In my march through all the new Ultraman releases from Mill Creek Entertainment, Neo Ultra Q is perhaps the show I’ve been most looking forward to. I was a HUGE fan of the original Ultra Q – the series that kicked off the entire Ultra phenomenon in Japan back in 1966 – and I was excited to see a modern incarnation of the show.

Neo Ultra Q premiered in Japan in 2013 as both a second season of Ultra Q (47 years later) and the 24th overall entry in the Ultra franchise. It’s finally made it to U.S. Blu-ray players (and digital streaming devices), thanks to Mill Creek.

And it’s everything I hoped it would be.

Like the original, Neo Ultra Q has a recurring trio of characters, but they don’t all appear in every episode (like the original). Rather, it’s a Twilight Zone-esque monster-of-the-week anthology… like the original. Indeed, they kept everything about the classic that makes it so endearing – right down to the swirling opening credits, twangy guitar theme music, and intro narration that helps viewers prepare for the ensuing 30 minutes of strangeness.

Let me be clear: there’s no Ultraman here. There’s no cheesy transforming. There’s no larger-than-life, giant superhero coming to save the day. There aren’t many (any?) huge explosions. In short, there’s not much of anything you’d probably think of if you’ve ever seen an Ultraman show.

And that’s fantastic.

These episodes are, for the most part, quiet character studies. They’re charming, emotional, contemplative, poignant, and surprisingly emotional. They’re about the everyday struggles that people deal with as they live together with aliens and kaiju – not the epic battle royale city-destroying fights.

Don’t get me wrong; there are still dudes in rubber suits and goofy-looking monsters, but they’re not the focus. Only a couple of these episodes feature them at all. If the cheap costumes and exaggerated fight choreography are what turn you off about Ultraman in general, then you really should give Neo Ultra Q a shot.

The show is brilliant on so many levels.

The bad news is that the entirety of Neo Ultra Q is a scant 12 half-hour episodes… which is much, much too short. I desperately wanted more, and I sincerely hope we’ll see more seasons of this in the future.

Like the other modern-day Ultraman releases from Mill Creek, Neo Ultra Q is a relatively bare-bones release. It includes 2 discs (with all 12 episodes) and a movieSPREE redemption code for the entire series, but there’s no booklet or bonus features.

Usually, I’d gripe about that, but really… I just want more episodes of this amazing little show.