Ultraseven 50 Years

This October 1st marks exactly the 50th anniversary of the start of the "Ultraseven" television broadcast. It is an honor to be able to speak with Ms. Hishimi, who played Member Anne, and Mr. Usui, who was a favorite pupil of Director Akio Jissoji, at such a commemorative time. First, I would like to ask Ms. Hishimi about her thoughts on this 50th anniversary.

It feels like half a century has passed in the blink of an eye. I was exactly 20 years old then, and before I knew it, I had reached my 70th birthday. It feels like the 50 years since I turned 20 have been the same length as the time from my birth until I was 20. Time goes by fast once you become an adult (laughs).

I agree (laughs). Mr. Usui, what kind of feelings do you have regarding these 50 years?

Well, for "Seven" fans as well, it feels like it happened in an instant. It doesn't feel at all like I'm reminiscing about things from half a century ago.

It feels like it's progressing simultaneously.

Yes. I feel as if I am living alongside Seven.

Exactly. No matter how many times you watch it, you can see it from a different angle. There are still new discoveries to be made even now.

Even when people like us who watched it in real-time look back at it now, there is some kind of rediscovery, and when young people today watch it, they have their own discoveries. There aren't many special effects TV movies where you can make those kinds of discoveries and rediscoveries.

I'm grateful to hear you say that.

I think the framework of this work, Ultraseven, was very solid even among the fantasy special effects series of that time. That's why it has continued to live on across space and time, regardless of the passing years.

I heard that to keep production costs down, the turn came to screenwriters who were young and could be hired cheaply. Even Mr. Shinichi Ichikawa became a big name later, but he was young back then. It was made by a gathering of many young people who were still nameless.

There was energy there. Perhaps young people today feel that energy too, which is why they get "hooked" on it.

That's true. Even looking at it now, there isn't that much of a difference from the modern world, is there? There are many things in this work where you think, "Oh, this kind of thing is happening in the world right now." At the time, it was imagining 25 years into the future, but even after double that time has passed, it's still relatable.

In a way, universal themes were properly embedded in it.

Despite being in a slot basically intended for children—Sunday nights at 7:00 PM—heavy themes were firmly incorporated into the stories.

It is universal, and yet it can also be said to be the latest trend. Even from a so-called security perspective, the story of the Star Beast Gyeron in "Ultra Weapon R-1" (Episode 26) links to the North Korean missile issue and nuclear development.

That's right. Even "Nightmare on the Fourth Planet" (Episode 43) is a story about how far AI and robots will evolve, so it was completely ahead of its time.

Exactly. It was decades before "The Terminator" (the first film was in 1984).

I've only recently come to understand it well myself. At the time, I had no idea what we were doing.

But we were children back then too, so while we were watching, we were just enjoying it or finding it mysterious; we only gradually understood the meaning later on.

At the time, there were probably people who watched it just because the monster battles were interesting.

Or just to watch Member Anne (laughs). Back then, everyone had their own way of watching, but in fact, many deep things were scattered throughout.

Director Mitsuta (Kazuho Mitsuta) is very energetic and his mind is still sharp. He's truly a rare treasure now (laughs).

Director Mitsuta filmed a lot of episodes, didn't he?

Director Toshitsugu Suzuki also filmed quite a few (Editor's note: Both Director Mitsuta and Director Suzuki filmed 14 episodes). But he passed away a long time ago.

It is indeed a shame that the number of people who can talk about it like that is decreasing. In that sense, we appreciate you working hard, Ms. Hishimi.

It's rare to be able to hear stories from those involved, so it's precious, and I really want to know.

We were quite haphazard (laughs). Someone like Mr. Dokumamushi (Sandayu Dokumamushi, who played Member Furuhashi) would look at the script and say, "I don't have any lines today, right?" and not even read it (laughs). Since we filmed two episodes in parallel, if the locations were similar, we'd shoot cuts for Episode 2 and Episode 3 together.

So, you didn't know the flow of a single episode from start to finish?

Right. Those who were watching the broadcast at the time understand it better than we do.

