YMMV / Ultraman Z

• Adorkable: Both Haruki and Z are naïve but optimistic young men who are eager to do good and please their superiors, even if their lack of experience leads them to fumble a lot. Their interactions with each other are also endearingly awkward, as shown by their first encounter and the pre-episode skits. It's no wonder that many fans in Chinese-speaking circles have compared them to a Big Friendly Dog.
• Alternate Character Interpretation: SAAG officer Mai Yuki is a subject of this trope, due to her antagonism against STORAGE members after GAFJ disband the team and took over their assets. Is she an Inspector Javert officer with a mix of General Ripper tendencies who wishes to advance the SAA technology? Or is Mai actually a Green-Eyed Monster who's envious of STORAGE success and wants to take all the fame to herself? The final episode has her willing to order her men gunning unarmed STORAGE members despite Juggler being the only alien present.
• And You Thought It Would Fail: After Ultraman Z was announced as the new Ultra Series, it was met with negative receptions from the fans due to its association with Ultraman Zero (who is well known for being a Spotlight-Stealing Squad), restoring the attack team but giving out robots instead of attack vehicles and Cool Plane, reusing gimmicks from Ultraman Orb (fusion-based Multiform Balance and the Z Lance Arrow being a Prop Recycling of Orb Slugger Lance) and etc. However, viewer receptions changed after the series was aired, seeing how Ultraman Z being an action-packed show, Zero was quickly Put on a Bus, the STORAGE mechas proving that the attack team itself is a competent anti-monster fighting force and Z's Z Lance Arrow downplaying its similarities to Ultraman Orb's weapon. In the end, the series won the 2021 Seiun Award (an award lauding science fiction works) for Best Dramatic Presentation.
• Awesome Music: Goshowa Kudasai Ware no Na wo! is the Hot-Blooded opening of this series that empathizes its action-packed nature along with the lycrics being the titular Ultraman's boast and reasons for why he fights. This song also plays during many climactic moments in the series most notably the final battle against Destrudos after Z is reduced to his base form.
• Character Rerailment:
  • Kemur Man individuals ever since their reappearance in Ultraman Orb have been played more and more for laughs lacking any of the horror elements of their original appearance. In Do-Over in the Year 2020 they are back to being depicted as a very serious horror-like threat as they were originally in Ultra Q.
  • As mentioned above, Yapool and his Terrible-Monsters got a lot of their menace back when they reappeared in The Last Warrior being treated as actually feared and otherwordly beings rather than the typical monster or villain of the week like past New Generation Series and even Ultraman Mebius.
• Complete Monster: Celebro ("Parasitic Lifeform") is a space parasite that destroys planets by spreading fear in their civilizations and leading them to escalating arms races until they destroy themselves. Having done this to countless planets before the series, Celebro arrives on Earth to repeat the process, starting by rampaging in Japan as Genegarg, endangering civilians and getting the STORAGE pilot Haruki killed, after Ultraman Z merges with Haruki and destroys his body. Celebro moves on to possess an unfortunate worker named Shinya Kaburagi and use his body. Secretly creating Kaiju Medals, Celebro uses them to spread ruin, including transforming himself into various monsters. He also indirectly unleashes Greeza and only reluctantly helps the heroes stop it for his own sake; after which he painfully transforms the pacified Horoboros into a cyborg out of spite. In the final arc of the series, Celebro moves on to possess Director Kuriyama, leaving Kaburagi to be arrested in his place, to approve the use of the D4 weapon in the robot Ultroid Zero, which he uses to kill and absorb dormant Kaiju around the world, including a Red King mother and nearly her unhatched egg, and following by destroying various cities around the world and setting SAAG against the STORAGE members with orders to kill.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Already Genegarg has proven to be very popular due to his Non-Standard Character Design, unique powers along with despite being the first alien monster he also accomplish a big impact.
  • Within the first week of Ultraman Z, Sevenger figures sold out pretty quick in Japan. His popularity has earned him not only one but two spin-offs (a manga serving as a Prequel to the series and an Interquel mini-series)
  • It seems that Five-Kings incomplete form Tri-King was considered an improvement despite being a downgrade due to a less cluttered design.
