Monster Zero x SciFi Japan - Archive Only

At the rate they're going, I wouldn't be surprised to see Ace in April. It's one of my favorites so I'm very excited for it.

Ace is probably the release I am looking forward to the most.

I'm most excited about Return and Orb Origin, which is great since we're getting both on the same day!

But after that, definitely Ace. I watched the entire series raw back in the day and even then I LOVED it for how incredibly bizarre it would be while still always playing everything with a straight face. Taro got a lot more winking, knowingly silly but with Ace the best part was the total conviction the characters kept despite everything getting so absurd around them. Really excited to see it in HD with subtitles!

Max is best Heisei Ultraman.

Most anticipated never seen:

Jack, Ace, Dyna, Heisei Ultraseven

Most anticipated previously viewed:

Gaia, Nexus, Max, X

I am SO STOKED about being able to own X, Nexus, Max, and Mebius as physical media. I'm curious about how they intend to release the shows that are SD video native, like Cosmos through Mebius. Will Tsuburaya be doing HD upscales of those or will we maybe get something like the Juspion release with all the episodes on a single disc? (I would be fine with the latter.)

^ Aren't Tsuburaya's Tiga/Dyna/Gaia Blu-Rays upscales?

Pretty sure they are but I know they were shot on film so I don't know if that affects anything.

^ I don't think they did the TNG thing and re-edited the original film elements!

Definitely not. Just that while it mostly looks like a really good upscale, a few shots here and there look REALLY nice for whatever reason.

I really appreciate how they seem to be altering their released between classic and newer series. Beyond what's been announced though it seems pretty consistent we will get one classic series every month or every other month assuring by the end of 2020 we should have everything through 80 ( hopefully including the animated series Jonias)

But as for newer stuff, predicting that is a bit harder. I have the Tiga DVDs and films from Funimation, but can't wait to see Dyna and Gaia all the way through.

I also have Mebius, but as it is my favorite modern series, o can't wait to own it on HD and with quality subs.

I doubt we'll see 80 for a bit until after it has come out in Japan on BD.

^ Max is worth it for the Miike and Jissoji episodes alone.

... not that Max isn't great overall!

Kaneko, Miike, Jissoji, Yagi. It's such a powerhouse series! The guy who directed the original Baltan episode returns to direct the Baltan two-parter! Ugh, it's just SO GOOD.

Just watched the Orb movie since I finished the series earlier. It was good. A little cliche, but still good. Way better than any Sentai movie done in the last 8 years. I loved it when Seven appeared though and everyone started doing the lyrics to the theme song.

A little mad that the movie wasn't in 5.1 though. I mean this is 2019, why the hell are these things not using audio to their fullest capcity?

I’m really appreciating what Mill Creek is doing with these releases. I remember first getting into Ultraman with the original series in 2009, right in the middle of the Great Godzilla Drought when I needed some kaiju fix. I loved the series and went through a Wikipedia rabbit hole of information for all the subsequent shows, but my excitement eventually faded as the shows didn’t have much availability in the U.S. Ever since then, I’ve treasured what we actually have gotten: Ultraseven, Ultra Q, Ultraman Tiga (I even paid the high resale price for Volume 3, around $100 for a used library copy). Now it feels like a continuous Christmas with Mill Creek putting these out, ironically when I’m not a kid anymore and I don’t have as much time, but still it’s better late than never, and I’ll always preorder every release day one.

I know that not every show is going to be “great,” but at this point I don’t care. This franchise has so much variety, and kaiju stuff takes me back to a place of purity and innocence, that I know I’ll appreciate even the “bad” ones. I just finished disc 2 of Ultraman Orb and had a fantastic time.

It drives me nuts knowing that Tiga Volume 3 goes for such a high price online. I sold all four volumes to a second hand store and got $3 for them. In total, not a piece. They were worth 75 cents each.

Thankfully that mistake will be moot in time thanks to Mill Creek. Not to mention it will hopefully have better subs.