Shin Ultraman NON-SPOILER THREAD

[GodzillaBurgh]

Apparrently on the Ultraman Wiki, Ultra Warriors get their power from the sun. But due to being weak in Earth's atmosphere and being far off from the Land of Light in Nebula M-78, they don't get their major intake of solar energy. Ultras only have 3 minutes of interaction on Earth. But in space, they have no problem as long as there's an adequate light source. Ultra Seven doesn't require a Color Timer, proving that Color TImers are in fact surgically implanted since it's an early invention when gaining the power of Ultra, basically an optional artificial organ that can be surgically implanted to any Ultra, most particularly those undertaking a deep space mission away from Nebula M78.

[Terasawa]

I don’t understand the complaints. This is literally the first thing we’ve seen from the movie, and except for the title and the two primary filmmakers, there’s no reason to expect this to be Shin Godzilla with Ultraman.

I think it was pretty well established that the idea behind this design was to slightly exaggerate and realize the very original Ultraman concept from 1966 (prior to episodic production), thus the lack of color timer and the strange proportions. Somewhere today I read that the nature of the film is to inject the original Ultraman concept into an otherwise modern world. If that’s truly the case then I don’t know how anyone can rationally be upset with this image, or the character’s design.

[GodzillaBurgh]

I've got nothing against the design. I'm always open for alterations to a character as long as his/her traits remain recognizable.

[ray243]

I don’t understand the complaints. This is literally the first thing we’ve seen from the movie, and except for the title and the two primary filmmakers, there’s no reason to expect this to be Shin Godzilla with Ultraman.

I think it was pretty well established that the idea behind this design was to slightly exaggerate and realize the very original Ultraman concept from 1966 (prior to episodic production), thus the lack of color timer and the strange proportions. Somewhere today I read that the nature of the film is to inject the original Ultraman concept into an otherwise modern world. If that’s truly the case then I don’t know how anyone can rationally be upset with this image, or the character’s design.

I don't think people are upset with the design per say, they are merely upset that their pet-theory/take on how Ultraman will look like is wrong. I think a big segment of the fanbase on this forum misunderstood what Shin Godzilla was about. It's not about making a more gratuitous version of Godzilla. It is about understanding the original intention behind Godzilla 1954 ( a monster that evokes the horrors of atomic bomb and radiation burns) and updating to a more modern context. Some of those fans care more about being validated than how Ultraman actually looks.

I think fandoms in general can be quite bad at understanding the reasoning of why film directors do the stuff they do, even if it is explained to them. I think Tokusatsu fans outside of Japan might lack some of the cultural context that might seem a lot more obvious to the Japanese. Shin Godzilla is a very Japanese movie, and that means it can be difficult for someone, no matter how long they have been a toku fan or a Godzilla fan in the States to understand why it resonate so well with the Japanese modern day audience.

Likewise with Ultraman, the fact that it is a franchise that did not see a revival in the West in the 90s and early 2000s means a whole generation of toku fans in the West did not see Ultraman growing up as kids. The importance of "respecting" the original spirit of Ultraman might be lost amongst people who have never been Ultraman fans.

One very big question for me is whether they will finally give us back the attack teams. The lack of an attack team has been one of the major reason the older fans have abandoned the Ultraman franchise, particularly in Japan and East Asia. The stories surrounding the attack team usually adds a level of maturity of the story-telling, as it allowed more story-telling opportunities to explore the different attack team characters. Some of the attack team members being older meant issues of marital issues can form a part of the narrative of the Ultra-series. It has also been used to explore the more political and social issues of having to fight giant monsters on a near-constant basis.

Topics like militarisation have been brought up in some of the Ultraman series, so having a new attack team will make the Ultraman series more engaging to older audience once again. I do long for the day the Ultra-series becomes similar to Star Trek in terms of tone and maturity.

[Terasawa]

^I agree with all of this, especially fan validation and lack of cultural context. Very well said.

[fred25_ca]

Am i the only one who's alarmed by the fact this isn't directed by Anno but rather Higuchi, a terrible director who did such abysmal movies like the two Attack On titan movies and The sinking of Japan?
I mean, I hope to God his experience with Anno on Shin Godzilla changed him and that Anno's script and the fact he's producing will save this movie, but it's very hard to overlook such a terrible choice for the director.
Love Higuchi when it comes to FX (he's a legend and the best FX supervisor in Japan hands down) but, imo, he's barely better than Uwe Boll when it comes to directing.
Plus, Anno's scripts are so weird and unique that in the hands of the wrong person, they would just crumble.

[GodzillaBurgh]

I'm sure that Higuchi is taking a step in the right direction with Anno when it comes to being the main director. I hope...

[fred25_ca]

I can't really see how. It's not like this is the first movie Higuchi is making, he's been directing for 15 years and never got better. I really hope i'm wrong and Anno's script can save this movie. I was so excited when I first heard the news, honestly. Never saw in the article Anno was simply writing till a few weeks ago when I reread it.

[eabaker]

I haven't seen any of Higuchi's solo directorial efforts? How is it, specifically, that he fails as a director?

[Gawdziller1954]

I haven't seen any of Higuchi's solo directorial efforts? How is it, specifically, that he fails as a director?

People don't like the 2 AOT films ( do) because of their style and the acting, which, to be fair, is cheesy. AOT1 and 2 are more like showcases of modern Tokusatsu than actual films. He's a very divisive figure, some like his style other's don't (Majority in the west don't I think) but given that he's a toku nut i'm hoping he does Ultraman good here. I think the main issue with Higuchi is that he focuses more on the effects of the film and action sequences showcasing said effects than the characters. He's not as bad as Bay or boll, but he isn't comparable to Anno in terms of directing quality. As the other guy said though, Higuchi is an SFX Legend.

