Interest
1st Ultra Show Returns 47 Years Later in Neo Ultra Q
posted on by Egan Loo
Ultra Q, the live-action special-effects (tokusatsu) television series that spawned the Ultra/Ultraman franchise, is returning 47 years later for a 12-episode "second season" called Neo Ultra Q next year. Gakuryū Ishii, Yū Irie, and other film directors are helming the episodes on the WOWOW cable and satellite channel.
In addition, the second and third Ultra television series — Ultraman and Ultra Seven — will have high-definition remastered editions that will run on WOWOW this August and winter, respectively. Neo Ultra Q and the high-definition television runs of Ultraman and Ultra Seven are part of the "Tsuburaya Productions x WOWOW's Three Great Ultra Projects." WOWOW already ran a high-definition remaster of Ultra Q in 2011.
The 1966 science-fiction series Ultra Q was the brainchild of Tsuburaya Productions founder Eiji Tsuburaya, a special-effects director on the first Godzilla film and other classics. Tsuburaya has been called the "Father of Japanese Cinema Special Effects" and the "God of Special Effects." As Tsuburaya Productions' first in-house creation, Ultra Q featured 28 largely standalone episodes in the spirit of The Twilight Zone from America and other titles.
Sources: Sports Hochi, Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web
Update: More information added.
Image © Tsuburaya Productions Co., Ltd.
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