why I love Ultraman

written By Ethan

Edited by Kwame Obiri-Addai

 Ultraman (for those who don’t know) is a Japanese special effects ( or tokusatsu) super-hero show

about a race of alien giants of light that patrol the galaxy, protect peace and fight massive monsters

along the way. Each season focuses on a new Ultra that has found their way to earth, just as the

planet’s specialist team starts having a real issue combatting a new wave of colossal creatures. 

the original ultraman

The show’s approach of having the Ultras all be connected but working in different universes is great.

It allows the series to remain  friendly to new viewers while also building a more expansive lore for 

longtime fans. This also means that each new series is forced to find fresh and clever ways of reusing

monsters from past series because while new fans may not have any idea about the iconic monsters

showing up, for veteran fans, this could be the 5th time witnessing Ultraman battle this same foe.

There's only so much the reactions of the new ultra can bring to the experience to keep it fresh but

that's enough with the general background information.

 

For me personally, the moment I went from liking Ultraman to loving it came during the pandemic.

At the very end of 2019, I had been diagnosed with an incurable eye condition that would slowly

worsen my vision, leading to early on in the pandemic, when I was told by doctors that my right eye

had gotten to the point where I needed an operation to stop things getting any worse. Due to the

pandemic (and a number of factors caused by it), it would take a full year before I could finally have

this operation. So with my family and I unsure on whether i'd be able to see 2021 (literally) my spirits

and mental wellbeing hit an all-time low. I didn’t know what to do. 

It was at this point that I heard the news of Tsuburaya productions (creators of Ultraman) deciding

that as part of their grand push outside of Japan, they would upload their latest season, Ultraman Z 

to YouTube for free, fully subbed in English as well as a number of other languages, and would do so

only hours after the episodes aired in Japan. 

This ended up having a huge impact on me. Knowing that if I could make it to the end of the week,

I would be able to join thousands of other Ultra fans and watch the latest adventure of Z

(pronounced Zett) and his human host Haruki not only became one of the things I looked forward

to the most each week, it was also a sign that my eyes had not gotten notably worse.

“I'm doing alright, things haven't gotten that bad yet, i'm still able to watch Z with everyone” is what

I told myself when I was feeling low.

I don’t think I’ll ever forget having to try and contain my excited screams while watching the final episode

to avoid waking the rest of my family up during the moments in the final battle when the villain’s trump

card hits Z and Haruki so hard that they revert back into their basic form, leaving them motionless and

collapsed on top of a building. It’s not until they hear the rest of the cast cheering them on do they get

back up and win the day. Ultraman seasons normally run for 25-ish episodes a year so I knew

I wouldn’t have my weekly Z episode to keep me going. This final note of never giving up and

showing resilience especially when you have people cheering you on, resonated with me deeply It felt 

like Z and Haruki were speaking to me directly, telling me not to give up just because they

were leaving. Surely I'd be able to sort my eye operation out soon.

And about 5 months after Z's final episode aired, I did. 

Finding a show at just the right time for it to really emotionally land with you in a deeper way than

no other show has, isn't something many people get to experience and I'm extremely lucky to have

Z come out when it did, because the bond I have with that season really embodies why I love ultraman.

While it tells grand sci-fi stories about giant aliens battling giant monsters, it always does so with heart

and humanity. 

Ultraman Z asking Haruki to chant his name as part of their transformation

If you’re interested in checking out Ultraman yourself, here is a link to the official YouTube channel. Ultraman Z, Trigger and the currently airing Ultraman Decker are all there too: https://www.youtube.com/@ULTRAMAN_OFFICIAL