Ultraman (character)

Ultraman
Ultra Series character
First appearance	Ultraman
Created by	Eiji Tsuburaya Tohl Narita Akira Sasaki
Portrayed by	Bin Furuya
Alias	Ultraman (1966) Original Ultraman Man

Ultraman (ウルトラマン, Urutoraman) is a fictional superhero and is the first tokusatsu hero launched by the Ultra Series and by extent, Tsuburaya Productions. His appearance in the entertainment world helped spawn the Kyodai Hero genre with countless shows such as Godman and Iron King.

Ultraman first appeared as the eponymous titular character alongside his human host Shin Hayata in the 1966-1967 Japanese television series, Ultraman which ran for 39 episodes. Following Ultraman's success, Tsuburaya created another Kyodai hero series still as part of their Ultra Series project, Ultra Seven. While both series shared the same genre with very similar heroes, there was originally no relations between the two. It wasn't until the The Return of Ultraman was created four years later that both Ultraman and Ultraseven came together into the same story. This event cemented Tsuburaya Prods' decision to have the Ultra Series continue to follow the trend of focusing on an Ultraman with each new entry. The original red giant hero himself enjoyed a long series of popularity and has continued to appear in various works in the Ultra Series. Apart from that, he also has a lot of popularity trademarks which make him memorable to this day: his Color Timer, the Spacium Ray stance and his infamous cry "Shuwatch" (シュワッチ, Shuwacchi).

Character conception

Writer Tetsuo Kinjo originally envisioned an intergalactic reptilian creature named Bemler that could grow in size to 164 feet, with the design being a cross between Garuda and Tengu. Ultraman was originally designed as the final antagonist of Ultra Q but this idea was cancelled at the last minute. Ultraman's memorable design was done by Tohl Narita and clay sculptor Akira Sasaki, with the grey alien concept in mind. Three Ultraman body suits were for the show, all of which were based on the size of suit actor Bin Furuya. A lot of improvements of Ultraman's design was made during the series' progression. The first suit is Type A (episode 1 to 13), followed by Type B (14-29) and finally Type C (30 and subsequent episodes).

The Type A suit had its mask created from fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP) and coated with latex, giving Ultraman a "wrinkled" face. The mask was originally intended to have a mouth-opening mechanism but the latex-coating prevented such functions. Bin Furuya mentioned that Type A fitted him poorly and it forced him to hunch a bit. Followed by the deterioration of the Type A suit, Type B was made later on. Its mask removed the mouth-opening mechanism concept and latex coating, opting instead for a full FRP cover. Some of the staff in the series were not made aware of the changes that were made and were surprised by Ultraman's face having the sudden change from an alien-like face to an "iron mask". The Type B mask even had its jaw feature more narrow and sharpened compared to the Type A design. Type B was also bigger compared to Type A and according to Furuya; "it was better fitting, and had padding so it looked like Ultraman was more muscular". The Type C suit was nonetheless an improved variant of Type B, which features slight changes in the facial positions of the eyes, mouth and ears. The rest of the body of each suit was a painted wetsuits, a design choice that was previously used for the Kemur Man from Ultra Q, the series that preceded Ultraman. Type A's boots were derived from modified Jika-tabi, Type B variant were pointed shoes with hidden zippers and Type C were red leather shoes painted silver.

Due to being made with using wet-suits and latices, the suits were incapable of sustaining long periods of time. What happened to each of the suits were as follows:

• Type A: Was decommissioned due to deterioration, its mask had aged poorly due to its latex-coating. It was briefly modified into Imitation Ultraman for episode 18.
• Type B: Was put into storage after the Type C suit was commissioned. It was later stolen from Tsuburaya's warehouse sometime in 1970's and its current status is unknown.
• Type C: Was handed over to the programming staff following the series' conclusion. The mask was removed at that time due to being poorly-aged.

According to Furuya, the original Ultraman suit was destroyed, but it is unknown if this story is actually true.

Color Timer

Ultraman's victory was never assured, as Ultraman's powers and, indeed, his very life force, came from solar energy, which was heavily reduced by Earth's filtering atmosphere. His time limit was stated to be 3 minutes, though certain scenes do show him capable of still fighting while exceeding this limit.

When Ultraman first appeared, his Color Timer (カラータイマー, Karā Taimā, or "warning light"), was a rich cyan color. As time goes on, the color timer turns solid red, and then starts to blink, giving off a warning chime as it did so. When Ultraman runs out of energy, the color timer goes out, and turns black. Ultraman's color timer is linked directly to his heart, and damaging it will cause mortal injury or serious pain to Ultraman.

According to Tohl Narita, Ultraman wasn't originally meant to have a time limit, as the original design he made lacked one. This was actually made to reduce the cost of the special effects. The protagonist of succeeding series, Ultra Seven, averted this through his forehead "Beam Lamp" feature but however, subsequent Ultra Warriors after Seven however, returned to the time limit trend.

Naming

The name Ultraman was originally seemed to have been conceived by Hayata right after the titular character's first battle with the monster Bemular. This name was originally thought to be made by Hayata until the appearance of other alien characters and Zoffy further cemented it as his original name.

