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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 culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
''
tokusatsu is a Japanese term for live-action films or television programs that make heavy use of practical special effects. Credited to special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya, ''tokusatsu'' mainly refers to science fiction film, science fiction, War fi ...
''
science fiction television series Science fiction first appeared in television programming in the late 1930s, during what is called the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary ...
created by
Eiji Tsuburaya was a Japanese special effects director, filmmaker, and cinematographer. A co-creator of the ''Godzilla (franchise), Godzilla'' and ''Ultraman'' franchises, he is considered one of the most important and influential figures in the history o ...
. It is the second entry (third overall) in the
Ultra Series The , also known as ''Ultraman'', is a Japanese science fiction media franchise owned and produced by Tsuburaya Productions, which began with the television series ''Ultra Q'' in 1966. The franchise has expanded into many television shows, fil ...
and was produced by
Tsuburaya Productions also abbreviated as is a Japanese special effects studio founded in 1963 by special effects director 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 b ...
. The series aired on
Tokyo Broadcasting System (formerly ) is a Japanese media and licensed broadcasting holding company. It is the parent company of the television network TBS Television and radio network TBS Radio. It has a 28-affiliate television network called Japan News Network, as ...
from October 1, 1967 to September 8, 1968.


Premise

In the not-too-distant future, Earth finds itself constantly under attack from extraterrestrial threats. To combat them, the Terrestrial Defense Force establishes the Ultra Garrison, a team of six elite members who utilize high-tech vehicles and weaponry. Joining their fight is the mysterious Dan Moroboshi who is secretly an alien from the Land of Light in Nebula M-78 and transforms into his true alien form, Ultraseven, in times of crisis.


