Tag: Ultraman

Wilco! | Ultraman Blazar the Movie: Tokyo Kaiju Showdown (2024) Review

November 3, 2026

Ultraman Blazar is a 2023 entry in the long-running Ultraman cycle which aired worldwide on YouTube to positive acclaim. I get the sense, browsing the odd comment here and there that, among fans, it enjoys a better-than-average reputation. My own experience with Ultraman is limited to a few episodes of the original 1960s series and the excellent Shin Ultraman from 2022. Beyond that, which of the almost forty TV shows would I choose from? Blazar happened to be in the right place at the right time, though the exact chronology escapes me now. I don’t remember if I knew about star Konomi Naito (the actress and martial artist discussed on my last video) and then heard a reputable recommendation or vice versa. Either way, the final factor was its proximity to Godzilla Minus One. I was in the tokusatsu mood, and here again – though this time coincidentally – staring down the barrel of Godzilla Minus Zero, I’m back in Tokyo for one final kaiju showdown. … More Wilco! | Ultraman Blazar the Movie: Tokyo Kaiju Showdown (2024) Review

Japanese Fighting Girl: The New School

April 15, 2025

So, I got into anime relatively late in life, and it was a lateral move, from an existing interest in science fiction movies. As a big fan of The Matrix, of course my first anime was Ghost in the Shell. And I liked Trinity, but wow, the Major? Now, there was a helicopter-wrangling, tank-wrassling straight shooter – and unlike what I was used to, she wasn’t alone. There’s her cousin Deunan Knute in Appleseed, Priss and the Knight Sabers in Bubblegum Crisis, Nausicaa, Battle Angel Alita, Armitage III, the Dirty Pair, Gall Force, Iria: Zeiram the Animation. It’s an embarrassment of riches. An embarrassment. … More Japanese Fighting Girl: The New School

And Hideaki Anno as Ultraman

May 23, 2022

So, Shin Ultraman premiered not long ago and it’s Ultra-smashing up the box office (Ultra Smash being a signature Ultraman move). The review bytes I read reflect the response to the trailer, that it’s a lighter version of Shin Godzilla — that’s all I need. I’m no Ultra scholar, so I don’t know how much political commentary factored into the original. Perhaps with Hideaki Anno ceding the director role entirely to Shinji Higuchi this time, there you have it? Well, that’s not really what a director does. And besides, as I learned today, Anno had a much more important role to play: Ultraman. … More And Hideaki Anno as Ultraman