#ultraman suit another universe | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

karinta-agogobell-unified · 11 months

Text

Five underappreciated anime that I would recommend!

1. Canaan (2009)

This is, from what I understand, an adaptation of a side-story chapter for the visual novel series 428: Shibuya Scramble, guest-written by Nasu Kinoko and guest-illustrated by Takeuchi Takashi. That is to say, the Type-Moon guys — the creators of Tsukihime, Kara no Kyoukai, and the now-legendary Fate/Stay Night. However, Canaan doesn’t take place in the Type-Moon shared universe(s), since it’s for another company’s property.

That being said, the anime adaptation is quite comprehensible on its own terms, likely due to the adaptation being written by the prolific and highly skilled screenwriter Okada Mari (Hanasaku Iroha, O Maidens In Your Savage Season, Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans, Maquia). Her writing imbues the narrative with enough emotional intensity to make up for the occasionally-convoluted nature of the plot, and the backstories of the characters are hinted at just enough so that the viewer can understand their relevance, without taking up too much precious screen time. It can be a little hard to follow at points, but I ended up understanding it decently well anyway.

The production values are very high indeed, due to the anime being produced by P.A. Works, and directed by Andoh Masahiro (Sword of the Stranger, Hanasaku Iroha, O Maidens In Your Savage Season). The action animation is consistently stunning, the characters are beautifully expressive, and the overall look of the show is fantastic.

And the voice acting is an absolute treat, with the lead role of Canaan herself taken by Sawashiro Miyuki, the antagonist role of Alphard taken by Sakamoto Maaya, and Nanjou Yoshino in the role of Oosawa Maria, the POV character for a lot of the story. The supporting voice cast is packed with talent too — Hamada Kenji, Tanaka Rie, Nakata Jouji, Tomatsu Haruka, Hirata Hiroaki, Noto Mamiko, and even Ootsuka Akio in a minor role!

The premise is sort of a science fiction type of thing, but set in the (quasi-)contemporary location of 2000s China, where outside of the sci-fi conceit, the setting is largely realistic. The tone and mood is mostly that of an action thriller, with some nail-biting suspense here and there, but there are some beautifully soft and tender moments as well — often involving Canaan and Maria. Yes, folks, this has yuri in it, although it’s (strongly) subtextual.

Anyway, I would recommend this to people who love Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Kara no Kyoukai, Fate/Zero, and probably also Cowboy Bebop.

2. Tetsuwan Birdy OVAs (1996)

This is distinct from the later adaptation of the original Tetsuwan Birdy (Birdy the Mighty) manga, called Tetsuwan Birdy Decode, which came out in the late 2000s — this one came out in 1996 and was produced by Studio Madhouse in their prime.

The main characters are Senkawa Tsutomu (voiced by Iwanaga Tetsuya), a hapless teenager who gets accidentally killed(!) by an alien spaceship on his way to school one day, and Birdy Cephon Altirra (voiced by Mitsuishi Kotono), a human-looking alien and an intergalactic government agent who saves Tsutomu by merging her body with his. Effectively, they become two people in one body, which can shift between the forms of Birdy and Tsutomu��. except Birdy still needs to deal with all the rogue aliens who threaten the safety of the galaxy, while Tsutomu needs to study for his high school entrance exams. From what I’ve been told, the premise is fairly reminiscent of Ultraman and other classic tokusatsu series.

It’s four tight episodes of classic ‘90s OVA goodness, with a fun and slightly silly sci-fi concept that is nonetheless wrung for some surprisingly effective drama at times. The main thrust of it, though, is action comedy — and it definitely delivers on that front. The fight scenes are superbly animated, including some early-career work from now-legendary animator Suzuki Norimitsu, and the character designs by Takahashi Kumiko (Witch Hunter Robin, Snow White with the Red Hair, Cardcaptor Sakura) are amazingly expressive. Birdy’s striking asymmetrical design is a particular favourite of mine. The direction by Kawajiri Yoshiaki (Cyber City Oedo 808, Ninja Scroll, Vampire Hunter D) is solid, and the writing is quite serviceable despite the brevity and premise.

Overall, I wouldn’t say it’s much of an intellectual watch, but if you just want a fun action-comedy ride with an extremely charismatic female protagonist and stunning animation quality, Tetsuwan Birdy is likely to be your jam. I’d recommend it to people who enjoy classic tokusatsu series, the original ‘90s Sailor Moon anime, and the less-depressing parts of Neon Genesis Evangelion.

3. Noir (2001)

This anime series is perhaps not as underappreciated as the others on this list, but I do still feel that not enough people have seen it. It was made by the studio Bee Train, and it’s the first entry in their so-called “Girls with Guns” trilogy (which isn’t actually a coherent trilogy, since they’re three different stories). The series was made right at the end of the cel-anime era, before the transition to digital colouring and compositing, so the masters were shot on film, but it was also made at the beginning of the slow transition to widescreen TV broadcasts, so it’s one of the very rare cel anime that’s in 16:9. This allows for a beautifully detailed look that, IMO, serves to offset the occasionally-limited animation and the frequent re-use of footage.

The premise is basically “secret assassins in France are caught up in weird intrigue and conspiracies”; as such, there’s a lot of very fun gunplay and kickass fight scenes, but also a lot of suspense and mystery. The writing is a little bit slipshod at times, but it ends up holding together, and the characters and (especially) the fantastically moody vibe make the show worth watching.

The characters are imbued with a lot of life and colour, both by their extremely attractive designs and by their voice actors’ wonderful performances. Mireille Bouquet, a young Corsican assassin and one of the two protagonists, is voiced by Mitsuishi Kotono; Yuumura Kirika, the other main protagonist who is a Japanese schoolgirl who has seemingly lost all her memories (but not her exceptional assassin skills), is voiced by Kuwashima Houko; and the mysterious Chloe, who shows up partway through the show, is voiced by Hisakawa Aya. There are definite yuri vibes between Mireille and Kirika, but as with Canaan, it’s all subtextual.

The main draw of the show, though, is its phenomenal soundtrack, courtesy of Kajiura Yuki (.hack//Sign, Kara no Kyoukai, Fate/Zero, Sword Art Online, Demon Slayer) in her very first anime scoring gig. It’s at times propulsive, at times dark and moody, at times beautifully serene, at times melancholy and nostalgic — and it’s utterly memorable.

I would recommend Noir to anyone who likes Canaan, Witch Hunter Robin, Ghost in the Shell, or anyone who just wishes that James Bond were a woman.

4. Flip Flappers (2016)

This anime was produced at Studio 3Hz and directed by Oshiyama Kiyotaka, in a dazzling yet underappreciated directorial debut that was presaged by his impressive animation work on Dennou Coil, Space Dandy, A Letter to Momo, The Secret World of Arietty, and The Wind Rises. Owing to this extremely solid animation background, Oshiyama was able to recruit a lot of prime animation talent for Flip Flappers, and it definitely shows in the stunning sakuga of the wild action sequences that pepper the show’s narrative.

While the fantastic animation is a key draw of this show, the sheer creativity in the worldbuilding, conceptual, and visual design spheres also contribute to its inimitably psychedelic look and feel. The landscapes of the worlds contained in Pure Illusion — the dream-realm that the protagonists enter each episode at the behest of a mysterious scientific organisation — and of the “real” world are whimsical, storybook-like, and slightly “off” in a slightly unsettling but compelling way.

The dreamlike atmosphere pervades the narrative as well — very little about the mechanics of the world is specified out loud, relying heavily on symbolism and visual storytelling to do the heavy lifting for the audience’s understanding. This might be a turn-off for audiences who prefer to have things spelled out for them clearly, but the point of this story is not always to make perfect logical sense, but rather to work on an emotional and metaphorical level. And work, it certainly does.

The episodic structure involving the various worlds of Pure Illusion explores the concept of the Umwelt (the individual sensory “world” of a person or organism), as well as some Jungian concepts and archetypes, in order to express the strange and sometimes-scary developmental stage of adolescence. The characters of Cocona (voiced by Takahashi Minami) and Papika (voiced by Ichimichi Mao) undergo a metaphorical and literal puberty, a coming-of-age similar in some ways to that experienced by the protagonist of FLCL, but with significantly more yuri. In fact, this show has the most outright yuri of any of the anime on this list. But that isn’t very strange for what is essentially a psychedelic magical-girl show: lots of magical-girl anime seem to include homoerotic vibes in some form or another, from Sailor Moon to Nanoha to Madoka.

There are some minor flaws in the storytelling towards the end, IMO, but overall it’s a wonderfully impactful emotional journey to watch Flip Flappers. Plus, the OP and ED are both extraordinarily catchy tunes that I’ve found myself humming on many an occasion.

I’d recommend this anime to anyone who loves weird magical-girl stuff, weird yuri, and/or amazing action animation.

5. Claymore (2007)

An adaptation of the manga by Yagi Norihiro, this anime is considered by many to simply be “basic”, or at least simply “inferior to the manga”. Now. I haven’t read the original Claymore manga (yet! I plan to eventually), but I found this anime to be compelling nonetheless. And if it really is the case that the manga is better, then I definitely look forward to diving in.

