X, united!
"Ultraman X, now unite!"
Ultraman X is the 2015 entry in the long-running Ultra Series. Like Ultraman Ginga, it is a part of the New Ultraman Retsuden programming block.
Fifteen years ago, a mysterious solar flare from the Sun activated a number of extraterrestrial artifacts scattered across the Earth. Once they are fully energised, these "Spark Dolls" are transformed into titanic monsters that rampage and threaten the lives of innocent people. In response to this threat, an international task force known as UNVER was created to study and contain the Spark Dolls. Standing on the front line is "Xio" (Xeno Invasion Outcutters), an elite combat and response team equipped with the latest in human technology.
One day Daichi Ozora, a talented young member of Xio's Research and Development Lab, discovers a mysterious energy being who exists in the form of computer data. By offering his physical body to the being, the two fuse together into Ultraman X: a heroic giant of light with the power to equip Cyber Monsters as "Mons Armour" and gain their abilities. Together, Daichi and X may be able to discover the secrets behind the Spark Dolls and the "Ultra Flare" incident that started everything.
The series was simulcast worldwide as it aired in Japan on Crunchyroll
, making it the first Toku show in history to ever do that.
A movie was released in theaters on March 12, 2016. See the trailer here!
Recurring Ultraman tropes include:
- Badass Crew: The Xio team, who fight giant monsters on a regular basis.
- Fun with Acronyms: The Xio stands for Xeno Invasion Outcutters. It serves under the Earth Defense organization UNVER (short for Ultimate Noxious event Versus Earth Ranger).
- Home Base: Xio's base of operations, which, of course, is shaped like a giant X.
- Kaiju: It IS an Ultraman series, after all.
- Secret Identity: Daichi keeps the fact that he is Ultraman X a secret from his friends at Xio because... well, that's just what Ultramen do.
- Transformation Trinket: Daichi's X Devizer, which was a standard-issue Xio Devizer before X entered and altered it.
Unite!
- All Your Powers Combined: X combines his Exceed X Super Mode with all his Monsarmors to create the Hybrid Armor that allows him to finally put down Greeza.
- Alternate Continuity: Yet another series in the vein of Max with retro Kaiju showing up in a new continuity.
- As You Know: Justified in episode 2, as it was done by a tourist guide showing a school trip around the Xio base.
- Back-to-Back Badasses: This happens in a few episodes which features Crossovers with other Ultramen.
- Ultraman X with Ultraman Zero against Alien Nackle and Black King.
- With Ultraman Max against Alien Sran and Zetton.
- A triple example, with Ultraman Ginga and Victory against Juda Spectre.
- With Ultraman Nexus against an enhanced Bugbuzun.
- Big Bad: Greeza.
- Big Damn Heroes: Ultraman Zero shows up to save X from Alien Nackle and Black King.
- Boxing Lessons for Superman: Exceed X comes with a massive power boost, but it's main weapon is a sword which Daichi has no idea how to actually use. As a result, X's performance is hampered. Sho/Ultraman Victory remedies this by giving Daichi sword fighting training, allowing them to bring out the full power of the Xlugger, as well as perform better in combat in general.
- Breather Episode: After the relatively heavy arc of 6-7 and 8, 9, "We are Nebula" is a goofy episode centering around an intergalactic rugby game.
- Came Back Strong: X is scattered across cyberspace after being defeated by Tsurugi Demaaga, but Daichi searches cyberspace for him and finds the Xlugger in the process, which not only allows him to resurrect X, but unlocks the Exceed X form.
- Cool Car: The Xio teams utilizes three of them, all named after the The Three Musketeers. They can combine with the Xio Musketty to form various combat vehicles, which have the ability to use the power of the Cyber Cards.
- Xio Athos - the red patrol car equipped with a laser cannon on its roof. By combining with Musketty, it forms the Sky Musketty, a figther jet.
- Xio Porthos - the yellow patrol truck, which can shoot out smoke bombs and flares. Once united with Musketty, it becomes Land Musketty, a tank.
- Xio Aramis - the azure patrol minivan which possesses a double laser cannon. Combining it with Musketty results in Space Musketty, a space jet.
- The Corruption: Dark Thunder Energy, a mysterious energy that strikes down from space. While already evil beings are just powered up, benign or benevolent entities are driven into destructive rampages in addition to being powered up significantly. Turns out that Greeza was the source of it.
