The serialization of the movie "Ultraman Gaia: Battle in Hyperspace" continues with part two of three in episode #14 of "Ultraman Chronicle Z: Heroes' Odyssey":
News Stay At Home With ULTRAMAN| Ultra Science Fiction Hour on YouTube
- Thread starter Kai "the spy"
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The Spring Special Campaign concludes with episode #21 of "Ultraman Orb":
And, of course, there's the international re-upload of episode #10 of "Ultraman Z":
And, of course, there's the international re-upload of episode #10 of "Ultraman Z":
And now that the Spring Special Campaign is over, apparently Tsuburaya has stealth launched a 55th Anniversary Campaign to release selected episodes on YouTube. Stealth as in there was no announcement anywhere I could find for this. Don't even know how many episodes they will release or what the schedule is. Weekly? Twice a week? Well, we'll have to wait and see.
Anyway, to start, Tsuburaya presents episode #30 of the original "Ultraman":
Anyway, to start, Tsuburaya presents episode #30 of the original "Ultraman":
Ultraman Trigger announced for July 10 premiere in Japan.
The new Hero “Ultraman Trigger” is a Giant of Light that has been in an eternal slumber after his battle against the Dark Giants 30 million years ago. He joins with our protagonist “Kengo Manaka,” a human imbued with light, and once more he stands against monster attacks and the dark forces to protect the Earth.
Kengo is played by Raiga Terasaka, the leader of boy group “Matsuri Nine.” Despite his young age, as the leader of his group he has delivered smiles to countless fans across the globe. He draws on this experience in his role as “Kengo Manaka,” the newest recruit of “GUTS-Select,” an expert team that counters the monster attacks, and he expertly transforms into “Ultraman Trigger.” Please look forward to the 25th entry* to the Ultraman TV series Ultraman Trigger: New Generation Tiga.
*(Note: Counting the TV series that featured a new Ultraman Hero and were broadcast on national television since 1966, and excluding 5 minute or less short series)
The new Hero “Ultraman Trigger” is a Giant of Light that has been in an eternal slumber after his battle against the Dark Giants 30 million years ago. He joins with our protagonist “Kengo Manaka,” a human imbued with light, and once more he stands against monster attacks and the dark forces to protect the Earth.
Kengo is played by Raiga Terasaka, the leader of boy group “Matsuri Nine.” Despite his young age, as the leader of his group he has delivered smiles to countless fans across the globe. He draws on this experience in his role as “Kengo Manaka,” the newest recruit of “GUTS-Select,” an expert team that counters the monster attacks, and he expertly transforms into “Ultraman Trigger.” Please look forward to the 25th entry* to the Ultraman TV series Ultraman Trigger: New Generation Tiga.
*(Note: Counting the TV series that featured a new Ultraman Hero and were broadcast on national television since 1966, and excluding 5 minute or less short series)
Ah. They're using USB type collectibles
So it is a Tiga sequel. Interesting. Now there will be three series in that universe.
By the way, I finished the original Ultraman and started watching Ultraseven on ShoutFactory, after reading about the show and the character on the wiki. I'm surprised that the origin story I read about isn't presented in the first episode -- Dan just shows up with no explanation for who he is or how he's an Ultra. And in episode 2, the team already accepts Ultraseven as a hero and has given him that name off-camera, even though they barely seemed aware of him at the end of the first episode. It's jarring. How long is it before the show reveals his origin?
I'm also surprised that the actor who played Arashi in Ultraman is back as an essentially identical character under a different name. I mean, Hiroko Sakurai went right from Ultra Q to Ultraman, but at least her consecutive characters were somewhat distinct -- Yuriko was an intrepid reporter and Fuji a communications officer.
By the way, I finished the original Ultraman and started watching Ultraseven on ShoutFactory, after reading about the show and the character on the wiki. I'm surprised that the origin story I read about isn't presented in the first episode -- Dan just shows up with no explanation for who he is or how he's an Ultra. And in episode 2, the team already accepts Ultraseven as a hero and has given him that name off-camera, even though they barely seemed aware of him at the end of the first episode. It's jarring. How long is it before the show reveals his origin?
I'm also surprised that the actor who played Arashi in Ultraman is back as an essentially identical character under a different name. I mean, Hiroko Sakurai went right from Ultra Q to Ultraman, but at least her consecutive characters were somewhat distinct -- Yuriko was an intrepid reporter and Fuji a communications officer.
For Dan's origin, I'm afraid you'll have to wait till episode #17.
As for Sandayu Dokumamushi's characters in Ultraman and Ultraseven, it might be useful to remember that the two shows were only retroactively set in the same universe. That's also why the focus of Ultraseven was shifted from regular kaijus to alien invaders. Between the airing of the two shows, the same timeslot on the TV station was given to Toei's Captain Ultra, and at that time the Ultra monicker was shifted to any tokusatsu show on that station in that timeslot, regardless of the production company.
As for Sandayu Dokumamushi's characters in Ultraman and Ultraseven, it might be useful to remember that the two shows were only retroactively set in the same universe. That's also why the focus of Ultraseven was shifted from regular kaijus to alien invaders. Between the airing of the two shows, the same timeslot on the TV station was given to Toei's Captain Ultra, and at that time the Ultra monicker was shifted to any tokusatsu show on that station in that timeslot, regardless of the production company.
Hey Kengo.Go-on Yellow called. She wants her catchphrase back! It will be great to have Koichi Sakamoto as the fight coordinator.
