Volume One
I picked this up since I was a fan of the old Ultraman TV show when I was a little kid. This story is a direct sequel to the original series, ignoring the myriad subsequent Ultra-series. Earth has been at peace for the several decades since Ultraman went back to wherever it was he came from. Shin Hayata, Ultraman's human host, eventually retired from the Science Patrol, married, had a son, and rose to become the Minister of Defense. Shin no longer remembers his time as Ultraman, although since he retains a certain measure of super-strength, I have to wonder where he thinks this power came from.
The protagonist of the story is Shinjiro Hayata, Shin's son, who has inherited Shin's super-strength. His father is aware of this, but, oddly, never discusses it with him. Shinjiro hides his powers until one day he decides to try to impress a girl who's being bullied by some older boys, and accidentally cripples one of them.
The third major character is Mitsuhiro Ide, a member of the Science Patrol from the old days. He runs a sort of "Ultraman Museum". At one point, he reveals to Shin that hostile aliens have begun to take an interest in the Earth again, and that the museum is actually a front for the continued research of the supposedly long-disbanded Science Patrol.
The fourth major character is Bemular. In the old show, Bemular was the first monster Ultraman fought. Here, he's a human-sized alien who confronts and attacks Shinjiro. Shin (who has remembered that he was Ultraman*) defends his son, and sends him off to safety at Ide's museum. Ide reveals to Shinjiro that they've built an exo-suit to help magnify and control his powers, which may one day surpass Shin's. Shinjiro dons the suit and rushes to confront Bemular, who is beating the crap out of the now somewhat elderly Shin. Shinjiro manages to drive Bemular away, but is left with more questions than answers.
Overall
I enjoyed this book. The art is pretty good, it suits the subject matter. The exo-suit only vaguely resembles the original Ultraman outfit, but it looks OK. So far, the action has been kept at a human-sized level, I'll be curious to see if that continues. So far, it's been a standard, "Kid discovers that he's the secret heir to the legendary hero" story, but I feel that it's reasonably well-handled. I'm looking forward to seeing more of this.
*Ide reveals that back in the day, the Science Patrollers all knew that Shin was Ultraman, but kept quiet about it for Shin's sake. I'm personally OK with this revelation. It makes sense to me.
Replies
Volume Sixteen
After freeing Shin, Shinjiro and Dan, Edo tells them that Mefilas has been lying to them. They go to join the others, and they all defeat the now-unmasked Impostors easily. Back at HQ, Edo tells them thatx even though he is the Supreme chancellor, he is the Council's puppet, and that he is working to subvert the Council's plans. He also mentions that there is a faction of the Council that wants to destroy the Earthians' faith in Ultraman.
Elsewhere, Bemular talks to Endo (Rena's dad), and we learn that Rena was the daughter of two illegal (space) aliens who were friends of Endo's, and who were "killed during a burglary" by the authorities, and that Endo subsequently adopted her.
Since Rena is developing super-powers and is frequently involved in alien-related incidents, Bemular gives Endo a watch to pass along to her. The watch has a button on it that Rena is only to press in an emergency. Rena being Rena, the minute that she's alone, she presses the button and is turned into an Ultra(wo)man!
Overall
Still not sure if Edo is trustworthy or not. He comes across as one of those "master manipulator" types who never tells anyone his real plans. Also, kind of sumb of Bemular and Endo to imagine that Rena wouldn't press the button on the watch. I'm definitely looking forward to Volume Seventeen to see what shenanigans ensue.
Whenever the original Ultraman appears, I wish he'd be in his original costume instead of that spikey armor. It just further enohacises that this was originally planned as a reboot, not a "sequel." The Leo brothers' costumes change colors, but that's not a big help to identifying them in b&w. I like the introduction of "X-space." There was a lot of "interstellar politivs" this volume. The "19 years ago" flshback to the "origin of Rena(Marie) was interesting.
Volume Seventeen
Rena confronts Endo and he tells her about her parents and how he adopted her. Confused , she goes off to think.
Meanwhile, Ide is investigating the "institute" that reached out to Endo.
Endo reches out to Maki at the insitute.
Elsewhere, Shinjiro and Dan ponder the situation.
Rena goes looking for Shinjiro, but mets Taro, instead. He inadvertently lets slip that Shinjiro is a "super-hero", and then tells about his friend that was murdered.
Maki kills Kitawa, the police official who ordered the death of Rena's parents. Endo's boss informs him of Kitagawa's murder just as Endo gets a call from Maki.
Edo informs the Ultramen that the Zetton core, a faction within the Council has been exterminating the races that refuse to lose faith in the Ultras.
An alien called Black King begins attacking the city. Rena attempts to defend some civilians and gets caught up in battle with it. The other Ultras arriove and beat it easily. Bemular arrives and argues with Rena.
Valky arrives, followed by representatives of the Zetton Core. The Zettons denounce Ultraman Bemular attacks the Zettons and is crushed.A battle ensues, which isn't going well, but Ide detects that Spacium energy from his suit is flooding Shinjiro's body.
Overall
Still holding my interest. I'm eager to see where they're going with this, especially to see what deal -if any - that Endo cut with Maki's people.
I like that they've given "Ultraman Girl" (who goes by "Marie," I think, rather than Rena) Mother of Ultra-style "pigtails.
Ide invents Sevenger, but Dan mistakenly destroys it.
And "Bemular" (the original Ultraman) was killed!?
The back-up featue ("Detail of the Ultraman Suit & Weapons") may come in handy, but I wish they had presented it earlier.
I can't help but view this current storyline through the lens of "illegal immigration," especially the bit about "the truth of human nature" (on p.22).
Volume 19 shipped today.
(FYI)
Thanks. Hopefully, I'll get a chance to pick it up within the next month or so.
Volume 20 ships this week.
As I said two years ago (two years!?): "I really need to get caught up."
I must remember to pick that one up, myself.
I've started reading this series (again), and this time I'm determined to see it through. (I hope no one minds I've bumped it up to the top for ease of access while I read.) The first time I got only as far as v2 before I lost interest, and my second time though I didn't get much further. This is my third time through, and now I'm better prepared what to expect. My plan is to read a volume per day for the next 20 days or so, commenting when I get the the point I left off before, deleting old inane comments and replacing them with more cogent ones (I hope). If my LCS still hasn't received v21 by the time I get to v20, I'll order it online.
I have volume 21, I need to caught up on the last few volumes.
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