Ultraman Dyna
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| Ultraman Dyna | |
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| Genre | Superhero action/adventure |
| Running time | 24 minutes (per episode) |
| Creator(s) | Tsuburaya Productions |
| Starring | Tsuruno Takeshi |
| Opening theme | Ultraman Dyna by Maeda Tatsuya |
| Ending theme | Kimi Dake wo Mamori Tai by Nakajima Fumiaki |
| Country of origin | Japan/Hong Kong |
| Original channel | MBS, TBS |
| Original run | September 6, 1997–August 29, 1998 |
| No. of episodes | 51 |
Ultraman Dyna (ウルトラマンダイナ in Japanese) is a japanese tokusatsu TV show which aired between September 6, 1997 to August 29, 1998. Light-hearted sequel to Ultraman Tiga that takes place on the Neo Frontier of space. The series had 51 episodes. Many fans have complained and expressed their concerns that the Ultraman Dyna Series lack major quality in plot, special effects and acting compared to its predecessor series Ultraman Tiga. While the Ultraman Tiga Series were serious and powerful which captured their audience, Ultraman Dyna was more of a cosmic joke, with fans urging Ultraman Tiga for a return instead of the insulting Ultraman Dyna series.
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[edit] Plot
Ultraman Dyna set seven years later in AD 2017, when humans are embarking on terra-forming Mars and other planets in what is known as the Age of the Neo Frontier. The series begins with the Neo Frontier being attacked by the Spheres, some UFOs that show up on occasion throughout the series. Asuka has just joined SuperGUTS and is in the middle of training maneuvers above Earth's atmosphere when they are attacked. He proves himself in battle, and can hold his own against ace pilot Ryoh. However, his ship is damaged and he ejects. He is then encountered by a shining light. Following that all-too-familiar pattern, Dyna merges with the bewildered Asuka. When the Spheres enter Mars' atmosphere and merge with the Martian rocks to form monsters, Asuka again participates in the battle, but when he finds himself in a pinch, he suddenly transforms into Ultraman Dyna. The members of Super GUTS quickly catch on that this is not Ultraman Tiga from seven years ago, but a new giant of light.
The final story arc is rather somber, in contrast to the rest of the series. Dyna/Asuka ultimately sacrifice themselves to save the Earth from GranSphere, the planet-sized mother form of the Spheres. Though the fate of Dyna and Asuka is not at all clear from the final episode, we do get to see that Asuka rejoins his father as they ride off toward the light in their two spaceships. He does get to express his feelings for Ryoh before heading off to the final battle, by telling her that he saved her because "It is only you that I wish to protect." This is a nice touch, because that is the title of the ending theme song for the first half of the series, and for this particular episode, they revive the song for the ending credits.
[edit] Ultraman Dyna Stats
- Like Tiga, Dyna is a multi-colored multi-type Ultraman, whose default Flash type has red and blue patterns on silver. Dyna can transform into an all-red Strong type and an all-blue Miracle type. Unlike the tenor-voiced Tiga, Dyna grunts with a fairly low, husky voice while fighting.
- Height: 55 meters
- Weight: 45,000 tons
- Human Form: Shin Asuka
- Transformation Item: Reflasher
[edit] Dyna Forms
[edit] Flash Type
- Flash type is Dyna's default mode. Power and speed is in balance, and he has lots of laser weaponry. After Asuka transforms to Flash type, he can change to either Strong or Miracle types only once, but never both in the same transformation. However, when in Strong or Miracle type, he can switch back to Flash.
- Flight Speed: mach 8
- Running Speed: Mach 3
- Aquatic Speed: Mach 2
- Subterranean Speed: Mach 2
- Jumping Height: 1000 m
- Weapons:
- Solgent Ray: Plus-style.
- Flash Cycler: A cutter beam he shoots from his arms.
- Dyna Slash: Jagged ring of light for cutting much like the original Ultraman's.
- Ultra Barrier
- Ultra Water Stream
- Ultra Fork: An energy ball he throws like a base-ball.
