Tokusatsu File 4: Ultraman (Original Series) Version 1.0 95.12.24. (c) 1995 Marc H. Miyake miyake@Hawaii.Edu This copyright applies only to this File and not to Ultraman and/or any other properties of Tsuburaya Productions which are (c) 1995 Tsuburaya Productions. This document may be distributed in part or in whole as long as this copyright notice is preserved. Ultraman (Original Series) 66.7.17-67.4.9 (But preview special aired 66.7.10) Network: TBS 16 mm, 30 minutes, color, 39 episodes Sundays, 19:00-19:30 Supervisor: Tsuburaya Eiji Producers: Sueyasu Masami (?), Ichikawa Toshiaki, Miwa Toshimichi Directors: Jissouji Akio, Tsuburaya Hajime, Nonagase Mimachi, Mitsuda Kazuho, Iijima Toshihiro, Higuchi Yuuzou, Suzuki Toshitsugu Scripters: Kinjou Tetsuo, Sekizawa Shin'ichi, Chisato Kitao, Yamada Masahiro, Uehara Shouzou, Minamikawa Ryuu, Fujikawa Keisuke, Sasaki Mamoru, Kaidou Tarou, Wakatsuki Bunzou Music: Miyauchi Kunio Cast: Muramatsu: Kobayashi Shouji Hayata: Kurobe Susumu Ide: Nihei Masaya Arashi: Ishii Iyoshi Fuji Akiko: Sakurai Hiroko Hoshino: Tsusawa Akihide Ultraman: Furuya Tooru Background: When Tsuburaya Special Techniques productions opened in 1963, it tried to sell an SF TV series concept titled WOO [capitalized in the original spelling; the title is in Roman letters] to Fuji TV. Created by a team with superwriter Kinjou Tetsuo (see Tokusatsu File 3: Ultra Q) at the helm, WOO would have been the first of a trilogy entitled Tsuburaya Science Fiction Film Theatre. WOO concerned an amoeba from the Andromeda Nebula called WOO who lost his homeworld and wanted to move to Earth. When it arrives on Earth, it accidentally causes all sorts of natural disturbances and electromagnetic phenomena. Art Graphic Center photographer Akita Jouji, while taking nude shots at Mount Fuji, takes a photo of WOO without knowing it; invisible to the naked eye, WOO appears on the photo when he develops it. Akita returns to Mount Fuji, where WOO baths him in a strange light beam that enables him to communicate with it. The two become friends. The Self-Defense Forces, on the other hand, see WOO as an enemy and attack it, ignoring Akita's pleas. WOO disappears for six months, until Akita returns to Mt. Fuji, visits the lakes there and finds WOO in hiding. The second script ends there; the other six scripts involve further stages in the development of the relationship between WOO and the humans of new home. The sole kaijuu in the series was to be WOO itself--a shapeless mass of transparent jelly with two human eyes, able to fly at Mach 3, armed with a 'vacuum beam' fired from his mouth, and lazy in nature, since it had once lived in a machine-dependent society. Storyboards for WOO depict a giant sperm with eyes, vaguely resembling a combination of the Toho monsters Dogora and Hedorah. Even if produced, the show would have been extremely if unintentionally silly; the appearance and personality of WOO is quite comical. (WOO clearly has nothing to do with the hairy snow beast Woo of Ultraman episode 30.) Information on the other two parts of the trilogy is sketchy. Parts two and three were to be Rapper and Space Horse, concerning yet more aliens. Each part was to last one cours (13 episodes); in all, the trilogy would have lasted three cours (39 episodes). No scripts exist for these series or for the final five episodes of WOO. WOO never came to pass due to contractual problems. The project was put on hold in August 1964, and Tsuburaya concentrated on producing Unbalance (later Ultra Q) for TBS (not Turner's Superstation!). In late 1965, the ideas of WOO were recycled when Tsuburaya planned a sequel to Ultra Q, which would begin airing in January 1966 and conclude in mid-July (early July, it turned out, since the Ultraman Eve Festival preempted Ultra Q episode 28). The first plan for a sequel was Bemlar. Bemlar, like