Ms. Hishimi, did you watch the broadcasts back then?

Not much. Surprisingly, we often had filming. On Sundays at 7:00, we were all making a fuss and drinking (laughs). Because it was all post-recorded, I saw all the footage I was in, but I didn't see it connected together, so I didn't really understand the stories.

You only recently watched all the episodes properly, right?

That's right. I thought I had to watch them properly because I was writing this book ("Anne Konjaku Monogatari," published in 2017) (laughs).

When you looked back at the stories of each episode like that, were there any episodes that left an impression?

Almost too many (laughs). I thought "Nightmare on the Fourth Planet" (Episode 43, directed by Jissoji) was amazing. I used to hate it. It inserts scenes like those often found in old war newsreels, where people are blindfolded for public execution, right?

That is intense, isn't it?

Too intense. It's incredible to put that in a children's program. When I had a dialogue with Mr. Jissoji in his later years, I told him, "I didn't really want to watch that story because of that scene" (laughs).

But in that story, the member who witnesses it doesn't think it's real; he thinks they're just filming on location. That part feels chilling in its own way. Why did Mr. Jissoji go out of his way to include that scene?

He was a maverick, after all (laughs).

He was a director who didn't talk much, and for the acting, he would usually stand by the camera and give instructions like, "Okay, raise the glass—" or "Okay, lower it." For example, he was mostly concerned with the camera zooming into a glass or filming something through an object, and he didn't say much about how the acting should be.

I really wanted to ask Ms. Hishimi about being on the set of such a Jissoji production.

Actually, it was easy to work with. In the episode with the Perolinga Aliens (Episode 45, "The Flying Saucers Have Arrived"), there was a scene filmed at a riverbank with Fukushin-kun and the Perolinga boy. He just let the two of them talk the whole time and filmed them with a telephoto lens without them realizing it. That's why there are actually quite a few nice shots. It didn't feel like forced "acting."

Since it was film photography back then, I suppose you only realized, "Oh, so that's how it turned out," during post-recording (recording voices later to match the silent footage).

That's right. On my first day with Mr. Jissoji, I waited with my makeup on, but when I saw the footage later, it was inverted and we were in shadow. I was like, "What?!" When you know you're being filmed like that, it actually helps you not feel nervous.

It's so like you to relax once you realized, "This is the kind of director he is" (laughs).

Exactly. At first, I was intimidated by Mr. Jissoji. Member Furuhashi scared me, saying, "The director coming this time is a maverick (kisai) and he's amazing." I thought "kisai" meant a "demon director" (oni-kantoku) (laughs).

So, I always tried to avoid meeting him face-to-face. Then, during our dialogue, he told me, "Hishimi-kun, whenever I was on the location bus, you were always on the equipment truck" (laughs).

In Director Jissoji's case, you can clearly tell that the visuals come first, so I thought the actors might have been annoyed.

Not really. Before I knew it, there would be a close-up of a pimple.

Because he loved close-ups.

In the episode with the Alien Metron (Episode 8, "The Targeted Town"), the lighting is pure white, and everything is shown in silhouette. Then there's a close-up.

That was filmed from the building across the way.

I find myself bringing up Director Jissoji, and there are many Jissoji enthusiasts out there, but what we mustn't get wrong is that Jissoji's works are strictly "unconventional works." It was only because there was a group of straightforward—or should I say mainstream (laughs)—works that Director Jissoji was able to be so "mischievous."

That's true.

I think the reason Director Jissoji could feel secure being a heretic in both Ultraman and Seven was thanks to the other directors being on the other side.

Like Mr. Mitsuta. That provided contrast.

Director Mitsuta filmed quite a lot; do you have any memories of him?

Director Mitsuda was enthusiastic from start to finish. He would often pop his head in even when he wasn't the director for that episode. My first day on set was for the episodes with Alien Waiell (Episode 2) and Alien Pitt (Episode 3), which were directed by Samaji Nonagase. At the time, Anne's hair was tied up, but Director Mitsuda, who had come to see how things were going, commented, "That makes her look like Harumi Miyako. It's better to let her hair down." So I let it down as he suggested. Because of that, my hairstyle didn't match between the shots taken in the morning and those taken in the afternoon! (laughs)

I've always wondered about this, but Member Anne's hair gets longer only in Director Mitsuda's episodes. Is there a reason for that?

