Ultraman '66 - Now WITH Context! | Ultra Retrospective 

Check out the Ultra Retrospective playlist for more reviews like this! ru-vid.com/group/PLiLVzRuysz88wWUAy5XObQ0iQaEHLVGCw

The reason for Hoshino's disapearence is because his actor broke his arm while skiing, and couldn't return

I think it makes sense for Zetton to be a space dinosaur, since a space dinosaur could be anything that doesn't resembles any dinosaur from Earth. And in the Ultraman Wiki, in the Saigo page, it is said that it was supposed to be the last kaiju insted of Zetton, which would explain why Zetton have the subtitle of "Space Dinosaur".

Zetton in the “You know I had to do it to ‘em” pose is possibly the best way to describe it’s function throughout the entire franchise.

What I love about the Ultraman/Jirass fight is that two-thirds of it is just a big, drawn out wink to the camera, as if the production team is saying “we know that you know that the frill is a bad disguise” and just leans into the fact that Ultraman and Godzilla are in the same space.

Yes the ending of the original show was rushed, for a good reason. The production was pretty much exausted after Ultra Q and Ultraman, who there are back a back in production. So they tried to end the series with what they can do. This ending needed two episode, one finissing with the death of ultraman and the other with the victory of the team but to be fair that make the ending we have more memorable, with the error he have.

I was one of those kids that watched Ultraman after school when I was in the second and third grade. In retrospect, it was fortunate that Ultraman used a wresting style of fighting. Of course my friends and I pretended to be our heroes and would wrestle, which caused few injuries and lost teeth compared to the kick-fighting style used in some later imported childrens' shows. Backyard and playground swingsets were common in the 1960's and we would pretend to be flying in our jets and rockets when using the swings. Luckily I lived in a costal city and the soft sandy soil allowed us to "fly" off our swings and land without injury. I was torn, however, as to which character to play. The budding engineer in me liked Ide, but, as you noted, he was largely the goofball comic relief for most of the series. edited to add: The relatively low quality of our 1960's black and white television's reception hid the wires holding up aircraft and flying monsters as well as making the monsters and Ultraman himself seem more realistic. Oh Yeah, we also practiced moving our mouths out of sync with our speech (or at least for a second or two before and after we spoke), much to the chagrin of our parents and teachers.

About the monsters who are likeable and its tragic having to kill them... "Monsters are tragic beings. They’re not bad [willingly]. They’re born too tall, too strong, too heavy; that’s their tragedy. They don’t attack [mankind] voluntarily, but because of their physical dimensions they cause danger and grief; therefore man defends himself against them. After several stories of this type, the public finds sympathy for the monsters."-Ishiro Honda I think this show knows that, and that's why these are likeable and its tragic to kill them. As for the ending, this is one of the few times I think the message of "We need to fight our battles" is one of the few times it works. Mainly because Ultraman is down and they can't rely on him. I've seen too many Ultra series try this message but fail because the Ultra is still there and it comes off as less "Be inspired" to "I'm an ungrateful jackass."

I cut a segment from the final video because it was already running too long, but it pertained to the quality of the Mill Creek release so I guess I'll air some of those issues here. This company has a tendency to just blindly release whatever is given to them without checking as thoroughly as they should so a lot of these issues can be pinned on Tsuburaya or whoever gave them the materials. They should still be checking these things if they're selling them, so I'm not gonna cut em slack for that (it's still a fairly cheap release so you get what you're paying for). As you've probably noticed in the video, the entire show has a digital noise reduction filter placed over it, which makes everyone look waxy and thick black edges have an after-effect. It's weird and kinda ugly but it's not a huge dealbreaker for me. I got used to it eventually, but I'd rather the show look how it did without excessive digital alterations that create a false impression of the original visuals. Someone at Tsuburaya (you can tell that's the case because this audio is present in the unauthorized Chaiyo DVD release) thought it was smart to replace some of the sound effects with stereo audio too, and this sounds out of place with the show's mono audio. This approach to audio replacement is present in every Mill Creek Showa release except Leo (likely because the remaster attempt was so bad they opted to use mono, check out my video on the show for an example), so consider this mild complaint a blanket one for all of those too. It's an old show, let it be an old show, dressing it up with modern sound effects isn't gonna trick anyone, y'know? One more issue I'll point out is a very strange one. Almost every utterance of "monster" in the subtitles is mispelled as "mosnter." Almost every time, I don't know how that could have happened so consistently, lol.

