The Ultraman manga enters double digits with this chapter. Right now things have been rather quiet in the story. Volume One was kind of a prologue, introducing us to this universe, the characters, the villain, and how things would play out. Volume Two seems to be focusing more on Shinjiro becoming Ultraman and winning the crowd's approval. Not too much happens here, it's basically about Shinjiro slowly becoming happy with the thought of being Ultraman. Despite no real villain or anything major occurring, it's still a solid read and gives the main character some much needed development.
This one starts out with some guy holding a clerk hostage inside a supermarket. Shin arrives on the scene and quickly takes care of business. Meanwhile we see that this Ultraman has a very...lovable fan. And later Alien Z-Ton receives a transmission from Moroboshi...there's some serious trouble and he wants Shin to take care of it. There's no denying that Shin is making for a pretty cool Ultraman now. The amazing art helps, but now I'm liking this guy as the protagonist. It's good to see him upbeat as opposed to being down-in-the-dumps. What's interesting is that Shin actually stops a hostage crises. We have never seen something like that in the Ultra-verse before, it shows how down-to-earth this manga is compared to the shows. One of the major things about this chapter is the introduction of the character Rena. (Well technically she appeared in Chapter Seven.) Now I'm not sure if she's going to be a focus at all, but the way this chapter has her, it looks that way. She is horribly written and the most generic and stereotypical manga female character I've seen in awhile. Z-Ton is still awesome. The art is very good, lots of fantastic shots of Shin as Ultraman.
Overall, another solid chapter in the Ultraman manga. This is a big stepping stone for Shinjiro as a character, now I can officially call him a good protagonist. In terms of story, not too many important things happened. Rena is by far the worst character this manga has seen. Hopefully she improves, cause her few lines didn't help matters. I am expecting some villains to appear next time, it's time for some heavy plot development.
3.5/5
Well, it sounds like a decent chapter. Not much action, but I guess we can't get that every chapter. I'm expecting another big fight within the next few chapters though. It's good that Ultraman's winning the fans approval. Maybe the crimerates will go down now!
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