Movies - Ultraman Ace

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	Movies - Ultraman Ace

Ultraman Ace (ウルトラマンA or ウルトラマンエース - Urutoraman Êsu) is the title superhero of a tokusatsu SF/kaiju/superhero TV show, and is the 5th show in the Ultra Series. Produced by Tsuburaya Productions, the series aired on Tokyo Broadcasting System from April 7, 1972 to March 30, 1973, with a total of 52 episodes.

Starting with this show, the Ultra Series heads in a notably different direction, slowly shifting from a sci-fi/mystery adventure to full-tilt superhero fantasy fare. Also, all previous Ultra-beings (namely Ultraman, Zoffy, Ultra Seven, and New Ultraman) make more frequent appearances here, whereas they only made guest appearances in the previous show Return of Ultraman
.

This series marks the debut of special effects director Koichi Kawakita, who went on to do many other tokusatsu superhero shows (for both Tsuburaya Productions and Toho Company Ltd.), and directed the FX for the majority of the "VS Series" (AKA: "Heisei Series") in Toho's Godzilla films. Kawakita, needless to say, was a student under the late Eiji Tsuburaya.

Plot

Ultraman Ace takes the genre in a different direction. At the beginning of the series, it takes a man and a woman to change into him, giving Ace the courage of a man and a woman's love for peace. Ace also has a lot of neat laser weapons. There is a recurring villain (the Yapool), and there are a lot more guest appearances from the other brothers. Zoffy visits frequently, as does the Ultra Father. The five (Zoffy, Ultraman, Ultra Seven, "Jack" and Ace) are now known as the Five Ultra Brothers (gokyohdai), and they come together on at least three occasions. Ace is by far the youngest. And finally, the monsters (kaijuh) are now Yapool creations known as "Super Beasts" (chohjuh), supposedly more powerful than the monsters previous Ultra heroes had to contend with.

Ace's head fin has a great big hole in it and a Beam Lamp up front. Other than Ultraseven's detatchable fin, Ace's is probably the most useful fin. The Beam Lamp can fire his Punch Laser, and the hole is a place where energy can be gathered, stored, or released (it is the nexus for his most powerful weapon, the Space Q). It is also where he emits Ultra Signs into the sky to communicate with other Ultramen.

Ace is also the first Ultraman to introduce hand-waving as part of the laser-emitting ritual. To fire his Metallium Beam, he must first twist his torso to the left and snap to center. This type of action was influenced by other tokusatsu series of the day.

The Five Ultra Brothers arrive on Earth together in episode 1, where they resurrect Hokuto and Minami. Ace gives them the Ultra Rings and merges with them. Whenever the need arises, he tells them, the rings will shine and they can transform into Ultraman Ace.

As for the circumstances of their death, Hokuto is originally a bakery employee who is delivering bread to a children's hospital in his van. He tries to prevent the bread from being destroyed by Yapool's first creation, Belokuron, but his van and said bread are destroyed by the fire-breathing monster. Belokuron then starts attacking the hospital. Hokuto runs there to see Minami trying to save a wheelchair-bound kid. He jumps into a tanker truck and does a suicide run, killing himself and scaring Belokuron away. Minami is also dead for some reason.

Hokuto and Minami are both born on July 7th. Hokuto has a spunky and goofy personality, which is a grand departure from his constipated predecessors. Minami is a lot more gentle and reticent (but she wields a mean gun when necessary). They often make googlie eyes at each other.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Ultraman Ace ]

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Movies - Ultraman Ace

Plot

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