ULTRA SEVEN CS DVD

I am excited that Shout Factory (God bless this outfit) is releasing ULTRASEVEN in the States - finally! But I am here to inform all of you, and by "all of you" I mean ANYBODY who enjoys imaginative and wildly entertaining material (not just Japanese stuff) of what a great shame it is that the rare and little-seen TNT dubbed version of ULTRASEVEN will not be made available on this DVD release - a glorious opportunity terribly wasted. Please DO NOT believe what you may read or hear from other Japanese fantasy fans putting the program down. Any such individuals who disparage this marvelous version of the series simply do not get it, probably not unlike anybody who doesn't "get" Seinfeld, or Ab Fab. I am in my late 50s and I am a trained fine artist, college level educator/lecturer, and professional film and film music journalist/critic. I grew up with Godzilla and ULTRAMAN. I am a veteran of the "front lines", I was there when it all first went down, when it all began; I saw GODZILLA VERSUS THE THING (Mothra), GODZILLA VERSUS KING KONG, MONSTER ZERO and DESTROY ALL MONSTERS in theater when they first premiered here in the States and I was watching Ultraman when it first ran on American TV in the 1960s - and my love of Japanese fantasy has never waned over the decades. I have all the American DVD editions of the Toho films (and I adore them all) and dozens of collectable figures and toys. Here is the story: During the 1990s I had a job that required my getting up at 5AM (horrible). The one upside to this circumstance was that I just happened to turn on TNT in the wee hours of the morning and caught - and recorded - the first episode of ULTRASEVEN! TNT ran - one time only (as far as I know) - an English dubbed version of the show that I believe the network had directly commissioned from some small company in Canada. Here is the vital detail: this dub is absolutely unique in that it was secretly (unknown to TNT) conceptualized and executed with a slightly sublimated degree of irreverent humor! My wife and I had watched several episodes before we even realized what was going on - the English dub was an enormously creative, albeit subtle spoof of the sci-fi/fantasy sub-genre! One sort of has to first become aware of this, but once you are (and NOW you are) the dialogue then becomes an utterly delightful and sophisticated jab at the inherent preposterousness of the fantasy/adventure premise. An example: One of my favorite "bits" involves the hero, Dan Moroboshi and the pretty Anne Yuri, checking out an office building that has been overrun by spooky aliens. As Dan carefully stalks the dark halls, his ray gun drawn and Anne following, he tells Anne "Go back outside to the car and wait for me, it is too dangerous in here." Anne refuses to go saying "No, I won't leave you. You may need help." Dan, getting frustrated, says "Look, I can't effectively protect you and me both - you can help me best by waiting in the car." Anne still refuses saying "No, I won't go!" to which Dan finally yells "Damn it, if you don't leave I'm gonna shoot you myself!" This is funny on so many levels. One) It is a sure thing that the Japanese-speaking Dan never said any such thing - not even close! This was a kid's show! Two) The new dialogue puts humorous light to the overt chauvinism running rampant throughout both ULTRAMAN and ULTRASEVEN. The female members of the science units were usually being told to make coffee, or stay behind whenever the men flew off to fight monsters. Three) Dan's rude comment is actually on-target as regards what an actual husband or boyfriend might have said during the less politically correct decade of the 1960s - trust me, this stuff is gold! In my opinion the fantastic "TNT dub" of ULTRASEVEN stands as one of the most creative programs ever devised for broadcast in America - and hardly anybody has seen it! I taped every episode TNT ran (thank God) and so I can enjoy this masterpiece whenever I desire, but this is just not good enough! EVERBODY, including YOU, needs a chance to experience this rare gem. Please write TNT and demand that they release their version on DVD, or at least re-broadcast it uncut. Chant after me: WE WANT THE ULTRASEVEN TNT DUB! WE WANT THE ULTRASEVEN TNT DUB!

