Well now, this was a surprise even to me. I didn't expect to be reviewing Ultraseven this soon, but I received a Christmas present from my lovely friend, Rosy.
This is one I've been looking forward to a lot- as Seven is a fantastic series with a notable reputation for being among the best. However there's never been a particularly good release of the show outside Japan, with the Shout Bluray A:Not being a proper transfer due to those shady as fuck dealings with Chiyao. and B: Having questionable subtitles.
But now, just like with Ultraman, we can finally have a proper release with approval from Tsuburaya.
One interesting thing to note about the series before going in is that this did not start off as another Ultra show, that happened very late and lead to some interesting tidbits that you'll notice throughout the review. It's also worth noting that even after becoming an Ultra series it was not treated as a sequel to the original. There's no mention of Ultraman, the SSSP, past monster etc. The closest connection is that there are references to the M78 Nebula. Otherwise this was originally a stand alone series.
Story & Characters.
Our primary protagonist this go 'round is Dan Moroboshi. Right from the start Dan is very different than Hayata. Rather than already being a member of the primary defense force of the show, he presents himself as a wander and ends up joining after providing useful information and assisting with an alien threat. Dan also isn't a host to Seven the way Hayata was to Ultraman, he's just Ultraseven in disguise. This also means that any injuries Seven suffers also gets reflected upon Dan.
Unlike his predecessor, Dan has access to and makes liberal use of powers in his human guise. X-ray vision, the ability to see things that are invisible, keen hearing etc. He's also very observant of his surroundings, similar to an amateur detective in some respects- noticing when a things are out of place. We hear his inner monologues as he pieces things together in his head or struggles in various scenarios. His alien knowledge proving most useful.
Over the course of the show more is revealed about Seven and his past. About midway through the series it's shown that when he first came to earth he rescued a rock climber after he cut his own rope to save his partner. Admiring the act, Seven modeled his appearance upon him. We later learn Seven was part of a wider force in the M78 nebula, but he isn't a fighter. This is even reflected in his fighting style which is looser than Ultraman's Greco-Roman wrestling. Seven instead relies best on beam attacks and even telekinesis.
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| Even the Ultra Rise is very different. |
Even then, episodes that do have Seven don't always feature a giant Ultra Seven. Seven will just be regular sized to fight smaller threats, which is really surreal. Hell, at least two episodes have him shrinking down to a miniature size.
But the single most notable divergence is that Seven doesn't have a time limit like Ultraman did, more so he has an energy limit. The less he does the longer he can maintain his large form, but using various beam attacks will drain it much faster. The Beam lamp upon his head more or less functions the same way as the color timer did, although interestingly enough it's not explained until I believe episode 39 and a few episodes prior is when I first noticed it began blinking after long battles.
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| Left to Right: Amagi, Dan, Anne Yuri, Soga, Shigeru Furuhashi, Capt. Kiriyama. |
They even have a major space station with various staff members. It feels like an actual organization- or at least a well funded one.
The cast of characters for the Ultra Guard aren't that much more defined than the SSSP members were and once again I don't have much to say, but they do try by giving some of the characters more focus in certain episodes. Shigeru Furuhash (who is played by Arashi's actor Yoshi Ishii from the original series) serves as this shows comedic relief and gets his own dedicated episode involving a bit of family history with his mother that at the very least gives him some backstory. Funny enough the episode that focuses on him is also very dramatic, must be a thing with their comedic characters.
The same can't be said for everyone though.What is there to say about someone like Amagi beyond he's played by Bin Furuya the original Ultraman suit actor? Not much.
What the show does do is a better job with the camaraderie. The characters interact more and in general just have more personality, allowing them to work off of Dan during missions, they're just fairly shallow elsewhere. However one sticks out above the others and that is the Medic on the team; Anne Yuri.
Another thing that helps the cast is that the TDF aren't quite as limited as the SSSP were in terms of operations. Ultraman's strongest point plot wise was variety in it's format, which you think would be come more of an issue for a series like Ultra Seven with a much more focused area on defensive measures. However I believe Seven to be even more varied. The show regularly has a number of different conflicts and ways of going about handling them. For a show that has an alien invasion scheme every other episode, it does a great job of never being tiring. Some episodes involve conspiracies like TDF members being assassinated or the UG having to go undercover and trail a suspected Alien like a 60s spy thriller, or there's aliens hypnotizing children to use as soldiers. Of course there's plenty of other none invasion type episodes as well, ranging from experiments gone wrong, strange alien diseases and almost twilight zone-esque otherworldly divergences.
