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 03: 'Science Patrol, Move Out!"

1. "Featuring Neronga", who is a re-working of the Baragon costume and is wearing too much lipstick.
2. A guide is showing Fuji and Hoshino an ancient well that has been making odd sounds. Hoshino immediately climbs down ointo the well. To paraphrase Major Hochstetter, "What is this child doing here?". Hoshino explores a tunnel in the well and sees an enormous eye. Fuji climbs down into the well just as an earthquake starts. An invisible monster appears, becoming momentaerily visisble as it attacks a power plants. Fuji and Hoshino follow a tunnel under the well. they find salt water and decide to swim out to the sea.
3. Back at HQ, Cap and the boys discuss the situation. Since they haven't heard from Fui, they decide to go check things out. they find Fuji and Hoshino down by the sea.
4. Hayata, Arashi and Ide investigate the power plant. An employee tells them that there have been unexplained power drains lately.
5. A nearby transmission plant  is attacked. Arashi fires his raygun at the  monster, which zaps him with its energy beam. Arashimust be superhuman to not have been incinerqted by that.
6. Back at HQ, Ide suggests shutting off all the power in the Kanto Region, but is shot down. Hoshino gives Neronga's backstory. The SSSP becide to form a defensive perimeter around the #3 power plant. Hoshino steals the Spider-Shot, a sort of high octane raygun.
7. The SSSP fly to the #3 power plant with Hoshino stowed aboard. Soon after they arrive, Neronga attacks. The army fires on Nerojga, and it throws a ship at them.
8. Hoshino shoots Neronga with the Spider-Shot, to little effect. Hayata transforms into Ultraman, breaks Neornga's horn off, airplane spins it and kills it with his Spacium Beam. Then everyone flies home.

Overall: This was a much better episode, I thought. Not to harp on it, but my only real objection was the presence of Hoshino. A little kid should not be allowed anywhere near a life-and-death situation like this. Maybe it's me, but even when I was a little kid, I had little use for little kid characters like this.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Watching without overdubs or subtitles is not working for me, so starting with this episode, I'll be watching the version overdubed in english to compare/contrast with your  version of Japanese with English subtitles. (Actually, watching the "pure" Japanese version was fine for my personal entertainment, but not for the purposes of this discussion.) When I was a kid, there was a lyric of the theme song I couldn't quite make sense of. Revisiting the show in the early 2Ks, I immediately realized the Ultraman came "from a distant planetland." 

"Featuring Neronga", who is a re-working of the Baragon costume and is wearing too much lipstick.

When I was a kid, I had a set of plastic dinosaurs I used to play with in the bathtub. I would bend the horns of the triceratops together to get it to fire electricity at the t-rex. Neronga reminds me a bit of "The Invisible Monster" from Jonny Quest (another childhood favorite of mine).

Back at HQ, Cap and the boys discuss the situation.

I don't know about the subtitled version, but in the dubbed version Hayata says that he specifically sent Hoshino to investigate, and Fuji accompanied him! Personally, I neither liked nor disliked Hoshino when I was a kid (I simply accepted him), but I can't stand him now! the SSSP not only allows him to go on missions, but he has access to weapons!? No wonder the Space Patrol was replaced by the Ultra Guard.

Hayata transforms into Ultraman...

I must say, it is refreshing to see a human being transform into a being of light in mere seconds; in the 2K series, it can take up to half a minute.

I continue to be impressed by the minature work. Setting the Australian and American versions aside, it would continue to improve through out the decades. When I was in elementary school, I went through a brief electric train phase. My older brother had an HO set, but I was into N scale. Problem is, it was too damned expensive. Building these model cities only to have them destroyed always imprerssed me.

In the English dub, a narrator describes the purpose of the flashing chest light. Is it on the subtitled version ? (I don't recall it from the first two episodes.)

For the record, in my head canon, none of the subsequent Ultramen series count.

Pardon me, but that's like watching Doctor Who, but only the First Doctor.

 

[The Baron]

In the English dub, a narrator describes the purpose of the flashing chest light. Is it on the subtitled version ?

It was in this episode.

[The Baron]

Pardon me, but that's like watching Doctor Who, but only the First Doctor.

To be fair, there are Doctor Who fans who do that sort of thing. The Chibnall Era comes in for a lot of this. (There's still people that reject the idea of the Doctor being a woman, or the notion of there being pre-Hartnell Doctors.)  I always feel that you can accept or reject whatever you like, as long as you accept that there isn't necessarily anyone else on Earth that's going to go along with you.

[Commander Benson]

Episode 03: 'Science Patrol, Move Out!"

I just watched this one yesterday.  It's the generic Ultraman formula, nothing to make it stand out.  But then, three episodes in, generic works.

Oh, how I detest Hoshino.  The writers put him into the show's narrative for the same reason comics writers used to give their heroes boy sidekicks.  The expectation was that the youthful readers---or, in the case of Ultraman, youthful viewers---would identify with the kid, being the pal of the hero.  It's off-the-mark thinking, though.  The youngsters watching never identified with the kid pal of the hero; they identified with the hero himself.  That's why, Baron, that when you were a little kid, you had little use for characters like Hoshino.  It certainly applied to me.  Even when I watched Jonny Quest, I wasn't identifying with the trouble Jonny and Hadji got in and out of.  It was Race Bannon that had all my attention.

 

[Jeff of Earth-J]

And isn't Fuji cute! I don't mind admitting she was probably my first "TV crush."

Now that I think of it, my #1 "TV crush" back then was definitely Julie Newmar as Catwoman, but Fuji is a close second.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

A guide is showing Fuji and Hoshino an ancient well that has been making odd sounds.

My episode guide says: "Legends say Neronga , a creature, lived in the well a long time ago and a samurai defeated it." That is not the backstory told on the English dub. From what was said, if I didn't know better, I might have thought Neronga was previously seen in an episode of Ultra Q. 

