Ultraman: the Heisei era

Where to start with Ultraman: the Heisei era

Start with Ultraman Max from 2005. Almost nothing on this page follows on from anything else, so the question is which one to spend a season on rather than what order to go in, and Max is the one every published guide names: it has the energy of the Heisei writing with the shape of the classic show, thirty nine episodes, and it needs nothing before it.

Seen some of these already? Tap the circles to tick them off. The full list below fills in as you go.

1. 1
   Ultraman Max, from 2005 Ultraman Max

   Thirty nine episodes, one monster a week, and made deliberately as a correction after Nexus went too dark for its own timeslot. It is the most consistently recommended entry point for this era, and it assumes nothing.

2. 2
   Ultraman Tiga, from 1996 Ultraman Tiga

   The revival that brought the franchise back after fifteen years off, and the best long commitment here at fifty two episodes. Its own universe, no Showa knowledge needed. If you like it, Dyna follows on directly.

3. 3
   Ultraman Mebius, from 2006 Ultraman Mebius

   The fortieth anniversary series and the first since 1981 set in the original Land of Light universe, with the surviving actors back as their real characters. It works cold, but it is much better if you have seen Ultraman, Ultraseven and Ultraman 80 first, which is why it is third here rather than first.

4. 4
   Ultraman Nexus, from 2004, if you want the dark one Ultraman Nexus

   Serialised, bleak and made for adults. It is the most interesting thing on this page and the most compromised: it was scheduled at 7:30 on a Saturday morning, ratings collapsed, and it was cut from about fifty episodes to thirty seven, so the ending is rushed. Watch Ultraman: The Next first, because it is the prequel.

Then what? One hard rule and one soft one. The hard rule: Ultraman Dyna is a direct sequel to Ultraman Tiga, set seven years later, so watch Tiga first. Gaia follows Dyna on the schedule and is a completely separate universe, so it does not continue anything. The soft rule: Heisei Ultraseven is a sequel to the 1967 Ultraseven, not a new series, and Never Ending Odyssey follows the first Mega Monster Battle. Three films are not optional. Ultraman Cosmos: The First Contact is a prequel set eight years before episode one. Ultraman: The Next is the prequel to Nexus, and it came out eleven weeks after Nexus began airing, which is why so many people watch it in the wrong place. And Ultraman Mebius & Ultraman Brothers slots in after episode 15 of Mebius rather than after the series, because episode 24 refers back to it. Everything else in the film list can wait.

A suggested way in, not an official one. The full list is below: tick anything off in either place.