1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,440 This is MJ. I'm an author, I'm an artist, I'm an analyzer. You can find all my work at MJMunoz.com. 2 00:00:06,280 --> 00:00:08,940 This is Going Ultra. 3 00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:15,200 I'm talking about Ultraman Z Episode 22, which originally aired 4 00:00:15,900 --> 00:00:17,520 November 28th, 5 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:25,360 2020, directed by Koichi Sakamoto. The screenplay was by, or is by, Sotaro Hayashi. 6 00:00:25,360 --> 00:00:31,720 And this is an interesting episode because it happens in the aftermath of... 7 00:00:32,320 --> 00:00:35,040 Oh my gosh, Yoko's outfit makes so much more sense now. Sorry. 8 00:00:35,960 --> 00:00:42,080 It takes place in the aftermath of the disbanding of storage. They're all on their own. They're all going towards their 9 00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:47,240 individual tomorrows, hence the name of the episode, individual tomorrows. And 10 00:00:48,480 --> 00:00:52,040 yeah, sorry. Koichi Sakamoto, if you don't know, is known for 11 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:58,240 enjoying the form of a woman, particularly in the lake region. 12 00:00:59,160 --> 00:01:03,920 Not that Yoko didn't dress sort of like this last time, but I was a little surprised by how she was dressed this time, 13 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:09,180 especially the way the camera panned up from her like knee socks to, well, to her face. 14 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:14,080 So yeah, I guess that makes sense. Anyway, moving on from there, that uncomfortable topic, 15 00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:17,120 this is an interesting episode because it 16 00:01:17,120 --> 00:01:23,480 looks at these people who their whole life has been wrapped up in being members of storage, being 17 00:01:23,920 --> 00:01:27,520 comrades who work together, being people who are relied upon to 18 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:31,320 defend the earth from kaiju in a way that they 19 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:38,520 seemingly felt was ethical and good and noble, and now they've been disbanded because the 20 00:01:40,080 --> 00:01:43,680 Global Allied Forces Division of Japan, which is 21 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:50,080 the company they work for and their bosses ultimately, have decided that they will use a weapon that 22 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:55,400 these people are uncomfortable with and they are 23 00:01:57,120 --> 00:01:59,960 they're willing to do whatever it takes to defeat kaiju and 24 00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:03,480 you might say that's a good thing, but then again if it leads to 25 00:02:04,360 --> 00:02:05,880 destruction and 26 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:11,640 and ruin, then you know, obviously that would not be a good thing. And it looks kind of like that might be the direction that it's going. 27 00:02:11,640 --> 00:02:14,160 So that's not great. 28 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:17,920 So we have this interesting interaction between 29 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:24,660 Yoko and Haruki where they arm wrestle again for him to have a taste of her boba tea, 30 00:02:24,660 --> 00:02:31,040 which it's strange that she wanted to be on trend and have boba tea, and I'm shocked that boba tea is a trend. 31 00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:36,800 Although I have seen more boba plates popping up even here in the United States, but I like boba, man. I don't like boba. 32 00:02:36,800 --> 00:02:38,800 I don't even like tapioca pudding. 33 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:44,820 So sorry for that tangent, but yeah, so that's uh, that's kind of a funny interesting moment. 34 00:02:44,820 --> 00:02:51,600 But the better part of that is that she hints at the fact that she's interested in arm wrestling him 35 00:02:51,920 --> 00:02:55,960 because of a secret reason and we don't find out what that is till later. 36 00:02:55,960 --> 00:03:00,360 So I won't spoil it and it's a lot of fun and I really appreciate it. So anyway, we'll talk more about that later. 