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.