ULTRASEVEN (1967-1968): THE TALKBACK

[kiryugoji04]

I don't know if there was an old talkback thread for this series before but who cares - here's a new, fresh one to accompany Mill Creek's gorgeous new blu-ray release this week.

With Q I was starting to marathon it from start to finish finally but my second disc cracked and I'm still awaiting my replacement from Mill Creek. With Man, I haven't felt the need to marathon it yet, so I just watched some of my favorite episodes out of sequence as the mood struck me. For Seven, the show I was in the middle of watching when the Mill Creek license was first announced, I'm choosing to watch it slowly to savor it a little more. No more than an episode or two a night.

I often joke that, at its worst, Ultraseven is just the Ultra Hawks listlessly chasing the UFO of the week around a soundstage and is generally not very interesting. At its best, however, it immediately becomes clear why this show has the reputation it does. The best episodes of Seven are some of the best episodes of the entire franchise, sometimes even some of the best stories of the entire tokusatsu genre. I'm looking forward to revisiting the half of the series I've already seen and then finally finishing out this landmark series.

[kiryugoji04]

To me, episode one of Seven has always felt, you know, functional. I think the improved subtitles for these releases really helped it play a little better this time around (like my fourth or fifth viewing by now) but while the first half is filled with compelling setup, it just still winds up being a bit of an anti-climax by the end. It does, however, introduce the capsule monster Windam, who is a precious cinnamon roll and he must be protected at all costs.

So episode one is fine but episode two is a BANGER. It has an intriguing setup and a heavy, mysterious atmosphere of dread that I love. I also somehow manage to forget the twist every time I watch this so it manages to surprise me each viewing.

The creature work here is one of Narita's more abstract - similar to his equally creepy Greenmons in Ultraman - and in general is exciting to watch. The various transformations are excellent - in particular I am a fan of the bit where a hand is shown to transform by just having pieces of green tree bark glued to the actor's own hand. It's kind of silly to think about but the technique is undeniably effective. The climactic giant battle at the train tunnel is brief but the hillside set is superbly realized.

Finally, I want to commend this episode's protrayal of Anne. After Ultraman dragged Hiroko Sakurai through the mud, it's nice to see the creators of this episode allow Anne a moment to shine. She's shown being quick-thinking and taking charge of a dangerous situation as soon as it presents itself. I know this show doesn't have a flawless track record (and neither did Q, where Sakurai's turn as Yuriko was still a surprisingly progressive character) but it's nice that Anne still gets moments where she is not simply defined as being "the girl."

[O.Supreme]

What is odd however is that while One of Ultramans most iconic enemies appeared in episode 2, Episode 1 is still fondly remembered and has had callbacks and references. While Ultraseven seemingly starts ( popularitywise) with Episode 3 and Ekeking. Other than the afore mentioned Windam, there is really no reference or recollection of the first two episodes of Ultraseven in anything I've encountered. Not saying they are bad, but for possibly critical first impressions, it's a bit of a miracle the series is as fondly remembered as it is with a bit of a slow start if you will.

[Dr Kain]

I could talk for hours about how amazing this show is, but I'm just going to talk about how incredible the cinematography is in "The Marked Town." Not only is the lighting excellent for when Soga and Furahashi smoke the tainted cigarettes, but I love how the camera will be positioned at the bottom off the desk at times and stuff. And then, of course, there is the excellent sunset battle with the Metron. The only negative I have towards the episode is that I feel like it could have easily been a two parter as there was so much going on.

I also have to agree with the improved subtitles. Some episodes have made so much more sense to me now, such as the one with the Max ship that gets taken into outerspace.

[kiryugoji04]

[Dr Kain]

So what year does Seven take place in approximately? I find it funny how Ultraman was set in 1993, yet everyone still dressed like it was the 60s.

[lhb412]

^ It's a bit like Doctor Who: most of the earthbound Doctor Who stories of the 70s were set 10 years in the future, but as time went on they kind of forgot about that and you have this weird sliding timeline that doesn't quite add up. Similarly, Ultraman is set in 1993 but all the follow-up series that count it in continuity treat it as though it's set in the year it was released.

Wait, does the manga / anime treat it as though it happened in 1993?

Anyway, I'm very excited to be starting Ultraseven next week!

[Dr Kain]

[lhb412]

^ Well, of course all the early shows were fairly stand-alone and it wasn't until The Return of Ultraman that they were retconned into being a single continuity. I don't know of any other series besides the manga/anime that includes the 1966 show in a unique continuity?

I'm sure there are novels and manga in Japan that spin off the various continuities.

[Dr Kain]

[sentaison]

[Dr Kain]

That doesn't make any sense because the SSSP does not exist with the Ultra Guard and there is no Ultra Guard in Leo.

