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under Ultraman

The next of Bandai Spirit’s Figure-Rise Standard Ultraman model kits was just recently revealed via an update from their official Twitter Account. Following The Ver.75 suit, we have our first look at the Figure-Rise Standard Ultraman Ver.A!

There’s currently no word on pricing, though we do know that the kit will come out sometime in April. Other accessories are also not known at the time of this recording, although it does seem to include an LED-Light Unit that you’ll likely need to install yourself.

Stay tuned, and we’ll provide more updates on this kit as it’s made available.

under General Tokusatsu News, Ultraman

In an exclusive being reported by THR, Tsuburaya has just tapped Jeff Gomez and his Starlight Runner Entertainment along with LA based The Licensing Group to rebrand and reboot the Ultraman franchise across multiple platforms for markets outside Japan. This is massive news for a number of reasons, but THR has a great exclusive breakdown of what this all means as well.

U.S. transmedia producer Starlight Runner Entertainment has been tapped by Tokyo-based Tsuburaya Productions to build out the Ultraman mythology for the digital age outside of Japan, to include a possible live action streaming TV series. The original live action Ultra Q and Ultramanseries that launched in 1966 featured a high-tech police force and their silver superhero Ultraman battling to save the Earth from invading aliens and giant monsters.

Dozens of sequel TV series, movies, video games and other spinoff content followed, including recent movies like Ultraman X the Movie in 2016, Ultraman Orb the Movie last year and Ultraman Geed the Movie in 2018, the 29th installment of the franchise.

As Tsuburaya looks to restore Ultraman’s profile outside Japan, Starlight Runner will team with The Licensing Group to reboot the superhero property across multiple platforms, with story-driven licensing and merchandising programs for the U.S. and international markets.

The Ultraman licensing program will be supported by new content distributed on cable, streaming and SVOD platforms. “Ultraman is one of my greatest childhood heroes. We’re honored to be embarking on this mission to bring this family of characters back to the world stage,” Starlight Runner CEO Jeff Gomez said in a statement.

So, how exciting is this? Seeing one of the oldest and most beloved Tokusatsu franchises in the world, stepping into the modern day in an entirely new fashion. SHare your thoughts on the subject by visiting our discussion thread on the topic, just click “Discuss on the TokuNation Forums” at the bottom of this post.

under Ultraman

Netflix is currently expanding it’s library of anime, and among those titles announced was an anime adaptation based on the currently on-going Ultraman Manga written by Eiichi Shimizu, and our first trailer for this 3DCGI production was released just today

In the initial announcement, the Netflix Ultraman Anime was announced for a worldwide simultaneous release scheduled for April 1st 2019, though whether or not this will include subtitles for internationals remains to be seen.

The Ultraman Manga acts as a sequel to the original Ultraman taking place several years after the fact. In it, Shin Hayate’s son Shinjiro battles monsters as the new Ultraman.

In the meantime, you can watch the trailer in the box below and be sure to hit the jump and let us know what you think about this exciting new outing for Ultraman!

under General Tokusatsu News, TokuNation, TokuNation Spotlights, Ultraman

“Reddo Fight!”

In 1972, Tsuburaya Productions commissioned a new spin-off from their popular Ultra Series. Curious, quirky, and quite violent, Redman joined the Nippon TV Ohayo! Kodomo variety show.  Serialized in 138 5-minute episodes, Redman faced off against countless Kaiju from across the various Ultra series which had aired by this time. Mercilessly, Redman would dispatch these Kaiju with little to no context outside of what magazine text stories and interviews could provide.

Flash forward to 2018, the superstar creative team of Matt Frank & Goncalo Lopes have resurrected this red warrior for a brand new series of Graphic Novels. The first of which, Redman: The Kaiju Hunter Volume 1, was recently released in July. Taking this obscure but classic character and helping to re-imagine his backstory as so much more than it was previously, Frank & Lopes have crafted a modern classic.

Here at TokuNation we were fortunate enough to be provided a promotional copy of Volume 1 for review.  Click “Discuss on the TokuNation Forums” at the bottom of this post and you can read our full review of Redman: The Kaiju Hunter! Let us know what you think of the series if you’ve had a chance to read it as well!

under Ultraman

In case you were let down by the S.H.Figuarts version of the Manga Ultraman character, Bandai may have an alternative for you with the recently revealed Figure-Rise Standard Ultraman B-Type model kit.

For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the Figure-Rise Standard series: it’s a line of model kits that you build and sticker yourself ala Gundam or Minipla. The Figure-Rise Standard kits covers characters that are outside of the Gundam franchise, in the past we’ve seen a handful of Kamen Riders and Dragon Ball characters done up in this line. Figure Rise Standard Ultraman B Type is 1/12 scale so it shouldn’t look too badly when standing next to your S.H.Figuarts collection.

Accessories with this kit will include optional hand parts, effect parts, a big cannon, and an LED light that can switch from blue to red. All of this can be yours for 4500 yen and will see a release in November 2018.

under Ultraman

Rejoice Ultra fans!

