ULTRAMAN JAPAN SOCIETY SPECIAL EVENING

Sixty years is a long time. Even if you've never actually sat down and watched a piece of Ultraman media, no doubt you have come across something that has been either directly or indirectly inspired by this Tokusatsu juggernaut. There is a reason why this franchise is still going strong about sixty years later, culminating in a fun mini tour that is promoting its appeal in conjunction with the new Ultraman OMEGA series coming to streaming in English in the U.S. on November 28. Anime News Network was allowed to check out the tour as it stopped by the Japan Society in New York City, where I was able to enjoy a lot of the strong enthusiasm for this franchise firsthand.

I must confess something: before this event, I had never sat down to enjoy a solid piece of Ultraman media directly. I have numerous friends who sing the franchise's praises up and down, but it never really seemed like something that I could get into, nor was it on my radar. I preface this because this event made me a genuine fan in just two hours, and I am looking forward to checking out other Ultraman media in the near future. Maybe my experience watching the special screenings was heightened by the raw fan enthusiasm? Maybe it was the charm of staff members showing up in kaiju costumes to greet fans of all ages? Maybe it was all of the figures and Ultraman memorabilia on display? I don't think the reason necessarily matters.

After shaking hands with a few costumed kaiju and taking pictures, I was led to a small but crowded theater where we were all shown two Ultraman episodes back to back. The first one was one of the early Ultraman episodes that aired all the way back in 1966. I will admit, at first, I didn't fully get it. All of the live action actors, the dubbed over acting, the weird editing, and the dramatic musical stings at first gave the impression that I was supposed to take this seriously, but I don't think that is where this franchise's charm lies. Listening to the laughs and reactions from the audience, we're not supposed to believe that what's happening is real, but we are supposed to be drawn into the fact that the characters in the episode think all of this is real. They are treating everything with a sense of weight where they are genuinely scared and disturbed by the events that are transpiring, while I'm watching a bunch of guys in rubber costumes fight over miniature sets while fading in and out of existence.

There is a charm in watching people so committed to a very specific bit, and you're enamored by how creatively they can show the audience that they are committed to it. This is their world, not ours, and we can either get drawn into it or we can ignore it. I respect that confidence, and I do think media like this is very important both back then and today. I'm genuinely caught off guard by how Ultraman just shows up to take on the enemy kaiju, flabbergasted at the weird editing where characters will just disappear and reappear for seemingly no reason, drawn into the fun fight choreography, or happy about the attention to detail with all of the set designs.

The second episode was the first episode of Ultraman OMEGA, and I was a little bit caught off guard by the first couple of minutes, but in an opposite way Ultraman OMEGA starts with the eponymous hero fighting a bunch of alien creatures in what seems to be an alien hive nest. While some elements of it looked practical, most of it looked CG, and at first, I took this as a sign that after so many decades, the franchise had kind of transitioned away from what initially made it so charming. But after Ultraman OMEGA crash lands on earth with amnesia, I was immediately reminded that the core of Ultraman has never really changed. This first episode sets a lot of groundwork to establish a more proper narrative foundation for the rest of the season. Ultraman OMEGA finds himself staying with a young Japanese man who genuinely believes in helping people. That desire to help people seems to resonate with Ultraman despite his lack of memories. The humor is a bit more conventional, but still very goofy. I think it helps that OMEGA embodies a lot of the silly humor from the original Ultraman show, while the man he's staying with reacts to them more as an everyday straight man.

Despite being 2025, the episode seems to use a lot of practical visual effects. They're just a lot more polished now. There are still crazy camera angles to showcase first-person perspectives of people flying through the sky. There are still green screens to show something silly, like characters being thrown up in the air and falling back down while they scream their heads off. They are still using a lot of the monster suits and city models to portray these giant fights. The fact that I can't always tell what might be CG and what's a practical effect is a testament to just how far the franchise has come, blending modern elements with simple execution. Honestly, I respect it a lot and look forward to what the rest of the series looks like when it finally hits streaming.

After those back-to-back episodes, we were gifted with Ultraman LIVE, an action-packed live stage show. Classic Ultraman, Ultraman ZERO, and Ultraman OMEGA were the three main characters. I remember watching a lot of anime where kids would go to these live ranger performances at malls, but this is my first time actually sitting down and getting the opportunity to enjoy one. It brought me back to watching Power Rangers as a little kid, except this time, I was just a few feet away from the action.

The story was simple: Ultraman and Ultraman ZERO came to Earth because they were detecting a lot of negative energy. They come across Ultraman OMEGA, who's already in the middle of fighting a bunch of kaiju monsters. The three of them come across Ultraman BERIAL, their evil counterpart, and his two powerful minions. We get some one-on-one fights, three-on-three fights, and the climax culminates in Ultraman BERIAL's minions sacrificing themselves for the sake of giving their boss a boost. This results in a giant Ultraman dragon looking kaiju suit walking on stage and overwhelming all three heroes. However, with the power of the audience's cheers, they are finally able to stop him.

Outside of the incredible choreography, that backflips and pretty fun-looking acrobatics, I really loved all of the little touches. The voice acting that was dubbing over the live performance was really fun. The use of the back screen to portray a lot of the lasers and particle effects was also a nice touch. You can tell that this is a routine that has been practiced hundreds of times to nail down specific timings and positions. These suits, up close, looked phenomenal, and I am still blown away as I write this at the sheer amount of detail that was put into Ultraman Berial's final form. Those forty minutes felt like they blew by in the blink of an eye.

Afterwards, the three Ultramen ran throughout the crowd, gave people high-fives, and hugged a lot of the kids. I especially liked the running bit with the host always reminding us that there are various legal places for us to watch Ultraman. I'm happy about that because that means I don't really have an excuse not to sit down and engage more with the franchise. I could tell a lot of the diehard fans were there, and for them, this was yet another great event to be a part of. But for me, it might spark the beginning of a new fan. Be sure to check out the show if it ever comes by your area!