Ultraman TV and Movie Licensed to Mill Creek for North Ameri

[lhb412]

In less than 3 years I now have a shelf that's [i]only[/i] Ultra series Blu-rays and DVDs.

Incredible.

In addition to that - all the other kaiju/toku home video releases released during the same span of time and my collection of discs has has doubled, and this is coming from someone who's been buying home video releases of this stuff since the year 2001!

[Dai]

For anyone who hasn't been keeping track, we're in the middle of another barrage of major Ultraman releases at the moment. Zearth, Cosmos and Neos all released in the last couple of months, while Max and Nexus/Next are out on 15th November. Considering that most Ultra series are 50 episodes, it absolutely blows my mind how fast Mill Creek have been subtitling and releasing the franchise.

[lhb412]

Max has actually been delayed to January. Release date seems to be holding for Nexus/The Next (probably save that one for Christmas).

[lhb412]

As Mill Creek finishes releasing all the shows from their initial license listings have appeared for first volume and what is apparently a new set of compilation releases spotlighting individual monsters. First up, a disc of episodes featuring Red King!

I wonder if these releases will fill the gap between now and whatever comes next, whether it's new licenses or special edition releases.

[Kailem]

I read back through the thread but couldn't see it mentioned anywhere, and my Google searches have been inconclusive so I figured I'd ask; is there any indication that Mill Creek will be releasing Towards the Future/Great at any point? Or have they already said it's not possible because of its status as a co-production?

Ultraman: Towards the Future is the only Ultraman show I ever saw growing up (though I did recently pick up the original show on Blu-ray so I'll be going through that once I've finished Ultra Q), since I think it's the only one that ever made it over to this side of the world. So needless to say it holds a lot of sentimental value, and it'd be great to be able to actually own a legit physical copy without burned-in English subs like the Japanese Blu-ray has.

[Benjamin Haines]

^ No, unfortunately. Mill Creek can only license what TPC is offering for international licensing, and when Mill Creek struck their big Ultra deal with TPC back in 2019, they weren't offering Towards the Future or any other co-productions like The Ultimate Hero, Ultra Q Dark Fantasy or the Heisei-era UltraSeven specials.

With the release of Ultraman Max back in January, Mill Creek has now released every Ultra series, movie and special that they licensed from TPC back in 2019. Hopefully they'll be able to strike a new deal soon to license more recent shows like Taiga, Z and the Netflix anime, although I doubt TPC will be offering any older titles for licensing that they weren't offering four years ago.

[lhb412]

They might go after some of the non-Ultra shows. Fireman and Mirrorman are essentially Ultras in all bit name! What I want, though, is Operation Mystery. Which was Tsuburaya trying to do the eerie, Ultra Q thing without the obvious kaiju baddies.

[Kailem]

That's a shame about Towards the Future, but not unexpected. I wonder if it's a "they're waiting for the international rights to expire"-type thing, or if they're just straight-up not touching those international co-productions outside of Japan? I'd imagine the latter if Mill Creek didn't licence any of them at all.

And wow, Mill Creek really have released a lot haven't they?! Even with all the sets they've put out over the last few years I guess I just assumed they were only about halfway through, given how many Ultraman shows it always seemed like there were.

[Benjamin Haines]

Keith Aiken posted this on the blu-ray.com forums: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=21394805&postcount=4731

"A second Mill Creek/Tsuburaya licensing deal is still very much a possibility. I am strongly recommending that anyone who would like that to happen contact Mill Creek via their website (https://www.millcreekent.com/pages/contact-us) or social and tell them so. The more fans/customers they hear from, the more motivation there will be to make this happen."


My plan is to take a photo of my Ultra collection tomorrow after work (when there's sunlight coming through the window) and then I'll email Mill Creek and ask them to help me add to it!

[lhb412]

I've already fired off an email. Apparently, some folks have said they've received a hopeful sounding reply from Mill Creek?

[Kailem]

Oh man, it's a long shot but if they were able to put out a US release of Towards the Future I would import that thing so quickly.

[Benjamin Haines]

I sent my email to Mill Creek's acquisitions, sales support and customer service email addresses simultaneously. The only reply I've received so far was the immediate auto-reply from the sales support email address: "Thank you for your message. A member of the sales team will review and respond as necessary. If you are interested in being a new partner, please follow the below link to submit your information."

