is the titular intergalactic

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

of a

pulp Pulp may refer to: * Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit Engineering * Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture * Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper * Molded pulp, a packaging material ...

-style

tokusatsu is a Japanese term for live action film or television drama that makes heavy use of practical special effects. ''Tokusatsu'' entertainment mainly refers to science fiction, War film, war, fantasy, or Horror film, horror media featuring such te ...

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

space adventure television series titled . Produced by

Toei Company Ltd. () (also styled TOEI) is a Japanese film, television production, and distribution and video game developer and publishing company. Based in Tokyo, Toei owns and operates thirty-four movie theaters across Japan (all but two of them operated by i ...

, the series aired on Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) from April 16 to September 24, 1967, with a total of 24 episodes. This series is based very loosely on ''

Captain Future Captain Future is a pulp science fiction hero — a space-traveling scientist and adventurer —originally published in his namesake pulp magazine from 1940 to 1944. The character was created by editors Mort Weisinger and Leo Margulies. The maj ...

'', the

saga created by the influential

Edmond Hamilton Edmond Moore Hamilton (October 21, 1904 – February 1, 1977) was an American writer of science fiction during the mid-twentieth century. Early life Born in Youngstown, Ohio, he was raised there and in nearby New Castle, Pennsylvania. So ...

. This was not the only time his work was adapted in Japan: ''Captain Future'' was officially adapted into an

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

series by Toei Doga in 1978, and that same year,

Tsuburaya Productions is a Japanese special effects studio founded in 1963 by special effects wizard Eiji Tsuburaya and was run by his family, until October 2007, when the family sold the company to advertising agency TYO Inc. The studio is best known for producing t ...

adapted his '' Starwolf'' novels into a

sci-fi action series of the same title. Originally, this series was aired by

Tokyo Broadcasting System formerly is a Japanese media and licensed broadcasting holding company. It is the parent company of the television network and radio network . It has a 28-affiliate television network called JNN (Japan News Network), as well as a 34-affili ...

right after the end of the original ''

Ultraman ''Ultraman'', also known as the , is the collective name for all media produced by Tsuburaya Productions featuring Ultraman, his many brethren, and the myriad monsters. Debuting with ''Ultra Q'' and then ''Ultraman'' in 1966, the series is one ...

'' show to serve as a filler series while Tsuburaya Productions geared up for the production of ''

Ultra Seven is a Japanese ''tokusatsu'' science fiction television series created by Eiji Tsuburaya. It is the third installment in the Ultra Series and was produced by Tsuburaya Productions. The series aired on Tokyo Broadcasting System from October 1, 19 ...

''. So only 24 episodes of ''

Captain Ultra Captain Ultra (Griffin Gogol) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Publication history He first appeared in ''Fantastic Four'' #177 (Dec. 1976) and was created by Roy Thomas, George Pérez and Joe Sinnott ...

'' were ordered by the network. So, the week following the conclusion of ''Captain Ultra'', ''

'' premiered on TBS. Still, while short-lived, the series has been released in Japan on all of the major home video formats since the 1980s: VHS, LaserDisc, and DVD. In 2005, a ''

tankōbon is the Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or cultur ...

'' volume of the original serialized

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

illustrated by Shunji Obata in

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, comics (manga), non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the Hit ...

's ''

Weekly Shōnen Sunday is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga magazine published in Japan by Shogakukan since March 1959. Contrary to its title, ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' issues are released on Wednesdays. ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' has sold over 1.8billion copies since 1986, ...

'' in 1967 was published by Manga Shop. ''

'' is among the more memorable

series from the 1960s, and was one of the three cornerstones of Toei's programs of 1967, including ''

Akakage is a Japanese superhero ninja featured in several manga and anime, as well as live-action movies and TV shows. Akakage first appeared in the 1967 TV series, ''Kamen no Ninja Akakage'' which was produced by Toei Company Ltd. Characte ...

'' and ''

Giant Robo is a Japanese manga series by Mitsuteru Yokoyama. The manga, which was first published in 1967, spawned a live-action ''tokusatsu'' television series of the same name, as well as a series of original video animations called '' Giant Robo: ...

'' (better known in the US as ''

Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot , also known as ''Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot'' in the United States, is a manga and tokusatsu series created by Mitsuteru Yokoyama. It is similar to Yokoyama's ''Tetsujin 28-go'' (known as ''Gigantor'' in the U.S.), but ''Giant Robo'' has ...

''). Some Japanese fans also compare the looks of Captain Ultra to that of Captain Scarlet, the title hero of

Sylvia and Gerry Anderson Sylvia Beatrice Anderson (; 25 March 1927 – 15 March 2016) was an English television and film producer, writer, voice actress and costume designer, best known for her collaborations with Gerry Anderson, her husband between 1960 and 1981. In a ...

Supermarionation Supermarionation (a portmanteau of the words "super", "marionette" and " animation")La Rivière 2009, p. 67. is a style of television and film production employed by British company AP Films (later Century 21 Productions) in its puppet T ...

series, ''

Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons ''Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons'', often shortened to ''Captain Scarlet'', is a British science fiction television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and filmed by their production company Century 21 Productions for distributor I ...

'' (which had been shown in Japan around the same time and was very popular). The series was aired in the ''Takeda Hour'' block (sponsored by the

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company The is a Japanese multinational pharmaceutical company, with partial American and British roots. It is the largest pharmaceutical company in Asia and one of the top 20 largest pharmaceutical companies in the world by revenue (top 10 followin ...

Characters

*Captain Ultra (

Hirohisa Nakata Hirohisa (written: 裕久, 博久 or 浩久) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese politician *, Japanese musician *, Japanese film director and screenwriter {{given name Japanese masculine given ...

) - The hero. *Huck ( Jiro Sagawa) - Captain Ultra's robot companion. *Joe (

Nenji Kobayashi is a Japanese actor. He won the award for best supporting actor at the 23rd Japan Academy Prize for ''Poppoya''. Kobayashi signed with Toei in 1961 and started his acting career with small roles. Filmography Film * '' Soshiki Bōryoku'' (1967 ...

) - Captain Ultra's alien friend from Planet Kikero. *Akane ( Yuki Jono) - Captain Ultra's beautiful space cadet. Has assorted secret agent gadgets. *Kenji ( Shigeru Yasunaka) - Captain Ultra's eager young boy space cadet. *Professor Munamoto ( Ichiro Izawa) - The scientific expert for the heroes.

References

External links

* {{Weekly Shōnen Sunday - 1959–1969 1967 Japanese television series debuts 1967 Japanese television series endings Tokusatsu television series TBS Television (Japan) original programming Toei tokusatsu