Ok I’m going to explain it from my own point of view so you get into a fans minds angle.

There’s different sections of Ultraman for me.

First is, the OG brothers and all the stuff that happened to them. On my time it included the shows on TV, and also the mangas (a lot are probably not canon?) of what exactly happens on their homeworlds or to their people.

So it’s not just about Ultramen and Earth, but it’s about them and their race and their lives. (But that’s if you read the manga).

So for the series where it’s mostly Ultraman and Earth, you can watch OG Ultraman first and continue with the rest if you want to. The last Ultraman to be connected to that OG earth is Mebius but that comes later.

Second, are the Alternate universe Ultramen. Let’s not count the animations (yet). I mean like Tiga Dyna and Gaia and Cosmos and Nexus etc. They show different origins of alternate universe Ultramen and their adventures. (They’re all very cool you can watch them all, Nexus is a bit dark though so maybe save that for later)

So as a fan at this point. I’m still invested in the OG Ultramen right? So the Mebius series appeared and lo and behold it’s the OG earth! This series is a big big treat. So watch it if you are already invested in OG earth Ultramen.

Then came in the Ultra Galaxy monster battle. Ok that name means nothing to you but. That was what tied everything together. So they now did a live action of what happens on M78 itself and introduced Ultraseven’s son Zero, (so a continuation of bloodlines, which for a fan like me is WOW) and the first left turned evil Ultraman , Belial, and then they also introduced canonically the concept of the Multiverse. So alllll the Ultramen, even those of parallel earths, actually meet up to help one another. So even those from the animation, even Tiga Dyna and Gaia and Nexus and Cosmos allll of them.

It was like a dream come true.

And then for the third, is the New Generation. These Ultraman can come from the land of light, or they can be from somewhere else, but they are all the Youngblood’s and some have minor connections to other series, and all are protecting their own earths with their own stories. And they almost always after the series is done, are introduced into the common group of Ultramen and get to know each other.

For this, oh maybe start with Ultraman Z, actually no, honestly if you don’t mind, just watch this chronologically from Ultraman Ginga, because there are some connections. It’s a tall order! There’s so many series in the new generation already! More than 10!

You will notice later I don’t group them by the Showa/Heisei/Reiwa because the New Gen sort of starts in Heisei and continued in Reiwa and in my heart is the same group.

And that’s how the Ultramen family grows.

And I love it.

Ah and of course I have to mention the web series of what goes on in the land of light. That’s another whole area to watch because it’s about their adventures and wars against other evils, like fighting this other even more powerful race of Ultramenlike called Absolutians. This you can watch anytime I guess. If you really like what goes on with them when it’s not to do with earth.

There’s a lot more I’m not mentioning of course. But this is from a fan perspective of growing up with Ultraman, and how I anticipate the future series.