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MEGA MONSTER BATTLE: ULTRA GALAXY LEGENDS THE MOVIE
6/19/2009 // 11:07 pm
For more scoops, pictures and news update on the upcoming movie! Do watch out for this thread: MegaMonster movie
Ultra Galaxy Neo Series
11/16/2008 // 10:36 am
For more scoops, pictures and news update on the upcoming Ultra Galaxy Neo! Do watch out for this thread: Ultra Galaxy Neo
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Great Decisive Battle! Super Ultra 8 Brothers Movie!
4/22/2008 // 9:22 pm
For more scoops, pictures and news update on the upcoming Super Ultra 8 Brothers Movie! Do watch out for this thread: Great Decisive Battle! Super Ultra 8 Brothers
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Great Decisive Battle! Super Ultra 8 Brothers Movie
3/1/2008 // 11:35 pm
Confirmed Casts are: * Daigo Madoka / Ultraman Tiga, - Hiroshi Nagano (V6) (長野 博（Ｖ６）, Nagano Hiroshi (Bui Shikkusu) For more scoops, pictures and news update on the upcoming Super Ultra 8 Brothers Movie! Do watch out for this thread: Great Decisive Battle! Super Ultra 8 Brothers
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Merry X’mas & A Happy New Year!
12/24/2007 // 11:34 am
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DECEMBER MAGAZINES SCANS
11/13/2007 // 8:00 am
Great Decisive Battle! Super Ultra 8 Brothers
10/17/2007 // 9:29 pm
From hamakei news report: The movie which becomes the eleventh Heisei ultra man series item in Yokohama-shi and the Tsuburaya production (Setagaya-ku, Tokyo) on October 17 “Armageddon!” I announced that the stage of eight the super ultra brothers (temporary) (director Tsuyoshi Yagi) was decided in Yokohama. The photography has already started from October 15 and plans about November 25. I aim at the exhibition of next autumn. About 500,000,000 yen production costs. A star is Hiroshi Nagano of the member of bandwagon V6. President Kazuo Tsuburaya of the Tsuburaya production speaks it about this process by an announcement interview that “universal theme “courage I do not give up a dream, and to believe the future” of an ultra man greeting 42 years from birth agreed with a theme of the 150th anniversary Yokohama opening of a port". For more news update and info, watch out for this thread: Great Decisive Battle! Super Ultra 8 Brothers
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UltraSeven X - Premieres on tv!
10/6/2007 // 12:17 pm
Celebrating Ultra7’s 40th Anniversary, a new tv series has been revived with a new Hero: Ultra7 X. The 12 episodes will be broadcasted on TBS on October 5th (Fri) at 2.25am, on CBC on October 5th (Fri) from 2.15am, and on MBS on October 6th (Sat) from 3.25am. With new CGI effects, ultra7 fans will be relived of the infamous Eye Slugger, Emeriumu ray, the Wide Shot etc….
Synopsis: For more news update and info, watch out for this thread: Ultra7 X
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NOVEMBER MAGAZINES SCANS
10/3/2007 // 10:00 pm
UltramanLAH! Turns 3!!
9/11/2007 // 6:59 pm
UltramanLAH! turns 3 on September 12! We would like to thank each and everyone for your warmest support & contributions in the past 3 years. Cheers!
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OCTOBER MAGAZINES SCANS
9/1/2007 // 5:40 pm
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SEP MAGAZINES SCANS
8/10/2007 // 12:02 am
UlTRA SEVEN X !!!
7/27/2007 // 10:04 pm
ウルトラセブン ４０年ぶり復活 (Ultraseven revives again after 40 years) For more news update and info, watch out for this thread: Ultra7 X
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Ultraman Festival 2007! Updates!
7/7/2007 // 11:11 am
Every year, Ultraman Festival will feature exclusive toys for the yearly event. For this year in conjunction with Ultra7 40th Anniversary, another SP Ultra7 figure with a special Black King Joe(from Daikaiju monsters card battle) will be released. There’s also a SP Ultraman Jack figure too!
There will be a 2 live-stage shows for this year event, details as follows: 第一部 7/27（金）〜 8/10（金） 第二部 8/11（土）〜 9/2（金）
Other info: For more news update and photos on Ulfes’07, watch out for this thread: Ulfes 2007
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AUGUST MAGAZINES SCANS
// 10:54 am
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JULY MAGAZINES SCANS
6/9/2007 // 11:24 am
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Ultraman Festival 2007! Site Updated
5/13/2007 // 9:34 pm
The Ultraman Festival 2007 main site has been updated. This year theme will highlight Ultra7 as it marks the 40th Anniverasary of Ultra7.
Watch out for this thread for more Ulfes’07 info: Ulfes 2007
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Jun Magazines Scans
5/5/2007 // 12:59 pm
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Ultraman Mebius Manga
4/24/2007 // 9:50 pm
Wana know what has happened to Ultraman Mebius when he returned back to M78? What are the battles lying ahead for Ultraman Mebius? And what kind of enemies will he face? The story of Ultraman Mebius continues in the manga………… Look out for more manga pics in this thread (registration required)
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Monthly Magazines Scan
4/14/2007 // 1:02 am
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Ultraman Festival 2007!
4/6/2007 // 1:19 am
Ultraman Festival(Ulfes), a yearly event usually held at a convention hall in Sunshine City, a megamall located near the Ikebukuro train station. The 2007 Ulfes will start from 27 July - 2 Sep 2007. The festival will comprise of an exhibition, spectacular liveshows, photo-taking with your favourite Ultras, sale of the exclusive toys etc. And this year marks the 40th Anniversary of UltraSeven. Pre-advance sale of the admission tickets will start from 26 May 2007. Last year Ulfes 2006 event: For more info on Ulfes’07, watch out for this thread: Ulfes 2007
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Ultraman Mebius Last Episode!
3/27/2007 // 6:32 pm
The last episode of Ultraman Mebius will be telecast on 31st march, 5pm in Japan. Watch for more scoops and pics here at: Forum Link1
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SEASONS GREETINGS
12/20/2006 // 11:06 pm
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Ultraman Mebius and Ultra Brothers: The Making Of
9/24/2006 // 11:35 am
Interview with Kazuya Konaka (小中和哉), the director behind the latest Ultraman movie. And what the fans and cast say:
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Ultraman as Kobe’s Airport Ambassador for a day
// 11:27 am
A week ago, Ultraman had the honour of being the Ambassador for the Kansai International Airport (KIX) in Kobe Kobe was chosen as the shooting location for the Ultraman Mebius and Ultra Brothers movie, now showing in Japan.
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UltramanLah! is Two Years Old!
9/10/2006 // 3:34 am
We are 2 years old!  UltramanLah! Second Anniversary Celebrations Wow. 2006 has been another great year for Ultraman fans. On April 1st, 2006 Max wraped up it’s 40 episode run which introduced new warriors from Nebula M-78. It brought exposure to new generation fans from veteran Ultra Show actors, Susumu Kurobe (Hayata), Hiroko Sakurai (Fuji), Nihei Masanara (Ito), Koji Moritsugu (Dan Moroboshi/Ultra 7) along with a menagerie of Kaiju and Seijin of days gone by (Eleking, Red King, Pigmon, Antlar, King Joe, Z-Ton, Metron-Seijin, Pitt Seijin, Gomora and the ever popular Baltan-Seijin). A week later on April 8th, we were treated to the beginning of Ultraman Mebius. Mebius continued where Max stopped, reviving fan favourite Kaiju and Seijin such as Gudon, Birdon, Twin Tail, Sadora, Salamandola, Mukatendar, Magma seijin, Valkie Seijin, Astron and Bemstar…with many more to come On that day, The Father of Ultra presented the rookie Mebius with a new armament - the Mebius Brace. The Commander of the Space Garrison dispatched Mebius from towards Earth to serve as her new protector. (Why do they always send rookies to protect earth?) The Mebius series also introduced Hunter Knight Tsurugi, a warrior similar to those of M-78, yet possessed by the spirits of vengeance struggling against his own peaceful soul. Together they fought the same abominations, yet we were never really sure if they were to be friends or foes until Tsurugi cast off his baggage. The Mother of Ultra received Tsurugi’s body, and restored him into his former self, ressurecting him as a new Warrior of M-78, Ultraman Hikari - an Ultraman from the Blue Tribe. Terebikun Ultraman Mebius Movie Trailer Now as Ultraman Mebius continues we eagerly await for September 16th for the premiere of the next theatrical Ultraman feature, ULTRAMAN MEBIUS & THE ULTRAMAN BROTHERS which brings the full return to the Ultramen’s cycle of continuity with the appearance of 4 original hosts, Hayata, Dan, Hideki, Hokuto and the actors who played them. Ultraman Mebius is most certainly living up to the concept of the Moebius Strip which brought the inspiration for his name by connecting a beloved series of characters back to their original roots. We hope the cycle will continue uninterupted for all of eternity. Congratulatory Music Video from our Shanghainese member Ultraseven21 By 12 Sep 2006, it would be two years since UltramanLah! was set up. Since that time we have grown considerably from the backwaters of cyberspace into one that is a buzzing hive of activity. It sure has been a fun ride these two years making friends with Ultraman fans from all over the world! And this friendship shone through on the dark month of February 2006 when our site got hacked. You guys and gals stood by and rallied together, setting up camp at a temporary site while the mods rebuilt the site from Ground Zero. To this end we wish to thank each and every one of you for your patience and support. Now that we have a new home which is slightly older than six months we are happy to see all of you posting and getting to know each other just like before. Let us all look forward to the future together as Ultraman fans! EIEN URUTORAMAN!!
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久しぶり
8/22/2006 // 11:34 pm
Dear Ultraman Fans, We’re still alive and kicking If you wondered where we’ve wandered, we’ve been spending lots of time over at the forum, an ‘open-source’ community where knowledge and information resides. Got a question about Ultraman? Post it on the forum! (If you feel lost, just give a shout to Finalburnx or Seijin X. They’d show you the way)
RETURN OF UltramanLAH!
2/26/2006 // 12:56 am
The Ultraman fan community is back online We thank all Ultraman fans for sticking together during the brief spell of down time.  Return of UltramanLAH! We’ve returned, amd we’re newer and better! This forum is a community put up by Ultraman fans, for Ultraman fans SCHUWATCH!!!
ULTRAMAN LAH! Forum Vandalised
2/21/2006 // 11:59 pm
Dear Ultra Fans Our phpBB forum had been defaced by miscreant pranksters. As such, our forum is temporarily unserviceable at the moment. We have filed a report with the Singapore Police Force regarding the cybercrime (defacing of websites is illegal in Singapore). As part of our effort to assist in the investigations, we’re leaving the hacked forum online as part of our effort to help the Police in the investigations. Meanwhile, you may wish to re-group with the rest of the Ultraman fan community at these two sites: While the pranksters appear to be hacking on behalf of “Türkiye & ISLAM & HZ.MUHAMMET", we believe that these people are misguided and are not acting on behalf of their religion. We urge Ultra fans to show patience while we get the forum up and running again. With best regards, 
Hanuman - the White Monkey
2/8/2006 // 11:37 pm
Now, how did this monkey get involved with the Ultraman mythos? And how did this lead to a the birth of the Thai Ultraman (Millenium, Elite & Dark)?  Hanuman - the White Monkey Back in 1974, Tsuburaya Productions the originator of Ultraman and Chaiyo Productions, a Thai company, jointly produced a film called “Hanuman and the 7 Ultraman (หนุมาน พบ 7 ยอดมนุษย์)". The movie premiered in Japan on 14 March 1979 under the name “Six Ultra Brothers vs. the Monster Army (ウルトラ6兄弟VS怪獣軍団)". This movie featured the six Ultra brothers - Ultraman, Zoffy, Seven, Jack, Ace, and Taro - together with Mother of Ultra, and also an original Thai hero known as Hanuman. The White Monkey hero is inspired by the monkey god from the Hindu epic, Ramayana. The Story Three treasure hunters sawed off a Buddha’s head among the ancient ruins of a Thai temple. Piko, one of the orphans who lived and played in the ruins tried to stop the robbers but was killed. Far away on M-78, the Ultra brothers witnessed the bravery of Piko and retrieved his body back to the Land of Light. There, Piko was resurrected as the human host of the Thai hero, HANUMAN. Piko goes to M-78 and becomes a monkey Piko’s First Transformation into Hanuman Hanuman returns to Earth and returned the Buddha head back to the decapitated body. During that period, Thailand was experiencing a drought. One of Thailand’s meteorological research agency tried to call in the rain by launching rockets into the skies to seed the clouds. However, it was Hanuman who saved the day when he went up to the heavens to tell Rama to drive his Sun chariot away from the Earth. Hanuman’s Transformation Sequence Hanuman Crushes Bad People Like Cockroaches During the launch of the rockets, something went wrong and one of the rockets misfired. The ensuring explosion roused the monsters hidden underground from their sleep. The monsters, Gomora (from Ultraman), Dustpan (originally from Mirrorman), Astromons, Tyrant and Dorobon (all from Ultraman Taro) woke and tore up the country side. Piko Transforms into Hanuman and Fight Monsters Hanuman Dismembers and De-bones Monsters Hanuman and Ultra brothers abuse Gomola Hanuman and the six Ultra brothers saved the day. Licencing Dispute Before “Hanuman and the 7 Ultraman” Chaiyo Productions collaborated with Tsuburaya Productions on another movie, “Janborg Ace and Giant (ยักษ์วัดแจ้ง พบ จัมโบ้เอ)” in the same year (1974). In 1976, Chaiyo got a licencing agreement from Eiji Tsuburaya’s son, Noboru Tsuburaya. However, the details of the contract was ambiguous. The legally nebulous agreement would later result in a tussle between Tsuburaya and Chaiyo over the ownership of the intellectual property rights to Ultraman (ウルトラマン). Noboru Tsuburaya passed away in late 1995. In the following year, Sompote Saengduenchai the founder and president of Chaiyo Productions approached Noboru’s son, Kazuo Tsuburaya who’s the incumbent CEO of Tsuburaya productions to claim ownership of the international copyright from the series ULTRA Q through ULTRAMAN TARO together with the character JANBORG ACE. Many years later, after the death of Eiji Tsuburaya’s son Noboru Tsuburaya in 1995, Sompote Saengduenchai the founder and president of Chaiyo Productions claimed that the deceased had awarded him a rights contract in exchange for a monetary loan. Tsuburaya issued a letter to validate Chaiyo’s contract, under the intent that it would only be used in the Thai business circles. However, Sompote used the letter as evidence that Chaiyo has the blanket copyrights to Ultraman outside of Japan. In 1997, Tsuburaya sued Chaiyo for intellectual property rights violations. Three years later, the Thai Intellectual Property and International Trade (IPIT) court’s verdict ruled in favor of Chaiyo, granting the company full copyrights to Ultraman outside of Japan. Tsuburaya raised appealed to the Supreme Court of Thailand, which is still pending a decision. Chaiyo also brought the case to Japan. On 27 April 2004, the Tokyo High Court in a surprise ruling awarded Chaiyo the merchandising rights for the first six Ultra Series (Ultra Q through Ultraman Taro) and Jumborg Ace outside of Japan. However, the ultimate copyright still remains with Tsuburaya. After years of legal battles, Sompote Saengduenchai was awarded a somewhat favorable decision. However, the decisions in both countries clearly stated that the copyright to all of these programs belonged solely to Tsuburaya Productions of Japan. Furthermore, the decision in Japan emphasized that only Tsuburaya Productions has the legal right to create future Ultraman characters or Ultraman TV shows and films. At the present time, Tsuburaya Productions is still appealing against Chaiyo Productions for the overseas merchandising rights. Meanwhile, Chaiyo Productions had designed its own proprietry Ultraman characters such as Ultraman Millenium, Ultraman Elite and Ultraman Dark. The company has gone on to issue licences to a China toy-maker to manufacture Ultraman related merchandise. The Thai company had already staged an Ultraman live stage show that featured Ultraman Millenium. It has plans to release a 52 episode Ultraman TV series and to also build an Ultraman Themepark in Thailand. Sources: Additional reporting credits: Steelultra
Project Ultraman - Thai Ultraman TV series
2/4/2006 // 1:36 pm
 Ekin Cheng, Ultraman Elite and Ray MacDonald Chaiyo Productions Co Ltd announced the launch of its first Bt100-million ( USD$2.5 million) Ultraman series on 2 Feb 06, which will hit television screens in more than 12 countries throughout Asia. The 52-episode television series, called “Project Ultraman”, is a joint venture between Chaiyo Productions, which holds about 50 per cent in the project, Apex Toys Co Ltd which holds a 10-per-cent share, and the Chinese toy-maker Ruishi Culture Developing Co Ltd, which has about 40 per cent. Chaiyo expected to realise at least one billion baht (USD$ 25.4 million) from the Ultraman character next year, including gains from merchandise and advertising on TV. Trailer of Project Ultraman The new series will promote awareness of Chaiyo Productions’ new Ultraman superheroes – Ultraman Elite, Ultraman Millennium, and Dark Ultraman. Hong Kong actor Ekin Cheng is cast as Ultraman Elite, while Mathew Dean is cast as Ultraman Millennium, and Ray McDonald as Dark Ultraman. The new Ultraman series will first be seen on CCTV’s entertainment channel in China in December, followed by Thailand in December or January, and then Hong Kong and Taiwan, said Perasit Saengduenchai, chief executive officer and director of Chaiyo Productions. He said the company had also been approached by local television stations in Brazil and Argentina, which would like to screen the series. About 40% of the productions had been completed. 80% of on-location photography was filmed in China and the Gobi Desert in Mongolia. Chaiyo Productions Co claims ownership of the Ultraman copyright worldwide television broadcast and merchandising rights to Ultraman superheroes, except in Japan. Ultraman rights is still disputed in Thailand, the case has gone to the International Trade and Intellectual Property Court. The Tokyo Supreme Court ruled early 2005 that Sompote Sangduenchai, the founder of Chaiyo Productions, owned the rights to Ultraman characters everywhere except Japan, ending a dispute with Tsuburaya Productions. (Source: The Nation, Bangkok Post) Watch this thread for more updates. Chaiyo also has plans to build an Ultraman Theme Park in Thailand. Projected at a cost of Bt 1 billion (USD$25.3 million), this themepark situated in the ancient Thai capital of Ayutthaya will beging construction in June this year. The expected completion date is in 2009. Watch this thread for updates.  Entrance to Chaiyo’s Ultraman themepark (Source: Asahi news)
New Ultraman Debut!
