Ultra Seven (ウルトラセブン Urutora Sebun) is tokusatsu science fiction TV series that aired on Japanese TV in 1967. Created by Eiji Tsuburaya, this follow up to Ultraman went on to become one of Japan's greatest fantasy TV series. Such is his popularity that Ultra Seven (or simply 'Seven') has appeared or at least made cameos in nearly every Ultra Series following his own and has had far more exposure than even the original Ultraman (though the original Ultraman is without a doubt the face of the Ultras).
Ultra Seven is sometimes incorrectly called "Ultraman Seven" by many sources outside Japan (or in the case ofKHON/Honolulu, Hawaii, Ultra 7, as listed in TV Guide when it ran in 1975). Both the series and its hero can also be called Ultraseven (without a space), which is generally the form used when romanized.
Episodes
7 Space Prisoner 303 (宇宙囚人303 Uchū Shūjin San-Maru-San?)
8 The Targeted Town (狙われた街 Nerawareta Machi?)
9 Android Zero Directive (アンドロイド0指令 Andoroido Zero Shirei?)
10 The Suspicious Neighbor (怪しい隣人 Ayashii Rinjin?)
11 Fly to Devil's Mountain (魔の山へ飛べ Ma no Yama e Tobe?)
13 The Man from V3 (V3から来た男 Bui Surī kara Kita Otoko?)
The 1967 TV series
Ultra Seven, produced by Tsuburaya Productions, aired on Tokyo Broadcasting System from October 1, 1967 to September 8. In the not-too-distant future, the Earth finds itself constantly under attack from extraterrestrial threats. To combat them, the Terrestrial Defense Force establishes the Ultra Guard (ウルトラ警備隊 Urutora keibi-tai?), 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, Ultraseven.
Characters — The Ultra Garrison (ウルトラ警備隊?)
Commander Kaoru Kiriyama is the captain of the Ultra Garrison. A no-nonsense but kind leader. He is from Tokyo.
Actor: Shōji Nakayama
Shigeru Furuhashi is a rotund, strong, trigger-happy member of the Ultra Garrison. Many years later, he would find himself a high-ranking TDF commander and one of Ultra Seven's few allies. He is from Hokkaido.
Actor: Sandayū Dokumamushi, or Iyoshi Ishii, who had previously been Science Patrolman Daisuke Arashi in Ultraman
Anne Yuri is the only female member of the Ultra Garrison, and also the youngest. She is the team's communications operator and nurse, but is still effective in action. Has feelings for fellow member Dan Moroboshi. She is also from Tokyo.
Actor: Yuriko Hishimi
Soga is Ultra Garrison's expert marksman. He is easy-going, but fierce in battle. He is a friend of Dan Moroboshi. He is from Southern Kyushu.
Actor: Shinsuke Achiha
Amagi is the twitchy stragegist. He is from Nagoya.
Actor: Bin "Satoshi" Furuya, previously the suit actor of Ultraman
Dan Moroboshi/Ultra Seven (Agent 340), the title character, is from the Land of Light in the Nebula M-78, the same planet as Ultraman. Originally sent to map the Milky Way, he visits Earth and it captivates him. On his first visit he saves the life of a young mountain climber named Jiro Satsuma, who nearly falls to his death while saving a fellow climber. Instead of merging with him, as Ultraman did with Science Patrolman Shin Hayata, 340 morphs himself into a duplicate of the unconscious Jiro. However, he names himself Dan Moroboshi to avoid confusion. A mysterious but friendly young man, Dan joins the Ultra Guard as its sixth member. Unknown to them or anyone else, he saves the day from alien invasions as Agent 340, christened by the Garrison as its "honorary 7th member," Ultra Seven.
Actor: Kohji Moritsugu; Suit Actor: Koji Uenishi
Statistics
Ultraseven fighting the robot/spaceship Narse in the episode Fly to the Mountain of Evil
Height: 40 meters
Weight: 35,000 metric tonnes
Flight Speed: Mach 120.9
Running Speed: Mach 6.55
Swimming Speed: 769 kilometer per hour
Tunneling Speed: Mach 1
Jumping Distance: 2300 meters
Home Planet: Land of Light, Nebula M-78, 2,000,000 light years from Earth
Human Form: Dan Moroboshi
Transformation Item: Ultra Eye, called the Task-Mask in the English-dubbed version
Powers
Unlike most other Ultramen, Ultra Seven does not demonstrate any of the time constraints that plague most of the other heroes of the Ultra Series. On one occasion however, the green Beam Lamp on his forehead would begin blinking in a similar fashion to the Color Timer that the other Ultra-Crusaders had.
