Return of Ultraman (1971) - Ultra Retrospective

[@ZaGorudan]

This is the very first Ultra Retrospective and I think it shows. I've had plans to remake this one for a while now, this oddly short and truncated format I did for it sticks out real badly among the others. Maybe in the next couple years.

[@EVILGREENSKELETON]

Man

[@maltheicebear1847]

Man

[@ZaGorudan]

Rest in Peace, Jiro Dan. He was one of the best.

[@phonytoni05]

He’s was one of my favorites I didn’t even know he passed away 😔

[@mrgodzillaraptors8632]

Wait he died? Rip

[@imspector1506]

Rip the goat😭😭

[@TheMightyN]

Cruel irony, for one episode he helps the constellation Cancer fend on an alien monster, only for the disease of the same name to end his life. Jiro Dan is one of the best actors of his era and my absolute fave in _Godzilla Island._

[@gamestop15]

✋🎇

[@wangstanation6400]

This was my first ultra show and it will forever hold a special place in my heart. Rest in peace Jiro Dan🥺

[@gojirafan5437]

Watching Evangelion and this back to back has been quite the experience, you can really tell Anno took several cues from several parts from the show, some may be intentional and others a complete coincidence, like for the example the episode where Pris-Ma appears really reminded me of episodes 5 and 6 of Eva

[@redcometharry]

Some of these shots look unironically incredible, the sunrise/set at 4:55 sticks out to me in particular for some reason.

[@ZaGorudan]

At least three episodes set their battles during sunset and they all look great.

[@Morgil27]

I agree with how taxing it can be in a marathon. I, too, watched with the Mill Creek bluray, and I first just binged the first two disks. But after that I slowed down and just watched one episode a day, and that made it much, _much_ easier to get through. I ended up using that same episode-a-day pattern for the remaining three Mill Creek sets.

[@reechieman4126]

Great review! I definitely agree that the biggest problem with the return of Ultraman is the show’s lack of variety, compromising audiences’ endurance. While the show certainly includes giant monster battles, it is lacking in the colorful variety of the original Ultraman television series from 1966 and adheres to a more militaristic presentation and adherence of formula. In other words, Return of Ultraman is not as much science fantasy as its predecessors; rather, it is an action series 1st and foremost. But even though Ultraman from 1966 followed a formula, you never really knew just what to expect. But in this show, you’ll be nearly encouraged to know what follows the next story beat. But perhaps that’s what happens when cinematic innovators like Eiji Tsuburaya leave this Earth too soon. The standard they leave behind stagnates the medium. Also Hideki Goh can Goh ahead and spank me, but that’s besides the point.

[@jesseowenvillamor6348]

Nah Return of Ultraman is so much better

[@Darthzilla99]

Good review. I think part of the reason why it's hard to marathon showa and most of the heisei era is most of these shows we're meant to be episodic in natural, with the occasional two or three parter. As such, each episode would have a complete story like a min-movie. In the long run, this can be exhausting, especially when you have similar repeated narrative themes. With shows like Nexus and modern shows like Orb, you have more of a continuous story arc until the show ends, so you get attention and you don't always have repeats of story and narrative beats in the same show.

[@biggo7591]

Seeing the length of this compared to the more recent ones is interesting. To see how far you’ve come with this series has been quite a lot of fun

[@RedPowerV-HouseofRandomness]

Jiro Dan, aka Hideki Go has unfortunately passed away. May you please take your time to pay respect the hero.

[@dageekundaground]

I liked the MAT Team. One of my favorite episodes early on, was when the colonel told all of the team members they would be fired and disbanded if they lost one more battle. So in response they went out and fought the monsters point-blank range gangster style and damn near lost their lives. This show was a really good balance of light and dark episodes but the killing of two main characters left me shook. To be honest I watch the show in moderation like two episodes a day until it was over.

[@scado5679]

I've thought many times about how unique ROU is. The variety of new monsters. How it seems to combine Ultraman's monster of the week formula with Ultraseven's alien of the week formula (at least towards the end). How it captures those "slice of life" moments. It could be seen as cheaper or not as flashy or iconic as its predecessors. But I don't think that matters. For a show called Return of Ultraman, Ultraman doesn't really return all that much. Instead, he evolves into something else. And boy, did the following series each bring something very different. I can't believe you love Terochilus, but didn't even give a thought to Alien Varduck. We all know that's the peak of Showa suit design

[@BubbaUltra]

Haven't seen you comment in a while

[@scado5679]

@@BubbaUltra Really? I guess my life has been kinda busy, didn't realize it was impacting my comment. Must resolve to leave more comments

[@CelsiusQ]

Ultra Jack was always my favorite. And the soundtrack is amazing.

