The☆Ultraman (ザ☆ウルトラマン Za Urutoraman) is the 8th entry in the Ultra Series, aired four years hiatus after the end of Ultraman Leo. For the first time in the series, the show was presented as an anime instead of a tokusatsu show, with the production company Nippon Sunrise (now known simply as Sunrise), known for their now-iconic mecha series Mobile Suit Gundam, handling the animation.
The Ultraman featured in this series is named Ultraman Joneus (ウルトラマンジョーニアス Urutoraman Jōniasu alternately spelled Ultraman Jonias), who is also called Ultraman Joe (ウルトラマンJ Urutoraman Jō) for short. He hails from the Planet U40 (as opposed to the Land of Light in Nebula M78, where Ultra-beings usually came from).
This ending theme serves as the first case of an entry in the Ultra Series having and ending sequence. Preformed by BGM staff who had previously composed the theme song for "Ultra Seven". Both songs were recorded in Los Angeles, as was the in-play music.
Insertion Songs
"Ultraman Hymn"
Lyrics: Kazuho Mitsuda
Composition and Arrangement: Toru Fuyuki
Song: Isao Sasaki
Sasaki, who was in charge of the song, made it the most difficult song he had ever sung.
"Star of Ultra"
Lyrics: Tani Noboru
Composition and Arrangement: Toru Fuyuki
Song: Columbia Torigokai
"Song of Mutsumi"
Lyrics-Kazuho Mitsuda
Composition: Tani Noboru
Arrangement: Takada Hiroshi
Song: Horie Mitsuko
"Super Murdoch"
Lyrics and Composition: Tani Noboru
Arrangement: Hirotaka Takada
Song: Isao Sasaki
"Our Science Garrison"
Lyrics: Kazuho Mitsuda
Composition: Tani Noboru
Arrangement: Hirotaka Takada
Songs: Isao Sasaki
"Robot Pigu's Song"
Lyrics: Tani Noboru
Composition: Fuoki Toru
Arrangement: Maruyama Masahito
Song: Takiguchi Junpei
"Tomorrow ..."
Lyrics and Composition: Tani Noboru
Arrangement: Takada Hiroshi
Song: Toyama Takashi
It was used in Episode 18, and in Episode 23, the instrument was used.
"Monster Requiem"
Lyrics: Kazuho Mitsuda
Composition and Arrangement: Toru Fuyuki
Songs: Isao Sasaki
In the 15th episode of the next film " Ultraman 80 ", Emi Johno was used in the scene of singing lullaby to the monster Mue and in 44 the instrument was used in the scene where 80 and the Delusion Ultra Seven fight. In addition, the " popular monster large parade " of " 5 Nights Series Super TV " (March 26-30, 1984, "Ultraman Taro", "Mirrorman", "Fireman", "Jumborg Ace" digest version. It is also used as an ending.
English versions
Japan Tonight!
The☆Ultraman on Japan Tonight! in 1980.
Japan Tonight! Host Tetsuko Kuroyanagi introducing Ultraman to American audiences in 1980.
In the United States, on April 5, 1980, episode #14 of The☆Ultraman aired on U.S. national television when New York superstation WOR-TV Channel 9 (now WWOR) aired it as the first part of "Japan Tonight!", a special seven hour block of programming from TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System), hosted by actor Telly Savalas. Japanese actress/author/talk show host Tetsuko Kuroyanagi introduced the episode surrounded by assorted Ultraman toys and merchandise while explaining to the American audience just who Ultraman is ("It's very, very popular in Japan - He's like your Superman."). The episode was dubbed into English by William Ross (Frontier Enterprises) in Japan and was sponsored by Bandai America.
The opening narration: "In a galaxy, which is millions of light-years away from us, the rulers of the star Ultra decided to send one of their men to Earth so that he could protect the people from the many space monsters that had suddenly started to appear at frequent intervals. But they could not very well send in Ultraman, as everyone would notice him because of his strange appearance. They therefore decided to use the vast resources of the star Ultra to implant the spirit of an Ultraman in the body of a young Space Force Trooper named Matt Gordon. In times of danger, Trooper Gordon can call upon these amazing Ultra powers and transform himself into Ultraman and still be able to keep his identity a secret from everyone else on Earth."
Ultraman Promo (1980)
Home Video
There has also been two feature-length movie compilations released for home video:
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 at the end of of the series. The storyline was rewritten for this adaptation with a new script by Jeff Segal and music composed by Mark McKinniss.
The Adventures of Ultraman (1981) Trailer-1
Trans World Entertainment's release of Ultraman II.
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 (the names given to the characters are not the same ones used in the previous dub, though several are very similar). The order of the third and fourth episodes were also switched. Also, the opening title and end credits sequences for this release were textless (new U.S. credits were used) as well as being transposed and did not use the vocal tracks.
