tokusatsu
is a Japanese term for live-action films or television programs that make heavy use of practical special effects. Credited to special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya, ''tokusatsu'' mainly refers to science fiction film, science fiction, War fi ...
'' drama produced by
Tsuburaya Productions
also abbreviated as is a Japanese special effects studio founded in 1963 by special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya and was run by his family, until October 2007, when the family sold the company to advertising agency TYO Inc. The studio is b ...
. It is the 25th entry (35th overall) in the ''
Ultra Series
The , also known as ''Ultraman'', is a Japanese science fiction media franchise owned and produced by Tsuburaya Productions, which began with the television series ''Ultra Q'' in 1966. The franchise has expanded into many television shows, fil ...
'', the ninth entry to the "New Generation Heroes" lineup and the second series released in the
Reiwa
is the current and 232nd era of the official calendar of Japan. It began on 1 May 2019, the day on which Emperor Akihito's eldest son, Naruhito, ascended the throne as the 126th Emperor of Japan. The day before, Emperor Akihito abdicated ...
era, celebrating the 10th anniversary of
Ultraman Zero
is a fictional character from the ''Ultra Series''. He first appeared in ''Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy'' before starring in his own film ''Ultraman Zero: The Revenge of Belial'' and its 2012 sequel ''Ultraman Saga''.
Introduced as an energe ...
. It premiered in
TV Tokyo
JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network.Ultraman Belial
is a multimedia project of Tsuburaya Productions' long-running ''Ultra Series''. The story's main setting took place in the mainstream Showa Universe (''Ultraman'' to ''Ultraman Mebius'') where monsters on Earth went extinct after 500 years had p ...
, known as the Devil Splinters, were scattered across the universe and turned infected monsters into berserkers. To combat the resulting chaos, the Land of Light created the Ultra Medals and Z Risers, but several of these devices were stolen by Celebro, forcing Ultraman Zero and his self-proclaimed disciple Z to chase it to the Earth. Z carried out his incapacitated master's mission and the Z Riser to recover the stolen Ultra Medals on Earth, where he bonded with STORAGE officer Haruki Natsukawa to combat the space monster Genegarg. Ever since then, Haruki assisted Z in reclaiming lost Ultra Medals and at the same time defending mankind from monsters and extraterrestrial threats. Haruki's mission as a STORAGE member is accompanied by his senior/ace pilot Yoko Nakashima, the young scientist Yuka Ohta, the elderly repairman Kojiro Inaba and his captain Shota Hebikura, whose true identity is Jugglus Juggler from ''
Ultraman Orb
is a Japanese tokusatsu television series produced by Tsuburaya Productions and broadcast on TV Tokyo. It is the 20th entry (29th overall) in the ''Ultra Series'' and released to commemorate its 50th anniversary of the Ultra Series and is the fi ...
''.
Meanwhile, the space parasite Celebro took possession of a youth named Shinya Kaburagi to create chaos and experiment with the Ultra's technology to harbor the power of monsters. In addition to Ultraman Z, Haruki is also assisted by guests appearing as Ultras; Riku/Ultraman Geed, Zero, and his godfather Ace. STORAGE begins to create stronger machines and armaments, but as the series progressed, Celebro took over the GAFJ director Kuriyama to further the advancements of new weaponries and disbanded STORAGE. His true plan is to provoke mankind into creating their strongest weapon and turn it against them. He eventually possessed Yoko to hijack Ultroid Zero and transform it into the cyborg monster known as Destrudos to initiate his Civilization Self-Destruction Game on Earth. Juggler reforms STORAGE to rescue Yoko as Haruki succeeded through sheer will, forcing Celebro to abandon her and possessed Destrudos as a last resort. After being knocked out of his strongest form, Ultraman Z unleashed his full power to destroy Destrudos and finally save Earth. Celebro was captured by STORAGE and a vengeful Kaburagi to be dissected as Juggler resigned from the team to leave Earth. Haruki retains his bond with Z, but instead of staying in STORAGE, he decided to leave for outer space to continue Z's mission as an Ultraman, though he assured the rest of STORAGE that he would return to Earth on regular occasions.
