Return of Ultraman

Return of Ultraman (??????????? - Kaettekita Urutoraman - roughly meaning "Ultraman Has Returned") is a tokusatsu SF/kaiju/superhero TV series, and is the 4th Ultra Series. Produced by Tsuburaya Productions, the show was broadcast on Tokyo Broadcasting System from April 21, 1971 to March 31, 1972, with a total of 51 episodes.

Related Topics:
Tokusatsu - SF - Kaiju - Superhero - Ultra Series - Tsuburaya Productions - Tokyo Broadcasting System - April 21 - 1971 - March 31 - 1972

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Eiji Tsuburaya originally intended for the Ultra Series to end with the 1967 series Ultra Seven, but Ultraman was too famous a character to keep down. After Eiji's passing in 1970, his son Hajime Tsuburaya (who took over Tsuburaya Productions until his untimely passing in 1973) revived the Ultra Series with Return of Ultraman.

Related Topics:
Eiji Tsuburaya - Ultra Series - 1967 - Ultra Seven - Ultraman - 1970 - Hajime Tsuburaya - Tsuburaya Productions - 1973

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Featured in this show is a new Ultraman named "New Ultraman" (??????? - Shin Urutoraman), or just "Kaettekita Ultraman" (???????????), like the show's title. In the late 70s-early 80s, however, he was renamed "Ultraman Jack" (?????????? - Urutoraman Jakku) for licensing, after Tsuburaya and Bandai (which had just bought the Ultraman toy license in Japan) held a contest for children to pick a new name for this Ultraman. Although he is called "Ultraman Jack" for licensing in and out of Japan, he is still sometimes referred to as "New Ultraman"/"Kaettekita Ultraman", especially by some fans (and also in some official sources).

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Also of note is that this is quite possibly the only Ultraman that requires no tool (like the Beta Capsule) to transform with. Hideki Gô, the human host for New Ultraman, just raises his hands to transform at will when New Ultraman signals him to do so (or sometimes against his will in a very desperate situation!).

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For the first time, the late Ishiro Honda, best known for his work on the Godzilla movies and other classic Toho tokusatsu, works on the Ultra Series, and has directed some of the best episodes of this series, including the first episode (titled "All Monsters Attack" - ????? - Kaijû Sôshingeki, which is the same as the Japanese title for the film Destroy All Monsters!).

Related Topics:
Ishiro Honda - Godzilla - Toho - Tokusatsu - Destroy All Monsters

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