In certain media, Ultraman was revered to as Original Ultraman (初代ウルトラマン, Shōdai Urutoraman). Dating back to 1971, the emergence of the main character of the fourth Ultra Series, Return of Ultraman would cause confusion due to sharing the same name, hence the original was called Original Ultraman and the latter was called Ultraman II (二世ウルトラマン, Nisei Urutoraman) before he received his own name, Ultraman Jack (ウルトラマンジャック, Urutoraman Jakku) by Noboru Tsuburaya, the Tsuburaya Prod.'s president at that time. Said name is also one of the original concepts of Ultraman Taro and it first appeared in acknowledgement during the 1984 film, Ultraman Story.

Additionally, Ultraman Jack was meant to be Ultraman, whom returned to Earth but was made as a separate character out of respect to the late Eiji Tsuburaya, who loses his life in 1970.

History

Ultraman is an Ultra Warrior (ウルトラ戦士, Urutora senshi) that hails from Nebula M78. While chasing the space monster Bemular, he accidentally collided with SSSP Officer Shin Hayata whom was on a patrolling duty. Feeling guilt for playing a part in his death, Ultraman merged their bodies together and gave Shin the Beta Capsule. From that day forward, Ultraman staunchly defended Earth against aliens and monsters, with Shin Hayata and the SSSP assisting him. While Hayata worked alongside his fellow SSSP members, he would switch to Ultraman, should the situation call for it.

In the series finale, a race of aliens from the planet Zetton, and their vanguard Kaiju, Zetton (named after its planet of origin), attack. Ultraman battled Zetton, but before Zetton was defeated, he mortally wounded Ultraman with a weapon the hero had not expected, one that directly targeted his color timer/warning light. That damage caused him to lose almost all his energy instantly.

When Zoffy, Ultraman's superior, arrived to retrieve the fallen hero with a special life energy, Ultraman pleaded for Hayata's life to also be spared, going as far as to offer his new life to the human, so that Hayata could live as a normal man. Zoffy agreed with Ultraman and gave Hayata a spare life energy, he then separated them, but left Hayata with no memory between the time he first collides with Ultraman's ship (in the first episode), and he is shown standing outside the Science Special Search Party Headquarters, holding the beta capsule but apparently not knowing what it is or what it does as he watched Zoffy take Ultraman home. This is a rather different finish to the series than stated in the English dub, which states both that Ultraman will return and that Hayata retains not only his beta capsule but also, apparently, his full memories of all his experiences as he awaits Ultraman's return. The latter ending appears to have been adopted by Tsuburaya as the definitive ending, as Hayata reappears several times throughout succeeding Ultra Series as Ultraman's host in times of need.

Revive! Ultraman gives an alternate ending to the series 29 years after the series finale, where Zoffy recombines Hayata and Ultraman after giving the former another life-forces. After the battle against Zetton, both Hayata and Ultraman were shaken to core following their previous defeat. Past monsters were mysteriously revived and Ultraman defeated them again but is once again weakened by Zetton. When it seemed that his defeat would be repeated, SSSP member Ide created a specialized formula which replenished Ultraman's energy, allowing him to finally defeating Zetton and properly put an end to his mission on Earth.

He would later join the Ultra Brothers (ウルトラ兄弟, Urutora Kyōdai), a group of Ultra Warriors dedicated to protect the galaxy.

In the series, Ultraman's grunts and his iconic shout "Shuwatch" were provided by Masao Nakasone (中曽根雅夫, Nakasone Masao), who would later voice him as an actual character in episode 33 during his fight with Alien Mefilas. His dialogue in episodes 1 and 39 were provided by Hisashi Kondō (近藤久, Kondō Hisashi) while in episode 15, he was voiced by Koji Ishizaka (石坂 浩二, Ishizaka Kōji), the narrator of episodes 1 to 19. In subsequent appearances, Ultraman reuses Masao's grunt while his voice being provided by Susumu Kurobe (Shin Hayata's actor) or just simply being speechless during the screen time.

Ultraman's suit actor was Bin Furuya (古谷敏, Furuya Bin) during the original season. He would later went on to portray Ultra Guard member Amagi, one of the characters in the later season, Ultra Seven.

Subsequent history

Ultraman appeared in later works of the Ultra Series played by various voice and suit actors. Although Susumu Kurobe did reprise his role as Hayata, he also provided the voice of Ultraman himself at times, though his grunts were still reused from the late Masao Nakasone, but there are other occasions where he was voiced by other voice actors.