However, this tended to occur when Ultra Seven was in mortal danger, suggesting it warned him how badly weakened he was rather than how much time he had left to fight. This is similar to some of the more recent Ultra-Crusaders, whose warning lights acted as indicators of battle injury and damage levels of their Ultra-Armor suits rather than time limit.
Eye Slugger: The crest on Ultra Seven's head can be detached and used as a throwing weapon. This is Ultra Seven's most well-known weapon, and possibly the most famous of all Ultra attacks. It has been incorrectly referred to as an "Ice Lugger" by various sources. This name was coined during the early pre-production on the series, which was going to be called "Ultra Eye" (Urutora Ai), hence "Eye Slugger." When the title of the series was changed to "Ultra Seven," the name of the weapon remained "Eye Slugger"—according to official Tsuburaya Productions production notes, published in Kodansha Official File Magazine Ultraman Vol. 4 & 5: "Ultra Seven" (2005).
Emerium Beam: Various concentrations of energy rays could be fired from the Beam Lamp on his head as one of Ultra Seven's finishers. It is one of his trademark moves. He would either fire it standing with his left hand drawn to his chest while his right arm was outstretched, with his arms crossed so that his hands are touching his armpits, or more commonly on one knee, two fingers from both hands nearly touching the gem.
Wide Shot: Ultra Seven's most powerful attack. By gathering energy in the armor plates on his shoulders and chest, Ultra Seven could unleash a powerful stream of energy by crossing his arms in an L-shape (his left arm upright, his right arm bent). He could further increase the potency of the beam, but this special attack drains his own energy. The Wide Shot was later turned into an ordinary weapon where Ultra Seven can just pose his arms into a L-style and does not drain his energy. Of course, this style will not be as powerful as the one needs to drain his own energy.
Capsule Monsters: When unable to fight (usually because his Ultra Eye has been stolen), Dan will often produce a small capsule that releases a giant-sized monster to fight in his place. Although he is shown to have four or five capsules, only three capsule monsters are shown in the series, Windam, Miclas, and Agira. In the 1998 Direct To Video series, Ultra Seven once used one of the capsules to incapacitate a member of the new Ultra Garrison in order to take his place. The Capsule Monsters would later return in the form of the Maquette Monsters from Ultraman Mebius.
Ring Shot: When severely depleted of energy, Seven uses the ring shot to replace the wide shot. It is generated by Seven spreading both his arms our and joining his palms together. In a split second, a ring shaped beam zips through his palms and usually cuts through the enemy.
Ultra S.O.S.: Like the other Ultra-Crusaders, Seven can summon a blue signal from his eyes and send an S.O.S flashing in the sky. Unlike that of Ultraman Ace, his S.O.S flashes in green.
Ultra Splitter: Seven splits himself in many forms, to confuse his opponent. Usually he uses it to drive his enemy in circles. The move depletes his energy supply by one minute, and is used against teleporting enemies.
The "Seven Shrink": As seen by Crazygon, Seven shrinks himself and enters into a cannon. The cannon fires and the miniature Seven cuts through the monster like a bullet.
Eye Beam: Seven crosses his hands together and pulls it down to his lower torso. Twin beams burst from his eyes and hit the enemy.
Solar Recharge: When severely depleted of energy, Seven turns towards the Sun and absorbs the rays into his chest, he then has enough energy to finish his opponent off.
Differences from the original Ultraman
Ultra Seven was not only visually different from the first Ultraman (being mostly red with a removable crest/weapon and more 'boxy'-looking eyes), but often faced numerous moral and ethical dilemmas. On one occasion, he was forced to break a promise Dan had made to a young boy who was undergoing an operation in order to protect the hospital from a monster. On another occasion, he was forced to battle the sole survivor of a small planet that was destroyed by a careless weapons test, making him wonder if he was fighting for a worthy cause. On yet another occasion, as Dan, he desperately tried to contact the inhabitants of a space faring city before it was destroyed by the Ultra Garrison, to keep it from crashing into Earth.
