Monster Zero x SciFi Japan - Archive Only

I really liked this one also. Very Ultra-Q esque. I love that they brought back the bizarre Twilight Zone-esque leanings of Q for this series and combined it with the superhero stuff from Ultraman.

Watching this for the first time.

Dan is more compelling then Hayata, but the team itself isn't as immediately likeable as the Science Patrol (so far) - probably because everyone was kinda cartoony and over-the-top in the previous series (hence they provoke an immediate reaction) and this show is more played straight, so more subdued acting from the cast.

Loved Ultraman because of how fun it was, so a more serious version doesn't immediately win points with me - but I'm just two episodes in and already warming up to the weirder (in the true sense of the word) tone. Seven certainly looks really cool. Are all the monster fights in this series short?

I find your assesment of both series to be very similiar to my own.

One area where Ultraman excels though is in the kaiju dept. The most iconic kaiju in Ultraman's history seem to mostly stem from that original 66 series. Sure, you have plenty of monsters like Gomess, Eleking, Takkong and Vakashim from other series that are very popular, but when you look back at the kaiju cast of the original series they're almost all fan favorites. Honestly, I find myself revisiting certain Ultraman episodes over and over again through the years and it has nothing to do with the plot or characters and has everything to do with the monsters. I don't know the names of any of the episodes but sometimes I'll think, "Hey, I really want to watch that episode with Jirass...or Red King 2."