Ultra Seven

DramaticHalfHour ActionSeries

Stationary Post Observer (or Agent) # 340 from the M78 Nebula was surveying the Milky Way one time. He flew down to planet Earth when he saw a selfless mountain climber named Jiro Satsuma do a heroic sacrifice to save his friend on a mountain climbing journey (Think the movie Vertical Limit). Agent 340 rescued Satsuma in the knick of time, and was so moved by the man's courage that he decided to stay on our planet and patterned his human identity on Satsuma's, going by Dan Moroboshi. People would come to know him as Ultra Seven, champion of Earth against alien attacks.

This show, the third entry in the Ultra Series, is more serious, had very sophisticated writing and plotting, and its style is purely Science Fiction, as opposed to its kid-friendlier predecessor. Ultra Seven is an iconic character, in fact so successful that he (and actor Kouji Moritsugu, who played Dan Moroboshi) has appeared in many subsequent shows and movies, even starring in Ultraman Leo seven (no pun intended) years later. Decades later, Seven receives a Spin Offspring, Ultraman Zero.

Ultra Seven provides examples of:

 * Affectionate Parody: Uchimurasebun from around 1993, with Kouji Moritsugu as the Captain. Moritsugu played another Captain in Ultraman Zearth 2, itself another parody.
 * AI Is a Crapshoot/Ridiculously-Human Robots: "Android 0 Directive", "Nightmare On The Fourth Planet"
 * Alien Among Us
 * All According to Plan: Dan already knew about the Ultra Garrison and its members before he ran into Soga and Furuhashi in "The Invisible Challenger"
 * Anatomy Arsenal: So to speak,
 * The Eye Slugger from the top of his head, by itself, with energy, and combined with telekinesis
 * The Emerium Beam lamp from his forehead
 * His L-shaped Wide Shot from his right forearm
 * His eyes can see invisible aliens
 * Knife and shuriken-shaped energy blasts from his hands
 * A spiral beam from an outstretched arm
 * Animated Credits Opening: Episodes 1-13 feature an opening logo with scattered paint particles that shake to form the word Ultraseven in Kana; the remaining episodes feature a swirling twin-whirlpool paint effect similar to Ultraman's opening, the logo appearing in two words, one at the center of each whirlpool, the word Ultra higher and to the left. In all episodes, the logo is followed by the animated credits sequence proper, consisting of silhouettes set against a wavy (think lava) multi-color background that changes color as it moves.
 * The Cinar Dub of the series also had an Animated Credits Opening, which featured lots of laser effects and an animated Ultraseven flying towards the screen.
 * Badass: Seven, just Seven. Both Leo and Zero got their badassery from him.
 * Badass Bystander: Dan in "The Invisible Challenger", Jiro Satsuma in Episode 17, both played by Kohji Moritsugu.
 * Badass Family: In the new Ultra Galaxy movie, Seven's son Zero turned out to be even more powerful than his father.
 * Anne, Seven's love interest is pretty good in combat as well.
 * Beam-O-War: Against Annon,, and robot Seven.
 * Big Damn Heroes:
 * Big Badass Bird of Prey: No, they don't fly, but Guts Aliens are the space version of this. Their deep, deep voices really don't help either. Aron also counts.
 * Breaking the Fourth Wall: Furuhashi laughs out loud, then turns to the camera and shushes the audience in Episode 40, after a Guts Alien attacks his racer friend, stealing a McGuffin that happened to be fake.
 * The Cassandra: "Seek Tomorrow" AKA "The Fugitive Fortune Teller", "Who Are You?", "Stolen Time"
 * Chekhov MIA: Seven in Episode 40, so that the Ultra Garrison can save him.
 * Chekhov's Gift: Furuhashi's gift from Africa in Episode 39, "Seven Assasination Scheme Part I" comes in handy to save the day in Part II.
 * Anne's gift to Dan (a necklace) in "Answer Max!" is a clue that Dan is not himself...