WOO, was a benevolent alien who came to Earth. However, unlike WOO, Bemlar was no lazybones--he was a fighter for justice who strongly resembled Gappa, the winged humanoid lizards of Nikkatsu's Daikyojuu Gappa/Monster from a Prehistoric Planet (1967). (There is no known evidence proving that Nikkatsu stole the design from Tsuburaya. Bemlar bears no resemblance to Bemlar in Ultraman episode 1; the name was merely recycled.) Bemlar would appear whenever the Art Graphic Center, now a team of investigators into the unknown (with a totally absurd name) got into trouble. Bemlar would have secretly been (?) AGC member Sakomizu. Bemlar developed further into Science Special Search Party Bemlar, with the AGC assuming the far more appropriate Japanse name of the Science Patrol. Probably uneasy at the thought of a series with a monster hero--how could one tell apart the good and bad guys in kaijuu fights at a glance?--Tsuburaya developed the concept further into Redman. Despite his name, Redman, like Ultraman, had silver skin decorated with red. However, his Ultraman-like body was coupled with a crystalline-scaled head and shoulders. He looked like a strange cross between Ultraman and an alien from Ultra Seven. Indeed, Redman, like Ultraman and Ultra Seven and the monsters from those shows, was a Narita 'Tohl' Tooru design. Furthermore, Redman had come to Earth because his homeworld had been destroyed by the 'X Aliens.' Redman had been a provisional title in the same manner that Toho had used G Work as a cover title for Godzilla twelve years earlier. On 66.3.22, Redman was retitled Ultraman, a couple of weeks after filming had already started. (Incidentally, the earliest Ultraman costume had no Color Timer at all! I doubt that any footage was filmed using this early costume, which does not resemble the A type costume (at least to my eyes). On 66.7.17, Ultraman finally was aired, changing the face of TV tokusatsu forever and getting a peak rating of 42.8%. Although P Productions' and Tezuka Osamu's Ambassador Magma (US title: The Space Giants) debuted 13 days earlier and it and Ultraman were viewed as equals at the time, it is Ultraman that is remembered today. (This was the beginning of P Productions' tragic history of being first...and forgotten. But somehow I can't imagine sequel after sequel of different Ambassadors.) Ultraman ended after only 39 episodes, due to budgetary problems. Viewers would have to endure Toei's (unintentionally) retro-50s space opera Captain Ultra (no relation to Tsuburaya's Ultra Series) before seeing the sequel to Ultraman, the greatest of the Ultra Series, Ultra Seven, the subject of Tokusatsu File 5. Further Ultra sequels and spinoffs will be covered in future Tokusatsu Files. A dub of Ultraman came to the United States in 1967 (?) in syndication, courtesy of United Artists Television, which billed it as "Entirely new in glowing color for your station...live-action science fiction for the whole family". I hope it's still being shown somewhere now. Ultraman directly spawned a compilation film (episodes 1, 8, 26, 27), Long Length Monster Film Ultraman (1967) and the much later The Work of Jissouji Akio: Ultraman (1979). Notes on the staff and cast of Ultraman Besides THE great Tsuburaya Eiji himself, Kinjou Tetsuo, and Uehara Shouzou, already noted in Tokusatsu File 3: Ultra Q, I would like to spotlight: Narita 'Tohl' Tooru Art director for Ultraman and Ultra Seven. Designer of the timeless Ultraman, Ultra Seven, and many of the monsters and aliens in their series. Later works include the tokusatsu TV series Sudden Attack! Human (1972) and Saucerkids (1976). Jissouji Akio The director of Ultraman. His best episodes (15, 22, 23, 34, 35) have been compiled in the film The Work of Jissouji Akio: Ultraman (1979). Directed the banned Ultra Seven episode. Has a cult following among Japanese