Ultraman Mebius


Ultraman Mebius is a Japanese television series produced by Tsuburaya Productions and Chubu-Nippon Broadcasting. It is the 15th entry and 40th anniversary production in the Ultra Series, which first began in 1966. It premiered on the Tokyo Broadcasting System on April 8, 2006. Unlike the two prior entries, Ultraman Nexus and Ultraman Max, Mebius was moved from Saturday mornings to Saturday evenings at 05:30 and the show went on to air in Korea in April 2012.
On October 22, 2014, Crunchyroll announced that the entire series would be available that day on their streaming service for the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. On February 26, 2018, Toku announced that they would broadcast the series in the United States on their television channel, starting on March 19, 2018.
The series opens with the introduction of the rookie Ultraman Mebius, who is sent to Earth by the Father of Ultra. The series is set 40 years after the shows of Ultraman, and makes many references from Ultra Q through to Ultraman 80. "Mebius" is the Japanese approximation of Möbius; the Möbius strip is a recurring motif in the series.

Plot

Before leaving for the Earth, Ultraman Mebius was granted the Mebius Brace by the Father of Ultra and told of the importance of the name "Ultraman", a legacy he would have to live up to when he reached Earth. On his way there, Mebius saw a transport ship being sucked into the Ultra Zone, The crew was saved by the sacrifice of the Captain's son, Hiroto Ban. seeing his selflessness, Mebius tried to save the young man but was a minute too late. He created his human form after the young man, Hiroto Ban, in his honor. And he joined GUYS under the alias of Mirai Hibino.

Characters

Crew GUYS

GUYS is an attack team formed at some point of time after UGM's disbandment. As no monster attacks were recorded since the last 25 years, Dinozaur had killed a majority of the original team members, save for the cadet named Ryu Aihara. Once Mirai and Sakomizu joined GUYS, the former recruited several civilians he encountered prior due to their commitment at the height of monster attacks.
;Field members
  • Mirai Hibino: see here
  • Ryu Aihara: The 20-year-old sole survivor of his original Crew GUYS team during Dinozaur's attack. As he becomes the field commander, Ryu is dedicated to protect his new teammates and eventually acknowledges their skill to be on an equal level with past attack teams.
  • Marina Kazama: A 19-year-old motorcycle racer with enhanced sense of hearing.
  • George Ikaruga: A 20-year-old professional soccer player with enhanced sense of sight and reflexes, which allows him to utilize ranged weapons at a precision rate.
  • Konomi Amagai: An 18-year-old aspiring nursery school teacher working part time at a nursery school, her dedication to save the rabbits lead to an assembly of civilians that would become future members of Crew GUYS. Although usually works as an operator, she can also join the battle and guiding the Maquette Monsters.
  • Teppei Kuze: An 18-year-old team member who is knowledgeable in the Ultra Brothers' exploits and their fight against monsters. Being a medical student, he was groomed to become the heir of his father's hospital, but gained the blessing from his parents to continue working on Crew GUYS after his bravery in saving the building from Insectus' invasion.
  • Shingo Sakomizu: The commander of the new Crew GUYS after Serizawa's seeming death. Despite his appearance as a 40-year-old, he was actually a veteran in the defense force and was once an SSSP member whose encounter with Zoffy lead to the foundation of GUYS. His encounter on space resulted in a permanent youthful appearance despite being 70 years old.
  • Kazuya Serizawa: The 30-year-old original commander of the previous Crew GUYS, he was thought to be killed by Dinozaur's rampage after saving Ryu, but his body was rescued by Hunter Knight Tsurugi as a human shell to operate on Earth. During Tsurugi's brief death, Serizawa's will resurfaced as he persistent on the Ultra's survival. From that day on, Serizawa becomes a permanent host of Hikari and occasionally assisting Crew GUYS in their fight.
;Staff members
  • Aide Toriyama: The leader of the Japanese branch of GUYS, he issues orders to GUYS and gets frantic with joy whenever they accomplish a mission. While generally portrayed as cowardly, sycophantic and bumbling incompetent throughout the series, he gathers his resolve and stands up to Inspector Shiki when the latter demands that GUYS turn Ultraman Mebius/Hibino Mirai over.
  • Secretary Aide Maru: Toriyama's secretary, he follows Toriyama around and often corrects his speech mistakes.
  • Yuki Misaki: The deputy inspector general, she reports monsters to GUYS.

    Ultra Warriors

  • Ultraman Mebius: see here
  • Ultraman Hikari: A scientist from the Land of Light, who ventured to Earth as to exact revenge on Bogar. After killing the monster and freed from the armor, the scientist Ultra adopted the name "Ultraman Hikari" from Ryu and received his membership from the Space Garrison to assist Mebius several of his fights on Earth.

    Episodes

Side stories

Ultraman Mebius had three side stories in accordance to the series.
  • Ultraman Mebius Side Story: Hikari Saga
The first side story, separated into three parts and launched as FLET's internet television service, before being released on DVD in 2007. The story took place during the series' run, featuring Ultraman Hikari as the main viewpoint character, ranging from his past to his membership in Space Garrison.
  • Ultraman Mebius Side Story: Armored Darkness
The second side story, separated into two parts and sold on DVD. The story took place after the final episode of the series.
  • Ultraman Mebius Side Story: Ghost Reverse
The third and final side story, separated into two parts and sold on DVD. The story serves as a prologue to the 2009 Ultra Series movie, Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy.