Having been produced by Studio Madhouse in the mid-2000s, it’s unsurprising that the vast majority of this anime was outsourced to Korean animation studio DR Movie, a longtime powerhouse subcontractor for both Japanese and American animation alike. That said, the direction of Tanaka Hiroyuki (director of a portion of Hellsing Ultimate and frequent close collaborator of Attack on Titan director Araki Tetsurou) remains sharp, compensating for the sometimes-limited animation with good storyboarding and a strong sense of mood and atmosphere.

Another aspect of Claymore which helps make up for the occasional visual shortcomings is the soundtrack by Takumi Masanori. The compositions are a mix of harder rock and electronic elements with a strong orchestral backbone, as befits a dark-fantasy setting and mood — the faster pieces are edgy and propulsive, very appropriate for the bloody action scenes, and the calmer pieces have a melancholic beauty to them that sticks in one’s memory. I wish the soundtrack were on Spotify, but alas, it is not.

The other sonic element that helps this anime out immensely is its absolutely STACKED voice cast. The main character, Clare, is voiced by Kuwashima Houko, in a fantastic yet understated performance. The other main character, Raki, is voiced by the less-well-known Takagi Motoki, but nearly all the other roles — including many bit parts — are filled with industry legends. Teresa is voiced by Park Romi, Miria is voiced by Inoue Kikuko, Irene is voiced by Takayama Minami, Rubel is voiced by Hirata Hiroaki, Priscilla is voiced by Hisakawa Aya, Ophelia is voiced by Shinohara Emi, and Jean (whom I cannot help but ship with Clare: there’s so much homoerotic tension there!) is voiced by none other than Mitsuishi Kotono. Yes, they got three of the original Sailor Senshi VAs — and I don’t know why that’s funny to me, but it is. And all of the voice actors deliver killer performances.

The premise of the show, before I completely forget to explain it, is that of a dark fantasy world where demons called youma ravage human settlements, with only the titular Claymores to protect humanity. They are a guild of platinum-haired and silver-eyed warrior women who possess superhuman fighting abilities, due to the fact that they’ve been fused with youma essence, and wield the massive broadswords that give them their name. Basically, (s)he who fights monsters must become (partly) a monster to do so.

I’ve heard the vibe of Claymore compared to manga like Berserk, and I don’t know how true that is (not having read the latter for myself), but there’s certainly a lot of bleakness and monstrosity in this fantasy tale. However, the Claymore manga was published in none other than Weekly Shounen Jump, so it’s perhaps unsurprising that the story remains resolutely forward-looking, the protagonists’ arcs focussing on the power of grit, determination, true friendship and loyalty, and protection of the weak and downtrodden. It’s never cynical or sarcastic — always straightforward and sincere despite the frequent darkness of the story.

The writing is consistently solid, even through the controversial anime-original ending (the manga continues long past the point where the anime cut things off), so I’m not sure who to point to for that: Yagi Norihiro for writing the original material, or Kobayashi Yuuko (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Attack on Titan s1-3, Kakegurui, Casshern Sins) for adapting it cleanly for the screen? Either way, it made me want to read the manga to experience more of these compelling characters and their travails.

I would recommend this anime to those who enjoy Kill La Kill or RWBY, or just to those who enjoy powerful women hacking at monsters with massive weapons and making lots of blood spray out.

#anime recommendation #anime recs #flip flappers #tetsuwan birdy #birdy the mighty #claymore #noir #noir 2001 #canaan #long post #personal #anime

108 notes · View notes

deyageka · 2 years

Text

Evil!Young Justice 98: The Juvelines (a concept)

I haven’t exactly read Young Justice 2019 yet, but I always thought the idea of them fighting against their evil counterparts from an alternate dimension was entertaining. I’m thinking of making some redesigns of their evil counterparts but with the YJ98 gang instead.

It would also take place in Earth-3 where the evil Justice League (known as The Crime Syndicate) exists. This version of Young Justice would be called “The Juveniles”. Other names I had in mind was the Young Juveniles, Young Syndicate or Teen Tyranny but for the last one, it felt more in tune with an evil version of the Teen Titans/Titans who in this universe are called “Tyrants”.

Right now I have their alter egos somewhat figured out:

Kon-El = Jon-Lex/Jon Lane Luther (Supremo): I was debating on the name Ultraboy since evil!Superman in Earth-3 was called Ultraman, but I thought Supremo sounded much cooler. Also idk how Kryptonian names work. I didn’t like the name Luther-El from YJ!2019’s version of evil!Kon so I decided to name him after Kon’s New52 counterpart. Apparently New52!Kon was called Jon Lane Kent so I decided to mix the two names together so it wouldn’t confuse with Jon Samuel Kent. I envision Jon-Lex/Supremo with a costume and design similar to New52!Kon, tho I’m debating giving him a mohawk instead of that tame white boy haircut New52!Kon had.

Tim Drake = Tim Jackson (Draken): Basically New52!Tim but more evil and with a dragon themed costume design inspired by his YJ!2019 brown suit but more cooler looking. I was debating on calling him Heron instead since it sounded just as cool (Owlman and Heron vs Batman and Robin) but I wanted something other than a bird themed alias. I was thinking of giving him a spear or a long mace to contrast the bo-staff. ((I’ll save the Heron concept for another time))

Bart Allen = Bar Torr (Instance or Altros): New52!Bart but with inverted color scheme for his suit. (I know I’m getting most of my insp. from New 52) I’m thinking of giving him a blue color scheme so as not to confuse him with Inertia. Also maybe give him ginger/red hair too. I know his alias is silly but out of all the synonyms for Impulse, Instance clicked the most. The alias, Altros, is a close second (named after Altros Prime where Bar Torr in the New 52 came from). My other option was calling him Dasher but that didn’t appeal to me as much and YJ!2019 evil version had the alias Speed Zone which I thought was kinda lame.

Cassie Sandsmark = Cassidy Sandsmark (Amaxon Thunder): I thought YJ!2019’s version of evil Cassie was the most appealing in concept compared to the others. I actually liked the alias Amaxon Thunder though her design looked like just a mini Wonder Woman. I’m thinking of giving her a suit similar to her New52 design but less revealing. For her hair, I’ll either keep it black like the 2019 version or make it dirty blond.

Cissie King-Jones = Suzy Ann Jones (Bowstringer): I’m still brainstorming what this evil!Cissie would look like. I’m thinking of giving her a green color scheme, similar to Artemis’s design in YJA, with a sporty double dutch braid. As for her name, it derives from her first name “Suzanne”. For the alias “Bowstringer” I read that Cissie’s father was nicknamed “Bowstring”. In this dimension, Evil!Cissie’s/Suzy’s father is alive instead of her mother and Suzy takes more after him.

Greta Hayes = Gretel Hayes (Clandestine): I’m thinking of making this version of Greta a demonic, vengeful ghost. Gretel would either have an even paler color scheme with a cooler tint or a darker color scheme that resembles a shadow ghost. I’ll have to use horror movie ghosts references for this design, though I want her to look eerie instead of downright terrifying (idk how I’m gonna achieve that😅)

Anita Fite = Iwana Fite (Imperatrix) I have a vague idea of how I want evil!Anita to look like. I’m thinking of giving her a silver halo crown that obscures her eyes with a royal blue color scheme. The alias “Imperatrix” is a synonym for empress, and Empress vs Imperatrix sounds so badass.

Slobo = ? : Unfortunately, I couldn’t think of an evil version of Slobo. Technically, Slobo is just a mini clone of Lobo who’s an anti hero/villain, so what I was thinking was having Slobo be the one to encounter evil!Young Justice/The Juveniles from a dimension traveling mishap, with Young Justice having to rescue him from their evil selves or smthing like that

These concepts are subject to change once I actually get to drawing them tho.

Feel free to share any thoughts or ideas :3

55 notes · View notes

eviltrigger · 1 year

Text

Ultraman Cosmos: a study in respect for life and transformative justice

It has been a year. A year since I accidentally fell headfirst into Ultra, lured and ensnared by their extremely “shaped” looks and my speculative biology and sci-fi worldbuilding obsession. Back then, I was accompanying Ultraman Trigger as it came out weekly, but that was scarcely enough to satisfy how much my brain craved these big ol’ fish, so I asked for recommendations as to which other shows I should check out to satisfy this craving: the first suggested, and thus the first I checked out, was Ultraman Cosmos.

I was fascinated by it, completely taken by the concept of a gentler world where the objective is to preserve and live alongside Kaiju rather than get rid of them, even if, like real world animals, they sometimes present an inconvenience to human settlements and endeavours.

Now, I did watch other series alongside it that I finished quicker, but Cosmos stayed with me throughout this whole year as I got through that impressive and fully earned trove of episodes and movies, and it has really rented a three-story apartment in both my brain and my heart now that I’ve finished it. And so, as our inaugural Baradhi Script, I will be discussing themes and parallels that stood out for me within this lovely series.

The most easily seen core value presented here is that of care for the natural world, brought from the very beginning in The First Contact with the last surviving adult Alien Baltan in this universe seeking to remove Earth from humanity’s control lest it destroy it like the Baltans did to their own planet. Truly, the entirety of the series is placed as a transitional period between the exploitative and utilitarian view of nature that has for centuries characterised the colonialist and imperialist relationship to the Earth - and never has it more than in the era of globalisation, where such attitudes become nigh universal - and the (re)emergence of full integration and acceptance that all things on Earth and beyond have as much right to exist as any human beings and sufficiently friendly or useful creatures.

