Return of Ultraman
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| The Return of Ultraman | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Tokusatsu |
| Creator(s) | Tsuburaya Productions |
| Starring | Jiro Dan Jun Negami |
| Country of origin | Japan |
| No. of episodes | 51 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 mins |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Tokyo Broadcasting System |
| Picture format | 480i (SDTV), |
| Original run | April 21, 1971 – March 31, 1972 |
Return of Ultraman (帰ってきたウルトラマン Kaettekita Urutoraman?, roughly meaning "Ultraman Has Returned") is a tokusatsu SF/kaiju/superhero TV series, and is the 4th Ultra Series.
Eiji Tsuburaya originally intended for the Ultra Series to end with the 1967 series Ultra Seven, but Ultraman was too famous a character to keep down. After Eiji's passing in 1970, his son Hajime Tsuburaya (who took over Tsuburaya Productions until his death in 1973) revived the Ultra Series with Return of Ultraman.
Featured in this show is a new Ultraman named "New Ultraman" (新ウルトラマン Shin Urutoraman?), or just "Kaettekita Ultraman" (帰ってきたウルトラマン?), like the show's title. In the late 70s-early 80s, however, he was renamed "Ultraman Jack" (ウルトラマンジャック Urutoraman Jakku?) for licensing, after Tsuburaya and Bandai (which had just bought the Ultraman toy license in Japan) held a contest for children to pick a new name for this Ultraman. Although he is called "Ultraman Jack" for licensing in and out of Japan, he is still sometimes referred to as "New Ultraman"/"Kaettekita Ultraman", especially by some fans (and also in some official sources).
Also of note is that this is quite possibly one of the few Ultraman/Ultras that requires no tool (like the Beta Capsule) to transform with. Hideki Gô, the human host for New Ultraman, just raises his hands to transform at will when New Ultraman signals him to do so (or sometimes against his will in a very desperate situation!).
For the first time, the late Ishiro Honda, best known for his work on the Godzilla movies and other classic Toho tokusatsu, works on the Ultra Series, and has directed some of the episodes of this series, including the first episode (titled "All Monsters Attack" (怪獣総進撃 Kaijū Sōshingeki?), which is the same as the Japanese title for the film Destroy All Monsters!).
[edit] Story
This series is a follow up to the original Ultraman and Ultra Seven. The first episode begins with a fight between two giant monsters Takkong and Zazahn in Tokyo. Amid the monster destruction, young race-car driver Hideki Goh is killed while trying to rescue a little boy and a dog from the falling rubble. His valiant sacrifice is noted by everyone, even his friends and the new defence force MAT (Monster Attack Team), but an unseen being also takes notice. Looking over him is "New Ultraman (Ultraman Jack)", who is so touched by his heroics that he decides to bring him back to life by combining his own life-force with Hideki's, thus bringing him back to life (just like the original Ultraman did to Shin Hayata), much to everyone's astonishment. MAT asks him to join the team, which he does, especially since, in this frightening new "Age of Monsters", the earth will need a saviour. In times of crisis, Hideki Goh will raise his right arm, and by his force of will, he transforms into Ultraman to fight the menace.
[edit] Highlights
- Ultra Seven made a guest appearance in Episode 18, "Enter Ultra Seven." He and the original Ultraman made appearances in other episodes, especially Episode 38, "When the Ultra Star Shines." In that episode, both Susumu Kurobe and Koji Moritsugu reprise their roles as Shin Hayata and Dan Moroboshi (the alter-egos of Ultraman and Ultra Seven, respectively). (For more on "When the Ultra Star Shines," skip two notes down.)
- Episode 34, "The Forgiven Life", (about a mad scientist who engineered a rampaging giant lizard/plant monster) was written by then 16-year old Shinichiro Kobayashi, who later wrote a similar story that became the basis for Godzilla Vs. Biollante (1989), upon his story winning First Place in Toho's Godzilla Story Finals Contest (a big fan event at the time). Furthermore, the hit rock ballad "Flower, Sun, Rain" (Hana, Taiyô, Ame), by famed Japanese rock band Pyg, was played in the episode's climax.
- Episodes 37 and 38 ("Ultraman Dies at Sunset" and "When the Ultra Star Shines," respectively), a two-parter, are considered among the best and most classic episodes in this series, as well as the entire Ultra Series, although some Japanese fans also considered this two-parter to be the "final episodes" of Return of Ultraman, which has thus jumped the shark. This story arc features one the more intelligent alien foes, Knuckle-seijin, who traps Ultraman to his untimely "death" at the hands of his bodyguard monster, Black King. As he is about to be executed, Ultraman and Ultra Seven appear to rescue him. Furthermore, regular characters Ken Sakata and his sister Aki are both killed in this episode.
| Showa era series: | Ultraman • Seven • Return of/Jack • 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/Jonias (anime) • Ultraman Neos (Direct-to-DVD) |
| Movies: | Zearth • ULTRAMAN |
| Co-productions: | The Adventure Begins  • Towards the Future  • Ultraman vs. Kamen Rider (with Toei) • The Ultimate Hero |
| Related: | Redman • Bio Planet WoO |
