ULTRAMAN DECKER: More Monsters & Mayhem

ULTRAMAN DECKER - THE COMPLETE SERIES (Blu-ray)

2022 / 700 min (25 episodes, 1 movie)

Mill Creek Entertainment

Review by Nick Lyons, from DVDCorner.net

2022’s Ultraman Decker (which is part of the Reiwa era) is simultaneously a sequel to Ultraman Trigger: New Generation Tiga and is also based on Ultraman Dyna. The 25 episode series begins at a time of peace in which there have been no monsters for 7 years. 

Of course, it wouldn’t be much of a series if there were no monsters, so as you might expect, all hell breaks loose when alien Spheres attack Earth and Mars. Moreover, a barrier covers Earth which prevents ships and communications from coming or going from the Planet. Luckily, Earth has hope. A brave and optimistic grocer named Kanata Asumi winds up becoming Ultraman Decker (who can transform into various types). Kanata himself also joins Earth’s TPU training school (and later becomes a part of the GUTS-Select team) alongside cadets Ichika Kirino and Soma Ryumon. Together this team (also comprised of robots HANE2 and Terraphaser) combat the evil Sphere forces (including the big bad Mother Spheresaurus) as well as Kaiju such as Deathdrago and Pagos. 

Along the way, some familiar faces pop up, such as Ultraman Trigger, Cameara, Grace, Marluru, and a Kanata descendant. Elsewhere in the plot is a key storyline involving the alien Agams who may or may not be connected to the Sphere invasion. Last, but not least is a movie finale titled Ultraman Decker Finale: Journey To Beyond, where Ultraman Decker, GUTS-Select and Ultraman Dinas team up to fight against Earth invader Professor Gibellus.

A great find from the Ultra Yard Sale.

Much like Super Sentai (AKA Power Rangers), the Ultra franchise has been running for decades. The Japanese Tokusatsu franchise has had many incarnations including Ultraman Decker. Produced by Tsuburaya Productions, Ultraman Decker is far from being one of the more beloved series in the franchise. Ultra Q and the original Ultraman, it certainly is not. The series is filled with cheeseball dialogue, an over-the-top Kanata (played by Hiroki Matsumoto), overly dramatic speeches, war cries, bad CGI, and an episodic formula involving new Ultraman types and a new Kaiju or monster. There’s nothing here that you haven’t seen before in previous Ultra series. 

On the plus side, the show delivers plenty of explosive action, which tends to be the selling point for the Ultra series. Yes, the CGI is pretty rough, but it’s nice to see that suits/costumes are still being used. Sure, you can do more with CGI, but nothing beats people in costumes duking it out. On top of that, it’s nice to see some cameos from past series. Anytime there’s more than one Ultraman on screen, it’s a treat to be sure.

Ultraman Decker is unlikely to be a fan favorite, but it’s still an entertaining tokusatsu series that will undoubtedly appeal to super fans or completists.