The struggle between both worldviews is palpable in the conflict between the protagonists’ Team EYES - a conservation team - and the antagonistic Defence Force - a military organ - in the response to Kaiju incidents. By the view Team EYES is run under, Kaiju are simply fauna, albeit very large and powerful fauna, and need to be handled with respect and care, and their welfare is of utmost value alongside avoiding loss of human life. In fact, it is not unusual for Kaiju - such as Lidorias, Mienin and Tablis - to be friendly towards humans, and even those that aren’t are never quite antagonistic or malicious. This is one of few shows where the death of a Kaiju is never framed positively, being utterly tragic each and every time. Whenever Cosmos fails to save one his grief is your grief - be it by falling to his knees or gently laying the corpse to rest, the suit acting does incredible emotive work here, perhaps more than a face actor would typically get across -, and the pain of failing to protect an innocent life takes upon your heart as if it were you who experienced it.

The question of Cosmos’ grief and how that affects his way of dealing with problems is something that ramps up throughout the series. In fact, if at the very first movie or even first half of the show someone told you that Ultraman Cosmos is so sad and worn and tired of losing those he cares about, you might do a double-take. This in itself compounds on an interesting theme: that of Cosmos as a nurturing force, a third (or well, fourth, since Musashi already has his stepfather) parent figure of sorts.

The relationship between Cosmos and Musashi is a very fascinating thing to dissect. They meet when Musashi is an elementary schooler with dreams of space and a belief in the impossible, and Cosmos sees in him hope for the future when he helps recharge the downed Ultraman enough for him to be able to fight another day against the Baltan threat. He not only trusts this child with his power, but plays with him, indulges his fascination for the sky and takes him flying, and then upon an hour of need he comes down to Earth to handle the invading threat with gentle tact.

This nurturing relationship remains as Musashi grows. The 19-year old Musashi of the series proper still holds Cosmos as a greater comforting force, a warm light that envelops him and gives him the strength to defend his ideals of a loving world, and Cosmos still speaks to him as a parent to a child. In the ending of the series, this becomes especially apparent in their parting, which reads akin to a parent encouraging a very attached newly adult son to take on life on his own, reminding him that he has grown enough to even teach his Ultraman better ways to proceed and sustain the worldview he’d been taught - to allow them to succeed where Cosmos’ own more jaded approach failed -, and is thus mature enough that he should not need Cosmos’ power to continue protecting his planet and all the creatures that live in it.

The crux of how Musashi unintentionally proves himself a true hero to Cosmos lies in both the nature of parental care and that of radical action. Often when we have fought or lived for long, we lose the full faith in our ideals we had in youth; we start to believe they are futile in the face of reality, that we have to compromise them to get results in dire circumstances; we become jaded, we lose our own plot. This is the situation Cosmos faces as he fights Chaos Header, whom he had pursued through countless planets he’d failed to save, but he couldn’t lose one more - so he had to abandon kindness; he had to kill Chaos Header once and for all. But what can you ever do against an enemy who cannot be killed, who will evolve past any breach found in its armour and return stronger? No, it is not time for weapons of mass destruction - those failed already -, it is then time to reconsider the approach, and learn more about said enemy. Cosmos had only ever known Chaos Header as a destroyer, in all its immediacy, but what and who was Chaos Header, really, and why did it do as it did? That is when the investigation of the planet where the light virus concentrated becomes useful, revealing the true nature of Chaos Header: it is an artificial intelligence created to bring order to a world at war, which soon ran out of control and attempted to establish the order it was programmed to impose throughout the universe, again and again - and again and again it has met Cosmos, who attempts to foil its plans, and who teaches it hatred. The creature has emotions that can be appealed to, it has a righteous heart, but it hates and rages and has little consideration for the pain it causes to establish its goal of order, unity and assimilation - but little is still enough.

The Kaiju of the Earth who survived and overcame Chaos Header infections joined upon where Chaos Darkness had descended onto the planet for its final attack, and pleaded for its sympathy and mercy. Chaos Header holds no hatred for these beings, and it is not used to being directly addressed in a non-hostile manner, so it is shaken by a momentary pang of conscience, but the urge of violence and to complete its purpose remains, and it attacks the monsters that cause it to have feelings. Cosmos returns from his apparent death to face him in the name of his friends then, but Musashi, who had been separated from him in the previous fight, pleads with him for another way to resolve this conflict, and when he has taken too much damage from his bullheadedness to defeat Chaos Header at its own game, Cosmos attends to his wish. Alongside Team EYES, who do the very important job of neutralising Chaos Header’s vicious energy attacks until it loses hope that striking will work, they appeal to the artificial organism’s “humanity”, so as to say, and Cosmos, envigored by Musashi’s bravery and this great act of mercy and compassion, uses the greatest form of his purifying ability to purge the irrational, senseless hatred out of Chaos Header, reverting it to the peaceful entity it once was.

Obviously in real life we do not have the magical ability to instantly purify the hatred from those who would cause us harm, but we can still see in this final fight the general shapes of the real revolutionary ideal of transformative justice. When you have a threat who cannot be killed and cannot be imprisoned, whether by your ideological principles or by actual impossibility, how, then, do you stop it from causing harm? Fundamentally, you have to take away the tools, weapons and systems that make it possible for it to cause harm - if it depends on access to weapons, take those away; if it depends on peaceful bystanders, organise them against it; if it depends on a system, nullify its influence and action in your community - without taking away any of its human (or in this case sentient) rights; for people accustomed to punitive justice, this might seem too mellow, but without the ability to cause harm in accordance to their hateful ideologies, the threat is nullified, and is now possible to rehabilitate. That is, in general terms, what Cosmos, the benevolent kaiju and Team EYES do to Chaos Header, and this leads us to consider: if the finale of Ultraman Cosmos is so tightly related to transformative justice, how does that colour our titular Ultraman’s relationship to his counterpart, Ultraman Justice?

As the pair of complementary forces that form Ultraman Legend, Cosmos and Justice are two sides of the same benevolent universal protector coin: Cosmos represents a kind and nurturing hand in preserving peace and harmony, while Justice represents the swift sword of judgement, the hand by which justice is executed. But as people in their own right, though their dispositions are different, Cosmos and Justice have much the same struggle. Though Justice is naturally predisposed to trusting in life’s ability to change and right itself, occasions in the past have challenged this worldview to disastrous results - they trusted Sandros could better itself, and they never would do so again -, and so this disappointment and hurt made their heart hard and cold, unwilling to trust in the goodwill of transgressors and their ability to grow past their shortcomings. So Justice truly becomes blind, guided entirely by Delacion’s judgement of the universe.

And this is disastrous to us! As Delacion’s judgement determines that in 2000 years Earthlings will be a threat to the universe, and as such the Earth must have its biosphere “reset” - or put more plainly, have all life in it exterminated. Being Delacion’s emissary, Justice returns to Earth in human form, knowing it is a planet and people Cosmos is fond of as per their last interaction, but now as an enemy: if Delacion has found that the people of Earth are dangerous, then certainly it is right, and they can bear no different, even if it puts them against their counterpart.

But that is not without conflict on Justice’s part. They often dwell on the question of what it is that Cosmos sees in humans, what makes them worthy of his protection, what made them worth dying for, especially as they wander through Japan and see the most unsavoury of humanity - it is rather salient here that their human form is that of a woman, and that plenty of the antagonism directed at them is gendered. But then they are confronted with a young girl and her dog in the wreckage caused by Delacion’s Glokers, and the kind and gentle nature that they share with Cosmos flares up again and conflicts with their morals and ideals made rigid by betrayal. The girl and her dog are innocent, do they deserve to die for the future crimes of their kind? The girl named her dog after the Ultraman that loved them; clearly the humans love Cosmos too, is this sentimentality compatible with becoming a universal threat?

It is this hard-to-shake compassion that inspires Justice to turn against Delacion in order to protect the humans from destruction and to join Cosmos in the event of his return, and with their purposes aligned they were able to fuse into their “true” form, Ultraman Legend, the symbolic weight of such being as important as its physical power in convincing Delacion to give humanity a second chance. Cosmos’ gentleness and Justice’s harshness naturally makes it difficult for them to act together, much less with such unity, so forming Ultraman Legend was an occurrence of utmost rarity, but it is called their true form less in the literal sense (Cosmos and Justice are full beings in their own right) and more in the philosophical sense: protection of life in the Universe requires both nurturing and censoring, and they have to be well enmeshed for it to fully work. And the only way it will ever work is if we abandon chains of suspicion and cycles of mutual distrust and expecting the worst from everyone and think in terms that take in account that all life is precious, and the few times where this has to be sacrificed is in terms of material and unrepentant threat that cannot be neutralised by other means.

In the end, the lesson Justice had to learn is the same that humanity had to. Just because a lifeform could potentially cause harm, that doesn’t mean it’s malicious in doing so, and there are nonlethal manners of preventing said harm that should be prioritised. The same could be said in relation to Cosmos’ own lesson learned: both of them needed to be able to shed their trauma-based responses in order to fully fulfil their roles in preserving life and neutralising threats.

