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The Mike Toole Show - Ultramanime




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belvadeer





PostPosted: Sun Jan 10, 2016 2:41 pm Reply with quote
I love me some Ultraman, but I have a long way to go before I can call myself a buff on the topic. So many movies to watch...
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EricJ2



Joined: 01 Feb 2014
Posts: 4016
PostPosted: Sun Jan 10, 2016 2:53 pm Reply with quote
The "original" Ultraman--the Tsubaraya series that first spun off from the "investigating team" Ultra Q--is now airing in its 60's US dub on HuluPlus, for those curious.

It's okay, but still feels like one of those other Toho kaiju movies like Rodan or The Mysterians, where Godzilla didn't show up. Confused

(And life's too short to try and dig up that heretical Australian version from the 80's...)
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Magigreen



Joined: 04 Jan 2015
Posts: 5
PostPosted: Sun Jan 10, 2016 3:54 pm Reply with quote
Can I nitpick? The Ultraman wasn't the last Showa era Ultra show. The Ultraman aired from 1979 to 1980 and was followed by the live action Ultraman 80 which aired from 1980 to 1981.
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skullocrasher



Joined: 17 Apr 2010
Posts: 12
PostPosted: Sun Jan 10, 2016 4:29 pm Reply with quote
"Ultraman II" was alongside "Warriors of the Wind" as one of the first anime I ever sat through as a child.

Although the latter had more of an impact on me, those first four episodes occupy a special place in my heart.

(I honestly have no idea where my parents got this stuff)
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Beatdigga



Joined: 26 Oct 2003
Posts: 4352
Location: New York
PostPosted: Sun Jan 10, 2016 4:33 pm Reply with quote
I now want to be in the stands at a football game with a bunch of people in Ultra cosplay.
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DuelGundam2099



Joined: 07 Dec 2014
Posts: 533
PostPosted: Sun Jan 10, 2016 5:48 pm Reply with quote
Big Ultraman fan here, willing to answer questions anybody has here. A few things I want to comment on:

"Another interesting The Ultraman factoid: it was the final Showa-era Ultraman TV series."
No, that was Ultraman 80 which aired the next year.

"Essentially, this 60-minute featurette is completely incomprehensible if you're not familiar with Ultraman lore, but pretty damned funny if you are."
I'm extremely familiar with the lore and.... Did not find it funny.

"The character and series has had far-reaching and obvious influence over anime, coloring classics like Evangelion and The Big O."
Aside from having giant monsters they really don't have anything in common with Ultraman.


However, seeing an article spotlighting one of my top ten favorite anime of all time/best anime of the 70s made my day. Smile
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omiya



Joined: 21 Sep 2011
Posts: 1822
Location: Adelaide, South Australia
PostPosted: Mon Jan 11, 2016 1:28 am Reply with quote
English language article in today's Asahi Shimbun:

VOX POPULI: ‘Ultraman’ series indicates justice not always clear

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/views/vox/AJ201601110017
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Chrno2



Joined: 28 May 2004
Posts: 6171
Location: USA
PostPosted: Mon Jan 11, 2016 9:47 pm Reply with quote
My first exposure to Ultraman was back during the last half of the 70's.
As a child I watched a lot of Godzilla and Gamera anytime they aired on the afternoon horror shows. I looked forward to these programs all the time they came up because movies like 'It Came from Outer Space' or 'Mystery Island' gave me nightmares.

When I couldn't get Speed Racer or Space Giants on those weird stations that you could get on good day, I watched Ultraman every morning during the summer. Everyday I would pull out my little pad that I got from a class trip to a paper factory and draw the monster of the week. It was yellow. I still have it buried somewhere. This was my first time somehow figuring out that all those films I watched weren't made in the US and those Asian people did good job talking with their mouths closed. Yeah, didn't know much about dubbing.

The last time I watched anything Ultraman related was when they aired that cartoon back during my one of my early years in HS. It was during Columbus Day. I was home from school and it came on. The credits said Hannah-Barbera, but the actions scene were purely Japanese animated. Hell, even the sound effects I recognized from Iczer-1. I could not stop jumping all around the house.