 * Chekhov's Gun: The necklace from "Answer Max", when Dan, trapped in a see-through tube in the TDF boiler room, tried to shoot it out of an alien's hand, bouncing the laser beam off of the attached medallion, destroying said tube instead.
 * Cool Car: Based on the 1957 Chrysler Imperial, it's the Pointer. It's even got its own theme song.
 * Combining Mecha: King Joe.
 * Creepy Child: Shinichi from "Envoy from Nonmalto"
 * Crucified Hero Shot: Episodes 39 and 40, complete with Eye Lights Out after
 * In "Showdown at -140°",
 * Darker and Edgier
 * A Day in the Limelight: Jiro Satsuma got this in Episode 17, his plight inside the mine shaft may have overshadowed the main plot (underground earthquakes caused by robots!)
 * The Ditz: A blonde woman who stops at a gas station in "Space Prisoner 303".
 * Does This Remind You of Anything?: That was the reaction to Episode 12 among a support group for survivors of the atomic bombs in Japan
 * He hides inside a rock, but space monster Ammon is just one big eyeball...
 * On a serious note, the victims of the alien spores in "The Targeted Town" go on violent rampages, pass out, and soon after forget what happened, reminiscent of some descriptions of alcoholics' behavior.
 * Doppelganger: Dan is this to Jiro Satsuma. Also, Dan impersonated Masaki Kazamori in the OVAs from 1999.
 * Drill Tank: Tha Magma Raiser, which was used in the Big Damn Heroes moments above.
 * Evil Doppelganger:
 * in "Answer Max".
 * Furuhashi and Soga in "The 0.1 Second Kill".
 * Kiriyama's friend in "The Green Terror".
 * Evil Knockoff: Seven had one in "The Decisive Battle of Dan vs. Seven".
 * Eye Lights Out: Happened to a few kaijus and aliens throughout. For a heroic example, see Crucified Hero Shot above.
 * The Faceless: The old man in "The Fugitive Fortune Teller" encountered these.
 * Family-Unfriendly Death: Ultra Seven's Eye Slugger tends to dish these out by slicing monsters to pieces.
 * Fanfare: The main title song (both versions), the song "Urutorasebun" and many parts of the score (especially during a transformation sequence, like in "Fight! Ultraseven")
 * Five-Man Band/True Companions: The Ultra Garrison
 * The Hero/Sixth Ranger: Dan Moroboshi/Ultra Seven
 * The Lancer: Soga, the hot-headed sniper
 * The Smart Guy: Amagi, Intelligence expert with an IQ of 200
 * The Big Guy: Furuhashi, a consummate athlete, weapons expert, and laid-back guy
 * The Chick: Anne Yuri, the Token Female
 * The Captain: Kiriyama, the soft-spoken, fatherly leader
 * Game-Breaking Injury: Or rather, injuries, which weakened him so badly that, in Episode 48, his boss from M78 ordered Dan to go back home and not to transform until ready to leave.
 * Grand Finale: Episode 49, complete with
 * Hate Plague: "The Targeted Town"
 * Heroic BSOD: The Ultra Garrison and Captain Kurata, complete with freeze-frames, when Anne tells them Dan is Seven in the last episode.
 * Heroic RROD: Seven, after fighting Pandon, transforms back to Dan and collapses.
 * Heroic Sacrifice: Jiro Satsuma per the flashback in Episode 17, which inspired Ultraseven to stay on Earth, copying Satsuma's likeness under the name Dan Moroboshi. Satsuma lived, subverting the trope.
 * Hoist by His Own Petard: Pandon was defeated twice by preventing a weakened Seven from using his Eye Slugger. The first time, Seven grabbed it and mutilated Pandon by using the weapon like a sword or knife; the second time was even worse for the kaijuu because he caught it and threw it back at Seven, who used telekinesis to shoot it back, decapitating the monster.
 * Hour of Power: Averted, as he can fight almost non-stop. In extreme cases, he does run out of energy...
 * Human Aliens: Dan Moroboshi and a few villains (i.e. Icarus, Godora, Pitt, Prote) throughout the show are this.
 * Humans Are Bastards: The rationale for most alien attacks. Poignantly so in "Dark Zone" and "Envoy from Nonmalto", the latter comes to a conclusion where even Dan is left wondering if it's true...