Today is a landmark day in tokusatsu history as Tsuburaya Productions Co. Ltd announced their victory in US courts against UM Corporation (aka Chaiyo) for the international rights to the first six instalments in the Ultra Series. That’s right everyone, it’s been a long battle but Ultra Q, Ultraman, Ultra Seven, Return of Ultraman, Ultraman Ace and Ultraman Taro are finally home.

For those unaware the international rights for these six series have been in question for several years, after Chaiyo Productions founder Sompote Saengduenchai claimed that in 1976 Eiji Tsuburaya‘s son Noboru (who died in 1995) had provided him with a contract giving him rights to everything related to Ultraman outside Japanese territories, in exchange for a monetary loan. The legitimacy of the document was extremely questionable, however Japanese and Thai courts accepted this contract as real and binding due to supposed appearance of Noboru Tsuburaya’s hanko (signature stamp) in the document.

Headway was finally made November last year when a Californian jury deemed the document to be a fake and ruled in favour of Tsuburaya, but it isn’t until today that we have confirmation that the company’s long ordeal is finally over.

So what does this mean for the series in question? Will they be joining the rest of the Ultraman backcatalogue on Crunchyroll? New home releases with better quality masters? Who knows, but with Tsuburaya continuously looking to promote Ultraman on a worldwide scale we’ll find out soon enough.

 

under Ultraman

Even though the line has since moved on to both Ultraseven and The Return of Ultraman, Tamashii Nations continue to show their love to the original 1966 Ultraman series with the reveal of S.H. Figuarts Antlar! First appearing in episode 06 of the series, this insectoid monster terrorised the ancient civilisation of Baraji. Ultraman was able to put a stop to its rampages, thanks to the Stone of Baraji – an artefact left to them by Ultraman Noa many years ago.

S.H. Figuarts Antlar is a Tamashii web exclusive due for release September, priced at 7560 yen. It will come packaged with a burrow hole effect part that the top half of the figure can be connected to.

Will Antlar be joining your kaiju collection? Check out the images and let us know after the jump!

under Conventions, Other Conventions, Ultraman

After a rousing success in international print sales, numerous S.H.Figuarts, high end 1/6 scale figures, statues, busts, & other collectibles, the last barrier left to conquer for Eeichi Shimizu’s ULTRAMAN manga is of course, for it to be adapted to anime!

Headed our way in 2019 will be a full anime adaptation of the long running ULTRAMAN manga! A countdown had been ticking down on the series official website, without much further information until now. As more information about this series is revealed, such as the animation staff and voice cast, we’ll be sure to keep you up to date. If you’re unfamiliar with the ULTRAMAN Manga, here’s a handy summary of the plot from the series US publisher Viz:

Decades ago, a being known as the Giant of Light joined Shin Hayata of the Scientific Special Search Party to save Earth from an invasion of terrifying monsters known as Kaiju. Now, many years later, those dark days are fading into memory, and the world is at peace. But in the shadows a new threat is growing, a danger that can only be faced by a new kind of hero – a new kind of Ultraman…

Shinjiro is an ordinary teenager, but his father is the legendary Shin Hayata. When he learns that his father passed on the “Ultraman Factor” to him, and that he possesses incredible powers, nothing will ever be the same again.

under TokuNation, TokuNation Site Updates, TokuNation Spotlights, Ultraman

It’s time once again to check out a giant sized creature of epic proportions in another Ultraman S.H. Figuarts gallery! Dating back to the original TV series, episode 26 to be exact, is the immense creature Gomora! Though we’ve seen examples of this species many times since it’s debut, the most memorable for many is still the original.

S.H. Figuarts Gomora is a pretty beefy figure when you get right down to it. A beast fit to fight your Ultramen figures. Gomora lacks some of the better articulation we’ve come to expect with Kaiju figuarts, but does make up for things with his wonderfully segmented tail. Pair him up with your S.H. Figuarts Ultraman, or in my case the old Ultra-Act V2, and you can see just why Kaiju figuarts continue to go strong. He even includes some special accessories to replicate his severed tail and horn from his battle with Ultraman!

We’ve attached the full 70 image gallery to this post but you can also check out our full length review of S.H. Figuarts Gomora by clicking “Discuss on the TokuNation Forums” at the bottom of this post. Next time we’ll be back to “Start our mission” with a brand new gallery from Kamen Rider Drive!

under Kamen Rider, Ultraman

We’ve seen both on display recently at the Tamashii Nations Akiba showroom as well as the Tamashii Nations World Tour. Now both of these new figures are slated for actual release! Thanks to a handful of new magazine scans we can confirm both.

S.H. Figuarts kamen Rider Drive Type Special, Drives unique movie from from Surprise Future, is set for release in November. Type Special will be a Tamashii Web Exclusive and retail for 6264 yen.

S.H. Figuarts Dada or as he was originally known Agent #271, is an infamously weird villain from the original Ultraman TV series. While not as prolific as Baltan this Kaiju is definitely looking good as Bandai continues their productive line of Kaiju figuarts. Dada will be released in November for 7344 yen.