Underplayed Gems

Ultraman (1966)

Ultraman poster
Original title
ウルトラマン
Genre
Japanese television drama, tokusatsu
Country
Japan
Length
1 season, 39 episodes
Rated
TV-PG
Rating
8.4 of 10 from 60 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this series is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

More series like thisWatch the trailer

or watch the trailer on YouTube

How it feels

A giant hero from outer space merges with a human to defend Earth from giant monsters and alien threats. It is a Japanese TV show from the 1960s that started a long-running franchise.

retroaction-packedheroicfunoptimisticlarger-than-lifefast-pacedmythic

What happens

Ultraman (Japanese: ウルトラマン, Hepburn: Urutoraman) is a Japanese tokusatsu science fiction television series created by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced by Tsuburaya Productions, it is a follow-up to Ultra Q, though not technically a sequel or spin-off. Tsuburaya Productions produced 39 episodes (40, counting the pre-premiere special) that aired on Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) and its affiliate stations from July 17, 1966, to April 9, 1967. Its premiere topped the average rating set by Ultra Q and kept climbing each week, marking the show as a success. It was also the first Japanese television series to use a bidding system for commercial rights, allowing multiple third-party companies to sponsor the show. This was following TBS's merchandising troubles with its predecessor. Although Ultraman is the first series to feature an Ultraman character, it is the second installment in the Ultra Series, following Ultra Q. This is symbolised by the Japanese show opening with the Ultra Q logo exploding into the Ultraman logo. Ultraman and its titular hero became a major pop culture phenomenon in Japan, generating dozens of sequels, spin-offs, imitations, parodies and tributes. Ultraman went on to generate $7.4 billion in merchandising revenue from 1966 to 1987 in Japan (equivalent to more than $21 billion adjusted for inflation) and become the world's third top-selling licensed character by the 1980s, largely due to his popularity in Asia. A manga series of the same name serving as a sequel to the television series began publication in October 2011 and received an anime adaptation starting in April 2019. In May 2022, Toho released Shin Ultraman, a reimagining of the series directed by Shinji Higuchi. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

This page is from Underplayed Gems. Not quite it? You can browse by genre, country and year, or take this one into the 3D catalogue and ask the Catbot for something closer.