Ultra Series

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).
Ultraman Nexus Jeunesse statue outside Bandai HQ in Tokyo
Ultraman Nexus Jeunesse statue outside Bandai HQ in Tokyo

The Ultra Series (ウルトラシリーズ Urutora Shirīzu?) is the collective name for all the shows featuring Ultraman and his many brethren (although few of these shows, like the first Ultra Series, Ultra Q, do not have any Ultramen in them). Regardless, the Ultra Series is one of the prominent tokusatsu superhero genre productions from Japan, along with Kamen Rider, Super Sentai, and Metal Heroes.

Contents

[edit] The Ultraman phenomenon

Ultraman and his many kin are usually red-and-silver (although several color variations have been seen in recent years) and have glowing yellow almond-shaped dome eyes (although there are exceptions to both the shape and color) and various abilities, most notably to fire energy beams from various positions of crossed hands. The Ultras' main weakness is that each being can only stay on Earth in his giant form for three minutes owing to a limited supply of energy (Earth's atmosphere filters out his solar energy). This is marked by a light on the character's body usually called the Colortimer, which eventually begins to blink with increasing frequency as his energy supply dwindles (and turn from blue to red). At this stage, the Ultra must either find a way to recharge or finish the fight as soon as possible, or risk certain death. Some say another reason for Ultraman to recharge is due to the fact that the Earth is badly polluted by humans, so Ultraman only has 3 minutes on Earth, but can survive long enough in outer space. One more reason is that when Ultraman is critically injured by the monster, it tends to blink to indicate that Ultraman's life is in danger. Although this is not so often seen in the original Ultraman, this phenomenon is seen in other Ultramen. This is also the case in the Ultraman: Fighting Evolution video game series when an Ultra's stamina is dangerously low.

Ultraman was followed by many other series. Sequels to the original series are: Ultra Seven (1967, TBS), Return of Ultraman (1971, TBS), Ultraman Ace (1972, TBS), Ultraman Taro (1973, TBS), Ultraman Leo (1974, TBS), Ultraman 80 (1980, TBS), Ultraman Tiga (1996, MBS), Ultraman Dyna (1997, MBS), Ultraman Gaia (1998, MBS), and Ultraman Cosmos (2001, MBS). Recently the studio tried a reinvention of the hero through the "Ultra N Project," which involved three heroes: Ultraman Noa (the "mascot" of the Ultra N Project, who appears in stage shows as well as the final episode of Ultraman Nexus) in late 2003, Ultraman Nexus (2004, CBC), and ULTRAMAN (2004, Shochiku Productions). This was followed by a return to old-school style series in the form of Ultraman Max (2005, CBC). In the course of Max series, another new hero known as Ultraman Zenon was also introduced. April 2006 saw the 40th anniversary series, Ultraman Mebius, which signalled a long-awaited return to the original canon. Another hero was also introduced: Ultraman Hikari, formerly known as Hunter Knight Tsurugi.

The franchise has also been in the movie theaters, starting with Ultraman Zearth and Ultraman Zearth 2, Ultraman Tiga: The Final Odyssey (1997), as well as ULTRAMAN, a movie that opened in December 2004. The straight-to-video market also saw the release of Ultraman Neos in 2000, as well as special features for Ultraman Tiga, Dyna, and Gaia, who have teamed up in theatrical features (Tiga and Dyna once, as well as the three of them all together). The Ultraman Mebius and 6 Ultra Brothers movie opened in Sept. 2006.

Foreign productions include the 1981 Hanna-Barbera co-production Ultraman: The Adventure Begins (in Japanese, Ultraman USA), an animated movie; Ultraman: Towards The Future (in Japanese, Ultraman Great), an Australian 1991 production and Ultraman: The Ultimate Hero (in Japanese, Ultraman Powered), produced in the United States in 1993. Ultraman series have also been dubbed into various languages, including English, Spanish (only Ultra Q, the original Ultraman, Ultra Seven, the New Ultra Man & Ultraman Tiga were known to be translated into Spanish), Korean, Malay, Mandarin and Cantonese. Also of note is the American English dub of Ultraman Tiga by 4Kids Entertainment that aired in 2002. The dub considerably distorted the characterization and general mood of the series, and (possibly as a result) achieved limited success. An episode of the Hoshi no Kirby anime series ("Kirby: Right Back at Ya" in America) contains an Ultraman reference, leading to the possibility that "Tiga" may have only been licensed in order to explain the reference (both shows debuted on the same day).

In 1993, Tsuburaya Productions and Toei co-produced Ultraman vs. Kamen Rider, a crossover with the original Ultraman and Toei's Kamen Rider 1. This direct-to-video feature is co-copyrighted by both Toei (and its subordinates, Toei Video and Ishimori Productions) and Tsuburaya Productions.

At present, Tsuburaya Prod. accepts 36 Ultras as official. This figure does not account for Thai-produced Ultras. (The figure is 38 if you count Next, Noa and Nexus as separate entities - it has been revealed in Nexus that all three are a single being with various modes used by different hosts.)

[edit] Basic Shows

Asterisk denotes shows (or movies) that do not feature any Ultra-beings.

