The☆Ultraman

The Ultraman (ザ☆ウルトラマン) is a Japanese animated television series co-produced by Tsuburaya Production and Tokyo Broadcasting System. The series aired on TBS Television affiliates on the Wednesday 7:00 PM time slot from April 4, 1979 to March 26, 1980, lasting a total of 50 episodes. It was the eighth installment in the Ultra Series and aired four years after the end of Ultraman Leo. The show was the first animated incarnation of Tsuburaya's iconic superhero Ultraman, as well as one of the earliest works of anime studio Nippon Sunrise (now known simply as Sunrise), who also worked on their now-iconic mecha series Mobile Suit Gundam during the same year.

Ultraman Joneus
The Ultraman featured in this series is named Ultraman Joneus (ウルトラマンジョーニアス), who is also called Ultraman Joe (ウルトラマンJ) for short, and he hails from the Planet U40 (as opposed to the Land of Light in Nebula M78, where Ultra-beings usually came from).

Scientific Defense Guard
The Scientific Defense Guard (科学警備隊) is a branch of the Earth Defence Force.
 * Tetsuo Akiyama (アキヤマ 徹男): The first captain of the Far East Zone. He is transferred to the America Zone in Episode 26.
 * Daisuke Gondo (ゴンドウ 大助): The second captain of the Far East Zone, who takes over Akiyama's duties from Episode 27 and onward.
 * Kei Marume (マルメ 敬): A chubby strongman and an expert marksman.
 * Hiroaki Tobe (トベ 博明): A smart alik weapons developer.
 * Mutsumi Hoshikawa (星川 ムツミ): The female member.
 * Choichiro Hikari (ヒカリ 超一郎): He encounters Joeneus on his way from the space station EGG 3 to the earth, and merges with Joeneus.
 * Pig and Monkey: The Pigmon-like robot operator and mascot of the team, respectively.

Episodes

 * 1) Birth of a New Hero
 * 2) The Secret of The Shining Pendant
 * 3) When the Weed Whistle Blows in the Evening
 * 4) Chase of the Mysterious Red Cloud
 * 5) The Passenger! Break through the Underground
 * 6) Challenge to the Burning Deep Sea
 * 7) The Secret of Team Member Hikari Is Stolen!?
 * 8) Terror of the Awakened Ancient Creature
 * 9) The Challenge of The Science Garrison
 * 10) The Living Phantom Bird
 * 1) The Challenge of The Science Garrison
 * 2) The Living Phantom Bird
 * 1) The Living Phantom Bird
 * 1) The Living Phantom Bird
 * 1) The Living Phantom Bird
 * 1) The Living Phantom Bird

English versions
In the United States, there have been two feature-length movie compilations:
 * The Adventures of Ultraman (1981), a featured-length movie produced by Tsuburaya Productions specifically for the English-language market. The movie is composed of edited footage from several episodes of the series. The storyline was rewritten for this adaptation with a new script by Jeff Segal and music composed by Mark McKinniss.
 * Ultraman II: The Further Adventures of Ultraman (1983), a dub of the first four episodes co-produced by Tsuburaya Productions and Associates Entertainment International. Despite the title, it has no continuity with the previous English dub of the series. Although the translation is closer to the original Japanese scripts than the first movie, the characters' names were still changed (although, the names given to the characters are not the same ones used in the previous dub). The order of the third and fourth episodes were also switched.