[O.Supreme]

Keep in mind there was zero, zip, nada, interconnectivity between any of these shows until Return of Ultraman when in one episode Hayata & Dan (Ultraman & Seven) make a brief cameo to save Jack. From then On, things are slowly retconned. This is most obvious when you watch Mebius as the GUYS team has a database of all the previous special teams missions and monster data. It wasn't meant to be in the early days, but now it's acceptable Canon that all showa series and Mebius are set in the same universe. Dyna, Cosmos, and most notably Zero have shown the ability to traverse different universes, thus the possibility of crossovers.

[Dr Kain]

Well we know all of them can travel the multiverse since everyone was involved in the fight with Belial during the Crisis Impact.

As for Seven and Man showing up to help Jack, again, they can travel across the dimensions, so of course they can. Either way, it's confusing as all hell and doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but I get what you are saying.

[O.Supreme]

Almost done, just watched the episode with the Evil Robot Seven. Things are starting to get sloppy though. Agira isn't seen again after getting kicked off a cliff. Not recalled, and I don't think that would have killed him.... I know Windam was killed by the Guts Aliens, and we can assume Miclas froze to death After Gandar defeated him since he was not recalled either. Dan needs to take better care of his capsule monsters...

Also the Blu Ray shows how beat up the Seven suit is getting in later episodes. I wonder how many they had total, but probably could have spring for another.

[Dr Kain]

I actually feel the Seven suit being worn out fits with how the character progresses after the Pole drained his energy. As you probably noticed, he hasn't been as strong in the episodes following that one, with his forehead light blinking quite often.

[lhb412]

Really digging the show on the new format. If I remember correctly, Shout Factory's transfers of these early episodes were especially poor.

The HD transfer is much better then the one for Ultraman. HD can be unforgiving, however; in the episode I'm watching right now it's obvious that poor Anne's entire face has broken out and is being covered with makeup!

[lhb412]

Jesus, I forgot how real things get in the Gyeron episode. That final part of the fight where Ultraseven has given up any attempts at disciplined martial arts and it's just fighting savagely to survive while bits of the monster's highly radioactive body is shedding all over the place and polluting the beautiful valley.

It gives the Jamilla episode a run for its money!

[lhb412]

Even in his human form Dan retains the alien superpower to notice obvious things that everyone else should notice.

[lhb412]

Just finished the series, and, as with Ultraman, I wasn't quite ready to let it go and ended up watching the finale a second time!

This is my second viewing of the series after initially watching it when Shout Factory released their DVD set a couple years ago. I loved the series a lot more this time, partially because of the improved presentation. I recalled being annoyed that so many of the alien plots were so similar, making the series more repetitive, but watching it again that didn't really bother me. In fact, I think it really only holds true for the earlier episodes and once the series really gets going they were good at differentiating the threats in each story.

[Dai]

I'm halfway through the Ultraseven blu-rays, and this is an amazing upgrade over Shout's DVDs. What's most impressive is how polished many of the effects look, even in HD. When shows are expecting to be seen on a blurry little CRT, and broadcast deadlines are looming, directors are tempted to cut corners, but many of the optical and wirework shots look even more impressive than the work Tsuburaya's team had done on the mid-60s Godzilla movies. In the first episode, we have a complex geometric pattern rotoscoped flawlessly over the Pointer as it moves. In the King Joe episodes, flames are composited onto the shades worn by the gaijin agent, and I think the same story has a shot where Seven's beam is reflected in the water. In fact, every beam effect feels way ahead of its time; I don't think anything really beat them until Star Wars a decade later, and even then you just have simple straight lines compared to the complex energy patterns we see from the Ultra Guard's weapons. Then you have the Ultrahawk, which pulls all kinds of crazy stunts in the air, but you almost never see any wires. It makes me wonder if some wire removal was done more recently, but I can't tell. Can anyone comment on that from older releases of the show?

[Kailem]

So even though I originally said I wanted to take a break from Showa Ultraman for a bit and watch Nexus next, I've kinda had a hankering for some good old fashioned classic Tsuburaya goodness of late, so I ended up starting Ultraseven instead! I did however finally watch The Next after years of meaning to import it but never getting round to it, so that and Blazar are currently giving me my modern Ultraman fix.

But yes, I watched the first five episodes of Ultraseven last night, and I did indeed really enjoy them! I can totally see what you meant Benjamin about Ultraseven taking everything that the original Ultraman established and expanding upon it. It definitely feels like a show that's got a bit more budget to play with compared to Ultraman, even just in terms of having a lot more throwaway shots of people walking the corridors of the TDF HQ; and indeed having other *people* in the HQ besides just the main cast! Just bigger sets and more focus on vehicles (the Thunderbirds influence being pretty clear there). And starting right off the bat with an organisation that's dedicated to protecting Earth from alien invasion, whereas Ultraman did have that eventually, but built up to it over time. Here it feels like they're playing with a broader canvas right from the get-go.