• The Return of Ultraman (1971): Appeared in episode 38, he and Ultraseven rescued Ultraman Jack who was defeated by Alien Nackle. Though not appearing at first, he communicated with Goh/Ultraman Jack via telepathy in episode 51. In the latter episode, he was voiced by Isao Yatsu (谷津勲, Yatsu Isao).
• Ultraman Ace (1972): Appeared in episodes 1, 13, 14, 26 and 27 but out of all episodes, the only scene that featured him talking was in episode 13 with his voice provided by Mahito Tsujimura (辻村真人, Tsujimura Mahito). He was shown witnessing Ace's fusion with Hokuto and Minami. In subsequent appearances, he and his Ultra Brothers were captured by Yapool in episodes 13 and 14 and by Alien Hipporito in 26 and 27. His suit in episode 1 is simply repainted from Ultraman Jack.
• Ultraman Taro (1973): Appeared in episodes 1, 25, 33, 34 and 40. In episode 1, he was among the Ultra Brothers that witnessed the fusion if Ultraman Taro and Kotaro and later deliver the Ultra Bell to the Ultra Tower in episode 25. In 33 and 34, he and the rest of the Ultra Brothers joined Taro on Earth while fighting against Alien Temperor. In episode 40, he was the first to fight Tyrant on Uranus, but defeated in the end.
• Ultraman Leo (1974): Appeared in episodes 38 and 39. He and the Ultra Brothers tried to confront Astra, whom had stolen the Ultra Key from the Land of Light until he was revealed to be an impostor named Alien Babarue by Ultraman King.
• The 6 Ultra Brothers vs. the Monster Army (1974 (Thailand)/1979 (Japan)): In this work, Ultraman was voiced by Toshio Furukawa (古川 登志夫, Furukawa Toshio).
• Ultraman Zoffy: Ultra Warriors vs. the Giant Monster Army (1984): In this work, Ultraman is voiced by Kenyu Horiuchi (堀内 賢雄, Horiuchi Ken'yū).
• Ultraman Story (1984): Kenyu Horiuchi reprises his role in this work.
• Ultraman Tiga (1996): Appeared in episode 49, Ultraman assisted Ultraman Tiga to defeat monster Yanakahgi. Considering that Tiga is from an entirely different timeline than the original Nebula M78 universe, 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. Thus, the Ultraman in question here is in fact an alternate universe version. He is voiced by Issei Futamata (二又 一成, Futamata Issei).
• Ultraman Mebius & Ultraman Brothers (2006): In this movie, it was revealed that Ultraman, Ultraseven, Ultraman Jack and Ultraman Ace had sealed Yapool and his Chouju, U-Killersaurus, beneath the lake of Kobe at the cost of most of their energy. In the end, they assumed human lives, Ultraman masking himself as Hayata. 20 years later, Hayata becomes the airport administrator in Kobe Airport and approaches himself to Mirai Hibino (the human form of Ultraman Mebius) alongside his comrades, giving him an advice after being shaken due to unable to save a young boy in the past. The human Ultra Brothers later witnessed Mebius' battle against an alien group that had arrived to revive Yapool. When Mebius was unable to handle the invaders, The Ultra Brothers had no choice but to transform again for the first time in 20 years. But even after Mebius was rescued, they quickly fell prey to the aliens' trap and were used to unseal Yapool before they could stop them. While fighting against Yapool/U-Killersaurus, Zoffy and Ultraman Taro came to their aid and replenished their energies. With the Ultra Brothers united, they combined with Mebius to form Mebius Infinity to defeat Yapool and freed Kobe. As this film also commemorated the 40th anniversary of the Ultra Series and Ultraman, the character himself was given a wrinkled face, in tribute to the original Type A suit.
• Ultraman Mebius (2006): Following the events of the movie, Ultraman returned in episode 47 and 50 of the series. After Alien Mefilas brainwashed the whole population into his servants, Mirai seek Hayata's help but he wasn't able to do anything as Mefilas' actions had not endangering the civilians. However, after seeing Ultraman Mebius fighting against Mefilas (one of which the latter almost killing the GUYS officers), Hayata was able to interfere again as Ultraman and ended the fight with no losses on both sides, telling Mefilas to retreat instead. The alien complied to his wishes and look forward for their next confrontation although he was killed by Alien Empera shortly after due to his incompetence. He later had a short conversation with Teppei Kuze, one of GUYS officers and was among the Ultra Warriors that cleanse the sun from Alien Empera's sunspot.
• Superior Ultraman 8 Brothers (2008): In this work, Ultraman is also an alternate universe character whom came to Earth alongside his comrades, Ultraseven, Ultraman Jack and Ultraman Ace. Having arrived on Earth, they assumed the lives of mundane civilians with Ultraman disguising himself as bike shop owner Shin Hayata, having married to Akiko Fuji and had a daughter named Rena Hayata (based on Rena Yanase from Ultraman Tiga) but having lived on Earth for a long time, they eventually forgotten their actual identities. This however changes when the safety of their Earth were threatened by unnamed dark figures, until their wives reminded them whom they really were, allowing Hayata and the others to regain their memories and powers as Ultra Warriors, assisting the alternate Heisei Ultra Warriors and Ultraman Mebius (the prime reality version which forcefully brought into their universe) against their enemy. In the end, after Daigo completed the space vessel which meant to bring its passengers to the Land of Light, Hayata and his comrades join along with their wives, as Hayata and Akiko rode a space vessel that resembles the SSSP's Jet VTOL. This work is also reuses the "New Type A" face used by Ultraman in the previous film.
• For the following appearances below, please refer to List of Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle characters#Ultra Brothers:
  • Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle (2007)
  • Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle: Never Ending Odyssey (2008)
  • Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy (2009)
  • Ultraman Zero: The Revenge of Belial (2010)
  • Ultraman Saga (2012)
• For the appearances below, please refer to List of Ultraman Ginga characters#Ultra Brothers:
  • Ultraman Ginga (2013)
  • Ultraman Ginga Theater Special: Ultra Monster ☆ Hero Battle Royal! (2014)
• Ultraman X: Here It Comes! Our Ultraman (2016): See List of Ultraman X characters#Past Showa Ultras and Ultra Hosts
• Ultraman Orb (2016): Prior to the series, Ultraman and Ultraman Tiga was responsible for sealing the Demon King Beasts in the past to save the Earth and its population from danger. Their power currently lives within Ultraman Orb, the series' titular Ultra Warrior.

