sennetari

When does the competent character figure out the secret identity?

Sat, 02 May 2026 16:16:33 GMT

The subject has been on my mind.

Ultra series usually is never really clear if/when someone figures out the Ultra's secret identity, so I'm not surprised that Ayumu Ichido might come across as oblivious in Ultraman Omega canon.

(She's assigned to research the giant alien hero Omega. Wait, that's my fanfic. Canon only says Ayumu is a government biologist researching giant creatures. And no mention whether she knows that her new friend Sorato is secretly Ultraman Omega.)

But, think about it. Ayumu is a "super smart" biologist, who always solves thorny giant creature problems. I've never doubted that she knows more than she let on. And acts "clueless" so she doesn't alarm her new friends (warehouse worker Kosei Hoshimi is so nervous around her already, trying to cover up his "cousin" Sorato's supernatural abilities).

(For instance, in Episode 3, Sorato summons, i.e. draws out from his forehead, the Omega slugger (his transformation item). Ayumu appears figuratively open-mouthed, like 'is this even real'? But we don't dwell on her reaction since, with a forced laugh, Kosei is claiming Sorato is a magician and is doing a magic trick. I think, at that point, whether she believes Kosei's excuse or not, Ayumu decides that asking questions is more headache than she's willing to commit.)

On the other hand, I think canon is ambiguous enough that "she might truly not know" is a valid interpretation. Only that it might seem annoying that Ayumu is supposed to be smart, yet is completely fooled by excuses that would fall apart if she only tapped a finger on them.

But, but. She has her hands full with kaiju research. She doesn't have time to play detective on her new friends. And perhaps she doesn't want to even if she has the time. Status quo is super underrated.

Fair enough. I guess only Ayumu knows the answer one way or another.

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A note from a sleeping deep blue sea to say I wrote something

Fri, 01 May 2026 14:09:55 GMT

1st of May. A third of the year in. New month. New start.

Or new restart. It's been a while. Almost four years, apparently.

A few things happened. But I never stop watching Ultraman. Never stop loving Ultraman. I look forward to July every year for a new series to sink into. (Would have to say the past few years have been especially kind to me in that regard. Ultraman Omega and Ultraman Arc in particular.)

I've been writing. Quietly. Somewhere along the way, I ended up finishing something I'm actually satisfied with.

It's an Ultraman Omega fanfiction called Bravely moving forward despite your doubt. A quiet character study centered on Ayumu Ichido, a super smart government biologist who keeps Ultraman Omega and his... roommate (not cousin) in line (kind of) in canon. (She's their sensible team mom, so to speak.)

My novella (~29,500 words. Eight chapters. Radio show segments. A vow examined sideways) focuses more on Ayumu's personal life. Which somehow intertwines with her professional life. (She made a conditional vow to reassure her boss in the prequel to the novella. And this vow, much to Ayumu's dismay, doesn't quietly dissolve itself.)

If you're curious, my novella, and its 2200 word prequel, are both on AO3. My AO3 is Pink_Moon_Blue_Moon.

That said, I'm mostly here to say I still exist, I still care about these giant alien heroes and the humans who stand beside them, and I'm still writing. Just slower.

If anyone is still out there: hello again. If not, I'm comfortable talking to myself. It's a skill I've been practicing.

Thanks for reading. Then or now.

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Tokusatsu Heardle

Sun, 04 Sep 2022 15:14:32 GMT

I'm kind of not happy that I never win this Tokusatsu Heardle so far. Then again, I watch only Ultraman nowadays, so I'm not familiar with the usual toku songs. Maybe if Ultraman Heardle existed...

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The Day I Wake Up In Strange Mood And Inaccurately Narrate Ultraman Mebius As A Light Novel

Fri, 02 Sep 2022 17:09:26 GMT

( The day I spoil the story in one painful (?) sentence of varying length per episode. )

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Stuff that is probably more suited to twitter if I actually know how to use it:

Wed, 10 Aug 2022 14:26:48 GMT

( Related to my unfinished and/or unposted Ultraman fics )
(And I'm sneaking this one in since the length is about right for twitter, I think.)

I'm way happy that Shunji Igarashi is back in entertainment business. Whether he will ever return to play Mirai/Mebius, I wish him the best. And Happy Birthday, too. :)

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Since it's new Ultraman season again...

Sun, 10 Jul 2022 17:41:54 GMT

Okay, since I've skipped a year and a month on the blog, I'm dumping everything I wrote about Ultraman Trigger in the same entry. Because I'm not up to annoying people with multiple posts, especially since I don't even know anyone read me anymore (or even remembers who I am).

