The Ultraman

The Ultraman (ザ☆ウルトラマン, Za Urutoraman) is a Japanese animated television series co-produced by Tsuburaya Production and Tokyo Broadcasting System. The series aired on TBS Television affiliates on the Wednesday 7:00 PM time slot from April 4, 1979 to March 26, 1980, lasting a total of 50 episodes. It was the eighth installment in the Ultra Series and began airing four years after the end of Ultraman Leo.[1][2]

This article is about the 1979 Japanese anime television series. For the 1966 original series, see Ultraman. For other uses, see Ultraman (disambiguation).
The Ultraman
Cover artwork for the 2011 Japanese DVD release featuring Ultraman Joeneus, various monsters and the Science Guard's aircraft.
ザ☆ウルトラマン
(Za Urutoraman)
GenreSuperhero, Kyodai Hero, Kaiju, science fiction
Anime television series
Directed byHisayuki Toriumi
Takeyuki Kanda
Written byKeiichi Abe
Sōji Yoshikawa
Hiroyuki Hoshiyama
Bunzo Wakatsuki
Yoshihisa Araki
Keisuke Fujikawa
Yasushi Hirano
Kiyoshi Miyata
StudioSunrise
Original networkTokyo Broadcasting System
English network
Original run April 4, 1979 – March 26, 1980
Episodes50

The show was the first animated incarnation of Tsuburaya's iconic superhero Ultraman, as well as one of the earliest works of anime studio Nippon Sunrise (now known simply as Sunrise), who also worked on their now-iconic mecha series Mobile Suit Gundam during the same year.[1][2]

Story
Main article: List of The Ultraman characters

In the 21st century, various mysterious events occur on Earth, causing monsters to appear all of a sudden. EGG3 officer Chōichirō Hikari was scouted to join the Science Guard on Earth but while on his way back, he was bonded to Ultraman Joneus, an Ultra Person of U40 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 his identity a secret from his fellow members.[1][2] Almost in the middle of the series, both Hikari and Joneus lost their lives from fighting the Spirit Parasite. They were spirited to the Ultra Planet U40 by Elek, and discovered the Ultra People's connection to the Earth in the past. Hikari and Joneus were revived in said planet and helped foiled the invaders Badel Tribe to reclaim the stolen Ultra Mind.

Starting from episode 28, Daisuke Gondō becomes a new captain to the Science Guard. Despite their rocky start, the team learn to accept him due to his great intuition and brotherly instinct. Amia would return to Earth to warn Hikari and the Science Guard of the invasion of Heller Empire, a renegade faction of Ultra People that invaded their home world and saw Earth as their next target due to Joneus' involvement. The Heller Empire was led by Heller, who was banished due to his misuse of the Ultra Mind for immortality. The Science Guard 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 humanity after fearing that they would cooperate with the remaining Ultra People. The Science Guard disobeyed the Earth Self Defense Army to go into space, joining forces with the remaining U40 resistances to form the U Fleet and attacked the Titan Base on Saturn to prevent more invasion forces from coming to Earth. On U40, the Science Guard 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 Science Guard 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 Great Sage being rescued, Heller died in the ensuing explosion as U40 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 Science Guard and promised to return when the Earth's safety is threatened once more.

Staff
Opening Credits
Producers Noboru Tsuburaya, Kazuho Mitsuda, Masaru Tadakuma
Music by Kunio Miyauchi & Toru Fuyuki
Lyrics Yu Aku
Theme Song Performed by Isao Sasaki
Published in Shogakukan's "Tv-Kun" and Other Learning Magazines