  • Kojiro Inaba and his three men of mechanics, Satoshi, Seiji and Hiroshi. Kojiro is well understood since his actor has a history of piloting robots in Godzilla, while the other three are known for being more fleshed out than any of the other mechanics.
  • With the writer Kota Fukihara passed away, his cameo appearance as a researcher in episode 8 became a hot topic by fans.
  • Of all of Z's forms it seems the fan favorite is Gamma Future due an Ultra form that relies on magic/beam powers being uncommon as opposed to a speed/strong/fire form really helped it stick out. The spectacular visual effects and nostalgia it brings to fans of the Heisei trio whenever it fights has only helped its popularity.
• Epileptic Trees: With photos of Kaburagi's card and medals◊ of Red King, Gomora and Belial surfaced online, fans are beginning to theorize that he will recreate Skull Gomora or even better, making a lot of possibilities to include fusion kaiju like the ones seen by Kei Fukuide. Episode 7 proves them right! Skull Gomora is in fact coming back in an episode, along with Thunder Killer and Pedanium Zetton!
• Evil Is Cool:
  • Alien Barossa, in addition to being an entirely new alien with a new suit, he displays various weapons at disposal and manages to portray himself like a horror movie ghost. Fans like him for both being horrifying and comical at the same time.
  • Destrudos. Not only it's the Chimera-based monster representing the Reiwa era; it starts out as a Robot Me of Ultraman Zero before it assimilating with seven kaiju DNA supercharged with Celebro's Kaiju Medals and the menace it imposes and making short work of the titular Ultra made it even popular among fans.
• Fan Nickname:
  • Due to a lot of Ultra Q Kaiju making their appearances, fans tend to label this show as Ultra Z and outright calling it as a Spiritual Successor to the Ultra Q.
  • Also, "Ultraman ZEXAL", keeping the fact the titular Ultra's voice actor is famous for the voice of Yuma Tsukumo; the components of Z's Ultra Fusion forms flying around the screen before merging is analogous to the Overlay sequence during an Xyz Summon.
• Friendly Fandoms: Between Haruki's Hot-Blooded tendencies and STORAGE's usage of mechas to fight kaiju, it's only natural that fans of Super Robot anime - Such as Mazinger Z, the Robot Romance Trilogy, and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, to name a few - Go hand in hand with Ultraman Z fans. This is even the case in-universe as well, with the American GAF executives giving STORAGE funding precisely because they happen to be mecha fans themselves.
• Germans Love David Hasselhoff: Beliarok's design was so popular in China, Bandai China released similar swords with other ultras' face on them.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • At the time of April when Geed Galaxy Rising was announced, many fans in Twitter took it up to mock over how its similar to Greeza of all things, going as far as to photoshop Geed's head into that of Greeza's. In episode 15, this joke lost its humor when Greeza did appear as one of the many monsters in the series and assimilated Geed, allowing it to use the Wrecking Burst in one of its attacks.
  • Remember when Kuriyama had an ambition about creating a weapon stronger than an Ultraman back in episode 3? He got his wish 19 episodes later, courtesy of Celebro and it's not a very pleasant one even for the heroes and it paints mankind in a more negative light.
  • Hebikura's insinuation that the Red King's child will get revenge on its father's killer towards the end of episode 11 is made eerily chilling, especially for those who have watched the last episodes of Kamen Rider Zero-One.^note Horobi kills Is, then Aruto becomes Ark-One. Aruto then kills Jin, Horobi becomes Ark-Scorpion, then all hell broke loose.
  • Other than Haruki, Hebikura also has a similar reaction to Grigio Raiden's death when Yoko chooses to be a merciless killer behind King Joe SC's steering wheel. In Juggler's prequel novel, he is fully aware of who Grigio Raiden really is, having grown sympathetic to her plight and made it his mission to kill the monster himself if she were to reawaken. The fact that he reacts horrified to Yoko's merciless kill of said monster means that like Haruki, he still has a soft spot for Raiden, even if she was beyond saving.
  • Hebikura's first reaction to Yoko deciding to pilot Windom in against Greeza is to call her out on what appears to be a suicidal decision. Juggler's prequel novel reveals that he had fought against an alien who has the power over Kaiju Cards and gets himself killed after picking up Greeza's power by accident.
