YMMV / Shin Ultraman

• Awesome Music:
  • M87, the title theme of the film sung by Kenshi Yonezu, is a beautiful, somewhat melancholic tune with lyrics that perfectly capture the spirit of the franchise.
    If you so wish, he'll come to your aid with everything he has
    For now, fear nothing...
    ...and be the only one to understand the meaning of pain
  • As Ultraman confronts and fights Zarab disguised as his impostor, a remix of the original Ultraman's victory theme plays, starting off just like the original 1966 theme before the awesome electric guitars kick in, reassuring viewers that Zarab won't stand a chance against the might of the real Ultraman.
  • The climactic duel between Ultraman and Mefilas is set to the appropriately intense An Out of Body State, combining ominous chanting with face-melting electric guitars and even a glitched-out electronic segment to create an incredibly memorable track.
• Character Rerailment: Compared to the last few appearances of Alien Mefilas in the Ultra Series, which depict them as an old-fashioned conqueror wannabe who's unceremoniously backstabbed and killed or a bumbling alien TV director who just wants good ratings, this film portrays Mefilas closer to his debut appearance as an affable yet incredibly competent villain with equal skill in diplomatics and combat, and even manages to make him more powerful and cunning at the same time.
• Evil Is Cool: This film's particular interpretation of Alien Mefilas has been a hit with Japanese audiences. From his sleek, threatening design, and the fact that he's portrayed by the charming Koji Yamamoto, he seems to have become popular amongst Ultra fans. The fact that his catchphrase and card have become apparent memes in a short period post-release speaks a lot. As of now, Pixiv is mostly filled with art of his Shin incarnation, overshadowing his old costumed design. One of the most obvious reasons for this is that Mefilas seems more of a competent fighter than his fellow invader, Alien Zarab. He even slaps a Ultra Slash away as if nothing. An attack that has been shown in previous Ultraman media, to be able to slice enemies in half, like what happened to this interpretation of Zarab. His increased intelligence also elevates him above the original version, who started with a nonsensical plan for world domination. (Alongside making it more believable he'd have a high intellect, which the original version is said to have). Another aspect of his nuance, is the fact that he's noble enough to help Ultraman and the SSSP by hiding evidence of Hiroko Asami's giant rampage as a sign of good will despite having no reason to do so.
• Fanfic Fuel: Fans have taken to redesigning kaiju and aliens from the original Ultraman that did not appear in the film, such as Alien Baltan, Red King and Gomora, as Extraterrestrials and "Powerful Calamity Beasts".
• Fan Nickname: Just like Shin Godzilla and Shin Ultraman's titular characters, fans usually add "Shin" on the characters' name to differentiate them from their original counterparts. Examples including Shin Gomess, Shin Neronga, Shin Gabora, Shin Zarab, Shin Mefilas, Shin Zoffy, and Shin Zetton.
• Genius Bonus: The (English) lyrics to Zetton's theme, "Original Sin", lists the Seven Deadly Sins in their traditional order of least to most severe: Lust, Gluttony, Avarice (Greed), Sloth, Wrath, Envy, and Pride. It also mentions "Vainglory", which used to be its own sin before being absorbed into Pride.
• Magnificent Bastard:
  • Extraterrestrial #2 Zarab is a cunning, calculating and fearsome foe of Ultraman. Plotting to conquer Earth, Zarab arrives pretending to be a diplomat out to establish relationships between Earth and other planets using his natural charm to manipulate the governments and the masses into trusting him. In order to keep Shinji Kaminaga/Ultraman from interfering when he grows suspicious of his true intentions, he kidnaps him, deprives him of the Beta Capsule and uses his powers to copy Ultraman's appearance perfectly to attack cities and vindicate humanity's existing fears of the hero, causing Ultraman and his host to become wanted criminals. Even after Ultraman manages to break free with help of Asami and eventually defeat him, Zarab's plans to discredit Ultraman is unable to be thwarted, screwing over the hero for the rest of the film.
  • Extraterrestrial #0 Mefilas is peaceful in his methods yet the most manipulative and calculating foe in the film. Immediately acting as a benevolent ambassador to humanity upon arriving, he presents the world's governments with size-changing technology that he claims will let them fight against the increasing kaiju attacks better, while actually planning to enslave and turn them into bioweapons for his race with the technology's DNA alteration properties though harboring no hatred for them. Mefilas uses Asami as a guinea pig by turning her into a giantess as a show and also attempts to reach a compromise with Ultraman that will benefit both and doesn't makes much of a fuss when the alien hero rejects it. Upon being discovered and cornered by Ultraman and SSSP when they take his technology, he showcases his battle cred as he fights and overwhelms Ultraman, almost defeating him and only retreating when Ultraman's far stronger superior, Zoffy, shows up to destroy Earth. He also makes sure to remove all the recorded footage of Asami's transformation as an apology because that would subject her to more public embarrassment.
• Memetic Mutation: See the franchise page.
• Narm Charm:
  • The kaiju Gomess in the prologue is very obviously just Shin Godzilla with a bunch of extra horns and spikes added. However, given that the original Gomess in the older Ultraman shows was portrayed as a recycled Godzilla suit with some additional body parts glued on, it comes off instead as a delightfully cheesy Mythology Gag.
  • Ultraman spinning in his flight pose before using the momentum to kick Gabora in the face should be impossible to take seriously, given how he looks intentionally stiff and prop-like when spinning and emits the same goofy sound effects from the original series as he spins. Yet, this unconventional attack drives home how utterly alien Ultraman is, and the sheer power of the kick sending Gabora flying turns this into a genuinely awesome moment. The fact that it calls back to the flying-Ultraman prop from the original series makes it better.

---