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Ultraman Tiga is the 12th entry in the Ultra Series, airing from September 7th to August 30th, 1996-1997. It was the first Ultra Series broadcast in Japan since 1980's Ultraman 80, it revolutionized the franchise, not to mention the great effect it had on Tokusatsu outside of Tsuburaya.
Synopsis
Ultraman Tiga was the giant of light that protected the ancient human civilisation 30 million years ago. After the human civilisation perished, Tiga become a stone statue. In the present times, Tiga was resurrected by merging with pilot Daigo from GUTS defense team, who also possess Ultra DNA in his body. At the same time, the 21st century Earth is facing threats of invaders from space and other dimensions.
Can Daigo and GUTS protect humankind from those invaders and saving Earth from destruction?
Characters
GUTS
TPC
- Souichiro Sawai
- Masayuki Nahara: A gentle man of principle who avoids confrontation. He likes to put the breaks on reckless military buildups.
- Tetsuji Yoshioka: He is responsible for the enforcement arm of TPC. A war hawk, but also an old friend of pacifist Sawai. Often disagrees with Nahara, but never acts irrationally. A former submariner. He likes to carry and use a traditional folding Japanese fan.
- Mayumi Shinjoh
- Naban Yao: A professor and the founder of Maxima Overdrive, which can harness the power of light. A scientist at heart, he continues to pursue the dreams of his childhood. It takes him 20 years to turn his dream of creating the greatest ship ever into a reality (in the form of the Artdessei). In a nice touch, names his test vehicle the Snow White.
- Reiko Kashimura: The head of TPC's "Ride Mecha" R and D. She made several appearances in the first half of the series. She participates in the analysis of Yuzare's time capsule and the modification of GUTS mecha to combat. She also makes an appearance in Ultraman Dyna.
- Yuuji Tango: An army scientist from TPC's Life Sciences Research division. He is small at heart but full of pride. He spends time analyzing the remains of the Tiga statues. His insecurities eventually lead him to trouble.
- Omi Yanase
- Shin Hayate
Other
- Keigo Masaki
- Yuzare
- Michiru Ezaki
- Makio Kirino
- Tomoki Miura: Iruma's only son. He lives with his grandmother and is a computer genius that surpasses even Yazumi.
Appearances
Ultras
- Ultraman Tiga
- Multi Type
- Power Type
- Sky Type
- Glitter Tiga
- Evil Tiga
- Ultraman
Kaiju & Seijin
- Golza
- Golza (Powered)
- Melba
- Gakuma
- Gakuma α
- Gakuma β
- Kyrieloid
- Kyrie People
- Kyrieloid II
- Power Type Analogue
- Sky Type Analogue
- Ligatron
- Sealizar
- Gazort
- Critters
- Gazort II
- Alien Reguran
- Gilanbo
- Different Dimension Witch
- Saki
- Makeena
- Gagi
- Gagi II
- Evolu
- Illusion Evolu
- Leilons
- Alien Raybeak
- Alien Raybeak Leader
- Alien Raybeak Followers
- Virtual Alien Raybeak II
- Alien Muzan
- Humanoid Form
- Monster Form
- Virtual Alien Muzan II
- Rucia and Zara
- Sakunaoni
- Alien Standel
- Dark Tribe
- Light Tribe
- Gobnu
- Vaha
- Giga
- Ogma
- Enomena
- Deban
- Magnia
- Shining Meteorite
- Magnia Parasites
- Dinosauroid
- Naga
- Weaponizer
- Weaponizer 1
- Weaponizer 2
- Litomalus
- Silvergon
- Shadow
- Obikoboushi
- Jobarieh
- Maya Cruz
- Alien Natarn
- King Molerat
- Morat
- Bizaamo
- The Life Form of Planet Bizaamo
- Shiela
- Kyuranos
- Desimonia
- Small Desimonia
- Alien Desimo
- Guwam
- Goldras
- Alien Manon
- Dethmon
- Faldon
- Galra
- Bakugon
- Iludo
- Faivas
- Karen E-90
- Geozark
- Guarde
- Gijera
- Nook and Terra
- Metamorga
- Menjura
- Charija
- Yanakargi
- Zoiger
- Gatanothor
Films
- Ultraman Tiga: The Final Odyssey: The story is set two years after the final episode.
