is a Japanese animated television series co-produced by Tsuburaya Productions and animated by Nippon Sunrise. It is the eighth overall entry in the Ultra Series, the first animated work in the franchise and the first series to air in 4 years after the end of Ultraman Leo. The series aired on Tokyo Broadcasting System on April 4, 1979 to March 26, 1980, lasting a total of 50 episodes.
Story
In the 21st century, various mysterious events occur on Earth, causing monsters to appear all of a sudden. EGG3 officer Chouichirou Hikari was scouted to join the Science Defense Squad on Earth but while on his way back, he was bonded to Ultraman Joneus, an Ultra-Person of U-40 who was sent by his brethren to fight against the monster threats and alien invasions. This allows the youth to become an Ultraman against countless enemies while keeping a secret identity from his fellow members.
Midway through the series, both Hikari and Joneus die while fighting the Spirit Parasite. They are taken to the Ultra Planet U-40 to be resurrected, and while there, discover the Ultra People's connection to the Earth in the past. They also help to repel the invading Badel People, and to reclaim the stolen Ultra-mind.
Starting from episode 28, Daisuke Gondo becomes a new captain to the SDS. Despite their rocky start, the team learns to accept him due to his great intuition and brotherly instinct. Amia would return to Earth to warn Hikari and the SDS of the alien invasion of the Heller Empire, a renegade faction of Ultra People that invaded their home world and saw Earth as their next target due to Joneus's involvement. The Heller Empire was led by Heller, who was banished due to his misuse of the Ultra-mind for immortality. The SDS were given the Ultria, an ancient battleship made by the Ultra People to counter invasion attempts made by the Heller Army. In the four final episodes, Heller sent a full-scale invasion on Earth to wipe out humanity after fearing that they would cooperate with the remaining Ultra People. The SDS disobeyed the Earth Self Defense Army to go into space, joining forces with the remaining U-40 resistances to form the U Fleet and attacked the Titan Base on Saturn to prevent more invasion forces from coming to Earth. On U-40, the SDS made a risky attempt to sneak into the Heller City to weaken its defense as the U Fleet attacked Heller's forces in the planet's outer atmosphere. When the SDS were about to be killed by Mac Datar, Hikari's secret was exposed to save his comrades before joining the remaining seven Ultras in foiling Heller's attempts to escape. With Amia and the Wiseman being rescued, Heller died in the ensuing explosion as U-40 celebrated their victory. Joneus finally separated from Hikari and spent several months to observe Earth with his sister Amia. Once assuring that peace had returned, they bid farewell to the SDS and promised to return when the Earth's safety is threatened once more.
Staff +Opening CreditsProducersNoboru Tsuburaya, Kazuho Mitsuda, Masaru TadakumaMusic byKunio Miyauchi & Toru FuyukiLyricsYu AkuTheme Song Performed byIsao SasakiPublished inShogakukan's "Tv-Kun" and Other Learning Magazines Kodansha's "Tv Magazine" and Other Learning MagazinesAnimation Supervision & Character DesignTsuneo NinomiyaDesigners / Monster ConceptAkihiko Takahashi & Osamu YamaguchiChief Directors / StoryboardingHisayuki Toriumi, Takeyuki KandaProduction ProducerYasuo ShibueAnimation Produced byNippon Sunrise Produced byTsuburaya Productions, Tokyo Broadcasting System + End CreditsWritten byKeiichi Abe, Soji Yoshikawa, Hiroyuki HoshiyamaBunzo