[fred25_ca]

I haven't seen any of Higuchi's solo directorial efforts? How is it, specifically, that he fails as a director?

In pretty much every ways. He can't direct actors (think George Lucas' directing when it came to the prequels). Also, while he is incredible when it comes to FX, as a director, he can't direct FX. He doesn't know how to show restraint and because of that, the FX greatly suffer from it. Compare the FX he did under Kaneko (The Gamera trilogy) and Anno (Shin Godzilla) to his own movies (Attack on Titan). Attack looks dreadful. Sure, the titans look great but there is so much CGI all around them (and so much green screen) that nothing really works.
His pacing is also really bad. The Attack on Titan are all over the place.
Btw, his movies were also panned by Japanese viewers (the second Attack bombed because of the bad reception of the first one). While i'm no Michael Bay fan, he at least knows how to direct FX. Higuchi doesn't.

I find my lack of enthousiast for his directing painful because I love Higuchi. What he did for the genre is tremendous. He is such a passionnate fan and I love reading his interviews. I might dislike the movies he directs but I still love the man. I was just REALLY hoping he had learned he wasn't made to direct movies, especially after Shin Godzilla and that he'd stick to either FX supervisor or co-directing. But alas, that doesn't seem to be the case.

Who knows, even Stephen Summers made one good movie (Stargate). Maybe this will be it for Higuchi. I sure hope so!

[eabaker]

Who knows, even Stephen Summers made one good movie (Stargate).

Stephen Summers didn't make Stargate; that was Emmerich and Devlin.

[fred25_ca]

Who knows, even Stephen Summers made one good movie (Stargate).

Stephen Summers didn't make Stargate; that was Emmerich and Devlin.

Oops, indeed. Well, Summers never really did a good movie. I meant Emmerich haha.

I've always viewed Michael Bay, Stephen Summers and Roland Emmerich as the holy trinity of bad 90's blockbuster movies. Summers is the worst but the other two aren't far behind.

[LSD Jellyfish]

But Evangelion IS basically Shin Ultraman...

Nah not in the slightest. The two couldn’t be more thematically different.

Shin Gojira is definitely different then Gojira (I guess we can’t just use Shin as a short hand for Shin Gojira now), but it’s thematically appropriate and in line with the morals and routes of the series. I doubt that they’ll do anything extreme with Ultraman itself.

I don’t understand the complaints. This is literally the first thing we’ve seen from the movie, and except for the title and the two primary filmmakers, there’s no reason to expect this to be Shin Godzilla with Ultraman.

I think it was pretty well established that the idea behind this design was to slightly exaggerate and realize the very original Ultraman concept from 1966 (prior to episodic production), thus the lack of color timer and the strange proportions. Somewhere today I read that the nature of the film is to inject the original Ultraman concept into an otherwise modern world. If that’s truly the case then I don’t know how anyone can rationally be upset with this image, or the character’s design.

I just thought my original post just proves a point. I don't think many people understand that Shin is just an updated Godzilla and isn't that different and doesn't just mean "weird Godzilla". In fact in many ways it's a return to form. I have no idea how people are upset with this design. I for one like it. I would not be surprised if this Ultraman has some unique powers. Let's be honest here, the modern Ultraman Franchise is plagued by toy advertisements, annoying idol and basic lowbrow Japanese morals with little actual soul. I take it that this is a return to form in which the Ultraman Franchise was full of actual character.

The funniest shit, was actually I saw the design a few days ago, on a meme video by Space Hunter M, and didn't realize that was the new design.

[Jetty_Jags]

While I would have to agree that NGE isn't Shin Ultraman, a lot of it seems inspired by Ultraman and its tropes. Yet, I'd argue this is more of a John Carter Star Wars relationship, than Gojira Shin Gojira relationship. The first is clearly inspired by the previous, and while it does borrow many aspects of the former, it is also is more than unique enough to stand as a separate property. NGE is too thematically different, let alone being its own story for it to be Shin Ultraman, despite the fact that the base concept of the show, and other aspects are clearly influenced by Ultraman.

[UltramanGoji]

NGE has way more in common with standard mecha shows than any Ultraman stuff. There's a few references here and there but it's story and characters are unlike anything in the Ultraman franchise.

[miguelnuva]

I think a lot of people thought Shin Ultraman would be a giant of light because Shin Godzilla is Godzilla taken to the extreme. He look, his powers everything about him you can see why he shapes out the way he does. He's Godzilla with not restraint relying him in.

[Monster X]

Since I had no idea were they were going with this, I think the design is fine. While I wouldn't mind a radical reimaging, this dose not have to go down the same road as Shin Godzilla and it really shouldn't. Ultraman is a super hero after all and his themes not the same as the Big Gs. That said, I do wander if the monster/s of the film will be more Shin G esc?

That also brings me to another point, how will they do the story? I can t see their being just one monster for him to fight. I picture this as being either an alien invastion story or Ultraman is hunting down a group of monster/aliens that have escaped to earth.

I'm really looking forward to Ultraman's new powers.

[Tyrant_Lizard_King]

I actually wouldn't be surprised if the Baltan are the main villains. Maybe with a kaiju or two as attack dogs.

[Gigantis]

I actually wouldn't be surprised if the Baltan are the main villains. Maybe with a kaiju or two as attack dogs.

Wasn't there an early draft in the original show's Neronga episode where the titular kaiju was just Baltans pet? It can easily be used and i'm pretty sure Baltan has mind control powers.