Ultraman Orb

Story

A long time ago, the Earth was at the brink of destruction after King Demon Beasts wreaked havoc, but the monsters were sealed with the help of Ultra Warriors.

As a child, Naomi Yumeno has a strange dream of a warrior of light fighting against a monster. This dream eventually inspired her to form the mysterious phenomenon investigation site called SSP. In the present day, Naomi, Jetta, and Shin search for the giant monster that causes strange changes in the weather. During Naomi's investigation, her uncle Ittetsu and the VTL officers investigate a giant monster called Maga-Basser. As Naomi gets caught in the monster's gust, she is saved by Gai Kurenai, whose true identity is Ultraman Orb, a warrior from the outer space, whose mission is to stop the resurrection of the Demon King Beasts. Using two cards which hold the power of past Ultramen, Gai scans them through his Orb Ring and uses Fusion Up to transform.

From behind the scenes, the mysterious Jugglus Juggler laughs as he has the Dark Ring in his possession.

Production

Prior to the conception of the series, a promotional video was made by Tsuburaya Productions released via YouTube on January 24, 2016 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Ultra Series, dating back to the first series, Ultra Q through Ultraman X. At the end of the video, a black background with a pair of Ultraman eyes can be seen, with the English letters shown "What's next...?". On February 6, Field Corporation, the parent company of Tsuburaya Productions Co., Ltd., revealed in a financial presentation on February 1 that a new Ultraman series will premiere in July. However, the report did not reveal any other information about the new series.

In April 25, 2016, Japanese newspaper Sports Hochi announced and revealed the details of the new entry in the Ultra Series, Ultraman Orb. Kiyotaka Taguchi, who directed the previous year's Ultraman X series, was once again set to be the director, with Yuji Kobayashi and Takao Nakano returning as the series' writers. Taguchi stated that the series will have "themes of traveling the noble path and returning to one's roots, while still being a funny and interesting Ultraman series". Aside from celebrating the 50th anniversary of Ultra Series, it also aims to attract the series' fans since the past years. This news was finally followed by Orb's appearance in episode 147 of New Ultraman Retsuden and a promotional video of the series, both launched in April 30, 2016.

In an interview for the Uchusen summer 2016 magazine, the "wandering protagonist" concept had long been in development since the last two Ultra Series, Ultraman Ginga S and Ultraman X. The original character conception for Gai Kurenai, the series' protagonist, was based on Dan Moroboshi/Ultraseven, the protagonist of 1967 Ultra Series, Ultra Seven, with Takao Nakano including additional motives to the character. Additionally, Gai's concept was envisioned as a "What if?" variation should Dan was never scouted to be recruited as a member of the Ultra Guard. According to Nakano, Gai's main rival, Jugglus Juggler is based on "a stereotypical worthy opponent to the wanderers". While developing the leading cast, Taguchi requested for the removal of any research department in the shows attack teams. Instead opting to have the VTL Squad, the show's attack team, be portrayed as "ordinary street officers". The name of the antagonist kaiju, King Demon Beasts (魔王獣, Maō-jū), was created to sound appealing to the child audience.

The Uchusen autumn 2016 revealed an interview with writers Yuji Kobayashi and Takao Nakano, the decision of having a protagonist as an Ultraman in disguise is to counter the elements of a bond between an Ultraman and human host that portrayed in the last year series' Ultraman X. Under Taguchi's supervision, each episode was added with both the elements of light and seriousness. The original idea behind the SSP was to follow the example of Kogoro Akechi, the fictional character from Edogawa Ranpo's novel series, The Boy Detectives Club.

In July 14, Tsuburaya announced the release of team SSP's official website which focuses on their adventure with monsters in the series, as well as their meeting with Ultraman Orb.

Casting

When Sports Hochi newspaper first announced the new series, Ultraman Orb, Hideo Ishiguro was revealed to be the lead actor of the series, as the main protagonist Gai Kurenai. According to Hideo, he has been a fan of the Ultra Series since his childhood, but never expected to land a role on the series himself. Unlike the actors of recent Heisei era Ultra Series, Hideo is in fact an experienced actor instead of rookie/newcomer actors.

The rest of the series' casts were later announced by the official Tsuburaya Productions website in May 26, 2016. On June 9, press conference of the series was held at the Tokyo Toy Show 2016, with the attendance being the show's main cast and singers. Ichiro Mizuki collaborated with Voyager members TAKUYA and Chiaki Seshimo to perform the series' opening theme. At the same time, official websites for the series were given updates and another promotional video for the series was released. During the final stage greeting for Ultraman X: Here It Comes! Our Ultraman, which was held as a sign of departure from the Ultraman X cast to their spectators, Ultraman Orb appeared as the guest of honor and was greeted by Kensuke Takahashi, Daichi Ozora's actor.

Reception

In a financial report revealed by Fields Corporation, viewing figures for the show’s online streaming showcase a massive 89% increase from the previous series Ultraman X. As of episode 15, the show’s worldwide streaming figures total is 480 million.

Spin-offs

Film

Ultraman Orb the Movie: I'm Borrowing the Power of Your Bonds! (劇場版 ウルトラマンオーブ 絆の力、おかりします！, Gekijōban Urutoraman Ōbu Kizuna no Chikara, Okarishimasu!) was premiered in the Japanese theaters in March 11, 2017, which simultaneously celebrating the 50th anniversary of Ultra Seven. This movie was previously glimpsed following the conclusion of 2016 Ultraman Festival. It was properly announced in November 23, 2016 in a special event in Ario Hashimoto shopping mall in Sagamihara, Japan.

Future projects

In a stage greeting for Ultraman Orb the Movie, director Kiyotaka Taguchi announced then that he and writer Takao Nakano crafted the “Ultraman Orb 10 Episode plan”. The project frames Orb as a 10 part saga of which the viewers have only seen three parts:

There will be another future project for the series, with chapters 2-5 taking place in-between The Origin Saga and original series, while chapters 8-10 will be after the premier movie. Taguchi revealed the production of further episodes depends on the success of the movie and asked for everyone to support it.

Ultraman Fusion Fight!

In response to the series' premier, a Data Carddass arcade game will be launch, called the Ultraman Fusion Fight! (ウルトラマン フュージョンファイト!, Urutoraman Fyūjon Faito!) in July 31, 2016. The game is based on Ultraman Orb's Fusion Up ability, which involves players to insert two Ultra Fusion Cards to create a combination form for Orb, either in-series or game-exclusives. Accordingly, there are 56 cards in existence.

Cast

Guest cast

Songs