Production

After the success of space-themed science fiction shows such as ''
Ultraman The , also known as ''Ultraman'', is a Japanese science fiction media franchise owned and produced by Tsuburaya Productions, which began with the television series '' Ultra Q'' in 1966. The franchise has expanded into many television shows, fi ...
'', ''
Captain Ultra Captain Ultra (Griffin Gogol) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Roy Thomas, George Pérez, and Joe Sinnott, the character first appeared in ''Fantastic Four'' #177 (December 1976). Captain ...
'', and the Japanese broadcast of ''
Lost in Space ''Lost in Space'' is an American science fiction television series created and produced by Irwin Allen, which originally aired between 1965 and 1968 on CBS. Lightly dramatic, sometimes comedic in tone, the series was inspired by the 1812 J ...
'',
Tokyo Broadcasting System (formerly ) is a Japanese media and licensed broadcasting holding company. It is the parent company of the television network TBS Television and radio network TBS Radio. It has a 28-affiliate television network called Japan News Network, as ...
pursued
Tsuburaya Productions also abbreviated as is a Japanese special effects studio founded in 1963 by special effects director 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 b ...
to produce another sci-fi series. This led
Eiji Tsuburaya was a Japanese special effects director, filmmaker, and cinematographer. A co-creator of the ''Godzilla (franchise), Godzilla'' and ''Ultraman'' franchises, he is considered one of the most important and influential figures in the history o ...
to assemble
Hajime Tsuburaya was a Japanese film and television director, producer, and cinematographer. The eldest son of Eiji Tsuburaya, he began his career on the 1954 film, ''Godzilla (1954 film), Godzilla'' and its sequel, ''Godzilla Raids Again'' as an assistant speci ...
,
Akio Jissoji was a Japanese television and film director best known outside Japan for the 1960s tokusatsu TV series '' Ultraman'' and '' Ultraseven'', as well as for his auteur erotic ATG-produced Buddhist trilogy , , and . He was also known for his film ...
, Tetsuo Kinjo, Masami Sueyasu, and Shoji Otomo to brainstorm ideas. Eiji Tsuburaya proposed a series that would have been a hybrid of '' Thunderbirds'' and ''Lost in Space'', Hajime proposed a new ''Ultraman'' series that would have included network and sponsors' input for each season, Jissoji proposed a time-travel themed show which would have focused on a time patrol team and their families, Kinjo proposed a children's horror/mystery show that would have been a hybrid of ''
Ultra Q is a 1966 Japanese ''tokusatsu'' ''kaiju'' television series created by Eiji Tsuburaya, first broadcast on Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) on January 2, 1966 and having its twenty-eighth and final episode aired on December 14, 1967. This series w ...
'' and ''
The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology series, anthology television series created by Rod Serling in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described ...
'', Sueyasu proposed a fairy tale-themed series, and Otomo proposed a space-themed series which would have been a cross of ''Lost in Space'' and ''
Men into Space ''Men into Space'' (a.k.a. ''Space Challenge'' in later US syndication) is an American black-and-white science fiction television series, produced by Ziv Television Programs, Inc., that was first broadcast by CBS from September 30, 1959, to S ...
'' featuring giant monsters. TBS eventually settled on a fusion of Eiji's and Otomo's ideas and Eiji submitted a treatment titled ''The Ultra Garrison'', which featured six trained astronauts (including an android named "John") stationed on a satellite called "Mother", the first line of defense against alien invaders. Kinjo felt that the idea was lacking an essential element and suggested adding a superhero. The treatment underwent massive revisions after TBS felt the idea was too similar to '' The Great Space War'' and the new version included giant monsters while retaining the original Earth Defense Force element at TBS' request. TBS eventually suggested to make the series a direct sequel to ''Ultraman'' and have it focused on Hayata and Fuji's son, who would be able to call upon Earth monsters for help and only transform into Ultraman in times of desperation. Tetsuo Kinjo began working on an outline, combining elements of TBS' best ideas and his own, such as elements from his rejected proposal ''
WoO Woo, or variants, may refer to: People * Wu (surname), and several variants and other transliterations ** Wu (surname 伍) ** Wu (surname 武) ** Ng (name): 吳, 伍 * Hu (surname), also pronounced Woo * Woo (Korean surname) * Woo (Korean give ...
'', which featured an alien unwittingly becoming a savior of mankind. Kinjo's outline was titled ''Ultra Eye'' and featured Dan Moroboshi being the son of a human and an alien, with Dan coming to Earth in search of his mother. This version also featured Capsule Monsters that Dan would have used when he could not transform. Originally, monsters from ''Ultra Q'' and ''Ultraman'' were going to be used as the Capsule Monsters in order to cut down production costs. Tohru Narita was assigned to design the aliens, monsters, and vehicles. Narita's design for Ultraseven was inspired by
Mayan Mayan most commonly refers to: * Maya peoples, various indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Maya civilization, pre-Columbian culture of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Mayan languages, language family spoken ...
culture and originally chose silver and blue for the colors, but changed them to silver and red to avoid problems with the blue-screen matte process. Principal photography on the special effects began in May 1967 and casting began in June 1967. Many of the actors hired were chosen from
Toho is a Japanese entertainment company that primarily engages in producing and distributing films and exhibiting stage plays. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. ...
's acting pool, since the studio was one of the financial investors for Tsuburaya Productions. Yoji Hashimoto and Toshimichi Miwa were put in charge of duties with TBS for the show, while Eiji Tsuburaya served as the chief producer and supervisor for the show and Masami Sueyasu reprised his role as a hands-on producer for Tsuburaya Productions. Four episodes were completed before copyright was approved for the show's title, which was changed to ''Ultraseven''. The show was filmed silent, a common practice for Japanese shows at the time, and post-production, including editing and voice dubbing, began in September 1967. Toru Fuyuki was hired to compose the soundtrack, gearing towards a more classical direction as opposed to the jazz-inspired direction Kunio Miyauchi took for the ''Ultraman'' soundtrack. ''Ultraseven'' aired on October 1, 1967 and earned a 33.7% rating, an achievement at the time. Due to the show's high ratings, TBS ordered an additional 10 episodes during preparations for the show's third ''Cours'' (episodes 27-39). Despite ratings dropping during the final weeks, ''Ultraseven'' still remained in the top five highest rated shows in Japanese television at the time. Sequels for both ''Ultraman'', titled ''Ultraman Continues'', and ''Ultraseven'', titled ''Fight! Ultraseven'', were proposed, but Tsuburaya Productions would not produce another ''Ultra'' series until 1971, with ''
Return of Ultraman is a List of Japanese television series, Japanese ''tokusatsu'' Science fiction on television, science fiction television series produced by Tsuburaya Productions. The third entry (fourth overall) in the Ultra series, the series aired on TBS Tel ...
''.


