Ultraman Trigger: New Generation Tiga/YMMV

The TV Series

• Abandon Shipping: Played for Laughs; The Ultraman Connection Live stream reveals that Runa Toyoda saying that her character, Yuna Shizuma, prefers Ignis as her boyfriend instead.
• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Did Ignis willingly absorbed Trigger Dark's essence on his volition or did he willingly let the Dark Giant possess him while keeping his personality intact? Unlike Dark Zagi having purged the consciousness of his human host and adopt a different identity and Cereza doing a similar feat but keep his human host's identity intact, Ignis is still nevertheless the same person helping the heroes on a regular basis, but took his kleptomaniac tendencies to the extreme such as snagging the Horoboros and Zaigorg Kaiju keys and a prototype GUTS Sparklence. But keep in mind that much like in the case of Evil Tiga, an Ultra corrupted by his host's negative emotions specifically greed. This sort of implying that Trigger Dark is drawn to the darkest impulses of an individual, and in Ignis' case is his personal vendetta against Hudram.
  • Was Carmeara's love for Trigger (Dark) in the past truly genuine or only sees him as an object of her lust? The former apparently seems true, but either way, that only contributed into the sociopathic Woman Scorned Yandere that she is now today even if Kengo did not bargained Trigger to turn to the light. Hell, even Kengo tries to sympathize with her in episode 19, but to no avail.
• Badass Decay:
  • Gymaira, one of Ultraman 80's most powerful adversaries, gets easily defeated by Trigger's Zeperion Beam from point-blank range, just before the real threat that is Darrgon makes his arrival.
  • Despite being one of the most powerful forms, Trigger's Glitter Trigger Eternity form (which is based on Glitter Tiga, one of his most powerful forms) also received this treatment in Episode 24 and 25 during the battle with Megalothor's 1st and 2nd form, to the point where Trigger requires to turn himself into Trigger Truth to defeat her.
• Big Lipped Alligator Moment: In "Operation Dragon", Carmeara assumes a human form while attempting to infiltrate the TPU Cosmic Ray Research Institute just to peek on GUTS-Select's plan on luring Absolute Diavolo. Considering that she will be detected by the institute's guards anyhow and later transforming into her original form just to subdue Diavolo, her human disguise can be considered as somewhat awkward and pointless.
• Eight Deadly Words: Given the questionable characterizations on most of the characters including Kengo himself, it's easy to confirm that they're painfully unrelatable with the audience and the fans.
• Ensemble Darkhorse: Ignis, an alien treasure hunter. While he's neither a good guy nor a bad guy, he's portrayed by the same actor behind Basco.
• Epileptic Trees:
  • A small number of fans speculate whether Akito will potentially end up like Keigo Masaki as he is shown to be displeased to Kengo being chosen as Ultraman Trigger. This was later debunked with the reveal of Evil Trigger for the upcoming Episode Z movie.
  • Given his occasional-but-major appearance in Ultraman Geed, some fans crossed their fingers whether Ultraman Zero will actually appear (and potentially "steal" Trigger's spotlight) in the show. The "closest" thing for him to appear in the show is via archive footage for the third special episode, "Blooming Flowers of Evil".
• Evil Is Cool:
  • The show's reiteration of the Dark Giants as a whole are qualified. Design-wise, they're basically updated versions of the originals with modernized detail, from Darrgon's heavy armor to match his bulk and strength and Hudram having a foldable dagger on his forearm a-la Gundam Exia.
  • Trigger Dark, who is basically serves as the stand-in for both Tiga Dark and Evil Tiga also counts thanks to his asymmetrical design.
• Evil Is Sexy: Carmeara has the trope written all over her, right from her qualities of a curvaceous, domineering and seductive woman. Not to mention, she pins Trigger during the rain battle on Mars in a Mud Wrestling style.'
• Fandom Rivalry: With Return of Ultraman's fans, likely due to the fact that that show wasn't celebrated its 50th anniversary at the time.
• Fanon Discontinuity: Among the New Generation series, Ultraman Trigger: New Generation Tiga is the one show some older fans refuse to acknowledge.
• Franchise Original Sin: Two subverted examples:
  • Another major complaint that has been in previous New Generation Heroes series is the usage of the Showa era kaijus and aliens in this show that's intended to recreate Ultraman Tiga, with one such example being Gymaira. But, this has circumvented with the returns of Gazort and Deban, two original monsters from Tiga that had been away from the TV screen for 25 years after their debut.
