It’s too bad about
Ultraman Leo getting delayed from April 13 to May 25 but it’s understandable. The pandemic certainly isn’t close to being over (the US reported over 67k new cases of COVID-19 this past Thursday, still in the same range as it was back in late July and mid October last year) and Mill Creek seems to have had a particularly hard time releasing steelbook titles ever since the lockdowns began.
That’s great news about the next two releases. Hopefully that June 15 date will work. It’s nice that they’ve opted to release
Ultraman Zero: The Revenge of Belial and
Ultraman Saga together in one set instead of giving each movie a separate release. I’m a little surprised that they’re including
Ultra Galaxy Legend Side Story: Ultraman Zero vs. Darklops Zero in that set and not in the
Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle set but it doesn’t matter. I’m also surprised that the Zero set is listed as “Ultraman Zero Chronicles” but it doesn’t include the 2017 recap series
Ultraman Zero: The Chronicle, which makes me wonder if they’re saving that for a standalone release, possibly another Walmart exclusive.
Since Mill Creek seems to be working forward from the classic shows and working backward from the modern shows, I guess they might try to release
The Ultraman,
UltraSeven X,
Ultraman 80, and maybe even
Ultraman Mebius and the
Ultraman Zearth films before this year is over. I don’t think they’ll finish releasing the 2000s shows or get to any of the 1990s shows until next year, and it could be 2023 before they finish releasing everything that they’ve licensed. It is reassuring to see that not being available yet on Japanese BRD is officially not a barrier to what Mill Creek can release.
I’ve received my new
Return of Ultraman booklet in the mail. The essay written by Keith Aiken of SciFi Japan on pages 2-4 received a number of alterations for the new booklet.
Old Booklet (discarded or altered text is
bold):
WHEN ULTRASEVEN COMPLETED ITS BROADCAST RUN ON THE TOKYO BROADCASTING SYSTEM (TBS) IN SEPTEMBER 1968, EIJI TSUBURAYA INTENDED IT TO BE THE END OF A TRILOGY OF ULTRA SERIES THAT HAD ALSO INCLUDED ULTRA Q AND ULTRAMAN.
But, as Tsuburaya Productions Co., Ltd. focused on unrelated projects like the adventure show MIGHTY JACK and the supernatural thriller OPERATION: MYSTERY, sales continued to rise for books, figures and other merchandising based on the three Ultra Series. Fans were also clamoring for a new television show, and Tsuburaya realized that they were far from done with Ultraman. Development soon began on what would become the fourth entry in the Ultra Series.
New Booklet (newly added or altered text is
bold):
WHEN ULTRASEVEN COMPLETED ITS BROADCAST RUN ON THE TOKYO BROADCASTING SYSTEM (TBS) IN SEPTEMBER 1968, TSUBURAYA PRODUCTIONS DECIDED TO TAKE A BREAK FROM MONSTER-BASED PROGRAMS AND MOVED ON TO PRODUCING OTHER PROJECTS SUCH AS THE ADVENTURE SHOW MIGHTY JACK AND THE SUPERNATURAL THRILLER OPERATION: MYSTERY.
However, sales continued to rise for books, figures and other merchandising based on the Ultraman Series, and Tsuburaya received loads of fan letter from kids clamoring for a new television show. Tsuburaya realized that they were far from done with Ultraman, and development soon began on what would become the fourth entry in the Ultraman Series.
Old Booklet:
Eiji himself reportedly came up with the title, RETURN OF ULTRAMAN, for the new series. The initial idea was to make a direct sequel to the original ULTRAMAN, set decades after the events of that series. Ultraman would come back to Earth when a fresh wave of giant monsters and alien invaders arises to plague mankind. Shin Hayata, now retired from the Science Special Search Party, would entrust the Beta Capsule transformation device to a new human host for Ultraman. Tsuburaya Productions submitted their proposal for the new series in April 1969. But TBS and their sponsors requested that the show feature an all-new Ultraman that could be marketed and merchandised.
New Booklet:
Tsuburaya Eiji reportedly came up with the title, RETURN OF ULTRAMAN, for the new series. The initial idea was to make a direct sequel to the original ULTRAMAN, set decades after the events of that series. Ultraman would come back to Earth when a fresh wave of giant monsters and alien invaders arises to plague mankind. The defense team Science Special Search Party is dissolved, and Ultraman would entrust a transformation device to a new human host. However, as the show’s proposal changes over time, what ended up in the final script features an all-new Ultraman.