Profile

Ultraman's statistics below were never mentioned in the original series, but were brought up in magazines and official websites. There are also certain succeeding series that deviate Ultraman's original statistics:

• Height: 40 m (50 m in episode 40 of Ultraman Taro)
• Weight: 35,000 t
• Flight Speed: Mach 5
• Birthplace: Nebula M78, Land of Light
• Age: Over 20,000 years old
• Year Debut: 1966
• First Appearance: Birth of Ultraman (1966)

Description

As the official website of Tsuburaya Productions stated: "[Ultraman] Visited the Earth after chasing the Space Monster Bemular, he protected the Earth against monster and alien threats. Aside from his main attack Spacium Ray, he also possess a number of techniques. His place of origin is Nebula M78. Despite his strength, he is also friendly to non-hostile monsters. His human form on Earth is Shin Hayata of the Science Special Search-Party. He is also a member of the Ultra Brothers."

Transformation

Hayata himself transform into Ultraman through the use of Beta Capsule (ベーターカプセル, Bētā Kapuseru), a flashlight-like object which allow him to switch between his human state and Ultraman. By pressing the red button on the capsule, a stream of light forms a spiral-like circle which warped his body as Ultraman rises, appearing in a matter which involves his right arm forms a fist forward and his left fold down.

The Beta Capsule is always shown stored in Hayata's SSSP jacket. In episode 22 of Ultraman, the Beta Capsule (or to a lesser extent, Ultraman's power) had the ability to free Hayata from external influence, as the Underground People tried to control Ultraman by brainwashing Hayata until Ultraman's transformation freed him. But despite this, the gadget can also be easily lost, as shown in episode 26 during Ultraman's fight with Gomora, where he accidentally dropped it and it was picked up by a local boy whom mistook it for a toy. This was also played for the sake of comedy as seen in episode 34 when Hayata mistook a curry spoon for the Beta Capsule before switching to the original one.

In the original concept for Return of Ultraman, Hideki Goh (the series' main protagonist) was meant to use the Beta Capsule to become Ultraman Jack.

Ultraman Dark

Ultraman Dark (ウルトラマンダーク, Urutoraman Dāku) is the corrupted form of Ultraman, which first appeared during the events of Ultraman Ginga. After Seiichirō Isurugi was given the Spark Dolls of Ultraman and Ultraseven, the Dark Dummy Sparks (ダークダミースパーク, Dāku Damī Supāku) given to him allows the man to assume the corrupted forms of the two Ultra Warriors, Ultraman Dark and Ultraseven Dark respectively. Ultraman Dark's appearance is identical to Ultraman, but with black colors replacing the original silver, and Ultraman's eyes and Color Timer both shine red. His attacks remain the same name and power statistics, though appeare to be darker.

Ultraman Dark (Seiichirō) first appeared after Ultraman Ginga defeated Zaragas, and brutally attacked the Ultra Warrior before swapping out with Ultraseven, but before he could deliver the finishing blow, Seiichirō was stopped by Misuzu Isurugi, his daughter. Ultraman's Spark Doll was returned to normal after Ultraman Ginga defeated Seiichirō.

The suit of Ultraman Dark was reused from Ultraman Geist, another evil doppelgänger of Ultraman that appeared in certain stage shows. Also, the third volume of Ultraman Ginga's Blu-ray DVD release stated that his conception was based on Imitation Ultraman, a disguise assumed by Alien Zarab from episode 18 of Ultraman.

Powers and Abilities

Ultraman's combat technique usually rely on brute strength, which goes by fighting his opponents in melee combat then finishing them with his beam attacks. In the middle of combat, he sometimes used different skills which either assist him in the combat or neutralize dangerous situations that the SSSP are involved in. His skin possess natural protection against extreme heat, electricity and atomic bomb explosions.

His signature attack is the Spacium Ray (スペシウム光線, Supeshiumu Kōsen), which is preformed by having his forearms form a cross stance, with his left arm in a horizontal position and placed forward while his right arm is in a vertical position and placed backward, reflecting a shuriken. This finisher launches a beam of white energy which consist of extraterrestrial mineral called Spacium (スペシウム, Supeshiumu) that can be found on Mars (ep. 2). Said mineral itself is the main weakness of Alien Baltan, one of the adversaries of Ultraman and is frequently used to defeat other monsters-of-the-week. However, Spacium also has a counterpart, the Spellgen, which was used by the second generation Alien Baltan (ep 16) to counteract to Spacium Ray, prompting Ultraman to slice the Alien in half with the Ultra Slash attack. Certain monsters in the series have been shown to be resistant to the Spacium Ray, and took more than one shot to be killed.