Unless you grew up in Hawaii, in the ‘70s, you probably discovered Ultra 7 in the ‘90s on TNT like I did. By the time I saw this particular production I was already in my late 20s, which was perfect due to the comedic treatment that the production team chose for this version of the show.

This DVD set is more pure in treatment to the original production. It is spoken in the original Japanese with English subtitles.

Sometimes, the subtitles are a bit inaccurate and the audio fades out in several occasions. However, this is not really that big of a deal unless you can actually follow the Japanese audio.

Ultra 7 is one of the most popular series of the “Ultraman” shows. In the US, we only ever had the first Ultraman series aside from the Hawaiian version of Ultra 7 that was cited above.

Ultra 7 was the last of the ‘60s productions; for this reason, it still has cool atmosphere, music, sound effects, cars, gadgets and uniforms. The productions of the ‘70s lost that feel and just don’t look as good.

Ultra 7 could have been my favorite series but it falls short on monster design; also, it seems that they didn’t take certain things as seriously in this show. The aliens have comical sounding voices and some of the concepts, even names of planets and aliens are a bit cheesy. In this sense, I still think the first Ultraman is the best that there ever was. It was more sober and the creatures were more convincing.

In other ways, Ultra 7 was more sophisticated, even to the point of being over-produced. I think the studios knew that they were going to market this series to death and therefore the production was sensationalized. The scenery and filming are the best of any Ultraman series. They really capitalized on the psychedelic imagery of the time.

I was anxious to read the subtitles to see how much the TNT version digressed from the original storylines – they were actually pretty faithful to the original scripts. Word of warning, reading the subtitles really starts to wear down the eyes after a while. I would like to watch the series again without reading the subtitles just to enjoy the scenery and imagery in a more relaxed setting.

The exposition is a bit poor at times. For instance, I don’t remember the Ultra Squad (Guard) naming Ultra 7 in the first episode as they did in the first Ultraman episode; however, from the second episode on, they just refer to him by that name with no further explanation. There are also some weird edits that I thought were poor edits on the part of the TNT production but they remain in this original, un-edited version. The most classic example is in the TNT episode, Wayne, Lord of the Universe. There is a scene where Ultra 7 is trapped in a circular opening that is closing in on him. The opening is a door panel to a saucer. The alien appears and starts to fire upon Ultra 7. In this TNT version they break to a commercial and when they come back Ultra 7 is free and flying outside of the ship – he becomes big and starts to push the ship. In all these years, I thought that was a bad edit only to find out that that is exactly what happens in the un-edited version.

By the way, Ultra 7 changes size but the original Ultraman did as well – it just wasn’t openly announced but it did occur at least a couple of times.

Also, it seems that they like to implement story ideas in pairs – they had two episodes back-to-back where a young girl steals Dan’s Ultra Eye. In another situation there is two episodes back-to-back where exploratory spacecraft are launched and alien worlds take it as an invasion of privacy and threaten violence – they just want the earthlings to leave them alone.

If you are an Ultra-Series fan this box set is a must – this is the best picture quality I have ever seen for this series (I have also seen 2 episodes of the Hawaiian series). I still think the first Ultraman series is better but I have grown very fond of Ultra 7 due to the TNT series – it was the proper series to have seen for my age at the time. This original series would have been great to see when I was a kid at the time when I was watching the original Ultraman along with Space Giants and Johnny Sokko.

I really wish that the Turner/TNT version could be released on DVD but I am certainly happy that I have this Set!

I grew up on re-runs of the Original "Ultraman" in the 70s so he's a very important part of my childhood. When I saw that "UltraSeven" was being released by Shout Factory I was interested, but not thrilled. UltraSeven looks so different from the original. And what's that on his head? Is he some kind of Ultra Trojan? Well, I got the set and watched all of it. And as soon as I was able to let go of the original Ultraman -- just for now -- I liked it.

My review of Shout Factory's "UltraSeven" DVD set will go into the similarities and the differences between it and "Ultraman".