1/28/2006 // 2:59 pm
Is this the new Ultraman, Ultraman Moebius?
According to Shochiku (松竹), the Japanese movie production house that brought you the Ultraman Cosmos movies, there will be a “Ultraman Moebius and Ultra Brothers (ウルトラマンメビウス＆ウルトラ兄弟 - 新ヒーローとウルトラ6兄弟が夢の共演)” roadshow this year. Konaka Kazuya (小中和哉) is slated to be the director of this show. Kazuya’s Ultraman movie credits include Ultraman Zearth 2, Ultraman Tiga & Ultraman Dyna - The Warriors of Light, Ultraman Tiga, Dyna and Gaia - The Hyper Dimensional Ultimate Battle, and finally ULTRAMAN - The Movie. He also had a hand in the TV series Gridman, Ultraman Tiga, Ultraman Dyna, Ultraman Cosmos and Ultraman Nexus. Other noteworthy CV: Astroboy - Testuwan Atom, direct-to-video drama - Black Jack (based on the manga series by Tezuka Osamu) Keep an eye out on this thread as we bring you more scoop!
An Ultra Merry Christmas!
12/18/2005 // 11:29 pm
Festive Greetings from Ultraman Lah! to all Ultraman fans around the world!
Hope you’ll have a blessed and joyous holiday season ahead! For those who’re in Singapore on Boxing Day (26 Dec 05), we’ve got a party going on and all Ultraman Lah! members are welcome!! Please check out the Gathering section on our forum for the details. See you there!! SCHUWATCH!!!
PS2 GAME - ULTRAMAN FIGHTING EVOLUTION REBIRTH FAQ
11/9/2005 // 2:46 am
Psyke has prepared a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for the smash hit PS2 Game, ULTRAMAN FIGHTING EVOLUTION REBIRTH Click on this link to read text file. You may also access the text file by clicking the link posted on the sidebar, under ULTRAMAN FAQ. Credits: Psyke
chocolate egg toy surprise
10/30/2005 // 10:09 pm
Doremon found a surprise in her egg! click on arrow to view the videoclip.
Ultra Realistic Series - ULTRAMAN
9/13/2005 // 12:13 am
The Super Imaginative Chogokin treatment for Ultraman? Popbox Collectibles, a new unit from the Hong Kong based Action HQ had obtained licence from Chaiyo Productions (probably through the Chinese partner - T.C.-Ruishi) to produce an original line of collectors’ edition action figures based on Ultraman . Dubbed as the Ultra Realistic Series, the 7″ figures are articulated and done in a style similar to the Super Imaginative Chogokin (SIC) series of figures from Bandai. The first release features Ultraman the First and Zoffy twin pack “with interchangeable parts and accessories to form two different versions”. The figures are expected to ship in Nov 05, and you can pre-order it at their site.
Check out Popbot’s site on this upcoming product. Discuss the upcoming product at our forum too. *disclaimer - This is not an advertisement. Ultraman Lah! does not receive any kickbacks from non-Tsuburaya Productions to plug their products. We’re merely reporting things thats happening in the Ultraman fan community
ULTRAMAN LAH! is One Year Old!
9/11/2005 // 4:08 pm
Hi Ultra fans. Ultraman Lah! turns one year old on 12 Sep 05. The site had gone through some changes over the time, and these changes wouldn’t stop with time - we try to push the envelope and breach creative boundaries. We had given the forum a face lift, and soon our main site will too get a new look. In the short span of one year, the international Ultraman commune had sprouted from this barren site. Originally intended to be a fan club for Singaporean Ultraman fans, we’ve got a vibrant community with fans from all over the world - across culture, language, religion, and time zone - but with one love for Ultraman. The opportunity to network across culture and nationality has given rise to a modest fan-sub group from within the Ultraman Lah! community too. Its been a great one year and we’ve made friends from all over - shouts to Anarion and Shinhyata, who’s been providing us with the invaluable and timely release of Ultraman TV serials and other currently on air tokusatsu shows. And to PeteC888, lagarto, Michaelangel66, Urutora sebun for their effort to make subtitles for the english and spanish speaking audiences. UltraSeven21 from Shanghai for the videos, music and connection to the Chinese Ultraman fans. And friends like adrian, Black, UltraM2000, Wurotzman, eclipse_cosmos, anubis, Komon, Kay, Dekared, Gavin25, Ultrawoman Beth, icyisamu, Shonokin, J-McFly, Coop_rw, Ultraman Dork, Kubrick, Basri, rizaliskandar , Abu Rock, Lightning Zero, Garren and some of the newer faces! We thank you for all the support you people had given to this fan site - its very much our site as it is yours - the Ultra fan community. We continue to look foward to the fan contributions in making information and Ultraman merchandise available to fans from all over the world. While we grow and glow, we hope that you’ll provide us with feedback and suggestions, so that it can become a greater site. We’re also always on the lookout for people who can contribute skills - such as web design. graphics, translation, and also scoops to make this site content rich and eye candilicious. If you are interested, do drop us a note over at the forum or send us an email at ultramanlah@gmail.com
ULTRAMAN FESTIVAL 2005
8/2/2005 // 2:55 pm
Our crew visited Ultraman Festival 2005 on the opening day (23 July 2005) at Sunshine City in Ikebukuro, Tokyo.
You may view the pictures taken at the Festival over at this thread
ULTRAMAN IN THE USA
7/17/2005 // 2:21 am
Ultraman is coming to the United States this August! Bay Area Film Events (BAFE) will be presenting the movie ULTRAMAN - THE NEXT and other Ultraman shows at Castro Theatre in San Francisco on 26 and 27 August 2005. Besides the ULTRAMAN - THE NEXT movie, the theatre will also be screening ULTRAMAN ZEARTH and ULTRAMAN TIGA: FINAL ODYSSEY. Selected episodes from the Tsuburaya Production’s classic works as well as the latest Ultraman Max will also be screened. There will be an Ultraman livestage featuring Ultraman Dyna on the closing night of the event. The BAFE is organising a special contest in which the winner will walk away with a limited edition Ibanez Iceman guitar designed by Tsuburaya Productions, featuring Ultraman the Next. Ultraman merchandise will also be available at Castro Theatre.
Check out the BAFE website and Henshin Online for more details on this Ultra event.
Ultraman Fan Subs
// 1:11 am
If you hadn’t noticed, there’s a new link right under the ULTRAMAN LAH DATABASE category at the sidebar. Yes, we’ve set up a page where you can obtain subtitle files to Ultraman Nexus and Ultraman Max. These subtitles are bona fide fan projects contributed by Toku Sensei and PeteC888 from the USA, Largato from Brasil and ah.heng from Singapore - true blue tokusatsu/Ultra fans from across the world. These works are open source projects, and not for commercial use. Click on the link Ultraman Fan Subs, right below U-Files to access the page.
ULTRAMAN LIVE IN SHANGHAI!
7/12/2005 // 1:31 am
The Classic Ultraman Won the Crowd at the Animation Fair Shanghai 2005
(文/摄影：Ultraman Lah! 驻上海记者 - 沙漠白龙) SMG上海文广新闻传媒集团、上海炫动卡通卫视、VNU亚洲展览集团联手主办的上海卡通总动员将于2005年6月30日-7月4日在上海展览中心登场。本次动漫展的主要内容有：Doraeman（机器猫）、YU-GI-OH!（游戏王）和中国内地火热播放的ULTRAMAN（奥特曼）！ 对奥特曼迷来说，中央表演舞台是最吸引人的地方，因为在那会有奥特曼的现场表演秀！还未到表演时间，台前已挤满观看的人群！本次表演上海圆谷不仅派出了上海正热播的UltramanTIGA（迪迦奥特曼），还让当时给我们留下深刻印象的昭和奥特曼登场（元祖、赛文、艾斯、泰罗、雷欧）。 表演先由艾利王和赛文出场，当赛文打败艾利王后，由主持人带领孩子们高喊“迪迦奥特曼”，迪迦奥特曼的表演开始！迪迦先击退了哥尔赞，然后打败了基利艾洛人（本次表演迪迦的三种形态全全出场）。
最后随着主持人的声音，把我们的记忆带回从前，元祖、赛文、艾斯、泰罗、雷欧五位奥特曼共同登场，随着主持人的介绍与六位奥特曼摆的招势把气氛带向最后的高潮！(在此帖观看现场录像)
当主持人说完“奥特曼给孩子们带来勇气！”后，六位奥特战士相继退场，精彩的表演落下帷幕~~~！ The Shanghai Media Group (SMG), Shanghai Xuan Dong Animation Satellite TV, and VNU Exhibitions Asia jointly organised the “Animation Fair Shanghai 2005″. This event was held at the Shanghai Exhibition Centre from 30 Jun 05 to 4 Jul 05. The features for this animation fair were Doraemon, Yu-Gi-Oh and the ever popular character in China now - ULTRAMAN! The central stage at the exhibition hall was the main draw for Ultra fans because of the Ultraman Livestage. A crowd had already gathered by the stage way before the showtime.
Not only did Tsuburaya Shanghai presented Ultraman Tiga before the fans, they also brought back the Showa-era Ultraman - The First, Seven, Ace, Taro and Leo!
The Livestage started off with Ultraseven battling Eleking on stage. After Ultraseven was done with Eleking, the MC on stage called upon the kids to cheer for Ultraman Tiga. The multi-form hero appeared, and fought the monster Golza and alien Kiriel. Tiga even changed through his three forms on stage! The First, Seven, Ace, Taro and Leo then came onstage. Upon the MC’s introduction, each of the Ultraman stepped forward and struck a pose for the cheering fans, bringing the show to the climax. (Watch the video clips of the Livestage here!) The anime fair attracted around a hundred thousand visitors. Ultraman’s popularity continues to rise and sizzle! More coverage over at Ultraman Club, China’s Ultraman fan club. (Text: (Chinese) Ultraseven 21. Translation: Akubon) MORE PICTURES…
Ultraman Fighting Evolution: Rebirth!
7/2/2005 // 9:44 am
A new Ultraman video game for PS2 is slated to hit the shelves in October this year. According to the scoop reported in the 1July issue of ファミ通 (Famitsu Weekly). The official site of the video game is already up:
This video will feature more intense graphics and animation, and also a series of new characters: the mutated versions of your familiar kaijus and also new (imit) Chaos Ultraman! So far, the expected list of characters for this game: Baltan seijin Original Characters: And the appearance of Imit Ultras - the Chaosroids!
Watch a movie of the upcoming game here! Keep track of the game developments on our forum, or check out Matsumura Pan’s homepage
SUDAH DATANG: ULTRAMAN NEXUS - Ep Final - Nexus
6/25/2005 // 10:41 pm
The last episode of ULTRAMAN NEXUS, EPISODE FINAL - NEXUS IS AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD AT ANARION’s SITE!
In Episode Final: Unknown Hand finally reveals his identity. The whole truth is revealed. Leyte, The Visitors, and all the other mysteries are unveiled. Nagi Saijyo had been chosen as Ren’s successor. But tragedy awaits her during her transformation. Who will the “Light” choose? Whose soul is bonded to Nexus? The fate of Earth will be decided after the battle with the Unknown Hand.
Curtain Call
(credits to ah.heng for translation)
ULTRAMAN STORY 0
6/2/2005 // 12:08 am
The new Ultraman manga “ULTRAMAN STORY 0 (ZERO)” will debut in this month’s Magazine Z (マガジン ゼット) from Kodansha Books.
This series will be authored and illustrated by Kazuo Mafune (真船一雄), who’s known for his work on Super Doctor K (スーパードクターK). This project is supervised by Tsuburaya Production. The debut chapter can be found in the July issue of Magazine Z, released on 28 May
Refer to this earlier article posted on 28 Mar 05
Chaiyo and Chinese Partner To Produce Ultraman Movie and TV Series
5/26/2005 // 1:12 am
NEW TV AND MOVIE PRODUCTION
Chaiyo Productions, together with its Chinese and Thai partners, are embarking on a 104-million baht (USD$2.6 million) project to produce an Ultraman TV series and movie in a bid to boost the sales of its Ultraman products. At a press conference on 24 May 05, Pheerasit Saengduenchai, Chaiyo’s chief executive officer, announced that Chaiyo Production is collaborating with Ruishi Culture Developing, a Chinese company, and Apex Toys, the Thai toy, to film the Ultraman TV series and movie in China.
Rui Shi Culture Developing signed a co-production contract with Chiyo Productions Co Ltd to film a 104 million baht (USD$2.6 million) “Ultraman” TV series with 52 episodes. The filming for the tv series will begin in August and to take between eight and 12 months to finish. Eighty per cent of the filming will take place in China. Pheerasit said portions of the TV series would also be shown at a film festival in Italy in October this year as the first step in the programme’s launch onto the European and US markets. The first episode will be screened in Thailand by the end of this year and will be shown in China in July and August next year. Chaiyo’s contribution to the project is 50%, with the series and movie to be marketed in both Thailand and China.
Following the series, Chaiyo will continue to film the Ultraman movie, based on a new script, with four new characters to be introduced. The key selling point of the series and the movie, however, remains their special effects. Pheerasit said the company was planning to spend up to 100 million baht (USD$2.5 million) a year to research and develop new characters for future Ultraman movie scripts.
