Ultraman (ウルトラマン Urutoraman?), commonly called the Ultra Series (ウルトラシリーズ Urutora Shirīzu?), is an on-going franchise by Tsuburaya Productions that features the character Ultraman and is the most popular creation of the company to date.
After Tsuburaya Production's foundation in 1963, the company's founder, Eiji Tsuburaya had envisioned to create his own work of tokusatsu after working on many films for Toho. Ultra Q, the first production of his company in 1966, featured an eerie theming, mysteries and strange monsters, was a great success in Japan.
Later that year, a more colorful series aired, titled Ultraman, which went on to surpass the previous series in popularity, receiving its highest viewer rating at 42.8% and gave birth to the Kyodai Hero genre.
With over thirty television series, over thirty films and countless merchandise, Ultraman still receives installments to this day.
Series History
To be added.
Main Series
1960s
- Ultra Q (1966)
- Ultraman (1966-67)
- Ultraseven (1967-68)
1970s
- Return of Ultraman (1971-72)
- Ultraman Ace (1972-73)
- Ultraman Taro (1973-1974)
- Ultraman Leo (1974-1975)
- The Ultraman (1979-1980)
1980s
- Ultraman 80 (1980-1981)
1990s
- Ultraman: Towards the Future (1990-91)
- Ultraman: The Ultimate Hero (1995)
- Ultraman Tiga (1996-97)
- Ultraman Dyna (1997-1998)
- Ultraman Gaia (1998-1999)
2000s
- Ultraman Neos (2000-01)
- Ultraman Cosmos (2001-02)
- Ultra Q: Dark Fantasy (2004)
- Ultraman Nexus (2004-05)
- Ultraman Max (2005)
- Ultraman Mebius (2006)
- Ultraseven X (2007)
- Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle (2008-09)
- Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle: Never Ending Odyssey (2008-09)
2010s
- Neo Ultra Q (2013)
- Ultraman Ginga (2013)
- Ultraman Ginga S (2014)
- Ultraman X (2015)
- Ultraman Orb (2016)
- Ultraman Orb: The Origin Saga (2016-17)
- Ultraman Zero: The Chronicle (2017)
- Ultraman Geed (2017)
- Ultraman Orb: The Chronicle (2018)
- Ultraman R/B (2018)
- Ultraman New Generation Chronicle (2019)
- Ultraman Taiga (2019)
2020s
- Ultraman Chronicle: Zero & Geed (2020)
- Ultraman Z (2020)
- Ultraman Chronicle Z: Heroes' Odyssey (2021)
- Ultraman Trigger: New Generation Tiga (2021)
Films
1960s
- Ultraman: Monster Movie Feature (1967) [compilation film]
- Ultraman, Ultraseven: Great Violent Monster Fight (1969) [lost compilation film]
1970s
- Return of Ultraman (1971) [compilation film]
- Return of Ultraman: Terror of the Tornado Monster (1971) [compilation film]
- Return of Ultraman: Jiro Rides a Monster (1972) [compilation film]
- Akio Jissoji's Ultraman (1979) [compilation film]
- Ultraman: Great Monster Battle (1979) [compilation film]
1980s
- Zoffy: The Ultra Warriors vs. the Giant Monster Army (1984)
- Ultraman Kids: The Movie (1984)
- Ultraman Story (1984)
- Ultraman: The Adventure Begins (1987)
1990s
- Ultra Q the Movie: Legend of the Stars (1990)
- Revive! Ultraman (1996)
- Ultraman Zearth (1996)
- Ultraman Zearth 2: Superhuman Giant Battle - Light and Shadow (1997)
- Ultraman Tiga & Ultraman Dyna: Warriors of the Star of Light (1998)
- Ultraman Tiga, Ultraman Dyna & Ultraman Gaia: The Battle in Hyperspace (1999)
2000s
- Ultraman Tiga: The Final Odyssey (2000)
- Ultraman Tiga Side Story: Revival of the Ancient Giant (2001)
- Ultraman Cosmos: The First Contact (2001)
- Ultraman Gaia: Gaia Once Again (2001)
- Ultraman Dyna: The Return of Hanejiro (2001)
- Ultraman Cosmos 2: The Blue Planet (2002)
- New Century Ultraman Legend (2002)
- Ultraman Cosmos vs. Ultraman Justice: The Final Battle (2003)
- New Century 2003 Ultraman Legend: The King's Jubilee! (2003)
- Ultraman: The Next (2004)
- Ultraman Mebius & Ultraman Brothers (2006)
