With all of this Ultra-coverage happening around here, we decided that we should strike while the iron is hot and this episode of the Kaijucast is covering the 13-episode Netflix anime series based on the 2012 manga, Ultraman!
Gretchen and Kyle are essentially sitting down to chat about the strengths and weaknesses of the series, and while we would love to have made this an insanely deep dive into this series, it seems the the Ultra historians haven’t unpacked all of what the show has to offer – it was only released a month and a half ago, after all.
Regardless, this series is a lot of fun and, while it is not really even close to being perfect, we measure its success against other rebooted anime and pop-culture properties from recent years. Probably the most important takeaway (please do listen to the full episode too!) is that we’re excited to see the story continue.
M78 ULTRA-MUSIC:
1. Dan Moroboshi’s Theme by Nobuko Toda & Kazuma Jinnouchi from Ultraman (2019)
2. English language trailer for Ultraman (2019)
3. Hero Battle by Nobuko Toda & Kazuma Jinnouchi from Ultraman (2019)
CURRENT MERCH RUNS:
Don’t miss out on our 10th anniversary poster designed by Mondo artist Tom Whalen now in stock and available until we sell out (limited run of 100) and starting this month, we’ve opened a preorder for the 10th anniversary design for our T-Shirt Of The Month club — and we’re offering it on two different styles: on plain white -or- a Baseball-style raglan shirt with blue sleeves. Don’t delay; the pre-order window closes on May 31st!
Kyle, Charles, Rachel and Dave entertain Hachi with Ultraman (1966) coverage!
You wanted it, you got it! Or, maybe I should say that I wanted it, so I made it. That’s right, Ultra fiends, we are talking about the 1966 television show, created by the same special effects director that brought Godzilla to life, Eiji Tsuburaya. We are covering Ultraman (1966) and it’s about freakin’ time, right? Originally, I was planning on putting this together for Ultraman’s 50th anniversary, but the Godzilla has his own plan for it. Here it is, almost three years late – but hopefully you’ll agree it’s worth the wait.
In this episode, we welcome back the author of Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters, August Ragone to tell us about the genesis of the Ultraman. Make sure to check out his book (as mentioned above) and some of the links below. Additionally, I asked several co-hosts to take part in this episode’s discussion segment.
This discussion features Rachel, who we all know loves Pigmon, and Dave who lucky enough to watch Ultraman as a kid, but when Charles who’d never seen Ultraman, voiced interest in joining the episode, I welcomed the opportunity to have the newbie reaction.
Similar to our Ultra Q episode, we cannot cover all 39 episodes of Ultraman in one episode of the Kaijucast. We’ve each chosen two episodes to highlight – thankfully two of the episodes overlapped! The episodes covered in this episode are as follows:
Episode 2: DEFEAT THE INVADERS/SHOOT THE INVADERS featuring Alien Baltan
Episode 8: LAWLESS MONSTER ZONE featuring Red King, Chandlar, Magular & Pigmon
Episode 11: RUFFIAN FROM OUTER SPACE featuring Gyango
Episode 13: OIL SOS featuring Pestar
Episode: 28 HUMAN SPECIMENS 5 & 6 featuring Alien Dada
Episode: 35 MONSTER GRAVEYARD featuring Seabozu
Episode 37: THE LITTLE HERO featuring Geronimon, Pigmon, Dorako & Telesdon
ULTRAMUSIC:
1. Ultraman Theme Song performed by Animetal from Animetal Marathon 3: Tsuburaya Edition (1998)
2. Theme of the Science Patrol (Vocal Version)by Kuniyo Miyauchi from Ultraman (1966
3. Ultraman’s Color Time audio clip from the English dub of Ultraman (1966)
4. Go Go Go Ultraman by Kuniyo Miyauchi from Ultraman (1966)
5. Kaiju Booska Theme by Kuniyo Miyauchi from Kaiju Booska (1966) – Plus the episode wouldn’t be the same with out the following (used as background music)
6. Shoot the Invader by Kuniyo Miyauchi from Ultraman (1966)
7. Lawless Zone of Monsters by Kuniyo Miyauchi from Ultraman (1966)
8. Rogue and Magic Stone from Spaceby Kuniyo Miyauchi from Ultraman (1966)
9. Theme of the Science Patrolby Kuniyo Miyauchi from Ultraman (1966)
10. Little Heroby Kuniyo Miyauchi from Ultraman (1966)
11. Human Specimen 5 and 6by Kuniyo Miyauchi from Ultraman (1966)
12. The Monster Graveyardby Kuniyo Miyauchi from Ultraman (1966)
13. A Little Hero by Kuniyo Miyauchi from Ultraman (1966)
Gretchen, Rachel, Martin and Kyle get schooled by Reptilicus enthusiast Jim Cirronella!
