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]

"Third base!"

[JD DeLuzio]

Sure, I guess "woo hoo!" and "woo wee" might be responses to third base.  

[The Baron]

Episode 31: “Who Goes There?” 

1. “Featuring Vampire Plant Keronia”
2. Cap introduces Goto, from the South American SSSP branch, who is returning to Japan for the first time in twenty years. The others question his story.
3. Cap’s lighter doesn’t work. A match that Fuji lights for him goes out. Cap sends Ide to check the AC.
4. Cap has Fuji show Goto to a guest room in HQ. On the way there, he asks her about the building’s construction.  (He’ll be asking her where the secret weapons are stored next!)
5. Ide reports to Cap that there’s nothing wrong with the AC. Ide is suspicious of Goto, but he’s in Goofy Mode, so the others don’t take him seriously.
6. Once he’s alone in his room, Goto gives himself a shot in the arm, then breaks out a mysterious machine.
7. Back in the main room, Arashi is coming around to Ide’s way of thinking. Hayata, of all people, scoffs at the idea that Goto could be a mysterious being. Cap confesses that Goto has not been through the usual physical scan. Fuji returns and complains that Goto is rude. Cap has Ide contact Bolivia to check on Goto, but he can’t get through.
8. A strange plant is discovered. Hayata, Ide and Arashi are sent to investigate. Professor Ninomiya tells the SSSP men about the South American vampire plant Keronia which can move. He reveals that it was a scientist named Goto who discovered it twenty years before.
9. Back at HQ, Fuji enters Goto’s room and finds his mysterious machine. Goto returns, but he’s got a monster head. He zaps Fuji.
10. Hayata reports in to Cap, who notices that Fuji is missing. Cap questions Goto, who no longer has a monster head. Arashi and Ide lead Goto out of the room, leaving Hayata to investigate his luggage. Hayata takes a sample of some green stuff that he finds in Goto’s suitcase.
11. Ninomiya finds that the Keronia has evolved alarmingly. Goto gets a message from his machine to kill the Professor. Goto, once again in “monster form” enters the Professor’s lab. Ninomiya blasts the varmint to no effect, and Goto zaps him. The SSSP arrive and Goto flees. The SSSP work out that Goto is the Keronia in disguise.
12. Now a giant, the Keronia attacks the city. It boasts of an advanced civilization, and “Air Ship Kombinats” appear around the world. In Japan, the Army fights the Keronia. Hayata transforms into Ultraman. He uses the Spacium Beam to no effect. The SSSP arrive and start blasting the Kombinats out of the sky. Ultraman uses hat the Ultra Wiki calls the “Ultra Attack Beam”, which finishes the Keronia off. He then uses the Spacium Beam to finish the remaining Kombinats.
13. Back at HQ, the SSSP tie up the loose ends of the plot. The Professor shows up out of nowhere and seems kind of creepy, to the point where I thought that the reveal would be that he was another Keronia.

Overall: Another pretty good episode. Coincidentally (?), “Who Goes There?” was the title of the story by John Campbell that inspired the films The Thing from Another World (1951) and The Thing (1982).

 

[Commander Benson]

Episode 31: “Who Goes There?” 

A taut, well-paced, exciting episode.  For once, I didn't get the impression that a scene was left on the cutting room floor.  Rather, the plot advanced logically.  I did feel that Goto's sinister nature was revealed too soon, but that was a function of having only a half-hour to tell the tale.  I'm always pleased when we see a member of the Science Patrol from a different international branch, but between Goto and the phoney Anne Morheim, these appearances are turning into the same kind of trope whenever an old friend of Ben Cartwright's turns up on Bonanza, and he's secretly the villain.

Again, we have an evil, humanoid threat, a sentient plant being; ergo, we have Ultraman employing more judo and karate than usual.  It's not too often that we see a monster immune to Ultraman's specium beam, but Keronia was.  I believe we will see Ultraman's ultra attack beam again in future episodes.