kaijuu fans. Nonagase Mimachi Director for Ultra Q, Ultraman, and Ultra Seven. Stager for Tsuburaya's Great Operation Mystery (1968) and Toho's Megaloman (1979). Scripts under the name Minamikawa Ryuu. Iijima Toshihiro Director and stager for Ultra Q, Ultraman, and Ultra Seven. Staged Operation: Mystery. Mitsuda Kazuho Director of Ultra Q, Ultraman, and Ultra Seven. Current Managing Executive Director of Tsuburaya Productions. Sasaki Mamoru Scripter for Ultraman, Ultra Seven (including the banned episode), Silver Mask, and Iron King (the entire series). Has a cult following among Japanese Kaijuu fans. Kurobe Susumu (1939.10.22-; 175 cm, 72 kg) Played Hayata in Ultraman, Mush in Gunbaron, and Kuromatsu Hideomi in Kamen Rider Black. Appears often in jidaigeki. Nihei Masaya Played Ide in Ultraman. Also appears in Gorath (1962). Ishii Iyoshi, a.k.a. Dokumamushi Sandayuu Played Arashi in Ultraman and Furuhashi in Ultra Seven. Furuya Tooru (1943-; 181 cm) Played Ultraman. Appears out of costume as Amagi in Ultra Seven. See Tokusatsu File 1 for Kobayashi Shouji and File 3 for Sakurai Hiroko. Characters Ultraman (Much of the following data does not appear in the show, but is repeatedly quoted in Ultraman literature and approved by Tsuburaya as the official 'truth'.) Height: 40 meters Weight: 35,000 tons Running speed: 450 km/h Swimming speed: 200 knots Jumping ability: 800 meters Flying speed: Mach 3 Age: 20,000 years old Homeworld: M78 Nebula, 'Land of Light' Ultraman is a 'Lightlander' from the M78 Nebula, 3 million light years away from Earth. Once, the Lightlanders looked like humans, but one day, 260,000 years ago, the sun of the Lightlanders' homeworld blew up, leaving their planet cold and desolate. The scientists of the Land of Light, led by the Ultra Elder, constructed the artificial sun 'Plasma Spark' to heat their world. Over a period of 200,000 years, the Difalater rays emitted by the Plasma Spark caused the Lightlanders to mutate from humans into long-lived, gigantic Ultramen. (I suspect Leo's homeworld, L77, and Jonius' homeworld, U40, are colonies of the M78 people.) In the Land of Light, Ultraman, probably the most famous of his species on Earth, became a member of the Space Defense Corps to defend the universe from monsters. (The SDC was established after the Emperorians invaded M78 to steal the Plasma Spark 30,000 years ago, bringing an army of monsters with them; after defeating the Emperorians, the ad hoc Ultraman army became the SDC.) His father works for the safety of the Land of Light as the commander of the Space Security Agency. His mother is a teacher at the Ultra School. (This is all off camera. Yes, the Ultramen have families like you and me. Seriously. And the Ultra Father and Mother are not his parents. Perverse trivia: Since the Ultra Mother suit couldn't be produced in time, Mother ears were attached to an Ultraman suit for the Mother scene in episode one of Ultraman Taro.) Ultraman came to Earth by accident. The monster Bemlar, whom he was transporting to the Graveyard of Monsters (see episode 35), got away from him, becoming a blue ball of light. Turning himself into a red ball of light, Ultraman pursued Bemlar to Earth. Meanwhile, Hayata, on patrol in his Beetle, crashed into the red ball that is Ultraman. To atone for his error (and no doubt realizing that at least one kaijuu menaces Earth every week), Ultraman brings Hayata back to life and becomes one with him, swearing to defend the Earth. He gives Hayata the pen-like blue Beta Capsule, a solar battery that enables him to change into Ultraman. Once changed into Ultraman, Hayata can remain in that state for only three minutes, for the Earth's atmosphere filters out much of the solar energy Ultraman needs (and can easily obtain in atmosphere-less space). During the first minute, his Color Timer implanted into Ultraman's