Ultraman also uses the Ultra Slash (ウルトラスラッシュ, Urutora Surasshu), an energy projectile saw disc attack launched from Ultraman's right arm in a manner of a flying disc. This is mainly used to dismember an opponent, usually by slicing them into half down the middle. Like the Spacium Ray, it had its own weakness, certain opponents like Gubila (ep 23) or Kiyla (ep 39) were able to catch the disk moments before it hit them and throw it back at the Ultra Warrior.

Human Hosts/Forms

Shin Hayata

Shin Hayata
Ultra Series character
First appearance	Ultraman
Created by	Eiji Tsuburaya
Portrayed by	Susumu Kurobe

Hayata (ハヤタ), or full name Shin Hayata (ハヤタ・シン (早田進), Hayata Shin) is the protagonist of the Ultraman TV series. He is 25 years old at the start of the series, he first encountered Ultraman when the giant hero accidentally collided with Hayata's VTOL Jet with his "Travel Sphere". Feeling guilty about the accident, Ultraman fuses himself with Hayata to ensure the man's survival, causing them to share the same life, also giving Hayata the means to fight against monster and alien threats. He is the Sub-Captain of the Science Special Search-Party and is in charge whenever Captain Toshio Muramatsu is unavailable. Although portrayed as a dutiful officer, there are also times where he was out of focus, sometimes for the sake of comedy. His connection to Ultraman remains a secret to the rest of the SSSP members even until the series finale, however in episode 14 Muramatsu and member Arashi noticed that Hayata shared a similar injury to Ultraman after his fight against a monster. This was never brought up again later on.

In episode 39, the series finale, both Ultraman and Hayata were gravely injured after Zetton defeated them. Zoffy arrived to recover Ultraman and gave Hayata another life, allowing him to live while being separated from Ultraman. In the original Japanese ending Hayata was left without any memories of Ultraman but in the English dub, he retained his memory while telling his SSSP teammates that Ultraman would return to Earth. The latter ending seems to have been adopted as Hayata later appeared in subsequent series with Ultraman. Revive! Ultraman also gives another alternate ending that allow Hayata to retain both his connection with Ultraman and his memories.

Although Hayata does appeare in person later on in other Ultra Series entries, but starting from the following events of Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy, it was revealed that Hayata is longer the original human who became one with Ultraman, but rather the Ultra Warrior in a human form, in a similar manner to Dan Moroboshi with Ultraseven. While the reason for this is unknown, it is possible that Hayata and Ultraman separated sometime after Ultraman Mebius.

Hayata is portrayed by Susumu Kurobe (黒部進, Kurobe Susumu) in all of his appearances. Originally, there was no audition for the role of Hayata, and he simply took the role after execs "ordered" him to take it without a choice.

Other hosts

In certain circumstances, Ultraman would possess other people as substitute human hosts.

• In episode 33 and 34 of Ultraman Taro, the Ultra Brothers possessed the male ZAT officers in order to hide themselves from Alien Temperor, who was hunting them on Earth, and to teach Kotaro Higashi/Ultraman Taro not to be arrogant and to not rely on his brothers in arms too much. Ultraman possessed the ZAT officer Shūhei Aragaki (荒垣修平, Aragaki Shūhei) and later a volleyball player once Temperor sees through their deception.
• In Ultraman Ginga with Ultraman transformed into a Spark Doll and under possession of Dark Lugiel, his doll was among those in Dark Lugiel's possession. It later ends up in Hikaru's possession, Ultraman would later be freed once Dark Lugiel was defeated, although another of Ultraman Spark Doll appeared certain times after the series:
  • Ultraman's original doll at first was given to Seiichirō Isurugi (石動 誠一郎, Isurugi Seiichirō) alongside Ultraseven's Spark Doll. Having been corrupted by Alien Nackle Gray, he used Ultraman's corrupted power, turning him into the dark Ultra Warrior Ultraman Dark and Ultraseven Dark. He defeated Hikaru in their first encounter and invited him in his quest to rule over everything but rejected and defeated by Hikaru. Seiichirō's defeat had saved him from Gray's brainwashing and purify the two Ultra Warrior's Spark Dolls. He would later use the Ultraseven Spark Doll for good to assist Ultraman Ginga when his daughter Misuzu falls victim like him.
  • In order to assist Ultraman Ginga in rescuing Misuzu from Gray's influence, Ultraman's Spark Doll was used by Chigusa Kuno (久野 千草, Kuno Chigusa) to help relay Super Grand King while Hikaru tried to reach Misuzu. She would later use the Spark Doll copy of Ultraman on two occasions, first against Alien Magma and Zetton in the extra episode of Ultraman Ginga and later in Mountain Peanuts (a magazine novel which served as a prologue to Ultraman Ginga S) against Android One-Zero/Nosferu.
  • During the events of Ultraman Ginga Theater Special: Ultra Monster ☆ Hero Battle Royal!, Ultraman's Spark Doll was among the copies which created when Tomoya Ichijōji (一条寺 友也, Ichijōji Tomoya)'s sketchbook of Ultra Monsters radiated by strange cosmic waves. Tomoya would later use the Spark Doll when playing with his comrades but later participated in a fight against a group of five evil Ultramen, facing Chaosroid U. Ultraman and the other fake Spark Dolls would later reverted into his sketchbook once the effects of cosmic ray radiation dried out.