- Ultraman Tiga Gaiden: Revival of the Ancient Giant: A direct-to-video special set many years after the end of the series (Year 2038, 21 years after the events of Ultraman Dyna).
- Ultraman Tiga & Ultraman Dyna: Warriors of the Star of Light: A crossover between Ultraman Tiga and Ultraman Dyna. The events of the movie take place within the Dyna series. Tiga appears to assist Dyna in battling an alien threat.
- Ultraman Tiga, Ultraman Dyna, & Ultraman Gaia: The Decisive Battle in Hyperspace: A crossover featuring Tiga as an Ultra that appeared in the film.
- Great Decisive Battle! The Super 8 Ultra Brothers: Tiga was one of the main Ultras who appeared in this film, this movie occurs in an alternate universe where Ultras never came to Earth and were thought of as legends from a TV show. Ultraman Mebius crossed over into this universe to team up with them.
4Kids Adaptation
4Kids's opening title card.
Ultraman Tiga was the fourth Ultra series to be adapted for a U.S. release, following Ultraman, Ultraseven, and Ultraman: Towards the Future. It was licensed by 4Kids Entertainment and aired on the Fox Broadcasting Company's FoxBox Saturday morning programming block. The first episode premiered on September 14, 2002.
Unlike the Template:PR adaptation into Template:PR, which combined the original shows' tokusatsu sequences with an entirely new cast, Ultraman Tiga was simply dubbed into English. Nonetheless, 4Kids made a number of significant changes. There was an entirely new theme song and the original soundtrack for the series was replaced. Episode storylines was altered and simplified to comply with Fox's Standards and Practices division and accommodate the differences between Japanese and American commercial breaks and broadcasting scheduling. Each episode was typically one or two minutes shorter than its Japanese counterpart.
There was also a lot more blatant and crude humor. The Japanese Ultraman Tiga had a few moments of subtle humor and charming moments. The Americanized version came with dialogue that poked fun of the original material as well as the dubbing in general, which changed the personalities for some of the characters (Notable in this aspect was the transformation of Captain Iruma from a smart, level-headed individual into a complete airhead.) Additionally, Captain Iruma was referred to as a "sir" instead of a "ma'am", perhaps in an attempt at being politically correct. This caused some problems within the addressing of a commanding officer whether that person was male or a female.
The monsters were enhanced with new sound effects, and the transformation sequence was altered altogether, in a scene showcasing all of Tiga's forms and emphasizing the change from Daigo to Tiga. Additionally, Ultraman Tiga's "Multi, Power, and Sky Types" are changed into "Omni, Power, and Speed Modes," respectively. The Spark Lens was renamed 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 light techniques were called "Luminizers", and Ultraman Tiga's Color Timer is referred to as his "Biotic Sensor." Probably the most infamous (and partially racial) of the Tiga incidents was in episode 22, where the Japanese dialogue was used in the Americanized version of the series as an "Extraterrestrial Language."
Ultraman Tiga was removed from the FoxBox lineup on March 15, 2003, due to low ratings, with only 25 episodes of the 52-episode series having aired. 4Kids initially planned to relaunch the show in September, but decided to release the Japanese episodes on DVD instead.[1] As a result, their dub is only viewable through recordings of the original broadcasts.
