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| Ultra Series | |
|---|---|
 Official logo | |
| Created by |
|
| Original work | Ultra Q (1966)[4] |
| Owner | Tsuburaya Productions[5] |
| Years | 1966–present |
| Print publications | |
| Book(s) | List of books |
| Films and television | |
| Film(s) | List of films |
| Television series | List of television series |
| Games | |
| Video game(s) | List of video games |
The Ultra Series (Japanese: ウルトラシリーズ, Hepburn: Urutora Shirīzu), also known as Ultraman, is a Japanese science fiction media franchise owned and produced by Tsuburaya Productions, which began with the television series Ultra Q in 1966. The franchise has expanded into many television shows, films, comic books, and other media publications, becoming one of the most prominent productions in the Japanese tokusatsu and kaiju genres and pioneering the Kyodai Hero subgenre. The Ultraman series is centered on a fictional alien race of superheroes who often combat kaiju or other aliens.
In Japan, the Ultraman brand generated $7.4 billion US dollars in merchandising revenue from 1966 to 1987.[6][7] This makes it one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time. Ultraman was the world's third top-selling licensed character in the 1980s, largely due to his popularity in Asia.[8] References to Ultraman are abundant in Japanese popular culture, much like references to Superman in Western culture.[6]
The franchise is centered on the "Ultras" (Japanese: ウルトラ一族, Hepburn: Urutora Ichizoku), a collective term for the fictional extraterrestrial races spread across its mulitiverse,[9] with multiple origins given for them.[10][11] The warriors of these continuities gather[12] at a planet within the M78 nebula (M78星雲, Emu-Nanajūhachi seiun),[a] (not to be confused with the real Messier 78)—also called called the Land of Light (光の国, Hikari no Kuni). Of the 18 billion populating it, 1 million are part of the Inter Galactic Defence Force (宇宙警備隊, Uchū Keibitai)[14] who maintain peace in the universe from alien invaders and monsters. The Ultras that are sent to other worlds are given Color Timers, or "warning lights", which blink with increasing frequency if an Ultra's energy dwindles.[15] They can thus remain active for only a limited span of minutes before its energy is depleted, although it can be replenished afterwards.[16] The main protagonists of each installment end up on Earth and merge with humans, their hosts using devices to summon their Ultra’s unique power.[9]
The show Ultraman was followed by many other series. Successors during the Shōwa era are: Ultraseven (1967), Return of Ultraman (1971), Ultraman Ace (1972), Ultraman Taro (1973), Ultraman Leo (1974) and Ultraman 80 (1980).[17] A second generation began during the Heisei era in 1996 with Ultraman Tiga, and the franchise continued, on and off, until its current (third) generation. This began with Ultraman Ginga in 2013.[9]
English-language productions include the 1987 animated movie Ultraman: The Adventure Begins (known as Ultraman USA in Japan) which was produced by Hanna-Barbera; 1990 TV series Ultraman: Towards the Future (Ultraman Great in Japan) which was filmed in Australia; 1993 TV series Ultraman: The Ultimate Hero (Ultraman Powered in Japan) which was filmed in the United States; and 2024 animated film Ultraman: Rising which was produced by Netflix.
In 1993, Tsuburaya Productions and Toei Company co-produced Ultraman vs. Kamen Rider, a crossover with the original Ultraman and Toei's Kamen Rider. This direct-to-video feature is co-copyrighted by both Toei (and its subordinates, Toei Video and Ishinomori Productions) and Tsuburaya Productions.