Production
The entire project was conceived by Tsuburaya Productions with a different draft and story composition. Chief producer Tsugumi Kitaura offered Taguchi the role of the main director in August 2019 and the latter requested the inclusion of Kota Fukihara, as well as the pair to rewrite the original draft to their own preference. Production of the series started two months earlier than most of the New Generation Heroes series so as to anticipate the
2020 Summer Olympics
The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...
prior to its initial postponement from the
COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
The COVID-19 pandemic in Japan has resulted in confirmed cases of COVID-19 and deaths, along with 33,728,878 recoveries.
Government of Japan, The Japanese government confirmed the country's first case of the disease on 16 January 2020 in a ...
. He also invited a screenwriter named Keigo Koyanagi and military supervisor Yasuhiro Koshi to provide an in-depth accuracy to the themes of military. Because Taguchi had participated in most of the New Generation Heroes instalments since ''
Ultraman Ginga S
is a Japanese television series produced by Tsuburaya Productions and a sequel to ''Ultraman Ginga'', as well as part of the '' New Ultraman Retsuden'' programming block on TV Tokyo. It is the 18th entry (27th overall) in the ''Ultra Series''.
S ...
'', he decided to turn ''Ultraman Z'' as his own version of the line's conclusion. Jugglus Juggler's inclusion into the series was to expand his character after his last appearance in ''Ultraman Orb''.
In previous entries of the Ultra Series, the defense team concept was dropped out so as to save the production cost, but Taguchi proposed the inclusion of giant robots as alternatives to combat vehicles. The first to be created was King Joe STORAGE Custom, but Sevenger was introduced earlier in the series to garner attention from fans for its cuter appeal. The late inclusion of King Joe was to emphasize STORAGE's growth as an attack team and to prevent it from overshadowing Ultraman Z in the early episodes.
The show's name was trademarked in China on December 27, 2019, and later in Japan on January 21, 2020, around 3 month before its announcement. ''Ultraman Z'' was immediately announced by official website of Tsuburaya Productions on March 26, 2020. As the first trailer of the series was released on April 16, 2020, the official website of Tsuburaya Productions quickly announced Kiyotaka Taguchi as its main director,
Tatsuomi Hamada
is a Japanese actor represented by TakeOff and Four Springs.
As a child actor, Hamada played the role of Sakamoto Ryōma as a child in '' Ryōmaden'' and Hiroshi Ichikawa in '' Kaibutsu-kun''. He won the 2010 Gold Dream Award in October 2010.
...
's return as the show's supporting cast and finally
Masaaki Endoh
is a Japanese singer-songwriter who is prominent in the area of soundtracks for anime and tokusatsu productions. He is one of the founders of the Music in Japanese animation, Anison band JAM Project and has been a regular member ever since its ...
and
Nami Tamaki
is a Japanese singer. As a teenager under the Sony Music Japan label, she had four top-ten albums, two of which reached number one. Her singles were used as theme songs for animated shows such as '' Mobile Suit Gundam Seed'', '' Gundam Seed De ...
singing the opening and ending themes respectively. The entire cast members of STORAGE and GAFJ members made their live broadcast on June 5, 2020. Automobile manufacturing company
Toyota
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...
announced their cooperation in the series production by providing Toyota LQ as STORAGE's main transport.
After his passing on May 17, Kōta Fukihara's role as the story editor was subsequently taken over by Taguchi, with Tsuburaya Productions and the production staffs of ''Ultraman Z'' publishing their tribute in the official sites. According to Kohshu Hirano, filming of ''Ultraman Z'' was among those affected by the
COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
The COVID-19 pandemic in Japan has resulted in confirmed cases of COVID-19 and deaths, along with 33,728,878 recoveries.
Government of Japan, The Japanese government confirmed the country's first case of the disease on 16 January 2020 in a ...
and went postponed for two months before it was resumed. This happened at some point before the series premiere on June 20.
Episodes
''Ultraman Z & Ultraman Zero Voice Drama''
is a series of 24-episode audio dramas streamed on
Tsuburaya Productions
also abbreviated as is a Japanese special effects studio founded in 1963 by special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya and was run by his family, until October 2007, when the family sold the company to advertising agency TYO Inc. The studio is b ...
' YouTube channel. The series focuses on Ultraman Z's encounter with Ultraman Zero back in the Land of Light.
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Other media
''Ultra Galaxy Fight: The Absolute Conspiracy''
is the second of the ''
Ultra Galaxy Fight
is a Japanese online miniseries produced by Tsuburaya Productions, based on the low-budget series ''Ultra Fight'' while being marketed for worldwide audiences through YouTube in both Japanese and English versions for viewers overseas. It was orig ...
