Urutora sebun

If I was asked who my favorite superhero was, along with Spider-Man, the Hulk and the Incredibles, it'd be Ultra Seven.

We know ULTRA Q and ULTRAMAN (both 1966) are tokusatsu sci-fi TV classics in Japan, but the very peak of Tsuburaya Productions' famed Ultra Series was reached with ULTRA SEVEN, which Japanese fans have, to this day, hailed as the all-time best Ultra Series, and for good reason! It is basically the JAPAN of Japan (long before shows like SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO/STAR BLAZERS). Even underneath the wild battles between the red & silver alien from M78 and his alien foes, this is a very serious and thought-provoking sci-fi drama. Especially in the human scenes, with our protagonists, the Ultra Garrison. This is a very different series from its aforementioned two predecessors. Later Ultra Series like ULTRAMAN TIGA and the more grown-up ULTRAMAN NEXUS would duplicate this formula.

Seven himself is different from Ultraman (who is a mysterious godlike being), as he's become the greatest archetype for the high-tech Japanese superhero. His powers/weapons are incredible (who *doesn't* love his flying boomerang-like Eyeslugger weapon?)! But underneath his cool exterior, he has even more heart, personality and depth than his famous predecessor. And the transformation from Dan Moroboshi (Kouji Moritsugu) to Ultra Seven, each time he puts on the "Ultra Eye" glasses, is without a doubt my favorite Japanese superhero transformation ever. I would also say that Ultra Seven is technically more like Japan's answer to Superman than Ultraman (who is more like the Green Lantern), only "Clark Kent" *puts on* his glasses to become Superman!

The Ultra Garrison's not half-bad either. Very different from the Science Patrol from Ultraman. The team uniforms (helmets, jumpsuits and rayguns) are memorable, so much that they have become pretty much the template for the defense forces in all future Ultra Series (and few of the series would copy them closely, like the 1979 anime series THE ULTRAMAN). And the mecha is awesome. I really love the Ultra Hawk, which splits into three different jet vehicles (ULTRAMAN DYNA had something like this, too)! Of course, just like in ULTRAMAN, the team members have similar personalities, but Dan Moroboshi (Seven's human alter-ego) is a different person from ULTRAMAN's Hayata. He's still a tough member, but he's also very considerate. And even in human form, he's well equipped to fight alien invaders, from having X-ray vision/telepathy to being equipped with miniature "Capsule Monsters" (Windom, Miclas and Agira), which are like tiny capsules that, when thrown like a grenade, explode and transform into giant monsters (and Dan can call it back into a capsule any time). I wonder which two anime series did *this* later on . . .

The music score and theme song, composed by the great Tooru Fuyuki (who would compose for many future Ultra Series and other Tsuburaya shows) are absolute classic, and one of the best soundtracks ever. Quite a different case from Kunio Miyauchi's jazzy score for ULTRAMAN, Fuyuki's orchestral score for this series evokes more power, ranging from neo-classical to avant-garde. The "Song of Ultra Seven" theme song is one of the best superhero theme songs ever. In a way, this score recalls Barry Gray's famous music for many of Gerry & Sylvia Anderson's "Supermarionation" shows (like THUNDERBIRDS and CAPTAIN SCARLET).

And, of course, there's the bizarre and imaginative alien & space monster threats! Some of my favorites include Eleking (a fan-favorite), Dankan, the Guts-Seijin and Seven's final foe, Pandon.

Sadly, this was also the final Ultra Series by creator Eiji Tsuburaya, who originally wanted this to be the final Ultra Series. (And the heart-rending farewell finale couldn't have emphasized it more!) Due to this series' unbelievable popularity, a new Ultra Series was planned in late 1969 (ULTRAMAN CONTINUES), but Eiji died (in 1970) before production began. The said project later became RETURN OF ULTRAMAN in 1971, when Eiji's first son Hajime Tsuburaya took over the studio (until his untimely death in 1973). But needless to say, Seven himself (and his alter-ego Dan) continues to make appearances in future Ultra Series, and due to fan response, got some TV specials and direct-to-DVD series.

This series was originally seen in the US in Hawaii in 1975 (the dub of which is now lost, but two episodes still remain), and on TNT in 1994 (from a somewhat comically-dubbed 1985 dub by Cinar in Canada), but ULTRA SEVEN is a series that truly deserves the same revisiting as ULTRAMAN in the US. If fans of Japanese pop-culture know what's good for them, they must watch ULTRA SEVEN! Disregarding it is like sci-fi fans disregarding, say, STAR TREK or DOCTOR WHO.

