Ultraman nexus

(ウルトラマンネクサス, Urutoraman Nekusasu?) was produced by Tsuburaya Productions and Chubu-Nippon Broadcasting. It was the 18th entry in the Ultra Series, and the 14th Tsuburaya-produced Ultraman show. The series aired on Tokyo Broadcasting System, including TBS, CBC, MBS, etc. The show ran from October 2, 2004 until June 25, 2005, with a total of 37 broadcast episodes. Subsequent DVD releases from Bandai Visual saw a brand new 45-minute Episode EX and an extended 45-minute Directors Cut of Episode 29.

Ultraman Nexus was part of Tsuburaya Productions' Ultra N Project, an experiment in 2004 to re-invent Ultraman for a new generation of fans. Prior to this however, Tsuburaya had begun a project called Ultra Collaboration 2 at the end of 2003, which involved a brand new radio-adaptation of Ultra Q called The Ultra Q Club. The project was also due to include a new TV series called Ultraman Noa in early 2004, which is presumably what Ultraman Nexus evolved into. Following the success of the new radio show, Tsuburaya forged ahead with a brand new television series Ultra Q: Dark Fantasy on April 6, 2004, a show which attracted top-rung directors such as Shusuke Kaneko (popular with fans for his work on the Gamera series and Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack).

The first stage of the Ultra N Project was entitled Noa: Nostalgia. The project mascot, Ultraman Noa, was a rather radical change design - an all-silver Ultraman with protruding wings on its back. Ultraman Noa was mainly used for live stage shows and merchandising. The second stage of the project was Next: Evolution. This saw the creation of a new theatrical film, ULTRAMAN. The final stage was Nexus: Trinity - the piece that ties the entire project together. A radical change from the prior Ultraman Cosmos series, which was strictly aimed at small children, Ultraman Nexus is a much darker, grittier take on Japan's favorite super-hero. The traditional monster-of-the-week stories were replaced with much longer, character-based story arcs. Tsuburaya Productions had intended the show to be run during primetime, but the CBC network gave the show a 7:30 AM Saturday morning slot. This lead to children being confused about the sudden change in style and the target audience wasn't tuning at that time in the morning. The series performed under expectations, which resulted in the series being cut short from around 50 episodes down to 37.

What is unusual about this show is that three months after it finished airing, it was picked up for another time slot. This time the show aired at 2:30 AM on Tuesday mornings, these ratings, while not the best, met the expectations that were set for the Ultra N Project. Following the movie ULTRAMAN, Tsuburaya ran a teaser trailer for Ultraman 2 Requiem. Due to the performance of Ultraman Nexus the film was cancelled, and Tsuburaya have moved ahead with a theatrical version of the current television series, Ultraman Mebius.