Ultraman Max

"Strongest! Fastest!! Max Power! Max Speed!!"

―Series tagline

Ultraman Max
Ultraman Max is the 18th entry in the Ultraman Series
Series
Episodes
Information
Format/Genre	Tokusatsu Science Fiction
Created by	Tsuburaya Productions
Starring	Sota Aoyama Kai Shishido Hitomi Hasebe Hikari Mitsushima Nobuyuki Ogawa Sean Nichols Susumu Kurobe Hiroko Sakurai
Original Air Date	July 2, 2005 - March 25, 2006
Opening Theme	Ultraman Max
Ending Theme	None
Number of Episodes	39 (40 with special)
Running Time	24 minutes
Original Channel	Chubu-Nippon Broadcasting
Streaming	Tubi Plex Vudu Hero Cartoon Network
Continuity
Next	Ultraman Ginga S The Movie: Showdown! The 10 Ultra Warriors!
Production/Release
Previous	Ultraman Nexus
Next	Ultraman Mebius

Ultraman Max is the 18th entry in the Ultraman Series, and aired from July 2, 2005 to March 25, 2006. After the darker series Ultraman Nexus, Tsuburaya Productions opted for a more traditional formula with weekly monsters and a lighter theme.

On January 27, 2017, the television channel TOKU announced that series would be broadcast in the United States on its channel beginning February 27, 2017, making it the fifth Ultraman Series to air in the United States after Ultraman, Ultraseven, Ultraman: Towards the Future, and Ultraman Tiga. Days later, it was confirmed to be dubbed in English. The series was broadcast Monday through Friday at 7pm ET with replays every day during the morning or afternoon, ending on March 24, 2017. This show can be watched on Tubi, Plex, and Vudu.

Production

In October 2004, TBS began broadcasting Ultraman Nexus. According to the plan of CBC Television, a subsidiary of TBS, a news program was scheduled to start airing every Saturday at 7:30 AM in April 2006. If Ultraman Nexus was shortened to 37 episodes and concluded in June 2005, then the new series would have a total of 39 episodes in its broadcast cycle by 2006. However, if Ultraman Nexus extended its run until September, the new series would only have a broadcast cycle of 26 episodes. Considering profitability issues, Tsuburaya Productions aimed for the new project to ideally reach 52 episodes, but at the very least produce 39 episodes.

In mid-December 2004, Tsuburaya Productions decided to shorten Ultraman Nexus to 37 episodes, resulting in significant changes to the series' plot. Due to the overwhelming workload of producer Hiroyasu Shibuya being too busy, Tsuburaya Productions appointed Takeshi Yagi, who had previously directed Ultra Q: Dark Fantasy, to oversee the planning and production of the new project. Yagi proposed a new project called "21st Century Edition: Fantasy Science Special Effects Series - Ultraxenon" and collaborated on the planning aspect with Kengo Kaji and Yuji Kobayashi.

In January 2005, the proposal for the new series was completed and submitted to CBC's Dentsu advertising agency for revisions, eventually forming the official plan. Takeshi Yagi's concept was "an authentic Ultraman series with each episode being self-contained and filled with a sense of wonder and science fiction, which is the quintessential format for Ultraman stories." He aimed to return to the "origin" of the original 1966 series, emphasizing the "6 S's" in the proposal: Story, Simple, Speed, Strong, SF (Science Fiction), and Sense of Wonder. These principles guided the diverse structure of Ultraxenon episodes.In the final proposal, Yagi wrote down "hope for the future" as the theme of the work.

With only three production units, the production team dedicated themselves to compactly unfolding the plot within the limited number of episodes, ensuring all elements were full of twists and turns. To clearly showcase the series' theme, the planning team decided to incorporate popular monsters from previous iterations into the show, endowing them with new charm while retaining their formidable strength, fully respecting the settings of the "original series." The defense team "DASH" in the series drew heavily from the member allocation and duty configuration of the SSSP in Ultraman and the UG in Ultraseven.

The main actors of Ultraman Max participated in the production press conference.