37 00:03:00,940 --> 00:03:07,480 You know as they parted ways in the previous episode, they asked Hibikura what he was gonna do and he said you'll see and 38 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:15,440 it's actually a little more complicated than what you might expect because he doesn't just do something noble to fight, you know, 39 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:17,720 Gaff J. 40 00:03:17,720 --> 00:03:22,760 Whatever. Sorry, it's such a clumsy thing to say. He doesn't just do something noble to like oppose them. 41 00:03:22,880 --> 00:03:27,440 He does sneak into their base and he finds out about Ultroid Zero, but he also 42 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:30,360 ends up provoking 43 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:36,400 and manipulating the fight that happens, the big fight that happens in the episode, in order to give 44 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:44,160 Gaff J the information that they need. By the way, tell me if I'm an idiot for saying it like that. 45 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:47,120 I'll hold off on doing it in the future. 46 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:53,880 Anyway, he gives Gaff J what they need in order to complete Ultroid Zero by, well, you'll see, by, you know, 47 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:57,360 basically giving them the data they need. That's all that matters right now. 48 00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:03,880 So that's pretty interesting to me because once again, you think you know what Juggler is doing. 49 00:04:03,880 --> 00:04:10,560 You think you know what Hibikura is doing, what his goals might be, and he goes and does something that completely surprises you and 50 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:17,760 that's, I don't know, super interesting because again, it's something that will be dealt with later in the show, 51 00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:19,760 you know, in the end game of it. 52 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:24,520 But for now, it's interesting just how well of a job they're doing or how good of a job 53 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:27,880 they're doing at keeping you guessing as to his true motives. 54 00:04:27,880 --> 00:04:31,200 And I find that impressive and I'm kind of proud of them for that even 55 00:04:31,200 --> 00:04:35,400 even though I do find it frustrating in some ways. So that's pretty cool. 56 00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:41,440 Alien Burosa number three showing up and talking with his human vocal cords. I will pick this nit once again! 57 00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:47,160 Alien Burosa originally said, I am too advanced to have vocal cords like you lower beings, 58 00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:50,760 which is why I'm talking through this girl or this guy or whatever. I can't remember who it was at the time. 59 00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:55,760 I think it was Yoko. And now Alien Burosas are talking all over the place! What's going on? That's not fair! 60 00:04:55,760 --> 00:05:01,760 You can't just change the rules like that. I thought this was hard science fiction, not children's tokusatsu. 61 00:05:01,760 --> 00:05:09,760 Anyway, but I like him coming back. I love everybody fighting against him in the little restaurant or whatever they are, 62 00:05:09,760 --> 00:05:15,760 where they are. That's super cool. His like barbarians club is super neat too. 63 00:05:15,760 --> 00:05:20,760 The little moment we get of, well, yeah, the little moment we get of, you know, 64 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:30,760 Z fighting is good. And I like that he's fighting in the small form. I think that's a lot of fun. 65 00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:35,760 It's weird that that doesn't seem to sap his energy though. And then like, you know, heavy, yeah, 66 00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:42,760 Juggler shows up there and he always shows up there for no good reason, which is a little disappointing because it seemed odd. 67 00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:49,760 Like he didn't have to show up there. And then later he just transforms from his human form to, you know, five king or whatever it is. 68 00:05:49,760 --> 00:05:56,760 And that's kind of an odd choice. So I wonder if it was like an obligatory, obligatory Juggler appearance or something, 69 00:05:56,760 --> 00:06:01,760 because that is a cool suit design and they could just have him show up more often. He could transform. 