Where to watch Ultraman Blazar

Tsuburaya Productions is setting a new bar for western Tokusatsu content with the release of an official English dub for Ultraman Blazar coming out simultaneously with the Japanese airing.

The newest season of the Ultraman franchise follows Gento Hiruma, the leader of a secret task force called the Special Kaiju Reaction Detachment (SKaRD). While tasked with fighting Kaiju, a secondary objective for the team is to learn more about the mysterious alien that fights for humanity named Ultraman Blazar. Little does anyone know, Gento is currently fused with the alien and able to transform into the Ultraman himself when things get tough. 

New viewers of the series might initially be put off to learn that there is a long history of Ultraman content dating back to 1966. With over 30 different TV series and even more movies, Ultraman on the surface seems almost inaccessible to those with a passing interest. But while long running franchises like Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece or the BBC production Doctor Who have focused on a single continuity since their start, Ultraman is close to new with each iteration.

Ultraman Blazar reveals his weapon, The Spiral Burrade for the first time

A cross over movie might bring various Ultramen together but for the most part, each Ultraman series follows their own continuity and remains a solo adventure. Instead of a heavily connected universe, what carries over in this franchise is the imagery and themes. There is always a large humanoid alien clad in silver fighting against giant monsters for the sake of humanity. The variation comes in the cast of characters, the state of the universe and the journey that each ultraman goes on.

This is all to say that Ultraman Blazar is a fitting start for anyone looking to take their first steps into the Ultraman franchise on a weekly basis. There are currently nine episodes to catch up on that will help get you familiar with the core cast and themes for the season. A recent two part story had Gento and a colleague going against the values of a mentor for the good of humanity and the latest released episode features a throwback to the initial franchise starting point, Ultra Q. A robotic monster first featured in that inaugural show causes chaos in Japan under the control of an alien quartet perorming classic Ultra Q music.

The alien race fall in love with human music, forming a quartet

For those already familiar with Ultraman as a franchise, Blazar is setting up some interesting questions as Gento and the Ultraman have yet to properly communicate with one another, although this may be about to change for the duo. Ultraman commonly fuses with those close to death but with Blazar being uncommunicative, fans are speculating if the reverse is true this time. Perhaps this Ultraman fused with our lead because he was in peril and has only just begun to recover from his injuries to the point of being able to communicate with Gento.

 Ultraman Blazar releases weekly on Saturday’s via the official Ultraman Youtube channel. There are options for both the English dub and the original Japanese language with English subtitles.