Today, Bandai Namco and Tsuburaya Productions announced that Bandai Namco is the master toy license holder for the Ultraman intellectual property in North America. The resulting license means Bandai Namco will be releasing a toy line in North America that will include action figures, playsets, role-play items, and plush items. The deal includes the upcoming Ultraman Netflix movie set to debut in 2024. Thanks to ToyBook.com for the heads up.
In celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Monster Rancher franchise, Koei Techmo will be collaborating with Bandai Namco games in order to produce Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher for Nintendo Switch consoles.
Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher will be a monster-raising simulator, in which you can take your Kaiju into weekly activities such as training, feeding, studying, and adventuring. There will be a tournament, and battle mode similar to other Monster Rancher titles, and the game will combine the base features of the first Monster Rancher and Monster Rancher 2, in addition, there’ll be a Monster Fusion system where players can take two Kaiju and combine them into something new and unique.
A psychical version of the game will be available in South-East Asia regions and translated into English, though, for those not keen on importing, the game will also be available digitally in the Nintendo eShop in North America. The game was slated for a release window of 2022, though no exact date was given at the time of this writing.
In the meantime, be sure to check out the trailer in the box below to view some of the game’s features in more depth down below:
The official Bandai Tamashii Nations website has been counting down to the milestone of 100 releases since the Ultra Series joined the S.H. Figuarts line, and thanks to the latest batch of magazine leaks we can see that the 100th figure will be none other than an S.H. Figuarts Shinkocchou Seihou Ultraman!
Much like the premium treatment Ultraman Tiga received last year, the original 1966 Ultra hero will arrive as part of Bandai’s “true bone carving” line. While the release date, price and materials used on the figure are still unconfirmed, we can see from the images that this Ultraman will come packaged with multiple hands as well as his Specium Beam and Ultra Slash attack effect parts!
We’ll bring you more information on this release as it comes!
July 10th will mark an extra special Ultraman Day this year as the iconic superhero franchise celebrates its 55th anniversary, and Shout! Factory TV and its premier tokusatsu channel TokuSHOUTsu have announced a full day streaming marathon to mark the occasion. The marathon will include 19 hand-picked episodes from nine different instalments from the franchise – Ultra Q, Ultraman, Ultraseven, Return of Ultraman, Ultraman Ace, Ultraman Leo, Ultraman Ginga, Ultraman X and Ultraman Orb. This will then culminate in the US streaming premiere of the movie Ultraman Zero: The Revenge of Belial.
But that’s not all! The Ultrathon will also include In Search Of An Ultraman! The Invasion From Another Space! – a newly produced featuring Ultraman fans from around the world. Guests include Kyle Anderson (Nerdist), Jason Narvy (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers), Linda Le (Vampy Bit Me), Mike Toole (“The Mike Toole Show” on Anime News Network), Lisa J (No Pink Spandex), Daniel Van Thomas (English voice of Ultraman Zero), Mach Dent (Vintage Henshin), Alyssa Fay (Daikaiju Legends), and Monster Island Buddies.
Ultraman Day: Ultrathon can be viewed across TokuSHOUTsu and Shout! Factory TV platforms: on TokuSHOUTsu.com and ShoutFactoryTV.com; TokuSHOUTsu’s Pluto TV, Twitch and THETA.tv channels; Shout! Factory TV’s Amazon Fire TV, Android, Apple TV, and Roku apps; and the following digital streaming platforms: IMDb TV, Local Now, Pluto TV, Redbox, Samsung TV Plus, Sling TV, STIRR, Twitch, Vizio and XUMO.
Following Ultrathon, Ultraman Zero: The Revenge of Belial and In Search of Ultraman! The Invasion from Another Space! will join the catalog of Ultraman content also available for streaming on demand across Shout! Factory TV platforms and on ShoutFactoryTV.com.
As well as showing up with a huge load of Kamen Rider reveals, Bandai Tamashii Nations had plenty to show off from the Ultraman during today’s Tamashii Nations figu @ HOME livestream event. These latest S.H. Figuarts reveals included:
With these reveals not only do we finally see all of Ultraman Z’s television forms in the S.H. Figuarts line, but also a welcome return of kaiju figures! While the majority of these figures naturally do not have release dates at this time, S.H. Figuarts Ultraman Leo will be up for preorder tomorrow! This is a general retail figure due for release in November, with a price of 6050 yen.
Check out images of all these fantastic figures after the jump!
Tamashii Nations 2020 is underway and it’s another good year for Ultraman. On display at the online event are a number of different S.H. Figuarts dioramas, primarily focusing on Ultraman Z, Ultra Galaxy Fight: The Absolute Conspiracy, Ultraman Zero, Ultraman Leo and initial six Ultra Brothers. Displays are made up of released, previously revealed and brand new reveals.
