#Ultraman cosmos 16 series
Ultraman introduced most of the traits still heavily associated with most Ultra shows – a “science patrol team” investigating monster occurrences, typically having a member that becomes the titular Ultra character in each series where one is present. Tsuburaya’s intent in making Ultraman was to have each episode provide a cinematic quality not unlike that of a movie, leading to a not uncommon at the time episodic series. Unlike many of today’s tokusatsu shows that feature action-heavy scenarios, Ultraman dealt with sci-fi and special effects first and foremost. Ultraman was an immediate ratings success, quickly improving on the impressive ratings seen by Ultra Q.
Ultraman hit the airwaves in July 1966, one week after a preview special known as The Birth of Ultraman, which introduced viewers to the core cast, Ultraman, and an early monster via a stage show. Ultra Q is actually one of the reasons the Ultra Series is known just as much for its transforming heroes as it is for its uniquely designed monsters – often times just as iconic as the heroes themselves.
#Ultraman cosmos 16 movie
This format gave viewers at the time the experience of having a kaijuu movie in their homes week after week with cutting edge special effects and production values. Ultra Q, unlike Ultraman, did not feature a hero fighting against monster and instead each episode featured its own unique monster and the characters they impacted. The potential of an entire family viewing meant something with cinimatic values could garner the most viewers. The draw of TV back then was it being able to provide an experience the entire family could get behind. When Ultra Q began, it was a show quite unlike anything else that had ever been on Japanese TVs at the time. Although there is no solid reason given, it’s been widely assumed that there was no direct follow up to Ultra Seven because the show featured an almost 10% drop in ratings from Ultraman, which itself saw an increase from Ultra Q. The Takeda Hour was an hour of TV sponsored by Takeda Pharmaceuticals and home to some of the most viewed programs at the time, including the very first scripted Japanese TV show – Moonlight Mask. Ultra Q, Ultraman, and Ultra Seven are known for their historically high tokusatsu ratings, with Ultraman having one of the most viewed tokusatsu episodes ever, and this is in part due to the show airing during the Takeda Hour. You would never know this given how they hit the ground running in 1966.
#Ultraman cosmos 16 full
Tsuburaya Productions by this point had done contributing work on various TV series but, having been created in 1963, were relatively new to the world of making full length TV series themselves. Ultra Q was Tsuburaya Productions’ first full length TV series, it premiered in January of 1966, which would turn out to be a historic year for the company as it launched three full shows that year – Ultra Q, Ultraman, and Booska. The originator of the Ultra Series was the 1966 show, Ultra Q. A fact not a lot of newer fans know is that the iconic Ultraman, one of Japan’s greatest tokusatsu heroes, was actually from the second TV series within the franchise. Now, you may be wondering why it’s not called the Ultraman Series, and there’s a very simple answer to this question: Ultraman was not the first entry in the franchise. Today’s installment covers the Ultra Series from Tsuburaya Productions.
Welcome back to the History of Tokusatsu, today we’ll dive in and cover the first part of the Ultra Series.