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 23: "My Home is Earth"

1. "Featuring Metamorphic Monster Jamilar"
2. Boats and planes carrying delegates to an international peace conference in Tokyo are being destroyed. A cop chasing a hit and run driver sees the car he's chasing seem  to hit an invisible wall. Alan from the French SSSP office says that similar things have been happening all over the world. then the car they're hits an invisible wall as well.
3. Ide and Fuji track whatever it is from the air, but it gets away.
4. Back at HQ, Cap demonstrates how the whatever can be invisible. Ide stalks off and invents something  which the SSSP then uses to track the whatever and fire on it, causing it to crash to the Earth. Alan identifies it as Jamila.  It flees their attacks. It's an odd-looking one. I  wonder whether it's based a mythical Japanese creature called a nurikabe, which manifests as an invisible wall.
5. Alan explains that Jamila was an astronaut who was lost in space, and whose death was covered up.  Jamila landed on a planet, mutated and returned to Earth, seeking vengeance on all  humanity. Ide strongly objects to fighting Jamila, saying that what happened to him could happen to any of them. Alan reiterates that their orders are to kill Jamila without revealing his identity. 
6. Crowds flee as Jamila rampages. Hayata races to rescue a boy who went back to save his pigeons. The military attacks Jamila with "rain bullets", which harms it momentarily. Hayata transforms into Ultraman, who uses his water attack, which gives Jamila a drawn-out, agonizing death. The SSSP holds a memorial service for Jamila. Ide says, "It's always like this for victims. Only the words are elegant." Ide's friends call him, as we hear Jamila's cry.

Overall: Another interesting episode, witha "monster" that was neither an invading alien nor a mindless beast.  Also, some interesting character moments for Ide. No sign of Hoshino, who really wouldn't have fit in to this story well.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

"My Home is Earth" is the most impactful episode of the original series for me. I learned a lot about compassion from watching Ultraman, but everything I know today about empathy I trace directly back to this episode. I think there's a lot about the backstory of this episode that has to be taken at face value. "Alan" obviously knows more about this situation than he's letting on, but it's such a powerful story I'm not inclined to pick it apart looking for holes and inconsistencies. The first thing Jamila does when confronted by the Science Patrol is to run away. Not only is Jamila odd-looking, but his mournful wail tugs at my heart strings. And speaking of strings, Jamila has his own unique, melancholy musical theme, violins forward.

According to Wikipedia, "Jamila is a feminine given name of Arabic origin. It is the feminine form of the masculine Arabic given name Jamil, which comes from the Arabic word jamāl (Arabic: جَمَال), meaning beautiful," so I assume the undisclosed country which launched Jamila into orbit was Saudi Arabia. (Could Jamila have been a female astronaut? Not likely, but interesting to consider.) I've never heard of a nurikabe, but it sounds likely that Jamila had his origins in Japanese folklore. (He reminded me of Bugs Bunny's sometimes antagonist Gossamer.)

This episode was Ide/Ito's time to shine. When he learned Jamila's story, he initially refused to join in the assault. In the subtitled version, he shouts, "You idiot!" but in the dubbed version he simply shouts, "Monster!" He later calls Jamila a "bastard" when he first confronted him face to face (language that was softened considerably in the dubbed version), but I see that as his fear (of becoming like Jamila) manifesting as anger. 

Ultimately Ultraman tortures him to death as Jamila writhes in the mud, wailing pitifully, which is what makes it such a poweful episode. Later, at the memorial service, in the dubbed version Mura says, "Jamila is still considered a great hero in your right." In the subtitled version, he says, "Jamila... forgive us. But isn't it nice? You can become the soil of this earth. The soil of your home planet, Earth." Dubbed narration: "Jamila was laid to rest with honors. His headstone told the story that he died in the interest of his country and scientific progress." The subtitled version actually read what was printed on the tombstone: "The soul of a warrior, who died for man's dreams and the advancement of science rests here."