Ultraman Z:
Ultra Galaxy Fight: The Absolute Conspiracy
Ultraman Zero:
Ultraman:
Ultra Brothers
Ultraman Leo
Stay tuned to Tokunation for more Tamashii Nations 2020 reveals over the weekend!
The Shout! Factory digital platform TokuShoutSu has announced the first entries from the Ultraman franchise joining their streaming service!
Details from the press release are as follows-
Los Angeles – October 27, 2020 – Following an exclusive North American streaming acquisition from Mill Creek Entertainment and Indigo Entertainment earlier this year, Shout! Factory TV will release its first collection of films and series from Tsuburaya Productions’ iconic Ultraman library November 1 on both Shout! Factory TV platforms and Shout’s Tokusatsu channel TokuSHOUTsu™, available on Pluto TV.
The first offering from the beloved and renowned library will include five complete television series and two films spanning over 50 years of historic fandom, from the first of the Ultraman series, 1966’s Ultra Q, to the 2018 Ultraman Geed film. The full offering launching November 1 includes series Ultra Q, Ultraman, Ultraseven, Ultraman Orb and Ultraman Geed alongside films Ultraman Orb The Movie: Let Me Borrow the Power of Bonds! and Ultraman Geed The Movie: Connect the Wishes!
Classic Ultraman series Ultra Q, Ultraman and Ultraseven will also premiere on Shout! Factory TV and TokuSHOUTsu in high definition, newly available for Shout! Factory’s expanding streaming audience.
All Ultraman content will be available for streaming on demand across Shout! Factory TV platforms, on ShoutFactoryTV.com; Shout! Factory TV’s Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, and Android apps; and on various Shout! Factory TV branded channels including Tubi, Amazon Prime Channels, and the Roku Channel.
Ultraman content can also be seen on TokuSHOUTsu, a linear channel (#848), in the Gaming + Anime section of Pluto TV. Pluto TV can be found on all leading digital streaming devices and services, including Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, Google Chromecast and more, as well as major smart TVs and game consoles.
The classic Ultraman live-action television series of the 1960s and 70s, produced by Tsuburaya Productions, established new heights of quality adventure and special effects-driven entertainment and built a worldwide audience for the property. The popularity of Ultraman—and the aliens and monsters—has enabled the series to persist to this day, generating over $50 million per year in toys and merchandise in Japan.
Shout! Factory TV plans a continued aggressive rollout of Ultraman properties on its channels in forthcoming months.
Film and Series Synopses
Ultra Q Series (1966)
It is a special-effects sci-fi drama depicting mysterious events which are encountered every time by three main characters who are Jun Manjome (Hoshikawa Airlines pilot), Ippei Togawa (Assistant pilot) and Yuriko Edogawa (Journalist and Photographer for Mainichi Shimpo.)Ultraman Series (1966-67)
Ultraman, an alien from Nebula M78 came to Earth chasing Bemular, a space monster that escaped from the Monster Graveyard. Accidently, he crashed with the Jet VTOL that Hayata was flying on. Ultraman merged his own life with Hayata’s in order to save him. Most of the time, Hayata fights monsters and aliens as a member of the Science Special Search Party (SSSP). But whenever in great danger, he will transform into our giant hero Ultraman. This is the true beginning of a world popular, long-running series.Ultraseven Series (1967-68)
It is a story of unrelenting efforts of the Ultra Guard, that defends Earth from alien invaders, and Ultraseven, a hero that helps human hand in hand with the Ultra Guard to fight. The story revolves around the confrontation between alien intelligent life forms which come to Earth with a clear intent to invade and the Terrestrial Defense Forces (TDF) which has been established to defend Earth from these menaces, in the midst of the “Age of Interstellar Wars” that is taking place among many stars in space as its background.Ultraman Orb Series (2016)
Naomi Yumeno (Miyabi Matsuura) has had the same strange dream since she was young: visions of a shining giant of light battling a giant monster. With her interest sparked by those dreams, she starts the paranormal phenomena tracking website called “Something Search People” with her friends Jetta Hayami (Naoto Takahashi) and Shin Matsudo (Hiroaki Nerio). One day the trio is on the tail of an unidentified mysterious animal suspected of causing strange meteorological activity. They ignore the warnings of Naomi’s uncle Ittetsu Shibukawa (Shingo Yanagisawa), an officer within the special investigation team VTL, and head towards the center of the strange weather. There they suddenly encounter the Wind Lord Monster, Maga-Basser! Naomi is blasted by the vicious winds but rescued by the vagabond, Gai Kuernai (Hideo Ishiguro). By using his Orb Ring to read the power of two predecessor Ultra Heroes, Gai is able to Fusion Up into a warrior of light from a distant galaxy, Ultraman Orb!Ultraman Orb The Movie: Let Me Borrow The Power Of Bonds! (2017)
