Ultra Galaxy (all) & Ultra Galaxy NEO (up to ep 7)
Wow, so I'm more than two years late (for the first season), but Ultra Galaxy is actually quite enjoyable, once I got a little more familiar with monsters fighting each other without transforming giant hero (well...so far).
Anyway, I breezed through 20 episodes in the past two days (up to episode 7 of NEO), though I don't think I'll continue at that fast a pace for the rest. Not sure if my katakana reading skill has gotten a bit better from reading all those monster cards, but I certainly can't remember much of them. (Only remember those I see often in other series and/or some of the ones in Ultraman Mebius.)
Random bits that might not make sense without watching the series and some other Ultra series (maybe not even then). Most likely spoilers for up to episode 7 of NEO.
- I don't want Shinjo (from Ultraman Tiga) to have another little sister other than Mayumi (but then, it's probably inevitable, given that his actor almost never missed any recent Tsuburaya series).
- Jun is such a popular name in Tsuburaya shows, for both guys and girls. And most of these characters are usually referred to by their last names.
- Rei = that baby. I don't know why I felt so sure about that (no, I never did get spoiled). It just got reaffirmed more when the girl, Karen, says she doesn't know him but he seems to think he has met her before. Not that I understand what that is all about. Maybe they explain it in the series but I miss it due to me not understanding enough Japanese.
- Aside from her initial appearances (eps 5-6), I didn't really believe Kate was a bad guy.
- Haruna reminds me of Nagi from Ultraman Nexus. Probably because of that distrusting way (never really learned the reason, but then again I probably missed it).
- Kumano (the 'Magician') reminds me of Fubuki from Ultraman Cosmos. Not sure why exactly. True, they seem to be hot-headed types, but then there are many other hot-headed types around (maybe it's the hair?)
- Oki, as I probably mentioned when I first wrote about Ultra Galaxy, reminds me of Teppei (from Mebius). Aside from being so knowledgable about monsters (and Ultras), they both seem weak toward damsels in distress (who turn out to be something not so human...) Don't know if I would ever like Oki, but he seems less annoying as time goes on...
- Hyuga (the captain, or "Boss") doesn't precisely reminds me of anyone. But I think I like how he seemingly lies about his criteria for choosing members: only because he needs them.
- Rei reminds me of quite a few people (one of whom doesn't make sense at all), but I think I'll have to settle for Komon from Nexus. Which is very strange, as their personalities don't seem to be the same at all. (And just personal feelings: I like Rei but don't care much for Komon.) But it might be something like: they are both new members, clash with their vice-captains--or more like the vice-captains take them in dislikes (at first, and actually for different reasons), run off to places and worry their captains, seem to have disturbing visions, dreams, etc.
- I actually missed Kate, and hoped she would reappear when Reimon goes berserk, but nah, she chooses to come when he's no longer a threat.
- Why the other Zap members hadn't let Rei go or at least restraining him while he was still not rid of insanity? Weren't they being a little too optimistic? What if he actually killed them? (Not that it will happen, of course, but do they have a way of knowing that?) This almost blind trust kind of reminds me of the EYES team from Ultraman Cosmos.
As I had no spoilers, and my face recognition skills still need a lot of work, it took me a while to place the two aliens in Ultra Galaxy NEO:
Dairu (yeah katakana, I'm sure his name is not like that): Hirukawa (from Mebius) (Yes, I just read his name off the credit, but I didn't remember the name Kousei Katou at all.)
Gurande (I can recognize this guy faster than Dairu): Mitsuru Karahashi. He also guest-starred in one UltraSeven X episode (about a guy who wants to just travel, I think, since my memory of Seven X is rather hazy), but he's usually more in Toei shows. And that reminds me that I might want to finish Shinkenger at some point...