GROSS PROFITS Pheerasit added that Tsuburaya Chiyo expected to earn more than 600 million baht (USD$15 million) this year from the Ultraman brand, taking into account licences and TV programmes. He stated that the series and movie would double the company’s revenue in Thailand which was 200 million baht (USD$5 million) last year and had been growing at 20% annually. Encouraged by the new “Ultraman” TV series being made in China, Tsuburaya Chiyo expects the total revenues from the Ultraman business to make a dramatic leap to around 1 billion baht (USD$25 million) next year, 60 per cent of it from the overseas market. In China, Ultraman sales last year doubled to 100 million baht (USD$2.5 million) . Once the series and the movie are released, Pheerasit said he expected their impact would boost sales in China by between 300% and 400%, with product sales reaching 500 million baht (USD$12.5 million) by the end of next year. Coupled with other revenues, Ultraman revenues in China could reach 800 million baht (USD$20 million) in 2006, he added. ULTRAMAN MUSEUM Sompote Saengduenchai, chairman of Tsuburaya Chaiyo, said that 50-metre-high giant models of Ultraman and other alien characters would be created for an Ultraman museum in Ayuthaya.
“I will create an Ultraman spectacle in Thailand that will attract children from all over the world,” said Sompote. He added that the giant models would cost 2 million baht each and be on display by next year.
Sompote said the Ultraman museum would allow children from all over the world to experience M-78, the home of the Ultraman superheroes, as well as giving them a chance to explore the background behind each Ultraman character. (sources: Bangkok Post, The Nation, Manager Online; Credits: steelultra) ULTRA-FANS’ REACTIONS
SUDAH DATANG: ULTRAMAN NEXUS - Ep 30 - Watcher; Ep 31 - Bird
5/15/2005 // 11:11 pm
EPISODE 30 - WATCHER , and EPISODE 31 - BIRD IS AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD AT ANARION’s SITE!
In Episode 30: As a genetically manipulated subject of the Project Prometheus experment, Ren Senjyu does not have the love of a family. Thus he battles alone. Komon is concerned about Ren, and visits him at the amusement park. Ren, Komon and Mizuo ended up having a good time at the amusement park. However, three were being under surveillance by a mysterious stranger. The stranger dropped a memory chip when pursued by his targets. Komon and Mizuo investigates the content of the chip. They keyed in Ren’s data… The word “RAPHAEL” appears. Whats the mystery behind this word?
In Episode 31: Ren refuses to disclose anything about “RAPHAEL". Mizuo feels the gravity of Ren’s burden, and think of ways to protect him. As for Komon who’s concerned over Ren (like how Jun used to fuss over Komon), he learns about Ren’s secrets from Yuu Kirasawa, the Illustrator. Saijyo recognizes the fighting style of Junis Blue. After watching the video replay of the Ultraman’s battles, she feels something is amiss. She understands that Ultraman’s vulnerability is…
Chaiyo Roadside Show at the 17th Guangzhou International Toys and Novelties Exhibition
5/10/2005 // 11:39 pm
Last month, Chaiyo staged a roadside ‘live show’ at the 17th Guangzhou International Toys and Novelties Exhibition (第17届中国广州国际玩具及礼品展览会). The live show featured Ultraman Elite and Ultraman Dark, two of the ‘original’ Chaiyo creations along with Ultraseven and Alien Baltan.
(photos: Chaiyo Production) You can see more pictures of the event here.
Announcement: One Special Day
4/28/2005 // 3:28 am
As promised, I am back! Here’s a teaser (some video snapshots):
Go download One Special Day at the Video Lounge. Specially dedicated to a prime Ultramanlah.com founder. we are here today because of him. shites, i dunno which is the right URL to post. is it this? or this? if you can’t find it, just go to main Video Lounge URL, and click “One Special Day". haha. shoo!
special, special utterly special!
4/22/2005 // 8:19 pm
something extremely special and paranormal will be taking place at Ultramanlah.com website in about a week or so. stay tuned. if you have funky paranormal ideas, email Doremon at plebeian@gmail.com
ps: this is a personal post by Doremon, not Administrator. they don’t know what i’m up to. =) but it’s going to be a surprise. Administrator, please do not delete this post. :p wait wait, Doremon who??? bah, i’m just some random monster usually asleep in a little dark corner of this site. but i’m awake now to bring to you this special news. =) so there, don’t ask so much.
ULTRAMAN TRAIN
4/19/2005 // 12:26 am
New attraction at GrinPa amusement park!
TPC and GrinPa has come up with a new adventure ride for the family at the amusement park located at Mt Fuji. This new attraction is named “ULTRAMAN TRAIN” and will be launched on 29 April 05. This ride will bring the family for a ride through Ultraman’s world.
SUDAH DATANG: ULTRAMAN NEXUS - Ep 26.5 - A Date At Tobu Zoo
4/9/2005 // 6:05 pm
Suffering from withdrawal syptoms since Nexus Ep 27 will only be aired next Saturday? FEAR NOT!! Ultraman Lah brings you an exclusive showcase of Ultraman Nexus during his breaktime.
Check out our TWISTED BANDAI THEATRE rom the Unbalance Zone for other shows featuring your favourite tokusatsu characters!
Tsuburaya Chaiyo vs Tsuburaya Production Co - The Legal Saga
4/3/2005 // 11:13 am
Recently, August Ragone (Kaijupro) mentioned on ultraman2 · the original Yahoo! Ultraman Club about TPC’s effort in undermining Chaiyo’s grip on the Ultraman market by linking up with Pro Link Co for the distribution of Ultraman Cosmos products in Thailand back during 2003. But in 2004 the Tokyo courts finally awarded Sompote Saengduenchai of Chaiyo the worldwide copyrights to “ULTRAMAN". This has effectively blockaded TPC’s right to promote and distribute the ULTRAMAN franchise outside of Japan. Some fans may wonder what’s all the hoo-ha about the legal tussle between Chaiyo and TPC. The victory for Chaiyo was a blow to faithful fans of the Japanese hero, because the copyright ruling has prevented retailers from importing Ultraman related goods from Japan. Many long-time fans of Ultraman all over the world are disaffected by this controversial ruling. As far as we know, Chaiyo has the exclusive rights over Janborg Ace, Ultra characters that appeared from The First to Taro (Ultraman, Zoffy, Ultraseven, Ultraman Jack, Ultraman Ace, Father of Ultra, Ultraman Taro, Mother of Ultra). The copyright ruling should not affect characters from Ultraman Leo onwards. But it seem that many retailers are not aware of the details, and might have mistaken the copyright as an absolute control over ALL Ultraman-related characters. For example, in the case of Singapore and Malaysia, the local branches of the Japanese bookstore Kinokuniya refuse to bring in publications related to Ultraman, citing ‘copyright reasons’. For those who wish to follow the court room saga, check out this thread on our forum
(credits to Chris Mah for additional info on the extent of copyrights)
New Ultraman Books!
4/1/2005 // 6:31 am
Exciting news for Ultraman memoribilia collectors! Geneon Entertainment Corp (ジェネオン エンタテインメント株式会社)and Kodansha Books ( 講談社) will each be releasing Ultraman publications in April and May respectively. ULTRAMAN 1966 VISUAL BOOK + DVD Geneon Entertainment Corp brings you back in time to 1966, the time of ULTRAMAN’S inception. The 96pp hardcover book includes pictures from Ultra Q, unpublished art works, behind the scenes photography, photos of live events, commercials and other significant artifacts from 1966 ~ 67 . The 23 mins DVD, titled “ULTRAMAN THE LOST FILMS - 8mm Movie Collection” brings together previously unseen footages. The book and DVD set comes in beautiful bookcase. This collectible item is priced at ￥3,990.
OFFICIAL FILE MAGAZINE - ULTRAMAN Come May, Kodansha Books will be releasing a whole new series of Official File Magazine on Ultraman. Each issue will provide data, factoids and trivia of the featured Tsuburaya tokusatsu hero.
The binder for the magazines is sold separately.
New Ultraman Manga From Kodansha
3/28/2005 // 11:43 pm
Kodansha’s (講談社) monthly comic anthology, MAGAZINE Z (マガジン ゼット) will be serialising a new Ultraman manga from the July (七月号 - to be released on 26 May 2005) issue onwards. This original story promises to bring back the spirit of the old school giant tokusatsu heroes! This series will be authored and illustrated by Kazuo Mafune (真船一雄), who’s known for his work on Super Doctor K (スーパードクターK). This project is supervised by Tsuburaya Production. According to this site, Kodansha will be releasing reprints of vintage Ultraman manga:
NEW ULTRAMAN BOOKS RELEASE
3/11/2005 // 11:54 am
ULTRAMAN THE FIRST MANGA!
The collected first volume of the ULTRAMAN THE FIRST manga has already been released in Japan. This manga is serialised in the Tokusatsu Ace anthology from Kadokawa Comics. The series is written and illustrated by Yuzo Takada (高田裕三). His previous works were “3 x 3 Eyes” and “Blue Seed” In this volume, Hayata becomes one with a silver giant that came from the outer space. Following that, he becomes Ultraman and battled the monsters Bemlar, Baltan, Neronga and Ragon. Retail Price： 609円 Available from Amazon Japan. KAIJU STYLE WARS - THE TEARFUL BEASTS’ PARTY
Street Brand designer “SKATETHING” collaborated with TPC to re-design Ultraman and Kaiju in his iconic fashion, 3-D style. SKATETHING has left his mark on the “A BATHING APE” imprint, and is a key person in the whole Harajuku culture. Besides desinging, he is also a DJ spinning for the Japanese club scene.
Check out the details from Asuka Shinsha (飛鳥新社). You can also order this book from Amazon Japan. For Singaporean residents, you may wish to use the freight forwarding service VPost Japan from Singpost to save on shipping charges.
ULTRAMAN NEXUS EP.13 - ILLUSTRATOR
// 10:31 am
Komon went to the Tobu Zoo where he met Riko. He wanted to remember the good times he had when she was still alive.
While engaged in his own monolgue thinking about how cursed his life was, he was trailed by two Memory Police agents. But unkown to all, Mizorogi was also keeping watch over his new plaything.
Komon then received a call from his mom. She asked about him and his job, if he’s eating well etc. And then she asked about Riko. Like a shot to the heart, Komon simply said would be coming home soon and hung up. Back at the NR Briefing room, Captain Wakura briefed his team about the new Mega Cannon Chester, which main gun Strike Punisher’s output is 25% more than Strike Chester since the powersource is tapped from the Metafield Generator.
Shiori asked about Komon, and the team leader replied that he had granted him a long vacation so that he could recover from his trauma. Saijyo seemed to protest, but Wakura reminded that not everyone had a strong mind like hers. And Saijyo was worried that Mizorogi would exploit Komon’s weakness. She said she wanted to help Komon too.
Back in his sarcophagus, Jun felt a disturbance in the force…. He then watched a repeat telecast of the previous battle that he had with Dark Faust where he was shot in his chest, fell to the ground and then in a headlock WWE style by Faust.
Komon gazed at the gift that Riko gave, the “Mr. Yanbaru-kuina” keyholder. He suddenly heard a boy calling out “Riko", but that happened to be his younger sister.
He turned and saw the boy running to his sister. The parents were right behind them. And Dad approached Komon for help to take a family portrait. Komon obliged.
Yet another flashback to the time when Riko was drawing portraits of animals with him next to her. She was telling him that she’s using the theme “family portrait” for her graduation project. He then heard a familiar voice behind him, turned around and saw his dead girlfriend standing there . . .
She walked away. He went after her like a Bollywood star. The bumbling stooges from the Memory Police followed.
He ended up in a small forested area and Riko appeared and started blaming Komon for all the bad things that happened to her and her family. She recounted the day when her whole family perished.
Mizorogi then appeared. He introduced himself as his enemy, and teased Komon that he enjoyed watching him and his marionette trying to behave like a couple. As that happened, Yuu received a premonition, and uttered,"Act 2 has started.” Komon got mad and swung at Mizorogi. Unfortunately, Komon is a lousy brawler. And he had his butt handed to him.
And then Komon got pulled over into the dark side…
Over the other side, Komon thought he was reunited with Riko again. He thought she was alive and had finally brought him to meet her parents.
But the illusion crumbled.
And was made to relive his nightmare.
Saijyo got to the zoo, searching for Komon.
Komon slipped into shock and then despair. He was severely incapacitated by his psychological condition.
He then saw his team members laying scorn on him, for being a weakling.
As Komon sunk deeper into his depression, a dark substance then engulfed Komon. Jun, inside the Stone Fluegal, reached for his EvolThruster. He unleashed the ‘glitter’ form of Nexus (an astral projection) into the dark field, trying to convert the dark essence back into light.
But he couldn’t win Mizorogi’s influence. Nexus faded to black. Jun’s opened his eyes, struggled to sit up, and just called out Komon’s name.
Jun suffered, when he couldn’t repel Mizorogi. He lost quite a bit of his life there. As Saijyo kept up the search. But suddenly she heard a voice that seem to come from the animals.
It was Mizorogi, telling her that he accepted Mephisto’s power in order to become more powerful. And he wanted Saijyo to join him over at the dark side. Komon was merely a pawn to bait her. He told her that Komon would be sent back to her . . . He fell out of the portal unceremoniously.
She then pulled Komon towards her, and then gave him a tight slap across his face. Komon then came to. She told him to harness his HATRED and use it as a strength to get back at the Beasts.
The family whom Komon met earlier walked by and the daughter thanked Komon again for taking pictures for her family. Little would the family know, that its their last day in paradise. Yuu and Matsunaga continue to yak away at the pool.
Something bad happened . . .
ULTRAMAN CONVENTIONS IN JAPAN
2/28/2005 // 10:05 pm
Special events for the Spring season. Ultra heroes appearing live and mingling with the crowds, stage dramas, guest appearances by the cast from Ultraman Nexus, larger-than-life Ultraman statue!
Check out this thread for details!
DIGITAL ULTRA PROJECT - DVD “ULTRAMAN TARO” TO BE RELEASED IN MAY
2/21/2005 // 1:40 am
From the article “DUP、DVD「ウルトラマンタロウ」を5月から発売 －発表会場にウルトラ6兄弟が集結” by AV Watch
DIGITAL ULTRA PROJECT CORP (DUP), the company behind the adaptation of Tsuburaya’s hottest franchise “ULTRAMAN” series and “KAIJI DAISAKUSEN” into the DVD format, will be releasing the 8th release - DVD “ULTRAMAN TARO". The first five volumes and the Vol. 1 ~ 5 boxed set will be available on 27 May 2005. Each single DVD volume will be retailing at 3,990 yen (USD$37.80/SGD$61.90). The price of the boxed set is yet to be determined, but it should not cost more than the sum of the individual volume.
The shows from the 1973 broadcast will be collected into a 13 volume release. Vol. 6 ~ 10 and the corresponding boxed set will be released on 24 June and Vol. 11 ~ 13 with boxed set on 22 Jul. Following ULTRAMAN TARO, the Digital Ultra Project will next put out the 9th and 10th releases, “MIGHTY JACK” and “FIGHT! MIGHTY JACK” in early 2006. Each release will be a six volume collection. The 11th release will be ULTRAMAN LEO, due in early summer 2006, a 13-volume collection.
Furthermore, these words are not only meant for the retail market, but rental as well. The same corporation is looking beyond the DVD medium, and is exploring other media channels for distributing content - such as broadband transmissions and the likes. Each episode required more than 200 man hours of remastering - retouching, sound mixing, colour balance and other engineering feats. This is the culmination of 9 years of experience in digital remastering, to bring out the highest fidelity in picture and sound quality.
Bonus material in this series include the “next-episode” narration by 瑳川哲朗, the 5 Ultrabrothers Conference (from ULTRAMAN to TARO), commercial clips featuring Ultraman Taro, interviews with actors and art directors etc. In conjunction with the release, DUP held a press conference in conjunction with the launch of the 8th release.
