Ultraman Ginga is a Japanese television series produced by Tsuburaya Productions, which celebrates the 50th anniversary of the company and was part of the New Ultraman Retsuden programming block on TV Tokyo.[1][2]
The series can be watched on Shout TV, Tubi, Roku, and Prime Video.
Production
In 2007, following the conclusion of Ultraman Mebius, the Ultraman series entered a hiatus. During this period, Tsuburaya Productions shifted its focus to monster-themed projects, launching the card game Mega Monster Battle: ULTRA MONSTERS on gaming consoles and producing Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle and Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle: Never Ending Odyssey. These series were broadcast in 30-minute episodes and, due to their minimal hero elements, required fewer resources and were thus aired on satellite television and online platforms. However, Ultraman appearances were included in the production to enhance the climactic moments of the plot.[3]
The inclusion of Ultraman significantly boosted the series' appeal, and the success of the two Mega Monster Battle series once again demonstrated Ultraman's powerful influence, leading to the production of theatrical films. These included the debut of Ultraman Zero, designed by Masayuki Gotoh, in Mega Monster Battle Ultra Galaxy: The Movie. This character broke the traditional Ultraman hero mold, becoming a pioneer for the "Ultraman" series in the 2010s.
Starting in July 2011, the TV Tokyo system began airing Ultraman Retsuden, a program featuring selected classic "Ultraman" series, which also served as a platform to promote the popularity of Ultraman Zero. Beginning in August 2012, a new mini-series Ultra Zero Fight was broadcast in two parts, with each episode being approximately 3 minutes long and presented as a serial. As the popularity of Ultraman Zero gradually increased, the producers naturally thought about promoting the character not just through theatrical films, OVs, and scattered TV programs, but by returning to the traditional 30-minute series format for stronger promotion. However, despite Ultraman Zero's high popularity and impact, by 2013, there was a consideration that Ultraman Zero had been around for about five years and was losing some of its freshness. Therefore, the producers turned to utilizing Ultraman Retsuden to develop new ideas for the Ultraman series.[3]
Considering that 2013 marked the 50th anniversary of Tsuburaya Productions, the new Ultraman series was scheduled to premiere on the anniversary of Ultraman, on July 10: this new series was Ultraman Ginga, which was promoted under the revamped New Ultraman Retsuden starting from July 3, to publicize this new generation of Ultraman series. Ultraman Ginga was the first to be broadcast on terrestrial channels outside the TBS network, and it was produced using a production committee system, a first for the Ultraman TV series.[4][5]
The main actors of Ultraman Ginga participated in the production press conference.[6][7][8]
Due to a very limited production budget, the scale of the Ultraman Ginga production was unprecedentedly small for both Tsuburaya Productions and the entire Ultraman series, but it utilized high-quality HD filming with a 16:9 aspect ratio. As a short-term series, its broadcast schedule was quite unique, divided into two parts: the first part had six episodes, the second part had five episodes, with an interval of about three months between them, during which a theatrical movie was inserted. A second theatrical movie was scheduled to be released three months after the end of the program, in March of the following year.[4][9]
The main setting of the series, "Private Furuhoshi Elementary School," was primarily filmed at Kita-Kaidori Elementary School in Tama City.
