The Ultraman

is a Japanese animated television series co-produced by Tsuburaya Productions and animated by Nippon Sunrise. It is the eighth 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 learn 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 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

English Dubbing Staff

Episodes

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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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ultraman, The
1979 anime television series debuts
Animated television series set in the 21st century
Action anime and manga
Science fiction anime and manga
Sunrise (company)
TBS Television (Japan) original programming
Ultra television series
Extraterrestrials in anime and manga
Fiction about resurrection
Television about alien invasions