[@sedsitametadinterreteliber2937]

Aki and ken died really violently for a kids show

[@jarjared3522]

Oh the 70s...

[@Full-rider-hopper]

Japanese kids were built different well in the 70s of course

[@primeisaac56]

All the showa era was gory so ehh

[@LamangoKaijura]

I think return of Ultraman had some of the best kaiju designs.

[@mgkiryuu]

There are a lot of really solid giant monsters in the series. Not really all that many that I would call bad honestly. And when the feels are being filmed....they hit hard. The aforementioned Black King 2 parter is one of the best stories in all of the Ultra universe. I will agree, I did not much care for the other members of MAT. There is just no stand out personalities in the group. Its not like the original Science Patrol where you had the good fighter, the smart one, the captain, the girl which is the heart and compassion, and the hero. There were roles for each. In MAT, people just sort of slip in and out and are interchangeable. I will also say, the show does struggle to gain it's own identity. It was so much like a carbon copy of the original UM show. And I understand this, (they were trying to go back to what really worked after their experimentation with U7). Even adding something as grossly overpowered as the Ultra Bracelet didn't really work for me. I have never been a fan of Ultra's wielding physical weapons. That has only gotten much worse over the years because of toy sales. Damn you Bandai!!!!

[@ZaGorudan]

The bracelet really was the precursor to all the toy powerups these days, huh.

[@mgkiryuu]

@@ZaGorudan To the powerups, yeah I would agree with that. But the "extra toy", the piece of merchandise that you can get that is not a figure of the giant hero or the monsters, started with the transformation devices that is for sure. Those have gotten way out of hand as of late. And I am sure the company realized how much revenue they lost out on when Jack did not require a device in which to transform into a member of the Ultra-people. You can't market and sell "Ultra will-power" lol!

[@scado5679]

@@mgkiryuu Only Ultraman fans have that, but unfortunately you can't make money off of it. We'd all be rich if that was the case

[@sedsitametadinterreteliber2937]

Aki is literally a perfect lady she’s cute, likes horror movies, and can cook

[@ShinGoji1987Official]

Great review! I've only watched the original series, 7 and some of the newer films but this installment looks like a ton of fun. Those sunset shots look fantastic

[@Algeriawindows69]

yep, most of the showa era ultra tv shows were supposed to be seen once per week, that's why they are very repeatitive .

[@Kepin151]

Even until now actually

[@TomJupiter]

The show really picked up halfway through and gave me energy to continue binging the series. That tragic episode is what sold me on the series, I fully did not expect that to happen or at least for the show to stick to that decision as opposed to coming up with some plot armor to redo what they did. Goh so far is my favorite just because he HAS A LIFE.

[@harryguidotti3815]

"This show is worth seeing." *Dog Spontaniously Explodes.* Oh yeah?! You sure?

[@floofydevil2648]

THIS IS WHAT I THOUGHT TOO

[@ciello___8307]

The boy and the alien episode was emotionally really tense. Some great emotional highs in this series

[@ZaGorudan]

Check out my Patreon, I have several segments from my upcoming Halloween special, a review of every movie on Mill Creek's sci-fi box collection, available to all Patrons. www.patreon.com/ZaGorudan

[@level98bearhuntingarmor]

Honestly this is my second favorite Ultra show behind the Original

[@user-be2dt8eg2x]

New to this but liked this one. The "fight music" is very good. Like the MAT Arrows and Gyro design. Can't yet figure out why the MAT team can't link Go and Ultraman, but still enjoy the show.

[@elijahzilla619]

Oh yes the return of Ultraman the third Ultraman show in the fourth of the ultra trilogy

[@elijahzilla619]

Yeah basically one of the episodes is basically downright funny and weird known as the earth is talking to me it’s weird as hell

[@elijahzilla619]

Yeah the maths theme I love is probably one of my favorites

[@mitchman3006]

Ultraman Jack, Shinman, Ultraman II, he's probably my favorite of the showa era Ultramen

[@Riealomea]

There's one fun fact actually and it's from mebuis novel where the same kid at this series design and make gunphoeix as well for new version.

[@billgort]

Which episode is that clip of the dog exploding (4:36) from?

