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Like and subscribe if you enjoy the content! And so begin the days without my graphics card. While I can still upload previously processed shows (like this gem here), my regular shows (i.e. Nexus, Tiga) may need to wait until I get a new card. Hang in there! And speaking of this show, bet you didn't expect this. But with a recent reappearance in Ultra Galaxy Fight, I think it's about time our dear bumbling hero deserved a HD sharpening on this channel. No, the movie didn't really need it. Yes, I felt like doing it. Ah well. Zearth may be an Ultraman, but the movie itself is Ultraman only in the sense that it has monsters, aliens, a defence team, and a red-silver giant with a helpfully color-coded light on his chest. Save for that, “Ultraman Zearth“ takes everything else you'd expect from Ultraman - character development, plot, Ultra series stereotypes, you name it - and throws it all out the window. This is not a show to watch with a working brain, guys. Do remember to hit your head before watching this show. Multiple times, for better effect. So do that, and have a great time with the final result. I know I did. ***SPOILERS*** Everything about “Ultraman Zearth“ is decidedly un-Ultra, especially if you're looking to the Showa side of things. Unlike most Ultras who start kicking monster ass from Episode 1, Zearth isn't exactly everyone's ideal “hero“ - he can't shoot his finisher straight, he seemingly possesses zero self-confidence, he's a complete pushover that's bullied by his teammates, and to top it all off, he's also hopelessly germophobic. The kind who runs off mid-training to clean his dirty hands. Yeah. The weirdness certainly doesn't stop at our titular hero. Our Ultra defence team this time (MYDO) has a quirk: they can't afford their gear, so they run a petrol kiosk in the meantime to earn funds and jet off into the blue sky once a monster appears. I'm kidding, of course... but not about the petrol kiosk. Who knows why they need a double identity or even need to work as gas attendants in the first place, but sign me up anytime if that gets me futuristic gear and vehicles to use. And that's all fine if they know their stuff, but they... don't. Really, they don't. Remember how I mentioned that GUTS was the bane of their own fighter craft? I take that all back; MYDO makes them all look like Luke Skywalker with tripled Force powers. Every unlucky plane that MYDO touches in this movie gets completely totaled. Every. One. And of course, it's completely hilarious. Oh hey, maybe that's why they need the part-time job. Mystery solved. Our villain Alien Benzene, on the other hand, is actually surprisingly competent. He knows his foe's (many) weaknesses and targets them pretty effectively for most of the film, so you can't help but feel a little respect for the guy. It also helps that the actor himself is obviously having a blast with his role, and it shows as he steals the show with incredibly hammy performances for every appearance. Seriously, the guy spends 90% of his time looking straight at the camera while doing his own monologue for no particular reason - it's a complete hoot. Of course, being a celebration of Ultraman's 30th anniversary, the fun doesn't stop there. The entire cast of the original “Ultraman“ appears throughout the movie, albeit not in their expected roles. Ide plays an artist looking for inspiration only to find weird happenings, Muramatsu a poor fisherman minding his business until he bemusedly finds his lake entirely bereft of water, Arashi as a reporter reporting on the scene (his TV station not-so-subtly uses the SSSP symbol as its logo), Fuji a housewife looking for thrills and finally Hayata, a policeman who discovers what is likely the biggest gold heist in Japan. They all have their parts, and more often than not they're plenty hilarious in them too. Fuji in particular shines as a housewife beaten down by years and years of monotony and daily life... only to discover that her local petrol kiosk isn't quite what it seems to be. Her subsequent attempts to get to the truth of things (and failures to do so) are a strange yet positive delight amidst all the hijinks happening in the movie. There's a lot - and I mean a LOT - of funny things in this movie that I didn't mention, like running gags, surreal scenes and perhaps less-than-appropriate reactions to being shot down by giant monsters, but it's really better to see them for yourselves. Despite all these separate, unfamiliar elements running rampant in the movie, they actually all come together pretty well in the end. Zearth isn't your usual Ultra show, but for fun's sake, please don't let something like that stop you from watching this gem. Subtitles are from the Mill Creek DVD release; just got it, in fact! Do purchase the official disks yourself to support the franchise. #UltramanZearth
