I was a big fan of Ultraman when I was a kid. In the early ‘90s I discovered there was a new “Ultraman” show, but unfortunately I was more interested in acquiring episodes of the old show on VHS than I was episodes of the new one. Somewhat later I discovered that there have been many, many “Ultraman” series over the years, rivaling Doctor Who in its longevity. A brief search of the internet yields the following results (but I’ve probably missed a few).
Ultra Q
Ultraman 1966-67
UltraSeven 1967-68
Return of…(Jack) 1971-72
Ultraman Ace 1972-73
Ultraman Taro 1973-74
Ultraman Leo 1974-75
Ultraman 80 1980-81
Ultraman USA (The Adventure Begins) 1987
Ultraman Great (Towards the Future) 1990-91
Ultraman Powered (The Ultimate Hero) 1993
Ultraman Hero 1995
Ultraman Zearth (parody) 1996-97
Ultraman Tiga 1996-97
Ultraman Dyna 1997-98
Ultraman Gaia 1998-99
Ultraman Nice 1999-00
Ultraman Neos 2000-2001
Ultraman Cosmos 2001-02
Ultra Q: Dark Fantasy 2004
Ultraman: Next 2004 - p.82
Ultraman Nexus 2004-05 - p.82
Ultraman Max 2005-06 - p.86
Ultraman Mebius 2006-07 - p.91
Ultraman UltraSeven X 2007 - p.99
UltraGalaxy: Mega Monster Battle 2007-2009 - p.100
Ultraman Retsuden 2011-13
Neo Ultra Q 2013
Ultraman Ginga 2013
Ultraman Ginga S 2014
Ultraman X 2015-16
Ultraman Orb 2016
Ultraman Geed 2017
Ultraman R/B 2018
Ultraman Taiga 2019
Ultraman Z 2020
Ultraman Trigger 2021
We’ve been discussing other tokusatsu series in this forum lately, and because those series were produced later than Ultraman, I expected them to be technically better, but I ended up being somewhat disappointed in Super Robot Red Baron and Iron King. I enjoyed them, but I didn’t like them as much as I hoped to. Now I’ve started watching Ultraseven, and it’s everything I hoped it would be.
As the liner noteson the DVD set point out, “the difference in the overall quality in production between Ultraman and Ultraseven was marked, and made the show memorable 45 years later. According to Wikipedia, “Such is his popularity that Ultra Seven (or simply 'Seven') has appeared or at least made cameos in nearly every Ultra Series following his own and has had far more exposure than even the original Ultraman (though the original Ultraman is without a doubt the face of the Ultras).”
My wife and I disagree about the relative merits of Ultraseven in comparison to SRRB/IK. I would like to start the discussion with a look at the opening title sequence and music, then open the floor for rebutal.
The title sequence of Ultraman, as you will recall, looks as if it had been spelled out in a can of paint, slowly stirred, then run backwards. Ultraseven looks more like it had been spelled out in brightly colored confetti, placed atop one of those old electric football games, shaken apart, then run backwards. Whereas the soundtrack of Ultraman is jazzy, that of Ultraseven shows more of a classical influence.
Here is the English translation of the lyrics…
Seven… Seven… Seven… Seven…
Seven! Seven! Seven!
Seven! Seven! Seven!
A distant star was once his home
Ultra Seven! Fighter Seven!
Ultra Seven! Seven! Seven!
Onward to the edge of the galaxy
Use your Ultra-Eye and… STRIKE!
Seven! Seven! Seven!
Seven! Seven! Seven!
Dan Moroboshi is his borrowed name
Ultra Seven! Hero Seven!
Ultra Seven! Seven! Seven!
Defeat the great fire-breathing monster
Use yout Ultra-Beam and STRIKE!
Replies
UNDER THE NAME OF ULTRAMAN: "The brothers Katsumi Minato and Isami Minato were defeated completely by Ultraman Orb Dark. After that, Ultramn Dark started to take hold in the minds of people in Ayaka City. What is the answer the brothers come up with after keenly feeling their immaturity? What is the true aim of Orb Dark? The retun match of the furious brothers, Ulraman Rosso and Blu, begins!"
Katsumi and Isami spend the entire recap discussing Ultrman Orb Dark's name.
"His name is too long!"
"Is that really what you're concerned about right now?"
"'Dark' is English, 'noir' is French and 'schwarz' is German, so his full name is really 'Ultraman Orb Black Black Black Black.' What, is he stupid?"