I had great memories of watching this with my father when I was maybe 10. So many memorable moments! 😭

It's funny that Akiji Kobayashi played the captain in this show and Tobei Tachibana in the original Kamen Rider, in a way he was the mentor to the first Ultraman and Rider, that's kinda poetic.

This was so fun to watch with friends. We’ve now moved on to UltraSeven, and while we’re still having loads of fun, there’s a lot more bafflement and confusion compared to the clear-cut pacing and joyful cheese of the first series.

You know what's an interesting thing about Space Patrol? It's the fact that they're managed to kill several kaijus without Ultraman's help at all. Heck, they even one shot Zetton, the supposed strongest kaiju in the series. It gives a hope that humanity really can stand for themselves.

Being gen x, I used to watch the dubbed version of this show as a kid every day after school. One of the local tv channels used to air reruns of it during the week.

My dad first saw it when it was dubbed on TV.

37:15 man that Ultraman reference in CLANNAD was trippy. It further proves how that show can make you cry from laughter, to crying from pure depression.

Well this was a birthday present! I saw this show when I was 11 and it changed my perspective on Kaiju cinema.

Made it to the very end. I was born in 1973. Incredibly accurate and magnificent introspection. Well done 👊💥

You said it pretty on point that the monsters are too likable that their deaths are always so insane and catches at least off me guard all the time. Which wouldn’t stop being a trend for awhile. Showa Ultras are kinda bloodthirsty and cruel but I kinda love them for it.

I like how you worded that many monsters were just oversized animals. Because that’s really what it was, many were just looking for food or irritated on something out of their control(EX: Gomora)

15:16 pigmon doesn't even need autotune

I bought the blu-ray for this series a few months ago as my first major foray into Ultra-Man and i loved it immensely, i want to go back to Ultra-Q now

Wow this is really the 1st time i seen the footage of the actual 1st appearance of ultraman. I thought the 1st appearance is the one we know as the 1st ultraman show. My 1st ultraman is ultraman 80 and smh in my local television they still aired Ultraman Leo in different airtime lmao (I watch Leo more since the more gritty and bit dark story more entertaining to me than slice of life teacher/school life). And become truly Ultraman fans in Ultraman Tiga same as you. Thank you for another Ultra retrospective, you truly the best kaiju/tokusatsu documenter/reviewer that bring the detailed, behind the scenes, and best part of the show with easy to digest narrative.

The wait was worth it.

Loved the extra long episode, nice to see you so in depth on one of these

Ur ultra retrospectives are always such a joy to watch!

As a long time lurker, I have enjoyed your videos immensely. Keep it up! as someone who also has nothing but love/adoration to the original Ultraman (heck I even had a 3 part/5hour long marathon on my own channel) it's always refreshing to know how influential the series has been.

3:53 The reason that this special exists is because the special effects crew needed more time to finish the first episode so they hastily throw this together. Everyone in the production staff hated it, and the writer went by a pseudonym, and that writer was the one, and only Akio Jissoji. 26:02 Fun Fact, about that Tsuifon comet. That whole "returning after 1000 years." Is paid off in something. The bizarre ova tie-in to a handheld game called Ultraman: Super Fighter Legend. All I will say about it is if you ever wanted to see Dorako buff as shit, and beating the crap out of chibi Ultramen characters set to the tone of Dragon Ball z, then I have the anime for you.

Fantastic review and one of the few Ultraman series that I fully watched and own, love the original the most too. Lol Zetton being described as a "Space-Dinosaur" is hilarious. I also find that despite being so op was dealt the finishing blow by the humans ironic since Destoryah suffered a similar fate. Hopefully Ultraman will officially meet Godzilla soon too

Check out the rest of the playlist for more Ultraman show reviews! ru-vid.com/group/PLiLVzRuysz88wWUAy5XObQ0iQaEHLVGCw

Just celebrated my birthday Thank you for the inadvertent present

This was fantastic! I hope there is more to come!

I wish that Jamila and Seabozu would return in newer Ultraman projects because it would be dope to see what they would look like today.

