Ultraman Tiga
Ultraman Tiga is a Japanese tokusatsu TV show and is the 12th show in the Ultra Series. Produced by Tsuburaya Productions, Ultraman Tiga had aired at 6:00pm and aired between September 7, 1996 to August 30, 1997, with a total of 52 episodes with 5 movies.
It was broadcast after a franchise hiatus of over 15 years, set in a universe different from all previous series and updated with a new look and feel. Tiga is the first Ultraman with multiple combat modes and non-red colors. It is one of the most popular entries in the Ultra Series. Because of Tiga's popularity, he had more exposure on TV and movies than any other Heisei Ultraman. Ultraman Tiga was also dubbed in English by 4Kids Entertainment and broadcast in the United States as part of the FoxBox programming block on Fox Broadcasting Company affiliates, making it the fourth Ultra Series to air in the United States after Ultraman, Ultra Seven and .
Plot
Set in an alternate universe in the year 2007-2010, giant monsters and conquering aliens start to appear, as was foretold by an apocalyptic prophecy about an uncontrollable chaos over the Earth. Facing the threat, the TPC is created along with its branch, GUTS. Through a holographic message in a capsule found by researchers, the GUTS gets knowledge about a golden pyramid built by an ancient civilization. At the site, three statues of a race of giants who defended early human civilization on Earth about 30,000,000 years ago have been unearthed. GUTS finds the three ancient statues, but two of them are destroyed by the monsters Golza and Melba. The third one gains life from the spiritual energy of officer Daigo, descendant of the ancient race. Daigo and the remaining statue merge into a single being, made of light. Shortly after defeating the two monsters, Daigo is revealed by the hologram of the prophecy that 30 million years in the past, a great evil that not even the giants could stop, destroyed the ancient civilization.The same evil reappears in the finale of the series, the Ruler of Darkness Gatanothor, and his servants, Gijera and Zoiger. Gatanothor defeats Ultraman Tiga with ease, withstanding the Delcalium Light Stream and a modified version of the Zeperion Ray, both Tiga's finishes, and turns him back into a stone statue, but the light of humanity is able to turn him into Glitter Tiga, giving him the power to defeat Gatanothor and save the Earth. However, Tiga's victory came at a cost. Daigo was no longer able to become Tiga after the Spark Lens disintegrated into dust after his final battle. It is revealed that Tiga, although no longer bound to Daigo, and its energy now remain in the hearts of all those who believe in Tiga, inner-strength and justice. Given the right conditions such as times of despair, the sparks will gather and the Tiga statue will be revitalized.
Episodes
- The One Who Inherits the Light
- Stone of Legends
- The Devil's Prophecy
- Sa-yo-na-ra Earth
- The Day the Monster Came Out
- Second Contact
- The Man Who Came Down to Earth
- On Halloween Night
- The Girl Who Waits for a Monster
- The Closed Amusement Park
- Requiem to the Darkness
- S.O.S from the Deep Sea
- Human Collecting
- The Released Target
- The Phantom Dash
- Resurrected Friend
- Red and Blue's Battle
- Golza's Counterattack
- GUTS to the Sky
- GUTS to the Sky
- Deban's Turn
- A Fog's Coming
- Dinosaurs' Star
- Go! Monster Expedition Team
- The Devil's Judgement
- Evil Monster Realm of the Rainbow
- I Saw Obico!
- One Vanishing Moment
- Blue Night's Memory
- Monster Zoo
- The Attacked GUTS Base
- Zelda Point's Defenses
- Vampire City
- To The Southern Limit
- The Sleeping Maiden
- The Time-Transcending Smile
- Flower
- The Mirage Monster
- Dear Mr. Ultraman
- Dream
- Friend from Space
- Town Where the Girl Disappeared
- Land Shark
- The One Who Inherits the Shadows
- Eternal Life
- Let's Go to Kamakura!
- Goodbye to Darkness
- Fugitive from The Moon
- The Ultra Star
- Take Me Higher!
- Master of Darkness
- To The Shining Ones
Films
- '
- '
- : The story is set two years after the final episode.
- Ultraman Tiga Gaiden: Revival of the Ancient Giant : A direct-to-video special set many years after the end of the series In it, Daigo and Rena also have a son who is named Tsubasa.