[@ciello___8307]

Episode 33. Monster and the boy. Probably one of the most emotionally tense episodes of the show

[@billgort]

@@ciello___8307Thank you

[@Dat_MrBlack]

bro zetton looks so fucking adorable

[@BlueScarabGuy]

I'm debating whether to watch RoU when I finish Ultraseven, or go back and do UltraQ before I continue the Showa era (I've seen Ultraman 66 to completion). Either way, I'm excited to get to it. The lack of serialized storytelling in the early Showa series can make them a slog to binge, like you said. But what makes up for that is how well these shows distill the tone and style of Showa-era monster and scifi films into 25-minute blocks and serve them up with class.

[@TomJupiter]

Not sure if you came to a decision yet but I feel you on the lack of serialization but I can say that RoU has some serialization and definitely say give it a shot again.

[@BlueScarabGuy]

@Tom Jupiter Yeah, I more or less decided on continuing into RoU. I've only watched a couple episodes so far, but it has an engaging lead cast.

[@TomJupiter]

@BlueScarabGuy Yea i actually like the team this time around, and Goh is much more engaging that Dan or Hayata

[@jeshonloonskin4176]

I would like to see a more in-depth review of the show now. Just like he had done with the others in the series now.

[@mangledued]

Personally I loved this show. (Though I haven’t watched passed the the Showa era yet. Need to finish The ⭐️ Ultraman) it’s not my favourite but I like it. Without it Ultraman would be quite different. Atleast about paying attention on Hideki Go’s life and less of his job.

[@francoiscoulombe7399]

Really enjoyable concept. If you jump back and forth between eras, I think it would make for a nice viewing experience.

[@annet6017]

Why would anyone binge a tv show? I guess it’s a generational thing. I grew up watching the original Ultraman in the 1970s. As much as I loved the show it doesn’t compare to Return of Ultraman, (the most balanced show) and Leo my other favourite which has a lot of similarities. Unlike MAC, though MAT characters all get a storyline and are very endearing. And don’t get killed off. Ultra seven was good but too serious and Ace and Taro no comment. R.I.P Jiro Dan. Thanks for the video even if I disagree.

[@PashaandDrosha]

Imo the quality of the episodes really pick up around episode 15 the electric turtle monster one. I regard it as probably my favorite ultra series along with 80 and tiga. My belief is that the best ultraman episodes are the ones where the show's characters and in turn the audience have to "live" with the monster for the majority of the episodes where dealing with the existence of the monster /alien is a major driver of the story. It's very boring when the monster is just an insulated threat to be shot at and defeated. Of course the memorability and creativity of the monster are almost just as important.

[@SanjayaWickramarathna]

Can you do a full 40 minitue retrospective of this video

[@thegrumpyfatazz7612]

Have you ever watched Johnny Sako and his flying robot?? Would like to know what you think about it.

[@baron4718]

1:06 😬 Who's gonna tell him that the entirety of Return of Ultraman has been available on KZbin for years?

[@ZaGorudan]

Yeah. With such legible subtitles as "Tokyo is Suck," "MAT is suck," and the phrase "Screw up!" whenever someone was being ordered to get up. They are the very same subtitles I mentioned in this video.

[@Sundayp84TeamShadowStudio]

Epic Ultraman

[@boydcontracting]

You didn't talk about how they switched captains in Episode 22!

[@ZaGorudan]

I didn't talk about a lot of things and this video is going to be the first to see a revision once I'm done covering every other show.

[@jackhamilton9604]

do you think Jack could have just been Ultraman as opposed to being a seperate character?

[@Irrelevant402]

Hm the attack team in the show is a bit weaker than previous two being just kinda there but way better than Trigger's. Still I think I liked the first portion best since best use of Goh's personal life which really set him from Hayata and Dan. It is kinda weird how the show is mostly divided neatly by: first Earth monsters, then wild space kaiju then alien invaders with a controlled space kaiju. With exception to the chicken monster that possessed the female MAT and like gasoline. Also like both Captains.

[@insomnibomb4830]

I used to not like this one very much but I warmed up to though I still don’t understand when so many people call it the best like most Showa ultra shows it’s solid but I will say it’s more consistent compared to the original and Ace onwards

[@mikenayers5981]

Why’s you skip Ultraseven?

[@ZaGorudan]

I don't do these videos in order.

[@VezixHaikal]

MALAYSIA MENTIONED

[@jesseowenvillamor6348]

I disagree that the MAT team is not memorable. Wrong analysis on that part.

[@cheekuan86]

Ey thx bro hit me up when u need more shitty translation