That was a coincidence.

No way! (laughs)

Before that, I think it was Director Toshihiro Iijima's episode with Alien Banda (Episode 38), where there was a scene in a hospital where a boy was having heart surgery performed by a foreign doctor.

He was saying things like, "But I don't want to have the surgery."

Right, right. He says, "I won't do it unless Dan comes." Then, when I go there in a regular car, I encounter Crazygon (the robot sent to Earth by Alien Banda).

I hated my hairstyle at the time because I had cut it short and gotten a perm, so I felt like I looked like Betty Boop.

After that, I pulled my hair back tight and put on a wig, using only my own hair for the bangs. When I told Director Mitsuda, "I don't like my current hairstyle, so I'm changing it to this," he said, "Oh, that's good," and he kept it that way. That eventually led to that soft, flowing hair in the final episode.

Yes, it was beautiful hair.

That really was great, wasn't it?

Mitsuda-san is the type who is quite particular, even about hair.

Hishimi-san, did you watch Ultra Q or Ultraman before you appeared in the show?

No, I hadn't seen them at all.

So you went straight into Seven.

Straight into Seven. However, I was shown just one episode of Ultraman. At the time, I thought those orange uniforms were nice, but then ours turned out to be blue-grey (laughs).

But those uniforms were really cool, weren't they?

At the time, I wanted a more vibrant color. But thinking back, those blue-grey clothes were good because for someone with a thick waist like me, they created an optical illusion that made me look a bit more "curvy" (laughs). Even though I didn't have a great figure, everyone fell for the illusion.

But because of that, there are so many boys for whom Member Anne was their first crush.

Exactly. Back then, it wasn't just one cour (three months); it was broadcast for a full year, so Member Anne became deeply imprinted on the boys watching. We saw Hishimi-san and Anne as almost one and the same (laughs).

But back then, once a television show was broadcast, that was it. Surprisingly, for us actors, once it was over, it felt like, "Okay, that's done." Someone like Kohji Moritsugu (who played Dan Moroboshi) would finish filming and head straight to his next shoot.

When I spoke with Tomoko Nakajima, who played Hotaru in "Kita no Kuni kara," she said that no matter how old she got, people kept calling her "Hotaru, Hotaru." While she was happy about it, she also felt a sense of rebellion, wanting people to see the "other me" as well. Did you ever feel that way?

I was never really told "It's Anne, it's Anne."

Is that so?

It's a children's show, so kids wouldn't say things like that. And as they became adults, their interests shifted to others like Megumi Asaoka (laughs). So I was never really mobbed by people shouting "It's Anne!"

But during that one year you were actually doing it, did you never get called "Anne" when you went out on the street?

No. Almost never for Dan, either. Once, when we had an autograph session, so many people gathered at the department store that the glass was about to break, and we had to stop midway because it was dangerous. Then, after we changed clothes and walked right past the crowd, nobody even noticed us.

I see, they wouldn't recognize you without the Ultra Guard uniform (laughs).

Exactly. That's why that uniform had such an impact.

The uniform itself has become an icon.

Quite a while later, for some reason, I appeared in a TV drama called "Playgirl" (1973).

I saw that, I saw that.

The viewership ratings nearly doubled for the episode I appeared in. The staff were puzzled, wondering why (laughs). I thought maybe people who saw Yuriko Hishimi's name in the newspaper TV listings watched it because they felt nostalgic.

"Playgirl" was quite sexy, and I was surprised too. I thought, "The serious Anne has become a bad girl!" (laughs)

It seems there were many people like that. That's why the ratings went up (laughs). I guess the timing worked out where the boys who saw Anne as children had grown up a bit, and I was moving in a slightly sexier direction.

Yes. It was heart-pounding.

