Ultraman X the Movie: Here He Comes

Xio is an international agency dedicated to fighting cosmic kaiju. Naturally, they are headquartered in Japan, because that’s where the kaiju are. There is not much they can do as mere mortals, but fortunately they have Ultraman X to bail them out. However, X will need some of his fellow Ultramen to cover his back when he takes on a long-dormant but particularly nasty creature in Kiyotaka Taguchi’s Ultraman X the Movie: Here He Comes! Our Ultraman, which is now available on BluRay.

As fans perhaps remember from Ultraman Orb the Movie, Ultraman X bonded with Xio member Daichi Ozora, but when not “united” in combat, his intelligence resides in the handheld X-Deviser. Things take a Graham Hancockian turn when Carolos Kurosaki, a phony TV archaeologist, reawakens Zaigorg, a powerful kaiju held in limbo within an ancient tomb. Intriguingly, he also uncovers an centuries-old statue of what looks like an Ultraman.

Before long, Zaigorg has summoned two additional “Devil Clone Beasts” to help him rampage across Japan. Ultraman X cannot stop him alone, but Gourman, Xio’s alien research director, might be able to summon Ultraman Tiga using artifacts collected by the legitimate archaeologist Tsukasa Tamaki and her ten-year-old-ish son Yuto, whom she inexplicably brings along on expeditions.

Those who dig watching big men in tight costumes fighting kaiju probably already know they will enjoy Ultraman X the Movie. Once again, it picks up where the Ultraman X series left off. It is relatively easy for newcomers to figure things out as the film goes along, but Orb the Movie still probably stands alone most successfully.

Perhaps not so coincidentally, Orb is also the best of the three Ultraman series capstone films, but Ultraman X is still considerably better than Ultraman Geed, which was way to angsty for its own good. Precocious Yuto can be a little annoying, but once he is taken out of the picture (through temporary, non-lethal means), the film really gets down to serious kaiju-bashing business.

Ultraman Movies: Orb & Geed

The Ultraman franchise is as Japanese as Godzilla or Gamera, but these guardians of galaxy save the world instead of destroying it. When a kaiju attacks, you better pray there is an Ultraman patrolling our universe. Ultraman Orb is one of the best of Ultra brotherhood. Geed, not so much. As part of their ambitious Ultraman BluRay program, Mill Creek Entertainment has recently released Ultraman Orb: The Movie—Let Me Borrow the Power of Bonds and Ultraman Geed: The Movie—Connect the Wishes.

You have to love the awkward secondary titles. In fact, many viewers will enjoy the nostalgia of revisiting the superhero series they loved as kids. Many might be surprised to know it is still a going concern in Japan, where they continue to launch new series and films focusing on particularly Ultraman heroes. Typically, a relatively self-contained motion picture is released as a capper to each Ultraman sub-series. The payoff is probably richer for fans who followed the series, but the general premise is never hard to understand: superhero fights kaiju.

Ultraman Orb is definitely the better of the two film, in large measure because Orb and his human alter-ego Gai Kurenai (who walks the Earth in leather dusters, like Caine in Kung Fu) inspires more confidence. In Borrow the Power, directed by Kiyotaka Taguchi, he returns to Japan just in time. There are space monsters massing for some sort of attack. Apparently, the nexus of the nefarious business is a creepy mansion that suddenly appeared on the outskirts of town.

Orb will have to investigate single-handedly, since Ultraman X has been confined to a handheld device called the X Devizer. Rather ominously, the Ultra’s old pseudo-nemesis Jugglus Juggler works as the Lurch-like butler in the strange manor that serves as some kind of portal between dimensions and universes. Orb will not be able to defeat the forces of evil on his own, even after borrowing the powers of other Ultramen. Fortunately, an all-time fan-favorite from the early series makes a rousing cameo to save the day. Even if you never watched the franchise before, Taguchi makes his significance and steely presence immediately clear.

In fact, Taguchi generally does a nice job of keeping things lively. Hideo Ishiguro is satisfyingly cool as Orb/Kurenai, while Takaya Aoyagi chews some serious scenery as Juggler. Plus, Miyabi Matsuura is appealingly wide-eyed and shows some decent action chops as Naomi Yumeno, the leader of SSP, a student group dedicated to aiding Ultraman, who are a bit like Nancy Drew and her friends.