As of 2025[update], Tsuburaya Productions accepts 51 Ultras as official.[18] In 2013, the Ultra Series was cited in the Guinness Book of World Records as the record-holder for the most spin-off shows.[17] The Ultraman brand generated $7.4 billion in merchandising revenue from 1966 to 1987,[6] equivalent to more than $20 billion adjusted for inflation. Ultraman was the world's third top-selling licensed character in the 1980s, largely due to his popularity in Asia.[8]
The Ultraman manga, which began in 2011, has sold more than 2.8 million copies as of 2018.[19] At the Tokyo Comic Con on 7 December 2017, Tsuburaya Productions revealed that an anime adaptation of the manga was planned for release in 2019.[20] It was released by Netflix.[19]
Ultraman content, products and services have been distributed in more than 100 countries worldwide,as of March 2018[update]. Tsuburaya has officially made their Ultraman and non-Ultraman content widely available on their YouTube channel, even simulcasting several of their series with English subtitles,[21] the channel has reached over 2 million subscribers.[22] In China, an Ultraman television series received 1.8 billion views on over-the-top media services between July 2017 and March 2018.[23]
The manga author Akira Toriyama, creator of Dragon Ball and Dr. Slump, cited Ultraman as a formative influence on his work.[24] Peyton Reed, the director of the Ant-Man films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, said that Ant-Man's costume design was influenced by Ultraman along with Inframan, another tokusatsu superhero from China.[25] Video game designer Hideki Kamiya (known for games such as Resident Evil 2, Devil May Cry, Viewtiful Joe, Ōkami, Bayonetta and The Wonderful 101) said he loved Godzilla and Ultraman as a child.[26]
It was announced in November 2019 that Marvel Comics has partnered with Tsuburaya Productions to publish Ultraman comic books in 2020.[27][28] As of March 2021[update], Bandai Namco has sold 101.87 million Ultraman soft figures (heroes and monsters) since 1983, while Bandai Namco Arts (including Bandai Visual) has sold 8.48 million Ultraman home video units between January 1988 and March 2021.[29]
Ultraman's licensing rights outside Japan have been the subject of a prolonged legal dispute between Tsuburaya Productions and Chaiyo Productions based in Thailand.[30][31] Tsuburaya had previously collaborated with Chaiyo on the production of two movies, The 6 Ultra Brothers vs. the Monster Army and Jumborg Ace & Giant—the latter of which featured another Tsuburaya superhero, Jumborg Ace—in 1974.[32] Sompote Saengduenchai, founder/president of Chaiyo Productions, claimed and maintained that in 1976, Noboru Tsuburaya, the son of the late Eiji Tsuburaya, had given him and his company a contract which had given him rights to everything Ultraman outside Japanese territories.[33][34]
In spite of the fact that the document failed to state clearly and specifically exactly what had been given to Tsuburaya in exchange for these rights,[30] Japanese and Thai courts accepted this contract as real and binding because of the supposed hanko of the late Noboru Tsuburaya, who had died in 1995, in the document.[30] Tsuburaya Productions insisted and maintained that the contract was a forgery and repeatedly contested the issue.