All these respects are some of what makes Ultraman Cosmos a much beloved show to most who’ve seen it, including myself. The intimidating episode count certainly serves as an entry barrier, but the whole journey is worth it, and it is better for it. (And if I might make this case more compelling to you, it is better watched at a leisurely pace - I wouldn’t recommend binging it.)

Did you enjoy Ultraman Cosmos? Have you not yet watched but are curious about dipping in? We’re always up to discuss things further here at the Baradhi Script!

#ultraman cosmos #ultraman #baradhi script #analysis

15 notes · View notes

thekaijudude · 1 year

Text

Ultraman Anime Season 3 Review

This was absolutely the best season by far, theres much less inconsistency and plotholes this time around. And with 12 episodes, it definitely felt more comprehensive and less rushed.

Tho there were still some sticking points which Ive made a list of while binge-watching the season such as:

1. I felt that the portrayal of the scene where Hayata supposedly “dies” couldve had a much greater impact if it was shown that Shinjiro was able to identify Hayata on the rooftop prior. It was really weird to see Shinjiro act out when the blast imploded when previously it was shown that he couldnt even make out what was happening on the rooftop.

2. The whole idea of “Bemular being Ultraman” point has been put off so far by this point that seeing him working behind the scenes felt so painful and contrived to watch cause no one from the main cast really “acknowledges” him even tho they should since hes literally Ultraman. And with all the events tied to his existence, aka Shinjiro’s 2nd awakening and the Space Contraction event from Season 2, has no one bothered to consult him on the validity of the Universal Alliance Council?

3. Daisuke later pointed out that Bemular was Ultraman, but previously no one seemingly make the link so to have this reveal being taken so nonchalantly at that point feels like a total waste of dramatic reveal (but then again, its a reveal thats been late for 3 seasons alr so..). But in fact, they didnt even outright reveal that, they just simply pointed out that Bemular somehow has access to Specium, as a manga-reader im like bruh wtf is this, its like the anime writers are trying their absolute best NOT to establish this connection like wtf

4. I found it really weird that Adad didnt really bother to give more info about Mephisto to Dan, sounds like prolonging the plot for no reason and being mysterious for the sake of being mysterious, because there was really no reason why shouldnt, especially since at that point in time, the SSSP were dealing with the Univeral Alliance Council as a whole, which threatens bascially everyone

5. Anyone else had the feeling that Taro was nerfed for the first half? Dude was just reduced to shooting fireballs and not literally sprout actual flamethrowers and pulses of pure fire like in Season 2

6. So Rena just stupidly decided to trust Seiji even tho his suit was spotted killing her dad? Plus Seiji’s filmsy explanation was really weird considering he was framed. This is some Asahi-leveling of illogical behavior coming from both sides since this new piece of revelation shouldve stunned and alarmed both parties in question

7. There was a pretty convenient plothole here, that Taro told Ide that he was gonna go to the hospital that Endo is at but Shinjiro went to the hospital that Ultraman and Zetton fought in, and only later it was revealed that apparently its the same hospital wut? Alot of conveniences here this season

8. Another convenient point to hasten plot progression was Bruh Jack and Rena showing up at the SAME town that Shinjiro and Taro are in even tho they came from vastly different locations? Jack had just arrived from the US and Rena literally came from the Alien city

9. Another convenient point was why didnt Zarab just killed off Endo instead of leaving him alive in the first place tho? In fact, why was he hurt in the first place? It was obvious that Mephisto already knew about the “Calamity” plan, and Jack even detailed it out to the rest later on. In fact, why didnt Bemular just pop up to the SSSP and explained wtf was happening to Shinjiro and how to manage it, it was apparent that he knew what was going on from the get-go but seemingly as an act to artificially prolong the plot, he refused to talk directly to the SSSP and this bascially setup the redundant chain of events that lead to Endo’s assassination attempt

10. Valky pointed she had different goals from Mephisto, but we have no idea what it was even till the end? Was it a planned subplot that got abandoned again?

11. While Taro did came to the conclusion that the there was indeed the existence of Fake Ultraman, this was truly only valid to explain the cases of Shinjiro going berserk in the 1st and 3rd instance. We saw that Shinijiro truly went berserk during the 2nd instance when he envisioned Zetton for the 2nd time but he didnt really point that out either during Taro’s monologue.

12. Bemular died too quickly and we still don't have an in-anime explanation why he became like this

13. So it was never really explained why did Shinjiro not evolve into a Giant of Light again? And why is evolving into a Giant of Light a bad thing either? Would he lose himself after evolving or...? Cause it wouldve helped if we had more exposition on this, this whole line of logic of Shinjiro becoming a Calamity was very obviously rushed and botched considering its aided by the fact that Bemular for some reason, refuses to actually provide his expertise on wtf is going on with Shinjiro throughout the season

14. The various “visions” Shinjiro had throughout the season was so random, literally the exact same situation as Orb in UFO having visions about ES of all things, except in this case, this was purely done for convenient plot progression like bru

Overall, it was kind of rushed near the end because the fact that Shinjiro still went out of control seemingly on purpose in the public eye made it still hard to believe he didnt had his power under control

Plus from the standpoint of the public which was deluded so deeply by Mephisto prior and had their reservations, truly it wouldve been less convinced. Esepically at the end of the day, Mephisto and Edo’s of logic makes complete sense and the anime totally sidestepped addressing the crux of the conflict between the 2 ideologies with no reconcilation, it ended up being reduced to Shinjiro’s personal character development instead. Especially so since Edo and Mephisto were sort of lumping their attitude towards the New Ultras with the impact of the original Ultraman itself

But this season gets BIG bonus points as imagine my surprise when Maya was still alive lmao (since yall know from my s2 review that I really didn't like how they handled Maya's character then) for the post-credits scene, but it still dosent explain the plotholes of the other Warudan aliens in the previous season

Again, this was definitely the best season by far and with EVEN MORE exciting action.

Although this is the final season, I doubt TsuPro is actually done with this venture since Season 2 was Netlflix Japan’s Number 1 anime last year and I have no doubt Season 3 would be the same this year. And tbh, this is literally the final season purely because the Manga just simply doesnt have enough content at this point to warrant a 4th Anime Season. So I suspect that this sub-franchise most likely continue with as said, the Tiga/Zero route and either theyre gonna be following the Novel concept of also including the previous Ultra suits from the first 3 seasons, or itll be a totally brand new, fresh slate with totally new suits and characters involved only.

Personally Im hoping itll be a mixture of the 2, but for this to work, they would most likely have to nerf Shinjiro and have him being able to only use the Type B suit. And I really hope we get to see the suits of other ultras like the ones we saw some years back like Gaia, Max, Hikari etc

In fact, I believe I read somewhere that theres gonna be some news about this on the 21st of this month, so stay tuned

#ultraman #ultraman manga #ultraman anime

10 notes · View notes

minie-mastermind · 2 years

Text

Earth 3 Green Arrow

First seen in Countdown #31 member of the Crime Society the dc fandom wiki calls him Deadeye, but he is never referred to by any name in the issue and does not state where this information is from.

Next was the Blue Bowman form Batman Brave And The Bold episode "Deep Cover for Batman!" in witch he is a member of the Injustice Syndicate. The identity of the Blue Bowman is a reference to Phil Cobb the Signalman.

Signalman took the identity in Batman Vol 1 139 after meeting a green arrow villain in prison and being inspired. This obviously was away for DC to have have a fight between Green Arrow and Batman with a clear winner. It is funny how this reference to Green Arrow eventually got taken up as an identity by an alternet universe Oliver Queen.

Then there is Archer from Justice League Crisis on Two Earths: Crime Syndicate Earth were he is show working under Johnny Quick as a maid man in the Crime Syndicate. The Archer identity was also from another character, this time for Superman #13 there true name being Quigley.

Next appearing in Forever Evil: Rogues Rebellion #2 with a much closer colour scheme.

Then lastly there is Precedent Oviler Queen who is never referred to by any other identity but I believe judging by his is suit and ball colour that he is the return of the Blue Bowman.

He appeared in Crime Syndicate #1-2 being a now ex lover of Superwoman.

Witch is funny when think that she moved on from him to Ultraman and then another rich influential man like him Owlman.

This is the last we have seen of him to this point.

23 notes · View notes

random-movie-ideas · 7 months

Text

Supergirl of Earth-Two (Movie Outline)

This is the outline for a sequel to my previous Supergirl movie set within a cinematic universe, and this one would theoretically take place in Phase Three, some time following Superman: God Among Men, and is one of the main films building up to the Crisis on Infinite Earths event.

We begin with a similar opening to Superman: Son of Krypton, with a version of Kara Zor-El on Krypton, playing with her baby cousin Kal, just before Brainiac attacks and seals her home city in a bottle, her with it. There are little noticeable differences from the original though, such as Kara's personality being much more brazen and reckless.

We then fast-forward through a number of familiar events: Kara waking up on Brainiac's ship, making her escape, and crash-landing on Earth. This time, however, she finds herself rescued by her cousin Kal, but this time, he wears the black-and-white suit of Ultraman, and is accompanied by two other costumed figures called Owlman and Superwoman. Kara tries to warn him of Brainiac's attack, but Ultraman soothes her, telling her it will be taken care of.