Japanese Clark Kent

First off, a lot of it's the same. There's a man belonging to a super-techy organization who slips away when trouble hits to turn into a 50-meter superhero. He doesn't use a beta capsule, though. His trick is a pair of fancy shades he pulls out from his right breast pocket, same place Hiyata kept his capsule. Interestingly, the actor who plays Dan Moroboshi looks very similar to Hiyata.

The Hero

UltraSeven has a different paint scheme, some shoulder armor, very different eyes and a mohawk like detachable blade on his head. He looks the same... yet different. He can wield the famed Specium Ray which the previous Ultraman used. But he also has a lot of new tricks including shooting a beam from his head and tossing his 'mohawk' to slice up the monsters.

The Monsters

Wait, wait. Hold on. We'll get to that later.

The Alien Invasions

Here's one of the biggest differences between 'Ultraman' and 'UltraSeven'. Practically every single episode features a new invasion plot from a new set of aliens. Whereas the original show did this now and then, UltraSeven does it every time... except for now and then. The aliens always covet the Earth, make plans to make it theirs and are all very good at out-of-place maniacal laughter when finishing sentences. They often disguise themselves as, possess, take over or remote control humans as part of their scheme. And there is a lot of repetition on this alone. There are even 2 back to back episodes where they almost completely repeat what they did previously, just with different faces. These alien storylines take up most of all of the episodes. And then...

The Monsters

... then a monster shows up at the very end, often for no reason other than to just have one, and to have someone for UltraSeven to battle with. In the original 'Ultraman' it was all about monsters. They were the mystery. Where did they come from? What are they up to? That filled the show. In 'UltraSeven', monsters seem like an afterthought.

The Ultra Garrison

This group is UltraSeven's answer to the Science Patrol. For all intents and purposes, it is the Science Patrol with new faces, uniforms, ships, etc. We get to see a lot more of the interior of their building in this series. For me, at first, I wished Hiyata, Ide, Arashi, Fuji, etc. were there. But I got to know and really like the group fairly quickly. Some fun facts here: The actor who plays Arashi in the original series is part of this group but plays a different character. Also interesting is another member of the Ultra Garrison is played by Bin "Satoshi" Furuya who is also the actor who plays Ultraman himself as well as UltraSeven.

It's Clever

Despite the repitition in the episodes, many of the stories have really original and interesting plots and ideas. Tons of them! In fact, taking into consideration that this series first came out in 1967, I'd wager that a ton of movies and tv series, etc. gained inspiration from this series. I lost count at how many ideas from this show may have wound up in future titles. Star Blazers, Star Trek: The Next Generation and a whole lot more may have "borrowed" a little from UltraSeven.

If you're a fan of the original Ultraman, you'll probably like this "UltraSeven" set. The quality of the discs are very good (or as good as they can be for a show from the 60s that probably used 16mm a lot on location). There are no annoying trailers or previews which you're not allowed to skip through. The chapter button will let you pass the (sorry) annoying theme which comes in at almost 2 minutes long. Curiously, the English subtitles are not on by default. All in all, good show, good DVD release, nice price. Get it now while they're still around. This title isn't exactly the type to get released again.

I own the re-mastered Japanese series, but my Japanese isn't awesome. I have watched the Canadian "Dubbed" version, but it was kinda' silly at times, which, in my opinion, took something away from the original intent. I have always wished that there was just an English subtitled set, so I could watch it and understand it in its true form. My wish has come true (six months ago). I can't believe it took me so long to discover it !!!! The video quality is just fine, so don't worry. They did a great job considering what they had to work with. Remember this is a 45 year old show (masters were 16mm film I think). If you love Ultraseven, like I do, and you want enjoy the story as it was intended... you need this set. **Warning** Understanding a bit of Japanese makes the experience even better.

To be completely honest, I prefer the original Ultraman to Ultra Seven, but Ultra Seven is still an excellent program. The writing focuses more on science fiction than action, and it should appeal to a slightly older demographic than Ultraman. It feels very similar to Ultra Q, if you're familiar with the show. If you're not, well, I could say there is a bit less cheese and more "Outer Limits."