Many actors (and characters) from previous shows make cameos, most notably professor Yukari Yoshinaga and chief Kenzo Tomioka, who are played by the actors Hiroko Sakurai (Akiko Fuji) and Susumu Kurobe (Shin Hayata) from the original Ultraman. One episode (#29) revolves around the filming of the 1964 program Ultra Q, the first entry in the Ultraman Series. Two actors from that show appear as themselves.

In December 2004, Takeshi Yagi invited Shusuke Kaneko to be the chief director. Due to scheduling conflicts, Kaneko could not confirm his participation until February 8th of the following year. Once confirmed, Kaneko quickly became involved in writing the project proposal and began selecting actors as well as recruiting writers and directors for episodes after the fifth one. Ultimately, the series saw the participation of 11 directors and 18 writers, making it the installment with the most creators in the series' history. At the suggestion of CBC producer Tsuyoshi Okazaki and after considering registration issues, the series was finally named Ultraman Max. Filming began in March of the same year.

The series was officially announced on April 22, 2005, and a production presentation was held on June 19 at Asahi Hall in Tokyo. Approximately 1,200 attendees, selected from a large number of applicants, were invited to this parent-child preview event, where a trailer for the first episode was also shown. The series premiered in July 2005.

Synopsis

In the 21st century, natural disasters continue to strike worldwide, and finally, the once thought of as fantastical "kaiju" have appeared.

Facing the two major kaiju, Grangon and Lagoras, Touma Kaito is enveloped in a red light the moment he is attacked by the kaijus. The one who saved Kaito was an observer of civilization from the M78 Nebula. Sensing a resonance of courage within Kaito that aligns with his own personality, the observer proposes to merge with him, granting the power of Max Spark. Thus, the birth of the strongest and fastest hero, Ultraman Max, takes place.

Characters

Protagonist

• Kaito Touma

UDF

• Kenzo Tomioka
• Yukari Yoshinaga
• Date

DASH

• Shigeru Hijikata
• Kenjiro Koba
• Mizuki Koishikawa
• Sean White
• Elly

Others

• Miu Hayama
• Mitsugu Shindo
• Kenji Niimi
• Masayuki
• Yuri Sakata
• Natsumi Oda
• Akko
• Takeru Ozaki
• Kanami Miyahara
• Ikuo Hasunuma
• Detective Narasaki
• Kakeru
• Dr. Kori
• Kenji Sahashi
• Yasuhiko Saigo
• Tsutomu Ichinose
• Kazuya Narimiya

Ultras

• Ultraman Max
• Ultraman Xenon

Kaiju

• Grangon
• Lagoras
  • Lagoras Evo
• Eleking
  • Baby Eleking
• Reguila
• Alien Sran
• Red King
• Salamadon
• Paragler
• Pigmon
• People of Nebula KJ-K5
  • Kesam
  • Kerus
  • Kedam
• Bugdalas
• Natsunomeryu
• Metacisus
• Antlar
• Halen
• Zetton
• Alien Zetton
• King Joe
• IF
• Space Cats
  • Mike
  • Kuro
  • Tama
• Nina
• Eraga
• Alien Shamer
• Alien Tarla
• Gilfas
• Cloudos
• Gomora
• Madeus
• Flygler
• Alien Metron
• Alien Neril
• Alien Godley
• Unizin
• Alien Pitt
• Luganoger
• Lilika
• Geronga
• Alien Moetaranga
• Tiny Baltan
• Dark Baltan
• Hophop
  • Adam and Eve
• Alien Satun
• Keplus
• Delos People
• Auto Maton
• Berserke
  • Scout Berserke
  • Satellite Berserke
  • Giga Berserke

Cast

• Kaito Touma : Sota Aoyama
• Shigeru Hijikata : Kai Shishido
• Mizuki Koishikawa : Hitomi Hasebe
• Kenjiro Koba : Nobuyuki Ogawa
• Sean White : Sean Nichols
• Elly : Hikari Mitsushima
• Kenzo Tomioka : Susumu Kurobe
• Yukari Yoshinaga : Hiroko Sakurai
• Dr. Date : Masanari Nihei

