Ultraman

I had so much fun writing about Battle of the Planets yesterday that I figured I'd follow up with my recollections of Ultraman, perhaps the cheesiest show I've ever seen on television.

Apparently Ultraman has long been a big deal in Japan, but I just remember it as one of those strange shows dumped into the pre-school hour by Channel 44, our local independent station. The Speedway Squad guitar-riff and the chirpy singing were straight out of the sixties, but that's no excuse for those awful lyrics. Clearly an effort to Americanize a much more nuanced Japanese ode to a savior of national identity, the translated version seemed pretty silly even when I was a kid.

Ultraman, Ultraman
Here he comes from the sky.
Ultraman, Ultraman,
Watch our hero fly.
In a super jet he comes
From a billion miles away
From a distant planet land
Comes our hero Ultraman.

The monsters in rubber suits, the dime store special effects, the awful dubbing: Ultraman was the whole package. I suppose it was my first introduction to kitsch. Check it out:



Learn More: Blackcatter's World of TV Theme Songs - Ultraman