Ultraman Taro
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| Ultraman Taro | |
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| Format | Science fiction, action, adventure |
| Created by | Tsuburaya Productions |
| Starring | Saburō Shinoda, Takahiko Tōno, Yumi Asakama |
| Country of origin | Japan |
| No. of episodes | 53 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 24 minutes (per episode) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | TBS |
| Original run | April 6, 1973 – April 5, 1974 |
Ultraman Taro (ウルトラマンタロウ Urutoraman Tarō?) is the title superhero of a tokusatsu SF/kaiju/superhero TV show, and is the 6th show in the Ultra Series. Produced by Tsuburaya Productions, this series aired on Tokyo Broadcasting System from April 6, 1973 to April 5, 1974, with a total of 53 episodes.
In a move similar to the previous series, Ultraman Ace, this series has a more comical feel and appeals greatly to children, an audience which made this one of the more popular Ultra Series, although adult fans have a different point of view. Up until the 1990s, this was also the most expensive of the Ultra Series.
Taro is one of the most typical name of a boy in otogi-banashis, or, Japanese fairy tales. The producer said, 'Ultraman Taro is going to be the fairy tale in Ultra Series.'
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[edit] Plot
The actual child of the Mother of Ultra and the Father of Ultra, he is ostensibly one of the most powerful of the Ultramen, although he seems to get killed a lot and receives a lot of help from his mother, father, and all of his brothers. Taro gets his head chopped off by Enmargo in Episode 14, and gets killed by Birdon in Episode 18.
Kotaroh Higashi, the human counterpart of Taro, has feelings for Saori, the girl who lives in the Shiratori household where he has taken residence. In Episode 1, he rides on the foot of the monster Astromons. Saori, by the way, likes to puff out her cheeks and frown when angry.
The monster Birdon kills Taro and Zoffy taking all Six Ultra Brothers to defeat Tempera-seijin. Balkie-seijin has the distinction of being based on a reject design for upcoming hero Ultraman Leo. Repeat monsters from the past include a yellow Eleking (from Ultra Seven), Bemustar (from Ultraman Jack), Belokuron (Ultraman Ace), Sabotendar (Ace), Giant Yapool (Ace), Mephiras-seijin (from Ultraman), and Tyrant (a chimera of a lot of monsters from the past). To get away from the chōjū concept established in Ultraman Ace -- the "terrible monsters" that were supposed to be stronger than ordinary monsters -- it was established in Ultraman Taro that the new monsters were even stronger still. This fact was quickly established by having new monster Astromonse beat up and swallow whole OilDrinker, the last of the chōjū.
In the end, Higashi turns in his badge. He returns the Ultra Badge to the Mother of Ultra in the last episode, kills Balkie-seijin without help from anyone, and heads off to walk the Earth.
[edit] Ultraman Taro Stats
- Height
53 meters - Weight
55,000 tons - Flight Speed
Mach 20 - Running Speed
1200 kilometers per hour - Home Planet
The Land of Light, Nebula M78 - Human Form
Kotaro Higashi - Transformation Item
Ultra Badge
[edit] Weapons
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- Storium Kousen
A unique T-style weapon... after some major arm-waving and the charging up of his entire body, Taro rests the fist of his vertical right arm to the open palm of his horizontal left arm. - Neo-Storium Ray
A plus-style variation of the Storium Ray. - Swallow Kick
It is done from 600 meters up. - Atomic Punch
It is propelled by his transformation momentum. - Multiple flips in mid air
Taro makes a jump, perform some backflips before delivering a powerful fly kick, usually at the start of a battle. - Twinkle Way
A tunnel he creates to gain access to the Land of Light. - Ultra Nenriki (Willpower)
He makes his enemy think Taro gets his head chopped off. It was used against Enmargo. - Taro Bracelet
It converts into a lance. It fires blue rings of light (Set Beam). - King Bracelet
An upgrade of the Taro Bracelet delivered by the Mother of Ultra. It converts into a muzzle, a plastic blue bucket filled with water for waking up drunken monster Beron, and a "magic hand." It fires a Bracelet Beam. It slso allows Taro to divide into two and confuse enemies. - Ultra Slash
It is like a ring of light (episode 47). - Ultra Six-in-One (or Ultra Overlapping)
Where he merges with the Five Ultra Brothers so that he is strong enough to enter the fires of the Ultra Tower to retrieve the Ultra Bell to defeat Mururoa (episode 25). - Cosmo Miracle Beam
A powerful laser he shoots from his raised arm and the side of his body, including his armpit, after combining with his five other brothers. It was used only in Ultraman Story movie against Grand King. - Guts Needle
A beam fired from his fists and an Ultra Funryū (a six-coloured smoke screen).
- Storium Kousen
- Ultra Dynamite
A dashing attack in which Taro is engulfed in flames. The impact causes an explosion and Taro teleports away.
[edit] ZAT Members
The most salient feature of ZAT (Zariba of All Territory) is that they concoct a variety of outlandish strategies to defeat monsters (even more so than the Science Patrol), such as using pepper to get Live King to sneeze (since he swallowed Higashi and a dog), or carrying Mini Tortoise in a giant basket. Also, ZAT mecha are by far the most garish. The "Rabbit Panda," their souped up van, is particularly over the top. The Sky Whale, their air fortress, is as thin as a stick and is reminiscent of nothing whale-like.
- Captain Yuhta Asahina
- Kotaroh Higashi
- Deputy Captain Shuhhei Aragaki
In many episodes, Aragaki lead the troops, with Asahina nowhere to be found. In addition, Aragaki seems to disappear near the end of the series and a new deputy captain takes his place (this new guy is way past his prime and can barely even pass his requalification exam). - Jiroh Nishida
He leaves for space station V9. - Tadao Nanbara
- Tetsuya Kitajima
- Assistant Izumi Moriyama
She wears a different uniform than the men, for the first time in an Ultra Series. The role of the ZAT female tends to be very similar to Uhura's on Star Trek, However, Izumi does get to pilot the Sky Whale on occasion and lob a few missiles.
