Ultraman (Back to the Beginning)

[Jeff of Earth-J]

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!

[The Baron]

Episode 17: "The 1/8 Project"

1. Tokyo is really crowded.(I once heard it said that if you dropped a Tokyoite into Times Square during rush hour, their reaction would be "Where the Hell is everybody"?)
2. Later, she is riding with Jun and  Ippei when she decides to investigate something called "The 1/8 Project". She finds that they intend to shrink humans down to 1/8th their size to solve overcrowding. She gets caught in a rush and is forced into an elevator.
3. Jun and Ippei look for her, but can't find her.
4. Yuriko is shrunken down to tiny size. She is greeted by a creepy welcome committee, but is arrested for trespassing.  She is put in a cell with a Comedy Fat Guy, who helps her to escape.
5. The container that she's in falls into a river. It is found by some kids, who turn it over to  some nuns. Yuriko persuades them to leave her at Jun's office at the airport.  
6. Yuriko finds that Jun and Ippei have put up a memorial photo of her.  A bit fast to assume that she's dead if she's only been gone a week.
7. Jun and Ippei come in. Yuriko hides from them and doesn't speak to them, for some reason. Ippei seems fairly cheerful for someone who just lost a colleague. He has a bunch of balloons.  Jun just seems to want to put the whole thing behind him.
8. Jun and Ippei get called away. Yuriko calls her boss, but he hangs up on her. She writes a note saying goodbye, and ties the balloons to her container and floats away.
9. Jun and Ippei arrive a Liddlevillle looking for Yuriko. They find her, but she tells them to leave. She runs into a subway station, and collapses on the stairs. 
10. She wakes up in a hospital, suffering from a concussion.Apparently, it was all a dream.
11. I note that she says "Jun-chan" and  Ippei-kun". If my understanding of Japanese honorifics is accurate, this would seem to indicate that she feels closer to Jun than to Ippei.

Overall: An OK episode. I suppose that the fact that it was all a dream excuses any inconsistencies in the story.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

I suppose that the fact that it was all a dream excuses any inconsistencies in the story.

Except one... there is still an outfit whose goal is to shrink people to 1/8 their size.

Shinking people seems to have been a popular motif in TV and movies of the 1960s: The Land of the Giants TV show, a Doctor Who serial, a scene from the Beatles' movie  Help!...

I note that she says "Jun-chan" and  Ippei-kun".

According to the list of Japanese honorifics you once sent me, "chan" is affectionate and "kun" is familiar, "used on someone your level or below." I take it to mean that she feels she and Jun are more-or-less equals, but Ippei is subordinate. Lois Lane might say "Clark-chan" ("Jun-san" would be more like "Mr. Kent"), but "Jimmy-kun." 

 

[The Baron]

Yeah, that's about how I understand it.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

It doesn't show up in the sub-titles, but Yuriko has been saying "Jun-chan" and "Ippei-kun" consistantly all along.

The way I have observed the honorifics being used is more like...

San - formal, polite

Chan - friendly, personal

Kun - affectionate (as to a child, not a lover)

[The Baron]

Chan - friendly, personal

Kun - affectionate (as to a child, not a lover)

I would reverse there two, if  it was me.  From my manga reading,  "chan" is used on a child, as in Chiyo-chan from Azumanga Daioh, or Shin-chan, from Crayon Shin-chan, or even Super Milk-chan. "Chan" is also used with pets, ro animals in general.

In my experience, kun is used with your buddies or classmates, or with work colleagues of similar or lesser rank.

[The Baron]

Episode 18: "The Rainbow's Egg"

1. A truck is carrying uranium to a reactor at an industrial development. While making a pitstop, one trucker finds a bamboo flower. Subsequently, it is attcked by the monster Pagos
2. Nearby, a girl  leads a group of children to find bamboo shoots for Granny, an old woman who cannot walk. Granny tells them that if they find a bamboo flower and a rainbow egg together can get whatever they wish. The little girl wants to find a rainbow egg so she can wish that Granny can walk again.
3. Thr Trio choppper in to investigate. They rescue the two truckers and take them to a hospital. One of the truckers is suffering from severe overacting. He reports seeing a golden rainbow in the sky. Just then, there is a brief earthquake, and another golden rainbow appears in the sky.
4. One kid reports the rainbow to the others, who are looking for the egg at a chicken farm.  There's a little quiet kid who knows magic words that can make chickens lay eggs.
5. Jun has heard of Pagos before, and has also heard the legend that a bamboo flower is a bad omen.
6. Pagos emerges near the kids, most of whom scatter. The girl and Chicken Boy find the uranium, mistaking it for the rainbow egg. Chicken Boy books it, but the girl tries to haul the "egg" away.
7.  Pagos goes after the uranium, but diverts to go after the  power plant.
8. The kids let the Trio know about the girl and the uranium capsule.
9. Officals fire some neutron missiles that they happened to have at Pagos, who literally falls to pieces.
10. The kids bring Granny out to see the girl. Granny suddenly stands and shouts, "Mein Führer, I can walk!"  Well, no, she doesn't, but it's what it made me think of. She can suddenly walk, however. Maybe her paralysis was psychosomatic.