After an eight-year battle in the courts of both countries, Sompote Saengduenchai was awarded a favorable decision in 2004.[33][34] Though the Supreme Court of Japan ruled that he owned the international rights to the first six instalments, he would later create three new Ultras: Ultraman Millennium, Dark Ultraman and Ultraman Elite.[35][33][31] On 23 August 2006, Tsuburaya Productions filed a new lawsuit against Chaiyo for copyright infringement and plagiarism (concerning the characters), and the court case was taken to China. The Chinese courts in Beijing opened "The Ultraman Copyright Study Group" in response to the lawsuit.[31] In April 2007, the Thailand Intellectual Property Court ruled in favor of Tsuburaya Productions, ordering Chaiyo to cease and desist making commercial profits from them. The defendants were also fined THB 15,000,000 (approx. JPY 50,904,959 or US$428,673.50 c. April 2007) plus interest and attorneys' fees.[35][36]
On 5 February 2008, Thailand's Supreme Court ruled in favor of Tsuburaya Productions of Japan after they made an appeal to the initial ruling. The ruling ended the long legal battle by finding Sompote Saengduenchai was not a co-creator of Ultraman.[37][30] The decision ended Sompote's bid to continue his enterprise, and the court gave Sompote 30 days to stop profiteering from Ultraman. The final ruling saw Tsuburaya Productions as the sole copyright owner. Sompote was also required to pay THB 10,700,000 plus interest at the rate of 7.5 percent a year starting from 16 December 1997, when the original lawsuit was filed.[37]
In 2009, the Thai Intellectual Property Court and the Tokyo District Court both ruled in favour of the Thai company.[38][30] This led to the Tokyo District Court on 30 September 2010, ordering Tsuburaya Productions Co. of Japan to pay damages of 16.36 million yen (Bt5.9 million) to Sompote Saengduenchai of Thailand for violating his overseas copyrights on the Ultraman characters.[38]
After the announcement of the film Dragon Force: So Long, Ultraman in July 2017, the dispute on the ownership of the franchise has escalated.[39][30] But on 20 November 2017, through a Los Angeles court ruling by Judge Andre Birotte Jr, Tsuburaya won the lawsuit against Chaiyo and affiliate groups on the rights of the series after the jury concluded that the supposed agreement between Noboru Tsuburaya and Chaiyo was "not authentic".[40][41] Despite UM Corporation and Chaiyo filing a counter-dispute,[42] in April 2018, the legal court came to a definite close where a final judgement states that the dispute and the document was deemed invalid, forbidding UMC to use the Ultra Series and all its related characters and forced them to pay Tsubaraya damages for its infringement of its rights.[43][30]
With the release of the sequel film Dragon Force: Rise of Ultraman (Chinese: 钢铁飞龙之奥特曼崛起; pinyin: Gāngtiě fēilóng zhī àotèmàn juéqǐ), issues between UMC, Bluearc and Tsubaraya had reignited and the company took legal actions against the two companies again.[44] On 10 December 2019, it was confirmed by Tsuburaya that the court has rejected UMC and Bluearc's appeal for a retrial, stating the court's first verdict of regarding the rights and ownership of Ultraman to Tsuburaya is still legitimate and final, and that any future appeals by UMC and Bluearc will likely be rejected.[45] As UMC and Bluearc failed to file a further appeal by 4 March 2020, they were to pay US$4,000,000 (approx. 400,000,000 Japanese yen) in compensatory damages, as well as other various court fees.[46] The resulting victory has reached Thailand as well and the Thai Supreme Court ordered a ruling in favor Tsuburaya Productions as the legitimate copyright owner of the shows listed in the License Granting Agreement alongside ownership over Hanuman vs. 7 Ultraman (and its remake, Hanuman vs. 11 Ultraman) and Jumborg Ace & Giant.[47] Sompote had made an appeal to the court over the decision, but was dismissed.[48] Sompote believes the decision would affect the former two movies' status as national heritage items, and has appealed to both the Supreme Court and Ministry of Culture on that front.[49]
The legal battles with Chaiyo will likely now come to an end as Sompote Saengduenchai died on the 26th of August 2021.[50][51]