"My Home is Earth" was remade as episode six of Ultraman Powered, "A Father's Love", in which "Jamila" became "Jamra." Frankly, they needn't have bothered. Whereas Jamila's death affects me to this day, when Jamra met its fate I had no emotional attachment to it whatsoever. 

[The Baron]

"Jamila... forgive us. But isn't it nice? You can become the soil of this earth. the soil of your home planet, Earth." 

When I saw that, I thought, "I'm not sure how much of a consolation that would actually be, Cap."

[Commander Benson]

Episode 23: "My Home is Earth"

As Jeff related, this episode is a high-water mark for the series---powerful, poignant, tragic.  It's one of the three episodes of the series I highlighted for their quality in the second part of my Deck Log Entry on Ultraman.

Two days ago, I reviewed the English-dubbed version of this episode on YouTube, in preparation for the Baron's review.  It was every bit as strong as I remembered, and the opening paragraph of Jeff's comments describe it perfectly.  However, when I got to the end, I was caught by surprise:  Ito's last line was not the line I remembered and had included in my Deck Log entry, to wit:  “Politicians are always like this.  Only their words are beautiful.”

It was so long ago that I couldn't remember if I had consulted the English-dubbed version, or a Japanese version with sub-titles, when I procured that line.  (The 1966 Ultraman wasn't nearly so well represented on YouTube back in 2012.)  I do recall pausing the screen over Jamila's marker; that's how I confirmed that the series took place in 1993.  And I remember carefully going over Ito's last line, making sure I got his words correctly.  That's how I knew I wasn't crazy when I wrote it, nor that it was some weird manifestation of the Mandala Effect.

I spent yesterday going over every available YouTube entry on "My Home is Earth".  First, I checked two sites that carried the English-dubbed series, and both of those were the same:  Ito's musings over Jamila returning to the soil of his birth.  Then, I checked three different sites carrying the Japanese-version with English sub-titles, and every one of those sub-titled Ito's last line as the Baron relates it in his review.  Now, despite myself, I really was beginning to doubt my own memory.

Then, I found a site which had the Japanese version of "My Home is Earth" sub-titled in Indonesian.  When I translated the Indonesian sub-title of Ito's last line, that's where the line, “Politicians are always like this.  Only their words are beautiful.”, appeared.  I know, for my Deck Log Entry, I didn't take that line from Indonesian and translate it.  My best guess is that, whatever Japanese version with English sub-titles was available to me in 2012, it used the sub-title about politicians, and the English sub-titled sites since then have used the one about victims.  It's weird, but it's the only thing that makes sense.

Thanks to the Baron's reviews causing me to re-watch "My Home is Earth", I've gone back to that Deck Log Entry and corrected some other minor mistakes I made in my account of that episode.  But, despite the abundence of YouTube sites giving Ito different sign-off lines, I'm not changing what I put down as Ito's last line about politicians.  Given the government-secrecy backdrop of the episode, "Politicians are always like this . . . " seems the most apt---and it is out there, somewhere.

 

[The Baron]

It's odd re-watching these. I know that I watched these when I was little, and I know that I watched them again a few years ago, but for so many of these episodes, it's as though I'm seeing them for the first time.  Some of it is no doubt down to the fact I am (at least, I hope I am) more observant and perceptive than I was when I was six, or even when I was forty-six, but it is wild, the things that I never picked up on before.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

"Politicians are always like this . . . " seems the most apt---and it is out there, somewhere.

I read Bob's summary but didn't notice the discrepancy. If I had, I could have verified that my subtitled version said "politicians."

I do recall pausing the screen over Jamila's marker; that's how I confirmed that the series took place in 1993.

Something else I didn't notice. I read only enough to verify that it was written in French.

I'm just not very observant today!