And we have every member of the Science Police contribute to the case.  Ito's mugging isn't too bad, but it's enough for the others to immediately discount his accurate suspicions of Goto.  (To his credit, though, Arashi is the first one to come around, after further strange events.)  And none of the S.P'ers are stupid, not even Ito.  Their suspicions develop early and they act on them.  Particularly Fuji.

Often, the plots on Ultraman are so fornulaic that I pay only half-attention to what's going on.  But this episode had my full interest from the get-go.

 

[Jeff of Earth-J]

“Featuring Vampire Plant Keronia”

A "vampire plant" is an interesting concept.

Ultraman uses hat the Ultra Wiki calls the “Ultra Attack Beam”

On the playground we called it the "green corkscrew beam."

For once, I didn't get the impression that a scene was left on the cutting room floor.

That's possibly because more than 3½ were apparently cut from the beginning. (I noted that it was that long before the dubs began.)

 

[The Baron]

Episode 32: “Endless Counterattack”

1. “Featuring Scorching Monster Zumbolar”
2. Hayata cheats at drawing straws so he can be the one to escort Patty from the SSSP India branch, much to Cap’s amusement
3. A sudden forest fire breaks out near a construction site. Cap orders the team to help fight it. Arashi and Ide put the fire out. Hayata and Patty encounter an earth tremor.
4. Hayata’s method of moving the car, though successful, strikes me as improbable and dangerous.
5. A monster (Zumbolar) attacks an industrial area. Hayata and Patty attack it with their ray guns. Patty is injured. The rest of the SSSP arrive to do more firefighting.
6. The Army deploys toy tanks. You can occasionally see the wires pulling them along.
7. Hayata tells Patty to go back to HQ while he keeps watch. I’m not entirely sure that she should be driving if she’s hurt.
8. Zumbolar appears and starts another fire. Patty interrupts Hayata just as he’s about to transform. The Army and the SSSP attack Zumbolar. It wipes out the Army’s tanks. Ide hits it with a Freezing Bullet of his own design.
9. Patty has passed out. The other SSSP members land to launch a ground attack. Arashi is hurt. Patty revives but sends Hayata off on his own. He transforms into Ultraman and battles Zumbolar, eventually finishing it off with his Spacium Beam.
10. We end with a vague ecological message. Patty says that she has seen Japan’s three specialties – earthquakes, monsters and Ultraman - and everyone laughs like it’s the end of a Scooby-Doo episode.

Overall: Another pretty good episode - and the visitor wasn’t evil this time.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Hayata cheats at drawing straws so he can be the one to escort Patty

Subtitled: "Pati"; dubbed: "Patra." (I'll always think of her as "Patra.") she comes of generally more competent in the subtitled vs. the dubbed version. In the subtitled version, it is her decision to work while she's officially on vacation; in the dubbed, her VC is canced by HQ. Also, after she's injured, in the dubbed version she says, "I'll stay here," but in the subtitled sha says, "I'll find some other way to help out." Little things like that. also, the end "joke" was completely changed. In the dubbed version, Ito says something about there being no more monsters and Patra replies, "Well, I'll just go home, then." Neither line is particularly funny, IMO. 

 

[Commander Benson]

Episode 32: “Endless Counterattack”

I got a kick out of the opening sequence in which Hayata cheats at drawing straws in order to secure the assignment of escorting Indian Science Patrol officer Patra (as Jeff pointed out, this is how she's named in the dubbed version).  It reminded me of a scene in the silent film The Big Parade (MGM, 1925), which takes place in France during World War One.  At one point three U.S. doughboys---two savvy veterans and one rookie---are enjoying a period of relaxation in the countryside, but one of them has to go back into town for provisions.  One of the senior soldiers takes out three pieces of paper and determines that they will draw lots to see who goes back.  Whichever of them draws the slip of paper marked "You Lose" will be the one to go.  After the draw, the rookie doughboy sees his slip is marked "You Lose", and he displays it to his comrades.  With some irritation, the rookie starts off on the long trek back to town.  Once he's far enough away, the two veteran soldiers look at each other and grin---their slips of paper are also marked "You Lose".