'' miniseries to be made and set to air on
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
on November 22, 2020. In addition to being a prequel series, the title character of ''Ultraman Z'' made his appearance as one of the characters involved.
''Fight! Sevenger''
is a manga spin-off that was serialized in the
Televi-Kun
is a Japanese monthly manga magazine published by Shogakukan, starting in May 1976. Its main target is preschool-aged boys. It features super heroes such as ''Kamen Rider'', ''Super Sentai'', ''Ultraman'' and ''Metal Hero'', all of whom have gon ...
magazine from the April 2021 issue to the April 2022 issue. It is written by Kiyotaka Taguchi and illustrated by Tetsuya Kawaishi, the latter having served as a storyboard artist in episodes 12 and 14 of ''Ultraman Z''. It serves as a prequel to the television series, taking place prior to the arrival of Ultraman Z on Earth. The events of the special episode take place during Sevenger's decommit in the television series.
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:SP1.
:SP2.
''Sevenger Fight''
is a 10-episode miniseries based on the low-budget miniseries ''
Ultra Fight
The , also known as ''Ultraman'', is a Japanese science fiction media franchise owned and produced by Tsuburaya Productions, which began with the television series '' Ultra Q'' in 1966. The franchise has expanded into many television shows, fi ...
'', released as a
pay-per-view
Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast.
Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program ...
content. The first to seventh episodes are available in Tsuburaya Imagination website while the remaining three episodes would be available in the in July 2021. All mini episodes are directed and written by Kiyotaka Taguchi and Junichiro Ashiki respectively, while Kohshu Hirano, Rima Matsuda, Hikari Kuroki and Takaya Aoyagi provided the background voices.
''Life's Decision Height: The Story of STORAGE's Foundation''
is a two-part novel spin-off released on Tsuburaya Imagination. It is written and supervised by Keigo Koyanagi and Kiyotaka Taguchi respectively, and serves as a prequel to the television series from GAFJ's perspective.
''Ja no Michi wa Hebi''
is a short novel spin-off included in the ''Ultraman Z Perfect Super Complete Works'' book. It is written by Takao Nakano and supervised by Kiyotaka Taguchi and Tsuburaya Productions, and serves as a prequel to the television series from Jugglus Juggler's perspective.
Zeno Robinson
Zeno Anthony Robinson (born October 25, 1993) is an American voice actor. His most notable roles include Cyborg/Victor Stone in ''Young Justice'', Hawks in ''My Hero Academia'' (for which he won Best VA Performance (EN) at the 2021 Anime Awa ...
* Ultraman Z:
Matt Shipman
Matt Shipman (born August 19) is an American voice actor. He started voice acting professionally in 2015 and was cast in his first lead role with Gear in '' World War Blue'' in 2016. Since 2016, some of his larger roles include Kazuya Kujo in '' ...
* Yoko Nakashima: Mallorie Rodak
* Yuka Ohta: Macy Ann Johnson
* Shota Hebikura/Jugglus Juggler: Mick Lauer
* Saburo Kuriyama: Ben Phillips
* Shinya Kaburagi:
Howard Wang
Howard Wang (born April 28, 1993) is an American voice actor, known for his work in anime dubs.
Prior to pursuing voice acting, Wang used to work at Riot Games
Riot Games, Inc. is an American video game developer, publisher, and esports ...
* Beliarok:
Patrick Seitz
David Patrick Seitz (born March 17, 1978) is an American voice actor, ADR director and script writer best known for portraying Dio Brando in ''JoJo's Bizarre Adventure''. He has provided voices for English versions of Japanese anime and video ...
* Ultraman Zero:
Sean Schemmel
Sean Schemmel (born November 21, 1968) is an American voice actor, ADR director, and screenwriter known chiefly for his work in cartoons, anime, and video games. His most notable role is the teen and adult voice of Goku, Son Goku in the Funimati ...
* Riku Asakura/Ultraman Geed: Kevin K. Gomez
* Pega:
Brina Palencia
Brina Palencia (born February 13, 1984) is an American voice and television actress. She has voiced a number of English-language versions of characters featured in anime.
Palencia provides the dubbed voices of Tony Tony Chopper in '' One Pie ...
