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36-516: The project initially started as a pair of television specials in the year 1994, made to promote environmental awareness in Japan. It received a trilogy of specials in 1998 to promote Ultraseven 's 30th anniversary and a hexalogy in 1999 to ostensibly wrapping up the entire series. To celebrate the 35th anniversary of Ultraseven , the Evolution pentalogy was introduced in 2002 as a direct follow up to

72-495: A continuation where the Ultra survived, and he got his wish in the following home video series. Starting from the 1998 trilogy, Dan had grown his hair and changed his outfit under Kohji Moritsugu's demand to be based on his favorite actor, Steven Seagal . According to director Shinichi Kamisawa, the central theme of Ultraseven was "protecting the Earth from extraterrestrial invaders", while

108-530: A regulator. A major objective of the ministry has been to strengthen the country's industrial base. It has not managed Japanese trade and industry along the lines of a centrally planned economy , but it has provided industries with administrative guidance and other direction, both formal and informal, on modernization, technology, investments in new plants and equipment, and domestic and foreign competition. The close relationship between MITI and Japanese industry has led to foreign trade policy that often complements

144-468: A result of the special's nature, Kohji Moritsugu could only provide narrative role for the story instead of reprising his role as Dan Moroboshi. Due to Operation: Solar Energy 's popularity, another TV special was conceived to coincide with Japan's Health and Sports Day on October 10, 1994. The second special, Planet of the Earthlings , ended with Seven's apparent death. Director Shinichi Kamisawa hoped for

180-731: A way to continue accommodating the single-sponsor practice, leading to shows like Amahl and the Night Visitors (1951, sponsored by Hallmark Cards as part of the Hallmark Television Playhouse ) and the Ford 50th Anniversary Show (1953, a two-hour variety show simulcast on both CBS and NBC). In 1954, NBC president Sylvester Weaver pioneered an innovative style of programming which he called "spectaculars". These stand-alone broadcasts, usually 90 minutes in length, were designed to attract large, new audiences and bring prestige to

216-585: Is a standalone television show which may also temporarily interrupt episodic programming normally scheduled for a given time slot . Some specials provide a full range of entertainment and informational value available via the television medium (news, drama, comedy, variety, cultural), in various formats ( live television , documentary , studio production , animation , film ), and in any viewing lengths ( short films , feature films , miniseries , telethons ). The types of shows described as television specials include: The production of early television shows

252-455: The 1950s and 1960s. As industry became stronger and as MITI lost some of its policy tools, such as control over allocation of foreign exchange, MITI's policies also changed. The success of Japanese exports and the tension it has caused in other countries led MITI to provide guidance on limiting exports of particular products to various countries. Starting in 1981, MITI presided over the establishment of voluntary restraints on automobile exports to

288-516: The 1990s because of deregulation and the collapse of the Japanese asset price bubble , and the creation of the World Trade Organization made it more difficult for governments to protect local companies from foreign competition. The declining significance of MITI to Japanese companies made it a less powerful agency within the bureaucracy, and by the end of the 20th century, it was folded into

324-400: The 1998 trilogy was "the coexistence of Earth and mankind". From here onwards, the collaboration with VAP for original video contents was due to their past association with Tsuburaya Productions during the making of Moon Spiral miniseries. With the exception of Kōji Nanjo, actors for the new members of Ultra Guard were carefully selected through an audition of 2,000 candidates. Shigeki Kagemaru

360-517: The 1999 hexalogy and became the definitive ending to Heisei Ultraseven . 10 years after Ultraseven's fight with Re-Pandon, the Ultra crash-landed on Earth after being injured from the fight against Alien Pitt. At this point, Furuhashi lead a trio of young members in the Ultra Guard in protecting the Earth against invading forces. When the Alien Pitt unleashed their monster Eleking against mankind, Seven

396-460: The Japanese economy. By the mid-1980s, the ministry was helping foreign corporations set up operations in Japan. The decline of MITI was described by Johnstone: However MITI still continued to benefit industry, especially in semiconductors, where, to overcome resistance to a new technology, it forced every electronic company to have at least one CMOS project going. The influence of MITI shrank in

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432-502: The Omega Files incident, peace returned to Earth after TDF agreed to sign a peace treaty with the outer space civilizations. Although Kazamori had long retired from his service, the Ultra Guard was due to be disbanded due to TDF's arms reduction policy, but a string of incidents caused them to operate once more alongside a new member named Kisaragi, eventually going rogue after discovering TDF had been infested with alien invaders. Kazamori on