So, I don't think there's another actress as unusual as me (laughs).

Your range is incredible.

Yes. It's not just 180 degrees, it's 360 degrees. I played a mother in an educational film and appeared in "Koshoku Genroku Maruhi Monogatari." And all within just nine years.

Even so, the impact of Seven is still very strong, isn't it?

The power of the work Seven itself is amazing.

When it comes to Seven, one thing I'm particularly fixated on is Toru Fuyuki's music.

The music, Tohl Narita's designs—everything is excellent.

That's true. Especially since I'm a classical music fan, Schumann's Piano Concerto in the final episode really resonates with me.

Actually, the Piano Concerto used there is a 1948 recording conducted by Karajan, but the pianist, Dinu Lipatti, died of illness at the young age of 33, just two years after this recording.

I wonder if Fuyuki-sensei chose this recording knowing that. Overlapping that music with the image of Seven fighting his final battle with his life on the line...

I see.

As a child, I thought it was a piece written specifically for Seven, but when I found out it was composed by Schumann, I thought, "How did they find a piece that fits so perfectly?"

Fuyuki-sensei was involved in the work while also serving as a high school music teacher and homeroom teacher. I don't know if it was to keep production costs down, but he happened to get a part-time job at TBS during his student days and got to know Hajime Tsuburaya and Akio Jissoji.

I see. So the fact that using Fuyuki-sensei was inexpensive was also a big factor.

I don't know the true intent, but despite that, he left behind such wonderful work. That's why everyone involved in Seven is being brought back into the spotlight like this.

The theme song of Ultraseven also has that "boom, boom" sound of the horn that really sticks in your ears.

I can't help but react to it.

That kind of use of the horn itself is quite rare. That song is in E-flat major, and E-flat major is said to be the key of heroes in the world of classical music. A hero is strong but carries a certain sadness, yet must lead the way. Both Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 "Emperor" and Symphony No. 3 "Eroica" are in E-flat major. They used that same key for the Ultraseven theme song, bringing out the heroism with the horn.

What great taste. With Ultraman, there isn't much of a classical image, is there? The music is a completely different type. With Seven, the whole thing changed and became more mature. The stories themselves were no longer just for children.

And we must also pay attention to the design. Tohl Narita is one, but for me, it's Noriyoshi Ikeya.

Ikeya-san. Yes, yes.

I had the opportunity to work with him on Jissoji's projects, and I believe Ikeya-san's designs will live on forever, not just for 50 years.

That's true. Like how he imagined the Nonmalt (Episode 42) from a cabbage. Ikeya-san has passed away too...

Speaking of design, there's also the design of the mecha.

Wonderful. I also love the Pointer, the Ultra Guard's specialized car.

The Pointer is great, but as a child, the separation and docking of Ultra Hawk 1 was just so cool. I even built the plastic models.

I can't tell you how many of those I made (laughs).

It has Alpha, Beta, and Gamma parts that separate and combine, right?

Yes. There was a scene where they saved someone by forced docking with the Gamma. That was the Alien Curasso episode (Episode 7), wasn't it?

That was Episode 7, "Space Prisoner 303" (directed by Suzuki), where they docked to save Anne after she was kidnapped. The gas station where we filmed that is actually still there near my house.

That's the one where Alien Curasso kills people.

I found that alien to be the scariest of all.

In reality, he's just a common criminal. His home planet even goes out of its way to tell Earth, "You can execute him as soon as you find him." There was a very realistic sense of dread there.

Hishimi: It felt like a real-life stalker.

The original Ultraman before Seven didn't really have elements aimed at adults; it was entertainment for children, right?

While there were some exceptions, it was basically centered on a monster appearing and Ultraman defeating it—a straightforward story of good triumphing over evil.

Furthermore, the monsters were like natural phenomena; there was no logic behind why they appeared or what they wanted. But the aliens in Seven come to Earth for a reason. They have intelligence and plans, like how they intend to invade.

They have their own side of the story.

