Ultraman (Back to the Beginning)

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
Ultraman Decker 2022
Ultraman Blazar 2023
Ultraman Arc 2024
Ultraman Omega 2025
Ultraman Theo 2026

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!

I'm afraid Billy Mumy and Rose Marie have spoiled me for cameos, and when there isn't one I'm disappointed.

One thing neither one of us has mentioned so far is the theme song... not the one with lyrics which is posted to YouTube, but the instrumental version leading off every episode. IMO, it is the most lackluster version of any Ultraman theme ever.

Elsewhere, the water company calls in WINR when they find a similar object.

Didn't they say these sarcophagi were something like 40,000 years old? One of them was found in the depths of a cave, and the other... in a drainage sewer?

He is played by John G. "J.G." Hertzler

Thanks for supplying the name. I thought he looked familiar, but I didn't recognize him as General Martok (although I see it now). Looking at his IMDB profile, I don't really know him from anything (other than DS9), so maybe he just reminds me of someone else. Beck reminds of Stacy Haiduk (circa The Adventures of Superboy).

I strongly suspect that the concept of red and blue "devils" is a reference to the old Japanese story "The Red Oni Who Cried"...

My newly-acquired episode guide doesn't say, although it does place them as 300,000,000 years old. Your reference to red and blue oni reminds me of something else though... undoubtedly an episode of some other Ultraman series.

For whatever reason, I found the monster battles in this one less than thrilling.

For me it was because the inscriptions on the sarcophagi built them up to be some Omega Level threat, but they weren't, really. (Perhaps they were to the ancients who imprisoned them.)

Replies

- Jeff of Earth-J > The Baron February 7, 2026 at 8:28am
  
  The cops interview Mitchell's neighbor, who is played by - Holy sh*t, it's Rose Marie! Awesome.
  
  That was pretty much my reaction. I don't think I would have recognized just her face, but I definitely recognized her voice.
  
  Elsewhere, another employee is electronically sucked into an ATM.
  
  These episodes don't have MST3K-style "zingers" at the end of the credits, but if they did this episode's would be Sanders saying, "Electronically sucked?"
  
  Cap says "reverse the polarities", but does not mention the neutron flow.
  
  Heh.
  
  ...a critter - easily the goofiest looking one yet...
  
  "Human Specimens 5 & 6" (thanks for supplying the tilte) was one of the earliest episodes of Ultraman I ever saw, perhaps the very first, and the Dada were creepy. Or perhaps I should say, "The Dada was creepy." In the Japanese episode, there were three aliens Dada, but when it was dubbed into English, that aspect was dropped. I didn't notice until decades later, when I re-watched the episode on DVD, that the aliens had three different "looks" to them. Generally speaking, when Powered redesigns a kaiju, they improve upon it (like Zumbular), but this Dada redesign was absolutely terrible, on par with the show's substandard model work.
- The Baron > Jeff of Earth-J February 7, 2026 at 9:24am
  
  I don't think I would have recognized just her face, but I definitely recognized her voice.
  
  Yeah, her voice was unmistakable.
  
  These episodes don't have MST3K-style "zingers" at the end of the credits, but if they did this episode's would be Sanders saying, "Electronically sucked?"
  
  LOL.
The Baron February 8, 2026 at 1:11am
Episode 9; "Tails from the Crypts", a.k.a. "Devils from the Crypts"
1. Two college kids who are exploring a cave find a mysterious sarcophagus.
2. Elsewhere, the water company calls in WINR when they find a similar object. The WINR team take it back to their HQ to examine it. They call in a Doctor Whittaker who was Beck's old instructor, and who was disappointed that she went to work for WINR instead of being a "real" scientist. He is played by John G. "J.G." Hertzler, who is probably best remembered for playing General Martok on Deep Space Nine. They discover that it refers to two"Devils" - one red, one blue - and that there is another sarcophagus out there somewhere.
3. The college kids open their sarcophagus, which unleashes a blue monster, Aboras. This causes the other sarcophagus to activate, releasing the red monster, Banila. Aboras and Banila first appeared in Episode 19 of Ultraman. I strongly suspect that the concept of red and blue "devils" is a reference to the old Japanese story "The Red Oni Who Cried", which featured red and blue oni - creatures from Japanese mythology which are similar to ogres or demons.
4. Kai is sent in on the ground. Aboras and Banila meet and clash. It's not an epic battle, and Aboras quickly wins.
5. WINR attacks to little effect. Beck comes up with an attack that hurts Aboras, but it quickly revives. Beck and Whittaker then come up with the idea of using soniics against the monsters.
6. Banila revives and goes after Aboras again. Kai transforms into Ultraman and joins the battle, which again is not especially epic. Beck uses sonics, which distracts the monsters long enough for Ultraman to destroy them. We end with Beck and Whittaker showing mutual respect.
Overall: Another OK episode. For whatever reason, I found the monster battles in this one less than thrilling.
- Jeff of Earth-J > The Baron February 8, 2026 at 9:23am
  
  I'm afraid Billy Mumy and Rose Marie have spoiled me for cameos, and when there isn't one I'm disappointed.
  
  One thing neither one of us has mentioned so far is the theme song... not the one with lyrics which is posted to YouTube, but the instrumental version leading off every episode. IMO, it is the most lackluster version of any Ultraman theme ever.
  