After their defeat, Katsumi and Isami begin training in secret. Meanwhile, Ultraman Orb Dark sets about saving people from disasters (some of which he has secretly caused himself) and doing good deeds (such as retrieving the balloon of a little girl who let it go). He insists that people use his full name, and twice this episode kids pronounce "schwarz" as "schwartz" which really annoys Aizen. Asahi finds out about her brothers' secret training and insists on coming along. She gets bored however, wanders off, falls down and twists her ankle. Her brothers come to her rescue, and discover another crystal, almost as if she subconsciously led them to it. Rosso and Blu use this crystal to defeat Ultraman Orb Dark, forcing him back to human form. Before Aizen can retrieve his transformation device, however, Katsumi and Isami arrive on the scene and take it from him. He vows revenge.
A WEEKEND OF MINATO FAMILY: "Ushio Monato went out on a picnic with his family. Taking a break from the battles, Katsumi and Isami enjoy a rare day off with their family. While spending peaceful time, they make up their mind again that they need to protect their family. Just then, 'that guy' appears and breaks the peace. Their new challenge, Monster Horoboros' claw, came at the brothers Ultrman!"
Kaiju: Horoboros
Katsumi and Isami spend the entire recap arguing about the length of Ultraman Orb Dark's name again. They are able to utilize the power of Aizen's captured transformation device as well. If I remember how to do combinations and permutations correctly, that gives them a power set of 120 unique powers to draw upon. Asahi finds the transformation device and mistakes it for a face massager. (She's probably a little young to mistake it for a vibrator, which is what it looks like). Ushio decides to close the shop one day and his his family on a picnic. They go to Aizen Wonderland, which is just a park. Makota Aizen himself is there running a concession stand, if we are to believe that. Although Ultraman Orb etc., etc. has been defeated, Aizen is still a free man. Katsumin and Isami are skeptical, but aizen offers them both jobs... in the U.S.A., presumably to get them out of the way. He still sees himself as a hero, yet he calls forth Horoboros to test them while he jetpacks to safety. While Ultraman R/B battles the monster, Aizen takes notes and grades them on their moves. Aizen maneuvers Horoboros to endanger Ushio and Asahi, and while Ultraman R/B rushes to save them, the monster blindsides them, transforming them back to human form. Aizen appears on the scene and retrieves his transformation device. Then he prepares to show them what a "true hero" is.
AIZEN CAPPRICIO: "When people were in despair after the brothers Ultraman were defeated by monster Horoboros, a real hero appeared. The name is 'Ultraman Orb Dark Noir Black Schwarz'! The brothers Ultraman stand up to stop a plot hidden behind the fine showings by Orb Dark. However, a girl in black with blue eyes appears... "
Kaiju: Horoboros, Space Devil Beezerb
This episode picks up exactly where the last one left off. After a fierce battle, Orb Dark defeats Horoboros. Aizen reappears and gives a speech allying his company with the "true" Ultraman, Orb Dark Noir Black Schwarz. Katsumi and Isami try to tell the crown that he is a fraud, but they turn on them. A female hand retrieves the crystal left behind by the defeat of Horoboros. Ushio supports Orb Dark and designs a t-shirt, which cause a rift between him and his two sons. Space Devil Beezerb attacks, and Orb Dark appears to fight it. Katsumi and Isami transform into Ultraman R/R and a three-way fight ensues. Asahi discovers her brothers' secret. After Beeserb is defeated, a young girl dressed in black appears and summons Horoboros. Another battle royale is on the horizon.
This episode ends with a major twist.
WHAT WE HAVE TO PROTECT: "The mysterious girl with blue eyes appears here and there unexpectedly. Makoto Aizen is in a big hurry for the monster Horoboros to be defeated. Ushio is in a contemplative mood praying for peace for his family. Asahi discovers the truth. What do her brothers have to protect? When they stand up again, the second half of the story will change radically!"
Kaiju: Horoboros
The episode picks up with Ultraman R/B, Orb Dark and Horoboros in a standoff. Horoboros is a Griffin-like creature and surprises all of its opponents when it stands upright. It quickly defeats Orb Dark, transforming him back to human, and Asahi finds his transformation device, Orb Ring Neo. The girl in black (or "the mysterious girl with blue eyes") is watching from a distance. Horoboros defeats Ultraman R/B as well, and Asahi witnesses them change back into her unconscious brothers, so if she didn't learn their secret in the previous episode, she certainly knows it now. she contacts their father and together they transport Katsumi and Usami to the hospital. When they awaken, Asahi reveals to them (but not their father), that she knows their secret. Meanwhile, while looking through his wife's diary, Ushio makes a startling discovery.