This episode gives Hayata a chance to show more personality than just stalwart and dauntless.  In his trick in the drawing lots and in his interaction with Patra.  There's an indication that he is smitten with the lady S.P.er from India.  Also---and maybe I was just reading more into it than what the writers intended---when Patra revives and insists that Hayata go off to assist in the battle against Zumbolar, I got the impression that she knew, somehow, that Hayata was Ultraman, and she was giving Hayata an excuse to leave to become Ultraman.

Zumbolar wasn't much of a challenge to Ultraman.  Ultraman defeated him even before his colour timer began to blink.

I generally adhere to the English-dubbed version of the series, but Jeff was right:  the English-dubbed fade-out gag about Patra, after being told that there were no monsters in Japan, replies that she might as well go home wasn't nearly as effective as the Japanese-language closing gag.

 

 

[The Baron]

Episode 33: “The Forbidden Words”

1. “Featuring Alien Mefilas.”
2. Hayata, Fuji, and Fuji’s plane-loving younger brother, Satoru, are attending an air show. (If I recall correctly, the English dubbing refers to him as Fuji’s other brother, but the Japanese does not.) Satoru hears a voice and then they see a boat flying through the air. Planes are drawn upwards and then the boat explodes. Their car is drawn into the air.
3. Back at HQ, Professor Yamamoto tells Cap, Arashi and Ide that gravity was reversed in a specific area and that it’s not a natural phenomenon.
4. Arashi and Ide fly up into space. They find all sorts of things floating around up there, including the SSSP car that Hayata was driving.
5. A giant Fuji appears downtown, but she is uncommunicative.
6. Alien Mefilas has captured Satoru and wants him to give the Earth to him. (I’m not sure how he thinks that this one kid can surrender the Earth to him.) Satoru refuses. Mefilas offers him eternal life on another planet, but Satoru still refuses.
7. Mefilas then confronts Hayata (who he knows is Ultraman), who laughs at him. Hayata reaches for his Beta Capsule, but Mefilas paralyzes him before he can use it.
8. Mefilas has Giant Fuji begin attacking the city. Then he replaces her with images of Baltan and other monsters. Mefilas talks trash to the Earth people for a while, and then the monsters vanish.
9. A soldier reports to Cap that a mysterious signal has been detected and that the Air Force is moving in. The Air Force attacks, but Mefilas shoots them down. The SSSP attacks next, and they are more successful, as their planes are resistant to Mefilas’ weapons.
10. Cap and Ide enter Mefilas’ ship and rescue the Fuji siblings. Mefilas’ ship shakes, causing Hayata to fall over, activating the Beta Capsule, and transforming him into Ultraman. (I was waiting for Cap or Ide to ask him later why he was posing as the Statue of Liberty.) He confronts the now giant Mefilas, and the two battle inconclusively until Mefilas says, in effect, “OK, fine, I lost, but I’ll be back someday.” He then vanishes, leaving Ultraman looking a little nonplused, like he’s wondering what the point of all that was.
11. Utlraman flies off and Hayata reappears. We get general merriment about Fuji’s confusion over a remark about her size, and we end with the narrator telling us not to be the sort of people who would hand the Earth over to Mefilas. Fine, fine, if any aliens show up wanting me to turn the Earth over to them, I’ll tell them to get bent.

Overall: This was a pretty good episode, even if I still don’t understand what Mefilas thought was going to happen even if he could suborn Satoru. What did he think that the reaction was going to be when he said, “Peoples of the Earth, you must surrender your world to me because this middle schooler said I could have it if I gave him a suitcase full of candy”?