I watched the Ultraman Trigger movie (appropriately named 'Episode Z') on the day it premiered (the livestream version with the actors commenting (incidentally, I didn't even pay attention to the livechat comments - my seven dollars were so wasted ^^;; - because I just couldn't; I was lucky I could finish the movie and the aftershow event at all on my ancient android phone).

Ah, but you're more interested in what I thought about that movie, right? Or maybe you don't. Either way, I'm not really commenting on the movie at this time, having seen it only once in its entirety. I'll need to rewatch it (hopefully, my five dollar rental still works).

( Aftershow event; maybe some spoilers for Episode Z, but I'm sure the trailer tells you more than I tell you. )

That's it for the aftershow event. Obviously I was joking about wasting my seven dollars because I got my money's worth and then some. I would love to see more live events like this (I missed last year events and still want to watch them, even if I have to pay).
(Speaking of event, I'll have to regrettably pass on the Ultraman Connection event later in the morning (or tonight, depends on where you are; it's 10 July evening in the US - at 9 PM EST). Hopefully, someone will type up a recap.)

----

Okay, now I've seen the movie again (courtesy of Ultraman Connection - thank you for subtitles in ten languages, two of which I can actually understand). It's fine. No, more than fine. One of my favorite new gen movies (at this point, probably only Ultraman X movie (and sometimes Ultraman Geed movie) is more enjoyable for me). I really don't know what to talk about it, though, so let's just do whatever comes to mind.

( Random thoughts/spoilers about Episode Z )

I'm sure I forget millions other things, but this is it for now. Lovely lovely movie which breaks no new ground, but yet it just comes together very well. Probably better than the TV series, which I love. A fitting conclusion.

ETA: 10 July 2022

You know, Ultraman Decker's premiere breaks no new ground either, but I love it just the same. And now I'm just reminded that the director for Episode Z is also the main director for Decker. It's obvious now that he (and/or people in charge/TPTB) is probably trying to fix the "mess Trigger TV series left behind"* by playing it very safe. It is easier to go with what have always worked in this franchise (i.e. establishes the characters quickly, shows us why the main character is chosen to be Ultraman, establishes the stakes, shows us why we should care if this world is in danger). Like, why bother fixing what isn't broken?

*I don't agree -- I'm just not quite quoting other people. Honestly, I really do like that Trigger was willing to do something different, or dare I even say, fresh? The result is endearing to me.

( More about Trigger )

So that's my roundabout way of saying that they did an experiment with Trigger, which unfortunately failed with some audience. Like I said, I love the series. Episode Z did a great job of trying to ground Trigger, bringing it down from the height of unbelievability to...if not the ground...somewhere more relatable.

Let's hope Decker continues to make no missteps, even if it has to sacrifice some originality. I've had enough of people complaining about Trigger. That series already ended half a year ago; let's just go forward and cheer for Decker.

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Mebius and Zett

Sat, 05 Jun 2021 13:16:46 GMT

Wow, I almost screamed when out of my random Spotify playlist, I heard Ultraman Mebius OP being played in 8-bit version. Still can't find a way back to it, however.

Speaking of Mebius, it's been 15 years now since the first episode premiered. Time sure flies. I'm due for a re-watch (for the nth time, I honestly don't remember how many times I've seen this series), but now I'm just so lazy (hence listening to Ultra music instead of watching).

Hopefully, I'm not too lazy for my weekly Ultraman Z fix. Episode 18 is tomorrow after all. :) And it's one of my favorites. (Then again, I don't remember a not favorite Z episode, at least not in this last stretch. At the very least, I could listen to Ultraman Z sing the ED forever - I'm doing it now.)

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Ultraman Ginga S Episode 16 (End)

Wed, 26 May 2021 13:11:02 GMT

Somehow, despite having posts on the three episodes before it, I never talk about the finale of Ultraman Ginga S. Most likely because I am speechless every time at how awesome it is.

I'm still without words, but I'll try to fill in something...

( Ultraman Ginga, Ultraman Victory, along with other humans, fight and save their tomorrows. For more details (spoilers), click here. )

Well, that's about it. I'm sure I've missed some parts, but as far as finales go I like this one a lot. Of course it relies on miracles (what Ultraman series doesn't?), but the focus is more on people working together to solve problems. It's clear they know what to do and do them to the best of their abilities. Not to say that other Ultraman series don't have people working together in their finales, but I guess the one in Ginga S breaks everything down in a simplistic form, yet still manages to leave a little surprise. I love how everything comes full circle, back to the beginning (you have callbacks from way back in Ginga).