[The Baron]

Episode 4: "Five Seconds Before the Explosion"

1. "Featuring Undersea Primitive Human Ragon", who appeared in Ultra Q.
2. Cap s telling Hayata, Ide and Arashi that a rocket was launched with "Six atom bombs for developing Jupiter" (however that's supposed to work), but it exploded on take-off. One of the bombs exploded underwqter, four were recovered and one is still lost. The Coast Guard is asking them to come up with ways to search for it without going underwater.
3. Meanwhile, Fuji is taking time off to go to a Marina with Hoshino.
4. A giant Ragon sinks a ship at sea. It has the atom bomb stuck to it.
5. Cap sends Hayata to a hospital to speak to a survivor. I note that his car has the steering wheel on the lefthand side, which is odd for Japan.
6. Hayata reports back. Cap says that something has been seen moving towards Japan.
7. Akiko and Hoshino are seen playing badminton by the sea. Hoshino's personal name is given as "Isamu", which I believe is the first time it's been mentioned.  A little girl called "Michiko" is umpiring their game. Michiko's mother saddles them with babysitting Michiko. Hoshino is all put out by this. Now you know how we feel about you, you little twerp.
8. The Creature from the Dollar Tree approaches the place where Fuji and Hoshino are staying, which is a bit "Plot Convenience Playhouse", but acceptable, since it's only a half hour show.
9. Cap sends Arashi out in the VTOL, and Ide has to stay behind and do Fuji's job,  which causes Ide to have comedy frustration. Cap makes him fetch coffee. Cap orders Hayata to the scene as well. Ide has accidentally put salt in the coffee. Oh, that Ide! Ide must love Hoshino, because if Hoshino didn't exist, Ide would be the most annoying character.
10. Cap and Ide tell Hayata that the monster is a Ragon that has somehow grown to gigantic size, probably because of radiation from the bomb.. OK, they know that Ragons exist, and that they're not normally gigantic, so this could be taken as suggesting that this show takes place in the same world as Ultra Q. Also, the missing atom bomb is stuck to the Ragon.
11. Ide seems to be on the edge of hysteria here. I can't waiting for Cap to tell him to dial it back.
12. Fuji and Hoshino rescue Michiko just in time as Ragon smashes the hotel. Then the three of them take to the hills.Arashi wants to attack Ragon but Cap orders him not to because of the danger of setting off the bomb. Arasho's plane is shot down by Ragon's eye beams (which are new), but a toy parachutist is seen floating gently down to Earth.
13. Ide remembers that Ragons like music, so they have a naval vessel play some, but it just seems to irritate the Ragon. Hoshino distracts Ragon away from the toy parachutist.
14. Hayata arrives on the scene, and sends Fuji to look for Arashi. Hayata teransfo5rs into Ultraman and, sadly, stops it from stepping on Hoshino
15. Ultraman bsttles Ragon, but the atom bomb is dropped, activating it. Ultraman zaps Ragon with his Spacium Beam, then grabs the bomb and flies it off into space, where it explodes.
16. We end with Hayata reassuring his pals that Ultraman survived, which he would know, cause that's him.

Overall: Another OK episode. Funny seeing old Ragon again.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Meanwhile, Fuji is taking time off to go to a Marina with Hoshino.

If it were me, I don't think I'd wear my uniform blazer while on vacation.

A little girl called "Michiko" is umpiring their game.

"Subs & dubs": In the English dub, she announces that the score is six to nothing, but she's holding up four fingers on one hand and one on the other.

Michiko's mother saddles them with babysitting Michiko.

...and is never seen again.

Ragon's eye beams (which are new)

Another effect of the radiation, no doubt.

Ide remembers that Ragons like music

In the english dub it was all animals. This was probably the first time I encountered the concept that "Musuc hath charms to soothe the savage beast breast."

When I was a kid, there was a lyric of the theme song I couldn't quite make sense of. Revisiting the show in the early 2Ks, I immediately realized the Ultraman came "from a distant planetland." 

I forgot to mention yesterday that, when I was a kid, I thought the line must be "from a distant planet, man."

[Commander Benson]

Episode 4: "Five Seconds Before the Explosion"

Another generic Ultraman episode, livened only by the business with the danger of the atomic bomb.  Acceptable this early in the series.

According to Captain Mura's briefing, the bomb would explode twenty seconds after activation.  When it finally was activated, that sure seemed like a long twenty seconds.

 

"Subs & dubs": In the English dub, she announces that the score is six to nothing, but she's holding up four fingers on one hand and one on the other.

I think the reason for that discrpancy and the other occasions when the dubbed English doesn't quite match what the Japanese dialogue said is due to the voice actor in charge of re-writing the dialogue into English---Peter Fernandez.  He was already experienced with dubbing Astro Boy and Marine Boy and Speed Racer, so he was adept in closely matching the dubbed English to the mouth-movements of the Japanese-speaking actors.  Undoubtedly, though, Mr. Fernandez had to, sometimes, alter the English-dubbed dialogue slightly, and thus, differing from what was said in Japanese, in order to make it fit the mouth actions.  Most of the time, the English dialogue changes didn't significantly alter what had been said in Japanese.  But there were times, like when Michiko was keeping score, that the difference was obvious.

 

When I was a kid, there was a lyric of the theme song I couldn't quite make sense of. Revisiting the show in the early 2Ks, I immediately realized the Ultraman came "from a distant planetland." 

I forgot to mention yesterday that, when I was a kid, I thought the line must be "from a distant planet, man."

For decades, I've been trying to make sense of that lyric.  I always heard it as "from a distant planet andddd . . .", with the words planet and and run together.  But "planetland" makes as much sense as anything.