If you’re going to give any of these shows a miss, I’d recommend skipping Ultraman X. I can’t believe I’ve watched all of these, either.)
FILM ULTRAMAN GINGA SERIES
And believe it or not, it’s the first of these modern Ultraman series that I couldn’t watch all the way through. In a franchise not known for its restraint, it takes things way over the top. The story takes aspects of the previous two series (such as spark dolls) but introduces a government entity called UNVER that has cars, planes, and all sorts of phony-looking CG vehicles. If Ultraman Ginga S dipped its toes in the SFX waters (with CG characters and elaborate vehicles and weapons), then Ultraman X doubles down. He has no arc and stays two dimensional the entire time. The character of Sho, particularly, is a decidedly unlikeable protagonist… all the way to the end. Ginga S relies more on special effects, and the cast will make you miss the kids from the first series (who do make cameo appearances). Of the two, Ginga is the much better story and has a much more interesting cast.
FILM ULTRAMAN GINGA ANDROID
Together, they battle kaiju, convince an evil android to become good, and save the world. Hikaru joins forces with Sho, one of the underground Victorians, who has the power to turn into Ultraman Victory. The awesome little spark dolls still play a role, but this one is more concerned with an entire race of underground people tasked with protecting “Victorium.”
Ultraman Ginga S takes place two years later and follows Hikaru on his adventures as he joins the UPG (Ultra Party Guardians), a type of government strike force. Ultraman Taro is also in this one, but he spends the entire series as a talking action figure. Though he has the power to turn into Ultraman Ginga, he spends much of his time turning into monsters instead. The twist here is that all of the Ultramen and kaiju have been turned into “spark dolls” – awesome little action figures – and the Ginga Spark allows Hikaru to transform into those creatures if he has the dolls. When he returns to his hometown and old elementary school, he meets up with a few friends and discovers the Ginga Spark, which allows him to harness the power of Ultraman. Ultraman Ginga centers on Hikaru, who dreams of being world adventurer. It’s also far more enjoyable than X, but we’ll get to that in a second.
Ginga and Ginga S are a more-or-less complete story ( Ginga S is a direct sequel to Ginga), and each series is only half the length of a normal modern Ultraman – Ginga is 12 episodes, Ginga S is 16 episodes. Ginga, Ginga S, and X were the 25th through the 27th entries in the series, respectively, so they form a cohesive block. This time, we’re taking a closer look at the Ultraman Ginga and Ultraman X sets. It’s a confusing and convoluted release schedule, but like I said, it doesn’t really matter. The most recent release jumped ahead again with 2018’s Ultraman R/B. Then we reversed course with 2015’s Ultraman X, 2013’s Ultraman Ginga, and 2014’s Ultraman Ginga S (in that order). The first of the modern shows to be released were 2016’s Ultraman Orb and 2017’s Ultraman Geed. Once you understand that, so many questions and loopholes you’ll have will just… disappear. Seriously, each incarnation of Ultraman exists on a different Earth or in a different dimension. It doesn’t really matter since the stories don’t truly connect, but it’s still an odd decision and makes for a slightly awkward viewing experience if you watch them in release order.īut once I accepted the fact that there’s no such thing as an Ultraman “canon” – that each series exists independently of the rest – I was able to relax my OCD and enjoy each show on its own merits. In addition to releasing the original, classic series from the beginning, Mill Creek has also been interspersing the classics with some of the newer series… which – for some reason – have been getting released out of order. If you’re an Ultraman fan, you know the deal by now: Mill Creek Entertainment has the North American physical and digital distribution rights for pretty much the entire Ultraman franchise (more than 1,100 episodes and 20 films spanning 50 years) and has been steadily releasing the entire library on Blu-ray.Ĭheck out our reviews of all previous releases here.