Ultra Seven

Ultra Seven (ウルトラセブン, Urutora Sebun) is a Japanese tokusatsu science fiction television series created by Eiji Tsuburaya. Ultra Seven is the third installment in the Ultra Series and was produced by Tsuburaya Productions and aired on Tokyo Broadcasting System from October 1, 1967 to September 8, 1968.

Ultra Seven
Original Japanese title card
Genre
Created byEiji Tsuburaya
Developed byTetsuo Kinjo
Starring
Composer(s)Tōru Fuyuki
Country of originJapan
No. of episodes49
Production
Running time24 minutes
Release
Original network
Original releaseOctober 1, 1967 –
September 8, 1968
Chronology
Preceded byUltraman
Followed byThe Return of Ultraman

Premise

In the not-too-distant future, Earth finds itself constantly under attack from extraterrestrial threats. To combat them, the Terrestrial Defense Force establishes the Ultra Garrison, a team of six elite members who utilize high-tech vehicles and weaponry. Joining their fight is the mysterious Dan Moroboshi who is secretly an alien from the Land of Light in Nebula M-78 and transforms into his true alien form, Ultraseven, in times of crisis.[1]

Production

After the success of space-themed science fiction shows such as Ultraman, Captain Ultra, and the Japanese broadcast of Lost in Space, Tokyo Broadcasting System pursued Tsuburaya Productions to produce another sci-fi series. This led Eiji Tsuburaya to assemble Hajime Tsuburaya, Akio Jissoji, Tetsuo Kinjo, Masami Sueyasu, and Shoji Otomo to brainstorm ideas.[2]

Eiji Tsuburaya proposed a series that would have been a hybrid of Thunderbirds and Lost in Space, Hajime proposed a new Ultraman series that would have included network and sponsors' input for each season, Jissoji proposed a time-travel themed show which would have focused on a time patrol team and their families, Kinjo proposed a children's horror/mystery show that would have been a hybrid of Ultra Q and The Twilight Zone, Sueyasu proposed a fairy tale-themed series, and Otomo proposed a space-themed series which would have been a cross of Lost in Space and Men into Space featuring giant monsters.[2]

TBS eventually settled on a fusion of Eiji's and Otomo's ideas and Eiji submitted a treatment titled The Ultra Garrison, which featured six trained astronauts (including an android named "John") stationed on a satellite called "Mother", the first line of defense against alien invaders. Kinjo felt that the idea was lacking an essential element and suggested adding a superhero.[2]

The treatment underwent massive revisions after TBS felt the idea was too similar to The Great Space War and the new version included giant monsters while retaining the original Earth Defense Force element at TBS' request.[2] TBS eventually suggested to make the series a direct sequel to Ultraman and have it focused on Hayata and Fuji's son, who would be able to call upon Earth monsters for help and only transform into Ultraman in times of desperation.[3]

Tetsuo Kinjo began working on an outline, combining elements of TBS' best ideas and his own, such as elements from his rejected proposal Woo, which featured an alien unwittingly becoming a savior of mankind. Kinjo's outline was titled Ultra Eye and featured Dan Moroboshi being the son of a human and an alien, with Dan coming to Earth in search of his mother. This version also featured Capsule Monsters that Dan would have used when he could not transform. Originally, monsters from Ultra Q and Ultraman were going to be used as the Capsule Monsters in order to cut down production costs.[4]

Tohru Narita was assigned to design the aliens, monsters, and vehicles. Narita's design for Ultra Seven was inspired by Mayan culture and originally chose silver and blue for the colors, but changed them to silver and red to avoid problems with the blue-screen matte process.[5]

Ultraseven battles Narse in episode 11 "Fly to Devil's Mountain"

Principal photography on the special effects began in May 1967 and casting began in June 1967. Many of the actors hired were chosen from Toho's acting pool, since the studio was one of the financial investors for Tsuburaya Productions.[6] Yoji Hashimoto and Toshimichi Miwa were put in charge of duties with TBS for the show, while Eiji Tsuburaya served as the chief producer and supervisor for the show and Masami Sueyasu reprised his role as a hands-on producer for Tsuburaya Productions.[7]