Seven also deals with a lot more morale complexity than it's predecessor did. Whereas in the original Ultraman there would sometimes be episodes which presented a monster in some fashion as to make them sympathetic or that their demise was bittersweet, it never became a major sticking point of morality. Ultra Seven isn't like that, the show will often raise the question if the actions taken are justified, and Seven's own choices sometimes weigh upon him. This was done in an attempt to appeal to an adult audience.
A lot of the conflict comes from ignorance, arrogance, and plain misunderstandings rather than just a desire for conquest. Perhaps a simple satellite being mistaken as a weapon causing a panic, that sort of thing. One most notable of these is episode 6 when a massive space colony looses control of their gravitational force and begins a course towards earth, the alien Pegassa simply assume humans are capable of controlling Earth's own gravitational rotation like they and many other races are with their own planets, but when they learn humanity hasn't advanced that far, they begin thinking of them as simpletons lacking in technology. Faced with the colony colliding with earth, the UG sends a rescue for the Pegassans with an offer to stay until they're capable of building a new home. The Pegassans refuse to answer- perhaps believing humans lack the adequate weapons technology to obliterate their base. Faced with looming impact, the UG has no choice but to destroy the fleet with the inhabitants still on board. The Pegassan species becoming a victim of their own hubris.
While aliens were sometimes used to illustrate humanity's own flaws reflected back, the Ultra Guard themselves were not above being shown as foolish. Episode 26 has the UG building a new super weapon the the equivalent of 8,000 H-bombs meant for destroying small planets and plan for a MK 2 and 3 the go further, which horrifies Dan and leads to a lot of inner conflict with his fellow UG members.
It's not the only time either, and while the UG are of course meant to be a force of good, they're not at all clean.
Intentional or not, it's interesting to note that as soon as a military organization entered the franchise is also when the stories first began having more complexity with the heroes' actions.
Frankly, the TDF engages in much more questionable acts than the SSSP ever did. Sure, they had a few missions that would cause the viewer to raise an eyebrow, such as removing a kaiju from it's natural habitat. But the TDF has quite literally has wiped out entire civilizations. Some unavoidable such is with ep. 6 being very grey- but others, not so much. ep. 42 in particular has quite possibly the most horrifying example of this when a race of pre-human ocean dwelling beings called Nonmalt begin retaliating to what they view as an invasion by humans. They're woefully ill-equipped, having only a single monster and one captured British sub as a means of attacking a nearby harbor, the UG having no trouble taking it out. Up to that point it seems like your standard issue group of creatures becoming overzealous and impulsive- they never try to even talk to anyone about coming to an agreement or the fact that they weren't even known about by the humans, they just start making threats immediately. Then things take a turn. After their sub and giant monster are taken out, their underwater city is discovered. The captain of the UG, Kaoru Kiriyama, fearing possible future attacks obliterates the entire city without a second thought.
The show never outright calls it the genocide that it is, but it sure as hell doesn't frame it as good either. Dan and Anne are horrified at the aftermath of the episode, clearly conveying all they need to be said with their behavior. In the end, the audience is left wondering if the results were necessary and how truly just the UG are when as far an anyone could tell it was a defenseless civilian population.
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| There's a lot one could get into with colonialism with this episode. |
The TDF&UG are better equipped and prepared than the SSSP were- and more happy to use their weapons. They're not outright villains and they're certainly shown to have admirable qualities. But they've engaged with reprehensible actions. At the same time I can't exactly say it's a nuanced presentation so much as different writers having very different stories they want to tell and the result being accidental when looked at as a whole. But it is interesting none the less.
Stuff like that makes Seven far more intriguing than the prior series and the show challenges its audience more by having them.
Visuals/Special Effects.
Once again the effects are a fantastic aspect of the show and far more advanced than even Ultraman's sets were in detail. The first episode alone flaunts it's higher production standards with some truly astonishing displays.
Everything just looks a ton better. The Ultra Guard base and gear in is drastically more intricate than the SSSP ever was.
The level of detail and scope of these dioramas is gorgeous for the time, and even now in some instances.
The Kaiju and Seijin are of course still fantastically designed and iconic. Eleking, King Joe, Alien Metron, Pegga, Alien Guts, Pandon. Every single one of the above has a great appearance that immediately make an impact.
Seven experiments a bit by having some none suit creatures, smaller puppets handled by wire work. They... are interesting to mix things up but none stick out to me. I honestly couldn't even recall he first alien in the series. It's clear their bread and butter is still suitmation.
Speaking of the Kaiju, the fights are sometimes shockingly violent. Ultraman had a few that got a little messed up, like ripping Jirass' frill off and taunting him. The second Baltan also got split in half, but was little more graphic than splitting Play-doh. Seven on the other hand can get bloody.