Guests of Honor for the press conference - 篠田三郎氏 and ペギー葉山
Previous DUP releases (DVD ULTRA SERIES): DVD ULTRASEVEN 「DVDウルトラセブン」 (12 Vols / Released 1999) DVD ULTRAMAN 「DVDウルトラマン」 (10 Vols / Released 2000) LET’S D COLLECTION - Ultra Super Digest 「Let’s D COLLECTION」 DVD ULTRA Q 「DVDウルトラQ」 DVD RETURN OF ULTRAMAN 「DVD帰ってきたウルトラマン」 CRADLE OF ULTRA 「ウルトラの揺り籠」 (1 Vol / Released 2003) KAIJI DAISAKUSEN 「ＤＶＤ怪奇大作戦」 (6 Vols / Released 2003)
恭喜发财！新年快乐！吉祥如意！HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR!
2/13/2005 // 11:45 am
ULTRAMAN LAH! Wishes all fans a Prosperous Lunar New Year.
May the year of the Rooster bring joyful tidings, and may all students do well in their studies KOOOOCCCKKK KOCCKKKKK KOCCCKKK!! And we thank 沙漠白龙 from Shanghai for his greeting card
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ULTRAMAN PAYS TRIBUTE TO THE VICTIMS OF EARTHQUAKE, NEW MOVIE TO BE STAGED IN KOBE
2/3/2005 // 12:18 am
From YOMIYURI SHINBUN: ULTRAMAN PAYS TRIBUTE TO THE VICTIMS OF EARTHQUAKE, NEW MOVIE TO BE STAGED IN KOBE
As the Great Hanshin Earthquake enters its 10th anniversary, Tsuburaya Productions announced that it will begin filming of the next ULTRAMAN movie in Kobe where the disaster occured. Ultraseven, Ultraman the First, Father of Ultra and Mother of Ultra together with the president of Tsuburaya Productions, Kazuo Tsuburaya met with the mayor of Kobe on 2 Feb 2005. As a commemoration of the souls sacrificed in the earthquake, the new movie will celebrate the courage and hope of the survivors of the Kobe citizens. The movie will begin filming in the middle of March. The movie is expected to open in 2006. Original story: ウルトラマンが震災犠牲者鎮魂、神戸舞台の映画制作へ 犠牲者への鎮魂の思いを込め、市民に勇気と希望を与えるストーリーで、ロケは東遊園地や神戸港周辺などで３月中旬からスタートするという。２００６年に公開予定。 (2005/2/2/15:32 読売新聞) (This news was first spotted on Burnproject)
THE MEN WHO MADE ULTRAMAN
1/29/2005 // 11:38 am
DRAMA : THE GOLDEN DAYS OF TSUBURAYA PRODUCTIONS (and the making of Ultraman) The (non-fiction) Japanese Drama, The Men Who Made Ultraman (ウルトラマンをつくった男たち), is now available on DVD. This drama is based upon the novel written by Akio Jissouji (実相寺昭雄).
In 1987, Akio Jissouji wrote a novel, “The Lunar Vessel of the Star Forests - The Men Who Dreamt of Monsters” (星の林に月の舟―怪獣に夢見た男たち). This novel related the drama behind the Tsuburaya’s golden days, of boys bringing their wild imaginations to life. In 1989, this novel was made into a TV drama. This drama is now available on DVD. Akio Jissouji was a prolific storywriter and also director for Tsuburaya’s Ultra series. He had wrote stories for Ultra Q up till the present day Ultra Q Dark Fantasy. He had also contributed stories to both both Showa and Heisei era Ultraman.
Release date: 26 January 2005
Check with Amazon.co.jp or other online shops to place orders.
MY IDOL IS ULTRAMAN
1/24/2005 // 12:23 am
Son’s idol is Ultraman, Not Mom “Zaobao Weekly conducted an interview with Huang Biren, an artiste with Mediacorp’s TCS8 station. The paper also interviewed her 4 year old son, Guo Zhengjun. Mom coaxed her shy son to strike a pose taken from his favourite hero - Ultraman. Zhengjun’s idol is definitely Ultraman, not his mom. Ms. Huang stated that his son is definitely not her fan, and also can’t quite accept some of the roles she had played in the local TV drama serials. Her greatest fans were her late grandfather and her dad. And it is apparent that she will be building her fanbase among the senior citizens.” Yo kid, tell your mom to lobby the guys at TCS to bring in more Ultraman shows.
ULTRAMAN NEXUS EP.12 - LOST SOUL
1/23/2005 // 11:36 pm
Komon wandered around Riko’s studio. Among the groteque paintings, he picked up the shattered photoframe that held an image of their better days.
Riko regained her consciousness. And found herself all alone in the woods, like a lost soul.
Back at Fortress Freedom, Saijyo confronted Mizorogi on the rooftop.
The pair of ex-lovers face off, side arms bristling.
While Komon was recalling of the good times past, a dark, mysterious force possessed him and took over his sanity. (撞邪!)
Komon lost it.
Cutting back to the rooftop on TLT-J’s headquarters, sparks flew as the ex-lovers exchanged fire.
Mizorogi nimbly deflected Saijyo’s attack with a wave of the Dark Evolver. He spun around, and returned volley with the transforming device. Saijyo jumped aside. When she got to her feet, Mizorogi was no where to be seen.
Disturbance in the electromagnetic space triggered another scramble within the Night Raider. Saijyo’s and Komon’s Pulse Breiger beeped them into action.
Captain Eisuke’s team was already on the scene, going through the tight confines of an industrial plant. Carrying out the standard operating procedure (SOP) close quarter battle drills (CQB), the tactical team maneuvered their way to the basement.
There, they found a technician, cowering in fear.
Yuu, safely ensconced in the Combat Information Center (CIC), learnt that the tactical team had been duped, and led to a decoy.
Eisuke learnt that they had been tricked with a red herring. Saijyo examined the transmitter, and had a hunch that Mizorogi was behind this mischief. The Captain became pissed with the offender and manhandled him, making him confess on the mastermind. The technician finally spoke, but with Mizorogi’s voice taunting the NR on their impotence.
Komon came across an abandoned mini-bus as he made his way back to base. It wasa deja-vu, as the bus resembled that which was attacked by Padreon some months ago. He got down to investigate.
Komon stormed the bus, and rumaged through the personal effects left behind by the missing passengers. Suddenly, history repeated itself when he saw a Padreon attacking the bus. Komon let his blaster rip.
Komon flew into berserker rage.
The gunfire disturbed Jun’s beauty sleep while he laid in the sarcophargus. Jun began talking in his sleep.
Komon began firing wildly at his supposed targets. Jun tried to tell him that he’s seeing things. Finally, he got up and tried to talk sense to Komon.
Delusional, Komon tried to honeycomb Jun with his blaster. Jun knocked some sense into him with a headshot from his Blast Shot, expelling the demon possessing Komon.
Komon came to his senses. As Jun tried to explain, their conversation was interrupted by Riko. She came out of the woods like a pontianak. She didn’t look too happy. Neither was Komon.
And with that, she revealed her true nature. Dark Faust gigantised. Jun also rose to the occasion.
As the two giants were geared to a match of mortal combat, the master mind watched.
Dark Faust and Nexus Anphans sparred hand-to-hand, kneecap-to-ribcage
Nexus threw Faust to the ground. Momentarily stunned, Nexus took the opportunity to tranfer the fight into the Metafield. He changed into the Junis form and cast the portal to the alternate dimension.
But Dark Faust had plans of his own.
The Dark giant countered Nexus’ energy by converting the Metafield into the Dark Field. The expanding sphere of energy sucked Komon into the alternate dimension. The fight got more intense within the Dark Field
The first mutual punch knocked each other out.
Komon looked on. Bewildered. Meanwhile, Faust regained the initiative . . . Nexus kena shoryuken’ed by Faust. He went airborne . . .
But in mid-air, Nexus recovered his posture and landed back on terra firma with a vengeance.
Nexus threw a Particle Fuze at Faust who barely dodged the explosive strike.
Faust returned Nexus a favour with his Darkraystrom.
While Nexus was stunned, Faust grabbed the incapacitated Ultraman and tried to suck the life out of him.
Nexus was losing it. His energy core begain blinking red. Komon, unwilling to be just a bystander, took potshots at Faust.
Dark Faust was amused . . .
Dark Faust or rather, Riko, apparently came to his/her senses…and stopped draining the life out of Nexus. Mizorogi sensed that he had to do something before the tables turn against his interests.
He summoned Nosphil to join the fray.
A gigantic rodent-like space beast emerged. Its designated vicitm - Komon. Nexus immediately threw another particle fuze to stop the abomination, to prevent it from reaching Komon.
But the attack barely scathed the beast.
Nosphil continued to lunge at Komon. Helpless, the plucky NR trooper could only shield himself with his arm. But something happened . . .
Faust had actually thrown himself between Nosphil and Komon, and promptly took the full blow of Nosphil’s attack. The claw punctured Faust’s back.
Faust began leaking life essence. Agitated by Faust’s untimely demise, Nexus flew into rage and wrestled the monstrous rodent. . .
Before finishing off with the Crossraystrom.
Nosphil got fried. Nexus was very drained by then and had to leave the Dark Field
As the dust settled, Komon received the body of his dying sweetheart. Riko passed away in his arms . . .
Komon had to pick up the shattered pieces of his life . . . being drafted into this strange militant organization, and having his girlfriend taken violently away from him . P.S. For those who would like to have the most updated Ultraman Nexus Episode Guide, check out this excellent page put up by Camille from Thai Toku.
Manga Ultraman
1/22/2005 // 4:41 pm
The manga artists Mamoru Uchiyama, Imura Shinji et al further developed the origins and history of Ultraman. Their stories went back to the time before the Ultramen came to earth, when intergalactic feuds threatened the existence of M-78 and the Land of Ultra.
In their stories, the manga artists introduced new characters never seen before on TV or on stage.
Check out the U-Files for the line-up for these rarely mentioned Ultraman characters.
Ultra 4-Panel Manga Strips
// 9:25 am
Just for laughs . . . From Ultraman DNA Vol.1
The above strips were created by Takeshi Tamai (玉井たけし) who passed away last year on 7 November 2004. He had drawn many SD character comics during his tenure with Shogakukan (小学館) and was an accomplished manga artist. His work “Ultra Kaiju Kattobi! Land” (ウルトラ怪獣かっとび！ランド) was serialised in the monthly kids manga anthology Koro-Koro Comics (コロコロコミック), and had been collected into 10 paperback volumes. He also illustrated the Bomberman manga and SD Kamen rider among other works. From U-Chu Sen (宇宙船) Vol. 100
S.I.C. ULTRAMAN NEXT JUNIS
1/13/2005 // 10:23 pm
Can’t believe your eyes? Bandai has finally made S.I.C. versions of Ultraman?
Don’t be fooled. Its a fan-made action figure inspired by the realism influenced Super-Imaginative Chogokin series, following the same vein as the Kamen Riders. tyoubakunyuu has put up his fan-made creation up for sale on Yahoo Auctions.
This masterpiece has articulated joints, and rich details (such as the red, sinewy myomers).
ULTRA P - ウルトラP
1/12/2005 // 12:27 am
What if Ultraman had gotten the Gerry Andersen treatment? This is probably how it looks like:
Ultra P is a live puppet show performed by KOGANE-MUSHI THEATRE (劇団こがねむし). The mastermind behind this theatre is Hideyuki Kobayashi (小林英幸). Mr Kobayashi makes his own puppets. Besides Ultraman and fellow kaijus, Mr Kobayashi has also made characters from Godzilla (for the show GEKI GODZI, ゲキゴジ) and also puppets of insects and other characters. He had also made animatronics puppets for the horror TV series, 陰陽師・安倍晴明 (ONMYOJI - The Medium).
Since 1994, the KOGANE-MUSHI THEATRE had toured Japan to bring wonder and amusement to both kids and adults. Mr Kobayashi had collaborated with other musicians during his performance, injecting another whimsical dimension to his shows. His puppets had travelled to Ultraman Land and also other Tsuburaya events.
Besides appearing live, his works had also appeared on print, in publications such as U-Chu Sen (宇宙船), Ultraman Age and B-Club.
NAVIGATION AID
1/9/2005 // 2:43 pm
We have added a site map and a content page to the panel on the right (SITE NAVIGATION) . We hope that this information will make it easier for you to browse the contents on this site. Happy Surfing! (^____^) SCHUWATCH!!
ULTRAMAN NEXUS CHINESE FANSUBS
1/4/2005 // 9:25 am
China’s Ultraman Club has begun subbing the Nexus episodes in chinese. Click on link below for the torrent: File is in RMVB media format. Requires REAL Player. The fan-sub group is looking for transcripts for the following episodes. They are soliciting transcripts for the following episodes Nexus so that they may continue subbing the series. Ultraman Lah! will like to salute tindetor for their contributions to the Ultra-fan community!
Ultra[man] FAQ 3.0
1/3/2005 // 12:29 pm
Joe Sewell, the man behind the Ultra[man] FAQ, has updated this superb fan site. In 1996, Joe was one of the first to put up a comprehensive Ultraman fansite in cyberspace, preceding the legendary Absolute Ultraman. He has included at least a token spot for every Ultra through “The Next", including pictures of the Ultras from the N-Project series. You may now access version 3.0 of the FAQ on the URL “http://www.ultrafaq.info” to reach the site.
Ultraman Nexus EP.11 - Marionette
12/29/2004 // 2:57 pm
Riko recuperated at the hospital. In good spirits, she called home from a public phone to ask about her family and to inform them that she is well.
However, the engaged tone was beeping while she was still happily yakking away on the phone . . . Back at Fortress Freedom, the in-charge of TLT-J, Matsunaga debriefs the Night Raiders. He compliments Komon on his skilled manoeuvring of the StrikeChester, while he chides Saijyo for something else.
Saijyo then remembered the former deputy leader of NR, Mizorogi Shinya. He was also her boyfriend. She remembered the time before Mizorogi went missing, they exchanged their identity tags for safe-keeping, as a mark of love and trust.
Feeling pissed off, Saijyo went down to the shooting range. But she couldn’t bring her aim to focus and her shots landed wide.
Komon thought about Riko in his cabin. He took out a trinket she gave him and smiled like an idiot. Suddenly, his Pulse Breager chimed and a strange message came through: “YOU . . . IMPORTANT THING . . . LOSE”
Back at the hospital, Riko was awakened by a purple light. She stepped towards the windows. Dark Faust stared back at her from the reflection.
The following day, the Memory Police (MP) arrived at the hospital where Riko was warded. The leader of the MP, Shutou Saya, realised that Riko was listed as a “missing person". And apparently, she had gone missing from her ward.
Riko belonged to the family that mysteriously vanished six months ago . . .
Riko had made her way back to her family’s apartment. The place was dark and empty when she stepped into the house. Making her way towards the dining room, the door swung open. Her brother, Takeshi received her. What happened after took on a dream-like quality (given the soft focus of the camera lens capturing this Kodak moment). Riko reunited with her family and shared a moment of warmth.
But the moment of bliss was shattered. Snapping out of her reverie, she realised that she was all alone in a bare, empty apartment. In disbelieve and shock, she walked towards a full length mirror. Dark Faust became her reflection. And he materialised from the reflective pane . . .
The MP informed Komon that Riko was absent from her ward. And Shutou handed Komon information that would help him learn the truth about his girlfriend. Sensing that his sweetheart was in danger, he scrambled to her apartment.
But our brave loverboy met a roadblock.
Dark Faust stood in Komon’s path. Komon dismounted from his vehicle and confronted the Dark giant with his Divait Shooter.
Dark Faust hurled a blast of Darkray Strom at Komon.
Fortunately for Komon, a guardian angel shielded the attack. Jun stepped forward to challenge the Dark giant.
Meanwhile back at the HQ, Ishibori ran an analysis of the intercepted communications which Komon received. The triangulation indicated that the source of transmission came from, the dam!
On the rooftop of TLT-J’s base, Mizorogi was playing with a communications device. It appeared that the gadget he held in his hands was the source of the message transmission.
