Ultraman Orb - new series to start in July?

[Dr Kain]

We just finished watching Orb. Overall, it was a great series. The last 9 episodes were highly enjoyable, especially the Black Star Coffee one. That was just great. I couldn't help but laugh my ass off when the alien dude says, "Monsters today are way too busy looking."

I'm not sure I buy the whole thing about Natasha being Naomi's great great grandma though as Naomi looked way too Japanese to be part European. Hell, her mother didn't even look remotely European either.

My favorite monster though was probably the samurai ghost thing.

The ending was great and I'm really surprised at how story driven this show was. Then again, I'm also amazed that it was only 25 episodes when these shows are normally 40-50-ish, so that also must have helped with how much story there was as had it been the normaly 50 episodes half of the show probably would have been just random battles.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I really loved the fight against Metron. I was waiting for him to say something like, "This feels nostalgic."

In the end, it was a solid series all of the way through and I will be buying it on BD if Crunchyroll ever releases it.

[klen7]

^ Yeh, I really liked Orb. It might be my favorite Heisei+ series. There were some really spectacular effects shots in the last couple episodes as well. Loved the parallel "fight sequences" in the same shot.

[lhb412]

Gai! Put that back. It's not yours!

[lhb412]

https://twitter.com/TheTokuNet/status/8 ... 7420243968

Hideo Kojima has a cameo in the Ultraman Orb movie.

[Dr Kain]

[lhb412]

Stalled on Ultraman Orb at like episode 9 or so, and hadn't watched any Ultraman on Crunchy for a few months... sooooooo I got a Crunchyroll subscription to encourage more viewing and it feels so great to watch Ultraman on my big TV with no ads and in HD. Awesome! Just finished the first part of the Maga Orochi two-parter and I loved Naomi's Mom interrupting/deflating all the important exposition between Gai and Juggler and then BAM! with the excellent new kaiju knocking the snot out of Orb. Maga Orochi is like one of those over-designed, clunky, action-figurey kaiju from the '90s, but the suit is actually mobile and they can do stuff with it.

[lhb412]

I honestly kinda freaked out when Orb broke out that x-ray vision the original Ultraman used in like one episode of the original series. That was a deep cut.

Also: with the current Ultraman shows and Shin Godzilla we've entered into some sort of vintage sound effects period of kaiju filmmaking.

Have I mentioned how breathtakingly cool the animation is for the rays and energy bolts and such? Now that I'm not saddled with the buggy free Crunchy player I've just been rewinding to catch some of the more ostentation animations.

[lhb412]

It's a disappointment that Naomi, whose actress I think it quite good, is saddled with such stereotypical female stuff. Feels like a major step backwards after the three kickass female main characters in Ultraman X. Even though the storyline was stereotypical, I liked the change of pace with the ghost samurai episode because it was nice to actually focus on the personal issues of a main character again (which, again, was something done to great effect in most of the episodes of Ultraman X) ... and the design of the samurai was really cool.

The problem with Ultraman Orb is that I think all of the ingredients are there, but it just doesn't hit those highs that were so consistently hit in the previous series.

Maybe the problem is that Naomi's Mom isn't a main character...

[kiryugoji04]

Well that's depressing to hear. My girlfriend and I stopped watching Orb after episode 2 because of the super misogynistic way Naomi was handled throughout the episode - shuffling her out of the picture so the boys can do the real work, the really rapey scene with Jugglar, her getting handed the idiot ball to justify Orb having to save her, multiple upskirt shots - but I've wanted to see if it improved at all going forward. X had episode 3 that treated Asuna really awfully too and that generally improved. I'd still like to see the monsters and miniatures stuff but it's very disheartening to hear that the show continues with that theme.

[lhb412]

^It's not as bad as her earlier sub-Lois Lane schtick where she gets captured or assaulted every five minutes, but it doesn't improve enough. I do want to give credit that she is the second lead behind Gai, and probably has about as much screentime (heck, probably more if you think about the fact that for half of the episodes Gai is Orb).

So far my judgement for Orb is good not great. Charismatic cast, wonderful old-school tokusatsu battles, but just doesn't come tother to the point where it crosses the threshold into total awesomeness.

[Dai]

[lhb412]

Just watched The Unmarked Café, and it's by far the best episode of Orb I've seen yet. It's moody and stylish like a lot of my favorite Ultraman episodes.

[lhb412]

Well, finished Orb. Not a bad show, but coulda used more focus in a bunch of respects.

I'm already leisurely making my way through Leo, but for my next modern Ultra series: Mebius or Ginga?

(I hope like hell that Tiga and Dyna are gonna show up on Crunchy soon)

[sentaison]

I'd go with Mebius, especially for the nostalgia factor of the original universe. I'm working through it now. Ginga isn't totally worthless, but it's definitely a low point in the Ultra series.

[Specium Ray]

I have some nostalgia for Ginga, but Mebius is really terrific.

[Specium Ray]

From Fields's end of fiscal year report: http://www.fields.biz/ir/j/files/press/ ... 0510be.pdf

Notice how most of that growth is in the overseas market. This is very encouraging news.
Also, make up your minds! Is it Xead or Geed!?

[klen7]

Very interesting. Looks like they lost ground in the Japanese market between 2015 and 2016, but made up for with the foreign market. Then both picked up in 2017

[sentaison]

[Specium Ray]

Oh, I remember that one! Thanks for that.

[lhb412]

HAHAHAHA!

[sentaison]

[lhb412]

So the finale of the Orb movie is just everyone getting wailed on and then Dan Moroboshi shows up out of nowhere to bail them out?

... because that's a great idea for how to end a movie.

[lhb412]

So, you know how they chopped up all the Ultraman Zero movies and specials into a compilation TV series to fill the schedule gap between Ultraman Orb and Ultraman Geed?

Well, they're apparently doing the same thing for Orb, with Ultraman Orb: The Chronicle starting in January.

http://tokusatsunetwork.com/2017/11/tsu ... chronicle/

Sooo, I'm guessing footage from the prequel show for Amazon, the Ultra Fight Specials, the movie, and the TV series proper will be folded into this. That seem about right?

[Kaiju_Ultra_Fan]

so is this to fill the gap between Geed and the next new series?

[Specium Ray]