- Culture Clash: Ultraman X is very perplexed by how gender roles work on Earth (especially in Japan, which has more traditional ones) and has no idea that asking a woman her weight or age can be considered rude, and questioning about such things leads to a bit of this between him and Daichi. Considering Ultras can change their size at will and live for hundreds of thousands of years, this is completely logical. In addition,
Word of God has said in the past that Ultras have no concept of there being a difference between genders. - Equippable Ally: X can utilize the Cyber Cards, which contain data of Cyber Monsters, to materialize on Ultraman X MonsArmors - sets of armor and weaponry based on classic Ultra Kaijus.
- Exorcist Head: Birdon from episode 2 could do this, making it really difficult for Xio to contain it.
- Gentle Giant:
- Houlinga from episode 10. If not provoked, it's completely docile and harmless. In fact, it's beneficial, as it's present revitalizes the soil.
- Daichi's Gomora at least seems to be this, as it's clearly protective of him. Once it's actually briefly unsparkdolled, it is completely passive and friendly towards Daichi to the point of gently letting him pet it on the nose. Unfortunately, Dark Thunder Energy quickly messes that up.
- Giant Flyer: Birdon, the giant bird monster from episode 2.
- Giant's Droplet, Human's Shower: Mu's bawling makes for an effective Gray Rain of Depression for Wataru.
- Here We Go Again!: The team has this reaction when Captain Shotaro Kamiki is about to do his usual "heroic speech" in episode 2.
- Humongous Mecha: Two of them are X's allies.
- Rudian, Alien Gold's mecha.
- Cyber Gomora, whenever it physically manifests itself.
- Imported Alien Phlebotinum: Xio's advanced technology is the result of friendly alien races aiding earth. Dr. Guruman, an Alien Fanton, is one of them and a recurring character.
- The Multiverse: Confirmed to exist in one with at least some of the other Ultra Series when Ultraman Zero appears via dimensional travel and X gains the ability to hop between dimensions as well. Max shows up in ep 8 to assist in battling Zetton, and both Ginga and Victory show up in eps 13 and 14 after being dragged to X's Universe by Mold Spectre.
- Mythology Gag:
- This is not the first time an Ultra has turned himself into data, as Ultraman Mebius also had its titular Ultra turn himself into data to battle Maquette Zetton.
- Episode 5 features an Alien Nackle with a Black King who kidnaps the female lead. But unlike Aki, this one survives and helps defeat Nackle.
- Non-Lethal K.O.: Ultraman X's finishers turn monsters into spark dolls instead of killing them, or in case of evil aliens send them flying into the air with a twinkle. Though this only applies to his attacks, as Xio's weapons can kill monsters and aliens outright.
- Also averted for Exceed X, who has the ability to flat-out destroy truly evil beings like Gua Spectre and Bugbuzan with his Xlugger Shot.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Mold Spectre opens a portal to bring his and his sister's army to Earth. Ultraman Ginga is the one who comes through instead, having apparently destroyed Mold Spectre's entire army by himself offscreen.
- Shown Their Work: The Spark Dolls are referred to as OOPArts (short for Out of Place Artifacts). This is actually a real term and fits the Spark Dolls (which are ancient in this universe) rather well.
- Baseball Episode: Or rather, rugby in episode 9's We Are Nebula!.
- Space "X": Apparently there's a Space Rugby League. The Babalou whos part of the Dark Star Cluster is a multitime champion.
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Spiritual Successor: To Ultraman Cosmos, both series feature a Central Theme of co-existance, the main characters of both shows are Technical Pacifists who desire to create a world where everyone can live in harmony and are friends with a Kaiju since their childhood, furthermore the Big Bad of each series (Chaos Header in Cosmos and Greeza in X) are Eldritch Abominations that warp reality and corrupt living beings with their essence driving them berserk and empowering them along the way along with the Ultra mostly sparing his corrupted opponents instead of destroying them.
- Tokyo Is the Center of the Universe: Which actually gets acknowledged In-Universe. It is revealed that a large majority of Spark Dolls incident happen in Japan. Particular in Tokyo. It is pretty much why a mother and child moved to the country side in one episode.
- Unflinching Walk: After gaining the Hybrid Armor, X marches through Greeza's attack, ripping his way through everything thrown at him.
- "X" Makes Anything Cool: It's all in the name!
- You and What Army?: Inverted in the three-parter starring Ultraman Victory, where X and Victory have to deal with Guar Spectre. The army in question was already wiped out by Ultraman Ginga.Guar Spectre: You are too late! The Guar army is here!
[opens a portal - cue Ultraman Ginga emerging from said portal and raining hellfire on Guar Spectre]
