The Japanese tokusatsu (sfx) series Ultraman debuted in July of 1966 in its home country and arrived in the States shortly after that for an extended syndication run. The show proved quite popular with American audiences and its thirty-nine episodes were repeated quite frequently on afternoon television through the 1970’s. But viewers in the U.S. may not be aware that the “Ultra series” had proven a huge hit in Japan and produced many sequels, spin-offs, and reboots that continue to this day.
Ultraman follows a group known as the Science Patrol who protect the Earth from the threat of alien monsters. Unbeknownst to the rest of the team, one of their members has merged with an alien from another galaxy known as Ultraman. In times of need, Hayata can use the “beta capsule” to transform into the giant hero who possesses great strength and various powers. (You can read more about the series at this link.)
The Ultra series actually got its start with Ultra Q which debuted in January of 1966. That show was more like The Outer Limits with kaiju (giant monsters), and it did not have an alien superhero as the central character. Ultra Q had actually been dubbed into English at the same time as Ultraman, but was never syndicated in the States because stations preferred color shows at that time. Both had proven popular in Japan, but Ultraman would set the template for the franchise leading to multiple spin-offs and sequels, some only loosely connected to the others.
The 1966 series would be immediately followed in Japan by Ultra Seven which introduced a new alien hero from the same galaxy as Ultraman. That would be followed by The Return of Ultraman which featured yet another new hero (appropriately named New Ultraman, though later changed to Ultraman Jack). And while series creator Eiji Tsuburaya had passed away by that time, his son Hajime Tsuburaya continued to produce new entries in the franchise. The ’70s and early ’80s would deliver several sequels and spin-offs (including an Anime version), and the franchise would later resume in the ’90s with almost thirty new shows produced since then including the recent animated reboot on Netflix. (You can read about all of the shows in the series at this link).
Even though the original Ultraman proved popular in the U.S., there were no immediate attempts to import the sequels from overseas. A few were dubbed in the ’80s and ’90s but never proved as popular as they were in Japan. Apart from the original series, American audiences would probably best remember the 1992 entry Ultraman: Towards the Future which was a Japanese/Australian co-production that rebooted the franchise and received some airplay in the States. But that one only lasted 13 episodes.
Fortunately, quite a number of the shows have been making their way over to the States the last few years, usually in subtitled format. In fact, Shout TV has quite a selection from the Ultra Series streaming for free (with ads) including 1974’s Ultraman Leo (a particularly grisly entry in the franchise), Ultraman 80 (1980), and Ultraman Gaia (1998). And quite a number of the shows have been collected on DVD as well. So fans of the original series may want to check these out for some retro sci fi TV fun and to see what they missed over the past fifty-plus years. And you can read an excellent history of the Ultra shows through the 80’s at this link.