  Elsewhere, the water company calls in WINR when they find a similar object.
  
  Didn't they say these sarcophagi were something like 40,000 years old? One of them was found in the depths of a cave, and the other... in a drainage sewer?
  
  He is played by John G. "J.G." Hertzler
  
  Thanks for supplying the name. I thought he looked familiar, but I didn't recognize him as General Martok (although I see it now). Looking at his IMDB profile, I don't really know him from anything (other than DS9), so maybe he just reminds me of someone else. Beck reminds of Stacy Haiduk (circa The Adventures of Superboy).
  
  I strongly suspect that the concept of red and blue "devils" is a reference to the old Japanese story "The Red Oni Who Cried"...
  
  My newly-acquired episode guide doesn't say, although it does place them as 300,000,000 years old. Your reference to red and blue oni reminds me of something else though... undoubtedly an episode of some other Ultraman series.
  
  For whatever reason, I found the monster battles in this one less than thrilling.
  
  For me it was because the inscriptions on the sarcophagi built them up to be some Omega Level threat, but they weren't, really. (Perhaps they were to the ancients who imprisoned them.)
The Baron February 9, 2026 at 12:31am
Episode 10: "Deadly Starfish"
1. An oil tank implodes and WINR is called in to investigate. Young and Sanders are sent down in a sub called the Barracuda. Kai is snet to the refinery, where he runs into Arturo , a guy that he knew in flight school and who just failed of certification as a pilot. The Barracuda is caught by a giant starfish. This is Powered Pestar, an updated version of a croitter used in Ultraman Episode 13: "Oil S.O.S.". Interestingly, they find Pestar in their records, which implkes that they've encountered it before.
2. Pestar comes ashore. Arturo hijacks a Hawk, and Beck goes along with him. This is less believable than a giant starfish to me, as she goes along with him, based solely on his word that he's almost certified to be a pilot.
3. "Freezing it to abbsolute zero had no effect." I'm reasonably certain that this is scientific nonsense.
4. Cap is shot down, but is rescued by the Barracuda.
5. Kai transforms Into Ultraman and battles Pestar. Arturo distracts Pestar long enough for Ultraman to zap it.
Overall: Another OK episode. Kind of lifeless, maybe.
- Jeff of Earth-J > The Baron February 9, 2026 at 3:07am
  
  Arturo , a guy that he knew in flight school and who just failed of certification as a pilot.
  
  He failed because he was color blind, which disqualified him.He strikes me as very young for the position he holds; I din't really buy him being in change of anything. In my career, I never had to report to anyone younger than I was, but if I'd've stayed any longer I would have had to.
  
  ...she goes along with him, based solely on his word that he's almost certified to be a pilot.
  
  They tried to account for this because they both scored a 98% on the simulator, and both made the same mistake.
  
  Beck reminds of Stacy Haiduk (circa The Adventures of Superboy).
  
  ...and Young reminds me of Donna Dixon (circa Bosom Buddies).
The Baron February 10, 2026 at 12:44am
Episode 11: "Dino Might"
1. Doctor Hasegawa finds a fossil Gomorasaurus and brings it back to L.A. (Gomora is anoxther updated critter from the Ultraman series.) It is revived by rain and wanders off to a river. WINR is called in. Hasegawa hopes that they can catch it alive.
2. WINR tranqs Gomora, and they carry it off. Gomora waes up in transit. Sanders pulls the "I can't hear you" bit to disobey Cap's orders and shoots it loose.
3. Kai makes a flimsy excuse to go off bynhimself to change into Ultraman. He tries to stop Gomora without hurting it. Gomora collapses and dies, and is madecinto a museum exhibit.
Overall: An interesting idea somewhat lifelessly carried off.
- JD DeLuzio > The Baron February 10, 2026 at 5:27am
  
  Oddly, Gomora looks nothing like (1) a giant turtle (2) a green female assasin or (3) a doomed city.
- Jeff of Earth-J > The Baron February 10, 2026 at 6:28am
  
  Sanders pulls the "I can't hear you" bit to disobey Cap's orders and shoots it loose.
  
  Kinda make you miss Charlie, doesn't he? This is the second time Sanders has blatantly diobeyed orders with no inquiry or consequences.
The Baron February 11, 2026 at 12:11am
Episode 12: "Falling Stars Spell Trouble"
1. We see lights falling to Earth. Looks like Baltan's back.
2. Sanders mocks Beck for studying Ultraman on her own time. Well, why wouldn't she?
3. WINR investigates a familiar-looking cocoon. They decide to blast it.
4. They find two monsters - Red King and Dorako (a.k.a. Powered Dorako), another critter from the old Ultraman series. Dorako kills Red King. Was Red King just there by chance?
5. They lower Kai on a line to get a sample of the cocoon. Sanders and Young attack Dorako to no effect. Kai's line breaks, and he transforms to Ultraman. He battles Dorko, who throws batarangs at him. It sends a signal out into space, and then defeats Ultraman.
6. WINR concludes that the cocoon is connected to Baltan.
7. Sanders and Young damage Dorako, but are shot down. Kai transforms again. Ultraman defeats Dorako, but is injured in the process. Beck finds Kai with similr wounds to Ultraman's.
8. Cliffhanger: Something else crashes to Earth!
Overall; Another OK episode, beginningnthe final wrap-up.

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