70 00:06:01,760 --> 00:06:09,760 He could hold up the dark Zetriser in my opinion as Juggler. And then when he goes inside, it could still be heavy Kura access granted 71 00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:16,760 to show the face actor doing all that transformation stuff inside. Whatever. Doesn't matter. 72 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:22,760 But yeah, the, I mean, it's getting, getting to see everybody shine. Even Bako got to do a Bruce Lee thing. 73 00:06:22,760 --> 00:06:26,760 I don't know if I think he said it in the Japanese, but he definitely says it in the original. 74 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:33,760 Don't think, feel and everyone's wowed by this cool old man. And again, once again, it's just something he picked up along the way. 75 00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:37,760 So that's a lot of fun. I love that. I love the gags. I love the simple. It's funny. 76 00:06:37,760 --> 00:06:45,760 Bako is simultaneously like a simple, all of them are like simple characters who have like catchphrases and like simple traits that they use. 77 00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:53,760 But at the same time, they are also able to be nuanced, interesting characters who do stuff that you might not expect. 78 00:06:53,760 --> 00:07:00,760 So I really love that blend of character building, character creation, character crafting. And I think it's something I want to use in my writing. 79 00:07:00,760 --> 00:07:07,760 It's something I'm doing with my girl bugs right now. I've given each of them like one emotional thing and like that's their lens and their perspective. 80 00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:12,760 That's how they see everything in the world. It's not that their personality is falling down and having big eyes. 81 00:07:12,760 --> 00:07:16,760 It's sorry. It's an anime joke. It's a it's a harem anime joke. 82 00:07:16,760 --> 00:07:20,760 Doesn't belong here in this pure clean Ultraman show. So I'll stop. 83 00:07:20,760 --> 00:07:26,760 But anyway, I think that's an interesting way to construct your characters. And it makes sense because I'm married. 84 00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:32,760 My wife and I say the same things to each other over and over again. And we think it's funny. 85 00:07:32,760 --> 00:07:37,760 When we were first together, she would do this thing that she doesn't do anymore because it doesn't work anymore on me. 86 00:07:37,760 --> 00:07:44,760 And same thing with me. You know, there's different plays or moves or tactics or little things that you do and they work. 87 00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:51,760 And sometimes they don't need to change it up to keep it fresh. But for characters in a show that's only 25 episodes long, you can definitely do that for characters that appear in a book. 88 00:07:51,760 --> 00:07:56,760 I think you can do that, too. And maybe even depending on how the narrative is focused and how many. 89 00:07:56,760 --> 00:08:02,760 Anyway, I'm getting too distracted talking about books, so I will stop doing that and I will go ahead and continue talking about talking about the episode. 90 00:08:02,760 --> 00:08:12,760 So I thought it was funny that Belly Rock once again. So first of all, this this alien brocify is awesome. 91 00:08:12,760 --> 00:08:23,760 The fact that Belly Rock abandons, abandons Hurricane Zep because they fought a giant, they fought one of these guys before is hilarious. 92 00:08:23,760 --> 00:08:35,760 I love that even though they've been disbanded and Sevenger has been in mothballs basically in the museum or display, whatever, he's still been properly maintained. 93 00:08:35,760 --> 00:08:46,760 And Yoko can get into that mech and pilot them. And I love that Yuka gets into the like the breast tank or whatever of King Joe and pilots that. 94 00:08:46,760 --> 00:08:50,760 That's what she does, right? Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's what she does. That's awesome. 95 00:08:50,760 --> 00:08:57,760 And that's super cool because she gets like the opening of the show where she shows her running and shows one of the mecha there. 96 00:08:57,760 --> 00:09:01,760 It makes it feel like she's going to be a mech pilot, too, or she has the potential to be. 97 00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:12,760 And that's something I've touched on before. And here we see, yes, she in fact does have the capability to be a mech pilot because she understands how these machines work and I guess has enough experience with them to get in there. 98 00:09:12,760 --> 00:09:24,760 Kind of like Rain, Mikimura, right? Anyway, like Rain from G Gundam where we see her working on the Gundam and she's not only a physician, she's a mechanic as well and other things. 