- Ultra Q
infobox television
show_name = Ultra Q
format = Horror,science fiction ,supernatural
runtime = 24 minutes (per episode)
country =Japan
network = TBS
num_episodes = 28
creator =Tsuburaya Productions
starring =Kenji Sahara ,Yasuhiko Saijou ,Hiroko Sakurai
first_aired =January 2 ,1966
last_aired =July 3 ,1966
followed_by = "Ultraman "|nihongo|"Ultra Q"|ウルトラQ (キュー)|Urutora Kyū is atokusatsu SF/kaiju series made in the tradition ofToho 's manytokusatsu sci-fi/horror films.Produced in black and white by
Tokyo Broadcasting System /Tsuburaya Productions , this is actually the first of the long-runningUltra Series , and was broadcast onTokyo Broadcasting System fromJanuary 2 toJuly 3 ,1966 (the final episode was preempted untilDecember 14 ,1967 ), with a total of 28 episodes. This series was followed a week later by the more popular "Ultraman ", the secondUltra Series ."Ultra Q" can be described as a half-hour
Toho kaiju film. Although series creatorEiji Tsuburaya intended this series to be more like "The Twilight Zone" and focus less on the monsters, TBS convinced Eiji to add more monsters onto the show, asGodzilla andGamera were very popular at the time (the first "Kaiju Boom " was already born). This series predates "The X-Files ", another (American) show with continuing characters who investigate strangesupernatural phenomena, be it giant monsters, aliens, ghosts, and other assorted calamities.Regarding the monsters, some of them were modified versions of Toho movie monsters (since Eiji owned the costumes). They include
Godzilla (as "Gomesu " in Episode 1, "Defeat Gomesu!"),King Kong (as "Goro" in Episode 2, "Goro and Goro"), Manda (as "Mystic Dragon" in Episode 6, "Fly, Turtle!"),Baragon (as "Pagos " in Episode 18, "The Rainbow Egg"), Maguma (asTodola in Episode 27, "Flight 206 Vanishes"), and the Giant Octopus from "King Kong vs Godzilla " (1962) (as "Sudar " in Episode 23, "Rage in the South Seas").The original planned title of this project was "UNBALANCE", and was subsequently renamed "Ultra Q" (inspired by "Oba-Q", the nickname of the title character of the then-popular
anime series "Obake no Q-Taro ", and "Ultra C ", a popular term used for women's gymnastics during the1964 Summer Olympics , where a Russian gymnast created an extremely difficult maneuver called the "Ultra C "). The series was produced beforehand all through1965 (it went in production as far back as1964 ) and was broadcast at the beginning of the next year. At the time, this was the most expensive TV series inJapan .Characters
*Jun Manjoume ("Manjōme Jun") (played by
Kenji Sahara ): Aviator at Hosokawa Air Service and amateur SF writer.
*Yuriko Edogawa ("Edogawa Yuriko") (played byHiroko Sakurai ): Reporter for the "Daily News".
*Ippei Togawa ("Togawa Ippei") (played byYasuhiko Saijou ): Jun's aviation partner at Hosokawa.
*Professor Ichinotani ("Ichinotani-hakase") (played byUreo Egawa ): World renowned scientist, and occasional assistance to Jun, Yuriko and Ippei in times of crisis.
*News Desk Editor, Seki (played byYoshifumi Tajima ): Yuriko's boss and editor at the "Daily News".Monsters
Episodes
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