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 25: "The Devil Child"

When I saw the title of this episode, my first thought was that this episode should be about the Trio having lunch at the Tokyo equivalent of Bennigan's and at the next table there are parents with a spoiled brat that they have never disciplined.
A guy driving at night has an accident. Apparently, there has been a series of accidents at dawn.
The Trio and Professor Mustache attend the Eastern Magic Show. There's a father/daughter magic act. (The father sure is creepy-looking!) Creepy Dad hypnotizes his daughter (Lili) and puts her in a box. The girl's spirit form materializes above the box and walks around, and that's the act, apparently. I hope that there's other acts on the bill, or they all got ripped off.
The Trio and the Prof go out for drinks afterwards. The Prof talks scientific nonsense tryinng to explain Lili's powers.
Lili asks Mrs. Shin if she can have her earrings. Mrs. Shin replies that Lili can have them when she's dead, which is an odd thing to say to a kid. Oddly, this is never paid off and Mrs. Shin is not the next victim.
Creepy Dad puts Lili to sleep by hypnosis. A beat cop sees Lili's "ghost" and falls down a flight of stairs. A driver sees her and has an episode of some sort.
Yuriko reports to the Editor that the people that saw Lili's "ghost" report losing small, unimportant items. Two other guys come by and are unfunny for a few minutes. Attention is drawn to one of them's ( called Sugimoto) wedding ring.
At the Professor's lab, Jun and Yuriko watch as the Prof experiments on Ippei, separating his soul from his body. The Prof thinks that all this may have something to do with Lili.
The Trio attend the show again. Lili collapses at the end of the act. They watch as Creepy Dad hypnotizes Lili to sleep, since she can't get to sleep otherwise.The Trio try to convince Creepy Dad that he's hypnotizing Lili too much, but he's not having about it.
Lili goes spirit-walking again and frightens a guy.she walks on water and then causes Sugimoto's plane to crash. Later, the Trio see that Lili has Sugimoto's ring. Lili says that she remembers nothing, and that sometimes she wakes up with blood on her hands and feet.
The Trio report all this to the Prof, who thinks that Lili may be in danger.
Creepy Dad can't find Lili and tells the Prof and the Trio that she may have gone to the mountains, where she thinks her mother is.
Lili's "ghost" is walking along some railroad tracks with her body following her. Jun and Ippei try to find her using the Prof's pot device, while Yuriko and the Prof stay with Creeoy Dad.
Jun and Ippei find Lili and her "ghost". I'm a little sketchy as to why her "ghost" is trying to kill her body. a train is coming.Ippei uses the plot deivce to re-fuse Lili and her "ghost". Jun saves her at the last minute. It seems to me that they took a lot longer to save her than they needed to.
The Trio and the Prof attend the next show. Creepy Dad is now an extraordinarily creepy clown, but Lili seems OK now, so I guess that's alright. Sucks to be Sugimoto and his pilot and anyone else that got killed during all this nonsense, however.

Overall: An OK episode. It reminds me a bit of a movie called The She-Creature (1956) that was used on MST3K and which featured a hypnotist with a female assistant that manifested a creature from her subconscious.

Replies

- Jeff of Earth-J > The Baron March 8, 2026 at 1:27pm
  
  The Idol kills one of the crooks with it optic beams
  
  Still no "Arashi," but I think that crook might have been Johnny Sokko's adult sidekick, Jerry Mano.
- The Baron > Jeff of Earth-J March 8, 2026 at 2:37pm
  
