The Ultraman (ザ☆ウルトラマン, Za Urutoraman) is a Japanese animated television series co-produced by Tsuburaya Productions and animated by Nippon Sunrise. It is the eighth overall entry in the Ultra Series, the first animated work in the franchise and the first series to air in 4 years after the end of Ultraman Leo. The series aired on Tokyo Broadcasting System on April 4, 1979 to March 26, 1980, lasting a total of 50 episodes.
Contents
Story
In the 21st century, various mysterious events occur on Earth, causing monsters to appear all of a sudden. EGG3 officer Chouichirou Hikari was scouted to join the Science Defense Squad on Earth but while on his way back, he was bonded to Ultraman Joneus, an Ultra-Person of U-40 who was sent by his brethren to fight against the monster threats and alien invasions. This allows the youth to become an Ultraman against countless enemies while keeping a secret identity from his fellow members.
Midway through the series, both Hikari and Joneus die while fighting the Spirit Parasite. They are taken to the Ultra Planet U-40 to be resurrected, and while there, discover the Ultra People's connection to the Earth in the past. They also help to repel the invading Badel People, and to reclaim the stolen Ultra-mind.
Starting from episode 28, Daisuke Gondo becomes a new captain to the SDS. Despite their rocky start, the team learns to accept him due to his great intuition and brotherly instinct. Amia would return to Earth to warn Hikari and the SDS of the alien invasion of the Heller Empire, a renegade faction of Ultra People that invaded their home world and saw Earth as their next target due to Joneus's involvement. The Heller Empire was led by Heller, who was banished due to his misuse of the Ultra-mind for immortality. The SDS were given the Ultria, an ancient battleship made by the Ultra People to counter invasion attempts made by the Heller Army. In the four final episodes, Heller sent a full-scale invasion on Earth to wipe out humanity after fearing that they would cooperate with the remaining Ultra People. The SDS disobeyed the Earth Self Defense Army to go into space, joining forces with the remaining U-40 resistances to form the U Fleet and attacked the Titan Base on Saturn to prevent more invasion forces from coming to Earth. On U-40, the SDS made a risky attempt to sneak into the Heller City to weaken its defense as the U Fleet attacked Heller's forces in the planet's outer atmosphere. When the SDS were about to be killed by Mac Datar, Hikari's secret was exposed to save his comrades before joining the remaining seven Ultras in foiling Heller's attempts to escape. With Amia and the Wiseman being rescued, Heller died in the ensuing explosion as U-40 celebrated their victory. Joneus finally separated from Hikari and spent several months to observe Earth with his sister Amia. Once assuring that peace had returned, they bid farewell to the SDS and promised to return when the Earth's safety is threatened once more.
Episodes
The Hero is Born (新しいヒーローの誕生!!, Atarashī Hīrō no Tanjō!!)
The Secret of the Shining Pendant (光るペンダントの秘密, Hikaru Pendanto no Himitsu)
Sound of the Flute in the Setting Sun (草笛が夕日に流れる時, Kusabue ga Yūhi ni Nagareru Toki)
The Mystery of the Red Cloud (謎の赤い雲を追え!!, Nazo no Akai Kumo o Oe!!)
The Adventure of the Passenger (パッセージャー号地底突破!!, Passējā-gō Chitei Toppa!!)
Escape From the Deepest Sea (燃える深海への挑戦, Moeru Shinkai e no Chōsen)
Problems for Pig (攻撃指令!目標はピグ!!, Kōgeki Shirei! Mokuhyō wa Pigu!!)
The Secret of Hikari (ヒカリ隊員の秘密が盗まれた!?, Hikari Taiin no Himitsu ga Nusuma reta!?)
The Horror in the Old Castle (目覚めた古代生物の恐怖!!, Mezameta Kodai Seibutsu no Kyōfu!!)
Strategy of the Monster Mirage (見えたぞ! まぼろしの怪獣が..., Mieta zo! Maboroshi no Kaijū ga...)