Back at the hospital, the girl in black with blue eyes (GIBWBE), who has been in control of Horoborus all along, calls it back into action. Katsumi and Isami take their leave of Asahi to go fight the monster. Elsewhere, after his defeat at the hands of Horoborus, Makoto Aizen is in a full body cast. The GIBWBE arrives in his room dressed as a nurse. She quotes a "friend" of hers, Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde... something about how all human beings are false. Back at his shop, Ushio reminisces about a day in the park when he took a picture of himself and his three children with an automatic camera mounted on a tripod, a scene we have seen before. They all say "Happy!" (rather than "Cheese!"), when the picture is snapped. Asahi is just a toddler at the time, but "Happy," of course, will one day become her catchphrase. Ironically, she is crying loudly as the picture is being taken. In the present, when Ushio looks at the photo that was taken that only, only he, Katsumi and Isami are in it.
SECRETS OUT!: "Asahi complains to her brothers that 'it is not happy' that they didn't tell her their secret. Her bothers tell her their memories of their battles, how they found the R/B Gyro, all of their crises and their growth overcoming these challenges. But Ushio feels that something does not smell right as to wipe out his worries, and he starts to confirm the family memento. However, his worries seemingly came out to be true."
NOTE: "But Ushio feels that something does not smell right as to wipe out his worries, and he starts to confirm the family memento" is an example of a sentence of the provided summary I did not change.
Kaiju: Gubila
Asahi confronts her brothers and demands that they let her in on their secret. This gives Katsumi and Isami the opportunity to recap the entire series so far, as well as to explain exactly how their powers work. Meanwhile, Ushio unpacks a "Box of Memories" and finds many mementos of Katsumi and Isami's childhood, but none at all for Asahi. And this in turn leads the boys to speculate about their mother, her relationship to Makoto Aizen, and her knowledge of Ultraman, and why she ran away. when the monster Gubila attacks, the brothers leave to deal with it, and Ushio confronts Asahi and bluntly asks, "Who are you?"
WHO ARE YOU?: "Asahi was upset by the words 'Who are you?' from her father. She meets the mysterious girl Saki Mitsurgi, and that made her come up with something... After Saki disappeared in a sudden as usual, Asahi found there were two R/B crystals in front of her. When the brothers saw that, they started arguing again due to their difference of opinion! Facing the gigantic enemy Grigio King, that appears in a sudden, they don't get along, and that gets them into a jam."
NOTE: Apparently the summarizer interprets the phrase "all of a sudden" to "in a sudden." And I have no idea what he means by "made her come up with something."
Kaiju: Gubila, Bombing Bone Monster Grigio King
Ultraman R/B make short work of Gubila. It is being controlled by Makoto Aizen, who has apparently recovered from injuries sustained in "What We Have to Protect." After they defeat it, they go back to the shop to find Ushio alone and Asahi gone. Usio tells them what he said, and they tell him he shouldn't have done that, but they will attempt to smooth things over when they find her. Meanwhile, Asahi is eating lunch in an outdoor cafe when GIBWBE joins them. She introduces herself as Saki Mitsurgi, touches Asahi's hair, sniffs it, and quotes Shakespeare, another "friend" of hers. Ashahi gives her the nickname "Tsuru" and takes a selfie with her. Saki (or Tsuru) asks her many personal questions about her family, then suddenly and mysteriously disappears, leaving two crystals behind.
Next, Saki shows up with Makoto Aizen (at least I think it's her; she's still dressed in white as a nurse), but his Gyro device has been damaged and he can no longer transform. she gives him a new, more powerful Gyro device. Back at the shop, Asahi looks through the "box of memories" but it's not shown what she finds. Her brothers return and she gives them the two new crystals and tells how she got them. Isami wants to use them immediately, but Katsumi urges caution. Then Grigio King appears (controlled by Aizen) and they rush off to fight it. They use their old poewer crystals, but are no match for the newly-upgraded Bombing Bone Monster Grigio King. Ultraman Blu Aqua (Isami) convinces Ultraman Rosso Flame (Katsumi) to give the new crystals a try, but when they try to access them, they are literally knocked on their butts.
