Ultraman Tiga

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Ultraman Tiga

Vol.2 DVD cover
Genre Superhero action/adventure
Running time 24 minutes (per episode)
Creator(s) Tsuburaya Productions
Starring Nagano Hiroshi
Opening theme TAKE ME HIGHER by V6
Ending theme Brave Love, Tiga by Chikyuu Bouei-dan
Country of origin Japan/Hong Kong
Original channel TBS(JPN)
FOX *4Kids TV* (US)
Original run September 7, 1996–August 30, 1997
No. of episodes 52

Ultraman Tiga (ウルトラマンティガ (Urutoraman Tiga) in Japanese) is a Japanese tokusatsu TV show and is the 12th show in the Ultra Series. Produced by Tsuburaya Productions, Ultraman Tiga was aired between September 7, 1996 to August 30, 1997, with a total of 52 episodes with 3 movies (1 a cameo, and the other 'Legend of the Spark Lens' was made specially for the Chinese Hong Kong market to honour the Ultraman tradition of Japan/HK) After a franchise hiatus of over 15 years, set in a universe different from all previous series and updated with a new look and feel. Tiga is the first Ultraman with multiple combat modes and non-red colors.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Set in the years 2007-2010 in the Japanese version (2049 in the U.S. dub) , giant monsters and conquering aliens start to appear, as was foretold by an apocalyptic prophecy about an uncontrollable chaos over the Earth. Facing the threat, the TPC (Terrestrial Peaceble Concert) is created, such as its branch, GUTS (Global Unlimited Task Squad). Through a holographic message in a capsule found by researchers, the GUTS gets knowledge about a golden pyramid built by an ancient civilization. At the site, three statues of a race of giants who defend early human civilization on Earth about 30,000,000 years ago from Super-Ancient Monsters and other forces of darkness are found, but two of them are destroyed by the monsters Golza and Melba. The third one gains life by spiritual energy of official Daigo, descendant of the ancient race. Daigo and the statues merge into a single being, made of light.

[edit] Ultraman Tiga Stats

  • Height: 53 meters
  • Weight: 44,000 tons
  • Human Form: Daigo Madoka
  • Transformation Item: Spark Lense (known as the "Torch of Tiga" in the Americanized dub)

[edit] Tiga Forms

[edit] Multi Type (a.k.a. Omni Mode)

  • The default type of Tiga, red and purple. Good in any environment for a well-balanced fight. Known as "Omni Mode" in the dub.
  • Atmospheric Flight Speed: mach 5
  • Running Speed: mach 1.5
  • Aquatic speed: mach 1.5
  • Tunneling Speed: mach 1.5
  • Jumping Distance: 800 meters
  • Weapons:
    • Zepellion Ray: L-style.
    • Tiga Slicer: Beam cutters he can fire from his chest.
    • Hand Slash
    • Timer Flash: A flash he emits to erase fake versions of his enemy.

[edit] Power Type (a.k.a. Power Mode)

  • The beefy type of Tiga, red only. Like any good meat-head, he is stronger but relatively slower. Good for ground and sea combat. Known as "Power Mode" in the dub.
  • Atmospheric Flight Speed: mach 3
  • Running Speed: mach 1
  • Aquatic speed: mach 1
  • Tunneling Speed: mach 1
  • Jumping Distance: 500 meters
  • Weapons:
    • Delacium Light Stream
    • Miracle Balloon Beam (episode 12)

[edit] Sky Type (a.k.a. Speed Mode)

  • The speedy type of Tiga, purple only. He is fast but not as strong as the other types. Good for aerial combat. Known as "Speed Mode" in the dub.
  • Atmospheric Flight Speed: mach 7
  • Running Speed: mach 2
  • Aquatic speed: mach 1
  • Tunneling Speed: mach 1
  • Jumping Distance: 1000 meters
  • Weapons:
    • Ranbalt Light Bomb

[edit] Glitter Tiga

In the last episode, after Tiga is defeated and turned back into a stone statue by Gatanozoh-a, he is resurrected by the will of the people of Earth, who shine the light that is within everyone. Glitter makes another appearance in the Tiga movie.