Cultural Impact

Design Basis

In the Ultra Series, Ultraman's main body has become the basis for most of the succeeding Ultra Warriors onwards. This design can be seen in certain Ultras such as Ultraman Jack (who originally meant to be the returned original Ultraman), Ultraman Tiga, Ultraman Cosmos and others.

Parodies

Ultraman, as well as the elements from his own series, has been referenced and parodied numerous times in popular culture, examples include:

• The South Park episode "Mecha-Streisand" features Leonard Maltin as Jet Jaguar or Ultraman.
• Episode 30 and 57 of Sgt. Frog features the Flash Spoon (フラッシュスプーン, Furasshu Supūn), a spoon-themed object which turns its user into a giant, much like the Beta Capsule. When activated, the user rises in a similar manner to the Ultraman.
• Episode 3 of Wooser's Hand-to-Mouth Life Phantasmagoric Arc has Wooser imagin himself fighting against Len who wears a monster costume while he wears a cap with Ultraman's fin-like head and performs the Spacium Ray.
• Manga artist Akira Toriyama is a fan of science fiction movies, as well as the Ultra Series' Ultraman and Ultraseven. One of his manga, Dr. Slump features two minor characters, Nekotoraman and Nekotoraseven on a theatrical poster pointed out by Senbei Norikami. Also, episode 1 of the manga's anime adaptation has a character themed after Ultraman, who pulls up the sun with his fishing rod.
• Chapter 1 of My Hero Academia manga features Ultraman as a silhouettes of one of the many superheroes.
• Episode 15 of OVA Patlabor: The New Files bears multiple parodies and tributes to the final episodes of Ultraman and Ultra Seven. The point of view character, Noa Izumi transforms into Ingraman (parodying Ultraman and Ultraseven) and fights against Griffon (parodying Zetton) but loses to it and the Section 2 Division 2 members destroy it by themselves. In the end, Ingraman's bond with Noa was ended by Zero (parodying Zoffy) and Noa gains another life.
• According to A Certain Magical Index's writer Kiyotaka Haimura, the design of Accelerator's shirt changes from being based on Devilman to the original Ultraman. This change is made durring Volume 5 of the novel series to commemorate the character's change in sides, from antagonist to supporting protagonist.
• In the Ben 10 franchise, one of Ben Tennyson's aliens, Way Big, was made from DNA sample from the To'kustar. Way Big resembles the original Ultraman in both size and appearance. His Cosmic Ray attack is based on Spacium Ray.
• Ultimate Girls has the main character Silk Koharuno and UFO-man fighting as giant monsters in a similar manner to Ultraman.
• Episode 93 of Gin Tama features Space Woman, a gigantic alien with similar appearance to Ultraman.
• The first episode of Concrete Revolutio has the superhuman of the week, Gross Augen as a giant hero fuse with Akira Shirota and fight against the S Planeterian.
• The 67th issue of Marvel Comics' Exile has Morph changing his appearance into that of Ultraman. Interestingly, the 66th to 68th issue of that comic introduced the Science Squad, an attack team founded by Curt Connors in Earth-3752.

In other media

The following below refers to Ultraman and Hayata's appearance outside of TV, such as manga and novel adaptations:

Manga

• The 2003 manga Ultraman THE FIRST (ja:ウルトラマン THE FIRST) Ultraman and Hayata's role remain the same, as the manga is a reinterpretation of the TV series. However, additional plot elements were added, such as making the Alien Baltan the manga's main antagonist, who orchestrates almost every event in hopes of studying Ultraman's strength and weakness. In his final battle, Ultraman fought against Zetton (which was re-imagined as a colossal monster with knowledge of Ultraman's techniques) and was defeated by its overwhelming strength until the SSSP defeated it in a similar manner to the series. Ultraman was soon picked up by Zoffy, with Hayata being separated and given a new life.
• The 2011 Ultraman manga takes in an alternate timeline with Ultraman being the only Ultra Warrior to set foot on Earth. Several years after the giant left the Earth, Shin Hayata's (voiced by Takayuki Sugō (菅生 隆之, Sugō Takayuki) in Motion Comic) memory of Ultraman is completely erased and he has settled down and had a family, with a son named Shinjiro Hayata. Hayata also becomes the Minister of Defense after retiring from his service in the SSSP. Although Ultraman had long left, his fusion with Hayata left the man with his DNA, which gives Hayata superhuman abilities. 12 years prior to the story, he regains his full memory of Ultraman after watching a footage of Bemular attacking an airplane, and the rest of the SSSP members had been protected him from being test subjects. His son, Shinjiro inherents these powers and the two father-son pair are enlisted into the reformed SSSP, whose new mission is to fight against rogue aliens. The Ultraman title lives within battle suits called Ultraman Suits (ウルトラマンスーツ, Urutoraman Sūtsu), which were designed for combat, with Shinjiro taking one of the suits and inheriting his father's title as the Ultraman. Other than the prototype and finalized product used by Shinjiro, two more Ultraman suits were made as the series progressed, one was called Ver. 7.1 (based on Ultraseven) used by Dan Moroboshi and the non-SSSP manufactured suit, Ver. A. (based on Ultraman Ace), used by civilian Seiji Hokuto.
• In 2005 manga Ultraman Story 0 (ja:ウルトラマンSTORY 0), Ultraman is the first of his kind to be mutated into a giant after the Plasma Spark radiated their world. He is also the first one to face the Alien Baltan, the Ultra Warriors' enemies.