- Superior Ultraman 8 Brothers
- Ultraman X The Movie: Here It Comes! Our Ultraman
Other Appearances
Cast
- Daigo Madoka/Ultraman Tiga/Nagano: Hiroshi Nagano
- Rena Yanase: Takami Yoshimoto
- Megumi Iruma/Yuzare: Mio Takaki
- Seiichi Munakata: Akitoshi Ohtaki
- Masami Horii: Yukio Masuda
- Tetsuo Shinjoh: Shigeki Kagemaru
- Jun Yazumi: Yoichi Furuya
- Souichiro Sawai: Tamio Kawachi
- Masayuki Nahara: Take Uketa
- Tetsuji Yoshioka: Ken Okabe
- Mayumi Shinjoh: Kei Ishibashi
- Naban Yao: Ichirō Ogura
- Reiko Kashimura: Takako Kitagawa
- Yūji Tango: Yoichi Okamura
- Ultraman Tiga: Yūji Machi
Guest cast
- Omi Yanase: Shigeru Araki
- Ryosuke Sanada: Jun Yuzuhara
- Sayaka Ijuin: Michiko Shimazaki
- Zara: Shogo Shiotani
- Lucia: Motoko Nagi
- Takuma: Takuma Aoki
- Noodle Shop Vendor/Obiko: Shoichiro Akaboshi
- Kyoto Inui: Tom Saeba
- Keigo Masaki: Takashi Kora
- Shin Hayate: Masaki Kyomoto
- Ultraman: Issei Futamata
Suit actors
- Ultraman Tiga : Shunsuke Gondō
- Ultraman Tiga : Koji Nakamura
- Monsters and Aliens: Daisuke Terai
Daisuke Kanemitsu
Koji Nakamura
Toshio Miyake
Motoko Nagino
English dub
An English dub of the series was produced by 4Kids Entertainment and recorded by their in-house dubbing studio, 4Kids Productions. The dub aired on the Fox Box, which was formerly the Fox Kids Children's block on Fox in the United States. The first episode premiered on September 14, 2002.4Kids made some significant changes, such as producing a new theme song and soundtrack that replaced the originals. Storylines were altered to comply with Fox's Standards and Practices division and accommodate commercial breaks and broadcasting scheduling. Each episode was one or two minutes shorter than its Japanese counterpart. The dub included tongue-in-cheek dialogue, which changed the personalities for some characters such as Captain Iruma, who was changed from a smart, level-headed individual to an airhead. Additionally, Captain Iruma was referred to as a "sir" instead of a "ma'am".
Some monsters were given new sound effects, and the transformation sequence was altered altogether, showcasing all of Tiga's forms and emphasizing the change from Daigo to Tiga. Tiga's "Multi, Power, and Sky Types" are changed into "Omni, Power, and Speed Modes," respectively. The Spark Lens was renamed the "Torch of Tiga", although the Region 1 DVD Release refers to it as the "Spark Lance" for the first DVD but afterwards, the translation becomes "Spark Lens. His light techniques were called "Luminizers", and the Color Timer is referred to as the "Biotic Sensor."
Ultraman Tiga was removed from the FoxBox lineup on March 15, 2003, due to low ratings, with only 25 episodes of the 52-episode series having aired. 4Kids initially planned to relaunch the show in September, but decided to release the Japanese episodes on DVD instead. As a result, their dub is only viewable through recordings of the original broadcasts. Erica Schroeder claimed that part of the reason for Ultraman Tiga's limited success in the U.S. was due to 4Kids' indecision whether to satirize the show or make it serious.
English voice cast
- Wayne Grayson as Daigo Madoka
- Erica Schroeder as Rena Yanase
- Megan Hollingshead as Megumi Iruma
- Jimmy Zoppi as Masami Horii
- Andrew Paull as Tetsuo Shinjoh
- Sebastian Arcelus as Jun Yazumi
- David Moo
- Dan Green
- Mike Pollock
- Corinne Orr
- Jason Samuels
- Eric Stuart
- Shayne Dukevitch as Marnie Shinjoh
Songs
- "TAKE ME HIGHER"
- *Lyrics and Composition: Jennifer Batten, Alberto Emilio Contini, Giancarlo Pasquini
- *Japanese Lyrics: Kazumi Suzuki
- *Arrangement: Yasuhiko Hoshino
- *String Arrangement: Mitsuo Hagida
- *Choral Arrangement: Hiroaki Suzuki
- *Artist: V6
- *Original Artist:
- : "TAKE ME HIGHER" reached #1 of the Oricon Weekly Rankings Charts for the week of September 30, 1996, and became a Platinum Record.
- "Brave Love, TIGA"
- *Producer: Gorō Kishitani
- *Lyrics: Sunplaza Nakano
- *Composition: Barbe-Q Wasada
- *Arrangement: Yasuhiko Fukuda
- *Artist: Earth Protection Force
- *Leader: Gorō Kishitani
- *Members: Takashi Utsunomiya, Toshiaki Karasawa, Naoto Kine, Sunplaza Nakano, Yasafumi Terawaki, Masahiko Nishimura, Barbe-Q Wasada, Papala Kawai, Patrick Bommarito, Funky Sueyoshi, Yasuhiko Fukuda, Honjamaka
- "The memory of the blue night"
- *Lyrics and composition: G.BROOKER.K.RED
- *Artist: Hitomi Sudo
- "ULTRAMAN LOVE FOR CHILDREN "
- *Composition: Hino Yasumasa
- "TAKE ME HIGHER "
- *Lyrics and composition: Jennifer Batten, Alberto Emilio Contini, Giancarlo Pasquini
- *Japanese lyrics: Suzuki Tadashi
- *Arrangement: Hoshino Akihiko
- *Artist: V6
Adaptations