Ultraman Taro aired on Tokyo Broadcasting System from April 6, 1973 to April 5, 1974, as the sixth entry in the long-running Ultra Series. At the time ratings were falling, and as Tsuburaya felt Ace had been a bit too dark at times, they took a lighter approach in Taro to please children. Ironically, this lost even more views from elder fans, causing the series to be followed by Ultraman Leo, often considered the darkest and grittiest entry in the Showa series.
Taro a common name for the boy in otogi-banashis, or Japanese fairy tales. The name reflects the child-centric aspect of the series, which was intended to be a fairy tale.
Plot
Kotaro Higashi trained to be a boxer, but after an icident with Astromons, he was killed. However, his body was brought to Nebula M-78 where Mother of Ultra saved his life by joining him with Ultraman Taro. Taro had spent many years training, honing his skills based on those of the other Ultra Brothers to become strong. The two returned to earth as a new kaiju era was beginning. In the end of the show, Kotaro decided to remain human by removing his connection to Taro, one of the few human hosts to do so.
Cast
ZAT
- Captain Yuuta Asahina
- Kotaro Higashi : He serves as the human host of Ultraman Taro.
- Deputy Captain Shuuhei Aragaki: In many episodes, Aragaki leads the troops. Aragaki is absent near the end of the series and a new deputy captain takes his place.
- Jirou Nishida: He leaves for space station V9.
- Tadao Nanbara
- Tetsuya Kitajima
- Assistant Izumi Moriyama
Other
- Saori Shiratori : Mayumi Asuka (Episodes 1-16), Keiko Ono (Episodes 20-53): A nineteen year old college student and the eldest of the Shiratori family. She is the main housekeeper because her mother passed away. She has good reflexes and experience in softball. She is close to Kotaro.
Cast Changes
Throughout the show, multiple cast changes were made.[1] These were for several reasons.
- Mayumi Asuka stepped down from her role as Saori, and was replaced in episode twenty by Keiko Ono.
- TBA
Kaiju & Seijin
- Oil Drinker (Episode 1)
- Astromons (Episode 1)
- Cosmo Liquid (Episode 2-3)
- Live King (Episode 2-3)
- King Tortoise (Episode 4-5)
- Queen Tortoise (Episode 4-5)
- Mini Tortoise (Episode 5)
- Jirenma (Episode 6)
- Tagarl (Episode 7)
- Ganza (Episode 7)
- Tondaile (Episode 8)
- Arindo (Episode 9)
- Depparas (Episode 10)
- Basara (Episode 11)
- Volkeller (Episode 12)
- Sheltar (Episode 13)
- Enmargo (Episode 14)
- Miegon (Episode 15)
- Okariyan (Episode 16)
- Kemjila (Episode 17-18)
- Birdon (Episode 17-19)
- Raidron (Episode 20)
- King Zemira (Episode 21)
- Pandora (Episode 22)
- Chinpe (Episode 22)
- Rodera (Episode 23)
- Space Moths (Episode 24-25)
- Mururoa (Episode 24-25)
- Rabbidog (Episode 25)
- Mukadender (Episode 26)
- Mandarin Grass (Episode 27)
- Alien Mefilas II (Episode 27)
- Eleking II (Episode 28)
- Yapool (Episode 29-30)
- Reconstructed Bemstar (Episode 29-30)
- Reconstructed Sabotendar (Episode 30)
- Reconstructed Verokron II (Episode 30)
- Mushra (Episode 31)
- Guron (Episode 32)
- Alien Temperor (Episode 33-34)
- Alien Katan (Episode 35)
- Grost (Episode 36)
- Hertz (Episode 37)
- Alien Medusa (Episode 37)
- Alien Miracle (Episode 38)
- Alien Terrorist (Episode 38)
- Mochiron (Episode 39)
- Tyrant (Episode 40)
- Gongoros (Episode 41)
- Android Seiko (Episode 42)
- Elegia (Episode 42)
- Motokureron (Episode 43)
- Alien Kisaragi (Episode 44)
- Alien Dorzu (Episode 45)
- Memole (Episode 45)
- Piccolo (Episode 46)
- Gorgosaurus III (Episode 47)
- Gelan (Episode 47)
- Alien File (Episode 48)
- Veron (Episode 48)
- Orphy (Episode 49)
- Alien Khan (Episode 49)
- Garaking (Episode 50)
- Rindon (Episode 51)
- Dorobon (Episode 52)
- Alien Valky (Episode 53)
- Samekujira (Episode 53)
Music
- "Ultraman Taro "
- Lyrics: Aku Yu / composer-arranger: Kawaguchi true / song: Takemura Taro, boys and girls choir lake. Uncredited synth arrangements by Higurashi Masanobu.[42] .
Trivia
- As the main ultra from Return of Ultraman was not yet known by it, the name "Jack" was considered for Taro. The reasoning behind this was that Jack is a popular name for fairy tale heroes in the west, but Taro was settled upon as the Japanese equivalent.
- "Ultraman Suta" was also considered as a name during production.
- The Ultra Brothers appeared frequently in this series and it was in their later appearances that drastically changed how they appear. Examples include: Ultras with orange eyes (done to consevere the budget of the lightbulbs in the eyes), Jack sharing the same suit as Ultraman with more silver than red, & design on the bottom looks like a female, Ultraseven without ears on episode 40 which would happen again on the premiere of Ultraman Leo, and finally, Jack with red gloves and boots in episode 52.
- Tsuburaya's tenth anniversary show, Taro was filmed alongside Jumborg Ace and Fireman.
- Due to production problems with the next series, Ultraman Leo, Tsuburaya extended Taro's run for several episodes.
- Template:KR: Ultraman Taro makes a cameo in the episode.
- The series is the longest running showa series.
Complete DVD-Box Set
A English subtitled DVD set was also released by the Malaysian company VGB Network. A few grammatical errors were made during the subtitling.
A blu-ray remaster was released in 2017 through Amazon Prime.
References
External Links
- Ultraman Taro at Japanese Wikipedia
- Ultraman Taro at WikipediaTemplate:Shows and Films