 * I Can Still Fight: Dan does this in Episode 49, after Seven's epic near-loss to Bandon. No creepy hologram of his boss, or even a friendly prompting from Anne will stop him. He was doing this when he first realized he was ill.
 * Impossibly Cool Weapon: The Eye Slugger
 * Improbable Use of a Weapon:  in Episode 38 "Battle of Bravery."
 * Improvised Weapon:
 * Looks Like Cesare: The human guise of Alien Icarus.
 * Meaningful Name: Moroboshi = Shooting Star. Also, from Pandora, Pandon
 * Monumental Damage: In the last episode, the Ghos Aliens use underground missiles to blow up several world cities such as New York, London, and Paris. As they alert the Ultra Garrison, they show Stock Footage as reads their demands out loud.
 * Non-Human Sidekick: Three Capsule Monsters: Windom, Mikuras, and Agira. Dan summons them by throwing their respective capsules.
 * They predate Pokemon by about 25-30 years.
 * Non-Indicative Name:
 * The Eye Slugger, Seven's boomerang-like weapon
 * The Magma Raiser, the Ultra Garrison's Drill Tank
 * The Ultra Eye, being a pair of goggles
 * Non Indicative Title: Ultra Seven is the name of just one character, not a team of seven Ultramen.
 * Not Himself
 * Amagi in Episode 49.
 * Windam in "Return North!".
 * Seven before he fought Dancan in "The Vaporized City".
 * Dr. Yushima in "Stolen Time".
 * Kiriyama's comrade-in arms in "The Green Terror", after returning to Earth.
 * One-Scene Wonder: Seven's boss in the Grand Finale, Dorothy Andersen in "The Ultra Garrison Goes West Part II", and Captain Kurata in three episodes, including the Grand Finale.
 * Our Vampires Are Different: The Spehl Aliens
 * Our Zombies Are Different: The intangible Shadow Men from "Invasion by the Dead"
 * Painful Transformation: Alien Chibull in "Android Zero Directive"
 * Plant Aliens: Alien Wyar
 * Precision-Guided Boomerang: The Eye Slugger
 * Red Shirt: A young, impetuous upstart called Aoki in "Glory For Whom?", and Soga's sniper rival Kiyota in "The 0.1 Second Kill".
 * Sixth Ranger: Dan first showed up as a civilian that happened to run into Furuhashi, Soga, and an alien invasion. After suggesting a method to make the otherwise invisible Cool aliens visible and vulnerable to attack, he rode shotgun in one of the Ultra Hawks to deploy the Ultra Garrison's Improvised Weapon. The plane crash-landed and he called on Windam to attack the alien ships. When Windam was overwhelmed, he called him back, transformed, killed an alien, set the hostages free, and took the alien ship into outer space to be blown up. Dan was then inducted as a full member of the Ultra Garrison.
 * Captain Kurata in Episode 49, after his Heroic BSOD.
 * Shapeshifter Mode Lock: Seven, whenever his Ultra Eye was stolen. Also, when he was defeated in the opening minutes of Ultraman Leo, he was stuck in human form. He recovered offscreen. "Escape From Area X" is a subversion; while Alien Bell's chirp prevented him from using the Ultra Eye, he transformed by sheer force of will regardless.
 * Sizeshifter: From giant-sized (most of the time) to the size of a small insect, and sometimes even human-sized.
 * Spell My Name with an "S": Bandon was inadvertently named Pandon in the episodes he appeared in.
 * Squashed Flat/Phantom Zone: One episode had aliens do this to humans, not by literally squashing them, but by
 * Shout-Out: "The Strange Neighbor" is this Ultra Series' homage to Rear Window. "The Green Terror" references both . Also, see Banned in China above.
 * Pedan Robot King Joe is named after writer Tetsuo Kinjou
 * Episode 31 is reminiscent of Fantastic Voyage
 * Telepathy: How Seven communicates with Annon in "Glowing Eye in the Darkness" and Alien Maya in "The Stolen Ultra Eye".
 * Transformation Trinket: The Ultra Eye
 * Ultraterrestrials: The antagonists in "Envoy from Nonmalto", no pun intended.
 * Visual Pun/Stealth Pun: Pandon coming out of a box. Pandora's Box
 * Wham! Episode: "The Ultra Garrison Goes West", "Seven Assassination Scheme", and "The World's Greatest Invasion", all two-part episodes.
 * You Are Number Six