The filming period for both the TV series and the Theater Special movie was relatively short. The main series was filmed from early April to early May, lasting about a month, while the special effects scenes involving monsters and Ultraman were filmed from mid-May to late June, lasting about a month and a half.[10] Since there was only one crew, they adopted a method of first filming the storyline and then focusing on the special effects. Most of the storyline was filmed at an abandoned school, Kita-Kaidori Elementary School,[11][12] near Nagayama Station in the suburbs of Tokyo, and the crew set up rooms there to save costs. The special recap episode before the release of the second theatrical movie was filmed near Keio Tama Center Station. Outdoor filming included some scenes re-shot by the Ultraman Retsuden team as side stories featuring the main series characters.[4][13]
Since the story mainly takes place in the summer and is set in an elementary school, it presented a youthful, sci-fi adventure style. Initially, there was a plan to make the protagonist a university student and to have Gamu Takayama from Ultraman Gaia, celebrating its 15th anniversary, appear as a university professor.[4][14] Another plan was to make the protagonist an elementary or middle school student since the main setting was a school. However, having a protagonist too close in age to the primary audience—children—could reduce their sense of imagination. Young children and elementary school students often look up to slightly older characters. Therefore, the series ultimately decided to make the protagonist a high school student, combining elements of a youthful story to meet audience expectations and fit the sci-fi adventure theme.[4]
Behind the scenes of Ultraman Ginga.[13]
The special effects scenes were filmed at Nikkatsu Studios. Initially, they considered using green screen technology tested in the film Mega Monster Battle Ultra Galaxy: The Movie, but to better showcase the character's combat traits, they ultimately chose traditional miniature model filming. Since the storyline was mainly restricted to the area around Hoshikusa Elementary School, the final battle setting for Ultraman Ginga was set in the mountains, close to the city but not easily seen by people. The scale of the miniature models was larger than in previous Ultraman series. Although not explicitly mentioned, Ultraman Ginga’s height was set to about 20 to 30 meters (practically unlimited in terms of setting). If he had been the usual 40 to 50 meters tall, his battles would have been more easily seen by people in the city. This setting gave the elementary school and its surroundings a natural "alternate dimension" atmosphere, which was reflected in the special effects settings.[4][15]
Due to budget constraints, the background did not include a skyline, so they experimented with lighting effects to create the depth of the sky. However, the blue sky effect created by the lighting sometimes appeared unnatural. Therefore, aside from night scenes, most of the other scenes were lit to convey an overcast atmosphere, further enhancing the unique feel of the battle areas.[4]
In July 2014, a new season, Ultraman Ginga S, aired, consisting of 16 episodes. Following this production, the Ultraman series is referred to as the "New Generation Heroes" in related products.
Synopsis
At one time, all of the Ultra Warriors, along with the monsters and aliens, were turned into Spark Dolls by the mysterious Dark Spark.
Time passed, and the youth Hikaru Raido got hold of the mysterious Ginga Spark, which could return the monsters and Ultra Warriors to their previous giant forms. In order to protect those dear to him, Hikaru Ultlives the Ultras and monsters and faces off against the evil monsters.
Characters
Protagonists
Furuhoshi Town Residents
- Misuzu Isurugi
- Kenta Watarai
- Chigusa Kuno
- Hotsuma Raido
- Kyoko Shirai
- Seiichiro Isurugi
- Shingo Kuwabara
Ultras and Other Heroes
Kaiju
- Alien Valky
- Black King
- Thunder Darambia
- Kemur
- King Pandon
- Ragon
- Doragory
- Alien Nackle Gray
- Dark Galberos
- Zaragas
- Red King
- Antlar
- Jasyuline
- Super Grand King
- Dark Lugiel
- Alien Magma
- Zetton
Cast
- Hikaru Raido : Takuya Negishi
- Misuzu Isurugi : Mio Miyatake
- Kenta Watarai : Mizuki Ohno
- Chigusa Kuno : Kirara
- Tomoya Ichijouji : Takuya Kusakawa
- Kyoko Shirai : Hana Kino
- Hotsuma Raido : Masahiko Tsugawa
- Taichi Kakisaki : Shohei Uno
Guest Actors
- Yamada : Kazuhiko Kanayama