Never really understood the series, as I didn't follow it religiously, but could see it had a huge following that has spawned for several decades now. I wonder what Eiji Tsubaraya would say if he lived up until today? We owe him a lot.
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Levitz9



Joined: 06 Feb 2007
Posts: 1022
Location: Puerto Rico
PostPosted: Wed Jan 13, 2016 12:15 am Reply with quote
Being the Tokusatsu lover I am, I picked up a copy of Millcreek's Ultraman set for $10 a few years back. Mostly for curiosity's sake: it honestly hasn't aged well, save for a few touching episodes (The Earth is my Home, chief among them). But, I have a lot of love for Ultraman. It's a fun show.

I honestly didn't know there were this many animated adaptations to it; for real, I'd watch Ultranyan. That cat is adorable.
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nobahn
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Joined: 14 Dec 2006
Posts: 5120
PostPosted: Wed Jan 13, 2016 4:03 pm Reply with quote
Does anyone recall there ever being a live-action Ultraman involving Godzilla and some space monster? It had terrible dubbing.
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EricJ2



Joined: 01 Feb 2014
Posts: 4016
PostPosted: Wed Jan 13, 2016 5:56 pm Reply with quote
nobahn wrote:
Does anyone recall there ever being a live-action Ultraman involving Godzilla and some space monster? It had terrible dubbing.


Think Godzilla--or a creature suspiciously resembling Godzilla--made a MOTW cameo in one of the "classic" Ultraman 70's episodes.
And yeah, the dubbing was fairly bad, although par for the course on most Toho dubbing of the day that wasn't handled by Henry Saperstein and UPA.

Although what you're PROBABLY thinking of is Godzilla, and the lawsuit-worthy Ultra-plagiaristic robot Jet Jaguar, vs. Megalon (as immortalized by MST3K):
https://youtu.be/j5OY1drc8_U?t=10m41s
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hyojodoji



Joined: 08 Jan 2010
Posts: 583
PostPosted: Wed Jan 13, 2016 6:07 pm Reply with quote
nobahn wrote:
Does anyone recall there ever being a live-action Ultraman involving Godzilla and some space monster? It had terrible dubbing.

Possibilities:

1. There is an Ultraman episode where Tsuburaya Productions borrowed a Godzilla suit from Tōhō, modified it and used it as a different monster.
You may have watched this episode.

2. You may have watched Godzilla vs. Megalon.
It is possible that some people think Jet Jaguar is a relative of Ultraman.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godzilla_vs._Megalon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_Jaguar
 
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hyojodoji



Joined: 08 Jan 2010
Posts: 583
PostPosted: Wed Jan 13, 2016 7:29 pm Reply with quote
nobahn wrote:
Does anyone recall there ever being a live-action Ultraman involving Godzilla and some space monster? It had terrible dubbing.

Another possibility is that you may have watched Zone Fighter.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zone_Fighter
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nobahn
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Joined: 14 Dec 2006
Posts: 5120
PostPosted: Wed Jan 13, 2016 7:55 pm Reply with quote
EricJ2--
Oh, yes, that definitely brings back memories. *shudders*

hyojodoji--
Thank you for your input. (The goddesses know that that they look similar enough!)
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hyojodoji



Joined: 08 Jan 2010
Posts: 583
PostPosted: Wed Jan 13, 2016 10:44 pm Reply with quote
nobahn wrote:
hyojodoji--
Thank you for your input. (The goddesses know that that they look similar enough!)

It's a pleasure.

hyojodoji wrote:
1. There is an Ultraman episode where Tsuburaya Productions borrowed a Godzilla suit from Tōhō, modified it and used it as a different monster.

The modified Godzilla appeared in Episode 10 of Ultraman, and the name of the monster is Jirāsu.
'Jirāsu' is derived from 'Jirāsū', a Ryūkyū-dialect expression which means 'Father Jirō', and it was named by the scriptwriter Kinjō Tetsuo, whose family is from Okinawa. (Kinjō's family name is pronounced as Kanagusuku in the Ryūkyū dialect.)
Some people think the monster's name 'Jirāsu (Father Jirō)' is a tribute to Tsuburaya Eiji.
In Episode 10, Ultraman didn't use his usual 'Specium ray → explosion' fighting routine. It is said that the reason why Ultraman didn't use Specium ray is that Tōhō asked Tsuburaya Productions not to impair the Godzilla suit.
 
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