That's why it makes you think about what "justice" really is. Even with Alien Pegassa (Episode 6), they don't have bad intentions; it just so happens that their Pegassa City is going to collide with Earth, and they want to prevent that. But because of a malfunction, they ask Earth to move out of the way. However, Earth doesn't have the technology to move.

It's a powerful story.

Since there's no other choice, the Terrestrial Defense Force decides they have to destroy Pegassa City. It's a heartbreaking story to watch.

It's not at all a simple story of good versus evil where we, the good side, defeat the evil enemy.

The Nonmalt episode (Episode 42) is the ultimate example of that. There's that line from the boy, Shinichi, saying that the Nonmalts were the original inhabitants of Earth.

That was an incredible setup.

Indigenous people.

I often wonder how people in Okinawa or Hokkaido felt when they saw that back then.

Indeed. Even with my faint memories of the time, when Captain Kiriyama said, "Now Earth belongs to us," I felt a bit of a pang, thinking, "Wait, is that really true?"

Earthlings and aliens are fighting, but the essence of it serves as a metaphor for various issues within Earth itself.

The imagery can be substituted. It works as a metaphor for World War III or the structure of the Cold War.

That's why it remains easy to understand. The content is something we can deeply relate to as human beings. That's still true even after 50 years.

It's sad, but it makes you realize that humanity hasn't really grown. Even with "The Fourth Planet," now that we have AI and robots, there are actually jobs being taken away by them. Today, there are many cases where AI can make more accurate decisions. If we follow that to its conclusion, we might end up in a world like that Fourth Planet.

And they were doing this 50 years ago. Of course, evolution and progress bring many good things, but Seven also depicted the "but..." side of it. It's worth emphasizing that in that era, they were posing the question: "Is the omnipotence of science a good thing?" and "Is all progress inherently just?"

Even in "Super Weapon R-1" (Episode 26), they keep saying to build stronger weapons, and it leads to misery.

That's exactly what's happening even now.

Dan says, "It's a sad marathon that continues while vomiting blood."

Moreover, the fact that they were airing such content at 7:00 PM on a Sunday night is amazing in itself, thinking back on it (laughs).

As technology advances, it ultimately comes down to the importance of human relationships. What's interesting there is "The Targeted Town" (Episode 8). There's that final narration: "We humans do not trust each other enough yet to be targeted by aliens." That's very ironic. Hishimi: That narration by Hikaru Urano was very effective. I wonder who wrote it. Usui: It seems Director Jissoji added it himself. Hishimi: Jissoji did! That was brilliant. They are great words. Kuwahata: This episode is still talked about as a masterpiece today. Usui: Yes, that "face-to-face" scene at the low table in the small room was quite a shock (laughs). Even when watching the broadcast back then, children felt that "this time is somehow different from usual." As I became an adult, I gradually understood and accepted it, learning that it was made by a unique director named Jissoji. Kuwahata: Also, the design of Alien Metron. It really sticks in your mind. It's incredibly colorful yet has such a strange shape.

The final scene in the sunset is such beautiful footage; it really gets imprinted on a child's mind. Usui: That sunset scene is unforgettable. Kuwahata: Mr. Usui, what did you feel when you worked with Mr. Jissoji? Usui: I was associated with him for a quarter of a century until he passed away. For Director Jissoji, the primary concern was what kind of image he wanted to capture, and in a sense, he treated actors like objects, so I was sometimes nervous. But that's exactly why his work became something different from other directors. Hishimi: Rumor has it that when he filmed Hibari Misora during his TBS days, he didn't film her face but her feet? Usui: No, he took an extreme close-up right up to her nostrils. That caused a huge uproar.