99 00:09:24,760 --> 00:09:30,760 But she can work on it and pilot it, too, when the need calls for it. So that's a lot of fun. 100 00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:38,760 But I love seeing all of them working together. Like, you know, Vako has kept the machine, has kept Sevenger ready in order. 101 00:09:38,760 --> 00:09:44,760 Yoko is able to pilot it. Haruki does some fighting, but then he becomes Ultraman unbeknownst to them. 102 00:09:44,760 --> 00:09:55,760 And then, you know, Yoko does her thing in the mecha, in Sevenger, and she even convinces Ballyarok. 103 00:09:55,760 --> 00:10:09,760 She tricks him into working for her, but she uses reverse psychology basically on him and gets him to fight for her and does an awesome thing to, well, does an awesome attack. 104 00:10:09,760 --> 00:10:16,760 And that coordinates and brings all these different things together to defeat this alien Barossa. And that's really cool. 105 00:10:16,760 --> 00:10:22,760 So I really enjoy that. It's pretty awesome. And the show just has a lot going for it. 106 00:10:22,760 --> 00:10:27,760 It's almost like, too, you know, everybody's earned this moment. Everything's been built up over the course of the episode. 107 00:10:27,760 --> 00:10:33,760 Everything has come together in this culmination. Maybe that's why Heavy Kuro appeared as Juggler in order to do that. 108 00:10:33,760 --> 00:10:46,760 And, man, him, Juggler, or not Juggler, but Five King or whatever, going ahead and making it so that they could complete Ultroid Zero was super interesting. 109 00:10:46,760 --> 00:10:56,760 Again, it's just it's fascinating how he manipulated the situation to have King Joe get blasted by the Zestium Ray. 110 00:10:56,760 --> 00:11:04,760 Zestium beam, sorry. It doesn't really matter, but it matters to me so that he can see Ultroid Zero completed. It was really interesting. 111 00:11:04,760 --> 00:11:10,760 By the way, I mixed up. I thought at the end of the episode, or at the end of the last episode, he said, just see what I do. 112 00:11:10,760 --> 00:11:16,760 But it's at the end of this episode that they all part ways. And we learned that Yoko is a candidate to pilot Ultroid Zero. 113 00:11:16,760 --> 00:11:23,760 And Yoko is going to be working on something or other. Bako is going his own way. And that's what Heavy Kuro ominously says. 114 00:11:23,760 --> 00:11:28,760 You know, you'll see what I'm going to do. So I'm hyped. I'm super interested in seeing what that is. 115 00:11:28,760 --> 00:11:34,760 And, yeah, I mean, again, this show is so good. It's so compelling. It's so interesting. 116 00:11:34,760 --> 00:11:40,760 And like all of the qualms I had last episode are completely gone because I got and this don't take this the wrong way. 117 00:11:40,760 --> 00:11:50,760 I got such good fan service this episode in seeing these characters I know and have good feelings about and that have like a good rapport with each other. 118 00:11:50,760 --> 00:11:56,760 Seeing them interact, seeing them get to say farewell after they've been disbanded and how they've come together now they're splitting apart. 119 00:11:56,760 --> 00:12:06,760 It's all just so satisfying emotionally and like dramatically. And, you know, what's coming up is it's super interesting because the stakes are higher than ever. 120 00:12:06,760 --> 00:12:14,760 With this looming threat of Ultroid Zero, which is supposed to rival the power of Ultraman, which is what, you know, Miyayuki, right? That's her name. 121 00:12:14,760 --> 00:12:19,760 Wants and, you know, is it really going to rival the power of Ultraman? 122 00:12:19,760 --> 00:12:26,760 And if so, does that mean that it is going to fight with Ultraman? And does that mean that that could be defeated by a human made weapon? 123 00:12:26,760 --> 00:12:30,760 That would be super fascinating and super interesting. 124 00:12:30,760 --> 00:12:36,760 And I don't know, like it feels weird to say this, but like, is that what the show has kind of been building towards this whole time? 125 00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:46,760 Is it a discussion of the power that humans have? And, uh, I don't know. 126 00:12:46,760 --> 00:12:52,760 Is it a question of dealing with power and how it should be utilized and what should be done with it? 127 00:12:52,760 --> 00:12:57,760 I don't know, because here's the thing. Like I made the argument for in the previous episode. 128 00:12:57,760 --> 00:13:12,760 Morally, I don't think it's, I don't think it's morally good or morally a moral stance to say I refuse to wield power because people are naturally attracted to power. 