[edit] Cameos
- Episode 1
The Five Ultra Brothers preside over the Mother of Ultra as she gives birth to Taro. (Higashi is in a clear, plastic dome, surrounded by the Five Ultra Brothers. There's a lot of hand-waving and lights, and the sound of a baby crying, and we go right into the usual Ultraman Taro transformation). - Episode 3
The Mother of Ultra rescues Higashi, who is trapped under Live King. She also heals Taroh's broken up arm. - Episode 5
Ultra Seven helps transport Mini Tortoise to the Ultra Star, along with King Tortoise. - Episode 18
Zoffy is killed by Birdon after Taro is defeated. - Episode 19
Zoffy and Taroh are resurrected by the Mother of Ultra. - Episode 20
The Mother of Ultra. - Episode 24
The Mother of Ultra tells Taroh to return to the Land of Light. - Episode 25
Taro returns to the Ultra Planet, also known as the Land of Light, 3,000,000 Light * Years from Earth. There, the other Ultra Brothers merge with Taro so that, with their combined purity of soul, he can plunge into the flames of the Ultra Tower for one minute to acquire the Ultra Bell. They all tow the Ultra Bell back to Earth, and Tarh rings it, so that it dissipates the dark cloud of Mururoa that has enveloped the Earth. Also a rare opportunity to see Ultramen hug each other and do a huddle. - Episodes 33-34
Higashi invites the Five Ultra Brothers to Earth for a reunion. All of the former human forms return (Hayata, Dan Moroboshi, Hideki Goh, and Seiji Hokuto. Everyone except Yuhko Minami) wearing swanky black and tan clothes embroidered with their Ultra insignias in gold (Zoffy, who doesn't have a human counterpart, has a lot of excuses for being late or absent, and eventually borrows the body of Professor Ohtani. They do battle against Tempera-seijin. A great finale with all firing their weapons in unison. - Episode 39
The Father of Ultra makes Mochi with Taro after they defeat Mochiron. Guest appearance by Yuhko Minami, the former better half of Ultraman Ace who quit playing Ultraman after she revealed she was actually from the Moon. She has a lot more special ghost-like powers than she exhibited back in the day. She can now twirl through the air, grow to giant size, descend upon the Earth with a grand piano playing Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata without even touching the keyboard, and even walk through chainlink fences. - Episode 40
The Five Ultra Brothers are defeated by Tyrant. The Mother of Ultra and the Father of Ultra make an appearance as well. - Episode 47
Gorgosaurus II: Gorgosaurus is borrowed from 1973's Episode 29 of Mirrorman. This is probably the only time a monster is directly and blatantly borrowed from outside of the Ultra series (other than Dustpan - also from Mirrorman - in the Thai-produced movie) - Episode 51
The Father of Ultra, versus Rindon. - Episode 52
Dorobon steals the Color Timer of Ultraman "Jack." Another guest appearance by Hideki Goh with the snazzy black and tan outfit. In this episode, Ultraman "Jack" appear with a red gloves and red boots. - Episode 53
Higashi returns the Ultra Badge to the Mother of Ultra.
[edit] Crossovers
- Ultraman: Great Monster Decisive Battle
New group shot footage. - The 6 Ultra Brothers Vs. the Monster Army
Taroh and the other Ultras, along with the Mother of Ultra, play second fiddle to the white monkey god, Hanuman, in this Thai-produced monster mash. - Ultraman Story
Taroh figures prominently in this tale, which alters the story of his origin so that you get to see Taroh when he is a child, growing up with and trained by his parents, the Father of Ultra and Mother (originally, he was born a full-fledged adult in episode 1 of his series). He also joins with the Ultra Brothers to defeat Grand King. - Mebius and Brothers
Taro helps Mebius and and Ultra Brother to defeat U-Killersaurus Neo. - Ultraman Mebius
In episode 29 and 30, Taro helps Mebius to defeat Imperaiza. He also used his Ultra Dynamite to blow Imperaiza away but did not work well. In the movie, all the Ultraman brothers combined with Mebius and became Mebius infinite as a result.
[edit] Behind The Scenes
- Ultraman Taro was going to be named Ultraman Jack, but hijacking became a negative buzz-word in Japan about that time, so they deep-sixed the name at the last minute (which was recycled in the '90's as the new name of Kaetekitta Ultraman). Taro was also going to be called Ultra Jack, Ultraman 6, Ultraman Fighter, Ultraman Z (pronounced "zet"), and Ultraman Star.
- It is also said that the producer was afraid that people associate the name Jack with Jack the Ripper, known in Japan as the most horrible murderer in those days.
- In the Thai-produced Ultra movie, The 6 Ultra Brothers Vs. the Monster Army, stock footage of the birth of Ultraman Taro is modified to serve as the resurrection of the dead Kochan into the white monkey god, Hanuman. When Kochan transforms into Hanuman, the image of Hanuman is superimposed on Taro.
[edit] Milestones
- With 53 episodes, Ultraman Taro held the record for longest canonical Ultra series for many years (shattered in 2002 by the 65-episode Ultraman Cosmos). This record excludes the 195-episode, non-canonical Ultra Fight). The reason behind his longevity, it is said, is because the start-up of successor series 'Ultraman Leo' ran behind schedule.
- This was the first Ultraman show to not use silhouettes in its opening sequence. However, it was not the first show in the Ultra series as a whole to do this, as Ultra Q also used live-action footage for the opening credits.
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