It’s time for another update in my (endless?) watching of all the Ultraman series! As with before, I’ve watched a mixture of older and new series since the last update.
Ultraman Leo (1975, 51 episodes 21.6 hours)
By the mid 1970s the Ultraman franchise was almost 10 years old, had been airing continuously on Japanese TV, and was expanding into other markets. To keep itself fresh it kept reinventing, and Ultraman Leo – the 7th series – was quite unique compared to its forbears.
For starters Ultraman Leo himself was not from the same planet as the other Ultramen, and transformed via a ring and not due to any inherent power. He had a brother, and at the start of the series while he was undeniably superheroic, he was still inexperienced and had to learn from a mentor. This mentor was none other than Dan Moroboshi, the human form of Ultraseven, who could no longer transform due to an injury.
Almost every episode of the series follows a similar format: Leo fights a monster but lacks the power to defeat it, then goes away and trains, then at the end achieves victory via a new ability or power. The show is heavily inspired by kung fu movies of the era, and the training sessions and unstoppable determination of the main character can at times be alarming.
And yet Gen – the human form of Leo – is a charismatic sort and it doesn’t take many episodes before the show grabbed me. It didn’t hurt that the show was notably more adult than Taro – perhaps by now Tsuburaya was actively catering to their aging fans?
Toward the end the plot makes a sharp left turn, killing off almost the entire cast in the first few minutes of an episode and essentially rebooting itself with no warning. But it ends well, and when Gen removes his ring to spend the rest of his days exploring his ‘new home’ (Earth) the audience, having seen what he’s gone through, can only wish him the best.
Ultraman 80 (1980, 50 episodes, 20.4 hours)
A couple of years passed before the next Ultra series, and in that time the world got Star Wars and science fiction storytelling changed overnight. Except for the Ultra series, since Ultraman 80 – a new series for a new decade – was in many ways a return to form after the experimental storytelling of Leo.
The setup is familiar: an Ultraman (called ’80’!) lives in human form on earth, protecting the world from the threat of aliens and giant monsters. The series begins with an interesting premise: Takeshi (the human form of 80) is a teacher at a school and he moonlights as an special agent of the organization UGM fighting off monsters – which initially are all based on human weakness.
In time this was dropped (the school and his personal life are never mentioned again) and it became a very formulaic series. There was some innovation toward the end with the addition of the first female ultra – Ultrawoman Yulian – but mostly this was a by-the-numbers series.
That said, I loved this show. The main actor was extremely likeable, the simple stories well written, the special effects respectable (for their time) and the location shooting was, as always, charming. We’re in the 1980s now as well, and I personally loved hearing the first mention of video games in an ultra series! One episode is also based around being an excessive fan of a hobby, and when one character says “Being a man means giving your all to your hobbies” I nodded knowingly.
Also Ultraman 80 has not only the best theme song of any Ultra series, but one of the best TV theme songs ever recorded! Who wouldn’t be moved by a line like: ‘The man who came to us from a star will teach you about love and courage‘?
Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle (2007, 12 hours)
This is a box set that include both series of Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle and the cinematic sequel film.
The first season is a bonkers show about soldiers from the interstellar agency ZAP SPACY becoming stranded on Planet Boris were they meet and eventually befriend a mysterious dude named Rei who uses a ‘Battlenizer’ to catch and fight with monsters.
Oh and there’s virtually no Ultramen in it at all. At least not until (literally) the last few minutes.
This was a pay-per-view show in Japan, and was based on an IC card arcade game. It shows, and I can imagine children eagerly purchasing their own battlenizers from Japanese toy shops then collecting the cards in game centers!
Is this a good show? Of course not. But just as there is no bad Star Wars, there’s also no bad Ultraman, and I enjoyed the lunacy of the show and the fact it didn’t outstay it’s welcome.
I was very surprised by the second series where the now very powerful Rei is pursued by a series of aliens who want to destroy him and steal his power. It’s a lot more creative, with spectacular battles and a few more explicit nods to other Ultra series. Oh and the girls are prettier, which is always a plus 🙂
But the true gem of this set is the movie, which introduces two characters that have become integral to the Ultra franchise: Ultraman Zero and Ultraman Belial. The movie has little to do with Mega Monster Battle and instead tells an insane story of an evil Ultraman as he attempts to destroy the universe and is so strong that he can only be defeated by Zero, the son of Ultraseven. Tsuburaya spared no expense here and the battle scenes are spectacular and Zero himself is fantastic from his first appearance. The movie was a massive success when it was released in Japan in 2009 and rightly so!
Ultraman Zero Collection (2009, 6 hours)
This set contains a few miniseries and DVD specials all featuring Zero and a few of his companions.
Belial returns as ‘Kaiser Belial’ (and his design is breathtaking) and of course Zero has to power up to eventually defeat him. There’s giant mecha and pretty princesses and legions of evil robots even a hand-shaped spaceship big enough to crush a planet!
The stories are as insane as they sound but it’s all so fast paced and sparkly that it’s enormously entertaining. This is Ultraman junk food; as tasty as it is flashy!
Neo Ultra Q (2013, 12 episodes, 5 hours)
Ultra Q was a 1965 series that predated the original Ultraman, and is often described as a sort of Japanese ‘Twilight Zone’. I own it (and should probably have reviewed it in a previous post) and loved it so was looking forward to see this followup made almost 50 years afterwards.
First of all this has nothing to do with Ultraman in that it’s absolutely not for kids and there’s no guys in rubber suits fighting giant monsters. Instead this is about three people that investigate mysteries in a Japan that seems to exist in a world one or two dimensions away from ours.
People take monsters and aliens for granted, and very weird things happen in this show. Very rarely is anything fully explained, and as the show continues the director seems to deliberately up the weirdness factor while cutting back even more on explanations. Some episodes even seem to end prematurely, and since this includes the final one this is definitely a series that I think could have done with a sequel.
It’s beautifully written, acted and shot. The tone is dark and unusually pessimistic (for TV), and I got the impression that the creators knew they only had one season so went for it to make the most memorable thing they could. In my opinion they succeeded. Of all the shows I’m reviewing in these posts, this is probably the best one for a non-Ultra fan to watch. Highly recommended.
I’m not even close to done. I’ve already got four more box sets and two movie sets all ready to go, and first on the list is the 1979 animated series The Ultraman. Then it’s time to move into the now-classic mid 1990s Ultra series, as well as a few more recent shows including another one (like Neo Ultra Q) aimed squarely at adults.
Look for more reviews in a year or so!
