History YMMV / ReturnOfUltraman

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: Not funny but upbeat to begin with, the ThemeMusicPowerUp's name becomes sad in retrospect considering Ultraman Jack's defeat (and near death) at the hands of Black King and Alien Knackle happened at ''twilight''.

** The iconic scene where Jack performs an "Ultra Hurricane!" and flings Zetton II accidentally gives away the fact that it's filmed inside a studio, where Zetton's shadow gets reflected on the background wall.

** Episode 34 has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ravnctVJlgE this gem]].

* SignatureScene: Ultraman Jack vs Bemstar

** Zetton's deteriorated appearance may be shoddy-looking, but it evokes a sense of CameBackWrong as if Alien Bat was controlling a zombified Zetton. On the other end of the spectrum, a number of fans like his appearance here for being UglyCute.

* UglyCute: There are some monsters in the series whose design have endeared fans so much that it crosses this territory.
** Bemstar is the most amous contender. His round pudgy design makes it look like a giant baby chick, not to mention it has one of the cutest roars in the entire ultra series. This makes it easier to forget that its first scene is devouring a space station full of people, killing the MAT captain's friend, widowing his wife and also gave Ultraman Jack one of the hardest fights he ever have.

** Bemstar is the most damous contender. His round pudgy design makes it look like basically a giant baby chick, not to mention it has one of the cutest roars in entire ultra series. This makes it easier to forget that his first scene is devouring a space station full of people, killing the MAT captain friend, and widowing his wife and also gave Ultraman Jack one of the hardest fights he ever have.

* {{Narm}}: The monster Detton's roar isn't exactly intimidating as it sounds like loud snoring.

* NarmCharm: The English dub of the first four episodes is either this or utterly unlistenable.

* WhatAnIdiot: Why, oh why, no matter how dire the situation, [[spoiler:did you fly into the sun,]] Ultraman? Who do you think you are, ''Ultra Seven''? Go back to Earth, indeed!

* WTHCostumingDepartment: One of the biggest criticisms of the series is some of the monster and alien designs not being as great compared to past series. There's are certainly some major winners like Bemstar, Twin Tail, Gudon, Black King and more but also a lot of forgettable or just goofy designs. this is especially true for the final part of the series, where some of the design border on {{Narm}} like [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/ultramananthology/images/b/b0/Alien_Varduck_-_ultra_series.png/revision/latest?cb=20171216064520 Alien Varduck]], [[https://livedoor.blogimg.jp/metalorder-card/imgs/a/2/a2bf1376.jpg Alien Grotes]], [[https://64.media.tumblr.com/de8a8565e046e9ab60a5d28088fa7304/b90f03b94dc48047-b1/s540x810/520dce16c8e64dd7afbe790f9fc109369575050c.jpg Alien Messie]] and [[https://64.media.tumblr.com/4bce943b9b0bf0e6ab7d810bdc59007b/tumblr_ojxfdyw9Zg1vmulg7o1_500.png Alien Bat.]] Alien Bat is supposed to be the super-serious final boss of the series by the way, and most would agree that the redesign given to him in future installments was very welcomed.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: The main problem with the Terochilus two-parter. The plot involves Goh trying to clear the name of a character named Saburo Matsumoto, who was thought to be responsible for killing a bunch of people on a yacht. The problem is while the real culprit was the monster Terochilus, Saburo was planning blowing up the yacht anyway because his childhood friend decided to marry someone else besides him and still shows joy when he thinks his ex is dead. The only reason he didn't blow the yacht up was because Terochilus did it first. He comes across more as an AssholeVictim than anything else

** [[spoiler: Aki and Ken's death in the Nackle two-parter was seen as extremely shocking back then, that a superhero tokusatsu show would actually kill off significant characters including the love interest in a genre that [[StatusQuoIsGod usually stayed hard in the status quo.]] but now this happens so often to the point of being [[StuffedIntoTheFridge criticized]] as a way to get cheap drama.]]

** Wandabada wandabada.... That's just the last part of the tune (M.A.T. Theme). Part I sounds suspenseful, Part II is slow, like a 007 leitmotif by John Barry, Part III sounds like a Western tune by Ennio Morricone (no wailing vocal, though!), then on to the (much faster) Wandaba part. Is Tohru Fuyuki a genius or what?