In short, I love this episode, and Ultraman Ginga S as a whole. This is a much more traditional series than Ginga, but I think it works because it remains focused on the main characters for most of its run. Speaking as someone who doesn't care for villains, the main villain is fine, perhaps a bit too nice that his underlings don't care to obey him. ^^;; I would encourage people to watch it, but I understand that Ultraman Ginga is not for everyone (though of course I love that series, too), and, imo, you need to watch that series to appreciate Ginga S.

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Today's Lesson from Ultraman Z

Sat, 15 May 2021 16:11:46 GMT

Starting from Episode 9, I think, there is a cute one-minute sketch in the beginning of each re-uploaded Ultraman Z episode on YouTube. (And let me thank Tsuburaya for running this encore for the foreign fans.) This sketch from Episode 14 (the newest episode uploaded so far; a new one is coming up tomorrow) made me smile so much I just had to share, even with people who have never watched Z.

( Overslept, late for work, and needing to transform... )

And if you read this far, please watch Ultraman Z. You can find the series subtitled on Tsuburaya official channel here. Apart from it being plain enjoyable (and Haruki and Z are so so adorable), it would help with the views on YouTube. If the rebroadcast proves popular, it is to be hoped Tsuburaya will upload episodes for the future Ultra series, too. :)

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Ultraman Movies: Future, no future, and not past?

Sat, 17 Apr 2021 15:11:10 GMT

I watched a few Ultraman movies. And I'm putting my scattered thoughts all in this post. Spoilers abound (even for the end of Dyna and sort of for Mebius and Cosmos).

Ultraman Saga and The Ultra Galaxy movie: ( Mirai; Future Earth. )

And, since I'm too lazy to make a separate post, I might as well have this tagged on, even though I wrote about this movie way after I watched the two movies above and it has nothing to do with them. Wait, that isn't true. Ultraman Zero is in it, so I guess it has something in common with the rest of the movies, after all... (Oh, Taro and Mebius also appear, sort of. ^^;;; Yes, I mean the fusion. I would scream with joy if it's them in the flesh.)

Ultraman Orb the Movie: ( I actually like this movie more than I made it sound under here. Lots of random spoilers. )

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Human Form or Human Host?

Wed, 31 Mar 2021 16:54:44 GMT

(Ah, this turned out sillier than I intended. No series before Tiga because I can't remember the ones I'd seen very well. And some entries may have spoilers.)

Tiga: ( Statue )
Dyna: ( Forms )
Gaia: ( Earth )
Cosmos: ( Universal )
Nexus: ( Bonds )
Max: ( Alternate )
Mebius: ( Timeline )
UltraSeven X: ( World )
Zero: ( Shining )
Ginga: ( Spark )
X: ( Quantum )
Orb: ( Dark )
Geed: ( Fanboy )
R/B: ( Crystals )
Taiga: ( Bracelets )
Z: ( Dimensions )
So I don't know where all the above came from. (Gee, surely the Ultras don't talk like that. At least, I really hope Tiga and Dyna don't.) I only meant to talk about how I totally prefer human forms (or the form where the Ultra side is silent) over human hosts, but now I am not so sure. Some host/Ultra relationships are amazing, after all.

(Just seems like a silly disclaimer, but I've seen all of these series. If I don't mention something obvious (probably a lot of them), it means I either forget about it, don't want to be repetitive, or don't want to for spoiler reasons.)

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New Ultraman Film and Old Ultraman Series

Sun, 28 Mar 2021 16:33:24 GMT

Whoa, Shin Ultraman will not be coming out in the early summer? Certainly not the news I wanted to hear. But at least they finished filming way back in 2019, so they will have to release the film at some point. I remember another Ultraman movie similarly delayed and it still came out in the same year, so I hope Shin Ultraman release date will be rescheduled to some time this year. ETA: The film will come out when it can. I don't mind the wait if it means safety for everyone involved (moviemakers and moviegoers alike).

In any case, I suppose I should be grateful that there are still so much Ultra-related things for me to watch (and re-watching is always a possibility).

( Mebius as a gateway into the Showa Series )
That said, I am only one voice. Maybe someone else might think these cool old guys (well, three plus Taro, who had no human form) are represented accurately in Mebius. And maybe someone might think the first episode of each of these series accurately represents that series as a whole.

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How do they deal with Secret IDs in various Ultraman series?

Wed, 24 Mar 2021 15:54:03 GMT

Well, obviously every human host/form keeps quiet about the fact that they are Ultras. (Why do they? Why can't they tell people?) My question is more about other people. Do they remain clueless until the finale (or even beyond)? Or do they figure it out somehow?

Just going to do this with new series. I don't remember/still haven't seen some series before Tiga (and I thought, apart from very few exceptions, they usually didn't guess about the hero back then either). This is going to spoil the series mentioned, so if you don't want to know, you really should not proceed.

