what’s going on when the monster is no on camera. I’m a American redneck. I don’t understand the subtleties of Japanese politics and culture.
Pre-ordered both today, should be arriving Tuesday. I was buying Ultra-Q episodes individually on Amazon until now and only got midway through, so this will be my first time watching the series end to send.
Now that people have started getting these in, can I ask what the general take on them has been? Are they a step above the BCI Eclipse versions? [or, dare I even suggest, just an up-scaled version of the previous Mill Creek ones] I am still acting under the assumption that these are quality repressings of the Japanese HD versions, with added English subs, but I have nothing yet to base it on. I would like to place an order for the two sets released so far, but since I already have DVD versions I can't watch, I don't really want to invest in further hard copies just to sit on a shelf [owing to region restrictions ] if they are not offering a significant improvement.
^ What he said! ALSO... At the time of my typing this, both Target and Amazon (perhaps others) have a buy-2-get-1-free promotion on certain books and movies that the new Ultra Q and Ultraman blu-rays fall under, so it's a great opportunity to pick up the sets on the cheap (less than $15 each before tax!) by finding something similarly priced to add to the stack or doubling up on one of the sets to give as a gift.
After finishing Ultra Q and rewatching a few episodes I decided to start Ultraman '66. Beautiful show so far, enjoying the change of pace. It got me thinking about this weird soundbite that's been stuck in my head as long as I can remember. From age 2-11 I was around a lot of Japanese and Korean kids, and I remember an English Ultraman theme song from that time. Just the general tune and chorus really, where they would sing "Ultraman" in a drawn-out phrase. God knows why I didn't check earlier, but I started digging on YouTube a bit and found it was actually the Ultraman Tiga US theme song. Hearing it gave me teary eyes, because of the reminder of my childhood in a different country, and of the first friends that I remember. I still can't believe it stuck around in my head.
Well of course not exclusively Ultraman, I am pleased to see that the official Tsuburarya Enterprises group is teaming up with Kaiyodo to present a special 'Tsuburaya Wonder Festival' this December, as part of the Tsuburaya Convention 2019.
View this post on Instagram Why do the prettiest ones always seem to go for the assholes? Thanks to IGer @_monster_0_ for bringing the snap to my eyes.
This one is for you, David. Hope it spurns some imaginative visions of some cross-universe Ultra potential. View this post on Instagram Please scroll on through Mr. Mignola's Instagram for some in-progress shots of this great piece.
I recently came across these incredible 'Kaiju Boarder' items on someone's post, and want to share them here. Partially because I am a Jamila nut, but also just because they are damn cool. I have already made a shopping list for these for when I have a bit more liquidity in funds. I am not sure if they are available elsewhere, but currently including some links from the official Ultraman shop. Jamila tee https://www.m78-online.net/products/detail.php?product_id=8383 Striped surfers https://www.m78-online.net/products/detail.php?product_id=8598 Music character tee https://www.m78-online.net/products/detail.php?product_id=7027 Tote bag https://www.m78-online.net/products/detail.php?product_id=8646 A pair of sweet kicks https://www.m78-online.net/products/detail.php?product_id=7051
Okay, because I am otherwise in a Covid kind of mood today, here are some random recent Instagram discoveries to hopefully cheer up someone else today. The first comes from user akira_cci: View this post on Instagram View this post on Instagram View this post on Instagram Click through for more noodle delights. Oh, and in case you need it, Spoiler: Source View this post on Instagram
And this next series comes from the feed of user mainagamoto. While I am only including the Ultraman-themed ones here (for relevance), I sincerely urge you to check out her feed for still more amazing watersatsu [yes, I made that up, what of it?!] delights. View this post on Instagram View this post on Instagram View this post on Instagram View this post on Instagram If just one other person gets a smile and enjoys these as much as I do, then it has been time well spent.
I knew this would happen but I thought it would be the next series or two. Just started to dig into the Ultraman Ace blu-Ray set and I have to admit... so far it’s terrible. I can’t get past the cheesy cast and TAC dynamic. I absolutely adore Q through Return Of Ultraman. I’ve always loved the design of Ace and the Kaiju designs are so cool in some cases. I had heard that it was geared towards kids more than the previous series but wow, that’s an unlikable cast. What makes it so indigestible is probably how successful the last series was in creating a charismatic cast dynamic that improved upon each series. Do I need to keep watching? Does it get better? Skip around based on recommendations? Or just chalk it up to being an old dude that just like the original four? Ace certainly won’t jeopardize my love for them. Maybe I’ll pick back up at 80. The episodes I saw of that had some charm.
Brought to my attention by a friend: What I would not give for some surviving scraps of where all these stencils were applied in their day.
Whatever you do don’t skip Leo. One of the craziest entries in the series. If liking the main cast is a factor I understand your qualms about the Ace team being a pack of c u next Tuesdays but I think the dynamic between them does improve. The very unfortunate thing is that the two main characters (names escape me at the moment, I just woke up) appear to be moving towards some kind of romantic subplot but the girl is axed as misogynistic fans at the time couldn’t deal with a female ultra and Tsubaraya caved into their demands to remove her. Weak! There are good episodes sprinkled in Ace though (Vakishim, the one where all the female cyclists are a kaiju).