Ultraman (ウルトラマン Urutoraman?) is a fictional character featured in tokusatsu, or “special effects” television programs in Japan. Ultraman made his debut in the tokusatsu SF/kaiju/superhero TV series, Ultra Q: Ultraman: Special Effects Fantasy Series, a follow-up to the television series Ultra Q. The show was produced by Tokyo Broadcasting System and Tsuburaya Productions, and was broadcast onTokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) from July 17, 1966 to April 9, 1967, with a total of 39 episodes (40, counting the pre-premiere special that aired on July 10, 1966).
Although Ultraman is the first series to feature an Ultra-being, this is actually the second Ultra Series. Ultra Q was the first. A major pop culture phenomenon in Japan, the show has spawned dozens of imitators as well as numerous sequels and remakes, which continue to be popular today.
To distinguish him from subsequent Ultra Warriors, Ultraman is referred to as the original Ultraman (初代ウルトラマン Shodai Urutoraman?), the first Ultraman, Ultraman Hayata (a reference to his host’s surname) or as simply Man.
Series background
Ultraman’s creator was Eiji Tsuburaya from Tsuburaya Productions, a pioneer in special effects who was responsible for bringing Godzilla to life in 1954. The show’s predecessor was a series called Ultra Q, a black-and-white 28-episode series very much like today’s The X-Files or The Twilight Zone. When Ultra Q was finished, plans were underway for a series that would be even better.
The project had the following working titles/plots:
- WoO (ＷｏＯ Wū?)
This story had a corporeal space creature with eyes, who befriended a reporter named Jôji Akita, but the Self Defense Forces, who perceive him as a threat, were after him. This was basically the monster version of the British science fiction series Doctor Who (1963), and Woo’s personality was comical.- NOTE: Tsuburaya Productions produced a new series, Bio Planet WoO, which made its TV series debut in January 2006. It is very loosely based on the above concept.
- Bemular (ベムラー Bemurā?), then retitled Scientific Special Search Party: Bemular (科学特捜隊ベムラー Kagaku Tokusō Tai – Bemurā?)
The main characters are a defense force (with the same Japanese name as the Science Patrol) disguised as an art/photography team. One of the members, little did anyone (even his teammates) know, gained the ability to transform into a giant birdlike humanoid monster called Bemular (this is not the same Bemular that Ultraman would fight in Episode # 1 of the actual series), who defends Earth from monsters, aliens and other threats. Unlike Woo, Bemular was a tough and righteous fighter (and looked very similar in design to the title monster of the 1967 kaiju film Gappa, the Triphibian Monster). Allegedly the plot was scrapped when it was worried audiences might have trouble telling that one monster was good and the other evil.
- Redman (レッドマン Reddoman?)
The title hero of this project slightly resembled Ultraman as we know him, but he looked more demonic and had horns. He came to Earth after his planet was destroyed by aliens fromPlanet X. (Needless to say, Ultra Seven shared this working title as well.)
Both Bemular and Redman were designed by Toru Narita, who came up with the final design for Ultraman based on his Redman design, now resembling a less-scary Buck Rogers-style alien being (with a bit of the iconic “Roswell Alien” as well). The characteristic “Color Timer” (the “warning light” on his chest) was added at the eleventh hour.
The premise of the first series begins when Science Patrol (Kagaku Tokusou Tai) member Shin Hayata was flying his plane and a red sphere of light crashes into his Mini-VTOL. The sphere turns out to be the transport (Travel Sphere) for a red-and-silver giant being called Ultraman, and feeling remorse for killing the human, he merges his essence with Hayata to revive him. In return, Hayata serves as the human form for this being, and when danger threatens, he raises the Beta Capsule and transforms to Ultraman to save the day.
Monsters and heroes
One outstanding feature of the Ultraman series was the use of various monster costumes, known as kaiju in Japan. Often wildly imaginative, this feature would influence other series such asGatchaman and Super Sentai series like Himitsu Sentai Goranger. The principals were played by famous stunt actor Haruo Nakajima, who played the original Godzilla. His apprentice, Bin Furuya, started out as Ultraman. Nakajima had a martial arts background and used it to create a sense of drama in order to be dramatically effective in costumes that had little potential to show emotion. For the first episodes, and this is clearly evident in the action sequences, simple wrestling was used. However, in later episodes sequences gradually evolved into more complex fighting that would later be reflected in anime productions (dramatic windups, extravagant gestures prior to unleashing an energy attack, bellicose roars and threat displays, etc.).
Often costumes of famous monsters like Godzilla would be recycled and altered, sometimes with nothing more than spray paint and often while the actor was still inside. Nakajima quipped once that the staggering gait of some of the monsters he portrayed was due less to his acting than to the fumes he had to endure. Some of the costumes could not be shown fully as his feet would be exposed, a necessary allowance to maintain balance in the often cumbersome outfits. Also, the expense of repairing the scale cities and landscapes used for battle scenes required economy of movement and meticulous planning.
The story
The storyline begins in the near future, as referenced from the mid-1960s. In episode 22, “My Home Is Earth”, it is definitively established that the series takes place in the early 1990s, as a plaque shown at the end of the episode displays the current year as being 1993. Sinister aliens and giant monsters constantly threaten civilization during this period. The only Earth organization equipped to handle these disasters is the Science Special Search Party (SSSP), a special police force with branches all over the world, and equipped with high-tech weapons and vehicles, as well as extensive scientific and engineering facilities. The branch of the Science Patrol that is focused on in the series is located in Tokyo, Japan. Led by Captain “Cap” Muramatsu (shortened to “Captain Mura” in the dubbed English-language version), the Science Patrol is always ready to protect the Earth from rampaging monsters, but sometimes finds itself overmatched. When the situation becomes desperate, Hayata, the Patrol’s most capable member, holds the key to salvation in the form of a power-object called a “Beta Capsule”, which, when ignited, allows him to transform secretly into the amazing, super-humanoid-powered giant from space—Ultraman.