Also, Ultraseven did not possess a mortally injured human to use as his host but instead used his powers to scan a brave human that he had saved from being fatally injured and used that human as a template to create a human form for him to shift into. Thus, Dan Moroboshi literally IS Ultraseven while the original Ultraman would instead merge into the body of Shin Hayata to make two beings into one. However the consequence of Ultraseven transforming into a human form is that catastrophic injuries he receives as Ultraseven can and will pass on to his human form of Dan Moroboshi. This was shown best in the opening episode of Ultraman Leo when Ultraseven was badly beaten by a tag team of two monsters and their alien master, with one of the monsters breaking his right leg. After he reverted to his human form, the injuries were still there and as a result of the injuries as well as the severe energy drain he suffered, Dan was unable to transform back into Ultraseven and his Ultra Eye was damaged in the process. Ultraman Leo, Ultraman 80 and Ultraman Mebius also used their powers to create a human form to transform into and thus they also would share this same weakness as Ultraseven.
The Ultra Series (ウルトラシリーズ Urutora Shirīzu?) is the collective name for all the shows produced by Tsuburaya Productions featuring Ultraman, his many brethren, and the myriad Ultra Monsters. The Ultra Series is one of the prominenttokusatsu superhero genre productions from Japan, along with Toei produced series Kamen Rider, Super Sentai, and theMetal Heroes. The Ultra franchise is also one of the most well known examples of the daikaiju genre, which also includesToho's Godzilla films, and Daiei Film's Gamera series. However, the Ultra Series also falls into the kyodai (Giant Hero) subgenre of Tokusatsu shows.
The Ultraman
Ultraman and his many kin are usually red-and-silver (although several color variations have been seen in recent years) and have glowing yellow almond-shaped dome eyes (although there are exceptions to both the shape and color) and various abilities, most notably to fire energy beams from various positions of crossed hands. The Ultra beings' main weakness is that they can only stay on Earth in giant form for a limited span of time, usually not longer than three minutes, owing to a limited supply of energy (Earth's atmosphere filters out solar energy). This is marked by a light on the character's body usually called the Color Timer, or "warning light," which eventually begins to blink with increasing frequency as his energy supply dwindles (and turns from blue to red). At this stage, the Ultra beings must either find a way to recharge or finish the fight as soon as possible, or involuntarily revert to human form, or worse, risk certain death. Some say another reason for Ultraman to recharge is because the Earth is badly polluted by humans, so Ultraman only has three minutes on Earth, but can survive long enough in outer space. The time limit only happens inside the Earth's atmosphere but they have none of those setbacks outside. To counter this, Ultramen almost always merge with a human host or create a human form for themselves in order to survive on Earth, more often than not reviving a recently dead person with their own lifeforce. Ultra beings also appear to be near impossible to permanently kill, as several times an Ultra being has been killed only to be revived by another member of their species. In other cases a large enough amount of energy can be utilized to bring them back to life, usually provided by their human allies, even after being completely destroyed, as was the case with Mebius' death at the hands of Empira, only to be revived shortly thereafter by the life energy of his allies. Ultraman always try to avoid battles in inhabited areas or fighting in a place where there are innocent bystanders and try to cause the least amount of destruction as possible, from the side effects of their fights when confronting in the city, when and if they can't; a city like Tokyo would be destroyed. The Ultra-Garrison are ranked from low-tier cosmics to high-tier cosmics.
The Ultraman phenomenon
Ultraman was followed by many other series. Sequels to the original series are: Ultraseven (1967, TBS), The Return of Ultraman (1971, TBS), Ultraman Ace (1972, TBS), Ultraman Taro (1973, TBS), Ultraman Leo (1974, TBS), Ultraman 80 (1980, TBS), Ultraman Tiga (1996, MBS), Ultraman Dyna (1997, MBS), Ultraman Gaia(1998, MBS), and Ultraman Cosmos (2001, MBS). Recently the studio tried a reinvention of the hero through the "Ultra N Project," which involved three heroes: Ultraman Noa (the "mascot" of the Ultra N Project, who appears in stage shows as well as the final episode of Ultraman Nexus) in late 2003, Ultraman Nexus (2004,CBC), and ULTRAMAN (2004, Shochiku Productions). This was followed by a return to old-school style series in the form of Ultraman Max (2005, CBC). In the course of Max series, another new hero known as Ultraman Xenon was also introduced. April 2006 saw the 40th anniversary series, Ultraman Mebius, which signalled a long-awaited return to the original canon. Another hero was also introduced: Ultraman Hikari, formerly known as Hunter Knight Tsurugi.