Also, had I not seen this episode as a kid, I likely would have leaarned empathy elsewhere (a comic book, perhaps); it just so happens I learned it from this episode.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Last night I dreamed that Jamila was actually trying to save the Earth from invisible aliens but his actions were misconstrued, making his story even more tragic. Alan wasn't in my dream, but now I'm trying to decide, in that scenario, if he was a traitor or merely incompetent

[The Baron]

Episode 24: "The Undersea Science Center"

1. "Featuring Abyssal Monster Gubila"
2. The SSSP is present at the opening of a new undersea research base.
3. As they travel to the base by submarine, somethimng damages an undersea pipeline, but Fuji is convinced that it was the fult of her piloting.
4. Fuji is sent back to fetch some reporters. Right after she leaves, an enormous drill attacks the base.
5. Hoshino reports that the dock is leaking, which  will make it problematic to rescue the four people on the base, who are himself, Cap, an official named Yoshimura and a little girl called Jenny who is a guest of honor. I woill say, Hoshino makes a good show of himself here, following Cap's orders and trying to comfort the little girl and generally not being a nuisance. Instead, it's Yoshimura who is childish and hysterical.
6. Meanwhile,Ide whips up an invention that will enable them to drill through the special alloy that the roof of the base is made from.
7. They spot a fish monster (Gubila) and Hayata and Arashi set out in another sub to lure it away while Fuji carries out the rescue.
8. Arashi is knocked out when Gubilla hits their sub. Hayata transforms into Ultraman. I'm not sure how he did that without destroying the sub. Maybe there's safeties built in. 
9. Ultraman battles Gubila, who moves the battle onto land, which seems unlikely that a fish monster would want to do. Ultraman fires his energy ring at Gubila, which catches the ring on its drill and tosses it back. Ultraman kills it with the Spacium Beam

Overall: This is another pretty good episode. Everyone on the team gets their moment of usefulness and/or heroism, even Hoshino. Gubila works well enough underwater, but is less convincing on land.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

What I like most about this episode is that Fuji accepts responsibility for breaking the pipeline (even though she didn't), and later volunteers to rectify her perceived mistake. No one blamed her, and everyone was professional, focusing instead on the goal of solving the problem.

Hayata transforms into Ultraman. I'm not sure how he did that without destroying the sub.

My theory has always been that, when he grows to giant-size, he become temporarily intangible during the process.

[Commander Benson]

Episode 24: "The Undersea Science Center"

Continuing my association of Ultraman with American television shows that have no connexion, this episode reminded me of an Adventures of Superman episode, "The Golden Vulture".  "The Golden Vulture" is a taut drama that actually has Clark Kent carrying the climactic last fifteen minutes or so.  In fact, Superman doesn't appear at all until the last two minutes of the teleplay.  Hollywood legend has it that the writers got so caught up in writing this exciting chapterplay that they forgot to add Superman, so they had ti re-write the last page of the script, to give the Man of Steel his needed appearance.

I got the same feeling with "The Undersea Science Center".  The situation of Captain Mura, Hoshino, the official, and Jenny being trapped in the flooding underwater centre, while the rest of the S.P. and the scientists work feverishly to free them was so gripping---sort of a mini-Gray Lady Down---that it really didn't need Ultraman, nor the monster.  But the show is titled Ultraman, not "The Adventures of the Science Police".

I agree with you that one of the best elements of this episode was that every regular player got his moment to shine.  Even Hoshino acted maturely and responsibly, and his presence, for once, made since, as the guest of honour was a little girl around his age.

Overall, the episode was tightly and logically scripted, with no gaps leaving us wondering if we missed something.

 

What I like most about this episode is that Fuji accepts responsibility for breaking the pipeline (even though she didn't), and later volunteers to rectify her perceived mistake.

This is also one of the things I liked most about it, Jeff.  If I remember correctly, it's right about now that Fuji really comes into her own with the Science Patrol, and it won't be long before we start seeing her acting almost as cooly and decisively in the field as Hayata.  That makes a nice distinction against Arashi's impulse to charge every threat headlong and Ito's "comedic" mugging.