• Heartwarming in Hindsight:
  • Episode 7 reveals that Riku was burdened by the fact that as long as other bad guys like Celebro are still around, the Belial DNA will always be abused for evil and that he will remain haunted by his father's legacy. Come around episode 15, his blood, which created the Belial Medal in the first place not only freed Geed from Greeza, but it also helped in creating the Beliarok, an Anti-Hero Talking Weapon. This gives hope to Riku that not only his father's legacy rest in good hands, its also Geed's contributing factor that helped saved the day.
  • Episode 22 has Hebikura telling Haruki that even if STORAGE has been disbanded, Haruki needs to prove that he can fight against those who deny him his dreams. Juggler tried that in Ultraman Orb: The Origin Saga and it only leads to his condemnation, but he gives Haruki that same advise in order to reassure the rookie that he's not alone in a sense.
  • Also related to above, Juggler's relation with Haruki takes a new meaning when taking consideration on what happened with Micott: the latter girl is the first one to ever looked up to Juggler as someone to idolize for, to the point of calling him "master"/shisho. She died before Juggler could even return his feelings, which leads to him gaining his Demon Form and further stray from Gai. In Ultraman Z, Hebikura treats his underlings as if he's a Cool Big Bro, implying that Hebikura isn't going to let the incident with Micott to be repeated again.
• He Really Can Act: Again, Jun Fukuyama's voicing as Mebius in the voice drama was portrayed in a way that the Ultra has matured compared to the first time he appeared as Mirai in his home series.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • It seems to be a thing to cast former Another Riders as regular characters in 2020 Tokusatsu shows, with Another Fourze/Another Faiz playing Shiguru/KiramaiBlue, while Another Hibiki plays this show’s Big Bad.
  • The DX Dark Z Riser includes the medals that form Five King in addition to the medals that make up Zeppandon. Come episode 15, where Juggler himself transforms into Tri-King, and then Five King, as he had the medals in possession after having snagged them from Celebro in episode 8. It makes enough sense though, as Five King isn't just limited to Celebro alone, and the fact Juggler has access to it in case he has to fight an even more powerful monster like Greeza.
  • The first episode had Z fight Genegarg, a space shark controlled by Celebro. In 2023, the film Ninja Vs Shark would cast Kohshu Hirano (Haruki's actor) as the titular ninja and pit him against an evil ninja controlling sharks to attack a village.
  • Episode 2 featured Neronga as the Monster of the Week, and the episode fully exploits its invisibility and electricity-based attacks. The episode of Healin' Good♡Pretty Cure to air on the very next day also featured an invisible Monster of the Week with electricity-based attacks. Parodied in this Pixiv artwork.
    • Later on, Healin' Good introduced Mega Parts, which are fragments from the resident Monster of the Week that makes other Byogens stronger and more ferocious. Sounds similar to Devil Splinters, and colors aside it's hard not to notice some degree of similarities in their shape.
  • Yuka's fascination toward Juggler's human form and the latter's reaction to her wanting to dissect him has a lot more meaning to it, with the reveal that Yuka is an identical stranger to Biranki, a princess who has a crush for Juggler. To him, it's probably a trauma from Biranki's pursuit for him back in his early days of rivalry against Gai.
• I Knew It!: A few people suspected Hebikura was actually Juggler, as the two characters have the same actor and the former was acting suspiciously in the first few episodes.
• It's the Same, Now It Sucks!: The return of Fusion gimmick again leads to complains from fans that Bandai seem to have Creative Sterility in creating the series' products. This is even worse with Z's own lance weapon revealed to be a retool of Ultraman Orb's Orb Slugger Lance. This seems to have mellowed after it was revealed in Episode 5 however, most have come to like it's fire and ice abilities.