The franchise has also been in the movie theaters, starting with Ultraman Zearth and Ultraman Zearth 2, Ultraman Tiga: The Final Odyssey, released in 2000, as well as ULTRAMAN, a movie that opened in December 2004. The straight-to-video market also saw the release of Ultraman Neos in 2000, as well as special features for Ultraman Tiga, Dyna, and Gaia, who have teamed up in theatrical features (Tiga and Dyna once, as well as the three of them all together). TheUltraman Mebius and Ultra Brothers movie opened in September 2006.
Foreign productions include the 1987 Hanna-Barbera co-production Ultraman: The Adventure Begins (in Japanese, Ultraman USA), an animated movie; Ultraman: Towards The Future (in Japanese, Ultraman Great), an Australian 1991 production and Ultraman: The Ultimate Hero (in Japanese, Ultraman Powered), produced in the United States in 1993. Ultraman series have also been dubbed into various languages, including English, Spanish (only Ultra Q, the original Ultraman, Ultra Seven, Return of Ultra Man, Ultraman Great & Ultraman Tiga were known to be translated into Spanish), Portuguese (Ultraman, Ultraseven, Return of Ultraman and Ultraman Tiga in Brazil), Korean, Malay, Mandarin, Indonesian and Cantonese. Also of note is the American English dub of Ultraman Tiga by 4Kids Entertainmentthat aired in 2002. The dub considerably distorted the characterization and general mood of the series, and--possibly as a result--it achieved only limited success. An episode of the Hoshi no Kirby anime series ("Kirby: Right Back at Ya" in America) contains an Ultraman reference, leading to the possibility that "Tiga" may have only been licensed in order to explain the reference (both shows debuted on the same day).
In 1993, Tsuburaya Productions and Toei Company co-produced Ultraman vs. Kamen Rider, a crossover with the original Ultraman and Toei's Kamen Rider 1. This direct-to-video feature is co-copyrighted by both Toei (and its subordinates, Toei Video and Ishinomori Productions) and Tsuburaya Productions.
At present, Tsuburaya Prod. accepts 36 Ultramen as official (counting Ultraman Legend, the combined form of Ultramen Cosmos and Justice, as a separate entity). This figure does not account for Thai-produced Ultramen. (The figure is 38 if Next, Noa, and Nexus are counted as separate entities--it has been revealed in Nexusthat all three are a single being with various modes used by different hosts.) In 2013, the Ultra Series was cited in the Guinness Book of World Records as the record-holder for the most number of spin-off shows.[1]
The government of Malaysia banned the printing of an Ultraman book because it compared the character of Ultraman King (from the film Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy) with "Allah", the Arabic word for God, even though it is commonly used in Malaysian to refer to any "God". The Ministry of Home Affairs stated that the comparison may "confuse Muslim children and damage their faith".[2]
Basic shows
An asterisk * denotes shows (or movies) that feature no Ultramen.
Ultra Q (1966)*
Ultraman (1966–1967)
Ultra Seven (1967–1968)
The Return of Ultraman (Kaettekita Ultraman, AKA: Ultraman Jack) (1971–1972)
Ultraman Ace (1972–1973)
Ultraman Taro (1973–1974)
Ultraman Leo (1974–1975)
Ultraman 80 (1980–1981)
Ultraman: Towards the Future (AKA: Ultraman Great) (1990) Co-production with Australia
Ultraman: The Ultimate Hero (AKA: Ultraman Powered) (1993) Co-production with USA
Ultraman Tiga (1996–1997)
Ultraman Dyna (1997–1998)
Ultraman Gaia (1998–1999)
Ultraman Neos (2000–2001) Direct-to-DVD series
Ultraman Cosmos (2001–2002)
Ultra Q: Dark Fantasy (2004)*
Ultraman Nexus (2004–2005)
Ultraman Max (2005–2006)
Ultraman Mebius (2006–2007)
Ultraseven X (2007)
Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle (2007–2008)
Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle: Never Ending Odyssey (2008-2009)
Ultraman Retsuden (2011–2013)
Neo Ultra Q (2013)*
Ultraman Ginga (2013)
Ultraman Ginga S (2014)
Ultraman Kids' shows
Ultraman Kids' M7'8 Movie (1984)
Ultraman Kids' Proverb Stories (1986)
Ultraman Kids: 30 Million Light Years Looking for Mama (1991–1992)
Movies
Ultraman (1967) Compilation Film
Ultraman, Ultraseven: Great Violent Monster Fight (1969) Special event movie filmed in Cinerama.