Kodansha's "Tv Magazine" and Other Learning Magazines

Animation Supervision & Character Design Tsuneo Ninomiya
Designers / Monster Concept Akihiko Takahashi & Osamu Yamaguchi
Chief Directors / Storyboarding Hisayuki Toriumi, Takeyuki Kanda
Production Producer Yasuo Shibue
Animation Produced by Logi Studio
Produced by Tsuburaya Productions, Tokyo Broadcasting System
End Credits
Written by Keiichi Abe, Soji Yoshikawa, Hiroyuki Hoshiyama
Bunzo Wakatsuki, Yoshihisa Araki, Keisuke Fujikawa
Yasushi Hirano, Shiro Azusazawa, Yuki Miyata
Directed by Masahisa Ishida, Junyasu Furukawa, Takao Shitsuji, Hideyoshi Oshika, Takashi Ano, Katsuyuki Tsuji, Masami Yagioka, Hiromichi Matano, Osamu Sekita
Storyboard Yuji Nunokawa, Kazuo Terada, Asahi Yahiro
Seiji Okuda, Soji Yoshikawa, Motosuke Takahashi
Kohei Matsuura, Noboru Ishiguro, Toru Sakata
Mitsuru Hikita, Takeshi Shirato, Tsutomu Yamaguchi
Kazuho Mitsuda, Masaoka Fujioka, Toru Yoshida
Kazuo Yamazaki, Ryosuke Takahashi, Yoshiyuki Tomino
In Charge of Literature Kazuichi Tsurumi
Mechanical Design Kunio Okakawa, Studio Nue
Art Mitsuaki Nakamura, Nobuto Sakamoto, Kazuo Miyagawa, Shin Sato, Torio Arai
Director of Animation Kazuo Nakamura
Animation by Sunrise Studio, Waap, Green Box, Anime R, Tiger & Nakamura Productions
Monster Concept Minoru Kujirai, Fumio Ogawa, Yoshio Tsuburaya, Yasumi Asahi, Seiichi Saito, Masahiko Watanabe
Color Designation Hiroshi Wakao, Atsuko Oikawa, Shinichi Hatori, Kazumi Matsui, Hiroshi Hasegawa, Sachiyo Osawa, Yayoi Suzuki
Ink And Paint Shaft, Green BOX, Studio Deen, Kuma Productions, Studio Juffs
Backgrounds Mascot, Production Eye, Big Studios, Artland, Art Take 1, Magic House, Baku Productions, Studio Apple
Special Effects Michiaki Doi, Masanori Yamazaki, Green Box, Takao Tanaka, Hiroshi Kazao
Rostrum Camera Asahi Productions and Zenji Furukawa
Editing by Tomoaki Tsurubuchi, Fumio Otachi, Tsurubuchi Films, Yukio Watanabe, Fumiei Kataishi
Titles Studio Try
Film Processing Tokyo Laboratories
Audio Director Toshimi Toriumi
Mixing Manji Nanbu
Production Coordinator Hisayoshi Takahashi
Recorded at Niisaka Recording
Production Managers Noboru Mano, Keiichi Kobayashi, Akira Machida, Yoshihide Fujita, Eiichi Endo, Hideo Hayashi, Masahiko Matsuo, Eizo Takahashi, Masami Yagioka, Mashiro Ueda, Tadayoshi Kusari, Setsuo Fukada, Katsushi Kaniyama
Desk Yoshiyuki Yoshina, Noboru Mano
Planning Desk Naoyuki Eto
In Charge of Production Yoshikazu Tochihira


English Dubbing Staff
A New Hero is Born!! ~ Chase The Mysterious Red Cloud!!
Staff
Executive Producer Mark Cohen
Produced by Sydney L. Caplan
Directed by Tom Weiner
Voices Tom Weiner, Joe Perry, Barbara Goodson, Steve Kramer
Screenplay Sidney L. Caplan & Tom Weiner
Music Screen Music West
Post Production Supervision Wally Soul, Filmkraft
Sound Quality Sound
Produced by Associates Entertainment International
A Star of Evil is Coming!!
English version Presented by WWOR TV
Introduced by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi
Voice Director William Ross
Produced by Frontier Enterprises
Sponsored by Bandai America
To The Ultra Star!!
Voices Gary Morgan, Gladys Enright, Susan Harry Sprang, Sean Reily, Michael Guillian, Walter Schafer
Written and Directed by Jeff Segal
Associate Producer Ken Fukui
Casting Consultants Buck and Margaret Kartalian
Dialogue, Music, Editing Assistants & Engineering Terry Porter, Mike McDonald, Lee Williams, Denis Ricotta, Don Harris, Robert Miller
Music Composed & Performed by Mark McKinniss, Bill Mutter, Ron Peters, Wade Short
P.A. & Production Secretary Martyn Segal, Roberta Miles
ADR Production Ryder Sound Services
Music Recorded at Trax Recording Studios
Produced by Liongate Home Entertainment

