Skip to main content

Ultraman Blazar





The first episode of Ultraman Blazar premiered this Friday on the Tsuburaya YouTube channel. I sat down to watch it, expecting the usual stuff from an Ultra series, but found myself surprised at what a different tone the opening episode struck. Not what I was expecting at all, but in a very good way.












The series immediately begins with a kaiju attack, and the military operation to stop its (Bazanga) rampage. The captain of the units is Gento Hiruma. He's leading 2 teams into the city to begin the mission. The entire episode focuses on their battle, and instead of the usual colorful, slightly goofy character introductions we get in premieres, this one leaned into the gritty action. It felt less like a TV show and more like a cinematic, big budget monster film. 











Their efforts to thwart the kaiju's attack are unsuccessful, with the monster not getting weakened by their attacks, and continuing to destroy things left and right. It had the ability to fire these bullet projectiles from its claws that would explode in the air, in attempt to defend itself against the fighter jets. Honestly, these military scenes were fantastic. Instead of a small team that does all the fighting, this was a bigger squad that resembled real soldiers. In the beginning, they're in a vehicle, heading towards the battle area, talking amongst themselves, with the camaraderie of a group of people who've been working together for a long time. Then a door opens, the captain tells them he'll meet them at the rendezvous point, and he jumps out, making you realize that they're in a plane. This scene was visually stunning, as you see his body flying down towards the city, with fireballs showing the destruction that Bazanga has caused.










Gento goes to rescue his squad members who are injured, and Bazanga is about to crush them with a building. Gento suddenly is granted a device that gives him the ability to transform into Ultraman Blazar. He begins to fight agains the giant kaiju. Unlike past series, this Ultraman behaves very differently. Instead of being sure of himself, or clumsily learning how to fight, he appears more savage and animalistic, grunting and screaming a lot. I found it off-putting at first, but eventually appreciated that they attempted something different, instead of the usual stuff we've seen before. Another thing that was nice is that Blazar had a sense of mystery. There were no scenes of the Ultra introducing himself to Gento. They had no interaction at all. Just savage, raw fighting, while the squad members all look on in awe.














Blazar eventually defeats Bazanga. He then transforms back into Gento. He wakes up to find himself on the ground, utterly confused as to what the hell happened. He notices an Ultra coin in his hand. All of his squad are ok, and they cheer the victory against the monster. Then it ends. I stood there, thinking "Wow!". Very fast paced, full of gritty realism and action, and not a lot of character introductions or explaining who they are, what they do, etc. This first episode was such a breath of fresh air. I seriously hope that they rest of the series keeps this vibe. If it does, Ultraman Blazar just might end up utterly fantastic. I'm already hooked and looking forward to how the rest plays out.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Help Me… I’m Possessed (1974) / #Missingcouple (2024)

I've watched some weird, obscure horror movies throughout my life. I can now add this lurid 1974 schlockfest to that growing list. In a castle in the desert, Dr. Arthur Blackwood runs a sanitarium filled with mentally disturbed patients (as well as staff). He claims to be working on finding a way to cure people of any violent tendencies they have, and brags about his younger sister, innocent, child-like Melanie, as evidence that his treatment works. When she was a child, their parents had to keep her locked up and chained in the basement, to control her violent fits. Now that he's cured her, Arthur has his wife Diane come to the castle to meet Melanie, so that they can be one big, happy family. Diane begins to grow suspicious that something is amiss after a Sheriff shows up investigating the murder of 2 local teens, and sets about on her own investigation, hoping to uncover the sinister secrets that she feels her husband is hiding. Help Me... I'm Possessed is an outrageous,...
Post a Comment
Read more

Titanic Creations Yongary 1967

This figure was released in late December, and I got it about 2 days before the New Year, so I'm counting it as a 2025 release. It is the Titanic Creations version of the Korean kaiju Yongary, Monster From The Deep. The film was released in 1967 as a Godzilla ripoff, with several ideas copied from the Gamera series, such as his tusks, his ability to fire a stream of flames from his mouth, and even firing a laser beam from his horn, similar to the slicing one used by Gyaos. The film is pretty goofy, but Yongary, like most of those Asian monsters, was pretty cool (to me, at least), so I was psyched that someone finally made a figure of this lesser known kaiju. When Titanic Creations put it up for pre-order, they announced a series of tiers, where they would add accessories when a certain number of orders were met. Enough fans ordered him, so that Yongary ended up with a shit ton of stuff, making him absolutely worth the price. In addition to the kaiju, you get a flame breath effect, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

RicSan Custom Toys Kyōrū Kaiju (Titanosaurus)

My latest kaiju figure purchase is the Titanosaurus made by Ricsan Custom Toys. I own and love the Varan & Gabara, so of course I had to preorder this one when it was available. He was delivered earlier this week. This kaiju hails from the last Godzilla film of the Showa era, 1975's Terror of Mechagodzilla. The Black Hole aliens are back, rebuilding their robot in another effort to take over the planet. They enlist the help of an ostracized Earth scientist named Mafune and his daughter Katsura, who are able to control an aquatic dinosaur named Titanosaurus. They plan to use both kaiju and mecha to attack Japan. Titano was a cool monster, with his tail that opened into a fish fin, and he would use it to create whirlpools in the sea, and high winds on land. I'm hoping that S.H. Monsterarts makes one for the 50th anniversary of the film, but when I saw this Ricsan Custom version, I couldn't pass it up. Titanosaurus (called the Kyōrū Kaiju), comes in a white box, with its n...
Post a Comment
Read more