Old Booklet:
On January 25, 1970 the company was rocked by the passing of Eiji Tsuburaya. Eiji’s eldest son Hajime, a director and writer on the first three Ultra Series, became president of Tsuburaya Productions Co., Ltd.
New Booklet:
On January 25, 1970 the company was rocked by the passing of Eiji Tsuburaya. Eiji’s eldest son Hajime, a director and writer on the first three Ultraman Series, quit his job at TBS and became president of Tsuburaya Productions in November of the previous year, when Eiji was heavily sick.
Old Booklet:
Based on feedback from licensees, the design for the new Ultraman was modified to help avoid any confusion between him and the original Ultraman. While the two heroes still closely resembled each other, the new incarnation wore prominent gloves and boots and had pinstripes around the red patterns on his body. While simply known as “Ultraman” in the series, he was often referred to as “New Ultraman” by fans. Tsuburaya Productions adopted this nickname when the character made appearances in later Ultra Series. But after Bandai acquired the Ultraman toy license in the early 1980s, Tsuburaya decided the time had finally come to give “New Ultraman” a unique name of his own. A contest was held for children to submit suggestions, and the hero was officially rechristened “Ultraman Jack” in the 1984 feature film ULTRAMAN ZOFFY.
New Booklet:
The design for the new Ultraman was modified to help avoid any confusion between him and the original Ultraman. While the two heroes still closely resembled each other, the new incarnation had pinstripes around the red patterns on his body. While simply known as “Ultraman” in the series, he was often referred to as “New Ultraman” by fans. Tsuburaya Productions adopted this nickname when the character made appearances in later Ultraman Series, until the character appeared in the 1984 feature film ULTRAMAN ZOFFY, Tsuburaya decided the time had finally come to give “New Ultraman” a unique name of his own: “Ultraman Jack”.
Old Booklet:
RETURN OF ULTRAMAN marked a return to form with action-packed, largely stand-alone episodes. Focusing on combat over social commentary was a reverse course from the stories presented in ULTRASEVEN, but it proved to be a shrewd move. The series introduced dozens of new Kaiju alongside new versions of classic foes such as Baltan and Zetton from ULTRAMAN. Many fans consider the show to be the peak of the franchise’s success with regard to Kaiju, as monsters like Twintail, Arstron, Bemstar, Gudon and Black King would become icons of the Ultra Series and its product licensing.
New Booklet:
RETURN OF ULTRAMAN marked a return to form with action-packed, largely stand-alone episodes. The series introduced dozens of new Kaiju alongside new versions of classic foes such as Alien Baltan and Zetton from ULTRAMAN. Twintail, Gudon, Bemstar and Black King would become fan-favourite monsters of the Ultraman Series and its product licensing.
Old Booklet:
The ULTRAMAN and ULTRASEVEN shows were technically separate before this, but RETURN OF ULTRAMAN offered somewhat of a retcon that brought all the Ultra Series together in an interconnected universe. This premised laid the groundwork for many of the Ultraman shows to follow.
New Booklet:
The ULTRAMAN and ULTRASEVEN shows were technically separate before this, but RETURN OF ULTRAMAN offered somewhat of a retcon that brought the previous series together in an interconnected universe. This premised laid the groundwork for many of the Ultraman shows to follow.
Old Booklet:
RETURN OF ULTRAMAN proved the staying power of the character and its story world. The Ultras, Kaiju, and space combat would become staples in Japanese pop culture to this day.
New Booklet:
RETURN OF ULTRAMAN proved the staying power of the character and its story world. The Ultras, Kaiju, and defense teams’ machineries would become staples in Japanese pop culture to this day.
Old Booklet:
The character continues to play an important part in the Ultra Series, with guest appearances in the newer television series plus key roles in feature films like SUPERIOR 8 ULTRAMAN BROTHERS and MEGA MONSTER BATTLE ULTRA GALAXY: THE MOVIE.
New Booklet:
The character continues to play an important part in the Ultraman Series, with guest appearances in the newer television series plus prominent roles in feature films like ULTRAMAN MEBIUS & ULTRA BROTHERS and SUPERIOR 8 ULTRA BROTHERS.
