ULTRAMAN (2018) S1 on Netflix TV Review

I've never seen an Ultraman movie, but I guess in the older version, he would enlarge himself to tackle giant Kaiju but this version of Ultraman on Netflix is a bit different and takes the franchise in an interesting direction.

I was only going to watch an episode or two to get a feel for the new show, but ended up getting sucked in and watching the entire season. If that says anything.

-

Back in the 60s, Shin Hayata had bonded with the Ultraman alien technology so that he could protect the Earth from giant monsters and alien invaders. After successfully defeating the threats to Earth, Shin took a backseat to the hero life, but he was always there, ready, just in case. But through a twist of fate or what not, Shin had genetically passed on his powers or abilities to his son, Shinjiro.

One thing leads to another and Shinjiro discovers who or what he is, and ends up taking on the mantle of Ultraman, to defend the Earth from alien threats. But unlike the old days where the enemy was huge Kaiju, the threats to humanity are more subtle, coming in the guise of human sized aliens hell-bent on proving that Shinjiro or humanity does not deserve the Ultraman armor.

But with Shinjiro donning the armor, he becomes one with the tech and the enire 13 episode season is designed around his experience of fully becoming Ultraman, one episode at a time.

But through it all, we watch Shinjiro's relationships with the government team that operates the Ultraman team, a pop singer whose popular position in society helps sway public opinion about our hero. Then there's Shinjiro's co-worker, who is his typical, bad-ass trainer, who would just as much watch Shinjiro fail as win.

And then there's a third or potentially fourth player in the mix of heroes, who has mysteriously done his research and knows who or what Shinjiro really is.

All in all, for an animated series, it felt like a pretty solid contender to entertain myself with. We had solid character evolution, conflict and just the right number of engaging challenges or enemies to watch our main character grow from the reluctant hero to the wise and understanding man who accepts the mantle of Unltraman.

--

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Follow Cinema Static on: