
- Image via Wikipedia
I was tooling around the internet, trying to figure out what to post about (since I haven’t posted in some time now), and I came across the opening credits to one of my favorite shows from my childhood, Ultraman.
Ultraman was a type of show known in Japan as tokusatsu, which at it’s core means specia filming in Japanese. Probably the best known example of the genre is “Godzilla” and it’s many sequels.
But “Ultraman” is what I remember from my youth. Sitting cross-legged in front of our old 13″ black and white tv… Cheese sandwich heavy on the mayo in hand as I sang the theme song:
Ultraman! (Ultraman!)
Here he comes from the sky!
Ultraman! (Ultraman!)
Watch our hero fly!
Ultraman wasn’t the only tokusatsu shows I watched as a kid, either. There was Johnny Socko and his Giant Robot… The Space Giants…
For those of you who are a few years younger than me, don’t feel left out. You had your tokusatsu imports as well. Who here remembers Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers? They were a part of the Superhero Tokusatsu movement. VR rangers were popular then.
But what I find fascinating is what I didn’t know. Did you know that Japan had a live action Spider-man show? Before you get all excited, the only thing that show had in common with the Spider-man we know and love is the uniform. After that, the universes veer off wildly. Peter Parker becomes Takuya Yamashiro. The radioactive spider becomes a space warship.
You can see all the episodes for free on the Marvel website.
There’s more to learn about tokusatsu. Here’s a few sites to explore.
That’s all I can find right now. Til next time.
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