Ultraman X

[Dai]

Another fun episode this week, and another excellent effects showcase. The compositing deserves a special mention this time for seamlessly combining all the live-action, miniatures, CG and matte elements. There's a shot around the 10 minute mark that especially stands out in this regard, with a shaky handheld pan from live actors to a matte painting of Birdon's nest, which then pans back the other way to reveal Birdon behind a hill, all matched up perfectly.

[klen7]

Just caught the first episode (now free streaming on Crunchyroll) and I was pretty impressed. The spark dolls feel a little awkward, but I missed out on Ginga.

[kiryugoji04]

Loved episode two. Felt like more could have been done with Birdon's egg but I still think this is my favorite Birdon appearance since Ultraman Taro. Gorgeous effects work on display once again.

Trailer for episode 3:



I'm not the biggest Telesdon fan but this looks like it's gonna be a really cool episode all the same.

[lhb412]

Saw episode 1. I'm still getting used to the spark dolls, but overall I loved this!

So much fantastic model work!

The relationship between Ultraman X and Daichi is fun!

The impressive kaiju city rampage rendered with traditional FX warmed my heart!

[kiryugoji04]

IS TAGUCHI GOING TO GET HIS FIRST FEATURE?! D8

[kiryugoji04]

Cyber Gomora! Also, I think MechaGomora might wind up in the show at some point based on toy listings I saw. Woooooo.

[Inui Takumi]

Ultraman X feels like such a wonderful return to form after the past several years of poor to mediocre films/TV series. Kiyotaka Taguchi really was made for this role as Director. He has an eye for detail and scale that is sadly rare to see nowadays. And being able to think outside the box to find new ways to showcase the experience of these giant battles (i.e. Ultra-vision) makes every episode so fun to watch.

And after seeing that off-putting Ultraman N/A concept video, seeing practical effects done right is such a breath of fresh air. And as much as I like Koichi Sakamoto's work, skimming through the Ultraman Ginga S movie reminded me that he should stick to what he knows best, which is human scale action scenes. So hearing that there will be an Ultraman X movie, which will most likely be directed by Taguchi, gives me something great to look forward to.

[kiryugoji04]

Episode 4: "All for one" (Ultraman Retsuden Episode 109)
Air Date - August 4
Screenplay - Hisako Kurosawa
Director - Koichi Sakamoto

Episode 5: "Aegis: Time to Shine" (Ultraman Retsuden Episode 110)
Air Date - August 11
Screenplay - Takao Nakano
Director - Koichi Sakamoto

Episode 6: "Man with the Memories of Stars" (Ultraman Retsuden Episode 111)
Air Date - August 18
Screenplay - Hirotoshi Kobayashi
Director - Takanori Fujimoto

Episode 7: "Oath that surpassed the stars" (Ultraman Retsuden Episode 112)
Air Date - August 25
Screenplay - Hirotoshi Kobayashi
Director - Takanori Fujimoto

[Baltan II]

Don't hate it, but I totally would've been ok with the Ultimate Aegis not making a return.

[kiryugoji04]

[Inui Takumi]

Judging from the short preview, the Sakamoto directed episode doesn't look bad. I wonder how different it will be from his run on Ginga S since he isn't the showrunner for X. If we get some stellar Taguchi miniature work with dynamic and intricate hand to hand fight choreography for the Xio members from Sakamato, these two episodes could be amazing. But, that's some high hopes to set after seeing bits from the Ginga S movie. :/

[kiryugoji04]

A ton of new scans for the upcoming episodes. Zero appears! Bemstar Armor! Drill Custom Black King from ANDRO MELOS WHAT WHAT. Two new kaiju appearing in the same episode and OH MAN DO THEY LOOK COOL.

[RobD]

This series has been a pleasant surprise.

I'm not a fan of all the armor(Ultraman is supposed
to be strong enough on his own) but like the model work and reliance on more practical effects instead of cgi.

So far, so good!

[monster of dark]

Cyber Eleking's armour design is currently my favourite, the head is a nice touch and possible hint (just a thought) of another attack maybe? Like the famous crescent shaped electric wave attack. XD

IMO, the main reason X seemed to be relying on the cyber armour to win might be that he is currently still too weak after being pretty much dematerialized and existing as a disembodied entity for the last 15 years - he can't materialized without a host, currently hiding inside the divicer and showing 'fear' that the device might be damaged when Taichi accidentally dropped it. Or something like that... XD

[MekaGojira3k]

Really enjoyed the first episode. Can't wait to see more. Has a kind of digimon feel to it....to me anyhow.