Guest Cast

• Miu Hayama : Saori Amakawa
• Mitsugu Shindo : Yukijiro Hotaru
• Kesam : Kenzaburo Kikuchi
• Yuri Sakata : Ayako Fujitani
• Natsumi Oda : Nao Nagasawa
• Akko : Mao Sasaki
• Takeru Ozaki : Kohji Moritsugu
• Kanami Miyahara : Tomoko Otakara
• Ikuo Hasunuma : Renji Ishibashi
• Dr. Kori : Hiroshi Inuzuka
• Kenji Sahashi : Kenji Sahara
• Yasuhiko Saigo : Yasuhiko Saijo
• Ririka : Mai Saito
• Kerus : Ryohei
• Unnamed policeman: Ryu Manatsu
• Security guard: Sandayu Dokumamushi
• Kazuya Narimiya : Nagare Hagiwara

Voice Actors

• Ultraman Max : Kazuya Nakai
• Narration : Shiro Sano

Suit Actors

• Ultraman Max:
  • Hideyoshi Iwata
  • Daisuke Terai
  • Satoshi Yamamoto
• Ultraman Xenon: Kefi Abrikh
• Kazunori Yokoo
• Tomohiro Nagata
• Alien Sran, others: Junya Soma
• Pigmon, Tiny Baltan: Fusayo Takatsu
• Red King, Antlar, others: Hiroshi Suenaga
• Rou Nishimura
• Alien Zetton: Koji Maruyama
• Alien Shamer: Hiroaki Nakamura
• Shinya Shimokawa
• Koichi Toshima
• Kota Fukuchi

Staff

• Directors: Shusuke Kaneko, Hirochika Muraishi, Hiroaki Tochihara, Kengo Kaji, Futoshi Sato, Takeshi Yagi, Takashi Miike, Hideaki Murakami, Akio Jissoji, Toshiyuki Takano, Toshihiro Iijima
• Screenwriters: Kengo Kaji, Yuji Kobayashi, Hideyuki Kawakami, Sotaro Hayashi, Kyoto Takeuchi, Takahiro Okura, Yosuke Kuroda, Masaya Ozaki, Jiro Kaneko, Shozo Uehara, Masaru Nakamura, Takuro Fukuda, Ai Ota, Noboru Takagi, Chiaki J. Konaka, Kazuki Nakashima, Toshihiro Iijima (as Kitao Senzoku), Keisuke Fujikawa
• Special effects directors: Kenji Suzuki, Hirochika Muraishi, Yuichi Kikuchi, Shusuke Kaneko, Takashi Miike, Takeshi Yagi, Toshiyuki Takano
• Supervisor and executive producer: Kazuo Tsuburaya
• Production supervisor: Shinichi Ooka
• Planning: Naotsugu Kato (CBC), Naoyuki Eto (Tsuburaya Productions), Riichiro Nakamura (Dentsu)
• Producers: Takayuki Okazaki (CBC), Takeshi Yagi, Hiroyasu Shibuya (from ep. 13, Tsuburaya Productions), Taihei Yamanishi (Dentsu)
• Production producer: Nobuyuki Koyama
• Music producer: Shizu Tamagawa
• Music composer: Kuniaki Haishima
• Music cooperation and piano: Toru Fuyuki (from ep. 23)
• Cinematographers: Masakazu Oka, Masao Nakabori, Yoshihito Takahashi, Yukio Komiya
• Special effects cinematographer: Takeshi Arai
• Art: Tetsuya Uchida
• Action choreographers: Tatsumi Nikamoto, Hiroyuki Okano (special effects), Shinji Matsumoto (special effects)
• Editors: Yosuke Yafune, Miyoko Tominaga
• Character and kaiju designers: Hiroshi Maruyama, Yasushi Torisawa, Ichiro Itano, Keiichi Sato, Masaru Nakamura
• Image boards: Yasushi Torisawa
• CGI and CGI motion director: Ichiro Itano
• Modeling: Kaimai Productions
• Production and copyright: Chubu-Nippon Broadcasting, Tsuburaya Productions

