Dai
Death Scythe
In typical Crunchyroll fashion, they've only given little over a week's notice that the remaining Ultraman shows are being removed. They're all going on 31st March.
I suspected that the licenses would be expiring soon, so I was planning to suggest an emergency simulwatch after the Gurren Lagann one finishes, but there's probably no way to do one in 10 days, since the shortest series is 26 episodes. So rather than doing a formal simulwatch, I'll just offer some recommendations of how to sample this expansive franchise for anyone who has yet to dip their toes in. I was in my 30s before I could accept the inherent weirdness of a giant dude in a mask fighting kaiju, but I'm glad I gave it a try, as I've been hooked on it ever since.
The rule of thumb with the Ultra series is that each one starts out with a fresh set of characters, so you can jump in anywhere without having to watch them in a particular order. Often each show takes place in its own dimension, with only occasional cross-overs with Ultramen from other series happening as they hop across the multiverse for an episode or two.
Ultraman X (2015)
This show marked the beginning of a significant increase in the quality of effects in the franchise, with larger miniature city sets and more dramatic action direction. It follows the typical setup of having its Ultraman's human counterpart work for an Earth defence force. The biggest strength of X is its individual episodes. They're varied and interesting, and it follows an interesting theme of trying to coexist with kaiju. The only weakness of X is how deeply integrated the toy element was by this point. You need to be able to accept the main character talking to kaiju in their miniature 'spark doll' forms, which are literally action figures. If you can overcome that hurdle, X is one of the best shows in the franchise.
Ultraman Orb (2016)
If spark dolls are too weird for you, try Orb. This time toy elements are limited to the transformation device and a god-awful sword design that shows up in the latter half, so they're not as distracting. The show breaks from tradition by following a group of amateur investigators in a setup closer to the one seen in Ultraman's precursor series Ultra Q. Orb starts out a bit more shaky than X, but has a stronger ongoing story that gets better as it goes along. It also has possibly the best humanoid antagonist in the franchise.
X and Orb are both available on cheap, region-free blu-ray sets from Mill Creek in the US, so I'd recommend streaming a few episodes of each to see if you like them, since they won't break the bank to buy. If you only try binging one Ultra series in the next ten days, make it:
Ultraman Nexus (2004)
This is often referred to as the Evangelion of Ultraman shows. It was Tsuburaya's attempt to reboot the franchise for an adult audience, with a darker tone, and more mature and complex ongoing plotline. The main weakness in Nexus is that it's a significantly lower budget show than the two mentioned above, which can be seen in most of the kaiju battles taking place in the same empty environment, but the story more than makes up for it. If you're up for spending the next ten days on Dante Must Die mode, I highly recommend trying to make it through this 37 episode series. It doesn't have a US release yet, and due to it not having a blu-ray release in Japan yet it's likely to be one of the last Ultraman shows that Mill Creek release, if they do at all.
I suspected that the licenses would be expiring soon, so I was planning to suggest an emergency simulwatch after the Gurren Lagann one finishes, but there's probably no way to do one in 10 days, since the shortest series is 26 episodes. So rather than doing a formal simulwatch, I'll just offer some recommendations of how to sample this expansive franchise for anyone who has yet to dip their toes in. I was in my 30s before I could accept the inherent weirdness of a giant dude in a mask fighting kaiju, but I'm glad I gave it a try, as I've been hooked on it ever since.
The rule of thumb with the Ultra series is that each one starts out with a fresh set of characters, so you can jump in anywhere without having to watch them in a particular order. Often each show takes place in its own dimension, with only occasional cross-overs with Ultramen from other series happening as they hop across the multiverse for an episode or two.
Ultraman X (2015)
This show marked the beginning of a significant increase in the quality of effects in the franchise, with larger miniature city sets and more dramatic action direction. It follows the typical setup of having its Ultraman's human counterpart work for an Earth defence force. The biggest strength of X is its individual episodes. They're varied and interesting, and it follows an interesting theme of trying to coexist with kaiju. The only weakness of X is how deeply integrated the toy element was by this point. You need to be able to accept the main character talking to kaiju in their miniature 'spark doll' forms, which are literally action figures. If you can overcome that hurdle, X is one of the best shows in the franchise.
Ultraman Orb (2016)
If spark dolls are too weird for you, try Orb. This time toy elements are limited to the transformation device and a god-awful sword design that shows up in the latter half, so they're not as distracting. The show breaks from tradition by following a group of amateur investigators in a setup closer to the one seen in Ultraman's precursor series Ultra Q. Orb starts out a bit more shaky than X, but has a stronger ongoing story that gets better as it goes along. It also has possibly the best humanoid antagonist in the franchise.
X and Orb are both available on cheap, region-free blu-ray sets from Mill Creek in the US, so I'd recommend streaming a few episodes of each to see if you like them, since they won't break the bank to buy. If you only try binging one Ultra series in the next ten days, make it:
Ultraman Nexus (2004)
This is often referred to as the Evangelion of Ultraman shows. It was Tsuburaya's attempt to reboot the franchise for an adult audience, with a darker tone, and more mature and complex ongoing plotline. The main weakness in Nexus is that it's a significantly lower budget show than the two mentioned above, which can be seen in most of the kaiju battles taking place in the same empty environment, but the story more than makes up for it. If you're up for spending the next ten days on Dante Must Die mode, I highly recommend trying to make it through this 37 episode series. It doesn't have a US release yet, and due to it not having a blu-ray release in Japan yet it's likely to be one of the last Ultraman shows that Mill Creek release, if they do at all.