According to Voice Actress, Erica Schroeder (whom played the voice of Rena of GUTS,) she said that part of the reason for Ultraman Tiga's limited success in the U.S. was due to 4Kids was having issues deciding on whether to satirize the show or to make it serious, which explains the poorly handled humor and dubbing as seen throughout the dub.[Citation needed]
Cast
- Daigo Madoka /Nagano : Hiroshi Nagano (V6)
- Rena Yanase : Takami Yoshimoto
- Megumi Iruma /Yuzare : Mio Takaki
- Seiichi Munakata : Akitoshi Ohtaki
- Masami Horii : Yukio Masuda
- Tetsuo Shinjoh : Shigeki Kagemaru
- Jun Yazumi : Yoichi Furuya
- Souichiro Sawai : Tamio Kawachi
- Masayuki Nahara : Take Uketa
- Tetsuji Yoshioka : Ken Okabe
- Mayumi Shinjoh : Kei Ishibashi
- Naban Yao : Ichirō Ogura
- Reiko Kashimura : Takako Kitagawa
- Yūji Tango : Yoichi Okamura
- Ultraman Tiga's Voice : Yuji Machi
Guest Cast
- Omi Yanase : Shigeru Araki
- Ryosuke Sanada : Ryoma Sasaki
- Sayaka Ijuin : Michiko Shimazaki
- Zara : Shogo Shiotani
- Lucia : Motoko Nagi
- Takuma : Takuma Aoki
- Obiko : Shoichiro Akaboshi
- Kyoto Inui : Tom Saeba
- Keiko Masaki : Takashi Koura
- Shin Hayate : Masaki Kyomoto
- Ultraman : Satoshi Furuya (voice)
Suit Actors
- Ultraman Tiga (Multi & Sky Type): Shunsuke Gondo
- Ultraman Tiga (Multi & Power Type): Koji Nakamura
- Kaiju & Seijin:
- Daisuke Terai
- Ryūki Kitaoka
- Daisuke Kanemitsu
- Koji Nakamura
- Toshio Miyake
- Motoko Nagino
English Dub
- Wayne Grayson as Daigo Madoka
- Megan Hollingshead as Megumi Iruma
- Jimmy Zoppi as Masami Horii
- Dan Green
- Mike Pollock
- Corinne Orr
- David Moo
- Jason Samuels
- Andrew Paull as Tetsuo Shinjoh
- Eric Stuart
Songs
- Opening Theme
- "TAKE ME HIGHER"
- Lyrics and Composition: Jennifer Batten, Alberto Emilio Contini, Giancarlo Pasquini
- Japanese Lyrics: Kazumi Suzuki
- Arrangement: Yasuhiko Hoshino
- String Arrangement: Mitsuo Hagida
- Choral Arrangement: Hiroaki Suzuki
- Artist: V6
- Original Artist: Dave Rodgers [he performed the English version of Take Me Higher before V6 translated it into Japanese]
- "TAKE ME HIGHER" reached #1 of the Oricon Weekly Rankings Charts for the week of September 30, 1996, and became a Platinum Record.
- Ending Theme
- "Brave Love, Tiga"
- Producer: Gorō Kishitani
- Lyrics: Sunplaza Nakano
- Composition: Barbe-Q Wasada
- Arrangement: Yasuhiko Fukuda
- Artist: Earth Protection Force
- Leader: Gorō Kishitani
- Members: Takashi Utsunomiya , Toshiaki Karasawa, Naoto Kine , Sunplaza Nakano, Yasafumi Terawaki , Masahiko Nishimura, Barbe-Q Wasada, Papala Kawai , Patrick Bommarito , Funky Sueyoshi , Yasuhiko Fukuda , Honjamaka , Hidehiko Ishizuka , Toshiaki Megumi
- Ultraman Tiga has a special opening theme and ending theme exclusive to Chinese TV version named "奇迹再现" (The Miracle Reappear) and "永远的奥特曼" (Ultraman Forever).
Manga
Uchūsen (Spacecraft) Magazine began a serialization of an Ultraman Tiga manga in the Summer 1997 written by Mamoru Uchiyama.
DVD Box Sets
Adaptations
Dark Horse Comics published a manga-style series based on Ultraman Tiga in 2003–2004.
References
Template:Shows and Films