[klen7]

[XvGojira]

Watched the 3rd episode. Wish that the combined vehicles weren't always CG. And maybe I'm reading too much of the Guild Marm from Monster Hunter 4 into this, but did the techy girl want to go out on a date with Daichi or Eleking-chan? And while not as bad, the whole shoes and spa thing reminded me of the episode about the pearl eating monster from the original Ultraman (which I've been watching too. Thanks Hulu!)

[kiryugoji04]

So after watching Ultraman X episode 3 a third time, I'm not irritated by it as much as I was during my first viewing. Obviously, Taguchi's direction of the effects scenes are absolutely top-notch but I'm still a little frustrated by the way this episode treats Asuna. Hopefully it's building to something that makes up for it though since we're only on episode three.

For the record, I like Asuna enjoying girly things despite having originally been introduced as a total badass in episode one (that's essentially the M.O. of the girl I'm currently dating). What I don't appreciate is how she's completely shafted in the episode's final battle. Instead of giving her a chance to atone for her mistakes earlier in the episode and be a badass again, she's just knocked unconscious so the boys can take care of business. The little birthday coda at the end is pretty sweet though. Maybe this will just be a bad day for Asuna and we'll see her bounce back. What worries me is that Ultraman series tend to be very episodic so there's less guarantee that hanging plot threads will be revisited in the future and could instead just simply be bad writing.

[Inui Takumi]

Hopefully she'll be back to form in the next episode, since it's directed by Sakamato. The bad side of that situation is that we'll probably get a ton of low-angle shots for her kicks like he tends to do, even if she's wearing a full-body uniform.

I'm still very interested to see what he does with his Ultraman X episodes.

[kiryugoji04]

As long as the effects shots are handled better than they were in the Ginga S movie. Fifty story tall trees are unforgivable.

[Specium Ray]

The second she opened the box to reveal those shoes, I knew there was a broken heel in her future.

[kiryugoji04]

Ultraman X episode 4 was the best thing Koichi Sakamoto has done for the Ultra series since Ultra Galaxy Legends. Bemstar's attack was really well done and I'm almost willing to forgive him for how awful the Ginga S movie looks.

Episode 5 trailer:

[lhb412]

Watched episodes 2 and 3. Preferred the third episode, as it's inspired by one of my favorite Ultraman '66 episodes and I like when team members go out and investigate stuff instead of always scrambling around in their vehicles while monsters stomp about.

...also rewatched all the kaiju stuff from episode 1. It's so great!

Is the 'G' classification for kaiju a cute way to say they're vaguely 'Godzilla-like?'

I wonder if they'll point put why all the vehicles have Dumas themed names.

[kiryugoji04]

[Inui Takumi]

Man, it was such a relief to see that episode 4 didn't suck. I was worried that the action would fall apart because of his scaling issue. But the Ultra action was friggin great. The fights had a lot of energy and he used the right angles to establish the scale.

Oddly enough, the action scenes involving the Xio members on the ground were the parts that fell short for me, which were the scenes I was banking on Sakamoto succeeding in. The choreography was fine, but whoever was operating the camera drank one cup of coffee too many or had too many Red Bulls because holy crap, the camera never stopped shaking. Sakamoto has always used handy cam for his fight scenes and most of they time they were great, like in the Kamen Rider W: A to Z movie. In the training sequence in episode 4, its really hard to focus on the fight because the camera is jittering everywhere. This also happens in the Kamen Rider W Returns: Accel movie. I absolutely love that movie (it's probably in my top 3 Kamen Rider movies list) but there are a few scenes where the camera movement gave me a headache.

As for the rest of the episode, I'm really glad we got to focus more on the Xio team dynamic. So far, they've just been a reactive team, but this time we got to see a bit of what drove the members to complete their mission and how they worked passed their difference. Also, seeing X apologize and take responsibility for the disappearance of Daichi's parents was something I was not expecting to see so early on in the show. But it definitely strengthened the bond between them and helps the viewer become more invested in their journey.