He dedicated the rest of his life to inspiring that same sense of wonder in others, which lead to the creation of Godzilla, Mothra, and an entire film genre. As a child, his life was changed by seeing King Kong on the big screen. His work has influenced everything from disaster flicks to B-movies to hand-drawn animation to popcorn blockbusters to Saturday morning TV shows. The creation of the Ultramantelevision series was overseen by former head of Toho Studio’s Visual Effects department, Eiji Tsuburaya, who reshaped the landscape of special effects-heavy cinema. (Are you listening, Insight Editions?) So consider this my attempt at chronicling the major details from each installment in the Ultraman TV and film franchise until something more comprehensive comes along. This kind of topic deserves a coffee table book at the very least to do it justice. Realistically speaking, it’s not feasible to publish a full account of Ultraman’s history in an online article such as this.

And for good reason: he’s arguably the most recognizable pop culture icon from the land of the rising sun that wasn’t originally an manga character, since his legacy spans half a century at the time of this writing. Whenever the phrase “Japanese super-hero” is mentioned, Ultraman is usually the first thought that comes to mind.

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