Ultraman Teo has officially landed. The 36th entry in the Ultraman Series and the centrepiece of the franchise’s 60th anniversary debuted globally on 4 July 2026, streaming worldwide on the Tsuburaya official YouTube channel. tokuAsia tuned in for the premiere, and Ultraman Teo episode 1, “The Man Who Came from H12”, makes a strong first impression.
Spoilers ahead for episode 1.
H12 falls before the title card
There is no slow build here. The episode dives straight into action with the destruction of H12, as an army of Ultraman Teo-like beings races into battle against an overwhelming threat. Leading the charge is a mysterious giant who appears to be the only one in red, and the episode wastes no time stacking questions around him. Is he the sole warrior on a planet where everyone else is more scientist than soldier, the way the Land of Light’s M78 residents skew towards researchers? He seems to fall in battle before H12 is blown apart, but was he really defeated?
In a striking first person shot, we see that Teo himself was out in space when his home world was destroyed, and he immediately flew away. The next thing we know, he is on Earth and has seemingly settled into society. It is a brutal cold open for a series that then pivots, very deliberately, into warmth.
A lone alien learning Earth
On Earth, Teo now lives as Ibuki Mitsuishi (played by Aoi Iwasaki), a veterinary medicine student at Meishin University. His grasp of human life is charmingly incomplete. He does not know that “pooping” refers to moving one’s bowels, and after watching dog owners on their walks, he takes the act of collecting poop literally as a common human pastime.
We then see Ibuki arriving late for class and annoying his classmates with his sheer eagerness, something plenty of us can probably relate to from the other side of the lecture hall. At lunch, he tries to find a lunch mate among his classmates, but gets pushed away and ignored for one reason or another.
Tsuburaya then delivers the episode’s quietest gut punch, framing Ibuki alone in his room through a narrow doorway, a single shot that captures a lone alien’s life on Earth better than any dialogue could.
Meteor hunts and a Violent Star Beast
Ibuki’s peaceful routine ends when meteorites are reported heading for Earth, and he witnesses one landing. Another meteor hunter, Kanna Izumi (played by Noa Nakada), turns up at the site and is visibly disappointed that Ibuki got there too. The two go their separate ways, and Ibuki stumbles across a mysterious space pod, one whose significance only becomes clear at the very end of the episode.
Before anything can be discovered, another meteor crashes into town, and this one is no rock. Out of it emerges Violent Star Beast Vialoga, the same species of monster that destroyed H12. A terrified Ibuki tells the kaypoh crowd to run, but nobody listens. Everyone is far more interested in taking pictures and recording videos on their smartphones, presumably with their social media feeds in mind. Only when Vialoga lives up to the “violent” in its name and starts blowing up buildings does the crowd finally scatter.
Becoming Ultraman Teo
Here is where the episode makes its most interesting choice. As Ibuki is shoved over in the panic, his transformation device, the Teo Crystar, drops out, yet transforming into his giant form to fight never seems to cross his mind. He simply flees with everyone else. It is only when he runs into the young boy and his dog from earlier in the episode, and very nearly takes one of Vialoga’s blasts himself, that the Teo Crystar glows and he finally transforms into his true form, Ultraman Teo.
Once the fight begins, it is clear Teo is not an experienced warrior. He knows what abilities he has but is visibly unfamiliar with how to actually use them, and he compensates by fighting with his brains rather than brute force. Even his finishing move, the Teocium Beam, visibly takes a toll on him to fire. Tsuburaya has told plenty of stories about rookie Ultras growing into their powers, most recently in Ultraman Omega’s premiere last July, but the approach here feels fresh, and watching Teo think his way through the battle is far more engaging than watching a polished veteran run through a beam routine.
Pucci, mysteries, and what comes next
That space pod from earlier? It turns out to belong to Pucci, the series’ mini kaiju mascot, revealed at the episode’s end. Where Pucci actually comes from is still a mystery, but the design is an instant winner. The best description we can offer is a much fatter Cinnamoroll, and we mean that as the highest compliment.
The episode closes with one more thread: a familiar face appears and holds a meeting with a group of unidentified people. Wait, is that Yukio? Is Ultraman now a part of the MCU? Just kidding. That is Rila Fukushima, who played Yukio in The Wolverine, and whatever her character is up to here, it joins the red giant from the cold open, Pucci’s origins, and the nature of the Teo Crystar on a healthy pile of first episode mysteries.
Anchored by a lead who is likeable from his first scene, Ultraman Teo episode 1 opens with tragedy, lands its humour, and rethinks the rookie Ultra formula in one episode. If the series keeps this balance of warmth, humour and thoughtful action, the 60th anniversary is in good hands.
Catch new episodes of Ultraman Teo on the Tsuburaya Productions Official YouTube channel every Saturday morning, 8.30am Singapore time (GMT+8).
This article is written with assistance from Claude.
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