People talk about Leo being violent, but Seven has it's moments.
With all that said, there are however a few oddities with the effects. As lovely as a lot of those sets and creature designs are, there are a couple pieces that feel out of place. One is the backgrounds having noticeable seams. To some extent the original series had this as well but they were more often hard to make out and very few, usually a single vertical line. Seven on the other hand has much larger and extravagant sets and the caveat is noticing when the walls for the background connect since they're much larger.
I'm not entirely sure what it is, but Seven does feature a noticeable uptick in image quality- though it's not a massive leap over the prior series, it is sharper looking and a lot more sticks out because of it. How much they stick out is going to rely on how you view the series. On my computer they're not as bad in most instances, my 42" TV on the other hand was another matter- the backgrounds often appearing as a mass of blocks with thin lines except during wide-shots.
The final issue I believe to be rear projection and it's not just typical rear projecting like when someone is driving in a Bond movie, there's this excessively odd look to the whole thing. It's muddy, there's spots, and there's lines like they either didn't have a single large screen or it was wrinkled to hell. It looks like shit quite frankly and is probably the worst effect I've seen in the Ultra series.
Regardless of a few growing pains, by in large Ultra Seven excels in the visuals and often improves on the ones that don't, with an unfortunate exception to the rear projecting which never really looks any better. Their endeavor with super imposing on the other hand is shockingly impressive. I only saw one egregious example, but every other was stunning for the time.
I've seen movies made in the 70s and even 80s that didn't blend stuff this well.
Likewise, the aircraft are more grandiose and as such need more wire. I get the feeling that they had perfected a lot of things with Ultraman and wanted to branch outward to more challenging and by extension more impressive effects and I appreciate that endeavor. Aircraft move far more fluidly, are more complex and they even have the flagship craft of the series: The Ultra Hawk 1, separate into multiple aircraft and then re-combine, it is marvelous to gander at.
The early episodes do feature more noticeable wire work at first, but later ones mostly correct this issue.
But by far the pinnacle of the visuals is with returning Director Akio Jussoji on a select number of episodes. If there is one defining thing in Ultra Seven from a visual standpoint, I would say it's the gorgeous sun sets and Jissoji is largely responsible for that iconography with his first contribution in episode 8- which is an absolutely gorgeous entry.
He was hardly the only one to use it, as other episodes would often incorporate the orange glow. But there is little doubt in mind that Episode 8 set the precedent. But that is only a tiny part of it, as that episode features so many fantastic scenes and Japanese pop culture owes so much to the cinematography of this Jissoji directed episode in particular.
It truly is a collaborative effort. The impressive work of the set builders and the masterful capturing of those sets on film.
Jissoji also wasn't the only one to create some truly fantastic shots. Other directors like Toshihiro Iijima, Toshitsugu Suzuki, and Kazuho Mitsuta also contributed greatly to the series.
Seven has some issues from being overly ambitious- but that's only natural when using and performing new techniques for the franchise. In the end I would rather have those issues and ultimately it lead to some amazing stuff than stagnate.
One more thing. Although Seven was made to be stand alone and only later retconned to be a sequel to the original series, it's worth noting that the logo of the TDF has the SSSP shooting star.
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| Funny how that works. |
Presentation
The presentation reminds my a lot of the series itself, it improves over the predecessor in many drastic ways, but there are one or two small weird things you can't help but notice as being a bit odd.
Pretty much the same deal as last time. Got a slip cover with the main character on the front, synopsis on the back, artwork on the spine, title on the inner case.
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| The case also looks like this lined up. |
The main case features Ultraseven in front of the twilight sun, there is no better image to represent the series.
On the back, a nice contrast with the moon with three of the best Kaiju from the series. Guts, Metron, and King Joe.
Opening up the case just like with Ultraman there's the the moviespree ticket for the digital version, the logo behind that and in the back an image of the title character. The Discs have various Ultra Kaiju on them from the series.
However, where Ultraman chose to feature very iconic and memorable monsters like Gomora and Baltan, Seven has an almost random assortment of creatures. At first it starts off normal before getting odd. The first disc has Miclas, one of Seven's capsule monsters. Disc 2 Alien Chibull, 3 has Alien Cannan(sic), 4 is another capsule monster Agira, 5 has Guyros, and finally disc 6 has the only truly notable kaiju: Pandon.