A mysterious item is delivered to paranormal investigators SSP. SSP members Naomi, Jetta and Shin determine that it is a transformation device… the X Devizer that housed Ultraman X both during and after his merging with Xio agent Daichi Oozora (Kensuke Takahashi). Gai Kurenai (Hideo Ishiguro), the humanoid of Ultraman Orb returns from his wanderings to search for X… unaware that this is just the first sign of a new threat to the Earth. The villainous space witch Murnau – obsessed with beauty and collection – has allied with Ultraman Orb’s arch enemy Jugglus Juggler (Takaya Aoyagi), to use the Dark Ring she now possesses. The Dark Ring draws the most evil hearts in the universe and amplifies the owner’s abilities, giving Murnau the power to capture the three Ultra Warriors, Ultraman X, Ultraman Ginga and Ultraman Victory and transform them into jewels for her collection. Jugglus aids her for reasons of his own, while the evil Troops of Aliens of the Planetary Invasion Syndicate lurk sinisterly… Can Ultraman Orb rescue the New Generation Ultra Heroes and defeat Murnau who is aiming to turn the Earth into her own jewels? The battle to determine the future of the Earth now begins!Ultraman Geed Series (2017)
This is a story of a hero who inherits Ultraman Belial, the evil Ultraman’s genes. Despite suffering from repeating setbacks and despair of knowing the secret of his birth and cruel fate, he never loses sight of friendship and strong will to become a true hero. The story unfolds through the spiritual growth of the protagonist who seeks for the meaning of his own life and finds the place where he belongs, through fighting against evil and his own cursed destiny, to become a hero of justice: Ultraman Geed.Ultraman Geed The Movie: Connect The Wishes! (2018)
The Gigantic Mechanical Brain Gillvalis and the Galactron Army, intent on wiping out all intelligent lifeforms in the universe, close in on Earth. Riku Asakura heads for Okinawa, where he encounters Ail, who realizes that he is Ultraman and assigns him an important mission.
Stay tuned for further updates as the tokusatsu streaming library continues to grow!
Happy Ultraman Day Everyone!
In the continuing Ultra push for worldwide audiences, Shout! Factory has obtained the digital distribution rights for the Ultraman franchise!
Ultraman will begin airing on Shout!’s unique channel, TokuSHOUTsu beginning in November 2020. The exact Ultra series has not been confirmed at time of writing.
Per this agreement, Shout! Factory only obtains streaming rights to the Ultra franchise; physical media distribution will still be handled by Mill Creek Entertainment.
Stay tuned to TokuNation for further details on this Ultra event!
The people at Shout! Factory have teamed up with the minds at Pluto TV to create an exclusive new streaming channel for tokusatsu projects!
Titled TokoSHOUTsu this new platform will allow a variety of shows to viewers- including the legendary 1971 Kamen Rider series available for the first time in the US!
In addition, TokuSHOUTsu will produce ORIGINAL content- including a weekly series known as Let’s Talk Toku hosted by Squall Charlson that will feature Power Rangers alumni Jason Narvey in a guest spot for some episodes.
TokuSHOUTsu officially launches at 12AM Tuesday March 17 2020 and will be available on Channel 681 via Pluto TV- which can be accessed from a variety of streaming devices including Roku, Amazon Fire & Apple TV.
“Actually. I’m Ultraman.”
In a world where the giant of light Ultraman, left Earth years ago, the SSSP has found a new way to defend their world. Relying on individuals who possess the Ultraman Factor, and equipping them with suits of armor, the heroes of Earth fight back Kaiju! But in the case of Dan Moroboshi, he has no Ultraman Factor. Lucky for him, SSSP has developed a next generation Ultraman suit specifically for those who don’t possess these abilities. The Ultraman Suit Ver. 7 not bestows non-powered individuals with the ability to fight Kaiju, but it can be upgraded after repeated combat. Evolving and adapting to any situation, the Seven Suit is a force to be reckoned with!
The Ultraman Suit Ver 7 is a gorgeous entry in Tamashii Nations Ultraman line of S.H. Figuarts. Recreating the Seven Suit as it appears in the Netflix ULTRAMAN anime, this figure implements some dynamic and interesting new choices for articulation we don’t often see. That being said, it makes for a figure with tons of expressive personality. Armed with his Throwing Knife & Specium Sword and a sweeping fiery effect part for it, Dan Moroboshi is ready to defend the Earth!
Check out our full 60+ image gallery of the Seven Suit after the jump! Just click “Discuss on the TokuNation Forums” at the bottom of this post to see the full gallery & review. Next time we visit a hero of the Showa era with Ultraman Taro!