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!

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.

Replies

The Baron March 15, 2026 at 1:22am
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 > The Baron March 15, 2026 at 6:36am
  
  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 > Jeff of Earth-J March 15, 2026 at 8:30am
  
  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 March 15, 2026 at 8:40am

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 March 15, 2026 at 12:03pm

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 March 15, 2026 at 9:11pm

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.

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