- Kimura : Norikatsu Kodama
- Yagami : Takahiro Kuroishi
- Yuka Sugo : Mika
- Shingo Kuwabara : Shohei Abe
- Tomomi Kuroki : Maiko Kawakami
- Go Osato : Mitsuki Koga
- Seiichiro Isurugi : Hironobu Nomura
Voice Actors
- Ultraman Taro : Hiroya Ishimaru
- Young Ultraman Taro: Kenta Matsumoto
- Ultraman Ginga , Dark Lugiel : Tomokazu Sugita
- Alien Valky : Tatsuya Hashimoto
- Alien Nackle Gray : Kunji Hirano
- Mother of Ultra : Miki Ootani
- Father of Ultra : Holly Kaneko
Suit Actors
- Ultraman Ginga: Daisuke Terai [16][17]
- Jean-Nine/Jean-Killer: Yoshiki Kuwabara [16][17]
- Kenji Kajikawa
- Keita Rikimaru
- Hiroshi Suenaga
- Ryusei Fukushima
- Masahiro Omura
- Alien Nackle Gray: Hiroyuki Arai [18]
- Satoru Okabe
- Hiroyuki Fukushima
- Kazunori Yokoo
- Daiki Yazaki
- Aiko Yuhara
- Satomi Maruta
- Hitomi Adachi
- Tiga Dark, Ultraseven Dark: Hideyoshi Iwata [19]
- Daisuke Fukuda
Staff
- Directors: Yuichi Abe (main director), Tomoo Haraguchi, Kengo Kaji, Yoshikazu Ishii, Yusuke Murakami
- Series compositor: Keiichi Hasegawa
- Screenwriters: Keiichi Hasegawa (head writer), Akira Tanizaki, Kenichi Araki, Masanao Akahoshi, Junichiro Ashiki
- Supervisor: Shinichi Ooka
- Production manager: Sei Okazaki
- Planning: Kei Kurosawa, Ryota Katano, Haruhito Nakayoshi, Taihei Yamanishi
- Chief producer: Tsugumi Kitaura
- Producer: Daisuke Kanemitsu
- Line producer: Nobuyuki Koyama
- Planning cooperation: Hiroyasu Shibuya
- Character design: Masayuki Gotoh
- Music: Takao Konishi
- Cinematography: Yoshihito Takahashi
- Art: Taro Kiba
- Editor: Yosuke Yafune
- Produced and copyrighted by: Tsuburaya Productions
Music
- Opening Theme
- Legend of Galaxy ~Ginga no Hasha
- Lyrics & Composition: Toshihiko Takamizawa
- Arrangement: Toshihiko Takamizawa with Yuichiro Honda
- Artists: Takamiy with Mamoru Miyano
- Episodes: 1-6 (Verse 1), 7-11 (Verse 2)
- Ultraman Ginga no Uta (YouTube rerun, 2020)
- Ending Theme
- Starlight
- Lyrics & Composition & Arrangement: Mayuko Maruyama
- Artist: Ultra Chotokkyu
- Episodes: 1-6 (Verse 1), 7-11 (Verse 2)
- Insert Themes
- Ultraman Ginga no Uta
- Artists: voyager with Chisa (GIRL NEXT DOOR), Hiroaki Takeuchi , Maria Haruna , Takuya Negishi, Mio Miyatake, Mizuki Ohno, Kirara, Takuya Kusakawa
- Episodes: 1-3, 6, 7, 10, 11
- Natsu no Kaze Aki no Kaze
- Lyrics: Maria Haruna
- Composition & Arrangement: Takao Konishi
- Artists: Chisa (GIRL NEXT DOOR), Maria Haruna, Kirara
- Episodes: 4
Home Media
The series released on DVD and Blu-ray.
Gallery
- Behind the Scenes
![[13]](/wiki/File:Behind_the_Scenes_of_Ultraman_Ginga_02.png "Behind the Scenes of Ultraman Ginga 02.png (4.29 MB)")
Trivia
- This series was the first Ultraman Series entry to be aired on TV Tokyo. Since then, all subsequent TV series have aired on the channel.
External Links
- Official website (web archive)
- Ultraman Ginga and New Ultraman Retsuden at TV Tokyo (web archive)
- Ultraman Ginga at Tsuburaya Productions' official website
References
- ↑ https://m-78.jp/news/n-1783
- ↑ 新ウルトラヒーロー！その名は「ウルトラマンギンガ」！ ウルトラマン列伝オフィシャルブログ『ウルトラマン“ブログ”列伝』
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Ultra Tokusatsu PERFECT MOOK vol. 33: Ultraman Ginga / Ultraman Ginga S, pg 4
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Ultra Tokusatsu PERFECT MOOK vol. 33: Ultraman Ginga / Ultraman Ginga S, pg 5
- ↑ https://www.sponichi.co.jp/entertainment/news/2013/04/12/kiji/K20130412005596020.html
- ↑ https://animeanime.jp/article/2013/04/13/13670.html
- ↑ https://m-78.jp/pressrelease/130412_tsuburaya50th
- ↑ https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2023932/full/
- ↑ https://m-78.jp/pressrelease/130614-ginga
- ↑ https://www.moegame.com/sfx/archives/201305221749.html
- ↑ https://www.townnews.co.jp/0306/2020/09/10/541831.html
- ↑ https://moviewalker.jp/news/article/1106517/
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/02/world/asia/japan-films-shed-rubber-suits-godzilla-roars.html
- ↑ Blu-ray Ultraman Ginga 4 work commentary book SPARK NOTES Vol.4.
- ↑ https://x.com/abe_yu1/status/355732353940860929
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Uchusen Yearbook 2014, pg 28
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Ultra Tokusatsu PERFECT MOOK vol. 33: Ultraman Ginga / Ultraman Ginga S, pg 6 and 8
- ↑ Character Land SPECIAL: Ultraman Orb THE ORIGIN SAGA, pg 52-54. Interview with Hideyoshi Iwata, Shinnosuke Ishikawa, Hiroyuki Arai, Daisuke Terai and Satoru Okabe.
- ↑ Ultraman Taiga & New Generation Pia Super Encyclopedia, pg 95