It is such a bizarre selection. No Metron, King Joe or Alien Guts? Sure they're featured on the back of the package, but hell the last set gave Baltan two spots. Even if they wanted to avoid those three, there are others to pick. They feature 2 out of the 3 capsule monsters, why not put Windom in there? How about Dino Tank, Pegassa, Alien Pitt, freaking Eleking? Those last three are still making appearances in modern Ultra series. I guess they wanted to pick things exclusive to the series itself (Except the capsule monsters which are in Mebius) and in that regard they did a decent enough job I suppose? I'll give major credit for Guyros, that was a design submitted in a contest for the show, so it's pretty neat to see that on a disc, and this is by no means a deal breaker, but it is still a very random selection.
The episode and information guide is laid out a lot better than the first Ultraman booklet. It has a write up on the series' production by Keith Aiken of SciFi Japan, and then a bio on the character of Ultraseven with height and all that. But then it moves into bios for the main characters, whereas in the previous entry those were saved near the very end after the episode and monster sections. It overall flows a lot better here and makes more sense in how it's presented.
Bless the person tasked with writing the cast Bios, they're really reaching for things to say. That's not a reflection on the author cause hell I hardly had anything to say. I will note that the Bios do have a few odd bits. Anne's bio unfortunately has a spoiler for the last episode of the series. An entry for one of the other members, Amagi, makes mention that he's played by Bin Furuya the original Ultraman suit actor, but on the same page they don't mention that Shigeru's actor, Sandayu Dokumamushi/Iyoshi Ishi was Arashi in the original series.
One bit in the monster bios was also pretty funny, referring to the capsule monsters as earnest but lacking intelligence.
The episode guide is still very helpful and much appreciated, but I did notice that episodes 14 & 15 have slightly different titles from the Bluray. In the booklet and on the Moviespree website for the digital version Ep. 14 and 15 are listed as "The Ultra guard goes West: Part 1" and "The Ultra guard goes West: Part 2". On the Bluray they're simply "Westward, Ultra Guard Part 1" and "Westward, Ultra Guard Part 2". I know that's a small change more or less being the same thing, but it's a weird oddity I felt like pointing out.
On a similar note I want to talk about the Bluray itself starting with the subs. As far as I can tell they're doing just fine, but there was one episode where I noticed the translation was a bit questionable. Ep. 40 has Shigeru say's "Please" in the subtitles, which is the jest of what he's saying and fits the context. However, his actual dialogue is using the word Kamisama, which literally means God. So really it should be something along the lines of "Please, God." It seems minor, but that's just the one example I picked up on my first time viewing and it makes me wonder if there's more. Things like that is largely what made Shout's Sentai subtitles so frustrating, they often dropped words which would change how good or interesting certain lines were. A line like "The Legendary sword that pierces the galaxy" is more cool sounding than just "Legendary sword of the Galaxy." Again Seven's case is super minor but it does make me slightly cautious and worrisome given how Garo and Sentai were treated.
You may have also picked on on this from the review itself, but the Subs make clear that the team is called the Ultra Guard as opposed to the Ultra Garrison. The Showa stuff was originally translated as Garrison, but since '94 Tsuburaya has referred to the team as the Ultra Guard and "Guard" is a more accurate translation in any case, so it's something I don't see worth fretting over, but I know it's gonna matter to some people.
That aside, the only possibly negative things I noticed was that they have a weird inconsistency with using "All Right and "Alright" and they don't always translate simple responses to certain statements. If a character says "Yosh" or "Okay" it usually isn't subbed. "Hai" however is always translated from what I could tell, while all English never subbed. It got me thinking that for one: they should've included subs for those lines, and two: these really need a secondary sub track that also includes subs for off screen sounds and the like. Ever realize that a lot of subbed overseas material ironically aren't that friendly for people with hearing difficulties? Weird right?
Oh, and there's this weird oddity.
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| Look closely at Anne's hand. |
Finally, there is one more thing, and it's something I wondered a lot about before the set came out and that was if episode 12 would be included. It sadly is not. There's a lot to get into when discussing that infamous episode that I'm not going to get into here. There are plans for the episode to be fansubbed so I'll be doing a spotlight on it and talk more about it there.
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| I know this is to keep the episodes from having the wrong number attached, but it's still weird looking. |
Final Thoughts.
Lastly, I want to end this review on something I wanted to do for Ultraman but never got around to it and decided it wasn't necessary at the time. That is to give recommendations on my favorite episodes with a short synopsis.
Ep. 6 Dark Zone.
D: Kazuho Mitsuta W:Bunzo Wakatsuki.
This is the one I talked about in the review. It does a good job captivating you with the aliens and their plights, they're fairly friendly but things slowly turn over the course of the episode and the aforementioned hubris kicks in. This is also a good episode with Dan and Anne, showing that they two are willing to bend rules, if a bit too trusting.
Ep. 8 The Marked Town.