* SeasonalRot/ ToughActToFollow: Many fans feel that the series should have ended with the Alien Nackle/Black King two-parter (considered to be among the best episodes of the ''Franchise/UltraSeries''), as the remaining episodes had lackluster writing and special effects, as well as excessive alien invader storylines.

* GrowingTheBeard: While the show started off pretty good it had poor ratings early on in its life. Some found its attempts at drama to be boring to kids, the early monster having uninspired designs, and the show’s effects lacking. The production took these criticisms to heart by ramping up the spectacle like with the Seagorath two-parter with its amazing weather effects. The episode Ultraseven Arrives! with its introduction of the classic monster, Bemstar and the Ultra bracelet is when the show completely won over its audiences.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: The main problem with the Terochilus two-parter. The plot involves Goh trying to clear the name of a character named Saburo Matsumoto, who was thought to be responsible for killing a bunch of people on a yacht. The problem is while the real culprit was the monster Terochilus, Saburo was planning blowing up the yacht anyway because his childhood friend decided to marry someone else besides him and still shows joy when he thinks his ex is dead. The only reason he didn't blow the yaht up was because Terochilus did it first. He comes across as AssholeVictim than anything else
* ValuesResonance: The episode Poison Gas Monster Appears! Involves a monster named Mogunezun consuming copious amounts of mustard gas canisters that were dumped illegally by the Imperial Japan military. Kishida, who takes great pride in his family discovers that his father was involved in the experimentation of the mustard gas which shakes him to his very core and eventually becomes obsessed with making up for his family's past by taking out the monster. Considering Japan still has trouble acknowledging the sins there country did in World War II the episode still quite relevant.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: The opening theme is essentially Koichi Sugiyama's(yes, [[VideoGame/DragonQuest that]] Koichi Sugiyama) version of the original Ultraman theme song.

* WTHCostumingDepartment: One of the biggest criticisms of the series is some of the monster and alien designs not being as great compared to past series. There's are certainly some major winners like Bemstar, Twin Tail, Gudon, Black King and more but also a lot of forgettable or just goofy designs. this is especially true for the final part of the series, where some of the design border on {{Narm}} like [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/ultramananthology/images/b/b0/Alien_Varduck_-_ultra_series.png/revision/latest?cb=20171216064520 Alien Varduck]], [[https://livedoor.blogimg.jp/metalorder-card/imgs/a/2/a2bf1376.jpg Alien Grotes]], [[https://64.media.tumblr.com/de8a8565e046e9ab60a5d28088fa7304/b90f03b94dc48047-b1/s540x810/520dce16c8e64dd7afbe790f9fc109369575050c.jpg Alien Messie]] and [[https://64.media.tumblr.com/4bce943b9b0bf0e6ab7d810bdc59007b/tumblr_ojxfdyw9Zg1vmulg7o1_500.png Alien Bat.]] Alien Bat is supposed to be the super-serious final boss of the series by the way.

* MagnificentBastard: While not combat efficient like his father Alien Baltan Jr. is surprisingly intelligent. He sets up his base at a construction site, tries to bait Jiro to investigate the building, (It’s his friend who does instead but has the same effect), and kidnaps said friend to lure MAT to investigate. When they do, he traps them in the robot he secretly created around the building, having them as hostages so Jack can’t fight it. The only reason his plan fails is that before the friend was kidnapped, he told the construction crew that a wall in the building was different to the blueprints which [[SpannerInTheWorks caused them rebuilt that wall, having it be made of weaker material]] which gave them an opening to escape.

* HarsherInHindsight: Bemstar swallowing a space station wasn't scary enough back then, until it was retread with [[Series/UltramanLeo Silver Bloome]] 3 years later, who did the same to the show's entire attack team as a DarkerAndEdgier entry for the Ultra Series.
** Here's some FridgeHorror. Whoever decided to stand up the main MAC base in a space station (as opposed to establishing a detachment or small outpost there) DID know that at least one space station had been destroyed by aliens for each of the previous three teams (MAT, TAC, and ZAT). MAT lost two: one to Bemstar, and another to the Nackle aliens. TPC (the higher-ups for these teams) knew the danger inherent in space stations as military bases and yet did nothing to protect their soldiers or come up with alternative plans (i.e subterranean bases like the Ultra Garrison had back in the day). Dan Moroboshi certainly knew the risks; he must have witnessed or have heard first-hand accounts of these alien attacks.