468-581: The Solar Day ( 太陽の日 , Taiyō no Hi ) , and a TV special program was held by both the Japan Solar System Development Association (JSSDA) and Yomiko Advertising to spread the awareness. The project was originally planned to be an animation work, but then-producer of Yomiko Advertising, Toshihiko Fujinami decided to do a different approach. Ultraseven was decided as the icon (due to the hero using solar energy to empower himself), hence

504-539: The Ultra Guard actors get to be the main focus of certain episodes. The central theme of the hexalogy was "there are enemies within the existence of human beings themselves". Shoji Nakayama, the actor of Kaoru Kiriyama in Ultraseven , was meant to reprise his role in the final instalment of the hexalogy, but the actor died at the same month of the filming (December 1998). Television special A television special (often TV special , or rarely television spectacular )

540-479: The United States to allay criticism from American manufacturers and their unions. Similarly, MITI was forced to liberalize import policies, despite its traditional protectionist focus. During the 1980s, the ministry helped to craft a number of market-opening and import promoting measures, including the creation of an import promotion office within the ministry. The close relationship between MITI and industry allowed

576-435: The areas of investment in plant and equipment, pollution control , energy and power , some aspects of foreign economic assistance, and consumer complaints. This span has allowed MITI to integrate conflicting policies, such as those on pollution control and export competitiveness, to minimize damage to export industries. MITI has served as an architect of industrial policy , an arbiter on industrial problems and disputes, and

612-532: The domestic market closed to most foreign companies. MITI lost some influence when the switch was made to a floating exchange rate between the United States dollar and yen in 1971. Before that point, MITI had been able to keep the exchange rate artificially low, which benefited Japan's exporters. Later, intense lobbying from other countries, particularly the United States , pushed Japan to introduce more liberal trade laws that further lessened MITI's grip over

648-450: The era before cable and home video, television audiences often had to wait an entire year or more to see a special program or film that had a great impact on first viewing. Today, streaming media such as video on demand and streaming television , often makes it possible for viewers to watch a television special again almost immediately after it is aired, and home video—which has largely given way to digital downloads —makes it possible for

684-571: The final time. Several years later, former Ultra Guard member Kaji was promoted into a TDF staff officer and became a war hawk who proposed the Friendship Plan to annihilate potentially hostile alien planets after losing his teammates in the past. Kaji's actions caused the Alien Valkyrie's invasion on Earth, leading to the death of Furuhashi and forcing Dan/Seven to masquerade as Kazamori for an entire year. Without Furuhashi to supervise, Kaji took

720-583: The first Heisei Ultraseven , Operation: Solar Energy was broadcast on March 21, 1994 on Nippon TV , exactly on Japan's Vernal Equinox Day . The aforementioned special itself inherited a majority of the filming crew behind Gridman the Hyper Agent , and the same team would eventually work in the production of Ultraman Tiga . The use of Alien Pitt and Eleking, as well as Sandayu Dokumamushi and Yuriko Hishimi's return to their roles as Furuhashi and Anne were due to long time fan's familiarity with Ultraseven . As

756-547: The general public to own copies of television specials and films. Ministry of International Trade and Industry The Ministry of International Trade and Industry ( 通商産業省 , Tsūshō-sangyō-shō , MITI ) was a ministry of the Government of Japan from 1949 to 2001. The MITI was one of the most powerful government agencies in Japan and, at the height of its influence, effectively ran much of Japanese industrial policy, funding research and directing investment. In 2001, MITI

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792-410: The late officer's role and further complicating matters for the Ultra Guard members in their missions against the alien invaders. When a lone Nonmalt appeared to enact her revenge on mankind, the existence of TDF's Omega File were brought to light as it would threaten mankind's status quo on Earth, due to their predecessors were revealed to be invaders that had overthrow the original natives (Nonmalt) as

828-414: The ministry to play such a role in fostering more open markets, but conflict remained between the need to open markets and the desire to continue promoting new and growing domestic industries. As late as the 1980s, prime ministers were expected to serve a tenure as MITI minister before taking over the government. MITI worked closely with Japanese business interests, and was largely responsible for keeping

864-424: The ministry's efforts to strengthen domestic manufacturing interests. MITI facilitated the early development of nearly all major industries by providing protection from import competition, technological intelligence, help in licensing foreign technology, access to foreign exchange, and assistance in mergers. These policies to promote domestic industry and to protect it from international competition were strongest in

900-609: The network. The spectaculars aired on three nights every fourth week - a major gamble because it controversially broke up viewer routines and risked stable weekly sponsorship deals. To address this, Weaver used his "magazine" style which involved selling segments of each show to a different sponsor, a practice which would evolve into the modern " commercial ". The three initial spectacular blocks were Hallmark Hall of Fame (Sundays, produced by Albert McCleery ), Producer's Showcase (Mondays, produced by Fred Coe ), Max Liebman Presents (Saturdays, produced by Max Liebman ). In time,

