The series can be watched on Roku, Tubi, Pluto, and Prime Video.
Production
Eiji Tsuburaya had originally intended for the Ultraman Series to end with the 1967 series Ultraseven, but Ultraman proved to be too popular a character to keep down. After Eiji Tsuburaya's death in 1970, his son Hajime Tsuburaya (who took over Tsuburaya Productions until his own death in 1973) revived the Ultraman Series with Return of Ultraman.
An earlier plot featured the original Ultraman returning to Earth to resume the fight against aliens and monsters. However, in a last minute change, a new yet similar character was introduced - "New Ultraman" , or just "Returning Ultraman" , who would later become much more widely known as "Ultraman Jack" in 1984 and beyond. The name was decided on in a contest held by Bandai where children chose his name.
This series is a follow-up to the original Ultraman and Ultraseven, which were retconned to take place within the same timeline.
Synopsis
In a fight between two giant monsters named Takkong and Zazahn, young race car driver Hideki Go is killed while trying to rescue a little boy and a dog from the falling rubble. His valiant sacrifice is noted by everyone, even his friends and the new defense force MAT, but an unseen being also takes notice. Looking over Go is the "New Ultraman", who is so touched by Go's actions that he decides to combine his life force with that of Hideki, thus bringing him back to life. Hideki Go then joins MAT and fights alongside them and Ultraman against monsters and alien invaders.
Characters
MAT
Others
Ultras
Kaiju
- Takkong
- Zazahn
- Arstron
- Sadola
- Detton
- Kingsaurus III
- Gudon
- Twin Tail
- Gorbagos
- Ghostron
- Dangar
- Stegon
- Mognezun
- Shugaron
- Seamons
- Seagorath
- Eledortus
- Terochilus
- Bemstar
- Sartan
- Magnedon
- Beacon
- Gokinezura
- Zanika
- Vacuumon
- Kupukupu/Kingstron
- Zagoras
- Nokogilin
- Gronken
- Varricane
- Yadokarin
- Oxter
- Plooma
- Alien Zelan
- King Maimai
- Alien Mates
- Muruchi
- Leogon
- Pris-Ma
- Draculas/Vampire Woman
- Black King
- Alien Nackle
- Alien Varduck
- Alien Black
- Snowgon
- Alien Baltan Jr.
- Builgamo
- Alien Stora
- Paragon
- Alien Grotes
- Kodaigon
- Granadas
- Alien Centaurus
- Robonez
- Alien Cygnus-61 Erika
- Alien Messie
- Alien Zoole
- Red Killer
- Femigon
- Yametaranese
- Sasahiller
- Alien Mysteler
- King Bockle
- Alien Bat
- Zetton II
Cast
- Hideki Go : Jiro Dan
- Katsuichiro Kato : Nobuo Tsukamoto
- Ryu Ibuki : Jun Negami
- Takeshi Minami : Shunsuke Ikeda
- Ippei Ueno : Ko Mitsui
- Yuriko Oka : Mika Katsuragi
- Fumio Kishida : Ken Nishida
- Jiro Sakata : Hideki Kawaguchi
- Aki Sakata : Rumi Sakakibara
- Ken Sakata : Shin Kishida
- Rumiko Murano : Kazuko Iwasaki
- Ultraman Jack : Isao Yatsu
- Narrator Akira Nagoya :
Suit Actors
- Ultraman & Zazahn : Eiichi Kikuchi
- Kaiju : Takanobu Toya (Most of the Monsters)
Music
-
- Opening Theme
- Kaettekita Ultraman
- Lyrics: Kyōichi Azuma
- Composition: Koichi Sugiyama
- Artist: Jiro Dan, Misuzu Children's Choral Group
Home Media
In 2002, Tsuburaya began re-releasing Ultraman to Ultraman Leo on Japanese boxsets. Return of Ultraman got a boxset. There is also a DVD release made by the Malaysian company VGB Network. It came out in 2013, and contains Malay, English, and Chinese subtitles. A few grammatical errors were made, as VBG is not a American company.
Mill Creek released the series to Blu-ray on February 25, 2020 with English subtitles. As with the company's other Showa-era Ultraman Series titles, a SteelBook and a standard edition with part of a spine mural were offered.
Movies
- Return of Ultraman (film) (movie version of episodes 5-6)
- Return of Ultraman: Fear of the Tornado Monsters (movie version of episodes 13-14)
- Jiro-Kun Rides a Monster (movie version of episode 29)
Manga
- Main article: Return of Ultraman (manga)
A manga series by Akira Mizuho
ran in Bessatsu Shōnen Sunday from May to December 1971.Gallery
Trivia
- Originally, Ultraman Jack was meant to be Ultraman, who would have returned to Earth as referenced by the show's name, Return of Ultraman, but this decision was scrapped and he was made into a separate character out of respect to the late Eiji Tsuburaya, who passed away in 1970. However, the name of the show still remained "Return of Ultraman".
- In the original concept for Return of Ultraman, Hideki Go was meant to use the Beta Capsule to become Ultraman Jack, like how Shin Hayata transformed into Ultraman, but this decision was also scrapped.
- Return of Ultraman is the first series to contain an advertisement break featuring the logo.
- In 2014, Hideaki Anno proposed a Return of Ultraman film to Tsuburaya Productions.
- Among the Showa era Ultraman Series, Return of Ultraman is the only one not to be streamed at Tsuburaya Productions' YouTube channel during its 50th anniversary in 2021.