Jun transformed into Ultraman Nexus, and challenged Faust to a battle in the Metafield.
Komon watched as the two Ultraman disappeared into the other dimension. Nexus realised that he had ran into the Dark Field instead, and unable to locate his rival.
Suddenly, death fell from above. Dark Faust unleashed a torrent of his Dark Cluster artillery. Nexus flipped and somersaulted away from harm, but he couldn’t run away from the saturated kill zone. He was tossed into the air . . .
Dark Faust grabbed the shaken Nexus in mid-air, and dealt him a crushing divebomb blow, smashing the Ultraman into the earth.
Nexus took a hardbeating . . .
before getting fried by Faust’s Darkray Strom.
Thinking that he had destroyed his opponent, Faust nonchalently walked away from the crime scene. But . . .
Nexus survived Faust’s attack. He returned his love to his Dark opponent.
Faust took a glancing blow on the left shoulder. He staggered and then vanished from the alternate dimension. Nexus had taken a hard beating. His three minutes in the alternate dimension was almost up and his energy core began blinking. Jun materialised from the portal, depleted and in pain. (Being Ultraman is seong ah!)
Back at Riko’s apartment, Komon stumbled upon a truth that was hard to accept.
Riko’s studio was filled with grotesque paintings of horrific-looking creatures.
Unable to take in the shock, Komon almost went crazy
Riko staggered, lost in the jungle. She wondered who she was, why she was doing in the bushes . . . and she slowly recalled the incident that happened six months ago . . .
Her family was travelling through a tunnel when their car was stopped by a hideous looking beast.
The Fiendish-type beast attacked with its sharp claws, massacaring the Saida family right before Riko’s eyes. (Car plate number 4913 - if strike 4D this weekend must donate to disaster aid, ok?)
A Night Raider (Mizorogi) trooper rushed to the scene. However, instead of helping Riko against the beast, he turned his gun against her!
Then, Riko realised that she was supposed to be dead. She screamed.
Komon was reduced to shambles and misery when he learnt the unpleasant truth about his girlfriend. He did not know of the fate that will await her.
Saijyo felt the presence of Mizorogi. She rushed to the sundeck. And true to her intuition, Mizorogi was standing there, waiting . . .
more festive greetings
12/26/2004 // 1:08 am
MERRY CHRISTMAS & A HAPPY NEW YEAR
12/24/2004 // 9:06 am
ULTRAMAN LAH! wishes all Ultra-Fans a Merry Christmas and Happy Year!
Check out our FEATURES section for some Christmas goodies
ULTRAMAN NEXUS TV SPECIAL ~ SECRETS REVEALED
// 9:02 am
This special broadcast is now available on Anarion’s site.
You will need this codec to play the file. (ALL HEIL ANARION!!)
ULTRA KLUTZ!
// 8:40 am
In a galaxy and timeline not too far away, there was an American comix artist, Jeff Nicholson decided make a parody of our favorite hero in the underground comix circuit. This comix ran for about 39 issues, and had been collected into two phonebook-sized tradepaperbacks. Another tpb, “Ultra Klutz Dreams” collected the stand-alone stories and unpublished works.
According to Jeff, Ultra Klutz was “..was my obsession from the 1980’s. Although the comic book series began as an Ultraman parody, it evolved into a complex interplanetary comedy soap opera that for the most part defies description". The comix is about this chracter called Sam Sogg, a fast food worker on his home planet. But after crash landing on Earth, he is soon propelled to the status of a hero. This klutz is now tall like a skyscraper, and has a hardtime trying not to trip over other buildings or to topple them. Kaijus then began sprouting up, and our the former loser was trusted with the job of fighting the good fight for mankind. But when other natives of his homeworld begin showing up on Earth, accusing him of treachery and sabotage back home, it seems simple Sam may have once been brainwashed as well. Jeff’s work had been compared with Dave Sim’s Cerebus, for its enthusiasm although no other comix had yet trounce Cerebus’ unassailable position as a long-running comix classic. He had received six Eisner Award nominations. (The Will Eisner Comic Industry Award is the comics industry equivalent of the Oscars) Related Stories:
URUTORA COSPLAY!!
12/21/2004 // 11:10 pm
Fangirl, UltraM2000, made this Ultraman Costume for the COSPLAY segment at Comic Fiesta, manga/anime convention held in Malaysia:
Go check out her adventure at the Cosplay segment here! (YOU GO, GURL!!) UltraM2000 is also the master of the ULTRA FIGHT LEGEND DATABASE, a pretty nifty site chokeful of information on this animated/manga spin-off. Go check it out!
ULTRAMAN DNA Vol.02
// 12:04 pm
ウルトラマンDNA Vol.2 (てれびくん1月号增刊)
This issue is a tie-in with the premier of the ULTRAMAN movie. Thus, there’s chokeful of N-Project Related articles. For nostalgia sake, there’s an interview with the actress Hoshi Mistuoko, who played Yuko Minami in Ultraman Ace, one-half of the human host pair; and also the veteran composer for many of the Showa era Ultraman shows, Fuyuki Tohru. There are a few articles on TPC’s past projects, such as ULTRA Q, APE ARMY (猿の軍団) a rip-off from The Planet of the Apes) and a more recent work GRIDMAN (電光超人グリッドマン) The highlight of the N-Project related articles is the “10 Mysteries of Ultraman Nexus” (refer to N-Project Discussion over at the FORUM)
Other interesting stuff:
You may take a peek at the contents of the magazine here.
SUDAH DATANG: ULTRAMAN NEXUS - Ep12 - LOST SOUL
12/19/2004 // 1:48 am
EPISODE 12 IS AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD AT ANARION’S SITE!!
In this episode: Saijyo finally meets Mizorogi. Shinya Mizorogi (溝呂木眞也) was a former member of the Night Raider. They had something going on between them previously . . .Meanwhile, Riko disappears from the hospital. The Memory Police (MP) had discovered some unexpected facts about Komon’s sweetheart. Half a year ago, a family of four fell prey to the Space Beast, and Riko was one of them! Thus, who is this present “Riko"? The answer may lie in the hands of Mizorogi.
Ultraman Nexus EP.10 - Strike Formation
12/15/2004 // 2:25 am
In the previous episode, Ultraman Nexus executed the Particle Feuza manoeuver, cutting Dark Faust near the ankle. Episode 11 opened with Dark Faust and Nexus in the Dark Field.
Ultraman Nexus followed through with the crossray shootrum.
But Dark Faust deftly blocked the blast with an energy barrier. And then disappeared together with Rafflea . . .
The Dark Field dissipated, leaving the exhausted Nexus in the real world. He reverted back to the human form, revealing a morose looking Jun.
Back in the mountains where Chrome Chester Alpha crashed, Komon found the unconscious body of Riko. She came to. She was holding onto something. . .
It was Saijyo’s identity tags!
Saijyo found the pair. Somehow, Saijyo went beserk when she saw Riko holding on to those ID tags. (If i read the story correctly, Saijyo’s dog tags were meant to be kept by Mizorogi, her missing boyfriend. She must have wondered why Riko was holding on to something that belonged to her boyfriend). Saijyo wanted to confront Riko, but Komon intervened. The poor boy got pistol whipped by Saijyo the psycho. The next moment, Riko found herself in a hospital - dazed.
Outside, Saijyo arrived at the hospital. At the lobby, she met Saya Shutou, leader of the Memory Police with her two toy boys. They exchanged words, and the name “Mizorogi” was mentioned.
Komon arrived later, and took a walk with his girlfriend on the hospital grounds. He felt inspired by his love for her to soldier on. Back at Fortress Freedom, the Night Raiders huddled in the briefing room. Captain Wakura and his team explored methods to dispose of the plant-type space beast, Rafflea. If Rafflea blew up in the real world, the fallout would lead contaminate the neighbouring population centre.
Yu appeared via holographic projection, and advised NR to take on the beast in the Metafield. And again, Saijyo had some disagreements with Komon. Elsewhere, Riko stirred from her sleep. . .
At the same time, Rafflea rose from the ground. The NR scrambled
Following on the heels of the beast, Jun appeared on the scene. He whipped out the Evolthruster
And HENSHIN!!
ULTRAMAN NEXUS strikes the classic Ultra-pose
He casted the Metafield, and took the battle to the spacebeast. The Chrome Chesters appeared over the target, but couldn’t engage because the kaiju had been transported into the Metafield. Saijyo gave the command, and the Chrome Chesters succesfully combined to form the Strike Chester.
Strike Chester powered up, and breached the Metafield.
In the Metafield, Dark Faust suddenly appeared, suprising Ultraman Nexus. Before locking horns with Nexus, Faust corrupted the essence of the Metafield with his Dark Field.
Nexus was badly roughed up.
The Strike Chester made a pass for Rafflea. Komon, the gunnery officer onboard, guided the targeting systems onto the spacebeast. When he tried to fire the Spider Missles, the system froze up, resulting in a hangfire.
Dark Faust grappled with Nexus, holding him up for Rafflea to strike.
Komon thought about his girlfriend, who smiled sweetly at him in his dreams. Disregarding the malfunctioned missile systems (damned defense contractors!), Komon selected another weapon - the Strike Vanisher.
Feeling inspired, Komon’s gathered his fortitude and made another pass at the target. This time, the Strike Chester flew close past Ultraman. Komon and Ultraman Nexus exchanged knowing glances. There was a moment of serendepity . . .
Komon brought the Strike Vanisher attack unto Rafflea. Ultraman Nexus then elbowed Dark Faust, forcing him to lose his grip. Rafflea threw up on Faust, and at the same time Strike Chester hit Rafflea with a powerful beam!
Rafflea went blew up into a fine mist. Job done, the NR left the Metafield.
But it was not a graceful exit. The Strike Chester spun out of control . . .
As the aircraft was about to hit terra firma, a strong steady set of hands caught the Strike Chester, and safely set it down to the ground. After the drama . . . Saijyo looked forlornly at the pair of ID tags in her hand. Those tags belonged to Shinya Mizorogi.
The next day, Komon visited Riko at the hospital. She pulled him aside, and brought him to the woods where she made him kiss her.
ULTRA N PROJECT: ULTRAMAN NOA
12/13/2004 // 2:22 am
Ultraman Noa was the first hero that launched the Ultra N Project. Little is known about this mysterious silver giant, as there aren’t many documentation of this hero on the net. There are many unanswered questions about the herald of the new Ultra generation - how does Noa fit into the M-78 universe? How are Ultraman Noa, Ultraman Nexus and Ultraman the Next related?
Go to the ULTRA N PROJECT DISCUSSION section over at our FORUM for the latest scoop!
dear readers!
12/12/2004 // 11:50 am
SUDAH DATANG: ULTRAMAN NEXUS - Ep11 - MARIONETTE
// 1:45 am
EPISODE 11 IS AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD AT ANARION’S SITE!!
In this episode:
ULTRAMAN GOODS SHOPPING GUIDE
12/10/2004 // 7:51 pm
Looking for Ultraman merchandise in Singapore and didn’t know where to start? Let Ultraman Lah’s shopping guide assist you in your hunt for that elusive Ultraman collectible!
Click on link below: Retailers, if you are selling Ultraman related merchandise, and would like to be featured in this shopping guide, please contact us at: ultramanlah@gmail.com
AKAN DATANG: ULTRAMAN NEXUS - Ep10 - STRIKE FORMATION
12/4/2004 // 3:31 pm
NOTE: ANARION’S SITE HAS BEEN RESTORED AND EPISODE 10 IS AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD! OUR BLESSINGS AND WELL WISHES TO ANARION FOR RENDERING A CRUCIAL SERVICE TO THE ULTRA FAN COMMUNITY!! *SALUT* Alternatively, you may download Episode 10 from HERE. For those who can’t read chinese, look for this entry: “12-04 15:38 Ultraman Nexus 第10話", posted by dnorange . You will be downloading the file ” ウルトラマンネクサス 第10話「Episode10 突入-ストライク& #12539 フォーメーション-」（DivX5.02 QB95 640x480 30fps） [CRC_A79F].avi ”
In this episode: Other updates: The Official Ultraman Nexus website has updated the information on the organization of the TLT.
. Other info includes peeks into the Fortress Freedom and Night Raider’s arsenal.
ULTRAMAN NEXUS - Ep 9 - Warning
11/30/2004 // 5:52 am
(air date: 27 November 2004) Komon flunked the Chrome Chester Alpha simulation exercise, under stress. He was unable to dock his aircraft with Chrome Chester Beta to form the Strike Chester.
The NR, unlike the traditional Ultraman Attack Teams, was not a cheerful place with spirited members. Komon took some time off and went on a date with his girlfriend. While waiting for her, he recollected the memories that happened half a year earlier when he first met Riko
Komon was sitting by the zoo, when a strong gust of wind scuttled Riko’s artpieces all over the place. Komon offered his help to gather the paintings. As he passed the sketches back to Riko, their hands met and sent a jolt of electricity through each other. Riko looked at Komon, and coyly smiled. She later offered Komon a drink, and sat down to chat. And the rest was history.
Then, Riko appeared. And the couple shared a lovey dovey day at the zoo. Meanwhile, some jobbers were disposing of chemical waste at an illegal dumping ground. They were mysteriously overcame by a gust of yellow fog. . .
almost immediately, Yu’s sensors’ picked up the signature of the plant-type space beast: Rafflea!
The NR was activated, and Komon had to cut short his date. But before he could see Riko home, a window frame fell from above. If not for Komon’s timely save, it would have dropped onto Riko’s head. The broken shards once again caused Riko to bleed, this time near the ankle. Komon administered first aid with his purple scarf (purple scarf ???)
Jun Himeya visited the scene of the incident where the dumpers were killed. He suddenly spun around and fired off a volley from his Blast Shot. The shot was dissipated by a hand in the sky - Dark Faust! The Dark giant tried to fry Jun with a couple of energy attacks from his palms.
Jun pulled out his Evolthruster, before he took one blast at point blank. Ultraman Nexus appeared to battle Dark Faust. After exchanging a few blows the giant disappared . . . and just as suddenly, the space beast Rafflea appeared.
The NR’s appeared on their Chrome Chesters. Alpha took a shot at Rafflea but Nexus deflected the shot with his forearm! (Perhaps, if Rafflea blew up in this dimension, the chemical fallout would affect the surrounding population centres). Nexus then transformed into Junis mode, and transferred himself and the beast into the Metafield.
While grappling with Rafflea in the Metafield, Dark Faust unceremoniously appeared and altered the relative combat power. He casted the Dark Field, turning the environ to suite his advantage. Rafflea charged on with its attack, and spewed yellow stuff that made Nexus choke. Nexus countered with a Particle Feuza attack. But the shot was deftly deflected.
Meanwhile, Captain Eisuke gave orders for the Chrome Chesters to adopt the Strike Chester formation.
The energy blade breached the Dark Field and travelled back into the real world. Komon saw the energy attack coming, and applied emergency maneouver to avoid the incoming blast. The Strike formation scuttled.
Back in the Dark Field, Dark Faust attempted to fry Nexus with a shot of his Dark Ray. Nexus nimbly leapt out of the way before returning the favour with another slice of his Particle Feuza. This time the energy blade hit Faust near the ankle (same spot where Riko suffered a wound when she got cut by the broken window). The dark giant collapsed in agony (in contrast when he took a full volley of Nexus’ Over Ray in the previous episode and walked away unscathed) . . .
After crash-landing Chrome Chester Alpha, Komon woke to find his co-pilot Saijyo missing. He went to search for her. But instead, he found Riko’s body that had laid by a stream . . .
ULTRAMAN NEXUS - Ep8 - Memory Police
// 5:06 am
(air date: 20 November 2004) Ultraman Nexus battled Dark Faust within the Dark Field, while the Night Raiders (NR) had to deal with the gigantic space beast that was hiding in the disused factory.