I do have one minor complaint, however. I've watched ten or twelve episodes so far, and I'm starting to see several patterns--1) All the aliens know Dan Moroboshi is Ultra Seven, 2) All beautiful women Dan meets are aliens/robots in disguise, 3) Dan needs to keep his Ultra Eye in a more secure pocket because aliens keep stealing it, 4) All the aliens, even the good ones, are trying to conquer/destroy earth. Even though they seem to recycle the plot quite a bit, the writing is very good and I still enjoyed it.

I have only ever had the chance to watch the English dubbed version of Ultraseven when it first appeared on TNT many years ago, but I still have very fond memories of Ultraseven.

With all of the legal turmoil that Tsubaraya Productions had gone through, it seemed as though there wasn't any hope of seeing any Region 1 releases of anything created by the studio. A few years back there was the original Ultraman release by BCI, but they apparently didn't even get the original master negatives, but a second generation copies from the Thai company Chaiyo, the very company in legal battle with Tsubaraya over who had the official rights to the Ultraman property.

I didn't think I would ever live to see anything officially released here in the states. A few years ago there were the releases of Iron King and Super Robot Red Baron (which I love and still have in my collection), but once BCI Eclipse went under, all hope for any further releases of anythign else were dashed... until the announcement of this release from the super awesome company Shout Factory.

I remember that this series had more darker themes and more grown up and intelligent stories, which I love. I believe around the time of this season's release in Japan, there was a positive comparison to the original Star Trek series, with regards to its intelligent approach to science fiction, along with the well rounded characters and the approach of the storytelling.

While Ultraman Hayata was the first Ultraman series and laid the groundwork for the Ultra franchise itself, Ultraseven is usually the series people tend to remember with fondness, admiration and respect.

I loved the design of Ultraseven, I loved that he was an alien who took on the form of a human being, and I liked that this Ultra character didn't have that pesky three-minute limit, and was able to fight for longer periods. I also love the monster designs and I also loved the character dynamics and the professional atmosphere of the Ultra Garrison itself as both a scientific investigative and paramilitary organization. I'm hoping the release of Ultraseven will pave the way for other Ultra series to be released here in the states.

I was amazed to get Amazon's notification of the Ultraseven series coming to DVD. From my youth, I knew of Ultraman and only Ultraman. It would be years into adulthood before I knew there were any other series like this, much less finding out Ultraman was ALSO a sequel of its own from "Ultra Q" (aside from Johnny Sokko and the various Godzilla adventures that were shown endlessly in US syndication). It was my understanding that the original Ultraman series became too expensive to produce, thus it was only in production for one year. Evidently, with series still in production as of the date of this review, that may not have been the case.

I first became aware of "Ultra Seven" when it showed up in weekday morning syndication on the US TNT network mid-90's. They would run two half-hour episodes, which were HEAVILY edited and almost comedic in their English translations (dubbed in the mid-80's by Canadian outfit CINAR). Visually, the series looked a lot like the original Ultraman....but the tone took a different direction, bringing in heavier moral and ethical scenarios (even in the limp Canadian dubs). The creatures also became more outrageous (whereas many of Ultraman's foes appeared to be based on actual mutated animals). The series eventually shifted to weekend overnights, usually late Saturday night or early Sunday morning, for an hour...unless a movie ran late. TNT was good about posting schedules and episode titles.

I got ahold of an original DVD set of Ultraseven a few years ago. At the time, the going price was $500. You read that right. Five HUNDRED. Boxed set of 12 discs, with subtitles in other Asian languages, no English. It is still available here on Amazon, I think a new set is going for $1500 (add one THOUSAND to what I just quoted!) or something like that & used for about half. One thing I learned early, legitimate Japanese DVDs are not produced "en masse" and first runs tend to be very limited. For example, when the Godzilla franchise was rebooted in 2000 and the second film didn't come out over here, a Japanese DVD was almost $100, while a no-frills import from another Asian outlet was about $10. Same quality, just no extras. Many of the Ultra series have been released on either LaserDisc or DVD over the years. All very expensive.