If you’re looking at this episode title and thinking to yourself “wait a minute… didn’t they already talk about this flick??” the answer is YES! But as it stands, I was coerced into asking So yeah… we didn’t like REPTILICUS the first time around and a friend of mine needed to school us on the film’s background, which is honestly what we want to put forth in our discussions. So we said yes.
This episode’s special guest is a friend of the Kaijucast and the manager of Celebrity Icons, Jim Cirronella, who has a profound amount of respect for Reptilicus’ producer Sid Pink, and has even entered into business with him by acquiring the license to release his own Reptilicus figure.
DANISH DANCE NUMBERS:
1. Tivoli Nights by Birthe Wilke from Reptilicus (1961)
The vast forces of Nature, apparently, exist in harmony and balance. Then, one day, this order of things suddenly becomes turmoil! Strange, gigantic creatures rise thru the Earth’s crust in an earth-quaking uproar…sea monsters attack the shores on the crest of steaming tidal waves…weird beings from outer space savage the Earth in a rage of inspired vandalism.
As long time listeners know, I’ve been dying to dive back into this amazing series for some time now. Ultra Q (1966) is one of the genre’s most important building blocks and it just does not get covered enough!
I asked August if he would give me a hand in covering one aspect of Ultra Q that we didn’t chat about eight years ago, so I am thrilled to have him be a part of this episode as well in our special historian segment!
To discuss Ultra Q in a limited format is daunting, because honestly each episode really deserves to be inspected and dissected to understand the impact. But we don’t have that kind of time so what my co-hosts and I have done is choose two episodes each on which to shine the spotlight: DEFEAT GOMESS (episode 1), PEGUILA IS HERE (episode 5), BARON SPIDER (episode 9), KANEGON’S COCOON (episode 15), THE RAINBOW’S EGG (episode 18) and THE DEVIL CHILD (episode 25).
Make sure to follow those links down below!
MUSIC WITHOUT WHICH THIS WOULD NOT BE AS ENTERTAINING:
(*most of these are heard behind narration)
1. Main Title by Kunio Miyauchi from Ultra Q (1966)
2. Martian Jewelby Kunio Miyauchi from Ultra Q (1966)
3. Hoshikawa Aviation by Kunio Miyauchi from Ultra Q (1966)
4. Ultra Q Main Theme (with English dubbed narration) by Kunio Miyauchi from Ultra Q (1966)
5. The Sun and Strange Thing by Kunio Miyauchi from Ultra Q (1966)
6. Big City Morning by Kunio Miyauchi from Ultra Q (1966)
7. Door to a Different World by Kunio Miyauchi from Ultra Q (1966)
8, In the Shadow of the Skyscraper by Kunio Miyauchi from Ultra Q (1966)
9. Midsummer Mysteriousness by Kunio Miyauchi from Ultra Q (1966)
10, Grasslands of Flowers and Rainbows by Kunio Miyauchi from Ultra Q (1966)
11, Lily’s Secret by Kunio Miyauchi from Ultra Q (1966)
12. Ultra Q Theme as performed by The Garamones (2016)
Mega kaiju fan & Mondo Artist Tom Whalen joins Kyle for a special interview and announcement!
It’s with much fanfare that we bring you a very special chat with fellow kaiju fan and Mondo artist, Tom Whalen. Tom is an artist the Kyle has been following for many years and one of the main reasons for the chat, and corresponding episode is to announce a super rad poster that Tom designed for the Kaijucast’s tenth anniversary, so check the notes below for the order page, but after you listen to our conversation, of course — or during if you’re a multi-tasker!
Of course, we spend some time talking about giant radioactive monsters and get a little nerdy about art too! We hope you enjoy the interview, everyone!
TOM’S TITANIC TUNAGE:
1. Godzilla Arrives by Akira Ifukube from Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)
2. Main Title by Richiiro Manabe from Godzilla vs Megalon (1973)
DON’T DELAY – GET THAT POSTER TODAY!
Yes, the poster page is posted above but I’ll also give this beautiful piece of awesomeness it’s own special placement here in the show notes… and since I literally opened the box today, feast your eyes on this juicy 18″x24″ awesomeness! You too can own this impressive limited edition, screen-printed poster – just go here.
With all of this Ultra-coverage happening around here, we decided that we should strike while the iron is hot and this episode of the Kaijucast is covering the 13-episode Netflix anime series based on the 2012 manga, Ultraman!
