Ultraman 80 (1980–1981) User Reviews

Ultraman 80!

[BandSAboutMovies · 7/10 · 13 October 2021]

Mill Creek has been putting out some truly astounding Ultraman collections as of late and man, they look incredible on the shelf. Their latest set is Ultraman 80, the ninth show in the series and the last Ultraman show for 16 years.

After the 1979-80 animated series The Ultraman, Ultraman 80 returns to the Showa continuity, taking place after 5 years after Ultraman Leo. Takeshi Yamato, the new science teacher, is living a double life as a member of the elite UGM (Utility Government Members), an earth defense organization. He's also the 50 meter tall Ultraman 80.

Well, at least for the first 13 episodes, when he joins the UGM full-time. Over the fifty episodes, the team fights kaiju including Crescent, Gikogilar, Zandrias, Alien Bam, Devilon, Robo-Fo, Delusion Ultraseven and so many more.

While not as well-known as other Ultraman shows, there are some interesting ideas here, such as the previously mentioned Delusion Ultraseven, which is created when a young child is attacked by a biker gang and uses his Ultraseven toy and plenty of rage to create an evil form of the hero that Ultraman 80 must fight.

There's even a great ending when the UGM forces our hero and the alien princess who joins the team to stay out of the final battle, just to prove that humanity can defend its own planet. And while the gimmick of a kid creating or finding a new monster every show may get a little repetitive, you're really coming here to see Ultraman 80 beat up all manner of kaiju, right?

Mill Creek has really put together a great looking set, complete with an episode guide that helps you learn who each monster is. I'm always amazed that I can now own full series of Ultraman, as I was so hungry for new episodes as a kid. The world really is an amazing place and this set is pretty great, too.

Good lessons learned...

[willzilla-91448 · 8/10 · 13 January 2022]

Very good series for Adults and children alike. Cool series. I actually kept humming the theme song many times after watching this series.

Great quality and must have in any Ultraman collection.

One of the Ultra brothers masquerades as a school teacher

[ebiros2 · 5/10 · 5 August 2012]

After Ultraman Leo returned home, and after 5 years of hiatus new Ultraman arrives on Earth.

Takeshi Yamato is one of the Ultra brother's from M78 nebula, masquerading as a school teacher. He feels that the appearance of monsters is due to the build up of negative energy from the emotions of children, and best way to reverse this trend is to become a school teacher. He's also recruited into UGM - a special force formed to fight monsters. Every week Takeshi, and Ultraman 80 fights the tyranny of the newly appearing monsters for the betterment of the planet.

The series lacked central character or a plot that was endearing enough to capture the audience. This series had relatively low ratings, and after this series, for 16 years, a new Ultraman series was not created. One of the reason I attribute to this is that the Ultraman 80 didn't look very cool, or much like a hero. His appearance is almost comical, and fails to assert the strength a super hero should embody.

The episodes, the characters, directing, special effects, all were mediocre even by '70s Ultraman standards. Many new talents were recruited to create this series, and director Noriaki Yuasa and staff went through much brainstorming sessions to flesh out the new Ultraman for the '80s, but ultimately fell short on all fronts on their efforts. This is a testament to the talent of the staff that worked on the earlier Ultraman series, as there were many endearing characters, episodes, and monsters that still holds their place today. But not all were Yuasa and his staff's fault, as the production and the TV station demanded this Ultraman series to be returned to its original format of the hero only working to battle the monster, and doing nothing else.

One thing good that can be said about these earlier Ultraman series is that the heroes tried to be a role model for the young viewers. This Ultraman was especially intent on being a role model for the youth, and scores high in this regards.

Many things changed in this series while the series progressed, and as a result, the series lacks a binding force that holds it together. Eri Ishida was putting in good performance but was eliminated from the plot after the 15th episode.

It's too bad that Tsuburaya production couldn't make a stellar series out of this one. All the negatives seemed to have converged in this Ultraman series, and while it wasn't bad, it didn't become the master piece that it could have been.