Ultraman Ace Mill Creek 6-Disc Box Set Review

Ultraman Ace Mill Creek 6-Disc Box Set Review

The fifth Ultra Brother graced the screen for the first time in 1972 in the 52-episode series Ultraman Ace and now he has returned in Blu-Ray and top-quality audio with the Mill Creek Ultraman Ace 6-disc box set! With 22 hours of content, all featuring English subtitles, this box set is a one-stop-shop for all things Ultraman Ace.

The Steelbook case spotlights Ace, proudly in his hero’s pose, and is tastefully cohesive with all the other Mill Creek Ultraman box sets available now. If you have one, you kind of have to get them all. That’s just how it goes — we don’t make the rules.

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The set includes an official information and episode guide packed with fun facts and information on all the tech, kaiju and characters. Find out all there is to know about Yapool and his armada of Terrible-Monsters, like Velokron, Chameleking, Vakishim, Garan, Brocken, Metron Jr., Doragory, Gamas, Jumbo King, Unitang, and tons more.

Now, in full HD picture and crystal-clear uncompressed surround sound, you can watch as Ace, the specialist of beams, reaches into his insanely versatile arsenal of power moves to defeat those who wish to challenge humanity. Defenses like Ace Barrier and Ultra Neo Barrier come to vibrant glittering life on screen, Metalium Beam, Punch Laser, Timer Shot and Space Q glowing in brilliant kaleidoscopic displays.

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With unconventional Ultra hosts Seiji Hokuto and Yuko Minami, not only is Ultraman Ace the first entry in the franchise to feature two Ultra hosts but it’s also the first to feature a female host! What better installment to own in hard copy than one that’s made history for the series?

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Double the hosts equals double the action. Ultraman Ace is always on go, with every episode featuring top notch fight scenes that have clearly learned from and built upon its predecessors. Ace has the heart of all of the series that came before it, yet it deviates in all of the right ways, with the inclusion of shout-attacks, host-grunts, internal monologues, and attacks more intense than ever before.

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Ace’s SFX landscape is honored with the Mill Creek 6-disc Box Set. Set details, vehicle fluidity, practical design, machinery logistics, enemy diversity, novel angles, and gore that outdoes anything that came before are all quintessential to Ultraman Ace and have never looked this good.

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The series centers long-term villain, Yapool, the sense of impending doom growing as his schemes persist against defense team TAC and their firm, but fair Captain Ryu. Even Ultraman Ace must look to his older brothers for help when handling such consistent turmoil, like in episodes 26 ‘Total Annihilation! The Five Ultra Brothers’ and 27 ‘Miracle! Father of Ultra’ when the team must face Alien Hipporit, who plans to enslave the human race, but this gives way to the introduction of Father of Ultra, who is now known as a staple of Ultraman lore. 

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While every episode is chock-full of chaos, some episodes stand out for their truly shocking moments. Two-parter Episode 13 ‘Death Penalty! 5 Ultra Brothers’ and ‘5 Stars Scattered in the Galaxy’ include all five Ultra Brothers; Ultraman, Ultraseven, Ultraman Jack, Zoffy, and Ultraman Ace, fighting alongside each other against Barabbas who takes lives with unprecedented cruelty, and Ace-Killer, whose name is a fair warning of his intentions. The repercussions of pain induced by threats to the Earth have never hit quite as hard as this.

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Some episodes are far headier and more surreal, like episode 24 ‘Behold! Midnight Transformation’ which follows a family as they experience the strange side effects of Yapool’s energy harnessed in a crystal, and the the Magma Terrible Being Mazaronian. With eerie liminal visuals, and some straight up horrifying SFX, this episode plays with energy, time and space in a completely unique way.

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With multiple impressive two-parters, a gripping mid-series plot twist, an impossible arch nemesis, and a complex surreal world full of multidimensional and interdimensional characters, it’s safe to say the Mill Creek Ultraman Ace 6-disc Box Set deserves a spot on your DVD shelf!