A common complaint we heard from the Ultraman fan base was that Ultraman season 1 lacked a lot of fighting and really was more about setting up the story of the new Ultraman Shinjirou Hayata—who is the son of Shin Hayata—and how he was trying to come to grips being the new famous hero. Well, season 2 of Ultraman clearly heard that complaint and made sure that in this 6-episode season there was action nearly every other minute! From the battle between two new Ultraman—Jack and Kotaro “Taro” Higashi—to the extremely exciting climax between a new alien threat and father/son Ultraman, season 2 didn’t disappoint in the least. We were constantly cheering Ultraman (or Ultramen) and loved every battle even when it tended to be obvious who would win and lose.

Season 1 of Ultraman didn’t skimp out on throwing fans not one but several Ultramen who all had their own designs, abilities, and quirks as characters. Funny enough, season 2 seemed to want to add even more Iron Man-inspired heroes as several new suits joined the gang for a combined total of six Ultraman warriors! We did love seeing some of the originals like the mecha-bodied Seiji Hokuto or the stoic but cool sword-wielding Ultraman Mitsuhiro Ide. Each and every Ultraman that made an appearance in season 2 did a fantastic job for the roles they were given and rarely felt useless or unneeded. Let us all congratulate Shinjirou as he finally felt more like an Ultraman even if he was incapacitated for a little bit in season 2.

Production I.G and Sola Digital Arts did a way better job with the animation for season 2 of Ultraman as everything looked sharper and visually more stunning. The fights had a more dynamic camera that made them feel more reminiscent of watching the live-action shows and we really admired the special effects which took us by surprise. We still feel Ultraman could look a bit better—especially when our heroes are outside of their suits—but at this point, we doubt that will change even when season 3 comes out to wrap up the series.

Okay…let us just say that while six episodes made sense for a stronger season…it still was a downer to have so little of a season. We felt there could have been more character growth all around and the aliens’ main reason for trying to take over the population could have been more expanded/explored. Despite Ultraman season 2 being so short, there was a lot more to love in this shorter season than the first so we will forgive it. Now if season 3 does this though…we might have other thoughts!