chest glows blue. During the second minute, it glows yellow (in theory, anyway--I don't remember seeing this in any of the episodes [though it has been 11 years since I last saw most of them] and I can't find any photographs offhand to confirm this). Finally, it glows red. Furthermore, once the three minutes are up, the Beta Capsule needs 24 hours to recharge. Ultraman fought a total of 58 monsters with the following powers and techniques: * Specium Beam (Supeshiumu kousen) What killed most monsters; fired when he touches his right arm, charged with Minus Specium energy, with his left arm, charged with Plus Specium energy. * Eight-Split Light Ring (Yatsuzaki kourin) * Ultra Attack Beam * Ultra Eye Spot * Transparent [Detector] Beam * Slash Beam * Catch Rings * Teleportation * Ultra Psychokinesis * Ultra Air Catch * Rebound Beam * High Spin * Ultra Water Stream * Enlarging Ability * Beam White Blade Taking * Spinning Neck Bind * Earth Entrance Ability * Mid-Air Body Blow * Ultra Swing * Tomoe Throw * Back Throw * Rock Fall * Ultra Kick * Sudden Fall Kick * Ultra Head Butt * Ultra Punch * Neck Hanging * Ultra Chop * Head Lock * Ultra Mist Cut * Horse Flight * Tickling Strategy But Z-Ton (Zetton) in episode 39, the 'space dinosaur' brought to Earth by the Z-Tonians, brought an end to Ultraman's career on Earth by damaging his Color Timer. A Pencil Bomb fired by Arashi saved the day. SDC member Zoffy, Ultraman's superior officer, picked up Ultraman, bringing two lives with him--one for Ultraman and one for Hayata. Zoffy separates Ultraman from Hayata, returning to the Land of Light with the former. However, Earth has hardly seen the last of Ultraman, who will return in episode 38 of The Return of Ultraman (which, despite, its title, features an entirely different Ultraman!) and many times thereafter. (Leaving the fictional world of the show for a moment, there are many different Ultraman suits. The three used in the show are: 'A type': FRP-latex mask with movable mouth. Episodes 1-13. 'B type': First of the large breasted costumes. Episodes 14-29. 'C type': Large breasted and smiling. Episodes 30-39. Subsequent costumes, which I have not kept track of, might be called 'D' and so on.) Zoffy (episode 39 only) Ultraman's superior officer from the Space Defense Corps. Similar to Ultraman in appearance except for studs on his chest and extra red stripes. Baltanians (episodes 2, 16, 33, and throughout the Ultra Series) Insectoid adversaries of the Ultramen. 2.3 billion of them came to settle on Earth before being repulsed by Ultraman and resettled on Planet R, from which they attack Earth again and again. Science Special Search Party The SSSP (Science Patrol in the English dub) was created to deal with the monster problem (that had started in the recent past in Ultra Q). It is an international organization, based in Paris (but the Japan branch, based in the suburbs of Tokyo, seems to get all the action). The Japan branch's members are: * Captain 'Cap' Muramatsu Veteran who had been captain ever since the SSSP Japan Branch was established. A fine captin with strict, strong leadership abilities. * Hayata Even before he became Ultraman, this elite SSSP member had a career filled with honors. *Fuji Akiko Communications officer (like Uhura) who gets involved in combat anyway. *Arashi Sharpshooting tough guy. *Ide Genius inventor and comedian. *Hoshino The boy member of the SSSP. SSSP members are armed with Superguns. Additional weapons, often invented by Ide and used by Arashi, are also used, such as the Malus 133 rifle, the Spider Shot atomic gun, the QX gun that attacks monsters' nervous systems, and the Mad Bazooka. SSSP vehicles include the small Beetle, which Hayata piloted when he crashed into Ultraman, the Jet Beetle, capable of space flight with the Hydrogenated Subrocket booster, the underground Pellucidar drill tank, a grey early 60s Chevrolet Corvair patrol car, and the S21 submarine. Monsters listed by episode 1. Bemlar (Bemuraa) 2. Baltanians (Barutan seijin) 3. Nelonga (Neronga) 4. Ragon (Ragon, same as in Ultra Q but giant-sized and in color!) 