Cast

*
Kohji Moritsugu is a Japanese actor best known for his role as Dan Moroboshi in ''Ultraseven''. Filmography Films *''The Music'' (1972) *'' Zero Fighter Burns'' (1984) *'' Furimukeba Ai'' (1984) *'' Robot Carnival'' (1987) - Protagonist in "Presence" segment * ...
as Dan Moroboshi/Ultraseven: Spelled as "Dan Moroboshe" in the Cinar English dub. Ultraseven borrows the look of Jiroh Satsuma and transforms into his true alien form using the Ultra Eye ("Task Mask" in the Cinar dub). At the time of the show's production, Moritsugu was married and poor. This was kept secret in order to publicize Moritsugu as a rising young heartthrob. *
Shōji Nakayama (February 26, 1928 – December 1, 1998) was a Japanese film actor. Selected filmography * ''Kenpei'' (1953) * ''Senkan Yamato'' (1953) * '' Anatahan'' (1953) - Nishio * ''Yasen Kangofu'' (1953) - Nemoto * ''Waga koi no lila no kokage ni'' (19 ...
as Captain Kaoru Kiriyama: The captain of the Ultra Garrison. *
Sandayū Dokumamushi born on 31 March 1936 in Osaka, Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Ok ...
as Shigeru Furuhashi: The rotund, strong and trigger-happy member of the Ultra Garrison. *
Yuriko Hishimi is a Japanese actress. In 1965, she signed a contract with Toho. Following year, she made her film debut in ''Taifu to Zakuro''. She portrayed Anne Yuri in the Japanese television series '' Ultra Seven'' (1967–1968) and subsequent appearances in ...
as Anne Yuri: Known as "Donna" in the Cinar dub. The team's communications operator and nurse. Yoshiko Toyoura was originally cast in the role, but was pulled out by director Takashi Tsuboshima to cast her in his then-latest film. Hishimi was given the role after doing an immediate audition and photo shoot. *Shinsuke Achiha as Soga: The Ultra Garrison's expert marksman. *
Bin Furuya , known professionally as , is a Japanese actor best known for his portrayal of the title character in the 1966 series ''Ultraman''. Furuya would later portray the character Amagi in the sequel series ''Ultraseven''. Furuya has also made appearanc ...
as Amagi: The team's strategist. Furuya had been the suit performer for
Ultraman The , also known as ''Ultraman'', is a Japanese science fiction media franchise owned and produced by Tsuburaya Productions, which began with the television series '' Ultra Q'' in 1966. The franchise has expanded into many television shows, fi ...
in the preceding series and stated that, although he liked being Ultraman, Amagi was more enjoyable due to having an exposed appearance. *Koji Uenishi as Ultraseven (suit performer): Uenishi portrayed Ultraseven for the entire series while Eiichi Kikuchi did the suit performance for episodes 14 and 15.


Episodes


Banned episode

The 12th episode, titled "From Another Planet with Love", was banned due to Alien Spell (which had
keloid Keloid, also known as keloid disorder and keloidal scar, is the formation of a type of scar which, depending on its maturity, is composed mainly of either type III (early) or type I (late) collagen. It is a result of an overgrowth of granulation t ...
scars) being labeled as "Hibaku Seijin" (A-Bomb Survivor Alien) which was lifted from the term "hibakusha", referring to the survivors of the
atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki On 6 and 9 August 1945, the United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively, during World War II. The aerial bombings killed between 150,000 and 246,000 people, most of whom were civili ...
. The issue was featured on an article of the ''
Asahi Shimbun is a Japanese daily newspaper founded in 1879. It is one of the oldest newspapers in Japan and Asia, and is considered a newspaper of record for Japan. The ''Asahi Shimbun'' is one of the five largest newspapers in Japan along with the ''Yom ...
'' newspaper, which sparked public outrage and forced Tsuburaya Productions to change the name to "Kyuketsu Seijin" (Vampire Alien). Despite this, Tsuburaya Productions still received negative public opinion and as a result, Tsuburaya pulled the alien character and episode from official publications, broadcasts and home media releases. However, the Hawaiian English dub and Cinar dub of the series broadcast the episode (which was re-titled "Crystallized Corpuscles") in North America.


English versions

In 1985,
Turner Program Services Turner Program Services was the syndication arm of Turner Broadcasting System, Turner Broadcasting. It served the same purpose as Turner Entertainment Co.'s distribution unit, with the exception that TPS was more involved in distributing televisi ...
licensed the series in a 15-year contract from Tsuburaya Productions, who provided the English dubbed versions produced in Honolulu by Tsuburaya-Hawaii, Inc. in the mid-1970s. Finding this English version to be lacking, Turner commissioned the Canadian children's programming production house,
Cinar The Cookie Jar Group, commonly known as simply Cookie Jar and formerly known as CINAR, was a Canadian animation studio, media production and distribution company that existed from 1976 until it was folded into DHX Media, now WildBrain, on Dec ...
, to dub all 49 episodes for run in syndication. The TPS/Cinar produced episodes featured new opening and closing credits, eyecatches, new episode names, and even a change of name for the character of Anne Yuri, who was dubbed as "Donna Michibata". Cinar edited the episodes for violence, language and commercial time and featured new music cues. Unsatisfied with Cinar's resultant work, Turner put the series into their vaults until 1994, when they were alerted that the episodes were never broadcast. ''Ultraseven'' was dusted off for the "Toons 'Til Noon" and "
MonsterVision ''MonsterVision'' is an American variety series which aired on TNT from June 29, 1991 to September 16, 2000. The show underwent multiple changes throughout its over nine-year run. The program acted as a marathon of older horror, science fiction, ...
" blocks on
TNT Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...
. The "Toons 'Til Noon" broadcasts received substantially heavy editing to make them suitable for the time slot, while the "MonsterVision" broadcasts were the full-length Cinar adaptations. Episodes 3 and 5-7 were missing or mislabeled and were never broadcast. Clips from the series were later used in the "Messages from Space" and "Vacation Spots Around the Universe" segments on the animated variety show ''
Cartoon Planet ''Cartoon Planet'' is an American television programming block that originally ran from 1995 to 1998 and 2012 to 2014 on Cartoon Network. A spin-off of ''Space Ghost Coast to Coast'', the series centered on Space Ghost recruiting his imprisoned ...
'', which aired on TBS and
Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...
. When the contract expired in 2001, Turner returned all the materials (film elements, videotapes, audio masters) to Tsuburaya Productions.


