Last week Ultraman Orb gained the Ultraman Jack Card, bringing him one step closer to unlocking a new form. This week Orb attempts to complete the pairing, when he also has to battle a mighty heat wave that is plaguing Japan. What could be the cause of this heat wave? Probably another Demon Beast King, because that’s the answer to most problems typically in Ultraman or other Tokusatsu programs, the monster of the week!
Summary:
Japan is in the middle of a huge heat wave, Shin and Jetta visit Naomi at her Café job while Gai is attempting to buy ice cream. A huge fireball appears in the sky containing Maga Pandon, and Gai immediately goes to attack it as Specium Zeperion, as S.S.P. follows behind. Using the water ability of the original Ultraman, Orb tries putting out the flames before attempting to combine Tiga’s Sky form with the Sperion Ray. He fails to damage the fireball, and then proceeds to move it further up into earth’s orbit however his power runs out. Orb crashes back to earth, creating a huge crater and Gai is met by Juggler who assaults him. S.S.P. and Shibukawa soon find Gai unconscious and move him back to the office where he’s succumb to heatstroke. While out cold Gai, remembers to a time where he played his Orbnica for the girl who had died in the flashback, eventually causing him to briefly come to.
Jetta and Shin continue to analyze the fireball, and question what happened to Orb. Jetta even attempts to assume Gai and Orb is the same person. Soon VTL goes into action, bombarding Maga Pandon with freezer missiles but are not successful. Pandon eventually descends back to the city, S.S.P. begins to deploy and Gai attempts to stop them however they proceed as usual and give Gai an idea on how to fight back. Soon after they leave, Gai transforms into Orb Burnmite to extinguish Pandon’s fireball with a large explosion. The two battle it out in an impressive slugfest, until Orb changes into Specium Zeperion to defeat Pandon with the Sperion Ray. From defeating Pandon, Gai obtains Ultraman Zero’s card while Juggler obtains Pandon’s card adding it to his collection. When S.S.P. returns to the base they see Gai’s fully recovered, and ate out their entire supply of ice cream…
My Thoughts:
This episode is probably the first of many great episodes in the series, and for me this episode has been one thus far. It is simply straight forward, and contains impressive moments of action; whether it is Orb’s first fight with Pandon, the VTL assault on the monster, or the final battle. Now, one attribute that have begun to notice from previous episodes and this one, is that when Orb uses Specium Zeperion and uses abilities akin to Tiga Sky Type or Powered Type the red or purple areas on his body will glow signifying which form is being used; as a huge Tiga fan I like how his other forms are being incorporated into the series without becoming entirely new forms for Orb to use. Another thing I hope to see in future episodes is the quick switches of Orb’s forms, which I expect to be implemented after their inaugural debut or his initial transformation without the use of stock footage, similar to when Orb did the switch to kill Pandon.
Aside from the action, Gai’s dream helps to solidify the intro to episode one was a flashback and confirm the card obtained was of the original Ultraman, but doesn’t confirm the identity of the girl who was with him, except she was either a companion or a past love. Another thing I enjoyed was the trope of a supporting character suggesting Gai could be the Ultraman, and then it is simply played off as nothing; it’s a trope I enjoy for its comedic aspect at times, but I prefer when it’s done by the Ultra’s love interest for the series cause it can be used as a comedic moment or to add to the drama. The last highlight from the episode is Juggler revealing all the Ultra Cards he has acquired revealing that aside from Basser, Grand King, Jappa, and Pandon he also has Zetton (which would be expected due to the flashback), and Gatanozoa (Ghatanothoa) while alluding they be used for another kaiju, possibly Maga-Orochi. Now, we (the fans) only know of the kaiju due to toy scans, but from what this episode shown all the currently seen cards are a part of its creation, along with another unknown card. Thus leaving other and myself wondering which kaiju that will be?!
To wrap of this review, I want say this episode will start a trend for the next three to five episodes maintaining stable wave of entertainment, or will pick up, exceeding my hopes for the show. However I do feel like the series may attempt to mix filler in with the development of characters or the debut of forms because the next episode does not look like it connects to Juggler’s plot, but features the debut of Hurricane Slash. All I do know is from the preview alone it looks just as good as this episode was for me, even if the Pandon design was based off his vintage Ultraseven appearance.