There is another Asian set for Ultraseven out there for $20 or less that likely falls into the same category as the Godzilla films I mentioned, but it has recently disappeared from listings, so your best bet is likely going to be this set coming out in December. I cannot comment on the legalities of the parties producing the set, but it is widely available for research online. While the original Japanese set was 12 discs, this set advertised is six...so they obviously doubled up on each disc.

Ultraseven appeared later in Episode 18 of "The Return of Ultraman", which began the "guest star" episodes so popular in the rest of the series, most notably Episode 38 of "Return" with both Ultraseven AND the original Ultraman.

One thing all of these Ultraseven DVD sets have in common, the lack of infamous "Episode 12", YUHSEI YORI AI O KOMETE titled (and banned) "From Another Planet With Love" in Japan and dubbed "Crystallized Corpuscles" in Canada. Bootleg copies of the Japanese print are out there, but TNT did in fact air the episode once in 1997 and once more in 2000. At the center of the ban is the storyline, radioactive aliens that use wristwatches to suck the blood out of young women, storing it as crystals, to replace their own polluted blood. As the episode progresses, the aliens discover the blood of children to be "more pure". Also, the episode's Alien "Spell" (or "Spehl" in dub) is referenced as "Hibaku Seijin", a play on "Hibaku-sha", a term used for survivors of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. When it becomes giant-sized to fight against the backdrop of a setting sun, it has welts and lesions all over its body. A print article ran about it, calling Spell-seijin HIBAKUSHA-monsters. Complaints arose, citing the episode compared bombing victims to vampire aliens that use children's blood to cleanse their radioactive blood. Tsuburaya Productions pulled the episode from circulation and it is rarely referenced in Japanese archives of the series. Hiroko Sakurai, who played "Fuji" in Ultraman, has a role in this episode.

The two prior releases of Ultraman looked pretty good to me, both the multi-disc two-parters and the economy-packed set, and I used to have VHS tapes made from the 16mm films that were traded for so many years. I would expect this new release to follow in that range. I will update once I have my own copy to review.

**ADDED January 4** I logged in to update my review and am surprised to find the item unavailable from Amazon. It was shipped to me when it came out by Amazon, so there must be something I'm not aware of that has come about since shipment. As for the DVD set, it's certainly not the pricey Japanese treatment, but this is essentially all you need. The discs are kept in safe two-sided plastic trays that allow for all the discs to fit in the standard size DVD case. Extensive booklet is included and Episode 12, plus the lack thereof in the set, is covered equally extensively (including mentioning the airings on US television!). The picture quality is about as good as you will get anywhere else, I did note night time scenes occasionally have an "overprocessed" look to them (like punching up the saturation too much in PhotoShop on a frame), but it actually reveals small details in scenes I hadn't noticed before. Overall it's a worthwhile purchase.

Somehow the video quality is rather bad. No dub version for anyone looking for that either. Honestly surprised at the lack of quality here.

Being a fan of Ultraman, I thought I'd spend the money on its followup series. I'm pretty glad I did. It's not exactly the Monster-of-the-Week like Ultraman (even though some alien is trying to take over the planet every epidsode), but it's still a lot of fun. It might look a little dated now but the idea is there and that's the main thing.

And after 3 episdoes, you'll be humming the theme song to yourself.