129 00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:16,760 And the people who are most attracted to power are the most evil among us. 130 00:13:16,760 --> 00:13:24,760 So therefore, if the good refused to wield great power at all, then you're leaving great power in the hands of only evil, 131 00:13:24,760 --> 00:13:29,760 which I would think logically would lead to the subjugation of at least a small number of innocent people. 132 00:13:29,760 --> 00:13:37,760 Think of a warlord or a band of marauders terrorizing a small group of people or, you know, an oppressive government murdering people across the sea 133 00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:45,760 and setting its people into a meat grinder to kill them for the benefit of money, powers, foreign, foreign interests, 134 00:13:45,760 --> 00:13:50,760 and a military industrial complex that one of our presidents may have warned us against as he was leaving office. 135 00:13:50,760 --> 00:13:55,760 Oh, sorry. I try not to get political, but I just did. Whoops. 136 00:13:55,760 --> 00:14:03,760 Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this discussion of Ultraman Zet episode 22. I hope you enjoyed 21 and 22, my format of doing them. 137 00:14:03,760 --> 00:14:09,760 I think I may do this format in the future. And if you like it, let me know. If you don't, also let me know, 138 00:14:09,760 --> 00:14:20,760 because I want to do the best job I can do and give you the most entertaining and interesting Tokusatsu commentary out there in a succinct fashion. 139 00:14:20,760 --> 00:14:25,760 You know, less than 30 minutes. Unless you beg for more, then I'll give you lots more. But, you know, I don't know that yet. 140 00:14:25,760 --> 00:14:30,760 So you got to tell me, folks. You got to tell me. Anyway, I hope you're well. I hope you stay well. 141 00:14:30,760 --> 00:14:37,760 And with that, I want to let you know to check out everything over at the website. I've got lots of writing projects going on. 142 00:14:37,760 --> 00:14:45,760 I've got my Tokusatsu Children's books that I'm working on. Sort of feverishly, I've rededicated myself as a writer and an artist. 143 00:14:45,760 --> 00:14:52,760 So I'm making sure I put in a small amount of time every day, but a consistent amount of time every day to do my writing and my drawing. 144 00:14:52,760 --> 00:15:00,760 And that's all for the goal of getting better and finishing my projects more quickly. I'm designing book covers right now when I'm drawing. 145 00:15:00,760 --> 00:15:06,760 And I'm chipping away at my book to finish it so I can get my books out there. 146 00:15:06,760 --> 00:15:13,760 I've got a big book that contains a bunch of side stories from these characters from these other books. 147 00:15:13,760 --> 00:15:25,760 And then I've got the... that ties everything together and tells its own journey and its own adventure of a pair of characters who learn and grow from each other and from their crazy experiences that they go through. 148 00:15:25,760 --> 00:15:37,760 And then I have, aside from that, five individual children's picture books that feature kids in trouble being saved by magical bug guardians who help them in very Tokusatsu-y ways, 149 00:15:37,760 --> 00:15:45,760 whether it's fighting a kaiju-type thing, helping the children to transform into a giant of light, or a bug-themed warrior, or other things. 150 00:15:45,760 --> 00:15:54,760 If you enjoy Tokusatsu, I think you'll enjoy my books. In fact, I basically... I want to be a writer. I'm basically positioning myself to be a Tokusatsu writer. 151 00:15:54,760 --> 00:16:03,760 And if normies want to enjoy the stuff, because I'm trying to write it with enough appeal, broad-based appeal, because it's such high-quality work, that's the hope, that everybody will enjoy it. 152 00:16:03,760 --> 00:16:11,760 But it's definitely playing to the niche and the Tokusatsu fandom. So if you like Tokusatsu and Henshin Heroes, I think I have books that you're going to love. 153 00:16:11,760 --> 00:16:16,760 And yeah, so check those out. And with that, I'm MJ, and I'm signing out. 154 00:16:16,760 --> 00:16:25,760 I hope you enjoyed that. Go to MJMunoz.com to leave any questions, comments, or other feedback you might have. 155 00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:34,760 There you can find all of my analysis, art, and fiction. I cover books, Tokusatsu, comic books, anime, and more. 156 00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:55,760 Look around. You're sure to find something else that you'll enjoy as well. This has been a Story Over Everything production.