No more words need to be said, ULTRA SEVEN is a true Japanese sci-fi classic. But to quote LeVar Burton, "You don't have to take my word for it."

The third in the "Ultra" series by Toho, and Tsuburaya Production, this series is often acknowledged as the best of the Ultraman series even to this day.

Dan Moroboshi (Koji Moritsugu) was an observer from M78 nebula visiting the earth. He was masquerading as a vagrant but due to his support of the Ultra squad in the first episode, he gets recruited into it. The members of the Ultra squad seeing Ultra Seven battle the alien, names him "Ultra Seven" as the seventh member of the Ultra squad.

The popularity of this series increased as years went by, and both the Seven, and its two stars Koji Moritsugu, and Yuriko Hishimi have gained even bigger star status than when the series aired for the first time in 1967. Eight subsequent specials/series have been made some commemorating 30, 35th, and 40th anniversary of the original series. It is now known that Dan and Anne married in their later life.

Koji Moritsugu reprised his role as Dan Moroboshi in Ultraman Leo (1974), this time as the captain of the Ultra squad.

This series has a different take compared to other sagas of the "Ultra" series, namely that Ultra Seven only battles aliens, and no monsters that originates from earth. This set the stage for in depth introspection of our own culture in the way Star Trek did with its encounter with other space fairing race. It also introduced innovative weapons that Ultra Seven wields such as the capsule monsters, eye slugger (boomerang type weapon), and Emerium ray (emitted from Seven's forehead). Although not mentioned, the amount of time Seven can stay in his form on earth seems to be 3 minutes which is consistent with that of Ultraman. The tone was darker, and acting was more serious than that of the previous Ultra series. This was in part due to the request of the program's sole sponsor Takeda Chemical's request to draw more adults to the program.

Even for the famous Ultra series, few has seen increased popularity over the years like this one which attests to its originality, and far reaching concept of its producers. Ultra Seven is still popular character and sees frequent revisits to earth as a member of the Ultra Brothers that now has over 16 members, and still counting.

As the third entry to this huge franchise, it turns out to be much better than I expected. While it's still has the same formula as before, "huge bad guys versus good guys" or "monster of the week" formula to be exact, Ultraseven tries to be different from it's previous entries as the tone for this one are much darker and the mood also seems to became more serious than before. The gore also appears pretty frequently too.

Although the beginning of the show seems to be really weak and lazy in it's first 3 episodes, it starts to became progressively better as soon as the show goes on. Each of the episodes has it's unique plot, another reason why I like early Showa Ultraman era so much. Some of the episodes has different filmmaking style that feels like you're watching a different show (ex. Episode: The Untargeted Town). Anyways, I like that Tsuburaya spices something new and unique, and it works magically.

Talking about the conclusion to the show. The finale is simply monumental and incredible, not only because it is better than that 1965 Ultraman ending, it's because you can feel what happen to the characters and Ultraseven. You can feel the threat given by the monsters. The score in the finale, even though the composer did not made it due to ran out of time, adds that feeling that you'll never get it again in any of Ultraman shows.

Overall, this is one of the best Showa Ultraman shows out there. Go watch it, it will subvert your expectations.

Very good tv series. The best seriate Japanese of the gender, in my opinion and the best of the "ultraman". The character's transformation in ultraseven for the placement of the "special glasses" is brilliant!

I loved this TV show "Ultra Seven"(1967-68) when i was a kid, I saw it before knowing Ultraman was the original, but for me Ultra Seven is much better, It was cool, he transformed by wearing a pair of "sunglasses", and he didn't have the time limit that Ultraman had. Unlike Ultraman, Ultraseven can make himself, giant, normal, or miniature in size. And he had a very cool weapon, a very sharp "boomerang-blade" on top of his helmet.

And the stories were very nice written for a show mostly done for kids (writters: do not under estimate kids) and "Gozilla" fans. Some of the shows were very impressive for me,I had to turned off the TV when he made himself miniature and entered in the nose and lungs of a girl to save her life, well I was a kid. The show was filled with good drama, acting, lot of monsters, space gadgets, and cool monster-kicking action. I think they made a remake of Ultra Seven in the late 70's but I'm no sure, I just say it because the second time I saw the show,the stories where the same but it looked different than I remembered (maybe it just the memory of a 6 year old to blame), it does not matter any way.

I think Ultra Seven and Ultraman inspired the Power-Ranger series (not my favorite show), but if you like them do not miss the originals, they are fun to watch.