I'm also liking the spin with Ultraseven and Dan Moroboshi where they're just one and the same person, rather than an Ultra being and a human fused together. It definitely feels a lot more "superhero"-ish, with Dan being able to use powers in his human form, as well as giving us an inner monologue every now and then when he recognises something of alien origin. Plus Ultraseven directly interacting with humans wile being human-sized is something we never saw in the original show, and it really gives this a cool new spin on the premise that Ultraman established.

And even though it feels like it makes less sense in the context of Dan and Ultraseven literally being the same person, I'm liking how every Ultraman has their own special device that transforms them. Sure the Ultra Eye is basically the same as the Beta Capsule and changing it into a pair of glasses is really just a cosmetic difference, but it's still fun regardless. Also, capsule monsters! When he first used one in the first episode I was like "ok, I guess we're really not going to explain this, huh?" But either way it's a fun concept and a neat way of getting more monster fights in there, and I'm always down for more monster fights!

As for the episodes themselves, they were a lot of fun! I could have kept going if not for it getting late by the time I finished episode five, but I really enjoyed them. I recognised Eleking as a popular monster, and his episode was certainly cool. I also really liked the creepy atmosphere of The Green Terror, which reminded me a lot of the Greenmons from Ultraman but with a splash of Ultra Q atmosphere thrown in (even ending with an "it could happen to you!"-type closing narration). And damn, speaking of Eleking, he got messed up!! I thought Ultraman could be brutal sometimes, but Ultraseven thinks nothing of just straight-up slicing monsters into tiny pieces! I'm once again surprised that Tsuburaya was cool with this level of violence in his shows (even if this one was aimed at a slightly older audience), but I'm kinda getting used to it by now.

And the other aliens have been cool too; and not just Alien Cool! I like how "out there" things like Cool and Vira are. I've always preferred Godzilla's more "realistic" (for the most part) monster designs when it comes to overall design philosophy, but watching the Ultraman shows have definitely made me warm up to the more "out there" monsters like these.

So yeah, I've really been enjoying it so far and I'm looking forward to watching more! At this rate I really am going to have to order Return of Ultraman sooner rather than later just to keep this Showa Tsuburaya train going even longer!

[Benjamin Haines]

Yeah, the scope of everything in UltraSeven looks and feels expansive. Dan being a transformed version of Seven himself really makes this series unique among Ultra shows. In most cases, the Ultras and their human hosts are similar to Bruce Banner and the Hulk in the sense that they're usually two different beings merged into one body and one of them must always depart from the action to allow the other to appear. Seven is always himself whether he's in his natural form or his human disguise, more like Superman/Clark Kent, so Seven is always directly involved in the action and that makes the show even more compelling.

[Kailem]

Yeah it definitely gives that aspect of the show a neat spin on how things were in the original Ultraman series. I just watched the King Joe-featuring two-parter, and it was something that came into play there, with Dan being able to have face to face conversations with the aliens while acknowledging that he's one himself. Also King Joe was pretty awesome! I can see why it's one of the more popular Ultraseven characters, just basically being impervious to all of his attacks and powers. And that part 1 cliffhanger would have made classic Doctor Who proud!

I'm also kinda digging how just about *every* alien they encounter already knows of Dan's dual identity, like it's either just an open secret everywhere except Earth or his disguise just flat-out only works on humans. It just cuts through a lot of the expected "but how can you, a mere human, possibly know of our shenanigans?!"-type stuff. Plus we already get the "nobody knows who he really is" side of things with the rest of the Ultra Guard, so I appreciate how they almost always seem to just get right down to it when it comes to him interacting with the alien characters.

Likewise with how quickly he's able to figure some things out by virtue of him always being Seven, even in human form. in The Man Who Came From V3 when the imposter Ultra Guard members return to base, he's immediately like "ok anyone else think these guys are acting super sus right now? No way are these not alien imposters."

Oh yeah, and I also like how the very beginning of the opening titles is still a nod to Ultra Q, just less overt than it was with Ultraman, which makes sense because they're gradually moving further and further away from that show. But it's still a nice way to tie them together.

I'm nearing the end of the second disc now and it continues to be great!

[lhb412]

[quote="Benjamin Haines"]Yeah, the scope of everything in UltraSeven looks and feels expansive. Dan being a transformed version of Seven himself really makes this series unique among Ultra shows. In most cases, the Ultras and their human hosts are similar to Bruce Banner and the Hulk in the sense that they're usually two different beings merged into one body and one of them must always depart from the action to allow the other to appear. Seven is always himself whether he's in his natural form or his human disguise, more like Superman/Clark Kent, so Seven is always directly involved in the action and that makes the show even more compelling.[/quote]

Knowing that Tetsuo Kinjo, the star writer of the early Ultra shows (and namesake of King Joe), was Okinawan makes me think of Dan Muroboshi. Dan acts like part of the human team, but we're privy to his thoughts and observe his constant outsider's perspective. Dan passes for one of the group but is acutely aware of his own foreigness. I wonder if Kinjo felt the same?