The other tactical NR team led by Captain Eisuke rallied the whole NR team. His group then shot Bagbazun with nitrogen bomblets fired from their Pulse Breaker. Saijyo took out the beast with a lethal shot from her Divait Launcher.
Meanwhile, the fight between Nexus and Faust ended in a stalemate, and both withdrew from the Dark Field. It was a tough match, but Nexus managed to kick Faust up into the skay then to the ground
and finished his move with the OverRay Shootrum skill
Dark Faust, however, merely shrugged it off. . and then he disappeared. Nexus followed suit . . .
Jun was exhausted after reverting back to human form. He summoned the Stone Freugle before collapsing. The stone freugle dropped down from the night sky and retrieved his body.
Soon after the space beast was vanquished and the area made safe, the Memory Police arrivend en scene to sanitise evidence. The little girl, Sara, was taken to a hospital.
Back at the headquarters . . . Yu debriefed Captain Eisuke and the rest of the NR on the presence of an unknown creature, whose energy signature was symmetrically different from Ultraman’s,
While Saijyo and Komon faced the music at the Board of Inquiry
In the rest area, Komon showed off his uncanny abilility to piss the hell out of Saijyo. The rest of the team looked on in embarrassed silence.
On the media, the incident was covered up and dismissed as another gas-leak anomaly
Komon visited Sara at the hospital. However she did not recognize him at all. Then Komon realised that her memory had been selectively erased by the MP. He left the hospital, feeling disturbed. As he walked down the street, he was ambushed again by another black SUV. This time, Shuto Saya, the leader of the MP appeared along with two pretty boys. They took him to another hospital, to explain the necessity of their duties.
Saya explained that, if the victims or witnesses of the incidents did not have their memory erased, they would go insane. Komon meditated over what he learnt earlier in the day. He had a chat with Captain Eisuke, who looked equally jaded by the way things were.
Komon returned to his quarters. To keep his spirits up, he thought about his girlfriend, Riko Saida. Meanwhile, back at Riko’s apartment . . .
Riko was approached by an unseen presence (like a typical Japanese horror flick). The photoframe holding the couple’s picture fell over and shattered. Riko went over to pick up the pieces, but accidentally pricked her finger .
Riko walked towards the window, her eyes with the come-hither gaze . . .
GOODIE ALERT: Free Desktop Calendars & Screen Savers
11/29/2004 // 5:09 am
and also Ultraman screen saver!
Check it out over at our FEATURES section
Ultraman Nexus EP 9 ~ Warning
11/28/2004 // 8:29 am
THE BT FOR Ep. 9 is now available at Anarion’s site!
The plot according to Babelfish:
In other words: Komon is disturbed by TLT’s method of eradicating the memories of witnessed who had come in contact with the space beasts. Only his girlfriend Riko is supportive of him. However, evil lurks and Komon’s life may be in danger. This episode demonstrates the ‘combined’ strength of the Chrome Chesters:
2004 Ultraman Carnival @ Tobu Zoo
11/27/2004 // 10:57 am
The following images were taken on 23 November 2004 at the ULTRAHEROES SPECIAL SHOW, an event part of the 2004 Ultraman Man Carnival (running from 7 Nov 2004 to 10 Jan 2005) held at Tokyo’s Tobu Zoo’s Event Plaza . Takuji Kawakubo 川久保拓司 (Kazuki Komon 孤门一辉) and Keiko Goto 武藤圭子 (Shiori Hiraki 平木诗织) made guest apprearances at this event. The lineup of the Ultramen included: Ultraman Nexus (ウルトラマンネクサス) 、Ultraman the First (ウルトラマン)、Ultraseven (ウルトラセブン)、Ultraman Tiga (ウルトラマンティガ) 、Ultraman Cosmos (ウルトラマンコスモス)
(source: ■中国特摄联盟■ )
ULTRAMAN CALENDAR 2005
11/25/2004 // 1:11 am
If you have placed your order for the calendars through Kinokuniya, you should already have received the call by now. The calendars had arrived. It costs around SGD$24.50
Here’s how the cover looked like:
and the contents:
Jan-Feb: The One (note: again, ジュネッス has been translated as “Junis” again, not Junius) I believe the “All The Ultraman” should be in too:
AKAN DATANG: ULTRAMAN NEXUS - Ep8 - MEMORY POLICE
11/22/2004 // 9:08 am
THE BT FOR Ep. 8 is now available at Anarion’s site!
Here’s the rough Babelfish’s translation of Ep8’s preview:
What I think its trying to say,"Saijo and Komon miraculously rescued Rina the little girl from danger. Komon was reprimanded for his insubordination and irresponsibility. Komon felt torn by his idealism. He later visited at the hospital where Rina was warded. There, he bumped into Saya Shutou, the leader of the Huxleyian Memory Police (MP) . . .
TOKUSATSU ACE No. 006
11/21/2004 // 8:26 pm
This manga anthology is now available at Singapore’s KINOKUNIYA!! In this issue, there’s the new ULTRAMAN THE NEXT manga series. Freebies include an ULTRAMAN NEXUS plastic pad. Saw three copies at Kinokuniya Liang Court (left two on display now, since i bought a copy). Its retailing at SGD$15.90 (cover price Y650 tax inclusive). Checking with the sales staff behind the Customer Service counter, the lady said that the bookshop can’t take subscription for Tokusatsu Ace as it is not a ‘regular’ periodical. But I wonder why they contravene d their “No Ultraman goods” this time policy, though.
(note: Junius is spelled Junis on the pad. Typo? or is that the official Japlish spelling for the “Junius” form.) Do keep a watch out at our FEATURES section. There’ll be good stuff waiting for you soon
THE RESIDENT EVIL FROM THE UNBALANCE ZONE
// 7:52 pm
There’s disturbance from the UNBALANCED ZONE lately . A new ‘resident evil’ had invaded our site and set up its nesting place over at our FORUM for registered users. And looked what this creature dragged in! Forum members can now download Ultraman related multi-media, courtesy from BLUE BALTAN
Go over to PRIVATE LOUNGE ( the section is visible only after you’ve logged in) now to see what’s in store for you!
ULTRAMAN NEXUS - Ep7 - FAUST
11/20/2004 // 1:35 pm
(air date: 13 November 2004) (Prelude to the drama of Ep 7 - Komon dreamt of Saijo shooting him in the chest, for being a conscienscious objector to the discrimination against all alien creatures) In the previous episode, Bagbazun (バグバズン) managed to flee from Night Raider’s pursuit. It found a nesting place at an abandoned factory. Some unfortunate street punks who were tagging the factory became worm food. Back at Fortress Freedom, the Night Raiders were listening to the brief on the capabilities of the Chrome Chesters, when suddenly the radars picked up the signature of the space beast. Night Raiders were dispatched to the scene. At the area of operations, Captain Eisuke split the Raiders into two groups - Saijo and Komon in one group, Mitsuhiko, Shiori and himself in the other.
Jun Himeya sensed the presence of the space beast, and headed for the factory. But before he could transform . . .
Dark Faust distracted Jun with a light show
The destined rivals faced off - and Jun transforms
The presence of the two Ultramen triggered the warning radar back at TLT’’s headquarters. (So, Yu the Illustrator isn’t Dark Faust after all . . .but still, his character is more than meets the eye)
Ultraman Nexus attempted to throw Dark Faust into the Metafield for the showdown, but . . .
Dark Faust had some cards up his sleeve. He made his counter move - the DARK FIELD (ダークフィールド)! The emissions from the DARK FIELD jammed up the radio spectrum, and interfered with the Night Raider’s C4I systems. The two Raider groups lost radio contact with each other. IN THE DARK FIELD,
In the real world,
Komon encountered the beast in the belly of the factory. In the melee, he dropped his Divait Launcher. He ran. The rookie found the small girl, Rina Sugiyama (杉山里奈) and her pet dog, Ranmaru (らんまる). Back in the DARK FIELD,
Ultraman Nexus got thrown to the ground, and Faust attempted to fry him with his Dark Ray. Nexus deflected the blast with his energy barrier. Unfazed, Faust casted an artillery strike from above
The attack took the wind out of Nexus, and his energy core (Color Timer) began blinking . . . Back at the factory,
What happened next? Watch the next episode of Ultraman Nexus
ULTRAMAN x ALEX ROSS
11/19/2004 // 1:44 am
Alex Ross (アレックス・ロス), the eminent painter from the American comics scene (Kingdom Come, Marvels), was recently commissioned by a Japanese publisher for these point of purchase posters - for Ultraman DVD sets (stop drooling!!):
This is Alex Ross’ second involvement with a Japanese franchise - the first was Gatchaman(科学忍者隊ガッチャマン), otherwise, known as Battle of The Planet in the United States.
ULTRAMAN ENCYCLOPEDIA
11/18/2004 // 11:59 pm
This is an excellent full-coloured coffee table book choked full with information from Ultraman The First to Ultraman Noa. Each Ultraman has about eight pages worth of data - bio-stats, powers, attack team, most memorable battle etc. This book also includes events that happened in the OVAs (Ultraseven, Ultraman Tiga etc) The only information gaps are the lack of the episode listing and the kaiju gallery. Otherwise, this book is worth every single yen.
ULTRASEVEN DISSECTED
// 12:11 am
Found this diagram on a japanese website:
The picture shows the dissected view of Ultraseven’s head (english annotation by Ultraman Lah!). Tthe for this picture was not mentoned in the thread where this picture was first posted. Afterlall , this illustration might just be a fan-made creation. Regardless of the authenticity (or legitimacy) of the artwork - fans & otakus alike are always curious of what laid below the red & silver skin. The above picture suggests that Ultraman might be organic beings living under a steely carapace, but is that really so? Perhaps, you may wish to share your ideas of what lies below the red & silver “thing” over at the forum. . .
“ORIGINAL” ULTRAMAN THE FIRST VCD
11/15/2004 // 11:58 pm
The “original” Ultraman (The First) VCD is now available at the TS Laser video-retail chain. There’s three volumes in total, with all the 39 episodes. The soundtrack is dubbed in impeccable (mainland) mandarin and with (simplified) chinese subtitles. Other than the voice dub, the rest of the soundtrack is preserved. Its likely that this VCD release came from the People’s Republic of China. However, the chinese characters superimposed over the opening titles - 鹹蛋超人 (Xian Dan Chao Ren or “Salted Egg Ultraman". Hong Kongers gave Ultraman (The First) this term of endearment since time immemorial) instead of 奥特曼 (Ao Te Man, the “romanised” version of Ultraman used in PRC or mainland China), suggests that the source of this “original” VCD release might have been in Hong Kong (or perhaps Shenzhen).
Each volume is retailing for SGD$15.90 (but i believe there’s a further 10% discount - at $SGD14.31 [tax inclusive] per volume). Vol 1: Ep 1 ~ 14 So it only costs SGD$42.95 for all three volumes. This is far cheaper than the box of 20 VCD set that was sold at Anime Generation. The single box set was retailing at SGD$59.90. In terms of quality - its almost the same as the ‘original’ version mentioned above (voice dub), except that the original opening theme has been removed and there are no subtitles. However, unless TS Laser is able to release the full library of Ultraman videos, Anime Generation is still the place to satisfy your tokusatsu needs, though at a price.
Anime Generation stocks the full library of Ultraman VCDs, from Ultraman to Cosmos including movies too. Besides video, it also stocks quite a good range of Ultraman toys, including the latest goods from Ultraman Nexus.
ULTRAMAN: THE ORIGINS
// 7:39 pm
Finally, we’ve put in the page on the origins of Ultraman. Click on the the Redman thumbnail below or the link titled “Ultraman: The Origins” on the side panel by the right. Its under “ULTRAMAN FAQ". (Credits: Ultraman FAQ, Wayne’s Absolute Ultraman and TV Tome)
wishing all muslims Happy Eid
11/13/2004 // 11:04 pm
AKAN DATANG: ULTRAMAN NEXUS - Ep7 - FAUST
// 11:02 pm
Episode 7’s BT is now available at Anarion’s site! Watch this space for synopsis (and screen caps)
What Babelfish says of this week’s episode:
WAHAHAHAAHA !!~ B Strike = SPACEBEAST
LIVE ON THE U-NATION: Scoops on Ultraman merchandise from Hyper Hobby
// 10:31 pm
There’s a new range of exciting merchandise coming from Bandai and the rest of the quality toy companies (Medicom Toys, Kubrick, Romando et al.) DARK FAUST ACTION FIGURE
STONE FREUGLE ULTRAMAN NEXT ACTION FIGURES
Other goodies from Bandai coming this month: EXCLUSIVE ULTRA KAIJU FIGURE - DADA TYPE C
BANDPRESTO CRANE GAME ULTRAMAN NEXUS PLUSH TOYS
HG SERIES ULTRAMAN 42 ~ NEW HERO CHAPTER ~
REAL PRODUCTS - SCENE OF FAME STAGE 14 - ULTRAMAN & ULTRA SEVEN 1st SEASON EPISODES
WONDER CAPSULE - ULTRAMAN SERIES
GLICO-MAN TO BISCO-KUN & ULTRAMAN FIGURES
ULTRAMAN NEXUS TRADING STICKERS
More NEXUS candy toys… CHOGOKIN ULTRAMAN ACE
ULTRASEVEN MASK
REAL ACTION HERO - JAMILA
SUPER SOFUBI FIGURE - ULTRAMAN NEXUS ANPHANS
WHEW!! Thats quite a fair bit for this post. BUT, thats not the end. If you wanna see what else you’ve missed out from Hyper Hobby, go over to our FEATURES section for the magazine scans. Also “ULTRA WARRIORS SECRET ENCYCLOPEDIA” has been added to the section, too. This is the supplement from October’s copy of Terebi Magazine. This special insert is a mini-dossier on all the Ultraman that appeared from 1966 to the present day.
ULTRA FEMME FATALE
11/11/2004 // 10:47 am
There are many ways for fans to pay tribute to their heroes (or idols). Some build fansites that provide the latest updates, and chokeful with trivia information. Some fans bring their creativity step further by enriching of the heroes’ universe with fan-made made fiction (fan-fic). Ultramanlah! is a site that hopes to cover both grounds. While we seek to bring you the latest information, we also encourage fans to expand the dimensions of the Ultraman universe with fan-created works. The UNBALANCE ZONE is a section within the board for fan-created works. If you have something of yours, whether if its artwork, narrative or other multimedia works, you can show off here! You may go to the forum/webboard to show the rest of the community what you’ve got. So, rather than putting up with your old folk’s, wife’s or girlfriend’s exclamation of “WAH LAU, Ah ni tua han liao kor di ee tau huay ang kong kia!!” (translation: Goodness gracious! You are still drawing cartoons even though you are all grown up!), put up your art here where you know its gonna be appreciated and admired! Here’s an example from a Japanese Otaku
While we’re trawling the ‘Net to look for kindred fanworks, we stumbled upon a series of sites dedicated to the female Ultras. . . These are fan fic and fan art composed from 3D graphics design tools. The quality of the artworks is remarkable and rather “artistic". But euphemism aside, these are fan-fics coming under the HENTAI genre. The specifics are listed in the UNBALANCE ZONE forum (click on the thumb image below to access thread)
(18禁) NOTE OF CAUTION: ACCESS THE SITES ONLY IF YOU THINK YOU ARE MATURE ENOGH TO HANDLE THE SEXY CONTENT~! Inspired? Well, stop hesitating and dive into the UNBALANCE ZONE now!
ultraladyboy
11/10/2004 // 11:04 am
ULTRAMAN NEXUS - Ep6 - RELIC
11/9/2004 // 12:55 am
(Air date: 6 November 2004) As the title suggests, this episode is about the past. From last episode’s cliff hanger, Jun stopped the the incoming projectile with a force shield. Thereafter, the “Stone Freugle” responded to his call and flew in from the sky. It made a loud and terrible noise as it swooped in. The ‘relic’ looking object came to Jun’s, and received him like a cocoon.
