Ultraman Blazar

[Dai]

I fell behind on this show for a while, but I'm almost caught up. Wow, I'm enjoying this a lot more than the last couple of seasons. I kind of tuned out of those due to some characters feeling like they stepped out of an educational show for pre-schoolers (that "Smile, smile" guy...). Blazar is looking to be my favourite Ultra show since Z a few years back. The characters are an interesting bunch, episode stories are varied, the action and effects are good, and it's massively toned down the emphasis on lengthy transformations that had been getting out of hand.

The variety of the fight scenes has been a real highlight so far. Rather than waiting for the same signature move each time, Blazar is a total wildcard who pulls a different crazy stunt each episode. The guy must practice Ultra Yoga to be this flexible. The kaiju fishing scene was something I won't forget any time soon. Moments like that and Blazar snapping the energy javelin over his knee, combined with his scrappy fighting style, make him seem like more of an improviser than we usually see.

I was also surprised by the restraint shown in the recent two-parter. Usually when Ultraman has his spacium-infused butt handed to him it will either mean a new transformation or another Ultra popping up with the classic, "Oh hi, I just stopping by from another dimension" routine. In this case the extra runtime was given to the conflict of the SKaRD members going up against a man they respected...and then Blazar does some rainbow origami to make a giant saw blade, so maybe it wasn't that restrained.

I hope Mill Creek will start releasing the more recent shows, as I would definitely buy this one.

[Kailem]

Yeah this is definitely something I'd keep an eye out for if Mill Creek were ever to put out a Blu-ray set of at some point in the future. It's crazy how expensive the two Japanese volumes are going to be. I know Blu-rays are much more of a "collectible" kinda thing there than they are in the west, but still.

This latest episode was another fun one, especially since it had the return of my favourite Ultra Q monster, Garamon! It definitely felt like more of a "palette cleanser" after the slightly more heavy two-parter we just got, but it was awesome to see *actual* Garamon again rather than the tiny Pigmon that his suit was used for in the original Ultraman. In fact I read someone say that this is the first time Garamon has *ever* fought Ultraman, period?! That seems crazy to me given that he's one of the oldest legacy characters in the Ultra canon.

It was also great that the Ultra Q theme was the music the Cicadamen used to control him. Such a great touch that definitely had me smiling. And Garamon itself was just as silly as ever, while also being quite a challenge for Blazar too! It was so great seeing him back in action.

Also a bit more development on the Gento/Blazar front with Blazar seemingly taking control of him briefly, and then their first real "talk" of the show so far. It'll be interesting to see how their relationship develops moving forward if Blazar's not quite so "chill" as other Ultras have been in that he doesn't mind forcing his host to do stuff when he wants to (like the initial transformation in the first episode, too).

[Kailem]

Some interesting developments in the last episode. Blazar is definitely starting to take more control while Gento is in his human form, but is the reverse also true? At first I figured it was Gento stopping Blazar from killing the monsters (which did seem a little odd given that it felt like Blazar was kind of insisting on transforming when he saw the baby in danger), but other people are thinking it was actually Blazar stopping Gento. It seems odd that Gento would be the one with the most control when Blazar is up and about, but it feels odd that Blazar would be wanting to shank the monsters there as well, so I'm not sure. Either way, conflict!

I'm also glad we had another instance of Blazar *not* killing the monster(s) in this episode. Making my way through the classic Showa Ultra shows there have been plenty of instances where I've been like "did you *have* to kill it?!" So having this be the second time we've seen Blazar spare one (or two) was cool.

And more crazy Ultra powers! At this point it's almost going to be disappointing when we eventually get to an episode where he *doesn't* do something new!

[Dai]

Surprising to see Garamon back in destructive mode after several decades as Pigmon. I bet that was a shock for anyone with a Pigmon plushie!

