#Sompote Saengduenchai

[himitsusentaiblog]

It is with mixed feelings today that I learned about the death of Thai director and founder of Chaiyo Productions Sompote Saengduenchai a.k.a Sompote Sands who passed away yesterday, August 26, 2021 at the age of 80. Sands was a controversial figure to put it lightly in the tokusatsu field.  He worked briefly with Eiji Tsuburaya and teamed up with Tsuburaya Productions in the 1970s to co-produce the Thai films Jumborg Ace and Giant as well as Hanuman and the 7 Ultramen.

He would later go on to produce the totally unauthorized by Toei Hanuman and the 5 Riders.

He was also responsible for the decades long attempt to claim international distribution rights to the Showa Ultra series which was only finally resolved in Tsuburaya’s favor in 2018.  He attempted to create his own Ultra Heroes for the Thai market but was beaten down in court as that was never part of the supposed agreement that ‘gave’ him distribution rights. He also produced his own films such as The Magic Lizard 

And Crocodile

[isanrido-blog]

The currently available films of Korean director Lee Won-Se, who directed Crocodile Fangs, the film that eventually became plain Crocodile.

 Special Investigation (1974)

A Special Investigator (1975)

Ball Shot by Midget (1981)

If you have any idea where to find Crocodile Fangs, let me know. The currently available Korean VHS is simply the US cut with Korean subtitles.

[zandercannon]

Are you familiar with the thai movies directed by Sompote Saengduenchai, particularly the ones featuring Ultraman and Kamen Rider? Because they are a wild ride and have an interesting history. You may find them capsule review material.

Whoa. This looks fantastic. No! I had not heard of these, but I will seek them out. Thanks for the tip!

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

On July 10th in Beijing, the Chinese animation studio Guangzhou BlueArc Culture Communications Co., Ltd. hosted a promotional event for DRAGON FORCE: SO LONG ULTRAMAN (钢铁飞龙之再见奥特曼, Gāngtiě fēilóng zhī zàijiàn àotèmàn), a 3D computer animated film featuring the iconic Japanese superhero, Ultraman. Director/BlueArc Founder/President Wang Wei — aka Tommy Wang — described his movie as an official re-interpretation of the classic character, saying, “This domestic animation film presents a new image of the hero Ultraman to the world, in the hopes it can surprise adults and children.”

BlueArc’s announcement certainly came as a surprise to Tsuburaya Productions, creator and copyrights owner of the Ultraman series. On July 19th, Tsuburaya President and CEO Shinichi Oka issued a press release that stated (in part) “This work has been produced without our permission or supervision. In addition, the usage of the Ultraman character image, etc., in this presentation has severely damaged the Ultraman brand, and is utterly unacceptable… We intend to take decisive measures, including legal action, against the Chinese company that made this announcement and the persons involved in the production of the film.”

The news was covered by Japanese outlets like NHK and The Mainichi, and soon picked up by English language fan sites, blogs and chat groups. But some of the reporting has misrepresented the details of how DRAGON FORCE: SO LONG ULTRAMAN came to be, which is understandable as the film is just the latest piece in a legal dispute over the Ultraman rights that stretches back two decades, involves multiple companies, and has been contested in four different countries.

While some have pointed fingers at Thai director Sompote Saengduenchai, neither he nor his company, Chaiyo Productions, are directly involved in the production of DRAGON FORCE: SO LONG ULTRAMAN. But Saengduenchai did play a key role as the “father” of the rights dispute that eventually allowed the Chinese film to be made.

[tohocompanylimited-blog]

[kaijusaurus]

TweetSharebar A settled sixteen year-old lawsuit and a growing fan base has the highly popular Japanese television series “Ultraman” prepared for its big screen debut albeit with an English language flair. All that is known is a huge American A-list star will be approached to play a human who has the ability to transform into...

CLARIFICATION: Thai film director Sompote Sands - under Chaiyo, who have apparently won all their legal battles against Tsuburaya Productions - is planning to shop interest in a big-budget American Ultraman film around Hollywood, and would prefer Will Smith to star. AN AMERICAN ULTRAMAN FILM IS NOT CURRENTLY IN THE WORKS.

