ULTRAMAN: SUPER FIGHTER LEGEND DATABASE

Manga Background

    You would think I'd pick a manga with a nice, simple background, but no...

    Urutoraman: Choutoushi Gekiden began its run in Comic BomBom's May '93 issue; for the uninitiated, Comic BomBom is a monthly Japanese publication of serialised manga, about 800 pages thick (useful for stunning burglars and small children). The idea for UMSFL is credited to Sagawa Ryuu, but the art was by Kurihara Jin. Kurihara's style evolved massively through 30-odd chapters, but one thing remained the same--furious explosions, unorthodox frame arrangement (no comic-strip lookalikes here) and a healthy dose of tachikiri frames (when the art extends straight to the edge of the paper). Tankoubon or compiled editions came out every 5-6 months, and eventually 6 volumes of five chapters each were printed. Solara, a fellow Ultraman/manga fan and co-manager of the Area-M78 Outpost, was the first to alert me to the existence of chapters left uncompiled:

...Also, you should know that this wonderful Ultra manga had more chapts. after the ones in your 6 books.  Unfortunately, I don't know where they can be found.  I believe that they probably involve Fighter Ultraman's return (with a new and improved costume design!)  Sadly, Kodansha never reprinted this part of the saga!

    At the time of publishing, I've managed to get my hands on eight uncompiled chapters from the good folk on 2ch.net. More news as it comes.

The chapters after the end of UMSFL #6, are about the evil efforts of the intergalactic virus Goudis, Benzen Seijin, Commander Black (From UM Leo) and even the mighty Empera Seijin, said to have invaded the Land of Light 30 000 years ago. Somewhere along the line, a direct-to-video animation was released as part of the original storyline. A few new Ultras appeared on the scene, including Ultraman Neos and UltraSeven 21 (got brainwashed by Commander Black, poor daft sod). Also, three Ultran artifacts were mentioned: the Ultra Key, Ultra Bell and Ultra Mirror. (The Mirror is not a canon object as far as I know.) In the last chapter of Choutoushi Gekiden that BomBom ran, 21 is cured of his brainwashing and he and Neos leave with Ultraman, Taro and some others on the spaceship Star Phoenix to fight the Empera Seijin. Needless to say nothing has been heard from them since -_-;

    Kodansha Ltd. probably saw good potential in UMSFL and translation efforts appear to have begun quite early. Known translated versions include:

A) Chinese/Taiwan(?) Version-- 'Space Superbeing Super Fighter Legend'
    Chinese versions were out as early as 1995/6, published by Ching Wen under Kodansha's license. While the Chinese translation stays relatively faithful to the art (colours on cover a bit faded, though), and the translation is near total with even sound effects turned to Chinese, it's hard to read, considering quite a few lines are located right in the gutter or throat of the book, where the pages meet. In short, if you really love your Chinese UMSFL comics, either get a magnifying glass or prepare to have your books curled in every direction possible.

B) Chinese/HK(?) Version -- Urutoraman Choutoushi Gekiden (The title is printed in Japanese on the covers and does not change)
Er...there's not a LOT to say about this, actually (but a big big thank you goes out to my friend Yagami for dumping a sample on me!) This version, put out by Wineasy, is printed a little bit larger than the original, which has the unfortunate effect of blurring some lines and rendering quite a few tones completely useless. The front covers were obviously redrawn, presumably by local artists. Title pages, contents and a few interesting little gag lines were left untranslated (much to my delight, really, as I was able to translate some of Ace's better gags in issue 2. ;)) Unfortunately the issue I have doesn't seem to have been put together properly, with pages missing, duplicated, reversed and even upside down! (oh dear...)

C) Malay Version--'Warriors of the Universe: Ultraman' (Wira-wira Alam Semesta: Ultraman)
Malay versions hit the shops in 1998, published by Chuang Yi Comics. This version, too, is art-faithful, and has the art enlarged just a little bit (to facilitate the fitting in of normal Roman script, I'd bet), but this results in most of the tachikiri borders getting chopped off at the sides and bottom. Bear in mind that's a lot of toes, waists and shoulders getting deleted! The translated names also leave something to be desired (Zoffy=Sofia, Yapool=Apollo, Mazaron=Mesa, Ace=Aison, Taro=Jackson/Danny/Jason), as do the fact some pages are out of sequence and the frames are split in half by mistaken alignment (issues 2 and 4). It's possible they may have taken some cues from the Chinese version--Ace Killer is called Ace Shi De (sp?) in the Chinese version, Aison Sidik in the Malay version. Chapter 17 is called 'Strange Monk's Sudden Rage' in Chinese and 'Monk Mesa's Anger' in Malay.

It's worth noting that both Chinese and Malay versions have the cover of issue 4 changed slightly. The Chinese version keeps the original cover illustration, but there is a crudeness about the lines that suggests someone *might* have redrawn Ultraman's expression.  The Malay version ditches the cover completely, replacing it instead with a smiling Ultraman giving the reader a thumbs-up. If you have seen any other versions of UMSFL, drop me a line. I'd love to hear about it.
 

The manga went on to produce greater things before fading into obscurity and non-existence, the most 'famous' being an extensive trading card series spanning every story arc and a set of miniature Gashapon figures. This line of figures went on to be briefly succeeded by Ultraman Yoroiden (Ultraman Armour Legend). In 1994, a fairly simple GameBoy game was released by Angel based on the Mefilas story arc and in September 1996 a 40-minute long direct to video animation was released. For a synopsis of the anime, click here. Some other very interesting toys came out too, like playsets and even jigsaws!

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