Ultraman 80

File:Ultraman 80 8966.jpg

~~DramaticHalfHour ActionSeries~~

Ultraman Eighty, Ultraman Eighty.... He came to us from a star!

Ultraman Eighty, or Ultraman 80 was a tokusatsu series, part of the Ultra Series that lasted from 1980-1981.

The Japanese government discovers why giant monsters appear around the world--the monsters were created from the negative energies of hatred, racism, self-doubt, and anger. These negative energies manifested from the nightmares and selfish wishes of people and are "created" with malicious thoughts, giving credence to the monsters' "evil" natures.

An Ultraman named "80" (a translated sounding name of his real name--"Ehiti") comes from Nebula M78 and assumes the human guise of Yamato Takeshi, a schoolteacher who moonlights as a member of UGM, a government task force assigned to fight the monsters that appear.

80, as Takeshi, enacts a proactive plan to eliminate hatred and jealousy in humans by teaching young children to put aside their fears, their anger, and their pre-conceived notions of racism and close-mindedness. By teaching a new generation of children to be more open to new ideas and ways of thinking, 80 believes that this will lessen the monsters appearing over time as well as advancing the human race to be above all petty feelings.

Unfortunately, there are still too many factors in the world that contribute to negative energy, and 80 must answer the call to battle these creatures while still trying to maintain a human life in order to better understand where negative norms come from, as 80 is an alien that has transcended these negative issues coming from an advanced race.

Later in the series, 80 is helped by a mysterious woman named Hoshi Ryoko, who shares his goals of teaching humanity to overcome their problems. 80 learns that Ryoko is also an Ultra from Nebula M78 named Yulian, who he teams up with to help him battle the fiercest monsters.

With so many different ideologies and negative norms handed down from one generation of humans to another, 80 has his work cut out for him while staying on Earth.

This series provides examples of

• Action Girl: Yullian.
• Badass Teacher: Takeshi Yamato's daytime job is a teacher. It's not a good idea threatening his students especially if he's in Ultraman form.
• Boss Subtitles: An early live-action example. Now all the Heisei shows from Tiga onward have them. Even a subtitled Episode 1 of Ultraseven available online had these.
• Evil Twin: In one episode, 80 fights a clone of Ultra Seven created from a boy's Ultraseven doll.
• Expy: Barracks is one for Iron Rocks from Ultra Seven.
• Fan Service: In her very first episode, Ryoko Hoshi goes to the gym with Takeshi and resident hottie Emi Johno. We're talking tight leotards here. Mood Whiplash soon followed.
• The Heartless: "Minus Energy" is the negative emotions of humans--that makes Giant Monsters.
• Hour of Power: Like most Ultra beings, 80 has a limit of a few minutes to battle.
• Human Aliens: Guess who.
• Lighter and Softer: Due to the moral reformation going on in Japan at the time and the pressures from Moral Guardians to make children's shows childish, many tokusatsu series being produced at the time including this one were severely bogged down by Glurge and other things.
• Meaningful Name: Yamato = an older name for Japan; Hoshi = star
• Mood Whiplash: Yullian's first episode.
• Secret Secret Keeper: The Captain. Also, Emi Johno.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Gynoid Emi for flesh-and-blood Emi Johno. Thankfully this didn't last long.
• The Seventies: Music and costumes have heavy influences from the era.