Why Ultraman Still Works

Gavadon is the best ultramonster of all time and no you can't change my mind.

"It just works." - Todd Howard

What surprised me the most about Ultraman is how ALIEN he felt. No one knows who he is, what he wants, where he's going, or why he keeps risking his life for this planet which he accidentally went to. One of my favorite moments of the series was the showdown between Ultraman and Mephilas (who, for any non-fans, is the big blue-eyed monkey guy). These two aliens both have their own mysterious motives for the Earth. Now they're fighting, and nearly kill each other. But they don't, and end up going their separate ways. Why? Because, as Mephilas puts it, "there's no point in aliens killing each other." Ultraman, at his roots, is an alien, and no catchy theme song or special power will take that away from him. But yet he fights on. Why? Well, maybe even he doesn't know. All he knows is that the Earth is in danger, and he will fight, even if he may never rise again.

It's not like we had many choices as kids, so that helped back then. I'm glad we didn't have a pause button or critics around us to ruin our fun.

Clickbaity title aside. I think what makes Ultraman(franchise in general, not just the first one) really special, is that compared to say Kamen Rider, Metal heroes, Sentai, and so on, Ultraman feels more akin like Straight up science Fiction storytelling like say Star Trek with how they try to present high concept ideas and keep finding new ways to keep the set ups interesting. It's one of those Japanese shows that just stands the test of time and it's easy to see why it's become super influential to so many series. That and Zetton's bad ass and can do the dab

I remember the first time I've ever watch an Ultraman tv series. The early episode of Ultraman Tiga, you can see how the people had to used various means to defeat the aliens, and sometimes it work, and sometimes it doesn't. Honestly, thinking back, I was more interested in Daigo, the human that was chosen to be one of the three Ultra Warrior, Ultraman Tiga, than the Ultraman itself. He's the newcomer that just wants to do his best, and he actually almost died in the first episode, which in turn causes him to be the Chosen One. As the story progress, his character developed, and you just can't help but follow through his adventure. And the world... Ohhoho, it was entertaining. Not all the aliens were bad, and the story CAN get pretty dark at times, but Daigo and the rest of the squad act as the light in the end of the tunnels, teaching you to hold on to hope. It helps me develope in my early years, when I was stucked in a pretty hard times. So, I think the story of Ultraman is good regardless of the age it is shown. A great piece of media, even if the action is laughably bad.

Salute to those who have time. The Ultraman franchise is a completionist's nightmare. And a question I still have. If Tsuburaya had such big influence on Ultraman why did he allow levels of violence he didn't want in Godzilla series?

I've introduce some of my friends to Ultraman. They told me, those bunch of monsters and aliens design would've gave them a nightmare as a young kid lol

I didn't care how cheesy it looked compared to newer generation movies/tv shows. It kept me entertained as a kid. I was usually watching this, Godzilla or specterman. Still do at times

I appreciate his use of odd effects for fun XD I grew up on Ultraman Gaia, Cosmos and Nexus. Those Ultramen were pretty awesome.

Now we have CG,digital video effects,drones, but they knew much better how to make science fiction in 60's.

If only the Ultraman manga/show remembered this. I recently watched that, and the lead full out states he should never had any hesitation when it came to killing alien monsters. I wondered if the original show had this attitude, but apparently not! It was just this cynical new rendition.

Well.. as an adult that still loves Tiga after 20+ years.. it definitely mean something haha...

Gintama taught me about ultraman... good times

Who the F goes to Tokusatsu for "Strict Realism"?

Ultraman was my favorite show as a kid. I got to meet the actor in the Ultraman suit at a comic con a few years ago.

Even as a mesmerized four-year-old, I got that the monsters were guys in rubber suits --- most of the time! Of course my ability to suspend disbelief was far more powerful fifty-plus years ago, yet I still thoroughly enjoy watching the show all these years later. This character's staying power is fascinating. The creative team of the original series launched a franchise that essentially kept an Ultraman on Japanese television every year since. For their TV genre, the effects were state of the art. I'm really looking forward to Shin Ultraman.

In the early 70's Ultraman was 1 of my favorite shows. Thank You again and again for producing these shows for us kids. I'm in my 50's and still can remember every episode

Wondeful video! It's always amazing to me that Ultraman still holds up, and the franchise as a whole is still going strong

I've only watched the original and the Ultra 7 series. I'm not a big fan but I do enjoy it. Nice work as always man!