We then skip to another universe, where our main Kara Zor-El is living happily on Earth, acting as the defender of New Kandor at its place in Scotland. We get to see her saving the day, and working alongside her best friend Linda Danvers, who has been training with magic. We have a brief scene where Linda tells her that [a magic user AKA Doctor Fate/Zatanna/whoever's around at this time in the cinematic universe] has offered to train her and that she'll be leaving for a while. They have a fond farewell and Linda leaves.

We see Kara going about her business, saving random civilians and such, when suddenly, a strange little man appears before her, introducing himself as Mr. Mxyzptlk, who requests her services. Kara, a little weirded out by him, tries to turn him down and fly away, but he ends up using magic to keep her trapped. We get a whole sequence of this, Kara cursing magic and wishing Linda were here to help her. After a short battle, Kara accidentally gets him to say his name backwards, he yelps and disappears, telling her he'll be back.

Freaked out, Kara goes to her father Zor-El, who has been researching books from the same [magical figure], as she doesn't want to disturb Linda. Zor-El finds an entry in the book on Mr. Mxyzptlk, describing him as an interdimensional entity of vast reality-bending power, who frequently enters their universe, and the only way to defeat him is to fulfill a certain condition, which will change every time.

Kara debates with her father whether to go and get Linda and her teacher for help, when Mxy reappears, saying he told her he'd be back, and repeating that he needs her help. Before Kara can say another word, he snaps his fingers and she suddenly finds herself outside in a city that looks like Metropolis, but everything looks different somehow.

Mxy appears before her and tells her that he's brought her to another dimension, parallel to her own, where certain events played out a little differently, resulting in a vastly different world. She demands he send her back, but he refuses until she finds and fixes his problem. For what that problem is, he says to seek out her cousin of this world and find out for herself before disappearing.

Kara flies around the city, noticing that the people seem to live in a state of constant fear, and many especially cower when they see her. She also sees a large foreboding tower at the center of the city where the Daily Planet used to be. She figures that's the best place to start. She flies up to it and is immediately met with resistance from turrets and troopers, and finally gets into a scuffle with what appears to be another Kryptonian.

After a brief fight, they break apart to see that they are exactly identical, except that the new Kara's hair is shorter and she wears the whiter, more revealing outfit of Power Girl. Power Girl demands to know who she is, if she's some insidious clone created by the resistance to infiltrate their base. It's at this moment that Ultraman steps in.

Kara recognizes him instantly as Clark, but this Clark doesn't recognize the name. He welcomes her to his home and apologizes for his cousin's rude behavior. He also introduces her to his comrades Owlman and Superwoman, who Kara recognizes as Bruce and Diana from back home. Owlman scans her and confirms that she is indeed an alternate universe version of Kara, with her insides all inverted.

Ultraman welcomes her into the tower and shows her around, Power Girl being a little miffed. He asks her how she got here, and reveals that he and his comrades have been working on a device for traversing the multiverse for years, and they were curious to know if she was a result of some accidental success. Here and there, Kara picks up little tidbits that make her think this Clark is not the good man she knows back home, and it eventually comes out that they are not a Justice League at all, but an evil dominion that combined their powers to conquer Earth and all of its inhabitants.

Kara refuses to help them any further and tries to escape. The Syndicate jump into action, all overpowering her. Kara notices that this version of herself and Ultraman even seem to be a little stronger, or at least more aggressive with their fighting styles. She is about to be defeated, when a mysterious figure blasts the other Kara with a powerful cannon, allowing Kara to get away and hide.

As she creeps around the city, the same figure calls her over to a hiding place. She hurries in to find that her rescuer is none other than Lex Luthor, or Alexander, as he corrects her. Alexander leads her down into a huge lead-lined complex full of resistance fighters, including his wife Lois Lane, and their son Alexander Jr.

Alexander and Lois tell Kara the story of Ultraman. Years ago, Alexander's parents, the Luthors, came upon a crashed spacecraft with a baby inside. Taking him in, the infant Kal and Alexander had been raised as brothers in the lap of luxury. As he reached puberty, however, Kal's powers began to manifest in explosive ways, and their parents hid him away, doing everything they could to remove, suppress, or contain his powers out of fear. The son of a fellow wealthy family, Bruce Wayne, a spoiled brat with a penchant for mischief, discovered him one day while sneaking around their building, and the two became quick friends, Bruce feeding his anger and frustration until finally, Kal broke out, murdered their parents, and he and Bruce went on a crime spree, killing hundreds of innocents. Through his powers, they discovered an island in the Mediterranean full of powerful warrior women, including a princess Kal seduced with promises of revenge on the world that had forced her people into hiding. With these three united, the world quickly bent its knee to their might. Alexander, feeling he could have been a better brother, took up the cause to fight against them and form a resistance.

Kara asks if they have any plans to defeat him, but they all seem pretty hopeless. She mentions specific weaknesses of Kryptonians, like Kryptonite and magic, both of which are a surprise to Alexander. He says he knows of the rock she mentions but had no idea of its effect on him. As for magic, Kara believes that she knows at least one person in this world who can help them.

Kara heads out on her own to Scotland in hopes of finding this world's Linda. She is accosted along the way by her own variant, who knew she'd find her eventually. The pair spar back and forth, Kara asking her why she works for Kal, at which Kara II gets defensive. Their fight carries them all the way to Scotland, only to find the entire British Isles a festering wasteland devoid of life and teeming with dark magic. The sight causes both Karas to stop fighting.

They find their way to MacDougal castle, clearly the source of the magic. They find Linda inside, withered and decrepit, her body emanating with the Silver Banshee's power. To her dismay, Kara realizes that this Linda was never saved from being sacrificed to the Banshee, and that her friend was long dead. The Banshee attacks the pair, and Power Girl is nearly killed by the power of her magic, but Kara manages to rescue her and they get out alive.

All throughout all of this, we will be cutting back to Alexander and Lois tracking down Kryptonite and making plans, and Mr. Mxyzptlk appearing to Ultraman and toying with him just enough so that he overhears a conversation between Owlman and Superwoman, planting seeds in his mind that they are conspiring against him and feeding his paranoia.

Back with Kara and Kara II, the pair rest far outside of the Banshee's domain, and actually talk. Kara II tells Kara that she wasn't that different from herself once, and had initially tried to fight against him, but after repeated failures and constant physical and emotional abuse, she had finally given into his will and became his enforcer, mentioning that she's done terrible things since that time. Kara I tells her that she's going to go fight him. Kara II says that she won't go with her, but she won't stop her anymore.

The resistance launches an attack on the tower. Ultraman and his forces repulse them as always, but this time, he gets downed by a blast of Kryptonite energy. His brother attacks him with a Kryptonite blade, dealing heavy blows to him. He is only saved when Superwoman intervenes and seriously wounds Alexander, flying Kal to safety. Kal's paranoia has gotten too much for him though, and he accuses her of giving them that strange rock that hurt him. Superwoman tries to fend him off, but he kills her easily. He then flies off to find Owlman. Owlman tries to sate him by showing him that the multiversal machine is fully functional now. Kal plunges his fist through his chest and says he'll activate it himself.

Kara flies to the tower, finds Alexander wounded, and takes the Kryptonite blade in with her. She finds Ultraman with the machine started up, ripping a hole through dimensions. Mxy flashes into existence, glitching slightly, and says that's the problem. It's messing with his powers. Kara challenges Ultraman and they fight. Kara tries to reason with him, telling him that her Clark is a hero, but Ultraman bites back that that's only because he got to live an actual life and hadn't been locked away for years to rot. Ultraman is about to kill Kara when Power Girl arrives and saves the day, standing up to her cousin. The pair work together, and Ultraman is ultimately defeated, knocked into the energy stream and ripped apart down to the atoms. The pair destroy the machine together and shut it down.

In the aftermath, Alexander and his resistance help take down the rest of the Syndicate. It is noted that Owlman and the Kryptonite blade seem to be missing. Mr. Mxyzptlk appears before them, thanking Kara and opening up a gateway back to her dimension. Power Girl asks if she can come with her, as she wants to see a world where Kryptonians are not looked at with fear. Kara accepts and they head through together.

In a post-credits scene, the two Karas come out in Metropolis, and Kara I asks her variant if she wants to meet a version of her cousin who's not an evil monster. They race each other out to the Kent farm in Smallville, but little by little, it becomes clear that this is not their world. They stop at the Kent farm before the Clark that appears in the Young Superman trilogy not connected to the cinematic universe. As the three stare at each other in confusion, Mr. Mxyzptlk appears again, and says, "Oops, my apologies. I just needed you to do one more little thing for me."

And that's it. What do you think?

#kara zor el #supergirl #power girl #ultraman #linda danvers #silver banshee #owlman #superwoman #alexander luthor #lois lane #mr mxyzptlk #superman movie #While technically Earth-Two is the Golden Age universe and not Ultraman's in the comics #I feel this makes for a less confusing title and we can say that it is considered Earth-Two in these movies' universe

0 notes

graphicpolicy · 1 year

Text

Discover Threezero's Ultraman Suit Zero figure!

