ULTRAMAN (2011 manga)



ULTRAMAN is a manga written by Eiichi Shimizu and drawn by Tomohiro Shimoguchi of  fame. Published in Hero's Monthly since its November 2011 issue, it is a manga sequel of the 1966 Ultraman television series. As of August 20, 2016, the series has been collected in 8 volumes consisting of 21 chapters.

The series was originally marketed as ULTRAMAN Begins, before becoming just ULTRAMAN. It is a Seinen series meaning it primarily targets the more mature male audience giving it room for dark and deep characters and situations.

The series will be getting a 3DCG anime adaptation in 2019.

Story
Forty years have passed since the events of Ultraman, with the legendary "Giant of Light" (光の巨人) now a memory, as it is believed he returned home after fighting the many giant aliens that invaded the Earth. Shin Hayata's son Shinjiro seems to possess a strange ability, and it is this ability, along with his father's revelation that he was Ultraman, that leads Shinjiro to battle the new aliens invading the Earth as the new Ultraman.

Motion Comic
The motion comic version was released in mid 2015. Megumi Han was present among the attendees and was given a chance to meet Ultraman Tiga, her favorite Ultra.

Science Special Search Party

 * Shinjiro Hayata (早田 進次郎（ハヤタ・シンジロウ）)
 * The protagonist. When Shinjiro was born, he was seen to possess a strange "Ultraman Factor" (ウルトラマン因子) that makes him superhuman, with his mere grasp able to break bones and his leap allowing him to span buildings. When aliens begin invading Earth, Shin Hayata and Dr. Ide give Shinjiro a special Ultraman Suit (ウルトラマンスーツ) to battle the monsters invading the Earth.


 * Shin Hayata (早田 進（ハヤタ・シン）)
 * Shinjiro's father and the original Ultraman. At the beginning of the story, he has been given the title of Minister of Defense. Although the Ultraman entity has left his body, and he only has vague memories of his time as Ultraman, he still possesses some Ultraman Factor within him that allows him to fight to some extent, but he returns to the sidelines after being hurt in the battle with Be Mular.


 * Mitsuhiro Ide (井手 光弘（イデ・ミツヒロ）)
 * A former member of the Japan Branch of the Science Special Search Party (科学特捜隊), and now chief of the Institute of Science and Technology (科学技術研究所). He secretly has known that Shin has recently transformed into Ultraman to fight monsters, revealing this fact to his friend at the Giant of Light Memorial (光の巨人記念館), the secret base of the Science Special Search Party. He gives Shinjiro the Ultraman Suit and reveals the truth about his father to him. Although he usually appears stoic, he is angered by the Alien Adasic's actions.


 * Dan Moroboshi (諸星 弾（モロボシ・ダン）)
 * A mysterious man who works with the Science Special Search Team, but only seems to appear at the scenes of murders which an alien is the culprit. He feels that Shinjiro is too immature for the responsibilities placed on him as the new Ultraman. Moroboshi shares his name with the main character of Ultra Seven, but the relation between the two of them is unknown.


 * Akiko Fuji (富士 明子（フジ・アキコ）)
 * A former member of the Science Special Search Team with Hayata and Ide, but is now Moroboshi's superior officer.


 * Seiji Hokuto
 * A fellow student of Shinjiro's grad-school, he knows of Shinjiro's identity as Ultraman. Like Moroboshi he is also a fitted with a Special version of the Ultraman Suit called Version A.

Aliens

 * Bemular (べムラー)
 * An alien who appears in shadow to Shinjiro, allegedly in an attempt to bring the Earth into the Stellar Cluster Council. He also claims to be the first enemy, but his true reasons for his actions are unknown. He is named after the Ultraman monster Bemular.


 * Edo/Alien Zetton (ゼットン星人・エド)
 * The last of the Zettonian race, Ultraman's fierce enemies in the past. This time, he assists the Science Special Search Party in their fight against the other more dangerous alien species, providing them with the technology of the Ultraman Suits.