  I looked him up, and Jerry Mano/Juro Minami was played by Akio Ito, who doesn't seem to have made any Ultra appearances. In fact, he doesn't seem to have done much acting apart from Johnny Sokko, and apparently went into production design.
The Baron March 9, 2026 at 1:44am
Episode 25: "The Devil Child"
1. When I saw the title of this episode, my first thought was that this episode should be about the Trio having lunch at the Tokyo equivalent of Bennigan's and at the next table there are parents with a spoiled brat that they have never disciplined.
2. A guy driving at night has an accident. Apparently, there has been a series of accidents at dawn.
3. The Trio and Professor Mustache attend the Eastern Magic Show. There's a father/daughter magic act. (The father sure is creepy-looking!) Creepy Dad hypnotizes his daughter (Lili) and puts her in a box. The girl's spirit form materializes above the box and walks around, and that's the act, apparently. I hope that there's other acts on the bill, or they all got ripped off.
4. The Trio and the Prof go out for drinks afterwards. The Prof talks scientific nonsense tryinng to explain Lili's powers.
5. Lili asks Mrs. Shin if she can have her earrings. Mrs. Shin replies that Lili can have them when she's dead, which is an odd thing to say to a kid. Oddly, this is never paid off and Mrs. Shin is not the next victim.
6. Creepy Dad puts Lili to sleep by hypnosis. A beat cop sees Lili's "ghost" and falls down a flight of stairs. A driver sees her and has an episode of some sort.
7. Yuriko reports to the Editor that the people that saw Lili's "ghost" report losing small, unimportant items. Two other guys come by and are unfunny for a few minutes. Attention is drawn to one of them's ( called Sugimoto) wedding ring.
8. At the Professor's lab, Jun and Yuriko watch as the Prof experiments on Ippei, separating his soul from his body. The Prof thinks that all this may have something to do with Lili.
9. The Trio attend the show again. Lili collapses at the end of the act. They watch as Creepy Dad hypnotizes Lili to sleep, since she can't get to sleep otherwise.The Trio try to convince Creepy Dad that he's hypnotizing Lili too much, but he's not having about it.
10. Lili goes spirit-walking again and frightens a guy.she walks on water and then causes Sugimoto's plane to crash. Later, the Trio see that Lili has Sugimoto's ring. Lili says that she remembers nothing, and that sometimes she wakes up with blood on her hands and feet.
11. The Trio report all this to the Prof, who thinks that Lili may be in danger.
12. Creepy Dad can't find Lili and tells the Prof and the Trio that she may have gone to the mountains, where she thinks her mother is.
13. Lili's "ghost" is walking along some railroad tracks with her body following her. Jun and Ippei try to find her using the Prof's pot device, while Yuriko and the Prof stay with Creeoy Dad.
14. Jun and Ippei find Lili and her "ghost". I'm a little sketchy as to why her "ghost" is trying to kill her body. a train is coming.Ippei uses the plot deivce to re-fuse Lili and her "ghost". Jun saves her at the last minute. It seems to me that they took a lot longer to save her than they needed to.
15. The Trio and the Prof attend the next show. Creepy Dad is now an extraordinarily creepy clown, but Lili seems OK now, so I guess that's alright. Sucks to be Sugimoto and his pilot and anyone else that got killed during all this nonsense, however.
Overall: An OK episode. It reminds me a bit of a movie called The She-Creature (1956) that was used on MST3K and which featured a hypnotist with a female assistant that manifested a creature from her subconscious.
- Jeff of Earth-J > The Baron March 9, 2026 at 11:36am
  
  Creepy Dad hypnotizes his daughter...
  
  I've been up since 3:30... he very nearly put me to sleep!
  
  Creepy Dad puts Lili to sleep by hypnosis.
  
  Again, I found it hard to stay awake.
  
  Two other guys come by and are unfunny for a few minutes.
  
  This is one of several episodes that highlight the differences between Eastern and Western senses of humor.
  
  They watch as Creepy Dad hypnotizes Lili to sleep
  
  Again...
  
  The Trio try to convince Creepy Dad that he's hypnotizing Lili too much
  
  For a while I was taking melatonin every single night to help me sleep. then I read about itsside-effectsand stopped.
  
  ...sometimes she wakes up with blood on her hands and feet.
  
  That's creepy. At first I thought she might have been speaking metaphorically (although she's a bit young for that), until she mentioned her feet.
  
  I'm a little sketchy as to why her "ghost" is trying to kill her body.
  
  It just is, that's all. why ask 'why"? And what's with, "She thinks her mother is in the mountains"? Is she dead and that's what her father told her instead of "heaven" or "a farm up north"?
  
  An OK episode.
  
  I liked this one more than you did. To me it was a unique plot based on a uniqye premise. (I didn't see The She-Creature.)
  
  Now I'm going to go take a nap.
- The Baron > Jeff of Earth-J March 9, 2026 at 11:45am
  
  And what's with, "She thinks her mother is in the mointains"? Is she dead and that's what her father told her instead of "heaven" or "a farm up north"?
  
  I assumed that the mother was dead, because if she was alive, she wouldn't put up with the weird sh*t that the father was doing to the kid.
  
  "Mommy's gone to a farm up north where she can chase all the rabbits that she wants."
- Jeff of Earth-J > The Baron March 9, 2026 at 12:43pm
  
  I think on some level Lili must know her mother is dead... which could explain why her "ghost" is trying to kill her body: to be with her.

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