Ultra Q

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!

Episode 14: "Tokyo Ice Age"

At Haneda Airport, a plane crashes in an odd way, and the airport is suddenly frozen over.
Yuriko is doing a story about tourists visitoing Tokyo, when she meets a kid whose father has gone missing.
Ippei and Jun discuss the dangers of Antarctic ice melting. (See, this wasn't some sh*t that was invented last year.) They find a drunk guy passed out in their plane.
The editor gives Yuriko crap about wasting time on the kid's story and tells her to go cover the story of the airport freezing.
Yuriko joins Jun and Ippei at the airport. Jun thinks that the cold might be the result of Peguila migrating from the South Pole to the North.
The editor calls Yuriko that there was a reactor explosion in the Antarctic and that that is somehow the cause of the unexpected cold, and that she should go follow up on the kid's story again.
Peguila appears in Tokyo and attacks the city. The government won't use Pegimi-H (which worked against Peguila the last time), I guess because the Japanese version of the FDA hasn't spproved it yet. There's some at a lab in the Japan Alps, so the editor decides that Jun should fly up there and get some.
The drunk wakes up. We see that he has a gun and some jewels. It develops that he is a jewel thief and a former Zero pilot.
The air force attacks Peguila to no effect. The car that Yuriko, the editor, the kid and some other guy were in is trpped under ice and debris. The kid is able to squeeze out of the car, but he falls into a crevasse.
The drunk wants to steal Jun's plane, but just then, the kid arrives and give the story about fetching the Pegimi-H. As we all saw coming, the kid turns out to be the drunk's son. The drunk decides that he's the only one who can fly to get the Pegimi-H. He obtains the stuiff, but is warned that it is laced with explosives. The drunk kamikazes the plane right into Peguila's face, presumably destroying it, unless it turns up in another episode.
We end with the kid taking a cheerful leave of his new friends as he boards the train home. He becomes more somber as he eyes the box containiing his fsther's remains on the seat next to him, perhaps pondering what is very likely an extremely uncertain future for him. Does the kid have a mother? You'd think that the first thing that Yuriko would have done when she met him would be to try to contact the kid's Mom.

Overall: Another prettty good episode, with what I believe is our first returning critter.

Replies

- Jeff of Earth-J > The Baron February 25, 2026 at 5:00pm
  
  (This reminds me of the Quabbin Reservoir in central Massachusetts, where four towns were flooded when it was made.)
  
  Swamp Thing #38-39, by Alan Moore, is set in an underwater vampire town (flooded in #3). It's one of the best vampire stories in comics, a straight up horror story in the same vein as Salem's Lot. See "Swamp Thing" discussion for more details.
  
  Jeff knows all of Ultra continuity inside and out, so he'll know.
  
  No explanation was ever given for the resemblance of Garamon and Pigmon. This is the only episode in which the creature appears as a giant. As to whether Ultra Q and Ultraman take place in the same universe, they can if you want them to. (I prefer to believe that they do.) The series Neo Ultra Q (2003) is a direct sequel to Ultra Q and definitely takes place in the same universe. If you ever come to visit us again we'll watch a few episodes. Pigmon is Tracy's favorite kaiju, if you didn't know.
The Baron February 25, 2026 at 10:29pm
Episode 14: "Tokyo Ice Age"
1. At Haneda Airport, a plane crashes in an odd way, and the airport is suddenly frozen over.
2. Yuriko is doing a story about tourists visitoing Tokyo, when she meets a kid whose father has gone missing.
3. Ippei and Jun discuss the dangers of Antarctic ice melting. (See, this wasn't some sh*t that was invented last year.) They find a drunk guy passed out in their plane.
4. The editor gives Yuriko crap about wasting time on the kid's story and tells her to go cover the story of the airport freezing.
5. Yuriko joins Jun and Ippei at the airport. Jun thinks that the cold might be the result of Peguila migrating from the South Pole to the North.
6. The editor calls Yuriko that there was a reactor explosion in the Antarctic and that that is somehow the cause of the unexpected cold, and that she should go follow up on the kid's story again.
7. Peguila appears in Tokyo and attacks the city. The government won't use Pegimi-H (which worked against Peguila the last time), I guess because the Japanese version of the FDA hasn't spproved it yet. There's some at a lab in the Japan Alps, so the editor decides that Jun should fly up there and get some.
8. The drunk wakes up. We see that he has a gun and some jewels. It develops that he is a jewel thief and a former Zero pilot.
9. The air force attacks Peguila to no effect. The car that Yuriko, the editor, the kid and some other guy were in is trpped under ice and debris. The kid is able to squeeze out of the car, but he falls into a crevasse.
10. The drunk wants to steal Jun's plane, but just then, the kid arrives and give the story about fetching the Pegimi-H. As we all saw coming, the kid turns out to be the drunk's son. The drunk decides that he's the only one who can fly to get the Pegimi-H. He obtains the stuiff, but is warned that it is laced with explosives. The drunk kamikazes the plane right into Peguila's face, presumably destroying it, unless it turns up in another episode.
11. We end with the kid taking a cheerful leave of his new friends as he boards the train home. He becomes more somber as he eyes the box containiing his fsther's remains on the seat next to him, perhaps pondering what is very likely an extremely uncertain future for him. Does the kid have a mother? You'd think that the first thing that Yuriko would have done when she met him would be to try to contact the kid's Mom.
Overall: Another prettty good episode, with what I believe is our first returning critter.

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