On 6 March 2014, the Malaysian Ministry of Home Affairs announced that it had banned the publication of an Ultraman comic book Ultraman: The Ultra Power "due to contents that were detrimental to public order".[52][53] Social media users later noticed that a page in the book described the character of Ultraman King (from the film Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy) as a god, which in the Malaysian language is the Arabic word Allah. The Home Ministry later confirmed that the use of Allah was indeed the reason for the ban, claiming that the comparison may "confuse Muslim children and damage their faith".[54][55] This highlighted the larger ban to prevent non-Muslims in Malaysia from using the word Allah, as well as a suit from the Catholic Church of Malaysia over its usage.[56][57]
| # | Year | Title | No. of episodes |
Line-Up | Era/Period | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1966 | Ultraman | 39 | Classical | Shōwa | |
| 2 | 1967 | Ultraseven | 49 | |||
| 3 | 1971 | Return of Ultraman[b] | 51 | |||
| 4 | 1972 | Ultraman Ace | 52 | |||
| 5 | 1973 | Ultraman Taro | 53 | |||
| 6 | 1974 | Ultraman Leo | 51 | |||
| 7 | 1980 | Ultraman 80 | 50 | |||
| 8 | 1996 | Ultraman Tiga | 52 | Revival | Heisei | |
| 9 | 1997 | Ultraman Dyna | 51 | |||
| 10 | 1998 | Ultraman Gaia | 51 | |||
| 11 | 2000 | Ultraman Neos | 12 | |||
| 12 | 2001 | Ultraman Cosmos | 65 | |||
| 13 | 2004 | Ultraman Nexus | 37 | |||
| 14 | 2005 | Ultraman Max | 39 | |||
| 15 | 2006 | Ultraman Mebius | 50 | |||
| 16 | 2007 | Ultraseven X | 12 | |||
| 17 | 2013 | Ultraman Ginga | 11 | New Generation[c] | ||
| 18 | 2014 | Ultraman Ginga S | 16 | |||
| 19 | 2015 | Ultraman X | 22 | |||
| 20 | 2016 | Ultraman Orb | 25 | |||
| 21 | 2016 | Ultraman Orb: The Origin Saga | 12 | |||
| 22 | 2017 | Ultraman Geed | 25 | |||
| 23 | 2018 | Ultraman R/B | 25 | |||
| 24 | 2019 | Ultraman Taiga | 26 | Reiwa | ||
| 25 | 2020 | Ultraman Z | 25 | |||
| 26 | 2021 | Ultraman Trigger | 25 | |||
| 27 | 2022 | Ultraman Decker | 25 | |||
| 28 | 2023 | Ultraman Blazar | 25 | |||
| 29 | 2024 | Ultraman Arc | 25 | |||
| 30 | 2025 | Ultraman Omega | 25 | |||
| Year | Title | No. of episodes |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 | Ultra Q | 28 | First entry in the Ultra Q subseries and the first series ever of the Ultra Series. |
| 1979 | The Ultraman[d] | 50 | First Ultraman anime series. Animation services was provided by Nippon Sunrise. |
| 1990 | Ultraman: Towards the Future[e] | 13 | First English-language production of the Ultraman series. The series was produced by Tsuburaya and filmed in Australia. |
| 1991 | Ultraman Kids: 30 Million Light-Years in Search of Mother | 26 | Second Ultraman anime series. Animation services was provided by Trans Arts and Studio Sign. |
| 1993 | Ultraman: The Ultimate Hero[f] | 13 | Second English-language production of the Ultraman series. The series was produced by Tsuburaya and filmed in the United States. |
| 2004 | Ultra Q: Dark Fantasy | 26 | Second entry in the Ultra Q subseries. |
| 2007 | Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle | 13 | First entry in the Ultra Galaxy subseries. |
| 2008 | Never Ending Odyssey | 13 | Second entry in the Ultra Galaxy subseries. |
| 2013 | Neo Ultra Q | 12 | Third entry in the Ultra Q subseries. |
| 2019 | Ultraman | 31 | Third Ultraman anime series. Based on 2011 Ultraman manga by Eiichi Shimizu (story) and Tomohiro Shimoguchi (art). Animation services was provided by Production I.G and Sola Digital Arts. |
| Year | Title | Runtime | Film format |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | Ultraman: Monster Movie Feature | 79 minutes | Compilation |
| 1974 | The 6 Ultra Brothers vs. the Monster Army 
|
103 minutes | Feature |
| 1979 | Ultraman | 102 minutes | Compilation |