Four episodes were completed before copyright was approved for the show's title, which was changed to Ultra Seven. The show was filmed silent, a common practice for Japanese shows at the time, and post-production, including editing and voice dubbing, began in September 1967. Toru Fuyuki was hired to compose the soundtrack, gearing towards a more classical direction as opposed to the jazz-inspired direction Kunio Miyauchi took for the Ultraman soundtrack.[8]

Ultra Seven aired on October 1, 1967 and earned a 33.7% rating, an achievement at the time.[8] Due to the show's high ratings, TBS ordered an additional 10 episodes during preparations for the show's third Cours (episodes 27-39). Despite ratings dropping during the final weeks, Ultra Seven still remained in the top five highest rated shows in Japanese television at the time.[9]

Sequels for both Ultraman, titled Ultraman Continues, and Ultra Seven, titled Fight! Ultra Seven, were proposed, but Tsuburaya Productions would not produce another Ultra Series TV show until 1971, with The Return of Ultraman.[9]

Cast
Spelled as "Dan Moroboshe" in the Cinar English dub.[10] Ultraseven borrows the look of Jiroh Satsuma and transforms into his true alien form using the Ultra Eye ("Task Mask" in the Cinar dub). Koji Uenishi was the Ultra Seven suit performer for the entire series with the exception of episodes 14 and 15, with Eiichi Kikuchi performing the Ultra Seven suitmation scenes for those episodes.[11][12] At the time of the show's production, Moritsugu was married and poor. This was kept secret in order to publicize Moritsugu as a young rising heartthrob.[7]
The captain of the Ultra Garrison.
The rotund, strong and trigger-happy member of the Ultra Garrison.
Known as "Donna" in the Cinar dub.[13] The team's communications operator, nurse, and only female member. Yoshiko Toyoura was originally cast in the role, but was pulled out by director Takashi Tsuboshima to cast her in his then-latest film. Yuriko Hishimi was given the role after doing an immediate audition and photo shoot.[14]
  • Shinsuke Achiha as Soga
The Ultra Garrison's expert marksman.
The team's strategist. Furuya had been the suit performer for Ultraman in the preceding series and stated that, although he liked being Ultraman, Amagi was more enjoyable due to having an exposed appearance.[15]

