Kaiju no Kami Reviews - Ultraman Ace (1972) Series and Blu-Ray

[Dr Kain]

Ultraman Ace began life in the form of three different series that became one titled Ultra A. Unfortunately, Tsuburaya learned that title had already been taken by a toy company, and as such, the name of the show became Ultraman Ace. To distinguish itself from its predecessors, Ultraman Ace introduced the concept of two people merging together to become the titular hero, along with a group of reoccuring main villains to compete with what Toei was doing at the time via Kamen Rider. Does Ultraman Ace fully utilize its innovations or is it nothing more than wasted potential? Watch to find out.

 

[Captain Shark]

You're definitely going to hate Ultraman Taro, ZAT manages to be on a similar level to TAC and it's very child centric. As for the whole TAC being around during MAT bit, that's part of the mythology that never gets expanded upon but it is assumed that different teams occupy different districts. Why Ace Killer was a big deal for so long was because he was the only evil Ultra that wasn't a copycat of a hero (this changed with Zelganoid from Dyna) and if you were that disappointed wait for the final arc in Mebius, they did it justice (and gave closure with Hokuto and Minami at the same time). Lets see what else-

>Chouju meant Terrible Monster not Super Monster this whole time


WHAT THE HELL!?

 

[Dr Kain]

You're not the first person to say that and I'm trying to figure out how anyone would think it meant Super Monster considering TAC stands for Terrible-Monster Attacking Crew. It's right there in their name. Was this a fansub name thing?

I keep hearing how terrible Taro is, but I find it hard to believe it could be worse than Leo. Then again, I already don't like the actor for Taro based on the boat episode from Ace.

 

[Captain Shark]

I'm trying to figure out how anyone would think it meant Super Monster considering TAC stands for Terrible-Monster Attacking Crew. It's right there in their name. Was this a fansub name thing?

Ignoring Ultra Q: Dark Fantasy Ace was the last Ultra series to be fansubbed (unless crabsticks don't count in which case Cosmos is still in limbo and nobody bothered with Return of Ultraman). Chou means Super in Japanese and I remember seeing the Malaysian dubs which called them Super Monsters, everyone based it on that translation.

I keep hearing how terrible Taro is

Taro isn't so much terrible as it is really damn weird. Hell, the first episode starts off with one of Yapool's chouju being munched on by a vagina dentata flower. As a long time Ultrafan I'll give you several non-spoiler heads up on what you're in on.

-Thanks to the Oil Crisis of 1973 Taro had to cheapen its effects by a lot.
-Taro really REALLY loves pyrotechnic spamming in its monsters.
-Supposedly Taro was going to be only 49 episodes but Leo fell behind production so an extra four were made. Kind of ironic since Dorobon is a more fitting final boss than Samekujira and Valky Seijin- Oh I'm sorry for some reason they call Samekujira Shark Whale! CALL THE MONSTER BY ITS FUCKING NAME! But yeah, X showed a baby version of that, final ep has the adult.
-Taro's color timer had a habit of going off way sooner than in other Ultra shows, if you feel the tension is forced it's not just you.
-Eleking returns as a ghost in one ep, I have to say this because it looks very dilapidated and I think it works well for the whole undead vibe going for it. I bring this up because Mephilas Seijin (same species different member) and Yapool return and their costumes.... Took liberties and don't have the same undead vibe going.
-There is another fart monster in this, it is not the worst one of the series. That one goes to Okariyan, probably my least favorite monster in the franchise. It's the one with the long ear probes and resembles Tochiro from Captain Harlock. https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Okariyan
-The Murora two parter has a backstory to it that inspires the second half of Ultraman Mebius and a famicom game called Ultraman Club. You will know it when you see it.
-The Birdon three parter is legit good. The Temperor Seijin two parter is treated similarly although it is similar to the Hipporit two parter (aka the one Father of Ultra first appeared in) which was beloved by fans.
-The famous Tyrant episode is a love or hate episode and partially a clipshow. Most fans justify this as to proclaim why Taro was the most powerful Ultra in the showa era (and ignoring Glitter Mode Tiga and Gaia Supreme probably the most powerful Ultra of the 20th century). I remember back in the day how bigly he was fanwanked on Toho Kingdom (although nobody ever topped Wing Gundam Zero, not even Unicron and Galactus).
-There's a family of bird monsters called the Raidron, these things inspired space herd monster ideas seen in 80, Mebius, and Ultra Galaxy NEO.
-I expect your least favorite monster might either be Rodera or Mukadendar (the latter reappears in Ultraman Mebius).
-There is a monster named Elegia that was a normal bird turned kaiju, this plotline is reused in Ultraman Tiga.