Ultraman is a huge part of Japanese culture and pretty much has been since the original live-action show in 1966. Perhaps Godzilla started the ball rolling, but Ultraman brought us these monsters on a regular basis. In Japan, Ultraman is like our Superman. He’s an iconic hero and a huge part of the pop culture. Since the 60’s he has appeared in many forms, most of them animated. But it is this 1966 series that made a ton of us kids fall in love with him and an entire genre. Yes, there were many from the era: Space Giants featured a giant fighting robot who fought monsters and sometimes converted into a spaceship (yes, before transformers were ever thought of); Johnny Socko had his giant robot; and the list goes on. But it was Ultraman who started it. Eiji Tsuburaya, who created the original Godzilla, formed a new company outside of Toho Pictures. Ultraman was pretty much the first thing out of the new shop.
It started with a series called Ultra Q. It was a popular series in Japan. There was no Ultraman here, but some of the elements of what would be the Science Patrol started there. When it was finished, the staff was approached to create a new show, and fast. But this one needed more action and also something that could be sold to the American markets. That was Ultraman. In some form or another, the character has been around for over 60 years and is still plugging.
Ultraman was a space being who was chasing an escaped monster. When his spacecraft collided with that of Science Patrol Officer Hayata, he inadvertently killed the young man. To make up for his mistake and also offer Earth a way to fight the endless row of monsters unleashed, he merged his life with Hayata. Now, whenever a monster threatens, Hayata uses his “beta capsule” and morphs into Ultraman. Complete with martial arts moves and an array of ray weapons, Ultraman fights these creatures in hand-to- hand combat. The downside is that Ultraman’s solar energy diminishes rapidly in Earth’s atmosphere. As he weakens, a light on his chest flashes. A narrator reminds us each time that if it stops, Ultraman will die.
Enter Ultraman Decker D. The full season of 26 episodes is out on Blu-ray from Mill Creek Entertainment. You get all 26 episodes spread over four discs.
It has been seven years since the last monster attack, and the budget for things like the Monster Response Team has been cut. We’re about to establish our second colony on Mars, and mankind appears headed to a bright future. All of that comes crashing down when a large greenish sphere approaches, first on Mars and then on Earth. The attack is devastating, and a barrier has been placed around the Earth, cutting off all contact with colonies. During that Earth attack, Kanata Asumi (Matsumoto) is delivering food from his grandfather’s store. He rushes to help some people about to be attacked, and he’s swept up into another surreal world. There he meets Ultraman Decker, who will join forces with him much like the original Ultraman did with Shin Hayata 60 years earlier. Instead of a Beta capsule, Kanata has a much more complicated device. It not only summons Ultraman Decker to fight monsters, but during the battle he can add power-ups and other versions of Ultraman to help him win the battle. He does so by scanning a card. At the end of each episode, there is a new card explained by Kanata. Of course, you get one with your discs, and it beckons you to play a new Ultraman card game. Yeah, there’s a lot of commercialism connected with this version of Ultraman.
After the first episode, we jump ahead a year. No new monsters, and Kanata has been training to join the elite GUTS-Select to fight threats to Earth. It’s basically the latest version of the Science Patrol. Kanata’s team consists of Ichika Kirino (Murayama). She’s the bright young passionate member of the team. Soma Ryumon (Daichi) is the driven, sometimes cold teammate who expects perfection at all times. The ship’s Captain is Taiji Murahoshi (Kikawada), and vice-captain is Sawa Kaizaki (Miyazawa).There is also the “cute” AI robot Hane 2, voiced by Hiroshi Tsuchida. The team has a couple of strong fighter jets that can merge into one huge strong fighter jet. But when they really get into a jam, Ultraman Decker is always there to save the day … sometimes with a little help from his friends.
As the season draws to a close, the barrier starts to shrink in the last stage of Earth’s destruction. It takes more than Ultraman Decker to save the world. The show plays heavily on the teamwork themes, which weren’t so much a part of the show at the beginning. There are several good lessons here for a show geared toward children. They’re certainly taught to get back up when you fall and to have a hopeful outlook.
The fourth disc on the release contains a film that followed up on the show. It’s called Ultraman Decker Finale: Journey to the Beyond. It’s short and about the size of four episodes. There’s a new threat named Professor Gibellus (Nakao). He’s been experimenting with populated worlds to come up with the most “beautiful” way to invade a planet. We’re joined by a new Ultraman … well, woman, but she’s still called Ultraman Dinas (Masuyama). The professor already got to her world, and she wants to stop him here. You don’t get a ton of monster action, at least not giant ones. There are dozens of normal-sized aliens/monsters. The disappointing thing here is that Ultraman Decker doesn’t actually show up until the last 12 minutes of the film. One is likely to be disappointed when he’s in the title.
Fans will appreciate that there’s a nice look-back to the previous incarnation, Ultraman Trigger. Kengo (Terasake) is on Mars and wants to get the power of his version of Ultraman to Earth, so a new card is created that allows Ultraman Trigger to get through the barrier, where he spends a couple of episodes helping out. He leaves some extra cards and his sword weapon behind for Decker to use going forward.
The big story here, at least for me, is that while there is plenty of computer graphics here, the monsters and Ultraman are still those guys in suits. There is CGI enhancement and particularly the fighter craft and weapon f/x, but you can still tell these are guys in suits romping around on a set with models. I hope that never changes, because that’s where the charm of the show has always been. We even get the return of some old favorite monsters, and there’s a new robot weapon that recalls Johnny Socko or Mecha Godzilla.
This is not the end of the Ultraman saga; far from it. Next was Ultraman Blazer, which was followed by Ultraman Arc, and currently running is Ultraman Omega in the middle of its episode run. I hope that doesn’t mean the end as the name might suggest. I’m sure Mill Creek will be around to share them with you so that all you have to do is “Smile.”