最安値のimportcds_com　からの購入でした。

アマゾンでも買える安価な、リージョンフリー CICONIA DVDプレーヤー　DVD-C02BKによって再生が出来ました。

Windows7をインストールしてあるPCでも5KPlayerというフリーソフトで再生できました。

ちなみに、私のDVD発注は2015年10月11日、発送は10月13日となっていて、到着予定は10月28日迄にということでしたが、

実際の到着日は10月30日でした。他のレビューにもあるように到着予定日までに到着しないことはあるようです。

DHLという海外の大手業者が入っていますが、海外の事情とはそんなものです。

DHLであっても国によって状況は違います。ちなみに日本の郵便や宅配便のサービスのレベルは世界一です。

その感覚で海外からの到着についていろいろ言ってもどうにもならないのは海外に住んだ経験のある方ならお分かりでしょう。

「ウルトラセブン」は私が幼稚園児だったころ再放送を見て強く印象に残っていたもので、

その後の再放送で、いくつかの回を見たのだと思います。

最初に見た時から44～45年は経っていると思います。

特に31話の「悪魔の住む花」33話の「侵略する死者たち」、「ノンマルトの使者」「第四惑星の悪夢」「零下140度の対決」などは独特で、

当時、小さな子供ながら強い印象を持ちました。

今年のシルバーウィークの常念岳や蝶が岳の登山中に、山小屋のTVでサンダーバードの再放送とCGによる新版の放送を見ましたが、

サンダーバードの放送を影響受けて、山が割れたり、1号機みたいなロケットタイプの発射シーンがあったり、

マグマライザーが、まさにジェットモグラの影響が強いのは分かりました。

それにしても全編通じて面白いです。

「盗まれたウルトラアイ」の宇宙人の少女の悲しさにも強く心を打たれましたし、

最終回は音楽も素晴らしくてストーリーともピッタリですし、とても感動しました。

地球が攻撃を受けて世界各地の大都市が次々と火の海になるシーンはたいへん恐ろしく、その音楽と映像にも衝撃を受けました。

また、アンヌへの告白シーンからバンドンとの戦いまでのシーンで使われているシューマンのピアノ協奏曲については、

ディヌ・リパッティのピアノ、カラヤン指揮の演奏が凄まじく、そのCDも買ってみようと思います。

(クラシック音楽になじみの深い私は、中学2年の時にはセブンと関係なくアルゲリッチのピアノの盤を購入していて曲も聞いていました)

リパッティといえば、白血病(実際はリンパ種)で若くして亡くなった天才ピアニストで、病を押して開いたリサイタルのショパンのワルツは

私が若い時に好きだった演奏の一つです。私は今でも時々彼の嬰ハ短調のワルツの演奏を思い出しますし、自分でも弾きます。

リパッティの演奏はとても感動的です。たとえば彼のショパンのバラード4番の8分過ぎたあたりからの演奏のはちきれんばかりの激しさはその後のどの録音の追従もゆるさないほど。そういう人の演奏をセブンの最終回に見事に使うのも冬木さんの天才的なところでしょう。

冬木透さんの書いた音楽も、もう筆舌に尽くしがたいほど最高に素晴らしいです。

アンヌが「いかないで」というのを振り切ってダンがセブンに変身し、アマギ隊員を救いに行くシーン以降は涙が止まりませんでした。

いや、その前の坊やの「僕んちにおいでよ」のセリフの後の、ホルンの合奏で始まる美しい曲

(ウェーバーの「魔弾の射手」序曲の冒頭を想起させる)あたりから、

涙腺が緩んでしましました。クラタ隊員による、ソガ隊員へのセリフをビデオシーバーで見ていたダンがいたたまれなくなって、

セブンに変身しようとしてセブンの姿の上司?に止められる、冬木さんの音楽を伴うシーンにも強く感動しました。

そういえば、「必殺の0.1秒」のストーリーは「魔弾の射手」に通じるものがありました。

The bonkers sequel to the original Ultraman. The same level of incoherent insanity and absurdity.

My 3 and 11 year olds love it.

liked the first ultraman series and this one is also okay, so if you never saw how they did that in those days it is I think looking at, as long as you have an open mind.

ウルトラシリーズの中で最良と考える一作。やはり欠番話は収録されず。