Discover Threezero's Ultraman Suit Zero figure!. Inspired by the world of the #Ultraman Suit Another Universe project

Get a look at the Ultraman Suit Zero 1/6 Scale Figure from Threezero. The Ultraman Suit Zero 1/6 Scale Figure is inspired by the world of the Ultraman Suit Another Universe project, which is set in an alternate continuity. This diecast figure is highly detailed and fully articulated. Beautifully painted with red and blue accents, it also features LED light-up eyes and a Color Timer. An original…

View On WordPress

#sideshow collectibles #threezero #ultraman

1 note · View note

kevynthedevylman · 4 years

Text

Ultraman Suit Tiga, now with LED eyes and Color Timer.

#ultraman 2019 #ultraman netflix #ultraman manga #ultraman 2011 #ultraman #ultraman tiga #ultraman suit another universe #ultraman suit tiga #ultraman suit #uau #zeperion Kousen #led

24 notes · View notes

gojira-ekkusu · 4 years

Photo

Ultraman Figure-rise Darklops Zero Suit

#darklops zero suit #darklops zero #ultraman #ultraman suit another universe #figure-rise #bandai #ダークロプスゼロ #ウルトラマン

6 notes · View notes

epicuross · 3 years

Text

ULTRAMAN ANOTHER UNIVERSE

BANDAI SPIRITS 2020

#ultraman #ultraman suit #darklops zero #another universe #mecha #hobby #bandai

2 notes · View notes

toku-explained · 2 years

Text

ULTRAMAN SUIT ANOTHER UNIVERSE: 8U Edition Part 2

Chapter 30

Ide is communicating with Jack at MAT SoCal, trying to understand the motives in causing terror in the recent incidents, as even if energy can be extracted it would be too inefficient. Jack thinks it may be part of a ritual, and wants SSSP support of needed.

With agreements made, Jack enjoys a beer, to Rene and Jiro's surprise. Later as they eat at a diner, Rene explains her current premonitions are vaguer than normal, while eating a huge amount due to energy used by her visions.

Travelling by train across South America, Daigo is told by the infant Yuzare, speaking into his mind, that her visions are showing the Darkness of Destruction covering this world. Rene suddenly has the same vision.

An hour later, Transfer Satellite V3 detects objects approaching from space, and hovering above Illinois, Jiro and Jack see there are about 10,000. They rush to Illinois in the MAT Gyro, as they observe the objects seem to be moving in controlled patterns. Arriving on Illinois, they make contact with Jack's fellow MAT members, Lieutenant Richard South and Ensign Elena Hill, and continue travelling in the Rabbit Panda. Analysis shows the objects are composed of the same metal as the Legionoids Jiro fought in Shanghai. Their vehicle is swarmed by the objects, forcing Jack, South, Hill and Jiro to all summon their suits.

At the SSSP HQ, communication with Jack's team is lost. Edo identifies the foreign matter as Space Moths from Mururoa. Maya is able to set up a love feed from Chicago, where they watch ZERO blast away some Space Moths crowding around the city using Wide Shot. South wants to borrow Wide Shots, but the connections are different so he will have to rely on his own armaments, like his double arm cannons.

However, the Space Moths numbers are overwhelming, and they crowd around MAT's care where Rene is hidden, until Taro arrives. He starts burning Space Moths left and right and using TARO Suit unleashes too large bursts of flame, evaporating the attackers. However, Rene in Rabbit Panda suddenly warns to retreat, saying the numbers are much higher than they seem.

They make base at Scott Air Base, and soon Space Moths appear in Phoenix, New York, Los Angeles and Houston, blotting out the sun there and across the country. The fear is being harvested into another dimension by Darkgone using the apparatus Lethe, but he doesn't have enough. The Space Moths appear on Fujian, Bavaria and Piedmont, with Moroboshi heading to Fuzhou, Shinjiro and Seiji to Munich, and Hayata to Turin, trying unsuccessfully to remove the Space Moths. It's realised that the places targeted are also the sights of the ritual murders to summon Gatanothor.

A month after Chicago, Tokyo, the last city to be part of the ritual, is targeted, and the Ultramen are all overseas still.

(Diorama Details 1: JACK and ZERO stand surrounded by Space Moths, behind them are South and Hill in their own suits. 2: TARO lets out twin jets of flame to destroy the Space Moths, JACK diving out of the way of one flame jet.)

Chapter 31

The Space Moths first appear in Kasumigaseki, Tokyo at 11 am. The JSDF and SSSP prepare a joint operation, which launches at midday. A heavy incendiary assault burns away Space Moths, however more just pour out, which is why the operation is merely to draw out their forces. Ide signals a retreat, and the second phase is launched. Mobilising from the site of the Mecha Telesdon II attack, Horii, Nakajima and Doigaki launch the Sky Whale, Ide reminding them over phase communications that they must establish a Zariba of Absolute Territory that the Space Moths cannot be allowed to pass. Attacks begin based on analysis received from Jack, and they use a technique which eliminates 40% of the Space Moths.

Things are going well until the unexpected appearance of King Kappa from underground, ambushing the resistance.

Suddenly a child appears in the command room, shocking Maya, speaking into the assembled's minds saying Saviour.

King Kappa hits the Sky Whale which crashes, the pilots ejecting. Ide feels all may be lost, as the Ultramen are all overseas and cannot be called back. The child says Saviour once more.

Suddenly a beam blasts through King Kappa, as TIGA appears in Sky Type, leading Ide to realise who the child is.

Rene, in the Rabbit Panda, also senses this, and understands she has been receiving premonitions of the future from Yuzare. Due to her regression in age at the climax of the events in Shanghai, in order to warn the world of future events, she sent her visions to the Deunamists who awoke then, so that her warning could reach 8 people.

In Munich, Himeya Jun approaches Shinjiro and Seiji. He has been brought there by visions, visiting a closed ballet school, where several staff murdered 13 students as part of the ritual. In Fujian a fortune teller, Hanamura Yuta approaches Moroboshi, a boy named Fukushin Saburo approaches Hayata in Turin.

Horii, who is also part of GUTS, greets Daigo, who has no idea that the others are overseas. He uses TIGA, freezing King Kappa and slicing him in half with the Zeperion Spear.

Rather than more Space Moths filling the hole the Sky Whale opened, all the metal objects that released the Space Moths all start moving and gathering. Rene tells Jack and Jiro they have to get to Japan, as darkness is coming.

50,000 objects gather together and coalesce, and form into Grand King in Tokyo, an unstoppable threat where Daigo is the only one there to fight.

(Diorama Details 1: TIGA Sky Type uses the Zeperion Spear to cut through a swarm of Space Moths. 2: Grand King appears in Tokyo.)

Chapter 32

Grand King reminds Ide of Gatanothor, and he realises the purpose of collecting Minus Energy was in order to create a new King of Darkness. A JSDF sergeant who has convened with Horii, Nakajima and Doigaki after they escaped the Sky Whale records TIGA's attempts to fight Grand King despite its overwhelming height and power.

As he fights Daigo recalls his comrades on the old world, Solka and Daya, as well as Carmeara, and Carmeara fell to darkness leading to the other's deaths, and his desire to defend this world still, wishing he could fight with his allies on this world again. He suddenly hears a voice, not Yuzare as he first thinks, encouraging him, another hero from another world who lost his allies to the darkness, but found new allies in this world. ZERO arrives suddenly, controlling the suit on his own without Satsuma. Yuzare can sense hope on the two, which Maya recognises. ZERO recalls his initial resolve to fight with Jiro when he showed resolve, and how he initially was unwilling to work with Moroboshi in particular due to his hostility towards ZERO, but came to realise Moroboshi, like him, desired only revenge, but both have changed, and when ZERO was prepared to die with Jiro on the frozen world, Moroboshi was the one to save them. And they are surprised by the sudden appearance of SEVEN stepping off the Sub VTOL.

To some surprise, Moroboshi greets Daigo politely, before signalling Ide and the command centre to request transfer of Specium Swords, Ex Rifles and Wide Shots. They unleash everything on Grand King to hold it back. It unleashes an attack towards a hospital, which is shockingly deflected by the appearance of a giant Mururoa, recognised by Edo, and Mururoa somehow influences the Space Moths, which seem to be infants of it's species, to help it. TIGA and ZERO recognise that Mururoa is the same as them, Darkgone attacked it's homeworld, wiping everyone out and kidnapping the children. Mururoa's memory is transmitted by Yuzare to the Deunamists. However, Mururoa is unable to defeat Grand King and collapses.

Yuzare is overwhelmed by emotion as Mururoa does and the Space Moths gather on him. The 3 Ultramen prepare to fight despite the setback, but the skies have cleared as the Space Moths have died, and a signal is heard as 3 MAT Arrows and TAC Falcon signal their approach. Jack, Jiro and Kotaro each leap from and Arrow, and Shinjiro, Hayata and Seiji leap from Falcon.

The 8 Ultramen unite to face Grand King. In the midst of battle, JACK greets TIGA, who inspired by his physique converts his suit into Power Type. Ide transmits to TARO the Specium Lancer, which he uses to tear open a hole in Grand King and pour fire into his body. TIGA, ULTRAMAN and JACK then transmit an attack directly into Grand King, destroying it.

