History of Ultraman

R.I.P. Peggy Hayama (1934-2017)

Hey guys. Last time I went over the Super Sentai & Kamen Rider Series, but now this time I am going over something that has existed a lot longer, the Ultra Series. The Ultra Series was best known to be made my Tsuburaya Productions, which was found by Eiji Tsuburaya, who was one of the people who worked on the infamous Godzilla franchise. I'll get to that sometime later, but let's head on in into the History of the Ultra Series.

Ultra Q (1966)
This was the first installment of the Ultra Series. Unlike the other Ultra Series following it, this show does not have an Ultraman, but does include various monsters who show up in certain episodes, kind of like a ¨mystery of the week¨ sort of premise, like Twilight Zone or Outer Limits. The show ran for 28 episodes.



Ultraman (1966-1967)
This was the second installment of the franchise. As the show differs from it´s predecessor, Ultra Q, the show actually features the very first Ultraman. The show was a big success and ran for 39 episodes.



Ultraseven (1967-1968)
This was the third installment of the franchise. This show differs from Ultraman because of his name. That´s it, there is not much difference between Ultraman and Ultraseven, except that Ultraseven transforms with the Ultra Eye (a pair of glasses) while the original Ultraman transforms with the Beta Capsule and Ultraseven can fight in bot normal-size and giant-size while the original fights only in giant-size. The show ran for 49 episodes.



The Return of Ultraman (1971-1973)
This was the fourth installment of the franchise. The show is called The Return of Ultraman because of the three year hiatus. The show´s main hero was called Ultraman Jack and had a similar design to the original Ultraman. The show ran for 51 episodes.



Ultraman Ace (1972-1973)
This was the fifth installment of the franchise. The show´s main hero, Ultraman Ace, is actually a fusion of two people, much like Kamen Rider W, but actually it is both a male and female who fuse together to form Ace, as oppose of two males. The female, Yuko Minami, had to leave because she is actually one of the natives from the moon. She gave her Ultra Ring to Seiji Hokuto where he transforms into Ultraman Ace on his own. The show ran for 52 episodes.



Ultraman Taro (1973-1974)
This was the sixth installment of the franchise. The show ran for 53 episodes.



Ultraman Leo (1974-1975)
This was the seventh installment of the franchise. The show ran for 51 episodes.



The★Ultraman (1979-1980)
This was the eighth installment of the franchise. This is actually the first of the Ultra Series that was an anime, Ultraman USA being the last. The show ran for 50 episodes.



Ultraman 80 (1980-1981)
This was the ninth installment of the franchise and the last of the Showa Era. The show ran for 50 episodes.



Ultraman USA (or Ultraman: The Adventures Begins) (1987)
Much like, The★Ultraman, this was as well an anime, but only in movie form. This wasn´t actually the first time the Ultra Series was brought into the States. Certain Showa Era Ultra Series were dubbed in English and broadcasted on American televison.



Ultraman Great (or Ultraman: Towards the Future) (1992)
This was actually an Austrailian-Japanese Ultraman series that was brought into the states in 1992, and then in Japan in 1995. The show ran for 13 episodes.



Ultraman Powered (or Ultraman: The Ultimate Hero) (1993)
This an American-Japanese Ultraman series that was never shown in America. It was much like it´s predecessor, Ultraman Great, It was released on VHS in Japan 1993, until two years later, in 1995, the show aired on Japanese television. The reason why it was never shown in America, because Tsuburaya Productions thought that the show was too weak compared to previous installments of the Ultra Series. After the series, Tsuburaya thought that they should work on domestic Ultra Series. The show ran for 13 episodes, much like Ultraman Great. 

  

Ultraman Zearth (1996)
Ultraman Zearth was actually a parody of the Ultra Series. It was released to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Ultra Series. One year later in 1997, a sequel was released, Ultraman Zearth 2: Superman Big Battle - Light & Shadow. The movie featured an evil counterpart of Zearth, Ultraman Shadow.



Ultraman Tiga (1996-1997)
This was the tenth installment of the Ultra Series and the first of the Heisei Era. The show was brought into the States and was dubbed for an American audience on Fox Box. The show ran for 52 episodes.



Ultraman Dyna (1997-1998)
This was the eleventh installment of the Ultra Series and the second of the Heisei Era. The show ran for 51 episodes.



Ultraman Gaia (1998-1999)
This was the twelfth installment of the Ultra Series and the third of the Heisei Era. The show ran for 51 episodes.



