While Ultraman is primarily a Japanese franchise, Tsuburaya Productions have always attempted to establish an international foothold for the brand as early back as 1966. While 2020 has shown us an organized front for Ultraman outside of Japan, there were numerous attempts to not only market Ultraman to foreign markets, but also create new TV shows and characters for said markets. It’s an interesting chapter in the franchise’s history with some of the most unique monsters in all of Ultra. For Ulfanfes, I think it’s time we take a look at these guys, as a way to pay tribute to Ultraman‘s current expansion.
GREEN SHOCKS
The first foreign production we’ll be taking a look at will be the movie Ultraman: The Adventure Begins, a Tsuburaya-Hanna-Barbera co-production that was meant to kick off an animated TV spinoff in the late 1980’s. Sadly, the film flopped at the box-office, releasing alongside classic 80’s films such as The Princess Bride and Hellraiser. It’s a shame, since The Adventure Begins is an incredibly fun little movie, featuring a trio of Ultras (Ultramen Scott and Chuck and Ultrawoman Beth) chasing a group of monsters from Planet Sorkin to Earth.
Greenshocks here is the first Sorkin monster we see, emerging from a swamp in Louisiana. Greenshocks is a pretty good looking plant monster, and the medium of animation helps make the creature look pretty convincing. The flower design he’s got is really cool, and I like how it holds a pool of acid inside, and the face under it helps give off an aura of menace as opposed to if he was just a regular, walking flower.
GARUBALLADE
Our second Sorkin beast, Garuballade is born when a Sorkin meteorite is fished out of the San Francisco Bay and creates itself a body using scrap metal. It’s a pretty cool mechanical dinosaur looking creature, and something I could easily see showing up in a live-action show. I really like how the meteorite is the “head”, with the real head being on Garuballade’s chest, totally feels like a design that would disguise the suit actor if he had one.
We also see Garuballade’s “true” form, which is apparently named “Eame”. Not sure why it’s given a different name than the main body, but it’s a cool design, and the face he’s got is very reminiscent of Green Shocks, fitting considering they came from the same world.
ZOON
Unlike our previous monsters seen in the film, Zoon here is a friendly monster and not interested in causing havoc after he’s spotted at a Utah ski resort. Unfortunately, thanks to his fellow Sorkin monsters, the army shows up to kill the poor thing, but Zoon is saved by Ultraman Chuck and is sent off by the trio of Ultras to another planet where he can live in peace.
Zoon’s a fun little guy. I always like the friendly monsters we see in Ultra and Zoon feels like he could fit in well with guys like Pigmon or Kanegon. The design is a fun one, akin to a bipedal hippo-dinosaur with insect wings, and much like Garuballade, I can easily see this guy showing up in a live-action show.
KING MYRA
The final monster we see in the film, King Myra’s meteorite is first found in New Mexico and is taken to the Institute of Space Biology in New York City where it hatches into this adorable Pokemon-esque critter named Wylon by Institute member Susan. Wylon seems pretty harmless at first, but soon begins growing, and mutating every 90 minutes, and suddenly, he doesn’t seem so cute anymore.
Wylon soon mutates into the gigantic King Myra, a monster that dwarfs the heroic trio of Ultras and threatens to increase to even bigger sizes unless he’s stopped.
King Myra is a fitting final opponent for the film, and honestly, I think he’s a character that could easily join the ranks of guys like Zetton or Pandon as final bosses go. I also like how he starts off small and harmless before showing his true colors. Since his segment happens after Zoon’s, it serves as a great contrast. I also can’t help but wonder if the general concept of King Myra and how he evolves from such a cute critter was Tsuburaya taking inspiration from Gremlins, seeing how that was released only three years before The Adventure Begins.
The design of King Myra, a wonderful, demonic beast covered in snake heads and multiple limbs was designed by famed Keita Amemiya, the famous character designer who had contributed to such notable tokusatsu works as Choujin Sentai Jetman, Kamen Rider Black, Zeiram, Tekkouki Mikazuki and of course, created the popular Garo series. This film was one of Amemiya’s only Ultraman related work so far, alongside Ultraman vs. Kamen Rider, which is a bit of a shame, but he made it count with King Myra in my book. Amemiya supposedly got the job after applying for the unmade film Ultra Q-Monster Concerto. It’s a shame Concerto didn’t pan out, but I’m super thankful Amemiya was able to lend his design sensibility to the series.
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