EDIT: Well, been looking a bit at Shouta Minami's blog and it seems he's going to appear in Ultraman Stage show in Osaka this June 5th (his entry (dated May 25th) says in around 10 days or so). And as an aside, he seems totally unlike Rei. (Yeah, I tend to think that actors have to be the same as their characters. ^^;;)
Anyway, I breezed through 20 episodes in the past two days (up to episode 7 of NEO), though I don't think I'll continue at that fast a pace for the rest. Not sure if my katakana reading skill has gotten a bit better from reading all those monster cards, but I certainly can't remember much of them. (Only remember those I see often in other series and/or some of the ones in Ultraman Mebius.)
Random bits that might not make sense without watching the series and some other Ultra series (maybe not even then). Most likely spoilers for up to episode 7 of NEO.
- I don't want Shinjo (from Ultraman Tiga) to have another little sister other than Mayumi (but then, it's probably inevitable, given that his actor almost never missed any recent Tsuburaya series).
- Jun is such a popular name in Tsuburaya shows, for both guys and girls. And most of these characters are usually referred to by their last names.
- Rei = that baby. I don't know why I felt so sure about that (no, I never did get spoiled). It just got reaffirmed more when the girl, Karen, says she doesn't know him but he seems to think he has met her before. Not that I understand what that is all about. Maybe they explain it in the series but I miss it due to me not understanding enough Japanese.
- Aside from her initial appearances (eps 5-6), I didn't really believe Kate was a bad guy.
- Haruna reminds me of Nagi from Ultraman Nexus. Probably because of that distrusting way (never really learned the reason, but then again I probably missed it).
- Kumano (the 'Magician') reminds me of Fubuki from Ultraman Cosmos. Not sure why exactly. True, they seem to be hot-headed types, but then there are many other hot-headed types around (maybe it's the hair?)
- Oki, as I probably mentioned when I first wrote about Ultra Galaxy, reminds me of Teppei (from Mebius). Aside from being so knowledgable about monsters (and Ultras), they both seem weak toward damsels in distress (who turn out to be something not so human...) Don't know if I would ever like Oki, but he seems less annoying as time goes on...
- Hyuga (the captain, or "Boss") doesn't precisely reminds me of anyone. But I think I like how he seemingly lies about his criteria for choosing members: only because he needs them.
- Rei reminds me of quite a few people (one of whom doesn't make sense at all), but I think I'll have to settle for Komon from Nexus. Which is very strange, as their personalities don't seem to be the same at all. (And just personal feelings: I like Rei but don't care much for Komon.) But it might be something like: they are both new members, clash with their vice-captains--or more like the vice-captains take them in dislikes (at first, and actually for different reasons), run off to places and worry their captains, seem to have disturbing visions, dreams, etc.
- I actually missed Kate, and hoped she would reappear when Reimon goes berserk, but nah, she chooses to come when he's no longer a threat.
- Why the other Zap members hadn't let Rei go or at least restraining him while he was still not rid of insanity? Weren't they being a little too optimistic? What if he actually killed them? (Not that it will happen, of course, but do they have a way of knowing that?) This almost blind trust kind of reminds me of the EYES team from Ultraman Cosmos.
As I had no spoilers, and my face recognition skills still need a lot of work, it took me a while to place the two aliens in Ultra Galaxy NEO:
Dairu (yeah katakana, I'm sure his name is not like that): Hirukawa (from Mebius) (Yes, I just read his name off the credit, but I didn't remember the name Kousei Katou at all.)
Gurande (I can recognize this guy faster than Dairu): Mitsuru Karahashi. He also guest-starred in one UltraSeven X episode (about a guy who wants to just travel, I think, since my memory of Seven X is rather hazy), but he's usually more in Toei shows. And that reminds me that I might want to finish Shinkenger at some point...
EDIT: Well, been looking a bit at Shouta Minami's blog and it seems he's going to appear in Ultraman Stage show in Osaka this June 5th (his entry (dated May 25th) says in around 10 days or so). And as an aside, he seems totally unlike Rei. (Yeah, I tend to think that actors have to be the same as their characters. ^^;;)