 * Alien Adacic (エイダシク星人)
 * A mysterious alien hiding as a human on Earth, preying upon people in the guise of a serial killer, and one of Shinjiro's first foes as Ultraman. He resembles the Baltan Aliens, which were designed after the Cicada Man from Ultra Q.


 * Alien Igaru (イガル星人)
 * A short alien that stalks the popular idol Rena Sayama.


 * Red (レッド)
 * A resident of the Alien City who is a popular boxer, but has recently been dethroned by Jack. He resembles the monster Red King.


 * Alien Kadder
 * A petty criminal that Shinjiro took down.


 * Alien Bris
 * An alien assassin responsible for a string of murders.


 * Agent Adad
 * A mysterious Alien who works for the star cluster council


 * Yapool
 * Seiji's guardian and backer.


 * Mephisto Ambassador
 * The Head of the Star Cluster Council operatives on Earth

Civilians

 * Endo (遠藤)
 * A police officer who unwittingly is drawn into the world of aliens living on the Earth during his investigations. His daughter is a huge fan of the original Ultraman.


 * Kurata (倉田)
 * Endo's junior partner.


 * Rena Sayama (佐山 レナ)
 * A popular idol around Shinjiro's age. She is a fan of both the original and the new Ultraman, dedicating her third single "Ultlove" (ウルトラブ) to him. She has seemingly fallen in love with the new Ultraman, unaware that he is Shinjiro.


 * Jack (ジャック)
 * A human who lives in the Alien City who possesses powers rivalling that of the resident extraterrestrials, even winning in a boxing match against Red. He acts as an informant to Moroboshi. His real name is unknown. He seems to possess a bracelet that resembles the Ultra Bracelet used by Hideki Gō to perform attacks as Ultraman Jack in The Return of Ultraman.

Terms

 * SSSP: Despite what the public believe, the SSSP is still operating thanks to Matsuhiro Ide, originally for the sole purpose of protecting Shin and Shinjiro. After the first appearance of Bemular, their goals changed to protecting the planet once again. Seven years from the story's present they entered Earth into the Star Cluster Alliance.
 * Giant of Light's Memorial: The former SSSP J base, it's public appearance is a memorial dedicated to the battles of Ultraman and the original SSSP team. In truth it still serves as the base of operations for the SSSP
 * Ultraman Factor: the term referring the Ultra DNA present in both father and son Hayata, it is what gives them beyond human abilities. It makes their bodies sturdy to the point they are dauntless in the face of a normal person's assault and gives them incredible muscle strength that allows superhuman strength and jumping. Also, holders of this factor also seem to have Specium energy present in their bodies which is used to power their suits.
 * Ultraman Suit: A powered suit created by Ide, it is powered by Specium to take advantage of the Ultraman Factor. Modeled after Ultraman it has a mechanical Color timer, upon a drop in the energy consumption or output from the wearer it turns red and begins blinking like a real color timer. There are two models, the dark, helmet-less proto-type suit worn by Shin and the more Ultra like suit worn by Shinjiro. Both suits provide the user with extra protection and help to focus their Ultra Factor abilities. The newer model is also armed with multi-purpose Specium weapons and can fire a Specium Ray. It is fired from the classic arm position form instead of being fired from the right hand it is fired from the left arm.
 * Star Cluster Alliance: A collection of inhabited planets which joined together to form a political alliance. It can be described as a space UN and is headed by a Council. Edo, now runs the SSSP on behalf of the Alliance, most likely ever since Earth joined them. It was the Alliance that stopped any further attempts at invasion and destroyed all the monsters on Earth. However due to Earth's joining this union it has become an open system allowing Aliens to legally migrate to it. While most behave as civil beings and do not attract attention some require the SSSP to exterminate them, or at least stop them.
 * Portals: Portals are special government run buildings all over the world, inside believed to connect to the pocket dimension housing the city of alien immigrants.
 * Babel: The Star Cluster Council Base on Earth.

Publication history
Pending