936-459: The new members of Ultra Guard in their investigation, but preferred to hide his presence from Furuhashi. Seven disappeared after the death of Alien Metron and the alien base's destruction seemingly consumed the Ultra in an explosion. Dan survived the explosion of Alien Metron's base, but this resulted with an amnesia and forced him to take refuge at the Murata family. Meanwhile, Furuhashi has elevated to

972-512: The other hand face against the threat of Alien Garut, the mastermind behind the secret alien invasion as he and the other invaders plan to conquer Earth by taking control of the Plant Life Form, a race that was supposedly inheritors of Earth's future. Kazamori bonded with Seven after Satomi's death freed the Ultra from his prison and had protected the Plant Life Form from both aliens and TDF/Ultra Guard members alike. Once discovering that mankind

1008-476: The planet's dominant species. Nevertheless, Seven chose to dedicate his life in protecting mankind by killing Nonmalt's monster, Zabangi, despite his action was marked as violating the rules of outer space by interfering with a civil war. After returning the real Kazamori to the Ultra Guard, Seven left Earth to face his comeuppance, as he was imprisoned in the Horsehead Nebula for his actions. Five years after

1044-530: The rank of TDF staff officer, while a new batch of Ultra Guard members were selected under Captain Sanshiro Shiragane. After regaining his memory, Dan assisted the new Ultra Guard members in their fight against another extraterrestrial threats. In several occasions, Dan tends to masquerade as the UG rookie Kazamori by switching places with the youth. Seven departed from Earth once more after reuniting with Furuhashi for

1080-677: The term "spectacular" was seen as hyperbolic , and so led to the more modern and modest term, "special". Weaver's strategy was not as successful as CBS's predictably scheduled and prefilmed programs, and he was fired in 1956. In the 1960s, multi-part specials, which aired over several days in a week or on the same day for several weeks, evolved from this format, though these were more commonly called miniseries . The term "TV special" formerly applied more to dramas or musicals presented live or on videotape (such as Peter Pan ) than to filmed presentations especially made for television, which were (and still are) referred to as made-for-TV movies . In

1116-408: The time it was created, Japan was still recovering from the economic disaster of World War II . With inflation rising and productivity failing to keep up, the government sought a better mechanism for reviving the Japanese economy. MITI has been responsible not only in the areas of exports and imports but also for all domestic industries and businesses not specifically covered by other ministries in

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1152-714: Was merged with other agencies during the Central Government Reform to form the newly created Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). MITI was created with the split of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in May 1949 and given the mission for coordinating international trade policy with other groups, such as the Bank of Japan , the Economic Planning Agency , and the various commerce-related cabinet ministries. At

1188-559: Was never forsaken for Earth's future (as well as Alien Garut falsifying the Akashic Record for his own benefit), Kazamori/Seven killed the alien to end his invasion plans. After entrusting the Akashic Record and the Plant Life Form to the Ultra Guard, Kazamori parted ways with his former teammates. Both novels are written by Junki Takegami, illustrated by Shinobu Tanno and published by Asahi Sonorama in year 2002. In 1994, Ministry of International Trade and Industry established March 21 as

1224-522: Was not able to reprise his role as Kaji due to the filming of Ultraman Tiga had already wrapped up by the time the trilogy's filming took place. The Final Chapters Hexalogy was initially advertised as the supposedly definitive end to the Heisei Ultraseven as a whole, with the tagline of "Goodbye, Seven" ( さらば、セブン , Saraba, Sebun ) was even advertised in the June 5, 1999 press conference. Several of

1260-587: Was revived after the aliens' assassination attempts went awry. The newly resurrected Seven managed to kill Eleking and the Alien Pitts after freeing their hostage. At some point of time, the Alien Metron siblings set their sight on Earth to make it as their secondary home. The siblings pose as environmental terrorist to fool a college professor into their aid, going as far as to even clone a massive dinosaur as their supporter. Seven's human form, Dan, returned to assist

1296-701: Was very expensive, with few guarantees of public success, and ongoing (weekly) shows typically required a single, major sponsor to operate. As such, a good deal of programming was one-off shows, accommodating smaller sponsors and not requiring a loyal audience following. As the industry matured, this trend reversed; by the 1950s, most networks aimed to provide stable, routine, and proven content to their audiences. Television executives, such as CBS president James Aubrey , sought to avoid any disruption in viewing habits which might cause viewers to move to another network. These weekly series, though, typically became too expensive for any single sponsor, so stand-alone shows offered

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