- Beam Slicer
- Flash Light Bullets
[edit] Strong Type
- Strong type is more buff, and has stronger arms and legs. Can lift up to 70,000 tons.
- Flight Speed: mach 5
- Running Speed: mach 2.5
- Aquatic Speed: mach 1
- Subterranean Speed: 3
- Jumping Height: 800 m
- Weapons:
- Garnate Bomber, Shooting Version: Energy burst emitted from his arm.
- Garnate Bomber, Swing Version: Lifts up monsters and drops them on their heads.
- Burst Lariat: Slams his right forearm into a monster's throat.
- Space Dynamite: Throws even the heaviest of enemies high into the air (e.g.: Deathfacer in the Tiga-Dyna movie)
[edit] Miracle Type
- Best for air-to-air combat. Increased speed and supernatural abilities.
- Flight Speed: mach 10
- Running Speed: mach 5
- Aquatic Speed: mach 3
- Subterranean Speed: mach 1
- Jumping Height: 1500 m
- Weapons:
- Revolium Wave, Reverse Version: Absorbs energy or fire from an enemy and can shoot it back.
- Revolium Wave, Attack Version: Knocks enemies into another dimension.
- Shining Judge: A lens he manifests to concentrate solar energy on an enemy.
- Replications of self (he split into three to fight against the three-faced Garaon).
- Nature Control: Has power over wind, water, fire, earth.
- Ultra Psychic: The telekinetic ability to lift enemies off the ground.
- Rolling Attack: Curls himself into a ball and spins rapidly and throws himself against his enemy.
[edit] SuperGUTS members
SuperGUTS is a branch of TPC (Terrestrial Peaceable Consortium) and is the direct successor to GUTS.
- Captain Gohsuke Hibiki: The standard tough guy, who spends a lot of time yelling at his people but of course has a big heart.
- Shin Asuka: Dyna's human host. He is light-hearted overall, and is one of the rare Ultra human hosts who also serves as the comic relief of the show. The tone of the series is overall a lot more upbeat than Tiga. Like many young male Japanese actors these days, Asuka whines and pouts with his pooty lip most of the time, and sometimes pretends that he is dead from battle just to see his teammates freak out. Asuka isn't all just fun and games, though. He can also be headstrong and overly courageous. His well-known motto is "Never give up." There are a lot of baseball motifs throughout the series, because Asuka used to play catch with his dad, and eventually played the sport in school. Asuka's dad disappeared years ago when his space ship disappeared into a mysterious light.
- Ryoh Yumimura: The tomboy ace pilot of SuperGUTS, who has a short temper and often yells at Asuka for his goofball antics and recklessness. They have a pilot rivalry going on. However, deep down inside she likes the guy, they do like each other, which becomes quite clear toward the end. She also plays a big sister role for the less experienced Mai. Ryoh is slightly cross-eyed, which add charm for her.
- Toshiyuki Kohda: The cool and slick haircut guy who is eventually promoted to Dept. Captain.
- Mai Midorikawa: A cute, bubbly, loud cadet-type with little combat experience. She mostly serves as the communication person, but she has multiple crushes (baseball players, cute exploratory robots, bike racers, etc.), gets peoples' attention by saying 'neh-neh-neh,' and has the amazing ability to hide multiple items behind her back andwhip them out in rapid succession.
- Tsutomu Nakajima: The fried-chicken lovin', fast-typin' genius techie and standard overweight team member.
- Kohhei Kariya
- Hanejiroh: The mascot.
[edit] Trivia
- Vintage old GUTS mecha are frequently brought back online for tours of duty, and there are an unprecedented number of repeat performances and cameos by former GUTS members. This is including Daigo (who used to transform into Ultraman Tiga but now lives on Mars with his wife -- Rena of GUTS -- and child). Captain Iruma has even been promoted to a more senior position in the ranks of TPC. Vintage old GUTS mecha make many cameo appearances as well.