Komon reached forward to touch the stone relic - and he got zapped by the relic’s defense system (car alarm?). He unwittingly suffered a mental flashback -of memories that didn’t belong to him. He saw glimpses of Jun Himeya’s past. The stone transformed and become the “stone freugle “, and darted right back into the sky with a loud and weird rumble. The egressing flying object almost knocked a Chrome Chester out of the sky.
(fast forward: Night Raiders debate about Ultraman etc. etc.) Out of inquisitivity, Komon ran a check on Jun Himeya’s background. Looking through the news database, Komon found the news article that had the picture Jun took before he went missing. Komon then went over to Jun’s previous place of employment to find out more. There he bumped into Jun’s former colleague, Megumi. Megumi told Komon all she knew of Jun. She related on how Jun cared for the people in the warzone etc, and how dangerous his job was. The story then transited to a flashback, on what actually happened to Jun during his last assignment. . .
Jun limped about after his position was fired upon by either artillery or airstrike. The war journalist then found himself in some ancient ruins. He spotted this funny looking object that’s propped up like an idol, or a tomb stone. Out of curiosity, Jun reached out to touch the object. . .
And Jun found himself talking to Ultraman Nexus. He was then wedded to Ultraman Nexus, gaining great powers (and I believe responsibilities too.)
But the honeymoon was cut short, as the Fiendish-Type Beast appeared out of nowhere to disturb the peace.
Garubros was one ugly dog.
Nexus beamed out from the “temple” to meet the fiend. . .
…with a dramatic entry
Nexus changed into something more comfortable,
and cast the Metafield
Now that the ring is set, its a fight to the death!
Nexus first delivered a kick to Garubros kisser a-la *ahem* Rider Kick, but was swiped aside with a powerful shrug. Garubros spat a flame ball at Nexus, who deftly dodged with flea-light agility. Nexus landed, and did a Dragonball-esque teleportation (瞬間移動) maneuver to close in on Garubros. The Silver Giant delivered two turning kicks to the creature’s ribs, but he still couldn’t kill the beast. Garubros had an unusually tough constituion, and it turned the tables onto Nexus, badly roughing him up. Nexus got thrown around like a rag doll, and he called out “Argh, ugh, Ya Allah!. . .” in agony. And he finally decided to get serious - the CORE IMPULSE ATTACK!!
Ultraman Nexus win. Garubros lose. And Nexus reverted control back to the human host. . .
Jun appeared pained and exhausted after the transformation. He realised that the power to save earth from the Space Beasts laid in his hands. The story conclude: The dubious looking Negoro continued to stake out at Jun’s apartment, and Komon pondered on Jun’s past. Back in the control room, the Illustrator, Yu, pondered over the revelation of Jun Himeya’s double identity. Trailer for Episode 7 - Faust:
AKAN DATANG! Ultraman Nexus Ep 6 - Relic
11/7/2004 // 1:34 am
Does Jun recovers his memories? What happened when Komon came into contact with the Stone Relic?
All to be revealed soon…
ULTRAMAN NEXUS - Ep5 - Deunamist
11/5/2004 // 3:28 pm
(air date: 30 October 2004) This episode shows the low confidence between earthlings and all alien beings. Jun suffered from bad memory flash backs - of him visiting some ancient ruins (Stone relic?) during one of his field trips, and getting swarmed by a dark mass. The place was probably somwhere in an Indochinese state like Laos or Cambodia . Scattered on his coffee table were photos of a young girl looked Indochinese. It seemed that Jun used to be a warzone journalist, and was affected by “combat stress” or seeing innocent children coming into harm’s way.
Meanwhile, the Nightraiders talk about Ultraman. Komon appears to be sympathetic towards the Silver Giant, while the rest haven’t quite made up their mind except for Saijo. Negoro, Jun’s ex-boss, finally got hild of Jun. They talked by the park. Seems like Negoro is stalking Jun and thinks that the latter is sitting on top of a Pulitzer prize winning story.
Jun had another bad dream, of being near the Stone Relic/Monument (which sorta resemble the Stone Freugle (spel?)) and getting swarmed by the dark horde. He woke up to see his Evolthruster blinking. Jun rushed out of his apartment and caught a cab to go somewhere. Negoro came running behind and flagged a cab to cathc up with his quarry. At another part of town, Bagbazun swoops down on a pair of unsuspecting couple and then moving on to attack shoppers at a sub-urban mall’s car park.
Nightraider picks up Bagbazun’s singnal and mobilizes. Chrome Chesters scrambled to Bagbazun’s location. Jun’s trail went cold and Negoro ended up near the TLT-J headquarters. His cab was stopped at a security checkpoint. Negoro was in time to see Saya Shutou, leader of the Memory Police travelling to work in her staff car. He secretly some took pictures of her. Near Bagbazun, Jun saw the creature spitting out the hard to digest parts from his food (mostly car parts). Its cute the way the spacebeast picked his teeth.
Jun unsheathed the Evolthruster. Ultraman Nexus then appeared and slugged it out with Bagbazun. Interestingly, Nexus did not open the metafield (probably because he’s in some outlying area that’s not populated, so there’s no need to avoid collateral damage). Ultraman had the upper hand, till the kaiju attacked Nexus with the pincers at the tail.
Nexus lost the initiative. And at one point, he was thrown to the ground. Bagbazun punctured Nexus’ thigh with its claws, which caused yellow beam (energy?) to spurt forth from the gash. It didn’t help Ultraman Nexus either when the NightRaiders arrived. The Illustrator, Yoichiro, ordered one of the Chrome Chesters to whack Nexus while the other two to pursue the fleeing spacebeast that just sprouted wings. Before Nexus reverted back to his human form, he attempted to blast the retreating monster with the Cross Ray Shootrum (クロスレイ・シュトローム). But that barely scathed the creature (its sure to return in the next episode. It appeared in episode 6’s trailer)
Following Yoichiro’s direction, Saijo and Komon deplaned from their Chrome Chester to pursue the wounded Deunamist. They found Jun, limping away from the scene of battle. His thigh was bleeding (seems like the human host suffer the damage absorbed by Ultraman). Saijo wanted to attack Jun, but Komon pleaded for him. Saijo punched Komon in the gut, and drew her gun on Jun. Jun, pulled out his Blast Shot, but pointed it to the sky and fired a flare. Saijo fired her gun at Jun….and to be continued (cliff hanger…) Next Episode: Ep6 - Relic (appearance of new kaiju - Gerebros)
ULTRAMANGA!
11/3/2004 // 10:49 pm
Ultraman comics are pretty difficult to locate, as its mostly vintage material. Many of these comics were published during the 70s. Here are some of the classic works: The earliest works came from the pens of Daiji Kazumine (一峰大二) and Mamoru Uchiyama (内山 まもる). Kazumine penned Ultraman (ウルトラマン) between 1978 to 1980, featuring the one and only Ultraman. “Ultraman” was published in either a two-issued digest sized paperback format or in a single volume.
Uchimaya published a few Ultraman comics series. His most well know works is “The Ultraman” (ザ・ウルトラマン) You can view the synopsis of the four-volume manga here and also here.He has also illustrated a couple of other Ultraman manga, namely Ultraman Ace and The Return of Ultraman. Recently, Shogakukan (小学館) reprinted these vintage two titles under the “My First Book” imprint.
Come 1979, Imura Shinji (居村真二) did the manga “Battle! Ultra Brothers” (決戦!ウルトラ兄弟) and then “The Legend of Ultra” (ウルトラ超伝説). The latter book’s central characters are the Andro Police Force - namely Andro Melos, Andro Wolf, Andro Mars and Andro Fleur. The manga was began serialising in June 1981 issue’s of Terebikun. The story shows the Andro Police crossing the galaxies to protect M-78 nebula to protect the Land of Light from the scourge of Judea and his army. This series feature the Andros fighting along side with Zoffy’s Intergalatic Police Force (featuring all Ultras from Ultraman to Ultraman 80)
For vintage manga collectors you may wish to check out this site or to get a copy of ウルトラ博物館 by 秋山 哲茂 The mid-80s to the 90s was a dry spell - Ultramanga hadn’t much to offer till 1996, with the debut of “Ultraman - Legend of the Ultra Fighters” (ウルトラマン超闘士激伝 - 原作：瑳川竜; 漫画：栗原仁/ 講談社) by Ryu Sagawa (story) and Jin Kurihara (art). The story is simple, somewhat similar to Saint Seiya or Dragonball - or even Street Fighter - its all about which SD Ultraman will emerge to become the best fighter win the tournament.
Come the later part of 90s, with the introduction of Ultraman Tiga, Hong Kong’s KingComics ran a weekly Ultraman Tiga comics, with art by Khoo Fuk Lung (a long time Ultraman fan). This series was later translated by Dark Horse Comics into English.
Currently, “ウルトラマン The First” by 高田裕三 is being serialised in the quarterly manga anthology, Tokusatsu Ace.
ULTRAMAGAZINE!
// 2:46 am
In 2001, Tsubaraya Productions rolled out Ultraman Age (ウルトラマン /辰巳出版), a magazine-book (MOOK, one of those Japlish acronyms) dedicated to the Ultra-fandom. The quarterly magazine was choke full of articles, offering the latest scoop on the Ultraman Cosmos series and other related news and articles. Word has it that the journal ran for a total of 14 issues before the series was cancelled. The final issue rolled off the press in July 2004. Reasons for the termination of the series was not known, but lets hope its only for a temporary hiatus. Back issues may still be purchased online at JBOOK or Amazon.co.jp. Fate of the standalone MOOKs from the ISM series is unknown,.
Fortunately, Terebikun’s September special publication “ULTRAMAN DNA” picked up the reins left behind by Ultraman Age. DNA stands for Documentation, News and Archive.
The first issue of DNA featured scoops on Ultraman Nexus, and also interviews with cast who acted in the old school series of Ultraman. In this issue of DNA, Yuriko Hishimi (Anna of TDF from the original UltraSeven series) was interviewed.
Daiji Kazumine (一峰大二) the artist and the writer of the early Ultraman manga was also interviewed. Included in this issue is a DVD-rom, featuring ads and announcements of new products and coming events. It also contained an interesting video clip of Ultramen and kaiju playing soccer. You can view some of the contents of the DVD here. Ultraman Nexus has stirred a new buzz within the Tokusatsu and hobbyist circles, and has rekindled interest in Ultraman. Many hobby magazines have taken the opportunity to feature stories on Ultraman. Figure O no.81 gave away a HG Ultraman gashapon figure - Ultraman “Type A” in standing pose. Although it features Ultraman on its cover (and horrors, the magazine comes with a free Ultraman toy!), Kinokuniya Singapore still brought the magazine into store . Some copies are still available behind the counters - go check with the customer service at Kinokuniya; its going for about SGD$26 each (sea-shipment). The special feature in this issue is the pictorial catologue of all the released HG gashapon Ultraman figures. There’s this thing about the local Kinokuniya not being able to retail Ultraman related merchandise as a result of ‘copyright’ issues. Probably that has to do with the Chaiyo vs Tsubaraya case. Thus, you can hardly find any Ultraman related literature on the shelves of the local Kinokuniya.
TOKUSATSU ACE
11/2/2004 // 2:37 am
Toku Ace is a bi-monthly manga anthology inspired by tokusatsu works. The phonebook sized magazine features the manga series “Ultraman - The First", based on the 1966 show. The manga follows the original vision with faithful details (current Ultraman character design is based on the “Type A” model). The first three issues came with a mini-HG diorama. Other manga includes Cutey Honey a Go Go, Kikaider vs Inazuman, Space Sheriff Gavan, Mighty Jack, Fuji Akiko’s Story (Tale of a Toku babe) and others (such as posters of Toku babes).
The latest issue, #6, is now available.
In this issue, there is the Maximum Ultraman Feature, offering the latest news on Nexus and the upcoming movie. There’s also the new serialization of “Ultraman THE NEXT” Bonus items: Ultraman Nexus shitajiki (pencil board), special Kamen Rider stickers vol. 2, and double-sided Ultraman Leo/DekaRanger pinup. Issue 5 is actually available at the local Kinokuniya bookshop (spotted the magazine at Liang Court and the Main Store, selling at around SGD$15). You can also order Tokusatsu Ace from Anime Jungle. (Better to order Issue 6 online or through other sources, as Kinokuniya may not be able to bring the book in. There’s the explicit display of Ultraman on the cover.)
UNBALANCE ZONE
11/1/2004 // 4:07 pm
If you’re wondering what Unbalance Zone is, it’s where we let you play! Photographs, storyboards, sketches or anything that’s fun and creative will be posted there. We hope to get as many members as possible and organise simple projects that you can take part in! For example : Take a snapshot of yourself doing an Ultraman Stunt! Easy Peasy. Here’s an example of quirky projects we have in mind!! Be part of Ultramanlah’s Happy Family and register now @ Forum
AKAN DATANG! Ultraman Nexus Ep 5 - Deunamist
// 3:45 pm
Ep 5’s TV rip is available for download at Anarion’s site. You may also go over to Japan Media to obtain the truncated clips, in four parts.
Ultraman Nexus fights a new kaiju. This time he wrestles Insect Type Spacebeast “Bugbazun". The previous adversary, Pedreon, was a ‘proto type beast’. Go figure.
MAGAZINE SCANS!!
// 2:42 pm
Check out the magazines scans in FEATURES! The latest data on Nexus, Dark Faust, the Next and also related merchandise - direct from the press (Terebi Mag & Terebi Kun). Also included is the new Ultraman Nexus manga, currently serialised in Terebi Kun.
(^_____^)
Ultraman Forum lah!
10/31/2004 // 10:49 pm
Our forum should be up and ready for business. We’re still trying to figure a way to skin the layout so that the design is consistent with the homepage. We’ll appreciate all the help and tips we can get. The forum supports Chinese (both Simplified and Traditional), Japanese, Korean, Thai, Bahasa Melayu, and Portugese language display. You may select your default language upon registration (tweak your user settings). Meanwhile, we’re still trying to figure a way to let the casual guest to view the forum in the language of his/her/its choice. As we’re getting the cosmetics on, do drop by to talk about the latest Nexus episodes, swap stories or even trade merchandise, or just to shoot breeze!
Ultraman Merchandise
10/27/2004 // 1:16 pm
We’ve updated the Ultraman Links. The resouce page is now categorised and annotated. Go Check out the merchandise resouces!
ULTRAMAN NEXUS - Ep3 - and Ep 4 Synopsis
// 12:28 pm
Here’s the latest story development: Ep 3 - Ultraman (air date: 16 October 2004)
Nexus gives chase. Inflight, Nexus morphs into Junius mode and creates the portal to the Metafield - and channel the fleeing Pedreon into the other dimension. Green fireworks can be seen over the night sky, and thereafter, Nexus emerges from the portal. He reverts back to his human form, exhausted. The lights were witnessed by a drunkard salaryman. The next day, the news reported on the strange phenomenon, over the mysterious explosions.
TLT convenes a board of inquiry over this mysterious giant, trying to determine whether if he’s (its) friend or foe. Saijo reveals her hatred for the space beasts, and almost wanted to kill Komon, when he kept pestering her at the shooting range (Saijo is on perpetual PMS). Later, Saijo take Komon out for a ride, to the spot where he was first ensnared by a space beast along the highway. She asked him to look at the grieving relatives of the unfortunate passengers of the minibus, who were offering prayers to the deceased (the passengers became space beast food in episode 1). Suddenly, Saijo’s sensors picked up the presence of spacebeasts, and the duo gave chace into the thicket by the highway. In the jungle, the two Nightraiders were surrounded by the mini-Pedreons. Saijo’s pistol was ineffective against the bug(ger)s. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Jun pops out. He takes out the Spacebeasts with a single shot from his strange sidearm - the “Blast Shot". Saijo the bitch wanted a piece of Jun, but the pressing circumstances forced a truce. As Jun took out the last Pedreon, Saijo wanted to shoot Jun. Unfortunately for her, she was out of ammo. Both return to base. Yochiro briefs the team on Chrome Chesters.