Episode list
No. Title[16] Japanese title Cinar dub title
1 The Invisible Challenger 姿なき挑戦者 Enter Dan Moroboshe
2 The Green Terror 緑の恐怖 Shrubs from Space
3 The Secret of the Lake 湖のひみつ N/A
4 Max, Respond! マックス号応答せよ Double Trouble at Sea
5 Vanished Time 消された時間 N/A
6 Dark Zone ダーク・ゾーン N/A
7 Space Prisoner 303 宇宙囚人303 N/A
8 The Marked Town 狙われた街 Smokers on the Rampage
9 Operation Android Zero アンドロイド0指令 Toys In Crisis
10 The Suspicious Neighbor 怪しい隣人 The Man Next Door
11 Fly to Devil Mountain 魔の山へ飛べ Captured in Living Color
12 From Another Planet with Love 遊星より愛をこめて Crystallized Corpuscles
13 The Man Who Came from V3 V3から来た男 Space Ace Reunion
14 The Ultra Guard Goes West: Part 1 ウルトラ警備隊西へ 前編 Planets in Conflict (Part 1)
15 The Ultra Guard Goes West: Part 2 ウルトラ警備隊西へ 後編 Planets in Conflict (Part 2)
16 The Eye That Shines in the Darkness 闇に光る目 The Eyes Have Had It
17 Underground Go! Go! Go! 地底GO! GO! GO! Cave-in
18 Escape Dimension X 空間X脱出 The Bells Are Ringing
19 Project Blue プロジェクト・ブルー Wayne, Lord of the Universe
20 Destroy Earthquake Epicenter X 地震源Xを倒せ The Quakemaker
21 Pursue the Undersea Base 海底基地を追え The Nissan's Return Engagement
22 The Human Farm 人間牧場 The Chromosome Eaters
23 Search for Tomorrow 明日を捜せ The Fugitive Fortune Teller
24 Return to the North! 北へ還れ！ Mother Knows Best
25 Showdown at 140 Degrees Below Zero 零下140度の対決 Ultra-7 Exposed
26 Super Weapon R-1 超兵器R1号 The 8,000 Megaton Mistake
27 Operation: Cyborg サイボーグ作戦 Temporary Traitor
28 The 700 Kilometer Run! 700キロを突っ走れ！ Death on Wheels
29 The Earthling All Alone ひとりぼっちの地球人 The Apprentice Alien
30 Glory for Whom? 栄光は誰れのために Trial by War
31 The Flower where the Devil Dwells 悪魔の住む花 Blood-Thirst
32 The Strolling Planet 散歩する惑星 Island in the Sky
33 The Invading Dead 侵略する死者たち The Dead Invaders
34 The Vanishing City 蒸発都市 Urban Removal
35 Terror on the Moon 月世界の戦慄 Moon-stuck
36 A Lethal 0.1 Seconds 必殺の0.1秒 Sharpshooter Showdown
37 The Stolen Ultra Eye 盗まれたウルトラ・アイ The Devil's Angel
38 The Courageous Battle 勇気ある戦い The Brave One
39 The Seven Assassination Plan: Part ! セブン暗殺計画 前篇 Ultra-7 Tastes Defeat
40 The Seven Assassination Plan: Part 2 セブン暗殺計画 後編 Ultra-7 Execution at Dawn
41 Challenge from Underwater 水中からの挑戦 Killer Lake
42 Ambassador of The Nonmalt ノンマルトの使者 The Boy on the Beach
43 Nightmare on Planet No. 4 第四惑星の悪夢 Tyranny by Design
44 The Terrifying Super Ape-man 恐怖の超猿人 Simian Says Surrender
45 The Saucers Have Come 円盤が来た The Stargazer
46 The Showdown of Dan vs. Seven ダン対セブンの決闘 Dan and the Ultra-7 Challenge
47 Who Are You? あなたはだぁれ？ Home, Sweet... Homes???
48 The Biggest Invasion in History: Part 1 史上最大の侵略（前編） Exit Ultra-7 Part 1
49 The Biggest Invasion in History: Part 2 史上最大の侵略（後編） Exit Ultra-7 Part 2

English versions
Title card for the Cinar dub

In 1985, Turner Program Services licensed the series in a 15-year contract from Tsuburaya Productions, who provided the English dubbed versions produced in Honolulu by Tsuburaya-Hawaii, Inc. in the mid-1970s. Finding this English version to be lacking, Turner commissioned the Canadian children's programming production house, Cinar, to dub all 49 episodes for run in syndication.[17] The TPS/Cinar produced episodes featured new opening and closing credits, eyecatches, new episode names, and even a change of name for the character of Anne Yuri, who was dubbed as "Donna Michibata". Cinar edited the episodes for violence, language and commercial time and featured new music cues.

Unsatisfied with Cinar's resultant work, Turner put the series into their vaults until 1994, when they were alerted that the episodes were never broadcast. Ultra Seven was dusted off for the "Toons 'Til Noon" and "MonsterVision" blocks on TNT. The "Toons 'Til Noon" broadcasts received substantially heavy editing to make them suitable for the time slot, while the "MonsterVision" broadcasts were the full-length Cinar adaptations. Episodes 3 and 5-7 were missing or mislabeled and were never broadcast. Clips from the series were later used in the "Messages from Space" segments on the animated variety show Cartoon Planet, which aired on TBS and Cartoon Network. When the contract expired in 2001, Turner returned all the materials (film elements, videotapes, audio masters) to Tsuburaya Productions.[18]

