Ultraman Taro (series)

Ultraman Taro (ウルトラマンタロウ) 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 decideds to remain human by removing his connection to Taro, one of the few human hosts to do so.

ZAT (Zariba of All Territory) Members

 * Captain Yuuta Asahina
 * Kotarou 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 (白鳥さおり): Mayumi Asuka (あさかまゆみ) (Episodes 1-16), Keiko Ono (小野恵子) (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. These were for several reasons.
 * Mayumi Asuka stepped down from her role as Saori, and was replaced in episode twenty by Keiko Ono.
 * TBA

Music

 * "Ultraman Taro (ウルトラマンタロ)"
 * 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" (「ウルトラマンスター」) 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, 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 witch would happen again on the premier of Ultraman Leo, and finally, Jack with red gloves and boots on 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.
 * Ultraman Taro makes a cameo in the episode.