Novel

• The novel adaptation of Ultraman, written by Tetsuo Kinjo in August 1967, Ultraman's role is historically the same as the TV series. Aside from that, the novel incorporates leftover plans from the series which never made it into the final cut, such as having Alien Mefilas form an alliance with past aliens, and having Geronimon revive Gomora and Red King.
• Another Genesis, a novel series launched in 2012 has Ultraman's design drastically altered. Following the destruction of the Land of Light at the hands of Ultraman Belial, Ultraman fell into a deep seclusion and turned mad, resolving to restore his destroyed home world by hunting shards of the fallen Plasma Spark. He first appeared in Chapter 2, facing off against a giant Antlar that mutated from the effects of a Plasma Spark shard. He emerge victorious and mercilessly stabs Antlar with the shard to death. He reappears in Chapter 9, having trailed Blast, the main protagonist of the novel (whose body was altered after a Plasma Spark shard imbued to his heart) and had a short scuffle with him until he ripped of the shard from Blast's chest, simultaneously killing him. During that time, his image drastically change to resemble Ultraman Belial.

Movie

• In July 16, 2015, Tsuburaya Productions streamed a region-locked video on their official YouTube site titled as "Ultraman_n/a" without any description. Set in Shibuya, Tokyo, a giant monster emerges from underground and is quickly countered by Ultraman, before the fight concludes the video ends with the text "7.7". This video received a lot of attention, mainly due to both Ultraman and the monster in question being rendered CGI models instead of suit actors. In the clip, Ultraman is shown opening his mouth, a feature which was originally planned for the Type A suit, but had to be scrapped.

Video Games

• In the upcoming game City Shrouded in Shadow, Ultraman is one of the giants that will appear in the story, fighting against his impostor, Imitation Ultraman. Their battle puts the Ichi City in danger and sets the motion of the game, which involves the players (portrayed as civilians) trying to escape from the city as soon as possible while the giant battle turns into the largest obstacle they will face.

Reception

Critical Commentary

• Kurobe: Ultraman is immortal, so that's why I want him to go on for more than 50 years.
• Furuya: He should go beyond our lifelines.
• Kurobe: So I want Tsuburaya to keep releasing Ultraman in any way possible. Whether it's televisions or films, for audiences in Japan and around the world to enjoy, if that continues, then Ultraman will live on. That's my wish.

Interview with Susumu Kurobe, Hiroko Sakurai and Bin Furuya, SciFi JAPAN TV

Not many people have commented or critical responded to Ultraman and his titular series. Todd Gilchrist of the IGN describes both Hayata and Ultraman as "a Peter Parker-style everyman becomes a superhero whenever alien monsters invade Earth, which conveniently occurs at least once ever episode; subsequently, some fairly awkward fight scenes ensue, and the world eventually is saved from certain destruction." He also said despite the show's shortcomings, among the reason of the series' popularity were either due to Hayata talking directly to the audience, the SSSP investigating cases, or Ultraman's battle with the monsters and aliens "whose girth is matched only by his ability to flail his arms and flash his eyes." He gives the series the rating of 8 out of 10.

While reviewing the complete DVD series of Ultraman, R. L. Shaffer (also from IGN) a describe Ultraman as "a giant, skyscraper-sized extraterrestrial being that protects us from equally gigantic monsters, aliens, dinosaurs and other nefarious foes. Each week, Ultraman faces off against fantastically fun villains, destroying towns, villages, forests and cities along the way.". Nevertheless, he admitted that the series "become a cult sensation, largely thanks to its monsters and dazzling battles" and gives a rating 8 out of 10.

Bin Furuya, Ultraman's suit actor, has said that when he first wore the Ultraman suit, Eiji Tsuburaya had predicted that the show would create good memories for the children watching. Furuya trained for his role in Ultraman by practicing its beam techniques and "Shuwatch!" pose, inspired by "tap dancing and karate movements". As the Ultraman suit was very thin, he mentioned having received injuries in several ways during the set. When being asked what Ultra Warrior and Ultra Monster is his favorite, he answered the original Ultraman and Red King respectively. He also stated that although he liked playing the role of Ultraman, he enjoyed his time as Member Amagi for being able to expose his face. Furuya originally didn't like acting as Ultraman, fearing that several scenes on set would bring harm to him, especially when recording scenes in water, which would enter his suit and he feared he would drown, but in the end he grew more absorbed in his work and took a liking to it.