Old Friendship Revived in the Himalayas (科学警備隊へのチャレンジ!!, Kagaku Keibitai e no Charenji!!)
The Sad Roar Goes On and On (怪獣とピグだけの不思議な会話, Kaijū to Pigu Dake no Fushigina Kaiwa)
The Resurrection of the Legend (よみがえった湖の悲しい伝説, Yomigaetta Mizuumi no Kanashii Densetsu)
The Devil Star Has Come! (悪魔の星が来た!!, Akuma no Hoshi ga Kita!!)
Songs
Theme Songs
Opening theme: "The Ultraman"
Song: Aku
Composition and Arrangement: Miyauchi Kunio
Song: Isao Sasaki and Columbia Yurikakai
Ending theme: "Brave Men of Love"
Lyrics: Aku
Composition and Arrangement: Kunio Miyauchi
Songs: Isao Sasaki
This serves as the first case of an entry in the Ultra Series having an ending sequence. Performed by BGM staff who had previously composed the theme song for "Ultra Seven". Both songs were recorded in Los Angeles, as was the in-play music.
Insert Songs
"Ultraman Hymn"
Lyrics: Kazuho Mitsuda
Composition and Arrangement: Toru Fuyuki
Song: Isao Sasaki
Sasaki, who was in charge of the song, made it the most difficult song he had ever sung.
"Star of Ultra"
Lyrics: Tani Noboru
Composition and Arrangement: Toru Fuyuki
Song: Columbia Torigokai
"Song of Mutsumi"
Lyrics-Kazuho Mitsuda
Composition: Noboru Tani
Arrangement: Hiroshi Takada
Song: Mitsuko Horie
"Super Murdoch"
Lyrics and Composition: Tani Noboru
Arrangement: Hirotaka Takada
Song: Isao Sasaki
"Our Science Garrison"
Lyrics: Kazuho Mitsuda
Composition: Noboru Tani
Arrangement: Hirotaka Takada
Songs: Isao Sasaki
"Robot Pig's Song"
English versions
In the United States, there have been two feature-length movie compilations: The Adventures of Ultraman (1981), and Ultraman II: The Further Adventures of Ultraman (1983). The Adventures of Ultraman was a feature-length film produced by Tsuburaya Productions specifically for the English-language market. The film is composed of edited footage from several episodes of the series. The storyline was rewritten for this adaptation with a new script by Jeff Segal and music composed by Mark McKinniss. Ultraman II was a dub of the first four episodes co-produced by Tsuburaya Productions and Associates Entertainment International. Despite the title, it has no continuity with the previous English dub of the series. Although the translation is closer to the original Japanese scripts than the first movie, the characters' names were still changed (although, the names given to the characters are not the same ones used in the previous dub). The order of the third and fourth episodes were also switched.
On April 5, 1980, episode 14 of The Ultraman aired on U.S. national television when New York superstation WOR-TV Channel 9 (now WWOR) aired it as the first part of "Japan Tonight!", a special seven-hour block of programming from TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System), hosted by actor Telly Savalas. Japanese actress/author/talk show host Tetsuko Kuroyanagi introduced the episode surrounded by assorted Ultraman toys and merchandise while explaining to the American audience just who Ultraman is, "It's very, very popular in Japan - He's like your Superman". The episode was dubbed into English by William Ross (Frontier Enterprises) in Japan and was sponsored by Bandai America.
Home media
In 2018, the series was released on the streaming service Toku.
In July 2020, Shout! Factory announced to have struck a multi-year deal with Alliance Entertainment and Mill Creek, with the blessings of Tsuburaya and Indigo, that granted them the exclusive SVOD and AVOD digital rights to the Ultra series and films (1,100 TV episodes and 20 films) acquired by Mill Creek the previous year. The Ultraman, amongst other titles, will stream in the United States and Canada through Shout! Factory TV and Tokushoutsu.
It was released in the United States on DVD September 14, 2021 by Mill Creek Entertainment.
