Ultraman (ウルトラマン,Urutoraman) is a Japanese tokusatsu drama in Tsuburaya's Ultra Series. It is the second series overall and it is also the first series to feature Ultraman. The series started on July 17, 1966 and ended airing on April 9, 1967.
Ultraman, a giant alien from the Land of Light in Nebula M78, enters Earth's atmosphere in pursuit of an escaped space monster. In the skies above Japan he accidentally crashes into a Jet VTOL piloted by Hayata, a member of the Science Special Search Party (SSSP), an international research and defense agency that protects the world from monsters and aliens of all shapes and sizes. To save Hayata, Ultraman merges his life force with the dying human and vows to stay and fight for peace on Earth. Now, whenever the Patrol faces a threat too great for them to handle, Hayata transforms into Ultraman to save the day![1]
Originally, the series was intended to last 52 episodes (a Type-D mask for Ultraman was already crafted for said run). However, Eiji Tsuburaya nixed the idea so that he could concentrate more on developing new and different productions (which was soon revealed to be Ultraseven). The Type-D mask would then go on to be used and slightly modified for the Ultraman Jack costume.