Cast

  • Mirai Hibino, Hiroto Ban: Shunji Igarashi
  • Ryu Aihara: Masaki Nishina
  • Marina Kazama: Ai Saikawa
  • George Ikaruga: Daisuke Watanabe
  • Konomi Amagai: Misato Hirata
  • Teppei Kuze: Kenta Uchino
  • Shingo Sakomizu: Minoru Tanaka
  • Aide Toriyama: Kenichi Ishii
  • Secretary Aide Maru: Yutaka Maido
  • Yuki Misaki: Saaya Ishikawa
  • Kazuya Serizawa: Shin Ishikawa
  • Mysterious woman : Moeko Koyama
  • Kadokura: Shigeki Kagemaru
  • Keiko Kuze: Hiroko Hayashi
  • Tetsuharu Kuze: Ryo Kamon
  • METEOR operator: Naoshi Murata
  • Nursery school teacher: Mari Iwasa
  • Chief Maintenance Araiso: Katsuhiko Watabiki
  • Professor Asami Fujisawa: Kei Ishibashi
  • Mitsuhiko Hirukawa: Kosei Kato
  • Alien Psychokino "Kako": Ayumi Takamune
  • Man in black: Koji Shimizu

    Guest cast

  • Heizo: Shun Ueda
  • Rinko Sawaki: Asuka Shimizu
  • Tetsuro Ban: Sei Hiraizumi
  • Tatsumi Kazama：Kento Ono
  • Announcer : Koichi Sudo
  • Misa Takamura: Mai Saitō
  • Medium : Shoichiro Akaboshi
  • Gen Otori: Ryu Manatsu
  • Hiroshi Isana: Kōhei Murakami
  • Heitaro Hinode：Toshiya Toyama
  • Sayuri Hinode: Jun Miho
  • Naoko：Riisa Naka
  • Takeshi Yamato: Hatsunori Hasegawa
  • Supreme General Chancellor Takenaka: Kenji Sahara
  • Man in black : Koji Shimizu
  • Aya Jinguji: Aiko Ito
  • Seiji Hokuto: Keiji Takamine
  • Yuko Minami: Mitsuko Hoshi
  • Hideki Go: Jiro Dan
  • President of the Kikuchi Electric Appliances Company : Eiichi Kikuchi
  • Dan Moroboshi: Kohji Moritsugu
  • Shin Hayata: Susumu Kurobe
  • Inspector Shiki:
  • Mother : Keiko Goto

    Voice actors

  • Ultraman Hikari/Hunter Knight Tsurugi, Kodaigon The Other: Keiichi Nanba
  • Father of Ultra: Tokuma Nishioka
  • Mother of Ultra: Masako Ikeda
  • Zoffy: Hideyuki Tanaka
  • Ultraman Taro : Hiroya Ishimaru
  • Yapool: Tesshō Genda
  • Grozam: Hisao Egawa
  • Deathrem: Daisuke Gōri
  • Alien Mefilas: Seizō Katō
  • Alien Empera: Kenji Utsumi
  • Mebi-Navi narration: Mami Matsui
  • Opening narration of episodes 27-30: Hiroshi Isobe

    Songs

;Opening theme
  • "Ultraman Mebius"
  • *Lyrics: Goro Matsui
  • *Composition: Kisaburo Suzuki
  • *Arrangement: Seiichi Kyoda
  • *Artist: Project DMM
;Insert songs
  • "Run through! - Wandaba" CREW GUYS ""
  • *Lyrics: Kazuho Mitsuda
  • *Composition / Arrangement: Toru Fuyuki
  • *Artist: Project DMM with TMC
  • "Radiance-Ultraman Hikari's Theme"
  • *Lyrics and composition: Hideaki Takatori
  • *Arrangement: Hiromasa Kasashima
  • *Artist: Project DMM
  • "Oath to you"
  • *Lyrics, composition, arrangement: Daimon Kazuya
  • *Artist: Project DMM
  • "Ultra miracle"
  • *Lyrics, composition, arrangement: Daimon Kazuya
  • *Artist: Project DMM

    Film tie-ins

A theatrical film, entitled Ultraman Mebius & Ultraman Brothers, was released in Japan on September 16, 2006. It takes place sometime after the end of episode 15, and is referenced in episode 24.

Home media

In July 2020, Shout! Factory announced to have struck a multi-year deal with Alliance Entertainment and Mill Creek, with the blessings of Tsuburaya and Indigo, that granted them the exclusive SVOD and AVOD digital rights to the Ultra series and films acquired by Mill Creek the previous year. Ultraman Mebius, amongst other titles, will stream in the United States and Canada through Shout! Factory TV and Tokushoutsu.
Mill Creek Entertainment released Ultraman Mebius in the United States on DVD in May 24, 2022.

Reception

In the first half of airing, it struggled in terms of viewership due to the time shift from Ultraman Max. However, after the release of the Ultraman Mebius & Ultra Brothers movie, awareness of the series increased, and the viewership ratings reached their highest level since Ultraman Nexus, and toy sales at the end of the year were also strong. In particular, the episodes featuring the Ultra Brothers received support from a wide range of viewers, including not only the main target audience of children, but also parents and enthusiasts. However, overall toy sales in 2006 were 3.6 billion, lower than the sales of the previous two titles.