5. Green Monse (Guriinmonsu) 6. Guesra (Gesura) 7. Antlar (Antoraa) 8. Redking (Reddokingu) 8. Chandlar (Chandoraa) 8. Magla (Magura) 8. Pigmn (Pigumon) 8. Suflan (Sufuran) 9. Gavora (Gabora) 10. Jirass (Jiraasu) 11. Gango (Gyango) 12. Dodongo 13. Mummy Man (Miira ningen) 13. Pester (Pesutaa) 14. Gamakujira (lit. 'toadwhale') 15. Gavadon 16. Baltanian II 17. Bullton (Buruton) 18. Zarabian 18. Imit-Ultraman (Nise urutoraman) 19. Abolas (Aborasu) 20. Hydra (Hidora) 21. Kemular (Kemuraa) 22. Telesdon (Teresudon) 22. Subterraneans (Chiteijin) 23. Jamira 24. Gubila (Gubira) 25. Guigass (Gigasu) 25. Draco (Dorako) 25. Redking II 26. Gomorrah (Gomora) 28. Dada A/B/C 29. Goldon (Gorudon) 30. Woo (Uu) 31. Keronia 32. Zumbolar (Zanboraa) 33. Mephilusian (Mefiras seijin) 33. Kemurian (II; see Ultra Q) 33. Zarabian II 33. Baltanian III 34. Skydon (Sukaidon) 35. Seabose (Shiiboozu; shibou means 'die' and boozu means 'monk' or 'kid') 36. Zaragas (Zaragasu) 37. Geronimon (Jeronimon) 37. Pigmon II 37. Telesdon II 37. Draco II 38. Keylla (Kiira) 38. Saigo 39. Z-Ton (Zetton) 39. Z-Tonian (Zetton seijin) Episode list (production numbers given in parentheses) 1 (9). Ultra Operation No. 1 2 (1). Shoot the Invaders 3 (3). Sally Forth SSSP 4 (4). Five Seconds before the Great Explosion 5 (2). Secret of the Miroganda 6 (5). Coast Defense Command 7 (6). The Blue Stone of Barrage 8 (8). Outlaw Monster Zone 9 (7). Operation Lightning Quick 10 (10). The Mysterious Dinosaur Base 11 (12). Roughneck from Space 12 (11). Cry of the Mummy 13 (13). Oil SOS 14 (15). Pearl Defense Command 15 (14). The Fearsome Space Rays 16 (17). SSSP Spaceward 17 (16). Passport to Infinity 18 (19). Brothers from (Another) Planet 19 (18). Demons Again 20 (20). The Terrifying Route 87 21 (21). Penetrate the Smoke 22 (23). The Work of Destroying the Earth 23 (22). Home is Earth 24 (24). Underwater Science Base 25 (25). Strange Comet Tsiphon 26 (26). Lord Monster I 27 (27). Lord Monster II 28 (28). Human Specimens 5.6 29 (29). Challenge under the Earth 30 (31). Phantom of the Snowy Mountain 31 (30). Who Has Come? 32 (32). Fruitless Counterattack 33 (33). Forbidden Words 34 (34). Gift from the Sky 35 (35). Monster Graveyard 36 (36). Don't Shoot, Arashi! 37 (37). A Small Hero 38 (38). Spaceship Rescue Command 39 (39). Arrivederci Ultraman The music of Ultraman "The Ultraman Song" (Urutoraman no uta) Lyrics: Azuma Kyouichi (really the late Tsuburaya Hajime, son of Eiji) Music: Miyauchi Kunio Mune ni tsuketeru maaku wa ryuusei (The mark on your chest is a shooting star) Jiman no jetto de teki wo utsu (With your proud jets, you defeat the enemy) Hikari no kuni kara bokura no tame ni (From the Land of Light, for our sake) Kita zo warera no urutoraman (He has come, our Ultraman) Te ni shita kapuseru pikari to hikari (The capsule in your hand flashes) Hyaku man watto no kagayaki da (It's the radiance of a million watts) Hikari no kuni kara seigi no tame ni (From the Land of Light, for justice's sake) Kita zo warera no urutoraman (He has come, our Ultraman) Te ni shita gan ga byubyun to unaru (The gun in your hand roars 'byubyun') Kaijuu taiji no senmonka (A specialist in monster extermination) Hikari no kuni kara chikyuu no tame ni (From the Land of Light, for Earth's sake) Kita zo warera no urutoraman (He has come, our Ultraman) (c) 1995 Marc H. Miyake miyake@Hawaii.Edu This copyright applies only to this File and not to Ultraman and/or any other properties of Tsuburaya Productions which are (c) 1995 Tsuburaya Productions. This document may be distributed in part or in whole as long as this copyright notice is preserved.