- Ultraman Tiga
United States dub
Ultraman Tiga was adapted for U.S. release by
4Kids Entertainment forFox 's FOX BOX Saturday morning programming (debut onSeptember 14 ,2002 ).The Americanized version is a self-parody of 4Kids' style of Americanization. It contains many dramatic changes often seen in other 4Kids acquisitions. The storyline was altered to comply with network television censorship standards and make it "kid-friendly" (fewer people die, plots are simplified, and the diabolical motivations of aliens are watered down). There is a lot more dialog and telepathic conversation to explain plot points that were originally implicit. There is also a lot more blatant humor. The Japanese Ultraman Tiga has a few subtle funny and charming moments. The Americanized version comes with frequent fart jokes, dialog that pokes fun of the original material and changes in character for some of the characters (Notable in this aspect is the transformation of Captain Iruma from a smart, level-headed individual into a complete airhead).
There is an entirely new theme song and all of the background music is new. The monsters seem enhanced with new sound effects, and the transformation sequence is spiced up. A minute or two of scenes are cut out, perhaps to make room for special new featurettes that highlight specific aspects of the show.
Ultraman Tiga's Multi, Power, and Sky types are known as Omni, Power, and Speed Modes, respectively. The Spark Lens is called the "Torch of Tiga", although the Region 1 DVD Release refers to it as the Spark Lance for the first DVD (soon afterwards, the translation becomes "Spark Lens" yet again. His laser weapons are called "luminizers", and Ultraman Tiga's Color Timer is referred to as his "biotic sensor."
Probably the most infamous of the Tiga incidents was in episode 22, where the Japanese dialog that was actually used was portrayed in this Americanized version of the series as an "Extraterrestrial Language" (one of many examples of the aforementioned poking fun of the original material).
Additionally, Captain Iruma was referred to as a "sir" instead of a "ma'am", perhaps in an attempt at being
politically correct . This caused somewhat of a problem within the addressing of a commanding officer whether that person is a male or a female.Of the 52 Episodes of Ultraman Tiga , only 26 were released dubbed, and the series quietly ended its run on the Fox Box. Villains such as Irudo and Evil Tiga who never got a chance to appear were spotlighted before some episodes, indicating that the entire series, or at least significantly more, was intended to be brought over.
The series would be released on DVD boxsets the following year, with Japanese-only audio, due to the negative reception of the English dub. No further titles were brought over.
In "", another 4Kids acquisition, there is an episode which "coincidentally" features an Ultraman reference. Because this reference appears in the Japanese version, it presents the possibility that Ultraman Tiga (only the third Ultra series to be shown in the U.S.) may or may not have been acquired and broadcast in order to explain the reference.
External links
* [http://www.m-78.jp/ Tsuburaya Productions - The Official Home of Ultraman (Japanese)]
* [http://www.japanhero.com/ Japan Hero - Webpage devoted to Japanese superheroes]
*http://www.ultrafaq.info -The Ultra [man] FAQ
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5k4DcDnjKqY the Ultraman Tiga game]
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