The 6 Ultra Brothers vs. the Monster Army (1974) Thai Coproduction
Ultraman (1979) Compilation Film
Ultraman: Great Monster Decisive Battle (1979) Compilation Film
Ultraman Zoffy: Ultra Warriors vs. the Giant Monster Army (1984)
Ultraman Story (1984)
Ultraman: The Adventure Begins (AKA: Ultraman USA) (1987) US/Japan Animated TV Movies, Specials and OVAs
Ultra Q The Movie: Legend of the Stars (1990)*
Ultraman Wonderful World (30th Anniversary Anthology)
Revive! Ultraman (1996) Compilation
Ultraman Company: This is the Ultraman (Wacky) Investigation Team (1996) (Anime)
Ultraman Zearth (1996)
Ultraman Zearth 2: Superman Big Battle - Light and Shadow (1997)
Ultra Nyan: Extraordinary Cat who Descended from the Starry Sky (1997) (Anime)
Ultraman Tiga & Ultraman Dyna: Warriors of the Star of Light (1998)
Ultra Nyan 2: The Great Happy Operation (1998) (Anime)
Ultraman Tiga & Ultraman Dyna & Ultraman Gaia: Battle in Hyperspace (1999)
Ultraman Tiga: The Final Odyssey (2000)
Ultraman Cosmos: The First Contact (2001)
Ultraman Cosmos 2: The Blue Planet (2002)
Ultraman Cosmos vs. Ultraman Justice: The Final Battle (2003)
Ultraman (AKA: Ultraman The Next) (2004)
Ultraman Mebius & Ultra Brothers (2006)
Superior Ultraman 8 Brothers (2008)
Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy (2009)
Ultraman Zero: The Revenge of Belial (2010)
Ultraman Saga (2012)
Ultraman Ginga S: Decisive Battle! Ultra 10 Warriors!! (2015)
Specials
TV
Ultra Seven - Operation: Solar Energy
Ultra Seven - The Ground of the Earthlings
Ultraman vs. Kamen Rider (1993) Co-production with Toei Company and Ishinomori Productions
OVA (Original Video Animation) / anime series
The Ultraman (AKA: Ultraman Jonias) (1979–1980) anime series, co produced by Sunrise
Ultraman Graffiti (1990)
Ultraman: Super Fighter Legend (1996)
OVT (Original Video Tokusatsu)
1998 Ultra Seven Series
Ultra Seven - Lost Memory
Ultra Seven - From Earth Forever
Ultra Seven - Betrayal of the Sun
1999 Ultra Seven Series
Ultra Seven - Glory and Legend
Ultra Seven - The Sky-Flying Colossus
Ultra Seven - The Day the Fruit Ripens
Ultra Seven - Consequences of a Promise
Ultra Seven - The Imitated Man
Ultra Seven - I Am an Earthling
2001 Heisei Ultraman Side Stories
Ultraman Tiga Side Story: The Giant Resurrected In The Ancient Past (2001)
Ultraman Dyna: Return of Hanejiro (2001)
Ultraman Gaia: Gaia Again (2001)
2002 Ultra Seven: EVOLUTION Series
Ultra Seven: EVOLUTION - Dark Side
Ultra Seven: EVOLUTION - Perfect World
Ultra Seven: EVOLUTION - Neverland
Ultra Seven: EVOLUTION - Innocent
Ultra Seven: EVOLUTION - Akashic Record
2007 Ultraman Mebius Side Story: Hikari Saga
Hikari Saga - Arb's Tragedy
Hikari Saga - A Warrior's Training
Hikari Saga - Return Of Light
2008 Ultraman Mebius Side Story: Armored Darkness
Stage 1 - Destructive Legacy
Stage 2 - The Wicked Immortal Armor
2009 Ultraman Mebius Side Story: Ghost Reverse
Stage 1 - Graveyard of Darkness
Stage 2 - Emperor of Resurrection
2010 Ultra Galaxy Legend Side Story: Ultraman Zero vs. Darklops Zero
Stage 1 - Cosmic Collision
Stage 2 - Zero's Suicide Zone
2011 Ultraman Zero Side Story: Killer the Beatstar
"Stage 1 - Universe of Steel"
"Stage 2 - Pledge of the Meteor"
Mini-Shows
Ultra Fight (1970)
Ultra Super Fight (1990)
Ultra Super Legend: Andromelos (1984)
Ultraman Nice (2001)