Some interesting discussion in the Youtube comments for episode 10. I assumed Blazar was normally the one in control and Gento held him back in this episode, but the argument for the opposite being the case seems quite compelling, especially onsidering things like the kaiju-fishing scene and us later finding out that Gento used to go fishing with his mentor. Perhaps the flame on Blazar's head is an indicator that his power is so great, it's bursting out and difficult for his human host to control.

[Kailem]

Yeah I naturally assumed it was Blazar in control and Gento was trying to stop him, but even that didn't quite seem to make sense given what we'd seen earlier of Blazar looking as though he wanted to transform because he saw the baby monster in danger. It's good that they're keeping it quite ambiguous as to who's trying to perform which actions, as it kinda keeps us as close to being as confused as the characters themselves as we can be.

As for the latest episode: it was great! Really, really good stuff. Pretty much wall-to-wall action, a great, fun monster and more dramatic "disagreement"-type shenanigans between Gento and Blazar! They certainly seem to be at the point where they're going to have to start getting back on the same page again soon, because Gebalga wasn't messing around!

Speaking of, he realy felt old school in a good way, and the suit actor did a great job with his movements, from that weird shaking he did to being able to do an actual in-camera forward roll in that suit! That can't have been easy. AND he had a bunch of abilities and shrugged off the Spiral Blade!

I didn't expect we'd be getting another two-parter so soon after the last one, but I'm glad we did because this episode was great!

[Kailem]

Even though I've not been posting my thought on every single episode anymore, I've still been keeping up with the show (looking forward to tonight's ep!), and I continue to think it's really good. Some of the more recent episodes have been fantastic, and now comes word of an Ultraman Blazar movie, "Tokyo Kaiju Showdown" to be released in Japan on February 23rd!

Here's a look at the poster and a couple of promo pics, though some people might want to avoid them if they don't want to be spoiled as to the look of at least some of the monsters being featured:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F_tP2tpW0AAWitg?format=jpg&name=large
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F_tP2tnXcAEP76W?format=jpg&name=large
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F_tP2tlXsAAn7_4?format=jpg&name=large

I'm assuming this might eventually end up being posted on Tsuburaya's official Youtube channel as well? I don't know how they handle these 'series movies' in terms of whether or not any of the previous ones are available on there, but if not here's hoping Mill Creek ends up putting out a Blu-ray/DVD set of Blazar plus this movie at some point next year as well.

EDIT: And they just released a teaser too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7Lb36R57-0

[lhb412]

I'm avoiding all discussions of the show because I love it but am so far behind!

Love news of the movie. I usually find the tie-in movies unessential, but it seems Taguchi and co. have put more thought into this one.

[Kailem]

So, other than the release of the movie that we'll hopefully get to see in the West at some point, that's the end of Ultraman Blazar (or at least it was a week ago)! I'm not gonna lie, even though with all the promos for the movie that have been running during the ad breaks of the last several episodes and *knowing* everyone was going to make it out of this ok, there were still a couple of moments in these final two eps that got me a little teary eyed. Granted it doesn't take much, but still.

Overall I thought this was a great show! A fantastic mix of brand new monsters (which I'm led to believe isn't always the case in modern Ultraman shows?) and returning classics (was this really the first time Garamon has fought Ultraman?! That seems crazy to me!), a likeable cast, a fantastic new Ultraman in Blazar himself, a cool overarching story/mystery, some great action and downright zany, I would say Showa-esque powers and antics but since Showa Ultraman is 90% of my experience with the franchise that might just be the norm for *every* era!

Either way, Ultraman Blazar was good stuff, and it's definitely made me want to stick around for more new Ultraman thanks to Tsuburaya being pretty damn awesome and airing them on their Youtube channel day and date with their Japanese showings for free. If we get an announcement at some point in the near future about Mill Creek releasing this on DVD/Blu-ray, possibly with the movie included as they've done with other Ultra shows, I could definitely see myself picking it up.

So, "Ultraman Arc" is the name of the next show. Is there a typical sort of timeframe when Tsuburaya likes to announce details of their new Ultra shows, or can it just kinda be "whenever"?