Dogondo has still got to be one of the saddest monster moments ever. I usually like the Science Patrol but they really tortured the poor guy, and he just lost his best friend. I wish they would bring him back as a buddy for Cosmos of something.

I never get tired of that japanese theme song and i like it more than the english song because it is longer that the English Ojeda but the English version has the canon ending

Ultra Q and Ultraman are my first experiences to the franchise. I knew about it Before but never seen anything, I mostly wanted to try it because I wanted context before I ever watched Shin Ultra. My brother got me the steel books for Christmas last year and I binged the series throughout the winter. It’s really as good and iconic as everyone say it is. Getting through ultra seven now

Great video, I would love to see one like this for the SPECTREMAN series.

Honestly even after so many other series came after it, the original is still my favorite with the best ultra being the og, and im glad the message this series had was a focal point for shin ultraman, my only wish was the original ultraman had his own heisei series like his more popular brother seven

Been waiting for this

Nice retrospect, you got here, can't wait for Ultraseven retrospect.

The '66 Ultraman was very unique and undoubtedly one of the best late afternoon TV. It has weaknesses but none of them deter viewers. Music and sound design is 10/10 tho.

Excellent documentary!!!! Thanks for doing it!!!!!

Great retrospective! Sharing for sure ^_^

While Tiga was my first, the original was the one that got me hooked. Being a fan of classic Star Trek and Showa era Godzilla, this show acted as nice mix of the two. I also find it interesting that they nailed the attack team the first time around only to take a step back with the other ones.

Don't know what season you plan on doing next, but would love to see Ultraseven soon.

As a kid i was always into giant monster movies (godzilla etc) but my first taste of ultraman was taiga right after watching kirby hehe, it was until years later as an adult i fully would get into the ultra series and im proud to say Geed was my real first that i watched start to finish

Just a really nice feel good show

What I like in the original is that the SSSP actually get stuff done. Their weapons are very darn effective against monsters and there are times they kill the monsters on regular occasions.

Man i use to rush home from school and 1 day it be this and next it be johhny sokko and his flying robot ,, lol loved them great video ty

I was a kid when this show was aired in America. I loved Ultraman. Still watch them today but it just don’t have what the original has. Maybe it was the newness , now we expect a new series every year. I bought the first complete series dvd. It came with Kaiju cards. It may not be a very highly collectible series , but it’s a treasure to me. 👍👍👍✌️✌️✌️

I always thought of Ultraman as being similar to Fantastic Four in which out protagonist are scientist and explores, fighting out of defence & necessity than to destroy the enemy.

Frick yea dude this vid was fire!

This Ultra series is certified entertainment for the whole family. I remember watching this with my family when I was 4, even my dad borrowed a projector from his office to watch Ultraman with me. Ultraman shrugged off Neroga's attack, the main battle theme, Geronimo feather stabbing Ultraman and bulton's episode and the transformation are some aspects I remember vividly. The props are fake but the story was real. It was magical watching this for the first time. Watching it again when I was 24 years old, I was pleasantly surprised with how familiar the monsters are ... Except for Greenmons, I have no recollection of him ... He's one of the weaker monster design 😅

I like how both of Man-San's first appearances are so uncanny. In TBoU, he's treated like a cryptid who shows up whenever he feels like it and beats up whatever monster is unlucky enough to be close by. In Episode 1, a sense of unease pervades his fusion with Hayata, like he's more powerful than he's letting on and isn't telling him the full story. (That and he just Brian Griffin'd Hayata out of the sky).

Baltans were always the coolest Ultraman villians in my opinion

I was introduced to Ultraman as a kid watching WTCG out of Atlanta, Georgia in the early 1970s. A new Godzilla movie every week? Sign me up!

great retrospective

I remember when i was young watching the english dub on youtube. Because i always looked up english dubs i went for like a year of my life thinking there were only 2 maybe 3 shows in the entire franchise, eventually i learned otherwise by watching hours of gameplay of fe3 and discovering tons more ultras. Funnily enough i discovered ultraman by complete accident. I asked my dad one day what kind of shows he watched when he was a kid and one of the ones he listed was spectreman. My little kid brain misinterpreted what he said as ultraman because the word spectre sounded like total gibberish to me, and that mistake has led me to now owning 40+ years worth of the franchise on dvd and blu ray.