According to Susume Kurobe, during his time playing Hayata, he felt uncomfortable when wearing the SSSP uniform during shooting, especially when filming on location, but Hiroko Sakurai stated that she had no problem with it and even commented that the cast once went out to lunch while wearing the uniform. Kurobe himself has a daughter named Takami Yoshimoto (吉本 多香美, Yoshimoto Takami), whom played Rena Yanase, the secondary protagonist of Ultraman Tiga. They both appeared together in the film Superior Ultraman 8 Brothers, with their characters likewise written as father and daughter. He has joked that the decision to have Hayata and Fuji married in the movie was a "mistake", as it made his wife "jealous". When asked who is his favorite Ultraman, Kurobe answered that it was Ultraman Zero. If possible, Kurobe wishes to believe that Ultraman will surpass his lifetime and hopes that Tsuburaya Productions will keep putting Ultraman in any form of media for all audiences worldwide to enjoy.

Popularity

One of the most popular jokes in the Japanese culture is the scene from episode 34 of Ultraman, which involves Hayata mistaking a curry spoon for the Beta Capsule while hastily trying to transform and stop the monster Skydon from falling down to Earth. This scene was devised by Akio jissoji, and while receiving complaints from Samaji Nonagase, another Ultraman director, though the episode's high viewer ratings justified the work. Because of this, certain Japanese media (mostly in anime and manga) tends to reference an in-joke to the incident either by repeating the same mistake or simply using a pair of spoons to replicate Ultraman's eyes.

There is also a Mexican pro-wrestler Milo Ventura Chávez, whose alias during matches is Ultraman. His son is named Ultraman Jr.. Although unrelated, another Mexican pro-wrestler Starman previously known by the the name Ultraman Jr.

In February 2007, a popular internet video called Omoide wa Okkusenman! simultaneously aired in Japan and quickly become a sensation. The song describes the singer reminiscing about his childhood and friends, particularly pretending to be Ultraman and Ultraseven with them, while realizing his life and theirs is nothing like what it used to be. In September of the same year, Ultraman was the important guest of the year's Hugo Award ceremony. His design is presented in the year's Hugo Award, sculpted by Takashi Kinoshita of the world famous model and figure company Kaiyodo Co., Ltd (ja:海洋堂). Ultraman was also the one who presented Steven Moffat, writer of The Girl in the Fireplace from series two of Doctor Who with the Hugo Award.

Merchandise

Having gained a long time popularity, Ultraman has also been featured in several promotions and merchandises, either by Tsuburaya Productions itself or by extension, a cross-promotion. The first one was a set of action figure from the Ultraman line sold by Marusan toy company back in 1966, the same year the character and his series' debuted. Said toys were later displayed at the Yokohama Doll Museum in March 12 and 13, 2016 as part of the 50th anniversary of Ultra Series celebration . Tsuburaya has also collaborated with Fujiya Co. twice; once in the 1990s where a chocolate confectionery was released alongside an Ultraman card and later in 2016, a collaboration with Peko-chan, Fujiya Co.'s main mascot (from the milk confectionary Milky) as said company is celebrating its 65th anniversary, which served as a tie-in to Ultra Series' 50th anniversary.

Ultraman's soft vinyl doll had been sold several times by Bandai since 1990's. In 2010, Ultraman was given his first release as a highly articulated action figure in the ULTRA-ACT toyline. Following his temporary corruption into Ultraman Dark in Ultraman Ginga, both him and Ultraseven Dark was released in 2014 as repainted versions of their original figures. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Ultra Series, Ultraman got his second release in July 2016 as a poseable action figure in the S.H. Figuarts line alongside two of his iconic enemies, Alien Baltan and Zetton.

In 2014, Ultraman and several of the Ultra Monsters in his series helped promoting TOEIC to Japanese citizens and is portrayed as a businessman dressed in a suit. A promotional video features him communicating with Dada while English subtitles being displayed, helping the alien in giving him advises to start a business before he confronted him after Dada's business plan turned out be an Earth invasion.

In the fashion world, Ultraman is also a part of the "A MAN of ULTRA", a branch of fashion house with clothing themed after the Ultra Series. Ultraman himself had been present to promote the company's products, though sometimes the character is also accompanied by other characters of Ultra Series such as Ultraseven and Ultraman Ace. In November 2, 2015, a special violin painted with the attributes of Ultraman series was presented in a concert at the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre Concert Hall and was sold to a lucky spectator at the price of 780,000 yen (US$6,428).

In a cross-promotion with FamilyMart convenience store franchise, Ultraman and Alien Baltan were sold as Chinese steamed buns designed with their likeness. This was however sold to limited date, starting from January 19, 2016.

References

Bibliography

• 講談社 編, ed. (2015). 帰ってきたウルトラマン パーフェクトファイル. キャラクター大全. Kodansha. ISBN 978-4-06-2195621.
• Ragone, August (2014). Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books. ISBN 978-0-8118-6078-9. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Tsuburaya Productions, ed. (1982). 不滅のヒーローウルトラマン白書. ファンタスティック・コレクション・スペシャル (First ed.). Asahi Sonorama. Magazine Code：67897-80.

Notes

External Links

• Ultraman in Tsuburaya Productions
• Ultraman in Internet Movie Database
• Shin Hayata in Internet Movie Database

Category:Fictional giants Category:Ultra Series characters Category:Japanese superheroes Category:Fictional characters introduced in 1966