[edit] Ultraman Kids Shows

  • Ultraman Kids' Proverb Stories (1989)
  • Ultraman Kids: 30 Million Light Years Looking for Mama (1991-1992)

[edit] Movies

  • ULTRAMAN WONDERFUL WORLD (30th Anniversary Anthology)
    • Revive, Ultraman! (1996) Compilation
    • Ultraman Company: This is the Ultraman (Wacky) Investigation Team (1996) Anime
    • Ultraman Zearth (1996)

[edit] Specials

[edit] TV

  • Ultra Seven - Operation: Solar Energy
  • Ultra Seven - The Ground of the Earthlings

[edit] OVA (Original Video Animation)

  • Ultraman: Super Fighter Legend (1996

[edit] OVT (Original Video Tokusatsu)

1999 Ultra Seven Series

  • Ultra Seven - Lost Memory
  • Ultra Seven - From Earth Forever
  • Ultra Seven - Betrayal of the Sun
  • Ultra Seven - Glory and Legend
  • Ultra Seven - The Sky-Flying Colossus
  • Ultra Seven - The Day the Fruit Ripens
  • Ultra Seven - Consequences of a Promise
  • Ultra Seven - The Imitated Man
  • Ultra Seven - I Am an Earthling

2001 Heisei Ultraman Side Stories

  • Ultraman Tiga Side Story: The Giant Resurrected In The Ancient Past (2001)
  • Ultraman Dyna: Return of Hanejiro (2001)
  • Ultraman Gaia: Gaia Again (2001)

2002 Ultra Seven Series

  • Ultra Seven: EVOLUTION - Dark Side
  • Ultra Seven: EVOLUTION - Perfect World
  • Ultra Seven: EVOLUTION - Neverland
  • Ultra Seven: EVOLUTION - Innocent
  • Ultra Seven: EVOLUTION - Akashic Record

[edit] Mini-Shows

  • Ultra Fight (1970)
  • Ultra Super Legend: Andromelos (1984)
  • Ultraman Nice (2001)

[edit] Licensing rights dispute

Ultraman's licensing rights outside of Japan were recently the subject of a prolonged legal dispute between Tsuburaya Productions and Chaiyo Productions (also called Tsuburaya Chaiyo Co Ltd) based in Thailand. Tsuburaya had previously collaborated with Chaiyo on the production of two movies (The 6 Ultra Brothers Vs. the Monster Army and Jumborg Ace & Giant, the latter featured another Tsuburaya superhero Jumborg Ace) in 1974. Sompote Saengduenchai, founder/president of Chaiyo Productions, claims that in 1976, the late Noboru Tsuburaya (who died in 1995), Eiji's son, gave him and his company a contract which gives him rights to everything Ultraman outside Japanese territories in exchange for a monetary loan. In spite of the fact that the document does not clearly specify what was given to Tsuburaya in exchange for these rights, Japanese and Thai courts accepted this contract as real and bonding, because of the supposed hanko of the late Noboru Tsuburaya in the document. Tsuburaya Productions has insisted that the contract was a forgery (due to factual errors, including the faulty titles of the series in the document, such as Ultra Q being called "Ultraman 1: Ultra Q," Ultra Seven being called "Ultraman 3: Ultraman Seven," and Tsuburaya Productions being called "Tsuburaya prod. and Enterprises," a name the company has never done business under), and have contested the issue.

In the course of the legal battle, Sompote presented photos of himself sharing his photos of Thai Buddhist edifices to claim that Eiji based Ultraman's face on said edifices. However, there is no other evidence to support this claim.

After an 8 year battle in the courts of both countries, Sompote Saengduenchai was awarded a favorable decision on April 27th 2004. The exact ruling is in some dispute: Some say it only gives him merchandising rights for the first six Ultra Series (Ultra Q through Ultraman Taro) and Jumborg Ace outside Japan, and broadcasting rights of said shows within Thailand. Other accounts, usually reported in the Thai/Asian media, say that Chaiyo now has the rights to those six shows everywhere outside Japan. The latter may be taken as Chaiyo's side of the story, as Tsuburaya was reported in the Japanese media to continue taking further action against them. Furthermore, Tsuburaya has decided not to market any of the disputed six Ultra Series outside Japan until they have completely settled the rights issues with Chaiyo, although the company continues to merchandise and distribute all of the Ultraman programs created after Ultraman Taro, including the theatrical feature Ultraman the Next, throughout the world.

During the time of the legal battle, Chaiyo came up with three of their own Ultras: Millennium, Dark and Elite. They have not been used for purposes other than stage shows and merchandise.

Because of the copyright struggle, literature on Ultraman may not be imported into Singapore and Malaysia. It has also resulted in a slight backlash against Thai Ultraman fans, who are assumed to be outright Chaiyo supporters.

In 2005 the American company BCI Eclipse announced they had acquired the DVD rights to the original Ultraman from Chaiyo. The first set of 3-disc DVD boxes was released on July 18, 2006. The remainder of the series is scheduled for release in a second box on October 10, 2006.[1]

On August 23, 2006, Tsuburaya Productions has filed a new lawsuit against Chaiyo for copyright infringement and plagiarism (concerning their three original Ultraman characters), and the court case will be taken to China. The Chinese courts in Bejing opened “The Ultraman Copyright Study Group” in response to the lawsuit.[2]

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
Co-productions: The Adventure Begins Flag of United States • Towards the Future Flag of Australia • Ultraman vs. Kamen Rider (with Toei) • The Ultimate Hero Flag of United States
Related: Redman  • Bio Planet WoO
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../u/l/t/Ultra_Series_127f.html"
In other languages