* WTHCostumingDepartment: One of the biggest criticisms of the series is some of the monster and alien designs not being as great compared to past series. There's are certainly some major winners like Bemstar, Twin Tail, Gudon, Black King and more but also a lot of forgettable or just goofy designs. this is especially true for the final part of the series, where some of the design border on {{Narm}} like [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/ultra/images/5/50/Alien-Varduck-0.png/revision/latest?cb=20140215193330 Alien Varduck]], [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/ultra/images/f/fa/Alien-Grotes-1.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/272?cb=20140215193737 Alien Grotes]], [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/ultra/images/8/8c/Alien-Messie-0.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/218?cb=20140215192519 Alien Messie]] and [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/ultra/images/e/e4/Battyy.png/revision/latest?cb=20200804001338 Alien Bat.]] Alien Bat is supposed to be the super-serious final boss of the series by the way.

** However one could argue that Jack was simply trying to absorb more energy from the sun since that is how Ultras stay alive.
*** Fine, except Seven (who, by the way, is the only Ultra who successfully did just that -- Episode 25 of ''Series/UltraSeven'') doesn't even have to share a human body with anybody else; Dan IS Seven in human form, and even he had to deal with extreme cold, a missing Ultra Eye, and energy spent just transforming and flying off. Plus, Jack couldn't even let himself be visible until he "possessed" Goh (check out Episode 1), and you have a severely weakened Jack in a polluted Earth with an enemy that wore him out desperately trying to do something a peer of his with no such problems barely managed to do, and you have a recipe for disaster.
*** It should be noted that Ultra Seven can last longer in Earth's atmosphere than virtually other Ultras in the franchise save for Gaia and Nexus, so naturally it would make sense for him to store more energy in his body. Ultras have required to possess humans to stay on Earth safely, Jack really isn't that different. Not to mention Jack is the only Ultra in the franchise to actually survive [[spoiler: being torn to shreds (while being frozen no less)]].

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: The main problem with the Terochilus two-parter. The plot involves Goh trying to clear the name of a character named Saburo Matsumoto, who was thought to be responsible for killing a bunch of people on a yacht. The problem is while the real culprit was the monster Terochilus, Saburo was planning blowing up the yacht anyway because his childhood friend decided to marry someone else besides him and still shows joy when he thinks his ex is dead. The only reason he didn't bow the yaht up was because Terochilus did it first. He comes across as AssholeVictim than anything else

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: It’s hard to overstate how much this series not only changed the Toku genre but Japanese fiction in general. With it’s blending of sci-fi/fantasy elements and more down to earth drama and [[{{Deconstruction}} it’s attempt to reflect the real world.]] The main character, Hideki Goh himself was quite influential with this HotBlooded, [[TheEveryman Everyman]] personality inspiring many other Japanese heroes. A Westerner watching this show almost 50 years later would probably see it as a regular tokusatsu show.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: It’s hard to overstate how much this series not only changed the Toku genre but Japanese fiction in general. With it’s blending of sci-fi/fantasy elements and more down to earth drama and [[Deconstruction it’s attempt to reflect the real world.]] The main character, Hideki Goh himself was quite influential with this HotBlooded, [[TheEveryman Everyman]] personality inspiring many other Japanese heroes. A Westerner watching this show almost 50 years later would probably see it as a regular tokusatsu show.

* GrowingTheBeard: While the show started off pretty good it had poor ratings early on in its life. Some found it attempts at drama to be boring to kids, the early monster having uninspired designs, and the show’s effects lacking. The production took these criticisms to heart by ramping up the spectacle like with the Seagorath two-parter with its amazing weather effects. The episode Ultraseven Arrives! with its introduction of the classic monster, Bemstar and the Ultra bracelet is when the show completely won over its audiences.