The episode closes - Komon shared a lovey dovey moment with his girlfriend over the mobile phone. Pedreons gobble another car load of unwitting commuters passing through the tunnel where Nightraiders first confronted the spacebeasts… Ep 4 - Metafield (air date: 23 October 2004) (This is the most action packed episode thus far) Yu, the ops manager, briefs the Nightraiders on the Pedreons and how to take them out. He appears in front of the response team in a holographic projection. He seems to know quite a bit about Nexus (somehow, this guy feels like another “mysterious stranger". A Deunamist too?) Saijo recalls her encounter with an alien. Suddenly, the alarms go off and Nightraiders moblizes! The team takes off in their Chrome Chesters to battle the beasts. They raided the tunnel which has been determined as the nest for the Pedreons. The Nightraiders take a beating from Pedreon. Komon’s Chrome Chester almost got it from a flying Pedreon, and he thinks about his girlfriend. Suddenly, his Chrome Chester’s blaster ran out of batteries. His aircraft almost went head on with the incoming Pedreon when suddenly… Jun transforms into Nexus and puts himself between Komon and the beast. Nexus then creates the portal to the metafield to transport the spacebeast for duel in the other dimension (i believe, to minimize collateral damage?). Unwittingly, Komon’s Chrome Chester gets caught in the metafield and he went along for the ride. Nexus and Pedreon dukes it out in the fight.
Nexus gets walloped in the first bout, before turning the tables. He created an energy tornado and drilled the creature into the earth, fixing it, and then finishing it off with his special move. (MORTAL KOMBAAAATT!!) Finally, he transport himself and Komon’s Chrome Chester back to the real world. . . Near the tunnel, where civilian police were setting up road blocks to seal off the scene…the leader of the Memory Police, Saya Shutou, appears at the scene, and wipes out their memory of the incident with a flash from her mobile phone (much like Men in Black…)
Next Episode: Ep5 - Deunamist (appearance of new kaiju - a flying creature with talons)
ULTRAMAN NEXUS BIT TORRENT LINKS
10/26/2004 // 7:20 pm
::FLASH:: Ep 4 and Ep 3 (re-seeded) Bit Torrent files for the raw Ultraman Nexus TV rips can be found here (^___^) Synopsis of both Ep 3 and 4 soon to follow…
Ultra Babes
10/24/2004 // 10:31 pm
The cast of the Ultraman universe has grown ineluctably prettier and sexier. Here’s a tribute to the babes from the Ultraman cosmology! ULTRAMAN COSMOS Kaori Sakagami as Captain Shinobu Mizuki Mayuka Suzuki as Ayano Morimoto Yurika Asada as Natsuki Kuramoto ULTRA SEVEN (OVA) ULTRAMAN TIGA Takami Yoshimoto as Rena Yanase P.S. Don’t underestimate the power of Google’s Image search.
Absolut Wayne
10/18/2004 // 2:44 pm
This was one of the best Ultra-fan site around, before Wayne decided to pull the plug around May 2004. This is what’s left of the original site. You can view the archive of ABSOLUTE ULTRAMAN here
The website was shut down soon after the Tokyo courts awarded Chaiyo the world-wide copyrights of the Ultraman franchise (from the first Ultraman to Taro) out of Japan. The founder of Chaiyo, a Thai company, used to collaborate with Tsubaraya Productions waaay back in the 60s. This relationship led to an acrimonious tussle over the ownership of the Ultraman franchise. In the end, Chaiyo was awared the rights to monopolise the world-wide copyright of all Ultramen (and women) that appeared from the original Ultraman to Ultraman Taro in countries other than Japan. Goto this link to read the news coverage on the legal battle between Chaiyo and TPC. Here’s another thread discussing the final verdict. Many fans are indignant with the court’s ruling. Wayne explained in his post on ultraman2 · the original Yahoo! Ultraman Club :
May Absolute Ultraman’s passing not be in vain. All Ultrafan sites around the world should connect, and allow the lore to contiue! SCHUWATCH!!
ULTRAMAN NEXUS - Ep3 - Ultraman
10/17/2004 // 10:26 am
Here’s the vid cap of the latest episode. Watch this space for the synopsis. (Ep 3 is available for download at this site. But the tracker is down at the moment
Mina-san, dozo yoroshiku! Ultramanlah! site is still in its infancy, and many of the sections are not yet ready (hey, we’re a bunch of Net rookies). If you have any suggestions, or recommendations for us to improve this site, do drop us a note at ultramanlah@gmail.com (^____^)
ULTRAMAN NEXUS - Ep2 - Space Beast
10/12/2004 // 1:30 am
(air date: 9 October 2004)
Sypnosis: The Chief of TLT explains to Komon the purpose of TLT and the threat of the Space Beast invasion. Komon arrives at the secret TLT base (located within a hydro electric dam). He goes through bootcamp, and his girlfriend misses him (this is the mushy mushy japan drama bit) Space Beast continues to gobble humans. The beasts appeared in the middle of a forest and began to attack trekkers. TLT’s Nightraider scrambles to the rescue (sans Komon, who’s still a trainee). Nightraiders managed to fry the beasts before one of them swallowed the last victim (The last victim is a girl who saw two fellow humans becoming chow for the beasts. but she didn’t seem too fazed. either too shocked to react - or poor acting)
Komon completed bootcamp, and was introduced to the rest of the team members. One of the female members was hostile towards him. Space beast reappeared. This time, its the gigantic (rubber suit) version. It looks like a gigantic, ugly vagina. The creature ate one of engineers inspecting some pipelines where the creature materialised. It took another two more hostage with its tentacles before the Nightraiders arrived. Nightraiders chose not to attack the creature with their flying mecha. Instead, they dismounted and tried to confront the creature with small arms.
And the Nightraiders were in a dilemna to attack the creature as it was holding people hostage. It was difficul to shoot the beast without harming the creature. Soon after, the creature turned its back and was moving off. The unfriendly female team member attempted to shoot the creature at its back, but Komon stepped forth to prevent that from happening. Suddenly, the unfriendly female Nightraider saw the mysterious guy again (i am sure she’s charmed). He pulls out the tranformation wand and transformed into ::NEXUS:: (thats again at the last FEW minuts of the show before it ended)
Nexus frees the two hostages with a blinding ray of light from his hand. Nexus then wanted to move to battle the creature. But suddenly, he found himself being shot at by the Nightraiders !… Next episode - Ultraman
ULTRAMAN NEXUS - Ep1 - Nightraid
10/9/2004 // 11:32 am
(air date: 2 October 2004) THOU SHALT BE A CONVERT TO THE NEW ULTRAMAN CANON simply put - ITS AWESOME!!! (well for those who watched *wink wink* you decry the lack of ‘action’. Hey, thats the difference between making love and banging a whore!)
Okay, where shall i start? First impressions: This is no longer a “kiddy” show - by itself - Nexus seems to have matured in terms of production value, direction, story line and acting - aspects of drama. At first, i thought it resembles more like a Kamen rider franchise (Ryuki? i didnt quite finish Kuuga - but the first impression was “corny” or “camp". Only Ryuki broke the mold when it is able to attract mature viewers based on the relative strenght of its narrative) its a definite departure from the past. Plot of first episode: Nightraid
Then Komon appears. Another japanese lang-zai. He’s a park ranger with a phobia (trauma from past incident - drowning). He has a kawaii girl friend who loves to sketch pictures of animals. seems like there’s romance between the two of them. (okay, there’s no cheesy acting here. if you watch that part, you may think its a jap drama serial). on one of his rescue mission to pick up stranded hikers, he gets flash back of his trauma when he was dangling from the helicopter’s wince. then komon recieves a letter asking him to go to an ulu place in the middle of nowhere. when he reach there, he was manhandled and bundled into a black car. blindfolded and then sedated. he found himself in an operations theatre when he woke. he tried to struggle but was then sedated again. next thing, he was released where he was picked up. when he went back to the ranger station. he found the guy who abducted him at the canteen. he passed komon a pda looking wrist device that has a gps and all. he gives him a letter saying that he’s being drafted into the TLT. the previous adbudction was probably his FFI. He was then told to keep it secret as TLT is a classified organization (eh. never see him fill G50 form leh….) anyway, he was told to go to the secret base of TLT using his wrist PDA. meanwhile… a bus load of drunken salarimen was travelling on a minibus. then, it was assaulted by a space beast. the thing ate everyone on board. komon’s car then spotted the abandoned minibus. he picked up a beer can that rolled to his foot. suddenly, biomass came spilling out of the can. he terprenjat and then cepat lari. the space beast then lasso komon with one of its tentacles. komon hangs on to the road barrier for his dear life. again, he gets flash back of his drowning incident. then the mysterious stranger who wears the dark leather jacket appears. he is holding on to a transformation device. dunno why he sweat and seemingly unwilling to transform. Komon was about to be eaten…then there was a blinding light. something fell from the sky and squashed the space beast. when the light clears, komon sees that a giant silver creature - Nexus - has punched and splattered the space beast into the asphalt (interesting effects - the road becomes cratered)….nexus looks at komon, and then fades away….
and the show ends. in the trailer for ep2 - you see Komon undergoing BMT - running SOC, and seeing the laojiao TLT members setting off for mission (for OCS cadets in triservice term, its like seeing the senior company boys going out to the filed for their defence exercises). And nexus is seen transforming to full size to fight a gigantic space beast. OP: “HERO < 英雄>” by DOA. Nu-metal style theme (not like the beng techno of initial d, or jpop techno thrash, or kiddy theme) ITS ROCK BABES!! EP: “My Heart is With the Sun Always < いつも心に太陽を>” by 三枝夕夏. more rock, alittle ska-punk style!! GIMME SOME ROCK BABES!! and the chicks in TLT have attitude man. meow!
THE N PROJECT
// 11:30 am
NEW ULTRAMEN FOR A NEW MILLENNIUM Author: Bob Johnson & August Ragone (HENSHIN ONLINE) Do you still remember your childhood dreams about a silver shooting star? The dream still remains somewhere in your heart unbroken. The year 2005, it took us 39 years to come across the silver shooting star again…” – Text from publicity material for the new film ULTRAMAN.
Back in 2000, it was announced that the then-upcoming ULTRAMAN COSMOS movie and television series were to feature a new Ultraman for the new millennium – a kinder and gentler hero. It seems that the jury is still out on ULTRAMAN COSMOS; while the show became a huge hit and marketing bonanza with kids, adult fans were divided. Some older viewers clearly wanted a little more substance to go along with the cute cast members. Now, with recent management changes at Tsuburaya Productions (including the return of Eiji Tsuburaya’s youngest son, Akira, who had left years ago to form Tsuburaya Eizo) things are about to change. Ultraman is being re-imagined for two new projects, a theatrical movie and the fourteenth Ultraman TV series, ULTRAMAN NEXUS. But, some people might well ask, what will make this latest series special and distinguish it from the last few Ultra shows?
ULTRAMAN NEXUS will premier in Japan at 7:30am Saturday, October 2, 2004 on the CBC television network. CBC is the Nagoya-based branch of Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS), one of Japan’s largest television networks. The show takes place in the near future, as an invasion of monsters from outer space called “Space Beasts” is underway. A high tech security force code-named TLT (pronounced “tilt") has been formed to combat the attackers. A mysterious young man who has the power to transform into the gigantic superhero Ultraman Nexus appears. He and the commander of TLT attempt to discover the true identity and origins of the Space Beasts. As the series unfolds, answers to the mysteries surrounding Ultraman Nexus and his monstrous opponents will gradually be revealed.
Nexus will appear in a two-step transformation, a predominantly “silver colossus” named “Anphans” (from the French “enfance” or “childhood") and a predominantly “red colossus” named “Junis” (from the French “jeunesse” or “youth"). Anphans will do battle in our Universe. However, he will be able to crossover into another dimension called the “Meta Field” in which he will transform into Junis to do battle. Tsuburaya Productions also plans to add more Ultraman characters into the series as it unfolds over the next year, including the “black colossus” – “Dark Faust"! While the show will meet the requirements of sponsor Bandai by featuring a multi-transforming hero, the foundation and writing of ULTRAMAN NEXUS are a return to the traditional concepts of the original Ultra Series. The staff is striving to attract older viewers, those who might have lost interest in the more light-hearted productions of the last few years. This, however, does not necessarily mean things will be business as usual, since these classic concepts will be given a new spin. The goal is to give newer viewers the same feeling of wonder that audiences had in Japan when the original ULTRAMAN first aired in 1966. One of the traditions being deconstructed is of a single character serving as the human host to a colossal alien being sent to protect the Earth. While there have been variations over the past 40 years (as in the case of ULTRASEVEN, where the Ultra created his human persona, or ULTRAMAN ACE, where a man and a woman were required to transform into the singular hero) this has been one of the key concepts of the Ultra Series. In ULTRAMAN NEXUS, viewers will see various human beings take on the power to transform into Ultraman Nexus. Commenting about the unusual step of casting several different people as Nexus’ hosts, a spokesperson for the CBC network said, “We want children in the audience to feel like any one of them might be able to transform into Ultraman.” He concluded, “We want to make use of the basic history of the Ultraman series while introducing a totally new kind of hero. We hope that adult viewers will enjoy this show as much as children.” Casting and production on ULTRAMAN NEXUS has been underway for some time, and several of the principals have been chosen. The first person to transform into Ultraman Nexus, a young man shrouded in mystery, will be played by Yusuke Kirishima. The 27 year-old actor made his big screen debut in the hit Yakuza spoof GET UP! (Geroppa!, 2003) and was recently featured in Tsuburaya’s ULTRA Q: DARK FANTASY (Urutora Kyu: Dakku Fuantaji, 2004). 22 year-old Takuji Kawakubo has been cast as soldier Kazuteru Komon. Kawakubo may be familiar to tokusatsu fans, he was seen last year in Toei’s MASKED RIDER 555 (Kamen Raida Faizu) as Shingo Oda, one of the ill-fated young people who attempted to transform into Masked Rider Delta. He is currently the commercial spokesmodel for McDonald’s restaurants in Japan. A popular veteran character actor, Tamotsu Ishibashi, is also joining the cast of ULTRAMAN NEXUS. Ishibashi has many television and screen credits to his name, including the series HOTEL and films GAMERA 2: ATTACK OF LEGION (1996, as Tanihara) and GAMERA 3: REVENGE OF IRIS (1999, as an exploration ship crewmember). Ishibashi is also no stranger to the Ultra Series, having appeared as TPC Staff Officer Tatsumura in ULTRAMAN TIGA (1996-1997) and in ULTRAMAN COSMOS as Iwata’s father. Details on the new Ultraman movie, which at the time of this writing seems to be simply titled ULTRAMAN, are slowly being revealed. Scheduled for release in the 2004/2005 New Years’ season, the film is being directed by veteran Ultra-movie director Kazuya Konaka from a script written by Keiichi Hasegawa (ULTRAMAN TIGA TV series, ULTRAMAN GAIA: BATTLE IN HYPERSPACE, GMK, and ASTROBOY - 2003). The special effects director for the newest Ultraman epic is Yuichi Kikuchi, who helmed the effects for Toho’s GODZILLA AGAINST MECHAGODZILLA (Gojira X Mekagojira, 2002). Providing the end theme song, “Never Good-bye” for ULTRAMAN is the Tak Matsumoto Group (TMG). A truly international band, TMG includes Tak Matsumoto of the band B’s on guitar, Eric Martin (Mr. Big) on vocals, Jack Blades (Night Ranger, Damn Yankees) on bass, Brian Tichy (Pride & Glory and Slash’s Snakepit) on drums, as well as two more drummers, Cindy Blackman who played with Lenny Kravitz and Chris Frazier who played with Steve Vai. Initial reports on the film claim that it is like nothing Ultra fans have seen before! Dark, serious and geared towards an adult audience. Ultraman’s foes are fearsome and the effects are superior to the movies which preceded this one. After a year’s absence, Ultraman is back…in a BIG way! (source: Henshin Online)
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