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 a tokusatsu SF/kaiju series made in the tradition of Toho's many tokusatsu sci-fi/horror films.

Produced in black and white by Tokyo Broadcasting System/Tsuburaya Productions, this is actually the first of the long-running Ultra Series, and was broadcast on Tokyo Broadcasting System from January 2 to July 3, 1966 (the final episode was preempted until December 14, 1967), with a total of 28 episodes. This series was followed a week later by the more popular "Ultraman", the second Ultra Series.

"Ultra Q" can be described as a half-hour Toho kaiju film. Although series creator Eiji 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, as Godzilla and Gamera 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 strange supernatural 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 (as Todola 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 the 1964 Summer Olympics, where a Russian gymnast created an extremely difficult maneuver called the "Ultra C"). The series was produced beforehand all through 1965 (it went in production as far back as 1964) and was broadcast at the beginning of the next year. At the time, this was the most expensive TV series in Japan.

Characters

*Jun Manjoume ("Manjōme Jun") (played by Kenji Sahara): Aviator at Hosokawa Air Service and amateur SF writer.
*Yuriko Edogawa ("Edogawa Yuriko") (played by Hiroko Sakurai): Reporter for the "Daily News".
*Ippei Togawa ("Togawa Ippei") (played by Yasuhiko Saijou): Jun's aviation partner at Hosokawa.
*Professor Ichinotani ("Ichinotani-hakase") (played by Ureo Egawa): World renowned scientist, and occasional assistance to Jun, Yuriko and Ippei in times of crisis.
*News Desk Editor, Seki (played by Yoshifumi Tajima): Yuriko's boss and editor at the "Daily News".

Monsters

Episodes

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