Episodes
  1. The Birth of a New Hero!!
  2. The Secret of the Shining Pendant
  3. When the Weed Whistle Blows in the Evening...
  4. Chase the Mysterious Red Cloud!!
  5. The "Passenger"—Break Through the Underground!!
  6. Challenge to the Burning Deep Sea
  7. Orders to Attack! The Target is PDQ!!
  8. The Secret of Chief Harris Is Stolen!?
  9. Terror of the Awakened Ancient Creature!!
  10. I Can See It!! The Phantom Monster...
  11. Challenge to the Science Garrison!!
  12. The Extraordinary Conversation Just Between PDQ and the Monster
  13. The Sad Legend of the Revived Lake
  14. A Star of Evil Has Come!!
  15. You Are Ultraman
  16. The Living Phantom Bird King Moa
  17. The β-mie Has Disappeared!!
  18. The Mysterious Monster Island
  19. This is the Ultra Star!! Trilogy
  20. The Dubious Space of the South Sea
  21. The Supersonic Battle
  22. The Two Lieutenant Annes
  23. The Flower Garden of Evil
  24. Earth's Ultimate Crisis!!
  25. Monster Island Rises to the Surface!!!
  26. The New Captain Has Arrived!!
  27. The Invasion of the Evil UFO
  28. The Giant Fossil That Started to Move
  29. The Female Ultra Warrior
  30. Object X from Outer Space
  31. GO! Magma Zone of Desperation
  32. The Stolen Monster Asylum Planet Parts 1 & 2
  33. The Snow Woman from Space
  34. Crisis of the Ultra Planet U40!!
  35. Big Ultra War!!
  36. The Targeted Giant Warship Ultoria
  37. The Boy who Brought Along a Monster
  38. Clash!! Ultraman vs. Ultraman
  39. Ultraman Capture Strategy
  40. Monkey Became a Monster!?
  41. The Ultoria Broken in Half!?
  42. The Bomb-Holding PDQ
  43. Come Back to Life, Anne
  44. To the Ultra Star!! Tetralogy

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.

Insertion 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: Tani Noboru
    • Arrangement: Takada Hiroshi
    • Song: Horie Mitsuko
  • "Super Murdoch"
    • Lyrics and Composition: Tani Noboru
    • Arrangement: Hirotaka Takada
    • Song: Isao Sasaki
  • "Our Science Garrison"
    • Lyrics: Kazuho Mitsuda
    • Composition: Tani Noboru
    • Arrangement: Hirotaka Takada
    • Songs: Isao Sasaki
  • "Robot Pig's Song"
    • Lyrics: Tani Noboru
    • Composition: Fuoki Toru
    • Arrangement: Maruyama Masahito
    • Song: Takiguchi Junpei
  • "Tomorrow ..."
    • Lyrics and Composition: Tani Noboru
    • Arrangement: Takada Hiroshi
    • Song: Toyama Takashi

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 film " 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

Home video releases

In the United States, there have been two feature-length movie compilations:

  • The Adventures of Ultraman (1981), a feature-length movie produced by Tsuburaya Productions specifically for the English-language market. The movie 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: The Further Adventures of Ultraman (1983), 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.

Television releases
  • 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.
  • In April 2017, the television network TOKU announced that they would release the series in the United States in the near future.[3] Months later, it was confirmed that the series would be released in Japanese with English subtitles in the channel starting January 29, 2018.[4]

Other appearances
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References
  1. "ザ★ウルトラマン　1" (in Japanese). Bandai Visual. Retrieved 2019-04-25.
  2. "EMOTION the Best　ザ★ウルトラマン　DVD-BOX" (in Japanese). Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  3. "TOKU on Facebook". 2017-04-28. Retrieved 2017-04-28.
  4. "TOKU Premieres Ultra Series Titles in USA". SciFi Japan. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
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