Ultraman THE NEXT(ウルトラマン THE NEXT, Urutoraman Za Nekusuto) is a manga adapation of ULTRAMAN that was written and illustrated by Takahiro Sawaki. Its eight chapters released monthly through Kadokawa Shoten's Tokusatsu Ace magazines. Volume 1, containing the first five chapters, was released on April 30, 2005,[1] but no subsequent volumes would be released until a complete tankōbon by Wedge Holdings on October 13, 2008.[2]
Former Self-Defense Forces officer Shunichi Maki, who is married, encounters a red orb on his final flight and gains the ability to transform into Ultraman. In order to protect people from the monster called "Beast the One", an intense battle unfolds in Shinjuku.
This manga was releasing at the same time and in the same magazine as Ultraman THE FIRST, but the two are unrelated, despite their similar names.
In the last chapter, silhouettes of Dark Faust, Dark Mephisto and Dark Zagi are seen as Beast the One is defeated, and the manga concludes with a description of the events that lead into Ultraman Nexus, as Jun Himeya walks away from the crowd with a silhouette of the titular Ultra behind him.
The tankōbon includes art by other manga artists celebrating its release, those being Ryoichi Koga, Oyster, Tokyo Robin and Zenichi Hirayama. Hirayama drew a silhouetted Dark Zagi.