Apparently, he got scolded. Usui: Of course. Anyway, he was someone who wouldn't film things normally when he could. For a simple variety show, if you show "Hibari Misora's nostrils," you're going to get a flood of protests (laughs). Kuwahata: But surely there was an intention behind it. Usui: No, I think he just didn't want to film conventional footage. Hishimi: That was his visual conviction. Maybe the role of a TV station director didn't suit him? Usui: Conversely, because of things like that, he went to Tsuburaya Productions and encountered the Ultra Series. In the end, it might have been for the best. Hishimi: It's amazing that he only directed four episodes of Seven. I really hope that with this 50th anniversary, they finally lift the ban on Episode 12 ("From a Planet with Love," directed by Jissoji). Kuwahata: I agree. Currently, it's treated as a missing episode. Usui: I think if people actually saw it, it would become clear that it was misunderstood at the time. It's certainly not anything strange like that. Hishimi: Exactly. It's a waste to keep it shelved. I've been saying "Release Episode 12!" for over 20 years now. Kuwahata: Some fans even made mooks dedicated just to Episode 12. Hishimi: There's even an "Episode 12 Society." Kuwahata: I hope this 50th anniversary will be an opportunity for things to heat up again, including a re-evaluation of Episode 12.

Mr. Usui, which aliens, monsters, or robots left an impression on you?

In my case, it's definitely Alien Metron from Director Jissoji's "The Targeted Town." Their intelligence is considerable, but children at the time could imagine that creatures like this might exist beyond Earth.

After all, 1969, just two years after "Seven" aired, was the era when humanity stood on the moon. The trust in science and technology held by society as a whole, as well as the interest in and longing for space, was stronger than it is now.

Also, what was depicted in "The Targeted Town" was a very ironic worldview, showing that human connections are actually fragile. This was also a surprise; it was an episode that taught me that adults—or humans—have another side that young boys wouldn't even think of.

I see. In my case, like the Ultra Hawk, it was an era where we could have dreams for the future. While wondering what we would be able to do in the future, King Joe (Episodes 14 and 15) was an incredibly impressive robot.

The one that combines.

Yes. That idea of separating and combining to become a robot was great. Also, it was very strong, and the appearance of a robot that even Ultra Seven couldn't beat left a huge impression on me.

King Joe is very popular.

And then there are the Capsule Monsters.

Even though the image of a monster is something giant, the idea of turning them into capsules is interesting.

It's the concept that there are also allied monsters.

It even feels like it leads to the later Pokémon.

Exactly.

Ms. Hishimi, do you have any favorite monsters or aliens? Hishimi: The one I have the most affection for is Pegassa-kun (laughs). Kuwahata: Ah, I thought so. That scene in the promotional photo where Alien Pegassa is attacking Anne from behind doesn't actually exist in the show, does it? Hishimi: It doesn't. That was just taken for a TBS promo or something. Kuwahata: Since that photo still exists, there's an impression that Alien Pegassa is a bad guy trying to attack Anne from behind, but it's actually different. A new series called Ultraman Geed started recently, and Pegassa appears as a regular character and is an ally. That's nice. The Pegassa from back then survived. Hishimi: Because it ended with no one knowing where the Pegassa who was in Anne's room went. Kuwahata: That feels a bit redeeming. What specifically makes you feel attached to Pegassa? Hishimi: After all, he was in Anne's room. The way he runs is cute, like when he dashes out of Anne's room (laughs). One that was gross was Alien Braco (Episode 22). He had two antennae near his crotch and attacked Anne. Since his head is big, the antennae are right around the crotch area. So when he attacks, it's just gross! That's how it felt (laughs). "Anne: Past and Present" is like a research book on Seven. It's the result of collaboration with many people. There are things I learned from fans, too. We even went on location tours together. Kuwahata: It has great archival value. It's wonderful that we can enjoy what you've shaped by putting the puzzle pieces together. Usui: Yes, it's truly precious. Hishimi: Oh, I'm so happy to hear you say that. Before, I was like, "I don't know. I don't remember at all." I studied so I could answer properly, and this book came out with the feeling that I've finally caught up with everyone a little. Usui: You remember very well. Reading this, the events of that time come vividly to mind. Kuwahata: Please continue to be an evangelist and teach not only people of our age but also younger people. The number of people who like Ultra Seven will surely continue to grow. For those people, your presence is very significant. I really enjoyed today. Thank you very much. Hishimi: Thank you as well. *Affiliations and titles are from the time of publication.