There's a lot of humor, occasional (but mild) horror, and of course tons of Tsubaraya special effects action, with an especially lithe and acrobatic Ultraman fighting the great beasts amid very lavish miniature scenery. The monster-of-the-week format is balanced nicely with character stories and back-stories, and several multi-episode arcs help to break the pattern.
With this in place (as well as a female executive and a couple of comic-relief bureaucrats), TEAM GUYS basically lives the same life as the Science Patrol of 1966, sitting around their cool hi-tech headquarters waiting for monsters to show up! Doesn't sound like much, I know, but the series is produced with such care and the cast has so much personal charm that it is hard not to be hooked. Each of these characters has an unexpected back-story that is eventually revealed. Ryu, a hot-headed ace pilot and the only surviving GUYS member, and Captain Sakomizu, the new, sage-like team captain, round out the cast. All but one of TEAM GUYS is killed by the first monster, and a series of amusing and coincidental (but character-revealing)events lead Murai to recruit the new team members: Marina, a sexy motorcycle chick with amazing hearing George, a would-be Spaniard ex-soccer star (with even more fabulous anime hair) Konimi, a timid, bespectacled kindergarten teacher and Teppei, a wealthy medical student. Monsters have not attacked the earth in 25 years (since Utraman 80 ended in 1981) the Earth still has a network of paramilitary monster fighters (like the original Science Patrol) just in case! A new Ultraman arrives on Earth just as monsters do, and takes on the vaguely androgynous form of Mirai, a slender, wide-eyed 18 year old with fabulous "anime hair". Mebius marks a return to the original Ultra live-action universe as it existed from 1966-1980 (discounting the wretched Ultraman Jonias, an utterly undistinguished cartoon from 1979). Special Effects pioneer Eiji Tsubaraya would be quite proud, I think, of the positive qualities exhibited in the latest version of his brainchild, produced in celebration of Ultraman's 40th anniversary. Yet for all its production gloss, the show is amazingly reminiscent of the original 1966 Ultraman, the second in the Ultra series that began with the black and white Ultra Q. Ultraman Mebius (2006) has continued the refinement of formula that other recent Ultra shows (Maxx, Cosmos etc.) have shown.