A giant onslaught of action!
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Eiichi Shimizu and Tomohiro Shimoguchi
Translation: Joe Yamazaki
What They Say
Shinjiro, Moroboshi, Hokuto, Jack, Taro, and even Shin Hayata—the first Ultraman—have all come together in New York City for the ultimate showdown with the forces of the Star of Darkness! Can Moroboshi’s brother be saved? Will the idol Rena Sayama make it through this all-out battle? And what is the Star of Darkness’s ultimate plan? The winners will know the answers…
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
So, this volume is pretty much entirely one big blob of action from start to finish, with a whole swarm of Ultramen taking on aliens throughout. It really is just one bit of combat into another, and a whole lot of flashy action panels linked together for the most part. That said, there is one interesting plot point raised in the first half: the enemy Dan’s facing seems to be his long lost twin brother. And man, the way it plays out is just perfectly cruel and fitting to Dan’s character, which I love.
Anyway, eventually the action hits its peak as all the henchmen fall, leaving only the big boss for our heroes to take on. And when I say “big” boss I mean that literally, as the guy soon grows giant. It’s actually a pretty neat take on the old iconic trope… only this time our heroes aren’t exactly growing to match him, which makes the threat seem pretty damn serious. Adding to that is the weird fact that he actually WANTS to die in the fight, which is something of a mystery to be resolved in the future. But yeah, the whole thing ends in a team-up with spacium rays which is just plain perfect.
Will our heroes take down their massive foe through the power of team work, or will he ultimately prove too strong? And just what will await them in the aftermath?
In Summary
This volume is the climax to the arc, and in a lot of ways, it really does succeed, being a super flashy onslaught of action. With that said, it does have the old problem of there just being simply too many Ultramen running around in armor at the moment, which can occasionally make it a bit easy to get mixed up. And honestly, for the most part the book is more flash than substance, as it’s more just a collection of a ton of cool action shots rather than any real strong character moments. Though the one exception we get to that with Dan is pretty crazy and does fit well to his character, so that’s cool. Honestly though, it’s just a big bombastic volume full of fighting, so if that’s what you’re looking for, it certainly won’t disappoint.
Content Grade: A-
Art Grade: A-
Packaging Grade: A
Text/Translation Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: January 15th, 2019
MSRP: $12.99