Wakatsuki, Yoshihisa Araki, Keisuke FujikawaYasushi Hirano, Shiro Azusazawa, Yuki MiyataDirected byMasahisa Ishida, Junyasu Furukawa, Takao Shitsuji, Hideyoshi Oshika, Takashi Ano, Katsuyuki Tsuji, Masami Yagioka, Hiromichi Matano, Osamu SekitaStoryboardYuji Nunokawa, Kazuo Terada, Asahi YahiroSeiji Okuda, Soji Yoshikawa, Motosuke TakahashiKohei Matsuura, Noboru Ishiguro, Toru SakataMitsuru Hikita, Takeshi Shirato, Tsutomu YamaguchiKazuho Mitsuda, Masaoka Fujioka, Toru YoshidaKazuo Yamazaki, Ryosuke Takahashi, Yoshiyuki TominoIn Charge of LiteratureKazuichi TsurumiMechanical DesignKunio Okakawa, Studio NueArtMitsuaki Nakamura, Nobuto Sakamoto, Kazuo Miyagawa, Shin Sato, Torio AraiDirector of AnimationKazuo NakamuraAnimation bySunrise Studio, Waap, Green Box, Anime R, Tiger & Nakamura ProductionsMonster ConceptMinoru Kujirai, Fumio Ogawa, Yoshio Tsuburaya, Yasumi Asahi, Seiichi Saito, Masahiko WatanabeColor DesignationHiroshi Wakao, Atsuko Oikawa, Shinichi Hatori, Kazumi Matsui, Hiroshi Hasegawa, Sachiyo Osawa, Yayoi SuzukiInk And PaintShaft, Green BOX, Studio Deen, Kuma Productions, Studio JuffsBackgroundsMascot, Production Eye, Big Studios, Artland, Art Take 1, Magic House, Baku Productions, Studio AppleSpecial EffectsMichiaki Doi, Masanori Yamazaki, Green Box, Takao Tanaka, Hiroshi KazaoRostrum CameraAsahi Productions and Zenji FurukawaEditing byTomoaki Tsurubuchi, Fumio Otachi, Tsurubuchi Films, Yukio Watanabe, Fumiei KataishiTitlesStudio TryFilm ProcessingTokyo LaboratoriesAudio DirectorToshimi ToriumiMixingManji NanbuProduction CoordinatorHisayoshi TakahashiRecorded atNiisaka RecordingProduction ManagersNoboru Mano, Keiichi Kobayashi, Akira Machida, Yoshihide Fujita, Eiichi Endo, Hideo Hayashi, Masahiko Matsuo, Eizo Takahashi, Masami Yagioka, Mashiro Ueda, Tadayoshi Kusari, Setsuo Fukada, Katsushi KaniyamaDeskYoshiyuki Yoshina, Noboru ManoPlanning DeskNaoyuki EtoIn Charge of ProductionYoshikazu Tochihira
English Dubbing Staff +A New Hero is Born!! ~ Chase The Mysterious Red Cloud!!StaffExecutive ProducerMark CohenProduced bySydney L. CaplanDirected by Tom WeinerVoicesTom Weiner, Joe Perry, Barbara Goodson, Steve KramerScreenplaySidney L. Caplan & Tom WeinerMusicScreen Music WestPost Production SupervisionWally Soul, FilmkraftSoundQuality SoundProduced by Associates Entertainment International +A Star of Evil is Coming!!English version Presented byWWOR TVIntroduced byTetsuko KuroyanagiVoice DirectorWilliam RossProduced byFrontier EnterprisesSponsored byBandai America +To The Ultra Star!!VoicesGary Morgan, Gladys Enright, Susan Harry Sprang, Sean Reily, Michael Guillian, Walter SchaferWritten and Directed byJeff SegalAssociate ProducerKen FukuiCasting ConsultantsBuck and Margaret KartalianDialogue, Music, Editing Assistants & EngineeringTerry Porter, Mike McDonald, Lee Williams, Denis Ricotta, Don Harris, Robert MillerMusic Composed & Performed byMark McKinniss, Bill Mutter, Ron Peters, Wade ShortP.A. & Production SecretaryMartyn Segal, Roberta MilesADR ProductionRyder Sound ServicesMusic Recorded atTrax Recording StudiosProduced byLionsgate Home Entertainment
Episodes
Songs Theme Songs Opening theme: "The Ultraman" Song: Aku Composition and Arrangement: Miyauchi Kunio Song: Isao Sasaki and Columbia Yurikakai Ending theme: "Brave Men of Love" Lyrics: Aku Composition and Arrangement: Kunio Miyauchi Songs: Isao Sasaki This serves as the first case of an entry in the Ultra Series having an ending sequence. Performed by BGM staff who had previously composed the theme song for "Ultra Seven". Both songs were recorded in Los Angeles, as was the in-play music.