Banned episode

The 12th episode, titled "From Another Planet with Love", was banned due to Alien Spell (which had keloid scars) being labeled as "Hibaku Seijin" (A-Bomb Survivor Alien) which was lifted from the term "hibakusha", referring to the survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The issue was featured on an article of the Asahi Shimbun newspaper, which sparked public outrage and forced Tsuburaya Productions to change the name to "Kyuketsu Seijin" (Vampire Alien). Despite this, Tsuburaya Productions still received negative public opinion and as a result, Tsuburaya pulled the alien character and episode from official publications, broadcasts and home media releases. However, the Hawaiian English dub and Cinar dub of the series broadcast the episode (which was re-titled "Crystallized Corpuscles") in North America.[18]

Home media

On December 11, 2012, Shout! Factory released the series on DVD for the first time in North America, licensed from Tiga Entertainment Co., LTD[19] This release only included the Japanese original with English subtitles and did not contain the banned 12th episode, From Another Planet with Love.[20] Bandai Visual released the series on Blu-ray in Japan as two separate sets with the first released on November 21, 2014 and the second on January 28, 2015.[21] In September 2019, Mill Creek Entertainment announced plans to release the original Japanese version of Ultra Seven on Blu-ray and Digital in North America on December 10, 2019 in standard and steelbook releases.[22]

gollark: Everyone knows the best instruction is GF2P8AFFINEINVQB anyway.
gollark: That is NOT an instruction.
gollark: Everyone (else) involved in this argument should literally become muon neutrinos.
gollark: Besides, you would presumably want to do some vessel assembly in space once you have stuff up there.
gollark: They run on methane and oxygen and such, not hard to get.

See also

References
  1. "Ultraseven - Shout Factory 2012 DVD Release". Shout! Factory. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  2. Ragone 2012, p. 3.
  3. Ragone 2012, p. 4.
  4. Ragone 2012, p. 5.
  5. Ragone 2012, p. 6.
  6. Ragone 2012, p. 8.
  7. Ragone 2012, p. 10.
  8. Ragone 2012, p. 11.
  9. Ragone 2012, p. 12.
  10. Tsuburaya 1985, 00:26.
  11. Opening credits of Ultra Seven
  12. ウルトラセブンイズム 2002, p. 51
  13. Tsuburaya 1985, 03:41.
  14. Ragone 2012, p. 9.
  15. Justice, Keith (April 18, 2013). "Ultraman U&A Write Up From Monsterpalooza 2013". Henshin Justice. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
  16. Mill Creek Entertainment 2019, p. 8-19.
  17. Miyake, Marc (December 25, 1995). "'Ultra Seven' (Original Series) Version 1.0". Tokusatsu File 5.
  18. Ragone 2012, p. 16.
  19. Aiken, Keith (July 28, 2017). "Chinese Ultraman Movie Latest Chapter in Ongoing Rights Dispute". SciFi Japan. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
  20. Ragone, August (September 7, 2012). ""Ultra Seven" Complete Series DVD Box Set! Shout! Factory's 45th Anniversary Release!". The Good, the Bad, and Godzilla. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  21. "Ultraseven Blu-Ray Box Sets Announced". Tokusatsu Network. July 1, 2014. Retrieved April 23, 2015.
  22. "Mill Creek Entertainment Announces Next Wave of Ultraman Releases: Ultraseven! Ultraman Orb! Ultraman Geed!". SciFi Japan. Archived from the original on September 10, 2019. Retrieved September 10, 2019.

Sources
  • ウルトラセブンイズム. タツミムック. 辰巳出版. 2002-11-15. ISBN 4-88641-779-5.
  • Ragone, August (2012). The Making of Ultraseven. Shout! Factory DVD Booklet. ASIN B0096W46VW.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Ragone, August (2007). Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters. Chronicle Books. ISBN 978-0-8118-6078-9.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Tsuburaya, Hajime (1985). Ultra-7 - Episode 01: Enter-Dan Moroboshe! (Cinar English dub). Turner Program Services.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Mill Creek Entertainment (2019). Ultraseven - Information and Episode Guide. Mill Creek Entertainment. ASIN B07XR966QL.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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