Theme songs
;Opening theme
*
**Arrangement: (KEYTONE), (KEYTONE)
**Lyrics, Composition, & Artist:
**Episodes: 1-13 (Verse 1); 14–24, SP3 (Verse 2)
*:In episode 25, this song is used as an insert song.
;Ending themes
*"Connect the Truth"
**Lyrics, Composition, & Arrangement:
**Artist:
**Episodes: 1-13
*:In episode 15, this song is used as an insert song.
*"Promise for the future"
**Lyrics:
**Composition:
**Arrangement: ats-, & Toru Watanabe (Blue Bird's Nest)
**Artist: Tasuku Hatanaka
**Episodes: 14-24
*:In episode 25, this song is used as an insert song.
International broadcast
In
Hong Kong
Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
, this series aired on
ViuTV
ViuTV is a Cantonese language Generalist channel, general entertainment television channel in Hong Kong operated by HK Television Entertainment (HKTVE), whose parent company PCCW also operates the IPTV platform Now TV (Hong Kong), Now TV and the ...
on May 15, 2021. In
Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
Vietnam
Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
''Ultraman Z'' was ranked sixth place on 2020's "100 Internet
Buzzword
A buzzword is a word or phrase, new or already existing, that becomes popular for a period of time. Buzzwords often derive from technical terms yet often have much of the original technical meaning removed through fashionable use, being simply ...
s" in Japan, held by Nico Nico Pedia and Pixiv Encyclopedia. The physical award was given to director Kiyotaka Taguchi during the award ceremony on December 15, 2020. Shota Hebikura, the alias of Jugglus Juggler in the series was also one of many entries in said award, having ranked 45th place. Taguchi admitted that ''Ultraman Z'' being an action-packed series was to originally anticipate the Olympics. On July 21, 2021, ''Ultraman Z'' was labelled as the winner of the Best Dramatic Presentation category from the
Seiun Award
The is a Japanese speculative fiction award given each year for the best science fiction works and achievements during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by , the awards are given at the annual Nihon SF Taikai, Japan Science Fic ...
, making the series as the second entry in Ultra Series to obtain the award after ''
Ultraman Tiga
is a Japanese tokusatsu TV drama and the eighth entry (twelfth overall) in the Ultra Series. Produced by Tsuburaya Productions and Mainichi Broadcasting System, ''Ultraman Tiga'' had aired at 6:00 pm and aired between September 7, 1996, t ...
'' in 1998.
In addition to television airing, episodes of ''Ultraman Z'' were rebroadcast on
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
for worldwide audience to watch, at Taguchi's suggestion, which also included English subtitles. According to Taguchi's interview in August 2020, the first episode met with good reception from various audience in the worldwide, especially the United States.
Anime mecha designer and former Bandai employee Tsuyoshi Nonaka wrote his commentary in the fortieth ''Ultra Tokusatsu Perfect Mook'', pertaining to ''Ultraman Z'', he applauded Taguchi for the use of robots for defense team, an idea that the former actually brought to Bandai in the 1990s, but was rejected out of fear that the Ultraman would be overshadowed. Nonaka compares Beliarok, the sentient sword that is used by the eponymous Ultraman Z, to the Byakkoshinken from ''
Gosei Sentai Dairanger
is a Japanese ''tokusatsu'' television series. It was the seventeenth production in the long-running Super Sentai metaseries of television tokusatsu dramas produced by Toei Company, following ''Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger''. It was originally bro ...
'', but he felt that the sword's introduction into the show is abrupt and sees the interaction of an Ultraman Belial-based character with Ultraman Z and Haruki is unfit. This is because due to Ultraman Belial's interaction with other Ultras would have been Zero and Geed, therefore suggesting that Juggler would be a better candidate due to his frequent run-in with the main characters of the series, as well as sharing a neutrality stance in any conflict being similar to Beliarok as well.
See also
*
Ultra Series
The , also known as ''Ultraman'', is a Japanese science fiction media franchise owned and produced by Tsuburaya Productions, which began with the television series ''Ultra Q'' in 1966. The franchise has expanded into many television shows, fil ...
- Complete list of official Ultraman-related shows.
Tsuburaya Productions
also abbreviated as is a Japanese special effects studio founded in 1963 by special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya and was run by his family, until October 2007, when the family sold the company to advertising agency TYO Inc. The studio is b ...