Overall: Another OK episode. 

1.  

    
    

[Jeff of Earth-J]

At one point, Piko (the little girl) tells Yuriko, "I really hate liars, along with radishes and mantis, too!" I half expected her to add, "...as I hate Hell, all Montagues and thee!"

I think "Chicken Boy" was supposed to be the Japanese equvalent of the Little Rascals' "Froggy."

Regarding Granny's ability to walk in the end, I think she probably had the ability to stand and take a few steps all along. In her first scene, she was sitting in the middle of the yard in an ordinary chair (not a wheelchair). How did she get there?

[The Baron]

I think she probably had the ability to stand and take a few steps all along.

That's likely. I know that there are folks who  cn walk very short distances, but have to use wheelchairs for longer distances.

[The Baron]

Episode 18: "Challenge from the Year 2020"

1. A UFO destroys two Air Force jets. Amano, the officer in charge, faces skepticism from his superiors.
2. Several people disappear, one right in front of Yuriko.
3. Yuriko and Amano seek out Jun and Ippei. Ippei mentions a book about the year 2020 by a Professor Kanda which described similar happenings, but Jun dismisses this scornfully.
4. Jun flies off with Amano to view where the jets disappeared, but disappears mid-flight.
5. Tomoda the photographer vanishes right in front of Yuriko.
6. A policeman named Udagawa is sent to protect Yuriko. He's the "Not the bumbler he seems to be" type.
7. Ippei says that Kanda's book is real, and that alien Kemurians from the future are behind the disappearances.
8. Udagawa saves Yurrikp, and then sees an alien. He gives chase, but it gets away.
9. Amano and Ippei determine that Kanda was not crazy.
10. Yuriko faints while Udagawa explains things to her.
11. Apparently, the Kemurians are unwell, and are harvesting human bodies or organs, I'm not sure which. I'm also not sure why the aliens have to reach back in time to harvest humans. Perhaps there's some mysterious virus in the year 2020 that renders the humans of that time unusable?
12. Amano  and Ippei seek out Kanda, while  Yuriko vanishes behind Udagawa's back.
13. Ippei and Amano find that Kanda has vanished, butnthey discover the X-channel light wave that he invented which can beat the aliens.
14. Yuriko awakens at an amusement park, where she sees "Jun", who turns out to be an alien in disguise. The cops shoot the alien, who grows to giant size and wrecks a Ferris Wheel.
15. Amano and Ippei install the X-whatever on Tokyo Tower and zap the alien. The stolen people are returned on a teacup ride. Yuriko is happy to see Jun, but then runs from him. Udagawa ateps on a puddle and then disapears in a way that almost seemed to be played for laughs.
16. Lots of questions aboutthis ending. How did Kanda know what he knew? Why did Yuriko run from Jun at the end? Did she think he was still an alien? Did Udagawa's disappearance at the end mean that the aliens were still around? If I was the Kemurians, I'd just be more subtle. Take random isolated people from remote spots around the world. People disappear without a trace all the time. If you were careful, you could collect thousands of people without anyone detecting a pattern.

Overall: Another OK episode. Parts of  it seemed like a fever dream, especially trowards the end.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Amano, the officer in charge...

Is played by the same actor who would go onto play the Captain in the original Ultraman. Now we have seen all of the Ultraman regular cast members excep the guy who played Arashi.

Ippei mentions a book about the year 2020

I don't know what "The 2020 Challenge" is, but I'm guessing we failed it.

 Back in 1984, when the "Iron Man of 2020" first appeared, I promised myself that, in 2020, I would re-rerad the Machine Man limited series. I was also curious how Marvel Comics, if they were still being published, would handle it. By the time Spider-Man Annual #19 was published, I was no longer buying Marvel or DC annuals, so I missed Arno Stark's appearance in that one. When 2020 rolled around, I bought the Irom Man 2020 tpb (which also reprinted the Spider-Man annual) on the first Wednesday of the year. I did re-read the Machine Man limited series, but I still haven't read  Spider-Man Annual #19, nor did I rerad any of the "Iron Man 2020" special series. (I gather the whole continuity has been relegated to an alternate reality.)

...alien Kemurians from the future

Creepy. They would have really creeped me out if I had first encountered them when I was five. 

Perhaps there's some mysterious virus in the year 2020 that renders the humans of that time unusable?

That would be my guess.

In this episode, "shimata" is translated as "damn."