Honestly, take from this what you want, as long as it's with a MASSIVE pinch of salt. An American Ultraman film in the style of PACIFIC RIM cooouuuld work... The crew would have to be absolutely immaculate though, and be fully invested. I also think Tsuburaya Productions would have to be HEAVILY involved.

[himitsusentaiblog]

Where Ultraman got his Ultra

Back when Eiji Tsuburaya was first coming up with the concept for Ultra Q, the show went through several names including Woo and Unbalance. It was TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting Service) that asked for the word Ultra to be included in the title. It was something of a buzzword in Japan at the time thanks to the success of Japanese gymnast Yukio Endo at the 1964 Olympics.  He had won 3 Gold Medals and one Silver with his performance on the parallel bars, especially with a move called the Ultra C.

The term Ultra caught on thanks to NHK Announcer Bunya Suzuki who would would exclaim the word anytime Endo did well during the games.  

Thanks to Ultra Q becoming a monster hit, the term stuck and was kept for the sequel series, Ultraman. This contradicts the claims by Sompote Saengduenchai who claims he helped Tsuburaya come up with the name Ultraman based on warriors from the Ottoman Empire (Ottoman became Ultraman in his version) which only makes all of his tales of helping to co-develop the hero seem more spurious.

The name was so popular, TBS created a new series to fill the gap between Tsuburaya’s productions just to keep the Ultra brand alive called Captain Ultra. This series was a sci-fi space adventure loosely based on Edmund Hamiliton’s Captain Future and was produced by Toei.

Captain Ultra lasted 24 episodes, which gave Tsuburaya Productions enough time to create their next entry in the proper Ultra Series, Ultraseven. The new heroic series premiered the week after the Toei science fiction show ended, bringing a new and exciting alien protector to the screen.

I just like the fact that the hero we know and love today got his name thanks to a sports hero who lead his nation to Olympic Gold.  It’s a neat story!

[himitsusentaiblog]

I heard Tsuburaya made the Rider suits used for the Chaiyo footage of the X Movie any truth to this?

Not that I know of.  It would be really weird for Tsuburaya to risk legal action by copying the suits of another Japanese company for an unlicensed production abroad.  The studio who made the film, Chaiyo Productions would later change their name to Tsuburaya-Chaiyo to cash in on their founder Sompote Saengduenchai’s supposed role in helping to create Ultraman (a story which has more holes in it than Swiss Cheese shot by a Tommy Gun). 

However, Tsuburaya Chaiyo Productions has no actual link to the original Tsuburaya Productions in Japan and the two have had protracted legal fights with each other over the International rights to Ultraman.However, I seriously doubt that Toei would have had as cordial a relationship as they did later with Tsuburaya if the latter had violated their intellectual property. They two of them teamed up for things like the Ultraman vs. Kamen Rider special:

and the Ultraman appearance in 1993′s entry in the Toei Fushigi Comedy Series Yugenjikko Sisters Chouchoutrian.

Thanks for the question.  I can’t answer in the negative with 100 percent positivity but I seriously doubt Tsuburaya would have made unauthorized Kamen Rider suits for a foreign production.

[himitsusentaiblog]

So have you heard of "City Shrouded in Shadows"? What do you think about it? And do you think it will be coming to North America?

Oh man, I have and I CANNOT wait for it! 

I do not have a PS4 but I may get one JUST FOR THIS GAME!  Seriously it has not just the original Ultraman but now Ultraman Tiga is confirmed!  As well as Godzilla, Gamera and Evangelion?!  Oh heck yes I am excited for this!As for its chances of getting released in the US, let me quote another of my own posts:

I sadly, don’t have much hope of it coming out stateside or in the West.  It’s a lot like the situation involving most of the Super Robot Wars games.  The only one to see a Western release were from the OG series which had only original character entirely owned by Bandai/Badai Namco.  The licensing headaches involved in the West are legion (no pun intended) considering who has the rights to distribute the individual properties in the West.

For example, Sony has some of the Godzilla movies, others are owned in the US by Universal, Warner Brothers and even Funimation has the distribution rights to Shin Godzilla.

The US rights to Gamera are held by Neptune Media (I think).

I am honestly not sure who has the actual rights to Evangelion right now, I know Funimation has the rights for the Rebuild movies but the TV series and I know the original movie (Death and Rebirth, The End of Evangelion) rights have lapsed.