- Dyna is named by SuperGUTS team member Mai. The team brainstorms in headquarters and come up with clunkers like Ultraman Gian (proposed by Nakajima and pronounced like "giant" without the "t" like a major character in the animated series 'Doraemon') and Ultraman Super Deluxe (proposed by Kariya). It is the ebullient Mai who ultimately picks Dyna (for dynamic, dynamite, etc. at the end of the series, she also says Dyna also stands for "DAISUKI", referring to her fondness for Dyna).
- Episode 19 is an homage episode that is strongly linked to episode 15 of Ultraman Tiga. Many of the scenes are shot to be almost identical to its predecessor, and Shinjoh's sister returns, as well as her dead phantom biker boyfriend Takuma.
- All Ultramen have their own distinctive fighting stance, but one of Dyna's peculiarities is that his right foot pivots impatiently right and left. Some of Dyna's poses are meant to be reminiscent of the original Ultraman. For example, he frequently hunches over a little. In the beginning of the series, his Solgent Ray isn't preceded by all the hand-waving that later Ultramen performed (this back-to-basics approach didn't last very long, though).
- The Dyna series is immediately followed by Ultraman Gaia, which is set in a different universe. In 2001, a 45-minute direct-to-video episode was created, set to occur after episode 47.
- Neosaurus, the monster from episode 16, is the only monster that peform hand rituals to fire his laser.
- In episode 41, an "older model" gun makes a brief appearance. It turns out to be none other than a Supergun from the original Ultraman.
- Episode 42 is essentially a parody episode, borrowing elements from too many series to really mention (of note, though, is that Munakata's battleship highly resembles the Arcadia from Captain Harlock).
[edit] Cameos
Several cross-overs from the cast of Ultraman Tiga. Captain Iruma appears frequently.
- Episode 19: Shinjoh's nurse sister returns to reprise her dead-biker boyfriend story arc.
- Episode 30: Cameo by the Production Department office at Tsuburaya Productions. As an inside source disclosed, "Whenever you see a rundown office in a TPC show, you can bet they shot it here (that's our prod. dept. in Dyna ep. 30)"
- Episodes 35: Most of the GUTS team reunites. Shinjoh, who is on his way back to Earth after doing some experiments and he's a TPC officer. As we know, Horii is married and worked in PWI (TPC's branch for worldwide internet).
- Episode 36: Shinjoh and Horii team up with SuperGUTS in locating the battlefield for the monster. Horii's children find Asuka's lost ReFLasher and return it to him. Iruma appears in TPC HQ (at this time, Tiga's "Take Me Higher" instrumental is played). Horii asked Shinjoh to team up with SuperGUTS in their GUTS Wing. We also noted that an ex-officer of TPC hands Munakata a file that orders him to Tokyo. Munakata appears in GUTS uniform. The series ended up when Horii reunites with his family, along with GUTS and SuperGUTS marching together.
- Episode 42: Munakata, Shinjoh, Horii, and Rena make cameos. Munakata especially gets to have fun as a Captain Harlock parody.
- Episodes 50-51: Daigo, Rena, and their child appear as civilians in NeoFrontier (Mars) in the last two episodes of this series.
[edit] Crossovers
- Ultraman Tiga & Ultraman Dyna: Warriors of the Star of Light (1998)
- Ultraman Tiga & Ultraman Dyna & Ultraman Gaia: Battle in Hyperspace (1999)
| Ultra Series | |
| Showa era series: Ultraman | Seven | Return of | Ace | Taro | Leo | 80 | |
| Heisei era series: Tiga | Dyna | Gaia | Cosmos | Nexus | Max | Mebius | |
| Ultra Q: Ultra Q | Ultra Q: Dark Fantasy | |
| Specials: The Ultraman (anime) | Ultraman Neos (Direct-to-DVD) | |
| Movies: Zearth | ULTRAMAN | |
| Co-productions: The Adventure Begins (with USA) | Towards the Future (with Australia) | The Ultimate Hero (with USA) | |
