Eiji Tsuburaya may have passed away in 1970, but the production company he founded continued on under the leadership of his son, Hajime Tsuburaya. Ultra Seven was intended to be the last of the Ultra series, but the young franchise's popularity ensured that it would be revisited, and on April 2, 1971, that took the form of Return of Ultraman (Kaettekita Urutoraman).
Originally planned to focus around the return of the original 1966 Ultraman, it was decided early in the production for the main character to be a New Ultraman, just one with a very similarly designed costume. He would eventually get the official name “Ultraman Jack” in 1984 for licensing and merchandising reasons. He's not referred to as Jack in the series itself, but that's what I'll be using for simplicity's sake.
It begins simply enough: giant monsters emerge and start fighting each other, and young race car driver Hideki Goh sacrifices his life saving a kid and a dog from falling wreckage. Touched by his heroics, Ultraman Jack bonds with the dead man, reviving him in a manner similar to the first Ultraman. Together, they join the Monster Attack Team (MAT) dedicated to protecting the Earth from increasing kaiju attacks.
Able to transform into Jack by sheer force of will instead of a talismanic device like the previous Ultras. Armed with a similarly large set of powers and abilities, this new Ultraman would also be the first one to interact with Ultras from the previous series, officially unifying the franchise. Ultraseven would even give Jack his signature piece of equipment, the Ultra Bracelet, which could produce a variety of specialized weapons such as shields, spears, whips, bombs, boomerangs, and a cross (remember that Eiji Tsuburaya was a devout Catholic).
While not as robot heavy as Ultra Seven, this show did add one new giant robot to the franchise: Builgamo.
A 55 meter (180 ft) combining, piloted robot, it was used by Alien Baltan Jr., the son of a Baltan alien who was killed by the original Ultraman. Builgamo was disguised as a building before beginning its assault, and was able to fight Jack until the MAT team members inside the robot were able to escape. The robot could fly, shoot destructive beams from its antennae, but by far its most useful feature was its incredibly tough armor.
A 55 meter (180 ft) combining, piloted robot, it was used by Alien Baltan Jr., the son of a Baltan alien who was killed by the original Ultraman. Builgamo was disguised as a building before beginning its assault, and was able to fight Jack until the MAT team members inside the robot were able to escape. The robot could fly, shoot destructive beams from its antennae, but by far its most useful feature was its incredibly tough armor.
Next time on Shin Super Robot Sunday: Tsuburaya holds a mirror up to Ultraman.
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