Ultra Q

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Ultra Q

Genre	Horror, science fiction, supernatural
Creator(s)	Tsuburaya Productions
Starring	Kenji Sahara, Yasuhiko Saijou, Hiroko Sakurai
Country of origin	Japan
No. of episodes	28
Production
Running time	24 minutes (per episode)
Broadcast
Original channel	TBS
Original run	January 2, 1966 – July 3, 1966

Ultra Q (ウルトラＱ, Urutora Kyū^?) is a tokusatsu SF/kaiju series made in the tradition of Toho's many tokusatsu sci-fi/horror films.

Produced in B&W by Tsuburaya Productions, this is actually the first of the long-running Ultra Series, and was broadcast on Tokyo Broadcasting System from January 2 to July 3, 1966 (the final episode was preempted until December 14, 1967), with a total of 28 episodes. This series was followed a week later by the more popular Ultraman, the second Ultra Series.

Ultra Q can be described as a half-hour Toho kaiju film. Although series creator Eiji Tsuburaya intended this series to be more like The Twilight Zone and focus less on the monsters, TBS convinced Eiji to add more monsters onto the show, as Godzilla and Gamera were very popular at the time (the first "Kaiju Boom" was already born). This series predates The X-Files, another (American) show with continuing characters who investigate strange supernatural phenomena, be it giant monsters, aliens, ghosts, and other assorted calamities.

Regarding the monsters, some of them were modified versions of Toho movie monsters (since Eiji owned the costumes). They include Godzilla (as "Gomess" in Episode 1, "Defeat Gomess!"), King Kong (as "Goro" in Episode 2, "Goro and Goro"), Manda (as "Mystic Dragon" in Episode 6, "Fly, Turtle!"), Baragon (as "Pagos" in Episode 18, "The Rainbow Egg"), Magma (as Todola in Episode 27, "Flight 206 Vanishes"), and the Giant Octopus from King Kong vs Godzilla (1962) (as "Sudar" in Episode 23, "Rage in the South Seas").

The original planned title of this project was UNBALANCE, and was subsequently renamed Ultra Q (inspired by "Oba-Q", the nickname of the title character of the then-popular anime series Obake no Q-Taro, and "Ultra C", a popular term used for women's gymnastics during the 1964 Summer Olympics, where a Russian gymnast created an extremely difficult maneuver called the "Ultra C"). The series was produced beforehand all through 1965 (it went in production as far back as 1964) and was broadcast at the beginning of the next year. At the time, this was the most expensive TV series in Japan.

[edit] Characters

Jun Manjoume (万城目淳 Manjōme Jun) (played by Kenji Sahara) - Aviator at Hosokawa Air Service and amateur SF writer.
Yuriko Edogawa (江戸川由利子 Edogawa Yuriko) (played by Hiroko Sakurai) - Reporter for the Daily News.
Ippei Togawa (戸川一平 Togawa Ippei) (played by Yasuhiko Saijou) - Jun's aviation partner at Hosokawa.
Professor Ichinotani (一の谷博士 Ichinotani-hakase) (played by Ureo Egawa) - World renowned scientist, and occasional assistance to Jun, Yuriko and Ippei in times of crisis.
News Desk (関デスク) (played by Yoshifumi Tajima) - Yuriko's boss and editor at Daily News.

[edit] Episodes

Defeat Gomess!
Goroh And Goroh
A Present From Space
Mammoth Flower
Peguila Has Come!
Grow! Turtle
S.O.S. Mt. Fuji
The Terror Of Sweet Honey
Baron Spider
Underground Super-Express To The West
Balloonga
I Saw A Bird
Garadama
Tokyo Ice Age
Kanegon's Cocoon
Garamon's Counterattack
1/8 Project
The Rainbow Egg
Challenge From The Year 2020
Underwater Hominid Ragon
Space Directive M4774
Transformation
Rage Of The South Sea
The Statue Of Gorga
Devil Child
Burn On, Glory
Flight 206 Disappears
Open Up!

Ultra Series v • d • e
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 • Mebius and the Ultraman Brothers
Co-productions:	The Adventure Begins • Towards the Future • Ultraman vs. Kamen Rider (with Toei) • The Ultimate Hero
Related:	Redman • Bio Planet WoO