ELEMENT OF KIWAMI: "Defeated by enemy Grigio King transformed by the 'mad hero' Makoto Aizen, Katsumi and Isami fight even harder. They stand before Grigio King but their combination is awful, leading them to be bombed dreadfully by the Bombing Bone Monster. In such a desperate situation, Asahi rushes to the scene. When her words are heard by her brothers. Ultraman Rosso and Blu turn into one - a golden Ultraman is born!"
Kaiju: Grigio King
Katsumi and Isami spend the recap arguing about the difference between "Grigio" and "Grigio King."
Suddenly, Grigio King becomes immobilized, but Aizen doesn't have anything to do with it; Saki is responsible. Liofe returns to normal... with a ghiant kaiju standing in the middle of daowntown. Back at the shop, Ushio unveils another t-shirt design. I don't usually mention these, but this will give you an idea of what they're like. This one says: "I apolo-chia-ze if your tea is too hot." (Actually, it doesn't lose anything in translation.) Asahi can't find any pictures of herself, and asks both of her brothers separately what she was doing when the pictures of them were being taken. Their answers are vague, like "You wandered off" or something.
Saki reactivates Grigio King, and Ultraman Rosso and Blu go to fight it. Saki watches the fight from a distance. Asahi realizes that their mother used to say, "There's nothing you two can't accomplish if you put your minds to it." she shouts words of encouragement, and they combine their forms into a single Giant of Light, Ultraman Ruebe. Ruebe has a whole new assortment of toys, including a sort of hand-held buzzsaw. When they return to the shop, Asahi is nowhere to be found, and she has left her bunny slippers behind.
Meanwhile, down on their luck, several Ultramen, along with some of their former opponents, perform street theater to earn extra cash.
Actually, I've seen this sort of thing depicted in vaerious manga over the years, but never actually seen one before.
THIS MOMENT IS THE BOND: "Asahi left home! She made the decision because she could not find evidence supporting that she is part of the Minato family. When she is lost in identity, the mysterious girl Saki Mitsurugi gave her some words that went into her heart. Is she a friend or enemy? Meanwhile, Transparent Monster Neronga appears to rip apart the family's bond! The bothers Ultraman fight against Neronga that keeps disappearing. Can the broken-hearted Asahi reunite with her family again?"
Kaiju: Transparent Monster Neronga
The recap uses the phrase: "Responsibility comes with great power." Saki forces Mental Parasite Cereisa from Aizen's body, then takes over his company. Asahi begins to doubt that she exists and runs away from home. She goes to the park Aizen Wonderland where she and her family spent many happy hours together, which is where Saki finds her. Asahi continues to refer to Saki as "Tsuru," which Saki doesn't care for. Saki quotes another Old frined," Niccolo Machiavelli. Katsumi and Isami track Asahi to the park by her cell phone. Saki calls Neronga, and the Minato brothers transform into different configurations of Ultraman R/B, but eventually combine into Ultraman Reube to defeat Neronga. After the battle, Katsumi gives Asahi a piece of candy as a peace offering. From afar, Saki looks at the piece of candy given to her by Asahi. Meanwhile, Makoto Aizen sets off on an around-the-world bicycle ride.
WE ARE FRIENDS: "On the day of Halloween, two beings from different planets across the universe are both troubled: Alien Dada couldn't find guests to attend a party, while Asahi couldn't fins a place to hold a party. When the two met, they made plans to hold a fantastic party together - until Dada finds out that Asahi is the sister of the two Ultramen! Would the party be successfully held?"
Kaiju: Alien Dada, Pigmon, Master Booska
There is a new arrangement of the opening theme, but that might just be for the Halloween episode. Alien Dada was very creepy and disturbing to me when I was a kid (he's the one with the "zebra stripes), and last night, when we were watching the preview for this episode, Tracy admitted Dada creeped her out, too. But her he's played strictly for laughs, prefacing every "d-word" with "dada," such as "dada-dash" and "dada-decorations." This is light-hearted change of pace episode which features Pignom as well. I usually don't like the "funny" ones, but this one advances the characters in important ways. Specifically, Asahi and Saki grow closer, even as Saki and Asahi's brothers become increasingly antagonistic. The conflict between Alien Dada and Ultraman Reube is resolved by Master Booska, a giant "teddy bear." The episode turns deadly serious at the end as Saki Mitsurgi (now head of Aizentech, remember) breaks in to television broadcasts to cheerfully announce the destruction of Earth in two months time. Then she apologizes.
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