Ah. I was wondering if maybe they didn't reveal it until the finale. Good to know it won't be that long.
Yeah, I know. It's still weird, though, to switch universes but essentially keep the same character around. Although I guess it's not that uncommon. In watching Showa-era Super Sentai, I've seen Aorenger (aka Kamen Rider V3) return as Big One, Midorenger return as Battle Cossack, and Battle Kenya return as DenziBlue (plus Momorenger dubbing the voice of Miss America #1), all but one in consecutive seasons, and I know there's another guy upcoming who was the Black Ranger in two consecutive series. But at least those first three actors returned as distinct characters, like Sakurai did, rather than basically just the same character renamed.
Though there are a number of Godzilla movies where the same actor returns as an almost identical character under a different name, e.g. all the scientists Akihiko Hirata played. So maybe it's more a Toho/Tsuburaya thing. (And Hirata himself has gone from the SSSP's main scientist in Ultraman to a military official in Ultraseven. He got everywhere.)
Hmm, yeah, there has been narration about watching for threats from the skies and all that, bringing back a similar tone to Ultra Q.
Daiei also re-used actors in the Showa Gamera series. Mind you, here in Germany during the 1960s, we had a film series of Edgar Wallace mystery adaptations which constantly re-used the same actors in similar roles, like Joachim Fuchsberger playing seemingly dozens of different Scotland Yard Inspectors in the leading role, Klaus Kinski playing several different serial killers and at least as many red herrings, Eddi Arent playing the butler/comic relief, etc. Also, Sergio Leone's Dollar trilogy had Gian Maria Volonté play the main villain twice in a row, Mario Brega playing the villain's henchman in all three movies, Lee Van Cleef playing in two similar characters but in different roles in For A Few Dollars More and The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly, and that's just off the top of my head.
I think this was just common at the time. Maybe it was because back then studios still had exclusive contracts with actors in some countries, and/or it was still a familiar trope from theater groups.
I think this was just common at the time. Maybe it was because back then studios still had exclusive contracts with actors in some countries, and/or it was still a familiar trope from theater groups.
Good point about theater troupes. Audiences would've been used to the same actors playing multiple roles, even in a single production.
Another example would be the Universal Monsters films, where they often had the same switching roles from one film to the next, like Bela Lugosi going from Ygor in one film to Frankenstein's Monster in the next. The big one being Lionel Atwill, who was in something like five consecutive Frankenstein films and played police officers of different names in three of them.
Well, anyway, I may have been wrong about Dokumamushi's characters being identical. The wiki described Furuhashi as "trigger-happy" like Arashi, but so far (based on the one episode I've seen that gave him a significant role) he seems calmer and less of a comedic hothead than Arashi was. Overall, Ultraseven seems to be striking a more serious tone than Ultraman, though that means the characters are blander so far.
Yes, Ultraseven was aiming for a more mature tone than the previous Ultraman or even the following few Ultra series. But the series was also very plot-driven, with most of the character focus given to Dan and/or the guest characters. Dokumamushi does get a nice character spotlight in one episode I can remember, featuring his mother, but generally, the supporting cast in that series doesn't get a lot to do to flesh out their characters.
Meanwhile, this week's episode #24 of "Gridman" takes on the issue of bio-engineering:
Meanwhile, this week's episode #24 of "Gridman" takes on the issue of bio-engineering:
And here is the penultimate episode #15 of "Ultraman Chronicle Z: Heroes' Odyssey", presenting the third and concluding part of "Battle in Hyperspace":
And over the weekend, episode #11 of "Ultraman Z" was re-uploaded for international audiences:
Okay, now Dan has had his Ultra Eye pickpocketed by an alien disguised as a pretty girl in two consecutive episodes out of the first four. Does that sort of thing happen a lot? Now that I think about it, he doesn't have a Color Timer or a time limit for his Ultra form, so I guess they need to contrive a different excuse for him not to henshin until the climax. But this one will get pretty tiresome if they keep using it.
And the newest upload in Tsuburaya's 55th Anniversary campaign is episode #1 of "Ultraman Dyna":
I just watched Ultraman: the Adventure Begins (aka Ultraman USA). Its an animated film, a co-production between Tsuburaya and Hanna-Barbera of all things. It was...ok. It had decent animation (probably above average for the time), and the monster/Ultra designs were ok. The premise is three airforce pilots who are about to die (they were putting on an airshow when alien related things happened) instead end up becoming Ultraman Scott, Ultraman Chuck and Ultrawoman Beth (their names being a mox of Ultraman/woman and their real first names), also known as the Ultra Force. They have to defeat some aliens that crash on Earth, and have various fights in the 80ish minute runtime.
The characters aren't that interesting, and some of the supporting cast is a bit annoying, but I do like the designs and its cool to see a female Ultra fighting (which is fairly rare). Its not very good overall, but its also not a terrible way to spend 80 minutes if you like Ultraman and are curious to see an animated US/Japan co-production.
The characters aren't that interesting, and some of the supporting cast is a bit annoying, but I do like the designs and its cool to see a female Ultra fighting (which is fairly rare). Its not very good overall, but its also not a terrible way to spend 80 minutes if you like Ultraman and are curious to see an animated US/Japan co-production.
Episode #25 of "Gridman" is the first part of the only two-parter of the series:
This week's episode #16 of "Ultraman Chronicle Z: Heroes' Odyssey" looks at the evil doppelgangers trope:
International re-upload of episode #12 of "Ultraman Z":