[edit] GUTS

GUTS (Global Unlimited Task Squad, is the "peace-keeping" force of the Tiga universe. A special investigation team of the TPC (Terrestrial Peaceable Consortium).

[edit] Members

  • Captain Megumi Iruma (イルマ・メグミ Iruma Megumi): The first female captain in a Ultra series, who has a commanding yet motherly presence. She mostly stays in headquarters and leaves field operations in the capable hands of her deputy captain, Munakata. Her influence makes GUTS perhaps less militant than some of her superiors over at TPC, which provides some opportunities for dramatic tension.
  • Daigo Madoka (マドカ・ダイゴ Madoka Daigo): Tiga's human form, is the passionately naïve, wide-eyed, eager type, with the right kind of DNA that makes him Tiga-worthy.
  • Rena Yanase (ヤナセ・レナ Yanase Rena): An action hero in her own right, being the best fighter pilot and no stranger to using heavy machines and artillery, and happens to have compassion for some of the monsters.
  • Deputy Captain Seiichi Munakata (ムナカタ・セイイチ Munakata Sei'ichi): A no-nonsense, chisel-faced commander.
  • Masami Horii (ホリイ・マサミ Horii Masami): The pug-faced, brainy, Osaka-dialect-speaking comic-relief technologist who finds love and gets married during the series.
  • Tetsuo Shinjoh (シンジョウ・テツオ Shinjō Tetsuo): The bland but tall and good-looking guy with a fan following who has a TPC nurse in a miniskirt for a sister.
  • Jun Yazumi (ヤズミ・ジュン Yazumi Jun): Rounding off the crew is young Yazumi, the communications and computer expert who goes out into the field even less than Captain Iruma.

[edit] Weapons

  • GUTS Wing 01 (GW-01): An advanced fighter with swingable wings. It would be later used by the SuperGUTS as a Trainer as well as fighters for other organizations.
  • GUTS Wing 02 (GW-02): It can carries up to four team members. It can open its Hyper Electromagnetic Launcher by sliding its fuselage to the side.
  • GUTS Wing EX-J (GW-EXJ): Heavily modified version of the GUTS Wing 2. It can split into EX-J α and EX-J β.
  • Snow White: A custom made GUTS Wing 01 designed form Hypersonic flight.
  • GUTS Wing Blue Tornado (GW-BT):' A custom built GUTS Wing 01 designed by the American branch of the TPC. Although its speed capilability exceeds GW-01, his weapons are less efficient.
  • GUTS Wing Crimson Dragon (GW-CD):' A custom built GUTS Wing 01 designed by the European branch of the TPC. Its combat efficiency exceeds GW-01. and is still used during the SuperGUTS age.
  • Artdessei: Large enough to load 3 GUTS Wings, the Artdessei is Space Flight possible carrier. It is also equipped with the Neo-Maxmia Cannon.

[edit] Music

TAKE ME HIGHER - V6 (Opening)

Brave Love, Tiga - Chikyuu Bouei-dan (地球防衛団) (Ending)

[edit] Trivia

  • Ultraman Tiga is the first Ultra series to be produced in Japan after the long, fifteen-year hiatus following the end of Ultraman 80. Radical new concepts are introduced into the franchise in order to give it a hip new image for a new generation of fans, while old core traditions are dusted off, renovated, and given a face lift. The multi-type Ultra concept and the addition of new colors to the traditional red and silver aesthetic all start here.
  • "TIGA" is the Malay word for "three," a reference to the original three types of this Ultraman. And the three statues which are found in the 1st episodes. Of course, this increasingly becomes a misnomer as he starts having four, and then seven, different types. Tiga means three in several other southeast Asian languages. Some says the source is from Indonesian language. But actually, the word "TIGA" originated from Malay language.
  • Daigo Madoka is played by Hiroshi Nagano, a member of V6 (a multi-talented J-pop group whose members dabble in singing and dancing). V6 was at the height of their popularity at the time, and the group was also tapped to sing the Japanese opening theme song for Ultraman Tiga, "Take Me Higher".
  • The actress who plays GUTS team member Rena is played by Takami Yoshimoto, the daughter of Susumu Kurobe (Shin Hayata, who transformed into the original Ultraman).
  • In episode 15, the plane attacked by Gazort II is Flight 206. Astute Ultra geeks will get this obscure reference to Flight 206 from Ultra Q episode 27.
  • Ultraman Tiga, Ultraman Dyna and Ultraman Gaia are often referred to as the Heisei Ultra series. Heisei is the name of the current dynastic calendar under Japan's Emperor Akihito. (The previous Ultramen were produced under the Showa calendar of Emperor Hirohito). Lately, the trio are being called "TDG" (Tiga, Dyna, Gaia).
  • There is also a comic specially made for Ultraman Tiga. It was made by a Hong Kong comic artist and follow the story from the series.
  • This is the only series that 4Kids Entertainment owns that was released completely uncut.