| 1979 | Ultraman: Great Monster Decisive Battle | 100 minutes | Compilation |
| 1984 | Ultraman Zoffy: Ultra Warriors vs. the Giant Monster Army | 85 minutes | Compilation |
| 1984 | Ultraman Story | 93 minutes | Feature |
| 1987 | Ultraman: The Adventure Begins 
|
75 minutes | Animation |
| 1988 | Space Warriors 2000 
|
92 minutes | Feature |
| 1990 | Ultra Q: Legend of the Stars | 106 minutes | Feature |
| 1996 | Ultraman Wonderful World
|
103 minutes | Anthology |
| 1997 | Ultraman Zearth & Ultra Nyan
|
96 minutes | Anthology |
| 1998 | Ultramen Tiga & Dyna & Ultra Nyan
|
98 minutes | Anthology |
| 1999 | Ultraman Gaia: The Battle in Hyperspace | 74 minutes | Feature |
| 2000 | Ultraman Tiga: The Final Odyssey | 85 minutes | Feature |
| 2001 | Ultraman Cosmos: The First Contact | 89 minutes | Feature |
| 2002 | Ultraman Cosmos 2: The Blue Planet | 76 minutes | Feature |
| 2003 | Ultramen Cosmos vs. Justice: The Final Battle | 77 minutes | Feature |
| 2004 | Ultraman: The Next | 97 minutes | Feature |
| 2006 | Ultraman Mebius & Ultra Brothers | 93 minutes | Feature |
| 2008 | Superior 8 Ultra Brothers | 97 minutes | Feature |
| 2009 | Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy Legends | 96 minutes | Feature |
| 2010 | Ultraman Zero: The Revenge of Belial | 100 minutes | Feature |
| 2012 | Ultraman Saga | 90 minutes | Feature |
| 2015 | Ultraman Ginga S: The Movie | 65 minutes | Feature |
| 2016 | Ultraman X: The Movie | 73 minutes | Feature |
| 2017 | Dragon Force: So Long, Ultraman 
|
88 minutes | Animation |
| 2017 | Ultraman Orb: The Movie | 72 minutes | Feature |
| 2018 | Ultraman Geed: The Movie | 72 minutes | Feature |
| 2019 | Dragon Force: Rise of Ultraman
|
90 minutes | Animation |
| 2019 | Ultraman R/B: The Movie | 72 minutes | Feature |
| 2020 | Ultraman Taiga: The Movie | 72 minutes | Feature |
| 2022 | Ultraman Trigger: Episode Z | 74 minutes | Feature |
| 2022 | Shin Ultraman | 112 minutes | Feature |
| 2023 | Ultraman Decker Finale: Journey to Beyond | 75 minutes | Feature |
| 2024 | Ultraman Blazar: Tokyo Kaiju Showdown | 76 minutes | Feature |
| 2024 | Ultraman: Rising
|
117 minutes | Animation |
| 2025 | Ultraman Arc: The Clash of Light and Evil | 75 minutes | Feature |
| ‡ The flags indicate that the films are foreign (co-)productions. indicates unauthorized/unlicensed productions. | |||
| Title | No. of episodes |
Release date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heisei Ultraseven | 16 | 1994—2002 | |
| |||
| Heisei Ultramen Side Stories | 3 | 2001—2002 | |
| |||
| Ultraman Mebius Side Stories | 7 | 2006—2009 | |
| |||
| Ultraman Zero Side Stories | 4 | 2010—2011 | |
| |||
Between 1993 and 1994, Harvey Comics published two comic book series based on the 1966 Ultraman television series.
In 2003, Dark Horse Comics published a comic book based on Ultraman Tiga.[citation needed]
Marvel Comics started publishing an initial Ultraman comic book limited series titled The Rise of Ultraman, written by Kyle Higgins & Matt Groom with art by Francesco Manna. It debuted in September 2020 and concluded in January 2021.[62][63]
A second series titled The Trials of Ultraman premiered in March 2021, with Higgins, Groom and Manna returning and concluded in August of the same year.[64][65]
A third series titled The Mystery of Ultraseven, once again written by Higgins and Groom, and drawn by Davide Tinto, David Lopez, and Gurihiru, was released on August 17, 2022.[66][67]
During Anime Expo 2022, Groom teased a crossover event between the current Ultraman comics with the Marvel Universe for 2023.[68] In May 2024, Marvel and Tsubaraya officially announced the Ultraman x Avengers limited series to debut for release in August 14, 2024.[69]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