  • On the other hand, the Kaiju Hyper Keys used on the GUTS Sparklence. We see the Keys of Gomora, Eleking, and Zetton. Meaning, some of the Showa Kaijus get their Keys used as a means of Power Copying for the GUTS Sparklence users.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Much like Hideo Ishiguro transitioning from a villain to protagonist (his previous role as Kai to Gai Kurenai), Kei Hosogai would follow suit despite that both his roles are alien treasure hunters (Basco to Ignis).
  • In the third episode, Ignis deems Yuna as an "exquisite treasure". One year later, the UItraman Connection Live stream reveals that Runa (Yuna's actress) prefers Ignis as his boyfriend.
• Love to Hate: Carmeara is made impossible to dislike thanks to her curvaceous figure, domineering and unhinged personality, making her the ideal villainess to root against.
• Jerkass Woobie:
  • Akito is the guy that's hard to make him smile, given that he lost his parents, who are scientists just like him, during the Deathdrago incident. While he is adopted by Chairman Shizuma and lived with Yuna ever since, the trauma he had been through shaped him into the cold and distant person he is now. Akito would go so far to disobey orders when Deathdrago resurfaced six years later and take his rage on the kaiju that killed his parents. He finally gets better thanks to Kengo, being the only guy who help him smile.
  • For all his antics in giving the heroes a hard time, Ignis is no slouch either. He's the last surviving Lishurian whose planet razed by Hudram 300 years ago and has been dead set to get payback on the Dark Giant. So much so he's determined to not only get payback, but not wanting to repeat the tragedy of Lishuria on Earth.
• Just Here for Godzilla: Fans of Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger enjoy watching Marluru (voiced by Mao Ichimichi, who portrays Luka) and Ignis (portrayed by Kei Hosogai, who portrays Basco, and the treasure hunter references is also a coincidence) for a reason, since the show is now in its 10th anniversary.
• Memetic Badass: Ignis before becoming Trigger Dark has the balls to prove that you don't have to be an Ultraman to be badass. He used to be a space pirate and traveled to another universe. He took a page from Captain Marvelous's playbook. And hell, he managed to blow up a friggin robot from the inside out!
• Memetic Mutation:
  • Two King
  • "Siblingzoned"
  • Return of Ultraman Tiga
  • Ignis is a Basco.
    • "Gokujou ni ikuze!" (tl: Let's make this exquisite!)
  • "NTR'd by Tsuburaya."
  • "No Rise Scene?"
• Memetic Loser:
  • Akito Hijiri will NEVER, EVER catch a break:
    • Despite spending his years of childhood with Yuna Shizuma, Poor Akito just got "sibling-zoned" by her in the 3rd episode.
    • He is also mocked for not being chosen to become an Ultraman, even though he already claimed that he has given up on becoming one for Kengo's sake in "The 30-Million-Year Miracle". It does not help that in "Smile Operation No.1", Akito's desire of becoming Trigger still insists, as he is shown "transforming" into Trigger (with a blank key) in an illusion caused by Kyrieloid's Morpheus R cosmic rays, and later using the Ribut key to kill Darrgon with the Maxium Cannon instead of transforming into Ribut.
  • At least two Kaijus: Satandelos and Metsu-Orochi, is also seen as Badass Decay examples due to their lore compared to their original suits' counterparts:
    • As for Satandelos; Though it has made both GUTS Select and Trigger lose for three straight times for three days, the machine is easily defeated due to the destruction of its vulnerable barrier projection device after Ignis helps the attack team to figure it out is weak point.
    • In comparison to Maga-Orochi, the reason why Metsu-Orochi is viewed as such due to its vulnerable horn, which is vital for manipulating energy.
  • Downplayed with Darrgon; As his Character Development was caused by Yuna's slap as a sign of him not wanting to underestimate humanity in general, the reason why he is seen as such because the international fandom calls him a "Simp" after the Dark Giant's attempt on wooing Yuna in "Wavering Heart".
  • Prior to Episode Z; Glitter Trigger Eternity, despite being the currently most powerful form, is essentially overshadowed by Trigger Truth in terms of strength and power-scaling after Episode 25. Several fans took advantage of this by claiming that other Toku heroes' final form from other series is much more useful than GTE himself.
  • Some or most of the human characters wounded up as this in terms of Character Development (or lack thereof), as the two background characters from the first and final episode of Ultraman Decker is often viewed as better NPCs than whatever GUTS-Select ever did.
• Memetic Molester: Ignis of all people, in a way he deems Yuna as an exquisite treasure.