Music

Opening Theme

• Ultraman Max
  • Lyrics: Neko Oikawa
  • Composition & Arrangement: Yasuharu Takanashi
  • Artist: TEAM DASH with Project DMM

Insert Themes

• DASH Alpha - Fight theme

Super Battle Special

After the broadcast of Ultraman Max, an eight minute special titled Super Battle! Ultraman Max was released on DVD. This special was a five minute clip show giving a review of Ultraman Max's backstory and primary attacks up until Ultraman Xenon gives him the Max Galaxy. After the clip show, the monster Red King attacks Max with Zetton shortly joining in. The special ends with Max defeating both of them.

Home Media

The series was released on DVD by Bandai Visual from December 23, 2005, to September 22, 2006, across 10 volumes. On February 22, 2008, Climax Stories: Ultraman Max released, featuring the series compiled into a hour-long film with narration by Sota Aoyama. A complete DVD box set was released on October 26, 2012. Box sets of Ultraman Nexus and Ultraman Mebius released around the same time, with all three having covers illustrated by Masayuki Gotoh.

On January 24, 2023, Mill Creek released a box set of the series with English subtitles in the United States.

Volume 1 (episodes 1-2)

Volume 2, (episodes 3-6)

Volume 3 (episodes 7-10)

Volume 4 (episodes 11-14)

Volume 5 (episodes 15-18)

Volume 6 (episodes 19-22)

Volume 7 (episodes 23-26)

Volume 8 (episodes 27-30)

Volume 9 (episodes 31-34)

Volume 10 (episodes 35-39)

Climax Stories: Ultraman Max

TV COMPLETE DVD-BOX (episodes 1-39)

Mill Creek's DVD box set (episodes 1-39)

Gallery

Images

Promotional Flyer

Trivia

• This series along with Ultraman X The Movie: Here He Comes! Our Ultraman and Ultraman Ginga S The Movie: Showdown! The 10 Ultra Warriors! were dubbed in English, marking the first time an Ultraman related movie or series was dubbed since the Ultraman Tiga 4Kids Dubbing.
• According to producer Takeshi Yagi, as mentioned in the Ultraman Max's 15th Anniversary Testimony published in 2021:
  • The core team that initially participated in the project included Yagi, director Shusuke Kaneko, and writers Yuji Kobayashi and Kengo Kaji. Yagi received the offer to serve as producer while shooting the tokusatsu scenes for episodes 30 and 31 of Ultraman Nexus. The project proposal began being drafted in mid-December 2004, with the first draft completed on January 6, 2005. Around the same time, marketing strategies were discussed with Dentsu producer Taihei Yamanishi.
  • Bandai once suggested the idea of "Capsule Kaiju merging with machines," but it was not adopted as it didn’t align with the project’s direction. Similarly, the "Version Up" concept was also rejected due to the series’ aim to return to its roots.
  • Regarding his dual role in "series compositor," Yagi stated that entrusting the responsibility to someone else might have made it difficult to fully realize the themes and sense of enjoyment he envisioned. This prompted him to consciously reference the production model of the original Ultraman from 1966, allowing directors greater creative freedom. However, Yagi’s name did not appear in the official credits under "series compositor" due to Tsuburaya Productions’ internal policy, which avoids listing the names of employees multiple times. Nevertheless, this role was documented in internal files and press sheets.
  • Initially, Yagi planned to focus solely on production. However, thanks to his prior collaboration with Shozo Uehara on Ultra Q: Dark Fantasy, Uehara suggested to Tsuburaya that Yagi should take on both director and producer roles, which ultimately led to the arrangement.
  • All writers, directors, designers, and other creators involved in the series were personally invited by Yagi. He also wrote the narration for the previews himself.

External Links

• Official website at CBC (web archive)
• Ultraman Max at Tsuburaya Productions' official website