While active as Ultraman, Hayata’s human body goes into a type of deep coma, reviving only after the threat has been neutralized and Ultraman willingly departs. Victory is never assured, however, as Ultraman’s powers—his very life force—comes from rapidly depleted, stored solar energy. At the beginning of each transformation from Hayata-to-Ultraman, the warning light on the giant’s chest begins as a steady blue color. Yet as Ultraman exerts himself, the Color Timer changes to red, then blinks—slowly at first, then with increasing rapidity—as his energy reserves get closer to exhaustion. As the voice-over narration reminds the viewer—beginning with episode 2 and for each episode thereafter—if Ultraman ever reaches the point of total energy depletion, he “will never rise again.”
Per the DVD set from BCI Eclipse (in episode 39, “Farewell Ultraman”), in the original subtitled version, Ultraman fights an enemy called Zetton, who employs a weapon Ultraman had not expected—one which damages his Color Timer and disables his ability to measure his power supply. As a result, Ultraman stays in his form too long and collapses into a dormant state. Fortunately despite this loss, the Science Patrol’s members were able to defeat Zetton on their own. When Zoffy, Ultraman’s superior, came to retrieve the fallen hero, Ultraman pleads for Hayata’s life and offers his life completely, so that Hayata may live as a normal man. Zoffy then says he brought two lives and that he will give one to Hayata. He then separates them, giving Hayata new life, but Hayata seemed to have no memory between the time he first hit Ultraman’s ship and his standing outside Patrol Headquarters as he watched Zoffy take Ultraman home. This is a rather different finish to the series than the English dub which stated Ultraman would return and that Hayata retained his Beta Capsule as he awaited Ultraman’s return.
Characters
The Science Patrol
- Captain Toshio “Cap” Muramatsu (村松利夫 Muramatsu Toshio Taicho?): The Science Patrol’s leader. He is known as Captain Mura in the US version.
- Age: 36 years old
- Actor: Akiji Kobayashi
- Daisuke Arashi (嵐 大助 Arashi Daisuke?): The Science Patrol’s rotund tough-guy marksman.
- Age: 26 years old
- Actor: Iyoshi Ishii
- Mitsuhiro Ide (井出光浩 Ide Mitsuhiro?): The Science Patrol’s somewhat comical inventor. Although he sometimes feels that Ultraman’s intervention makes his role useless, his inventions have occasionally been critical in saving the day such as helping the superhero defeat particularly formidable monsters. He is known as Ito in the US version.
- Age: 24 years old
- Actor: Masanari Nihei, also known as Masanori Nihei
- Akiko Fuji (藤 明子 Fuji Akiko?): The Science Patrol’s radio/communications operator, and ostensibly their token female member. However, in most adventures, Fuji proves to be the most level-headed and capable member after Hayata.
- Age: 24 years old
- Actor: Hiroko Sakurai
- Isamu Hoshino (星野 勇 Hoshino Isamu?): A little boy. The Science Patrol’s unofficial mascot, he gets to hang out with the full-fledged members and is even issued a uniform later on. He often gets into trouble, and sometimes Ultraman would have to save him. He is known as Hoshino Fuji in the US version, which describes him as Akiko Fuji’s younger brother.
- Age:: 11 years old
- Actor:: Akihide Tsuzawa
- Shin Hayata/Ultraman (早田 進/ウルトラマン Hayata Shin/Urutoraman?): The Science Patrol’s brave, no-nonsense deputy captain. His life changed irreversibly when Ultraman accidentally crashed into his “Delta VTOL” with his TravelSphere and killed him, destroying both ships. To make amends, Ultraman merges his own lifeforce into that of the Earthman before the brain functions of the latter are irreversibly terminated, thus reviving him. He then gives Hayata the microphone-like device called the Beta Capsule, with which he can transform into Ultraman by depressing a red push-button switch on its side with his thumb to ignite it.
- Age: 26 years old
- Actor: Susumu Kurobe; Ultraman himself is played by Bin “Satoshi” Furuya
Supporting characters
- Doctor Iwamoto: A professor from the Scientific Research Center. The Science Patrol’s “monster expert”. He first appears in Episode 5.
- Age: 40 years old
- Actor: Akihiko Hirata (Occasional substitutes for Hirata: Played in Episode 33 by Hisaya Ito and Episode 36 by Bin Morizuka)
Ultraman’s statistics
- Home Planet: “The Land Of Light,” Nebula M78
- Height: 40 meters (156 feet)
- Weight: 35,000 tons (Earth gravitation)
- Age: 20,000 Earth years old
- Flight Speed: Mach 5
- Jump Ceiling: 800 meters (2,600 feet)
- Running Speed: 450 kilometers per hour (280 miles per hour)
- Swimming Speed: 200 knots (230 miles per hour)
- Physical Strength: Though never precisely measured in the stories, it is presumed to be enough for him to be able to lift (press) over 100,000 tons. He can lift a 100,000-ton tanker;Skydon was twice as heavy.
- Occupations: Teacher at Space University (Uchū Daigaku?); Chief of Space Garrison Milky Way Office (宇宙警備隊銀河系局 Uchū Keibitai Gingakei Kyoku?)
- Family Structure
- Father: Director of Space Security Board (Uchū Hoan Chō?)
- Mother: Teacher at Ultra School (Urutora Gakkō?)
- Human Form: Shin Hayata (host)
- Transformation Item: Beta Capsule (Bētā Kapuseru?)