Insert Songs "Ultraman Hymn" Lyrics: Kazuho Mitsuda Composition and Arrangement: Toru Fuyuki Song: Isao Sasaki Sasaki, who was in charge of the song, made it the most difficult song he had ever sung. "Star of Ultra" Lyrics: Tani Noboru Composition and Arrangement: Toru Fuyuki Song: Columbia Torigokai "Song of Mutsumi" Lyrics-Kazuho Mitsuda Composition: Noboru Tani Arrangement: Hiroshi Takada Song: Mitsuko Horie "Super Murdoch" Lyrics and Composition: Tani Noboru Arrangement: Hirotaka Takada Song: Isao Sasaki "Our Science Garrison" Lyrics: Kazuho Mitsuda Composition: Noboru Tani Arrangement: Hirotaka Takada Songs: Isao Sasaki "Robot Pig's Song" Lyrics: Noboru Tani Composition: Toru Fuoki Arrangement: Masahito Maruyama Song: Junpei Takiguchi "Tomorrow ..." Lyrics and Composition: Noboru Tani Arrangement: Hiroshi Takada Song: Takashi Toyama It was used in Episode 18, and in Episode 23, the instrument was used. "Monster Requiem" Lyrics: Kazuho Mitsuda Composition and Arrangement: Toru Fuyuki Songs: Isao Sasaki In the 15th episode of the next series, Ultraman 80, Emi Johno was used in the scene singing a lullaby to the monster Mue and in 44 the instrument was used in the scene where 80 and the Delusion Ultra Seven fight. In addition, the "popular monster large parade" of "5 Nights Series Super TV" (March 26–30, 1984, Ultraman Taro, Mirrorman, Fireman, Jumborg Ace) digest version had been featured. It is also used as an ending.
English versions In the United States, there have been two feature-length movie compilations: The Adventures of Ultraman (1981), and Ultraman II: The Further Adventures of Ultraman (1983). The Adventures of Ultraman was a feature-length film produced by Tsuburaya Productions specifically for the English-language market. The film is composed of edited footage from several episodes of the series. The storyline was rewritten for this adaptation with a new script by Jeff Segal and music composed by Mark McKinniss. Ultraman II was a dub of the first four episodes co-produced by Tsuburaya Productions and Associates Entertainment International. Despite the title, it has no continuity with the previous English dub of the series. Although the translation is closer to the original Japanese scripts than the first movie, the characters' names were still changed (although, the names given to the characters are not the same ones used in the previous dub). The order of the third and fourth episodes were also switched.
On April 5, 1980, episode 14 of The Ultraman aired on U.S. national television when New York superstation WOR-TV Channel 9 (now WWOR) aired it as the first part of "Japan Tonight!", a special seven-hour block of programming from TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System), hosted by actor Telly Savalas. Japanese actress/author/talk show host Tetsuko Kuroyanagi introduced the episode surrounded by assorted Ultraman toys and merchandise while explaining to the American audience just who Ultraman is, "It's very, very popular in Japan - He's like your Superman". The episode was dubbed into English by William Ross (Frontier Enterprises) in Japan and was sponsored by Bandai America.
Home media In 2018, the series was released on the streaming service Toku.
In July 2020, Shout! Factory announced to have struck a multi-year deal with Alliance Entertainment and Mill Creek, with the blessings of Tsuburaya and Indigo, that granted them the exclusive SVOD and AVOD digital rights to the Ultra series and films (1,100 TV episodes and 20 films) acquired by Mill Creek the previous year. The Ultraman, amongst other titles, will stream in the United States and Canada through Shout! Factory TV and Tokushoutsu.
It was released in the United States on DVD September 14, 2021 by Mill Creek Entertainment.
References
External links
The Ultraman at Anime News Network Official website of Tsuburaya Productions Ultraman Connection — Official website Official Ultraman channel at YouTube