Home media


Japan

Bandai Visual was a Japanese anime, film production, and distribution company, established by Bandai and a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. They focused mainly in international distribution of anime properties in North America. Most of the anime and ...
released the series on
Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...
in Japan as two separate sets with the first released on November 21, 2014 and the second on January 28, 2015. In September 2020,
NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...
aired 4K remasters of the series, converted from
16 mm film 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical Film gauge, gauge of Photographic film, film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 mm film, 8 mm and 35mm movie film, 35 mm. It ...
with HDR. In April 2023, Tsuburaya announced that
Pony Canyon , also known by the shorthand form , is a Japanese company, established on October 1, 1966, which distributes music, films, home video, and video games. It is affiliated with the Japanese media group Fujisankei Communications Group. Pony Canyo ...
would release the 4K remasters in an 11-disc box set (containing
4K Blu-ray Ultra HD Blu-ray (4K Ultra HD, UHD-BD, or 4K Blu-ray) is a digital optical disc data storage format that is an enhanced variant of Blu-ray. Ultra HD Blu-ray supports 4K UHD (3840 × 2160 pixel resolution) video at frame rates up to 60 progress ...
's with HDR and standard Blu-ray's) on July 7, 2023 to commemorate the 55th anniversary of ''Ultraseven''.


North America

In December 2012,
Shout! Factory Shout! Factory, LLC, doing business as Shout! Studios (formerly doing business as Shout! Factory, its current legal name), is an American home video and music distributor founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases, issued i ...
released the Japanese version on DVD, licensed from UM Corporation through Tiga Entertainment. In July 2019, Mill Creek Entertainment announced that it had acquired most of the Ultraman library from Tsuburaya Productions through Indigo Entertainment, including 1,100 episodes and 20 films. Mill Creek released the series on Blu-ray and digital on December 10, 2019 in standard and steelbook editions. In July 2020,
Shout! Factory Shout! Factory, LLC, doing business as Shout! Studios (formerly doing business as Shout! Factory, its current legal name), is an American home video and music distributor founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases, issued i ...
announced to have struck a multi-year deal with Alliance Entertainment and Mill Creek Entertainment, with the blessings of Tsuburaya and Indigo, that granted them the exclusive SVOD and AVOD digital rights to the ''Ultra'' series and films (1,100 episodes and 20 films) acquired by Mill Creek the previous year. ''Ultraseven'', amongst other titles, will stream in the United States and Canada through Shout! Factory TV and Tokushoutsu.


Legacy

''
Pokémon is a Japanese media franchise consisting of List of Pokémon video games, video games, Pokémon (TV series), animated series and List of Pokémon films, films, Pokémon Trading Card Game, a trading card game, and other related media. The fran ...
'' creator
Satoshi Tajiri is a Japanese video game designer and Creative director, director who is the creator of the ''Pokémon'' franchise and the co-founder and president of video game developer Game Freak. A fan of arcade games in his youth, Tajiri wrote for and ed ...
said that the Poké Ball concept was inspired by Ultraseven's Capsule Monsters.


See also

*
Prefectural Earth Defense Force is a Japanese manga series by Kōichirō Yasunaga which ran in Shōnen Sunday Zōkan beginning in 1983. The manga was written as a parody gag manga inspired by the tokusatsu series ''Ultraseven''. An anime OVA based on the manga was released ...


References


Sources

* * * * *


External links

*
Official website
of
Tsuburaya Productions also abbreviated as is a Japanese special effects studio founded in 1963 by special effects director 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 b ...

Ultraman Connection — Official website

Official ''Ultraman'' channel
at
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
{{Ultra Series 1967 Japanese television series debuts 1968 Japanese television series endings Television about alien invasions Japanese action television series Japanese science fiction television series Jiro Kuwata Fiction about teleportation Television series about shapeshifting TBS Television (Japan) original programming Ultra television series