The Ultraman Jack
Hero Profile on page 5 is identical between the old and new booklets. Nothing was changed in that section.
The biggest error in the old booklet is in the
Character Profiles. At the bottom of page 7, next to the profile of the first captain of MAT, Cpt. Kato (played by Nobuo Tsukamoto), the old booklet instead features a photo of Cpt. Ibuki (played by Jun Negami), the second MAT captain. The photo of Cpt. Ibuki in the old booklet is also flipped horizontally, presenting a mirror image of his face and the MAT logo behind him.
The character profiles are largely redone in the new booklet. Instead of MAT getting a profile, Ken & Jiro’s profile has been moved over to the bottom of page 6, so that both Cpt. Kato and Cpt. Ibuki can have their own profiles on page 7. Both captains have the correct photos next to their profiles in the new booklet, and Cpt. Ibuki’s photo is no longer mirror-flipped. While the old booklet spells Cpt. Kato’s first name as Katsuhiro, the new booklet spells it as Katsuichiro.
Most of the text in the character profiles was rewritten for the new booklet, although there are several grammar & punctuation errors in the new text.
The
Episode Guide on pages 8-19 still has all of the same photos, and all of the writer & director information is unchanged, but every single episode synopsis has been rewritten. They’re a big improvement for the most part, since the episode synopses in the old booklet were packed with misspellings and broken English, as they’ve been for every series booklet so far.
Notably, while the episode synopses in the old booklet frequently refer to Go by his last name and they call his alter ego Ultraman, the synopses in the new booklet consistently refer to him by his first name, Hideki, and they call his alter ego Ultraman Jack, neither of which are what other characters in the show call them.
Episodes 3, 6, 13, 16 & 35 are the only ones in the new booklet with titles that differ from what’s printed in the old booklet. That’s part of a broader trend of English title variations on most of Mill Creek’s Ultra releases between what’s shown onscreen in the subtitles, what’s listed on the disc menus, what’s printed in the booklets and what’s displayed on the MovieSpree app.
Much of the text in the
Key Kaiju guide on pages 20 & 21 has also been revised for the new booklet, although it still spotlights the same six monsters. The biggest difference is how they’re arranged. The old booklet arranged them alphabetically across the pages, with Alien Nackle and Arstron in the top row, Black King and Gudon in the middle row, and Twintail and Zetton II in the bottom row. The new booklet arranges them in chronological order down each page, with Arstron, Gudon and Twintail on page 20 and Alien Nackle, Black King and Zetton II on page 21. The monster photos on these pages are the same but the photo of Arstron has been horizontally flipped from how it was in the old booklet.
In the
Kaiju Guide on pages 22 & 23, all of the photos are exactly the same but five of the kaiju had some alterations to their text.
Shugaron (from ep.12) is described as the Soundwave Monster in the old booklet but the new booklet says Sonic Monster. The onscreen subtitles in the episode say Soundwave Monster.
For the monster from ep.21, the old booklet spells its name as Beakon and describes it as the Electric Wave Monster, while the new booklet spells its name as Beacon and describes it as the Radio-Wave Monster. The old booklet’s name and description match the onscreen subtitles in the episode as well as the subtitles in the next-episode preview from the end of ep.20.
Zanika (from ep.23) is described as the Cancer Monster in the old booklet but the new booklet says Cancer Constellation Monster. The onscreen subtitles in the episode say Cancer Monster.
For the Light Monster from ep.35, the old booklet spells its name as Prizuma while the new booklet spells it as PrisMa. The onscreen subtitles spell it as Prizuma in both the episode and the preview from the end of the prior episode.
Finally, for the underground beings from ep.50, the old booklet spells their name as Kingbockle and describes them as the Primitive Underground Human, while the new booklet spells their name as King Bockle and describes them as the Primordial Subterranean Man. As with the previous instances, the name and description in the old booklet are consistent with the onscreen subtitles in the episode.
There are some minor tweaks to the
Key Technology guide on page 24 too, including a different photo of the Ultra Bracelet. The description of the MAT Undersea Base misspells members as “memers” in both the old & new booklets.
. Never stop what you do, you are amazing!