D:Akio Jissoji W:Tetsuo Kinjo
The famous Akio Jissoji directed episode with Alien Metron. I've already shown plenty of screen shots for this one in the review and I think that speaks for itself. The story is also wild with Metron experimenting with how Space Poppies affect humans by lacing cigarettes with the drug. Yeah, it's a space drug trip episode.
Ep 14 & 15 The Ultra Guard Goes West.
D:Kazuho Mitsuta W:Tetsuo Kinjo.
The first two parter of the series and the first time Seven struggles against an enemy: the robotic King Joe, all while the UG work on a new weapon to combat King Joe as he's completely immune to most of their conventional armaments and even Seven.
Ep. 26 Super Weapon R1.
D:Toshitsugu Suzuki W:Bunzo Wakatsuki.
This is where that morality really comes into play. Again, another episode I've talked about in the review and it is one I highly recommend. One of the things I didn't mention was the monster, because the test for the new weapon on an uninhabited planet- wasn't. It pretty much causes a Godzilla scenario with a radioactive monster spewing it's toxic fumes all over the place. The horrifying prospect of this is contrasted with some beautiful scenery. I brag on Jissogi a lot, but Toshitsugu Suzuki does a good job in this.
Ep. 37 The Stolen Ultra Eye.
D: Toshitsugu Suzuki W: Shin'ichi Ichikawa
This is a very somber episode. Dan gets his Ultra Eye stolen (No shit) by an alien who then sends a signal for pick up which the UG intercept but allow to go through. A reply comes back from the girl's planet only to reveal they've abandoned her as they launch an interplanetary missile toward earth. This one has a bittersweet ending and examines Seven's more alien nature and his relation to living on earth. Really great shot at the end of the episode too of late 60's Japan and all the lights. This one was also directed by Toshitsugu Suzuki.
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| Not to scale. |
D:Toshihiro Iijima W: Keisuke Fujikawa
Another two-parter, these episodes primarily focus on the TDF and UG, one of the few episodes that really show off their full force against an alien threat. Seven gets captured by one of the most memorable creatures Alien Guts and is set to be executed. It's up to the UG to figure out how to save Seven. These episodes almost feel like a finale and probably were written as such before the series got extended.
Ep.43 Nightmare of Planet No. 4
D: Akio Jissoji W:Takashi Kawasaki & Shozo Uehara
This episode has Dan and Soga on a journey in a new test rocket, but after being put in the state of deep sleep, the rocket heads off course and is drawn to an earth like planet ruled by Robots. The robots treat the humans of the planet at best as slaves. Segregating them to their own community and disposing of them at a moments notice, even using them as extras in crime shows and using live ammunition, regularly executing them for minor offenses. The entirety of the episode is cold and disturbing. The interior shots are often surreal and plain while outside is nearly lifeless.
At one point Dan and Soga escape the robots and do so in the back a truck full of fresh human corpses that were shot dead just moments ago.
And yet the end of the episode is also incredibly fun, mainly because Seven gets to go absolutely ape shit, outright growing inside the robots' main HQ and then wrecking everything around it.
Ep. 48 & 49 The Biggest Invasion in history.
D: Kazuho Mitsuta W: Tetsuo Kinjo
These are the last two episodes of Seven and they're a really great send off. I don't want to get into spoilers too much, but I will say they do a much better job than Ultraman's Finale which frankly felt very flat and rushed. This really shows Dan struggling and going through absolute hell. A nice touch is the Seven Suit is falling apart by this point which actually works really well with the plot. There's a bit of closure with his team as well, something Ultraman never exactly got with the SSSP due to circumstance.
Also shout outs to Kazuho Mitsuta who directed these two episodes, they contributed greatly to the iconography of this series with that fantastic shot of Dan and Anne.
My overall feelings toward Ultraseven is largely similar to Kamen Rider V3. It keeps what worked in the prior series, builds upon that which worked, trims a lot of the fat and adds some new.
Seven keeps enough of the core concepts and ideals of Ultraman to still be viewed as part of the same franchise, yet it's unique status as not initially being developed as part of the franchise or at the very least not a direct continuation I believe allowed it to have the many differences that assisted in making it feel fresh. Familiar, yet not overly so, different, but not completely alien. A lot of franchises struggle with that balance, either repeating what's already been done or is so different you can't even recognize it. Seven pulls it off beautifully and in doing so created one of the best shows. I highly suggest picking this up because it is absolutely one of the very best series at a great price.
Oh, and no I didn't forget the music, I just didn't really have a lot to say about it. Opening sounds like a national anthem, everyone's already said that. Although this this pretty boss:
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