To commemorate the 45th anniversary of the "Ultraman" series anime "The Ultraman" and the special effects drama "Ultraman 80," it has been announced that the first Blu-ray Disc (BD) box set will be released. The Blu-ray box for "The Ultraman" will be released on November 22nd, and the Blu-ray box for "Ultraman 80" will be released on March 19th, 2025.
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"The Ultraman" was the first TV anime in the "Ultraman" series, and was broadcast from April 1979 to March 1980. It was produced by a stellar team, with Tsuneo Ninomiya in charge of animation supervision and character design, and Kunio Okawara and Shoji Kawamori in charge of mechanical design. Kei Toyama played the main character, Choichiro Hikari, and Masayuki Ibu (later known as Masato Ibu) was the voice of Ultraman Joneus after transformation. Isao Sasaki sang the theme song.
The Blu-ray box set of "The Ultraman" will feature all 50 episodes remastered in HD. Bonus footage will include "The Ultraman To the Ultra Star!!," a feature-length animated film that is a new 90-minute version of the four-part final episode "To the Ultra Star!!," which was originally broadcast in parts over a period of about a month. Shimamoto Sumi, who voiced Hoshikawa Mutsumi, will provide new narration for the feature-length animated film version. Bonus footage will include interviews with the cast and staff, as well as the opening and ending footage without subtitles. The price is 41,800 yen.
"Ultraman 80" was the last TV series of the Showa era, broadcast from 1980 to 1981. The main character, Takeshi Yagi (played by Hatsunori Hasegawa), is a member of the UGM defense team and also a junior high school teacher, which drew attention as a work that reflected the social climate of the "school drama" boom at the time.
The Blu-ray box set for "Ultraman 80" will also feature HD remastering of all 50 episodes. Until now, only the first episode of the series had been included in the Blu-ray Select series "First Episode Edition," but this time all 50 episodes will be included in HD remastering for the first time. Bonus footage will include rare interviews and behind-the-scenes footage from the 30th anniversary DVD Memorial Box (now out of stock), as well as re-recordings of 30th anniversary event footage. It will also include a collection of special interviews with the cast and staff of "Ultraman 80" which were broadcast on the cable TV program "Ultra Information Bureau." The price is 41,800 yen.