[edit] Cameos

  • Episode 49: The original Ultraman helps to defeat monster Yanakahgi. As mentioned earlier, Tiga is from an entirely different timeline than the original Ultra series, so a lot of plot contortions are made in order to bring together this dream team, to honor the 30th anniversary of the original Ultraman. The studio featured is actually Tsuburaya Productions, however, the glitzy corporate office building is not.

[edit] Crossovers

  • Ultraman Tiga & Ultraman Dyna: Warriors of the Star of Light (1998)
  • Ultraman Tiga: Legend of the Spark Lens - for Hong Kong and Japan only (1998)
  • Ultraman Tiga & Ultraman Dyna & Ultraman Gaia: Battle in Hyperspace (1999)
  • Ultraman Tiga: The Final Odyssey (2000), set two years after the final episode.

[edit] United States dub

Ultraman Tiga was adapted for U.S. release by 4Kids Entertainment for Fox's FOX BOX Saturday morning programming (debut on September 14, 2002).

The Americanized version is mostly the same, however it contains many dramatic changes often seen in other 4Kids acquisitions. The storyline was altered to comply with network television censorship standards and make it "kid-friendly" (fewer people die, plots are simplified, and the diabolical motivations of aliens are watered down). There's a lot more dialogue and telepathic conversation to explain plot points that were originally implicit. There is also a lot more blatant humor. The Japanese Tiga has a few subtle funny and charming moments, but the Americanized version comes with frequent fart jokes, dialogue that pokes fun of the original material and changes in character for some of the characters (Notable in this aspect is the transformation of Captain Iruma from a smart, level-headed individual into a complete airhead).

There is an entirely new theme song and all of the background music is new. The monsters seem enhanced with new sound effects, and the transformation sequence is spiced up. A minute or two of scenes are cut out, perhaps to make room for special new featurettes that highlight specific aspects of the show.

Tiga's Multi, Power, and Sky types are known as Omni, Power, and Speed Modes, respectively. The Spark Lens is called the "Torch". His laser weapons are called "luminizers", and Tiga's Color Timer is referred to as his "biotic sensor."

Probably the most infamous of the Tiga incidents was in episode 22, where the Japanese dialog that was actually used was portrayed in this Americanized version of the series as an "Extraterrestrial Language" (one of many examples of the aforementioned poking fun of the original material).

Additionally, Captain Iruma was referred to as a "sir" instead of a "ma'am", perhaps in an attempt at being politically correct. This caused somewhat of a problem within the addressing of a commanding officer whether that person is a male or a female.

Of the 52 Episodes of Tiga , only 26 were released dubbed, and the series quietly ended it's run on the Fox Box. Villains such as Irudo and Evil Tiga who never got a chance to appear were spotlighted before some episodes, indicating that the entire series, or at least significantly more, was intended to be brought over.

In "Kirby: Right Back at Ya", another 4Kids acquisition, there is an episode which "coinicidentally" features an Ultraman reference. It is unknown if this reference appears in the Japanese version (or if it was commissioned by 4Kids). In any event, this presents the possibility that Ultrama Tiga (only the third Ultra series to be shown in the U.S.) may or may not have been aquired and broadcast in order to explain the reference.

[edit] External links

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)
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