Tiga: ( Take Me Higher )
Dyna: ( Ally of Justice )
Gaia: ( Group Hugs )
Cosmos: ( EYES on you )
Nexus: ( Secret )
Max: ( Hero )
Mebius: ( Forever )
UltraSeven X: ( Pay Money for My Pain )
Ginga: ( Small Town )
Ginga S: ( Bigger Town )
X: ( Musketeers )
Orb: ( Vagabond )
Geed: ( Legacy )
R/B: ( Family )
Taiga: ( Teamwork )
Z: ( Torch )

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Transformation items (and the persons who use them) in recent Ultra series...

Sun, 21 Mar 2021 15:22:37 GMT

(Okay, you probably wonder who this person is who went silent for almost seven years. It's more likely that I'm talking to myself here, however. Anyway, went out for the first time this month on Friday and found that the outside world is still the same, so maybe I'll start posting again. Which might not be sustainable since I still don't really want to watch anything other than the Ultras, but never say never.)

Doing this from Ultraman Tiga onward, here are my personal opinions on transformation items the Ultra hosts use. (No, I don't own any, more's the pity.) Not counting the secondary Ultras, if any. I would comment on the transformation scenes themselves, but most of them aren't that memorable, except the three-century-long ones, only because I was seriously tempted to skip them. But I'll say I mostly prefer that the Ultra hosts don't shout out their Ultra names while transforming (except Mebius. He can shout his name all he wants).

Spoilers, maybe. But nothing that will ruin the series, I hope. So I'm not separating the cut into individual shows. The Ultras are listed in the order their series aired, as far as I know.

( Toys and more toys )

So maybe I should say something about the human form or host of each series (the main ones and Zero's)? I don't know, but let's just do it, then. I like to have excuses to talk about my favorite characters. (That means I probably might not limit myself to talking about the hosts/human forms only.) Unlike the above section, there are lots of spoilers and I don't mark them. Uneven length. For some I have paragraphs, and for some I have three sentences. How much I write is usually no indication of how much I like the host and/or the other characters, however.

Tiga: ( Take Me Higher )
Dyna: ( Ally of Justice )
Gaia: ( Beat on, Dream on )
Cosmos: ( Spirit )
Nexus: ( Hero )
Max: ( From Galaxy Faraway )
Mebius: ( Adorable, Adorable, Adorable )
UltraSeven X: ( Pay Money for My Pain )
Zero: ( 20,000 years too early )
Ginga: ( Future Ultraman )
X: ( Cyberspace Ultraman )
Orb: ( Wanderer Ultraman )
Geed: ( Adorkable Ultraman )
R/B: ( Ultraman Brothers )
Taiga: ( Tri-Squad Ultraman )
Z: ( Ultra Nerd )
And how much I enjoy a series is almost always directly proportional to how much I like its main character. I think only Nexus actually breaks that mold (but then I practically like most of the dunamists, so maybe there's that). I won't say which series I like more because I don't like to play favorites, though perhaps you can tell? I'm not all that objective anyway.

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Voice actors in tokusatsu shows I watch

Thu, 14 Oct 2010 08:17:49 GMT

Well, not really feel like I can make specific comments on the episodes themselves, so I want to talk about the voice actors instead. Assume (hopefully not very specific) spoilers for the series in tags under the cut.

( The good )

( Not their faults but I'm unreasonable either way )

( Specifically Kamen Rider OOO (might spoil episode 5) )

So, to sum it up, I like having (hearing) anime voice actors (from anime I'm at least familiar with) doing voices for tokusatsu shows. However, I guess I just like clinging to familiarity. For one single character (not possessed nor having split personalities or something I haven't thought of), when the voices across the different forms don't match, it is a little jarring to me and more often than not leads me to believe that the human form and the non-human form are two separate characters (unless the human form actor is very very good and/or the suit actor for the non-human form is very very good and/or the voice actor for the non-human form is very very good)...

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One-sided violence in tokusatsu

Wed, 15 Sep 2010 16:58:21 GMT

Reading old threads on a show I just managed to catch up with and I'm uncomfortably reminded that, in addition to real life, I don't care for violence in my escape fictions either.

( More of this not so upbeat stuff )

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Sat, 11 Sep 2010 20:58:21 GMT

Finished KR Double (the TV episodes, at least), but I can't find words to describe how amazing and satisfying it has been. I might still write something about it if something good (and hopefully not already discussed countless times elsewhere) come to me. For now, I'm trying to move on to the next series.

( In which I note random insignificant things not necessarily unique to Kamen Rider OOO Episode 1 )

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