Worst of all is Ultraman.  I could go on for hours about the mess that is the rights to Ultraman (at least the first six series) and how trying to get a game featuring him licensed in the West made in Japan would be hard at best.  There has been a protracted legal battle between Tsuburaya Productions in Japan and Tsuburaya Chaiyo from Thailand for years with both sides holding the rights at various times.  

Currently, as far as I know, Tsuburaya Chaiyo (which has NO actual connection to Tsuburaya Productions) has the licensing rights to the first six Ultraman series outside of Japan.  This is one reason that the earliest Ultraman series licensed by Crunchyroll from Tsuburaya Pro is Ultraman Leo, because that one is the 7th series.  It all goes back to a suspect contract supposedly made out in the 1970s supposedly between Noburo Tsuburaya (Eiji’s son) and Sompote Saengduenchai that said Sompote’s Chaiyo production studio had the exclusive rights to the Ultraman franchise outside Japan.  Of course, this contract didn’t surface until after Noburo’s death in 1995 and that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how suspect that entire thing is.

Suffice it to say, getting a Japanese Ultraman product licensed outside of Japan involving the original Ultraman isn’t easy.  Even the DVDs we do have of Ultraman and Ultraseven are not from the original Japanese masters as they had to be secured from Tsuburaya Chaiyo, making them of much lesser quality than the ones available in Japan. This also makes a Blu-Ray release highly doubtful.

So while it is easy for Bandai Namco, who own the rights to produce merchandise for all of these franchises inside of Japan, to put them all in one game the chances of that game getting a release outside of Japan are slim.

As a quick addendum here, there is currently a court case filed regarding an Ultraman Movie made in China without Tsuburaya’s approval that may once and for all solve the international rights issues.  Maybe. We hope.

I still don’t hold out a lot of hope for this game to come out over here though.  I just hope for a decent fan translation.

[himitsusentaiblog]

Do you think City Shrouded in Shadow loses localization possibility due to Patlabor? Other reasons? Or do you think there's a sliver of a chance this will come to the states :'(

I sadly, don’t have much hope of it coming out stateside or in the West.  It’s a lot like the situation involving most of the Super Robot Wars games.  The only one to see a Western release were from the OG series which had only original character entirely owned by Bandai/Badai Namco.  The licensing headaches involved in the West are legion (no pun intended) considering who has the rights to distribute the individual properties in the West.

For example, Sony has some of the Godzilla movies, others are owned in the US by Universal, Warner Brothers and even Funimation has the distribution rights to Shin Godzilla.

The US rights to Gamera are held by Neptune Media (I think).

I am honestly not sure who has the actual rights to Evangelion right now, I know Funimation has the rights for the Rebuild movies but the TV series and I know the original movie (Death and Rebirth, The End of Evangelion) rights have lapsed.

Worst of all is Ultraman.  I could go on for hours about the mess that is the rights to Ultraman (at least the first six series) and how trying to get a game featuring him licensed in the West made in Japan would be hard at best.  There has been a protracted legal battle between Tsuburaya Productions in Japan and Tsuburaya Chaiyo from Thailand for years with both sides holding the rights at various times.  

Currently, as far as I know, Tsuburaya Chaiyo (which has NO actual connection to Tsuburaya Productions) has the licensing rights to the first six Ultraman series outside of Japan.  This is one reason that the earliest Ultraman series licensed by Crunchyroll from Tsuburaya Pro is Ultraman Leo, because that one is the 7th series.  It all goes back to a suspect contract supposedly made out in the 1970s supposedly between Noburo Tsuburaya (Eiji’s son) and Sompote Saengduenchai that said Sompote’s Chaiyo production studio had the exclusive rights to the Ultraman franchise outside Japan.  Of course, this contract didn’t surface until after Noburo’s death in 1995 and that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how suspect that entire thing is.

Suffice it to say, getting a Japanese Ultraman product licensed outside of Japan involving the original Ultraman isn’t easy.  Even the DVDs we do have of Ultraman and Ultraseven are not from the original Japanese masters as they had to be secured from Tsuburaya Chaiyo, making them of much lesser quality than the ones available in Japan. This also makes a Blu-Ray release highly doubtful.

So while it is easy for Bandai Namco, who own the rights to produce merchandise for all of these franchises inside of Japan, to put them all in one game the chances of that game getting a release outside of Japan are slim.