I listed all of the most recent Ultraman titles in my email. Since I included Netflix's Ultraman anime series among my suggestions, and since Mill Creek was the company that previously gave Sony's animated Godzilla: The Series its long-overdue complete series DVD set, I also suggested that they try to license Godzilla: Singular Point and the Godzilla anime film trilogy to finally give them physical media releases too.

[lhb412]

Well, whatever announcement Mill Creek was planning on making has been spoiled a bit, because a listing for the Ultraman Taiga (series + movie) blu-ray set has started popping up! Tentatively scheduled for July 30!

Of course, when the announcement is official we should get a better idea of just what's been licensed.

[Benjamin Haines]

Fantastic! Hopefully Z, Trigger, Decker and Blazar will follow!

[Benjamin Haines]

Mill Creek's official press announcement for their July 30 release of Ultraman Taiga is now on SciFi Japan:

https://www.scifijapan.com/ultraman-tsuburaya/mill-creek-entertainment-announces-ultraman-taiga-the-complete-series-ultraman-taiga-the-movie-new-generation-climax-coming-to-blu-ray-and-digital-this-summer

Unlike other blu-ray disc releases from Mill Creek, their retail release of Taiga will not include a slipcover, as that will be exclusive to copies that they sell at this year's San Diego Comic-Con a few days before the release date.

That press release also includes some exciting news about the future:
"This summer release comes from Mill Creek Entertainment’s recently announced extension and expansion of its current partnership with Tsuburaya Fields Media & Pictures Entertainment, Inc. The deal includes digital and physical rights for a full slate of episodic series and feature films from the international powerhouse brand, ULTRAMAN, including many that have not been available in the US previously."

[Kailem]

I like the sound of that last bit! I know the chances of Towards the Future being included are slim to none, especially with the state of the material they have to work with, but a guy can dream!

[lhb412]

I wonder if they'll list all they've licensed or just surprise us with each new release?

[Dai]

Great news. The blu-rays must be selling well if they've renewed the licence for such a large catalogue.

[Kailem]

Apparently it was just announced at SDCC that Mill Creek are releasing the complete Blazar boxset next month, including the Tokyo Kaiju Showdown movie and the English dubs for all episodes (alongside the original audio and subs, obviously)! I only ever watched the episodes subbed when they went up on Youtube as it aired, but it's certainly nice that they're going to be including the dub for completeness' sake, and for those who might prefer to watch it that way.

I read that the movie only came out on Blu-ray in Japan super recently, so they're really not wasting any time making this available in western homes! This is definitely one I'll be picking up, for sure.

[lhb412]

Apparently they got their wires crossed when announcing the date; the Blazar Series/Movie set is coming October 29.

... still: WOOHOO!!!

[Kailem]

They corrected their correction back to the original incorrect date, which is, in fact, correct!

Well even if it's coming out a couple of months later, it's still cool that it's coming! The only real question now is whether or not to rewatch the series before the movie, or just dive straight in!

[lhb412]

Well, I haven't seen the movie yet, so I'll see that first. Then I'll watch the series with the dub this time. I haven't watched a full series of the new dubs yet, so it'll make a nice change of pace for rewatching shows I've already seen.

[Benjamin Haines]

Great news about Blazar! That was the biggest question about Mill Creek's new licensing deal regarding the newer shows, whether Blazar and its tie-in film were too recent to be included in the deal. Z, Trigger and Decker seem to be a given at this point.

I hope that this leads to Blazar eventually streaming on Tubi like the other Ultra shows but with the English dub included and prominently listed. Having one of these shows dubbed in English really opens it up to a wider market of younger kid viewers.

[lhb412]

Ordered Taiga from Deepdiscount and, apparently like many others, got the "SDCC Exclusive" holographic slipcover!

[lhb412]

Ultra stuff continues unabaited.

A compilation of all the Ultra Galaxy Fight stuff from YouTube comes out in December and Ultraman Z (Woohoo!) will be released in January.

Never watched the YouTube stuff, but Z is one of the greatest newer shows. In fact, it might be my favorite of the newer shows despite it still having so much of the merch-selling cross-promotion stuff swallowing the storytelling (and that they've only just begun to curb with Blazar).