• Moral Event Horizon:
  • Hudram already crossed the line 100 years before the series' start by annihilating the whole Planet Lishuria and inhabitants. Leaving Ignis, the sole survivor in a vendetta quest against the Dark Giant.
  • Carmeara crosses it on episode 23 by corrupting Darrgon into a mindless berserker and then absorbs his darkness in one last act of spite against Kengo. Kengo himself can only look on in horror when Carmeara mutates into Megalothor, showing that she's already went past the point of no return.
• Narm:
  • Kengo's catchphrase "Smile! Smile!" can be considered as cringeworthy for nearly half of the fans.
  • Darrgon's failed attempts to flirt with Yuna is Cringe Comedy in its finest.
• No Such Thing as Bad Publicity:Though generally viewed as a massive Sequelitis installment-wise by longtime fans, the series' merchandise (primarily the toys) was able to earn some profit for Bandai, and combined with the nostalgia from Tiga serving as one of the factors.
• Overshadowed by Controversy: Despite being able to make a big buck for both Tsuburaya and Bandai, said older/experienced fans would likely talk about the show's stigma as a derivative adaptation to Ultraman Tiga (both the characters and the lore), its Executive Meddling during production, AND in an extent; being a large factor of Tsuburaya's lack of acknowledgement to Return of Ultraman's 50th anniversary.
• Poison Oak Epileptic Trees: A meta example; Though the showrunners confirmed that the higher-ups of Tsuburaya were the ones who did the Executive Meddling to the show's story and concepts, at least a subset of the show's detractors believed that they're outright lying, while believing that the execution was this poor to begin with.
• Replacement Scrappy:
  • You'll be very hard-pressed to find most people that likes Kengo Manaka, as he is generally viewed as an inferior counterpart for Daigo Madoka from Tiga, due to his Designated Protagonist Syndrome status, his catchphase that wounds up being annoying than meaningful (like Riku Asakura's from Ultraman Geed), and his heroic motivations being a lot more childish compared to Daigo's.
  • The titular hero himself also gets this treatment for a small number of long-time fans, where he is viewed as a mere copy-and-paste version of Tiga with lots of New Generation themes sprinkled on.
  • Aside from Kengo, the rest of the GUTS-Select crew members (especially Akito, Sakuma, and Nanase) can be considered as an inferior counterpart of the original GUTS members, at least in terms of having underdeveloped characterization.
• Scapegoat Creator: Koichi Sakamoto, the director of the series, tends to get the most flak in terms of scriptwriting, though this was actually done by the show's writers such as Naoki Hayashi and Junichiro Ashiki. The former writer tends to be the subject of controversy when his involvement with post-Trigger series (such as Ultraman Decker) when he was mentioned.
• Seasonal Rot: Of all the contested installments for the entirety of the New Generation Series, Trigger is generall seen as the most maligned, due to being a derivative adaptation to Ultraman Tiga's lore and its rather inconsistent story writing that makes R/B, Geed, and Taiga to look good in comparison.
• Snark Bait: The ninetieth episode, "What Makes a Savior", is also mocked as one of the "weakest example for a fanservice" though it had won back a few fans due to Tiga's appearance (Likely due to the fact that Mitsukuni summoned him with the Spark Lens instead of outright transforming it).
• So Bad It's Horrible: While the show had its own merits, Trigger is also known for its rather questionable story/lore execution and fanservice.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
  • Sakuma and Nanase are the only characters in GUTS-Select to not have their past and/or characterizations explored.
  • Despite being one of the most unexpected returning kaiju, Powered Dada's (PDO-3) appearance in "The Propagating Invasion" can be considered as pointless, as his plans for world domination through a global-scale cyberattack doesn't give any proper contribution to the show's entire plot.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • The entirety of TPU's history has not been fully exploited in the second half of the show.
  • Whatever happened to Tatsumi's potential punishment in The Ultra-Ancient Light and Darkness doesn't came up in the entire episodes.
  • Despite being marked as a "Legendary Weapon", the Circle Arms itself ultimately became nothing more than an average weapon.
• Unexpected Character:
  • If the previous series' popularity wasn't that enough to earn the admiration of the fanbase, then how about bringing back Haruki and Z into this season, with him transforming with the GUTS Sparklence in hand? And, the upcoming team-up between Trigger and Z will also have Kiyotaka Taguchi returning as a guest director also helps.
  • After being mentioned by Chairman Shizuma many times, Ultraman Tiga finally makes a physical appearance and teams up with Trigger against Kyrieloid.

The "Episode Z" Film

• Unexpected Character: Evil Trigger.