- Great Decisive Battle! The Super 8 Ultra Brothers (2008)
- Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy the Movie (2009)
2010s
- Ultraman Zero the Movie: Super Deciding Fight! The Belial Galactic Empire (2010)
- Ultraman Zero Side Story: Killer the Beatstar (2011)
- Ultraman Saga (2012)
- Ultraman Ginga: Theater Special (2013)
- Ultraman Ginga: Theater Special Ultra Monster Hero Battle Royal! (2014)
- Ultraman Ginga S the Movie: Showdown! The 10 Ultra Warriors! (2015)
- Ultraman X the Movie: Here He Comes! Our Ultraman (2016)
- Ultraman Orb the Movie: Let Me Borrow the Power of Bonds! (2017)
- Ultraman Geed the Movie: Connect the Wishes! (2018)
- Ultraman R/B the Movie: Select! The Crystal of Bond (2019)
2020s
- Ultraman Taiga the Movie: New Generation Climax (2020)
- Shin Ultraman (2021)
- Ultraman (Netflix)
Mini-Series
- Ultra Fight (1970)
- Andro Melos (1984)
- Ultra Super Fight (1994)
- Ultraman Nice (1999)
- Ultra Zero Fight (2012)
- Ultra Fight Victory (2015)
- Ultra Fight Orb (2016)
- Ultra Galaxy Fight: New Generation Heroes (2019)
- Ultra Galaxy Fight: The Absolute Conspiracy (2020)
- Sevenger Fight (2021)
- Ultra Galaxy Fight: The Destined Crossroad (2022)
Side Stories and OVAs
- Ultraman vs. Kamen Rider (1993)
- Heisei Ultraseven (1994-1999)
- Ultraman Graffiti (1990)
- Ultraman: Super Warrior Legends (1996)
- Ultra Nyan (1997)
- Ultra Nyan 2 (1998)
- Ultraman Tiga Side Story: Revival of the Ancient Giant (2001)
- Ultraman Mebius Side Story: Hikari Saga (2006)
- Ultraman Mebius Side Story: Armored Darkness (2008)
- Ultraman Mebius Side Story: Ghost Rebirth (2009)
- Ultra Galaxy Legends Side Story: Ultraman Zero vs. Darklops Zero (2010)
- Ultraman Zero Side Story: Killer the Beatstar (2011)
- The・Ultraman: Jackal vs. Ultraman (2015)
Other
- Space Warriors 2000 (1985)
- Ultraman Kids Proverb Stories (1986)
- Ultraman Kids: 30 Million Light Years Looking for Mama (1991–1992)
- Project Ultraman (2007)
- Ultraman Kids: The Series (2013-present)
- Kaiju Girls (2016-2018)
- Dragon Force: So Long Ultraman (2017)
- ULTRAMAN (2019)
- Dragon Force: Rise of Ultraman (2019)
Other Media
Books
To be added.
Comics
To be added.
Music
To be added.
Video Games
To be added.
Cultural Impact
- Main article: Ultraman in Popular Culture
To be added.
Anniversary Projects
45th Anniversary
45th anniversary logo
To be added.
50th Anniversary
50th anniversary logo
From 2015 to 2016, the 50th anniversary of the Ultraman Series was celebrated with Tsuburaya Productions releasing Ultraman X, Ultraman X the Movie, Ultraman Orb and Ultraman Orb: The Origin Saga. There were many merchandise and events to celebrate, with S.H. Figuarts releasing Ultraman Series figures and Ultraman Festival 2016 being held from July 22 to August 28.
55th Anniversary
55th anniversary logo
On November 12, 2020, it was revealed that Tsuburaya Productions would release new series, films, events and merchandise to celebrate the 55th anniversary of the Ultraman Series in 2021.[1] The first of which being Shin Ultraman, a successor to Toho's Shin Godzilla.[2] Sevenger Fight, a throwback to 1970's Ultra Fight began streaming through Tsuburaya Imagination and Ultraman Trigger: New Generation Tiga, a spiritual successor to 1996's Ultraman Tiga, began airing on July 10, Ultraman Day. Ultraman Café-GO BEYOND 55th Anniversary, a restaurant dedicated to the Ultraman 55th Anniversary project was open on the 1st floor of Tokyo Solamachi for a limited time from July 16th to August 29th, 2021.[3]
Gallery
Anniversary Projects
References
This is a list of references for Ultraman (franchise). These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]