• Magnificent Bastard: Jugglus Juggler, debuting in Ultraman Orb, returns in this series as Captain of STORAGE, "Shota Hebikura" once his identity is revealed to the audience in episode 5. While spending most of the show going back and forth helping his team and antagonizing Haruki and the titular Ultraman in his alien form while keeping a low profile, Juggler finds himself competing with an alien parasite named Celebro, who starts planning for his game of death and destruction on Earth—which finally culminates in the endgame arc as Juggler plans to hijack Ultroid Zero to get even with the people who wronged him back in Planet Kanon before Celebro does. However, despite not being able to get Ultroid Zero, Juggler rallies all of STORAGE's members and reclaimed their base from the SAAG, setting up the stage for the final battle. Once all is said and done, Juggler stops Celebro from escaping, leaving the parasitic lifeform to a Fate Worse than Death.
• Memetic Mutation: See the Franchise page.
• Memetic Psychopath: In the Japanese fandom, Yuka gains the popularity for her fanaticism with monsters and aliens, including her desire to dissect them being portrayed as horrific in fan arts.
• Moral Event Horizon:
  • Celebro already crossed the line even before the series began as Juggler notes that he has gained notoriety for causing death and destruction across multiple planets. He further crosses the line by unleashing Bullton in episode 14 because he thought it would be fun, turns Horoboros into a mechanical monstrosity after fusing it with Galactron Mk2 and Gillvalis' medals in episode 16 just to spite Haruki and Z for "stealing" his Belial medal, and finally possessing Kuriyama into having the GAFJ develop the D4 and having STORAGE disbanded when they object to the use of the weapon.
  • The terrorists in episode 20 cross it by trying to kidnap M1.
  • Mai Yuki crosses the line when she orders her men to gun down unarmed STORAGE members just because the Celebro-possessed Kuriyama lied to her about STORAGE members being aliens.
• Nausea Fuel: Episode 12: The fact that Yoko had to bring a sample of Grigio Raiden's flesh to the HQ can make you forsake your lunch.
• Questionable Casting: Quite a few people found Matt Shipman's portrayal of Z in the English dub to be a little too aloof.
• Shocking Moments:
  • While many viewers made jokes about Hebikura secretly being Jugglus Juggler, very few expected that Hebikura actually is Jugglus Juggler come Episode 5, and even less, transform into Zeppandon using his own Dark Z Riser to fight Z.
  • Episode 7 not only marks the return of Skull Gomora, but Shinya then uses the other medals Celebro has for him and then also transforms into Thunder Killer and Pendamiun Zetton! To say the fans were shocked was an understatement. Props to Tsuburaya for keeping both of them secret so the surprise wouldn't be ruined.
• Unexpected Character:
  • Sevenger, a robot character from Leo, had only made a single cameo in Ginga. Now, he's back and in a role as a main character!
  • Gigass, a yeti monster that hasn't made a single appearance since the original Ultraman, fifty three years ago, is coming back in an episode! Granted even though he was just for a Batman Cold Open it was still an unexpected surprise.
  • Those that didn't follow magazines were surprised that a mated pair of Red Kings would come back. Which hadn't been seen since 1995. Even more importantly the Red Kings, typically THE bully Earth kaiju are made sympathetic just like they were in Ultraman Powered.
  • The return of Barabas was also not something many expected, given how Yapool's only returning Terrible-Monster so far were the Breakout Villain trio of Verokron, Vakishim and Doragory, with Aribunta being a more recent return. With Barabas often passed over in favor of the more popular Tyrant.
  • Destrudos' components contain rather surprising choices such as Dancan, Crescent and Majaba, all of which have never reappeared since their debut.
• Special Effect Failure: When Geed is saying goodbye to Haruki in episode 15, his suit is visibly creasing around the stomach area.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Although the show mainly focuses on STORAGE fighting against Celebro, it also mixes with the fact that Ultraman Belial's Devil Splinter are spreading across the multiverse. Because of this, some felt that the Devil Splinter part was only shoehorned to include the Belial Medal.
• Tough Act to Follow: Ultraman Trigger already had the tough hill of not just being a thematic sequel to beloved Tiga, but this series as well especially since both series were winners of the Seiun Award. With the reception of Trigger being a middling So Okay, It's Average, it shows that Z was pretty special.
• Visual Effects of Awesome: As usual, Tsuburaya's mastery in combining practical effects and CG are in full display here. Just look at the awesome air battle between Z and Peguila in Episode 5.