Very nice retrospect. Ide in the Spanish dubbed version was renamed Ito as well

I love the stage show and watching the monsters face their greatest enemy - STAIRS!

This was great.

Ide was a king may he rest in peace

Here's a question for the older fans, those 50 years and older (I'm 60 myself). How many first caught Ultraman when UHF station WTCG (later rebranded as TBS) in Atlanta, Georgia aired the English dubbed episodes, airing around 6 AM Saturdays and Sundays during the late 70s? Around the same era (immediately post "Star Wars") the station also presented "Ambassador Magma", dubbed in English and retitled as "Space Giants", though it got a better deal, airing 5 days a week around 4 PM.

Watched it as a boy back in the 70's didn't know of the other version till the 2020

I completely agree. Ide is an amazing character, and makes me wish Mighty Jack, where Ide actor WAS the protagonist.

29:39 - 29:44 Okay that was genuinely funny

Literally every review/analysis of this show posits Ide as the best character, even me. I guess it's an universal truth that Ide is best boy and the true hero of this show (and he's Fuji's obvious love interest, not Hayata, I'm not sure Fuji and Hayata even _speak_ )

Jamila's roar was made by pitching down the sound of a baby crying, just in case you wanted that episode to make you even sadder.

Just imagine… if it hadn’t been for Ultra C… Plus Ultra would never exist

I grew up with Godzilla waaaaay back (one of the first things I recall was watching a godzilla movie at four years old...in 1979) but never heard of Ultraman until the 90's and never got to watching it,but after finding you I looked around and found it on Amazon,one weird thing I think you missed..... When Ultraman runs Shin over it's pretty obvious (or at least comes off that way) that he's done this before...I mean he sure seems to be a bit too ready to bring Shin back to life in exchange for pairing with him to fight the coming monster invasion. So Ultraman,coming to your planet to save it...by running one of the locals over so he can take over their bodies. LOL!

I used to love Ultra Man.

Does anyone know whuch episode is it at 12:45, been trying to find it for a long time and cant find it

31:20 He's just doing the Mission Impossible routine. He must've been a rogue IMF agent 😏

The original Ultraman series is the first show I watched, with the DVDs from Mill Creek

The connection between Fuji and Hoshino was started as Brite and sister. That's why he gave that annoying little brother vibe.

4:57 omg they ripped pigmons head

Finally covered the OG...

Have you checked out the relatively recent Ultraman Marvel comic? From what I read it's pretty good.

i think it's funny that aboras is featured in the funereal beacuse he's a literal demon

Godzilla vs red king hit different when I was 4

While I like the storylines in U7 and feel it's a more competently-produced show, I still prefer the design of the original Ultraman (Ver B and C!) above the rest. It's been nice to see the original Ultraman appear once in a while in the newer series.

I find it very disturbing how Ultraman and the science patrol are bullying all those poor monsters. Never watched the next seasons, is it the same ?

Red king becoming Mr Bad and everyone knowing who he is is the greatest thing to happen to him

Do Ultraseven next

Fun fact: Zetton wasn’t actually intended to be the final monster of the series. They were originally going to have the monster be Saigo, with the change coming from Zetton having a more preferred design. So if anyone is wondering why Zetton gets called a space dinosaur, this would be my explanation.

Zoffy would take a bullet.

Wasn't the type -A face all wrinkly like that because they were trying to make his mouth move 🤔 type -B is my favorite he looks more serious and I love his elf like feet😆

18:35: *COUGH COUGH COUGH* ULTRAMAN COSMOS *COUGH COUGH COUGH*

How tf ultraman open his mouth on thumbnail!?

are you excited for first episode blazar ? :v

Fugi is so pretty

hey! that's my country, malaysia's ultraman Ace bootleg dvd LOL

pls do ultraman cosmos retrospective

Your not reviewikng ultramam blazar?

32:21 Zetton Jumpscare wtf

Ide was indeed the best.

I watched the dub

now i believe that everybody watched that ultraman vs godzilla video, and i don't think it was black and white, i believe that people have a tendency to misremember tokusatsu as black and white

Ultraman blazar please.

How can you tell the frame rate of the show? That would stop you from watching a show because of a frame rate. Just curious