Ide in the command room is contacted by the Minister of Defence, the adult Hoshino Isamu. He is with Rene, who was brought to him by South and Hill, and she relays Yuzare's words. Grand King was just the vanguard, and suddenly they receive an alert from the Dive Hanger in Shanghai that the Space-Time distortion has vanished. It appears above Tokyo, and Darkgone emerges with Rete, as Darkgone declares the completion of the ultimate Dark Armour, and Rete molts into the form of DARK ZAGI.

(Diorama Details 1: TIGA fires a Zeperion Ray at Grand King, as ZERO flies using two Wide Shots, and SEVEN uses one to fly while wielding a Specium Sword. 2: The 8 Ultra Warriors stand against Grand King.)

Chapter 33

Darkgone equips the DARK ZAGI armour born of Lethe, and on spite of being at human scale the 8 warriors feel intimidated, as though sensing the darkness, before leaping into battle.

Ide is astonished that the epicenter of the darkness has moved from Shanghai to Tokyo, as Yuzare, held by Maya, communicates via Rene, warning of the gravity distortions of DARK ZAGI moments before they happen, Ide reminded to when Carmera and EVIL TIGA opened the gate of darkness. The suits resist as best they can the distortions thanks the UGM systems installed after the previous battle. However, on an instant, Shinjiro watches Hokuto, Kotaro and Jack all collapse.

On the ground, Hokuto recalls moments earlier, as he watched the 7 others leap at DARK ZAGI, then they all froze. ZAGI appeared in front of just him, revealing he had stopped time, and tormented him over weakness, while Hokuto swears that for Yuki to be able to live in this world he will remove the obstacle DARK ZAGI represents, but was immediately knocked down. DARK ZAGI then did the same to Jack, tormenting him over his hatred of aliens after one killed the woman he loved, and he avenged her.

Rene explains, with assistance from Edo, that Darkgone is able to use shadows to access other dimensions, like those Gatanothor consumed in darkness, and use that to trap the individuals in pockets of frozen time.

Kotaro, Hayata and Moroboshi are all knocked down. DARK ZAGI turns to Shinjiro, and notes how little personal darkness he has, but vows to destroy him anyway.

Daigo and Yuzare communicate telepathically, discussing that only the light can seal this darkness, as Yuzare had done twice, first to seal Cameara and her comrades, and then Gatanothor, but Yuzare cannot do this as she is. As they consider how to gather light, Daigo to is knocked down by DARK ZAGI.

ZAGI turns to ZERO, noting the memories of two individuals, and thanks ZERO for allowing them to find this world now by escaping here, which let them learn of the work of GUTS and of Gatanothor, giving them a new evil to amuse themselves with. Promising the ultimate dear, Darkgone manipulates gravity and time to connect with another time and space, an upside down city appears in the sky, and Zoigers appear, consuming the remaining Space Moths. From the Shanghai floating above them, Gatanothor begins to rise. Ide tries to work on a strategy, aware that SSSP HQ is in the area that will disappear in 15 minutes of the darkness appearing, and contacts ZERO, whose consciousness is trying to be pulled back to his own world, by a Spacetime Restoration power inside of himself. Ide and Edo conclude that if they use this too it's fullest extent they can undo the space time distortions. Swearing to protect ZERO as they use it, Jiro begins to cause the reactive qualities of the suit to go haywire, determined to protect ZERO on this world, as DARK ZAGI declares himself master of Gatanothor and all darkness.

The power is unleashed and starts to undo the distortion, but in turn DARK ZAGI unleashes greater distortion, the other Ultras try to keep his focus away from ZERO. Maya analyses things, and they conclude that if ZERO gets closer the power will nullify the time stop ability, and he rushes DARK ZAGI, the distortion closes, and Maya's body, Android 01, ceases functioning.

Jiro is awoken by ZERO's voice, and receives a communication from SSSP, but when Jiro responds Ide is confused both by his knowing who he is and his wearing the Ver.0 Suit. Emerging from rubble, they find they are in Shanghai as it was before Gatanothor's revival, Zoigers flying in the sky. In front of the black pyramid he sees DARK ZAGI throw TIGA aside, and they look around to see all the Ultra Warriors around. DARK ZAGI's new allies, EVIL TIGA, Cameara, Durramb and Hydra get confirmation he is the last to appear from the future, having already beaten the present MAN, SEVEN, ACE and TIGA, and declare victory.

(Diorama Details 1: ULTRAMAN watches as DARK ZAGI holds SEVEN up by the head, as JACK is on the floor in front, and ACE to the side. 2: As ZERO works to undo the distortion, TARO, TIGA and ULTRAMAN work to attacks DARK ZAGI, as Gatanothor and Shanghai loom overhead.)

Chapter 34

As they are witness to what is happening, ZERO and Jiro are surprised to learn Maya's consciousness is back with them after the distortion, she transferred over when she realised the distortion was happening. DARK ZAGI and the the other Ultras arrived several times before. The future will change though, thanks to their arrival

This information has been broadcast to SSSP HQ, where Ide, Edo and Hayata watch. There is a level of scepticism about the story, but the fact remains there are two of ULTRAMAN, SEVEN, ACE and TIGA, and one of the others is wearing the finalised version of the Convenience Prototype. Time travel is a serious violation of Star Cluster Law, and Edo wants to resolve things. DARK ZAGI is destroying them all. ZAGI and and EVIL TIGA prepare to continue their ritual, Cameara wants to have the opportunity to kill TIGA twice, but Durramb and Hydra want her to focus on their work, reviving Gatanothor.

ZERO stands and ZAGI goes to attack, but is knocked back by two Eye Sluggers from the two SEVENs, as each Ultra prepares to keep fighting, the past ACE is surprised to hear Jack's voice. The 12 Ultramen are ready to fight, as Yuzare arrives in a Jet VTOL.

EVIL TIGA and Cameara have Ruboia Seijin restrained, and prepare to sacrifice, when EVIL TIGA has new memories appear, mocking him for being weak, and that being why he succumbed to darkness, before being defeated by ULTRAMAN's Specium Ray.

Gatanothor begins emerging, and Edo orders monitoring stopped to protect the human minds, but after encouragement from Hayata, Ide orders monitoring resumed and even has the media blackout lifted, announcing the battle to the world. Emboldened by witnessing the determination of Ultraman, humans begin calling out their support. Yuzare reaches out her mind, reaching those who will later be called Deunamists, among them Rene, Himeya and Sara, and gathers the human support.

Their ritual summoning of Gatanothor complete, EVIL TIGA and the Dark Trio decide they don't need DARK ZAGI anymore and turn on him.

The light Yuzare gathered is sent to the 12 Ultra Warriors, and the two ULTRAMEN, two SEVENs, two TIGAs overlap and merge, and Hayata turns to light and merges with ZOFFY. The 8 Ultra Warriors stand up, and Yuzare turns herself to light and enters TIGA, whose arnour turns dull gold. ZERO's colour changes rapidly, the Space-Time Restoring Force unleashed not from the worn out ZERO, but Maya as thanks to their time travel this is now not her original world. The suit becomes the golden ZERO Suit/SH. JACK deploys the Contraction Sword, TARO unleashes flames, ZOFFY readies the Specium Blades, ACS equips the Merallium Hammer, and Seven pulls out the Specium Sword, ULTRAMAN lifts the limiter.

ZAGI grabs EVIL TIGA and leaps into Gatanothor's mouth, spreading their evil energy to the evil god.

The Ultra Warriors out everything they have into battle, ZERO unleashing the full power Space Time Restoring Force as Glitter TIGA unleashes a matching force. ZAGI struggles to escape, but is held by something as the attack rips through. Everything melts into light.

Jiro stands in front of the completed Dive Hanger, and is congratulated by his late father. He awakens, and is now in white with ZERO stood before him. They are in a crossroads of time, with Daigo, Yuzare and Maya. History has been rewritten by the destruction of ZAGI and Gatanothor, Shanghai did not disappear, and ZERO and Maya did not come to this world. ZERO thanks Jiro for his friendship, and tells him to pursue his feelings for Anne. Shinjiro and Daigo say goodbye, Daigo going to pursue a new avenue. Maya is grateful for the time she has had with Moroboshi. The otherdimensional brings banish into light, leaving the seven of them.

Shinjiro finds Moroboshi talking to Jack, they all have residual memories of what happened, butchered is no sign of the ritual murders. After a few months of none of those events happening, they agree not to mention it, though Moroboshi believes Maya is out there as her true self.

Ide alerts Shinjiro and Moroboshi to the appearance of some strange Spheres.

(Diorama Details 1: As ZERO struggles to stand, DARK ZAGI and EVIL TIGA walk away. 2: the 8 Ultra Warriors gather their attacks. 3: in a white void ZERO speaks to a helmetless Shinjiro.)

#ULTRAMAN #ultraman suit another universe

0 notes

comicweek · 3 years

Text

Whatever Happened to the Men of Tomorrow?

