ULTRAMAN Volume 1 Review

Ultraman is one of the most popular TV/toy properties in Japan right now. Since its debut in 1966, it has remained consistently a hit over there. The actual quality of the shows has waned in recent years, but that's an article for another day. Interestingly, there hasn't been that many manga for the series. (Or at least, some we can find out about!) That's part of the reason why ULTRAMAN was highly anticipated. After being out for four years in Japan, it has surprisingly been licensed over here. Volume 1 nicely establishes the story and provides plenty of references to the original series while being something intriguing for new fans.

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.

What I found most appealing about the story is that it places itself in continuity after the original series. The intro was great, giving us a rather intriguing scenario: a future where Ultraman is only a memory. The Science Patrol museum was a lot of fun, showcasing Ultraman's final fight with Zetton in figure form. Interestingly, we have Hayata straight from the original show. It's really cool how it looks like he'll be an ongoing character. Then we have Ide also. If you're a fan of the 1966 series, there's a lot to like here. The beginning introduces us to Shinjiro, our main character in child form. There's a nice slow buildup of intrigue as we see he has certain abilities. This leads us to Hayata himself revealing to Ide that he too has powers. "The Ultraman Factor" the manga is calling it. It's quite fascinating, though explained rather quickly. Hopefully in the next volume it'll go into that a bit more.

In modern day the story really heats up, and also where we find at least one negative. Shinjiro might have been a happy kid back then, but here the writer (Eiichi Shimizu) goes out of his way to make him the stereotypical high school student. I suppose with not comprehending his powers it could be understandable. Still, it was grating to get through some of those school scenes. He seems to pick up later on when he's given the Ultraman armor. The pacing is very good. The slow unveiling to the antagonist is great. Is that Ultraman? Why does he have a center hole like him? That's why when Hayata says "That's NOT Ultraman" the reader is extra intrigued. So then who is he?

The answer to this day is still one of the coolest scenes in the first volume. This alien revealing himself to be Bemular changes things quite a bit. Longtime Ultraman watchers will remember Bemular to be the very first monster Ultraman fought. This adds a mystery element to the story: has this monster transformed into an alien? Is this a new Bemular? His dialogue is a bit confusing when he says, "My name is Bemular...and I'm your very first enemy!" Is he referring to the fact that he was Ultraman's first foe? Or that he's the first to come? It seems like the latter, so it should be interesting to see how this Bemular connects to the original.

The art by Tomohiro Shimoguchi is definitely very good, even great. The Ultraman armor looks really well done. Bemular however deserves even greater recognition. The art succeeds at making him appear mysterious and ominous. The fight in the climax between them was fantastic and if that's any indication we have many more incredible fight scenes to look forward to. The ending leaves us with a nice cliffhanger, introducing Alien Z-Ton to the mix. These guys have been a fixture in Ultraman since the original show, so it's a really neat ending. Plus, the art nails the design perfectly.

Overall, ULTRAMAN starts out strong. The writing is very good. It's obvious that both the writer and artist care about the source material. It is a must-read for longtime fans. It connects in a fascinating way to the first TV series and continues the story of Hayata, arguably the best Ultraman human host. Shinjiro I'm more mixed on as the protagonist, but it's only the first volume so we'll see where character development takes him. Bemular is firmly established as a great antagonist. Combine that with an intriguing cliffhanger and you have a reader greatly anticipating the next installment.

4.5/5

Ultraman Manga: Chapter One Review

Believe it or not, Ultraman is a bigger thing right now in Japan than Godzilla. We just had a film released last year and on top of that the US got an official release of Ultra7. This guy predates Power Rangers by over 20 years, first making landfall in 1966. Since then, the 'Light Giant' has had over 20 TV shows and over 20 movies! Surprisingly, as far as I can tell, there haven't really been much manga. Godzilla has quite a few, but I've never seen an Ultra one. Recently, there has been a brand new manga that is, get this, set after the Original Series. There's not too much action in Chapter One, rather it sets up a few things. It's definitely something fans (especially those whom have seen the Original Series in its entirety) can enjoy.

Set 20 years after Zetton was destroyed and Utraman left for Nebula M78, the story follows Shin, son of Hayata. (The human host of the original Ultraman.) This kid likes the hero a lot, even having a little action figure of him. He's a pretty happy kid, then one day he falls off a platform. But get this...he isn't even scratched. Turns out this kid has the Ultraman Gene, and he's going to need it since an alien invasion is on the rise. First off, I think it's great that the story builds off of the Original Series. It could have gone the route of making a whole new Ultraman with whole new characters, that's the route people would expect it to take. But nope, here we have Hayata, Ito, references to the past...all that good stuff. This first chapter mainly focuses on Hayata and Ito. It has some interesting stuff, we see that Hayata despite no longer being a host for Ultraman has the gene. And he's passed it down to his son. Ito is also aware that he was the Ultraman, and he reveals the others did too, which is quite intriguing. But the action really heats up when Ito shows him a clip of something destroying an aircraft.

This first chapter doesn't try to be epic with big explosions. It sets up the story, showing us what the Ultraman gene is and slowly introducing us to Shin. It also does a nice, subtle job of establishing the incoming threat. Non-watchers of the Original Series won't enjoy it as much, cause there are plenty of references, especially to that last episode  (It's nice to see how well this manga connects to it, from the Zetton vs. Ultraman display to a photograph of the whole Science Patrol, there's a lot to like.) The art is pretty standard. I won't call it average because it hasn't gotten a chance to show how it can do Ultraman and fights. I will say that the opening colorized pages were truly cool. The new Ultraman design is what you get when you combine the classic look with a Gundam and Iron Man. In short, it looks like a very high tech futuristic version. It may look a little too 'out there,' but I'm always open to new takes, it'll be interesting to see it in action. There's a 12 year time skip later. We see Shin as a teen now, fully aware of his powers. So far he isn't anything special, but we've only gotten a few pages of him, so I'll reserve judgment until I read a few more chapters.

Overall, the Ultraman manga is off to a pretty good start. I love how it's part of the Original Show's continuity, using its characters to build a story. I'm indifferent on Shin so far, we'll see how he does in the next few chapters. We also get the hint that an alien invasion is on the way. Ultra fans, especially watchers of the 66 series, should check this out.

4/5