'An exciting modern adaptation of the original 1960s Ultraman, bringing the classic era of the iconic Japanese superhero to established fans and newcomers alike.
'Pursuing a fugitive space monster, a Being of Light enters Earth's atmosphere. Accidentally colliding with a patrolling jet, piloted by Science Patrol Agent Shin Hayata, the Being merges with the pilot to save his life and vows to defend the Earth. Now whenever the planet is threatened by alien invaders, terrifying monsters or any threat beyond the capabilities of humanity, Shin Hayata transforms into the towering Ultraman to restore peace and save the day.'
We've had some big franchises spawn out of Japan that have taken the rest of the world by storm. Godzilla is probably the first to come to mind, with Super Sentai having a foothold in the US and UK thanks to the Power Rangers adaptation. And then there's the dozens of manga and anime series that have global audiences. One franchise that, surprisingly, seems to have a much smaller following, at least here in the UK, is Ultraman. Despite being one of the biggest franchises in the world in the 80's, I had no knowledge of the series growing up, and much like Kamen Rider it seems to be one of those franchises that are extremely hard to find English subed or dubed releases of.
Luckily, for those who might not have been able to find a way of watching the original series, though some of the franchise is now available on the official Ultraman Youtube chanel, a new novel adaptation is available from Titan Books and author Pat Cadigan.
Ultraman: The Official Novelisation tells the story of Science Patrol Agent Shin Hayata, who finds himself investigating strange light up in the mountains, and find his jet over a forest lake when a sphere of light from space smashes into him, destroying the aircraft and apparently killing him. When his colleagues come to investigate his death they're shocked when a huge monster appears from beneath the lake's surface. Fortunately for them, Shin didn't die, and instead was saved by an Ultra, a being from a far off part of the universe, who was chasing the giant monster to Earth. Shin and the Ultra make a deal, to fuse together and share a body. Returned to Earth, Shin uses the powers given to him by the Ultra to become Ultraman, a hero capable of battling this monster, and many more that threaten the safety of the Earth.
If you're unfamiliar with the original series this is a good introduction to it, as it follows pretty closely to several of the episodes, beginning with a fairly faithful adaptation of the pilot episode, and summarises all of the important lore quite well. For those that have seen it, the book doesn't add a whole lot new.
The blurb promises 'An exciting modern adaptation', and it's certainly an adaptation. Does it feel particularly modern? Not hugely. And is it exciting? For me, unfortunately, no, it's not. The recent Marvel Comics Ultraman releases are new adaptations of what has come before, with new characters and old mixed together, with new lore and a deeper universe than was first presented in the original series. That is what I would expect from 'An exciting modern adaptation'; but this was simply an adaptation. It didn't feel like it added much or injected anything new into things.
Perhaps this is me knowing the source material, and thus not really having that much new to experience here, I don't know, unfortunately what I do know is that more often than not I found things kind of boring reading the book. Maybe it's me, and I hope that's the case and that others can pick the book up an enjoy it. It's a decent introduction to the franchise for sure, but some fans might find the book a bit lacking.
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