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Description
Baltan Seijin - Kemular - Chandora - Red King
Pigmon - Telesdon - Gabora - Dada
Banila - Aboras - Jamira - Zambolar
Pestar - Gomora - Dorako - Zetton

Some time back I mentioned I was really getting into an Ultraman kick. It was mostly due to seeing the US/Japanese co-production series, ULTRAMAN: THE ULTIMATE HERO, otherwise known as ULTRAMAN POWERED.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSD2lQ…

As legend has it, while the monster designs LOOKED incredible, they weren't exactly durable, and the monster fights suffer from it. But it could also be that the producers just didn't want to risk having them damaged with them being a tad expensive already. Whichever, the monster action isn't as good as it could have been.

Though that doesn't exactly mean the series was terrible. I mean, my honest opinion of it is that it's just BASIC. It doesn't have anything like the Capsule Monsters or Spark Dolls, or any of the [even more] outlandish stuff that I may have yet to discover, it's just straight-forward in the concept of what Ultraman is all about - a person bonds with and transforms into Ultraman and fights giant monsters.

At the very least, it sparked enough interest in me to explore more of the franchise, since I got a decent grasp on the idea.

It definitely had some ambition, with Mahiro Maeda as the kaiju designer (who also designed the monsters of the Gamera trilogy and Godzilla himself in the upcoming Shin Gojira) and Shinji Higuchi (who did the special effects of the Gamera trilogy and directed the recent ATTACK ON TITAN movies) helping with suits. I'd even argue some of the designs are far superior to the originals.

Long story short - really awesome monster designs...lackluster monster action.

If you're curious enough, the whole 13-part series is right there on YouTube. But my personal favorites would have to be episodes 4 and 8 (Telesdon and Jamira, respectively). The actors playing the Underground People look like they are having the time of their lives, and they are such a delight. Telesdon looks appropriately menacing, and the episode goes at a fairly decent pace. As for Jamira, he stands directly on the line that separates man from monster; a line that is often defined by the perception of others, not necessarily the actions of the individual in question. I feel that was handled rather well here, and it's definitely the most solid episode of the series.

But for what it's worth, I reeeeeeeeally want SH Monsterarts/Ultra Act figures of these designs.

Anywho, I really had a lot of fun drawing and inking all the various textures/features these guys have. I think the one I had the most fun with was Pestar. That concept just fascinates me to no end.

In time, I'll get around to doing their actual colors.

Characters (C) Tsuburaya

Description
Baltan Seijin - Kemular - Chandora - Red King
Pigmon - Telesdon - Gabora - Dada
Banila - Aboras - Jamira - Zambolar
Pestar - Gomora - Dorako - Zetton

Some time back I mentioned I was really getting into an Ultraman kick. It was mostly due to seeing the US/Japanese co-production series, ULTRAMAN: THE ULTIMATE HERO, otherwise known as ULTRAMAN POWERED.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSD2lQ…

As legend has it, while the monster designs LOOKED incredible, they weren't exactly durable, and the monster fights suffer from it. But it could also be that the producers just didn't want to risk having them damaged with them being a tad expensive already. Whichever, the monster action isn't as good as it could have been.

Though that doesn't exactly mean the series was terrible. I mean, my honest opinion of it is that it's just BASIC. It doesn't have anything like the Capsule Monsters or Spark Dolls, or any of the [even more] outlandish stuff that I may have yet to discover, it's just straight-forward in the concept of what Ultraman is all about - a person bonds with and transforms into Ultraman and fights giant monsters.

At the very least, it sparked enough interest in me to explore more of the franchise, since I got a decent grasp on the idea.

It definitely had some ambition, with Mahiro Maeda as the kaiju designer (who also designed the monsters of the Gamera trilogy and Godzilla himself in the upcoming Shin Gojira) and Shinji Higuchi (who did the special effects of the Gamera trilogy and directed the recent ATTACK ON TITAN movies) helping with suits. I'd even argue some of the designs are far superior to the originals.

Long story short - really awesome monster designs...lackluster monster action.

If you're curious enough, the whole 13-part series is right there on YouTube. But my personal favorites would have to be episodes 4 and 8 (Telesdon and Jamira, respectively). The actors playing the Underground People look like they are having the time of their lives, and they are such a delight. Telesdon looks appropriately menacing, and the episode goes at a fairly decent pace. As for Jamira, he stands directly on the line that separates man from monster; a line that is often defined by the perception of others, not necessarily the actions of the individual in question. I feel that was handled rather well here, and it's definitely the most solid episode of the series.

But for what it's worth, I reeeeeeeeally want SH Monsterarts/Ultra Act figures of these designs.

Anywho, I really had a lot of fun drawing and inking all the various textures/features these guys have. I think the one I had the most fun with was Pestar. That concept just fascinates me to no end.

In time, I'll get around to doing their actual colors.

Characters (C) Tsuburaya