I just love Tyler Hoechlin on Superman & Lois. His Clark Kent rocks chunky cable-knit cardigans, pivots his Metropolitan family into farming, and pours a nightly glass of white wine for his badass wife. Dad goals aplenty — and when he suits up to catch a falling bridge in China, he waves to a rescued bystander. No big deal, his smile says, all in a day's work. It's a classic version of the most classic superhero, an ageless paternal hunk rendered puny behind glasses and the last tie any print journalist will ever wear.

But the hit CW drama already revealed another possible Man of Steel, a world-destroying alternate Superman introduced in a flashback eye-barbecuing an army. He wears black, just like Henry Cavill's resurrected Kal-El in Zack Snyder's Justice League. And that four-hour HBO Max event ends with a premonition of Superman gone mad, driven murderous by the death of Lois Lane (Amy Adams). These fallen gods have company. Amazon Prime Video's The Boys features Antony Starr as Homelander, an über-American sociopath. He shares a streaming service with Omni-Man (voiced by J.K. Simmons), the greatest defender of Invincible's Earth, who finishes up his series premiere ripping apart his fake Justice League one spinal cord at a time. Let's put a pin in calling the Utopian (Josh Duhamel) nefarious, but the patriarch of Netflix's upcoming Jupiter's Legacy has dark secrets. And his troubled son Brandon (Andrew Horton) wears a red-caped blue costume I would describe as "lawsuit-proof." (The Marvel Cinematic Universe is making its own moves in this direction, with the briefly bad resurrected Vision and a new Captain America covering his shield with fresh blood.)

An optimistic read would classify the Evil Superman glut as countercultural activism: a middle finger to the boomers from Generation Harley Quinn. The classic character offers easy signifiers to deconstruct. He is toxically masculine, supremely white, a whole surveillance state unto himself. Comparisons to certain monster presidents and canceled icons are welcome. "I know you want me to be like you," Homelander's son (Cameron Crovetti) tells the star-spangled pyscho. "But Dad, I'm not." That kid goes on to incinerate Homelander's Nazi girlfriend: Great job, youth! Meanwhile, Invincible's real star is Omni-Man's son, Mark (Steven Yeun), a sincere do-gooder. Their malicious elders stand in for larger societal decay. And even the WarnerMedia-approved Supermen withstand suspicion from paranoid worlds. Cavill's hero spent a whole movie proving to Batman (Ben Affleck) that he wasn't a bad guy; apparently, the next movie would have proved Batman right. Hoechlin's yearning sincerity sticks out like a sore thumb in modern-day Smallville, a depleted land of meth explosions and bank foreclosures. Recent events in our own world offer little hope for a brighter future. Everything has gone wrong with everything. Why should the Man of Tomorrow be any different?

There's a long history of Superman turning bad; there's a long history of Superman doing anything. Way back in 1964, he met Ultraman, a dastardly double from Earth-Three. The '90s brought a Terminator-ish super-doppelgänger, who pretended to be Superman before destroying fake Los Angeles. Hoechlin already played a different black-suited impostor in a 2018 CW crossover. There are multiverse scenarios where he's raised by Soviets, Nazis, or Darkseid. In the 2000s Justice League cartoon, another Superman executes his Lex Luthor, a defensible act that slippery-slopes into dystopic oppression.

Break one rule and you break them all: That's the implicit threat of Evil Superman, and the nasty thrill of Injustice, a videogame-comic saga where Lois Lane's death drives Superman superbad totalitarian. (Clark's son plays Injustice 2 on Superman & Lois.) In the classic 1986 tale "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" written by Alan Moore and drawn by Curt Swan, Kal-El retires from superheroism after taking a villain's life. "Nobody has the right to kill," he says, "Not Mxyzptlk, not you, not Superman... especially not Superman." Look past the outrageous impossibility of saying "Mxyzptlk" out loud, and it's one of the great quotes of comic book history. This Superman believes even a wholly justifiable homicide spoils his moral code. A generation later, that's where these stories begin.

#Superman #superheroes #The Boys #invincible #superman and lois #henry cavill #homelander #comics #comic books #storytelling #injustice

81 notes · View notes

miloscat · 3 years

Text

[Review] Lego DC Super Villains (PS4)

It’s another Lego game! The latest one in this style, in fact.

As usual Cathy and I played this together over a period of time. It’s one of the superhero games (the fourth one under the DC banner), so there’s a fun selection of characters with wacky powers. The premise here is that it’s a game about the villains, which informs the plot and how the story mode plays out, but the free play roster is still stuffed with heroes, and bloated with duplicates (eg. Superman, Superboy, Supergirl, Bizarro, Ultraman, etc.).

One of the key new features is the integration of the character creator. Lego games have always let you design your own in-game figure to play as from available parts, but the campaign here starts with that process, and your new OC takes centre stage in the plot (albeit voiceless). They get new powers over the levels, and end up being an extremely useful polymath, as well as increasing your attachment to them due to their prominence. I thought we’d both get equal chances to do this so I took the lead; sadly it’s just the one but Cathy made herself later with complementary powers in the usual creation suite. Our lead villain then was Flit, whose yellow-and-green colour scheme I picked randomly but it happened to line up perfectly with the parademons who showed up as part of the real antagonistic faction, giving her a built-in imagined backstory as a defector.

The plot involves villains teaming up (with lots of bickering of course), to stop the Crime Syndicate from Earth 3 who are posing as good guys. They turn out to be puppets of Darkseid, and the Justice League ends up joining forces with the villain group after being absent most of the story. They also get their own post-game mini-campaign. Joker (played this time by an audibly aging Mark Hamill reprising his role from Batman The Animated series, alongside Kevin Conroy as a Batman who does not match the tone of the game universe) is positioned by marketing as the main character but really Harley plays the protagonist role. Of course it’s all inconsequential to the real point of the game, which is flying around, smashing things, and collecting stuff, which is as good as ever.

A few nice improvements in this one: the character select screen’s ability filter, which highlights anyone with a specific skill. The minimap and hub menus are drawn on an in-game phone interface, a nice touch that ties in with the plot detail of Harley’s phone and one of the collectibles (vandalising hero portraits then taking a selfie), plus NPCs now text you after a quest with some follow-up gags. The hub subquests of finding various hidden objects, returning from Lego Marvel 2, are made much more achievable and worthwhile with the addition of written hints. As usual we had a few crashes and more minor bugs, but this was an enjoyable experience and, I think, one of the better Lego games.

#lego #lego dc super villains #traveller's tales #review #ps4

4 notes · View notes

himitsusentaiblog · 5 years

Note

Hey Since the Ultraman anime is only 3 weeks away tell me do you think people are going to enjoy this anime? There’s been a bit of doubt due to the animation style and the fact that people fear this will be another Godzilla Anime (if you get what I mean). Also I’m sure you noticed but there are some scenes in the trailer that are different or haven’t appeared in the manga can you elaborate on those?

I cannot speak for other people but I can say I think I am going to enjoy it. I have enjoyed some of the director’s other works such as the two Appleseed movies and though the human designs look a little weird (as they usually do in pure CG anime) I think the choice for CG works well for the suits and monsters.

Oh, I get what you mean about the fears of this being another Godzilla anime situation with the similar animation styles. I’m not worried about that because, unlike the Godzilla situation, this is based on and seems to be taking direct cues from an already existing work and is thus and adaptation of the manga rather than an original story.

Also, because this is based on the manga, I don’t worry it’s going to introduce cool concepts and then not really do anything with them (like a planet full or monsters or a new Mechgodzilla). So, I honestly don’t think the comparison is even remotely fair to make. Yes, it’s a pure CG anime but that’s like comparing something like Minions to Wall-E. They’re both created using the same medium but not at all comparable in quality.

Yes, there are scenes in the trailer that do not correspond to scenes in the manga. Does that worry me? Not really. When adapting things often things are added or removed. Animation and comics are different mediums and you may find it necessary or desirable to add an action beat in when there wasn’t one in the manga for the sake of giving an episode of a series a bit of a kick amid a sea of exposition and drama. Also, who doesn’t want to see more Ultraman vs. Monsters? I know I do.

Here’s the thing though, the one caveat I will give anyone getting into this who has not read the manga or is not familiar with it. This is not the Ultraman you are familiar with. This is a weird sequel to the original series divorced from (but borrowing a lot of concepts from) the other series in the franchise. This is a human-centric story that plays out somewhat more like a conventional superhero story than other Ultra media. That said, I love the manga and seeing how they play around with new versions of familiar characters and concepts in surprising ways is always fun to me.

In short, comparisons to the Godzilla anime, though they may seem similar on the surface, should not be made in dismissing this project. It is based on an established and well received story, from directors who know what they are doing and overseen by the a studio who honestly cares about their flagship hero and sees this as a chance to give him greater exposure on the most used streaming platform in the world. I am excited for this in ways beyond what I was for the Godzilla anime (which for the record I thought was fine, not great, not something I would rush out to re-watch but fine for what it was) mostly because it is based on a manga I already adore and wait eagerly for each new volume as they come out.

I am actually excited for the new scenes to see what they added and what that may bring in new references and callbacks to the older shows. It’s a new universe of Ultraman (in more ways than one) and I can’t wait to see it in motion!

Thanks for the question!

#Askbox Replies #Ultraman Anime #Netflix #Ultraman Manga #Tsuburaya Productions #Godzilla Anime Trilogy

61 notes · View notes