Ultraman Nice (1999-2000)
Unlike previous Ultra Series, this was actually a series of 1-minute ¨infomercials¨ that aired in Japan. It had a total of 40 ¨episodes¨.



Ultraman Neos (2000-2001)
Unlike previous Ultra Series, this was a direct-to-video series that was released on DVD. The heroes´ designs, Ultraman Neos and Ultraseven 21 were a throwback to the original Ultraman and Ultraseven. The show had a total of 12 episodes.



Ultraman Cosmos (2001-2002)
This was the thirteenth installment of the franchise and the fourth of the Heisei Era. The show had a total of 65 episodes, making it the longest Ultraman series ever. The show also had three movie spin-offs, Ultraman Cosmos: The First Contact, Ultraman Cosmos 2: The Blue Planet, and Ultraman Cosmos vs Ultraman Justice: The Final Battle, which featured a new Ultraman, Ultraman Justice.

  



Ultraman: The Next (2004)
This was a movie that was a part of Tsuburaya´s Ultra N Project, the same with Ultraman Nexus. The Ultra N Project was a three-phase experiment to reinvent the franchise to an older audience.



Ultraman Nexus (2004-2005)
This was the fourteenth installment of the franchise and the fifth series of the Heisei Era. The show was said to be the darkest Ultraman series ever. The show had a total of 37 episodes, with 2 DVD-exclusive specials.



Ultraman Max (2005-2006)
This was the fifteenth installment of the franchise and the sixth series of the Heisei Era. The show had a total of 40 episodes.



Ultraman Mebius (2006-2007)
This was the sixteenth installment of the franchise and the seventh series of the Heisei Era. The show celebrated the 40th Anniversary of the Ultra Series. The show had a total of 50 episodes.



Ultraseven X (2007)
This was the seventeenth installment of the franchise. Much like Ultraman Nexus, Ultraseven X was a pretty dark series, maybe because it was aimed at adults. The show had a total of 12 episodes.



Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle (2007-2008)
This was the eighteenth installment of the franchise. Much like Ultra Q, this show does not feature an Ultraman in the show. The show had a total of 13 episodes.



Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle: Never Ending Odyssey (2008-2009)
This was the nineteenth installment of the franchise and the second season to Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle. The show had a total of 13 episodes.



Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy The Movie (2009)
This was a movie released in Japan, introducing a new hero, Ultraman Zero, who is the son of Ultraseven. This movie also ties in with the Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle series.



Ultraman Zero The Movie: The Revenge of Belial (2010)
This was a sequel to Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy.



Ultraman Saga (2012)
This was a movie that was a sequel to the last two movies. The movie featured a fusion of Ultraman Dyna, Cosmos, & Zero into Ultraman Saga.



Ultraman Ginga (2013)
This was the twentieth installment of the franchise. The show had a total of 11 episodes, making it the shortest Ultra Series ever.



Ultraman Ginga S (2014)
This was the twenty-first installment of the franchise. The show was a sequel to Ultraman Ginga. The show had a total of 16 episodes.



Ultraman Ginga S: Showdown! Ultra 10 Warriors!! (2015)
This was a movie spin-off for Ultraman Ginga S.

Ultraman X (2015)
This was the twenty-second installment of the franchise. The show had a total of 22 episodes.



Ultraman X The Movie: Here Comes Our Ultraman! (2016)
This was a movie spin-off for Ultraman X which celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the Ultra Series.



Ultraman Orb (2016)
This was the twenty-third installment of the series. It celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the Ultra Series. The show had a total of 25 episodes.



Ultraman Orb: The Origin Saga (2017)
This was a prequel saga that takes place before Ultraman Orb. The show had a total of 12 episodes.



Ultraman Orb: I´m Borrowing the Power of Your Bonds (2017)
This was a movie spin-off of Ultraman Orb.

Ultraman Geed (2017-2018)

This is the twenty-fourth installment of the Ultra series. The series had a total of 25 episodes.



Ultraman Geed the Movie: Connect The Wishes! (2018)
This was a movie spin-off of Ultraman Geed.



Ultraman R/B (2018-2019)
This was the twenty-fifth installment of the Ultra Series and for the first time, the series focused on two Ultramen as oppose to one. It had a total of 25 episodes

Ultraman R/B The Movie: Select! The Crystal of Bond (2019)
This was a movie spin-off of Ultraman R/B.

Ultraman Taiga (2019-)
This is the twenty-sixth installment of the Ultra Series and much like R/B, this series will focus on more than one Ultraman, this case being three of them.

Well, that is it for this day. Next time, I will be going over the Godzilla franchise, both American and Japanese movies. Later.