Cultural References |
Anime/Manga[]
- Main article: Ultraman Series/Cultural References/Anime and Manga
Cartoons[]
The Simpsons[]
A couch gag which is first seen in the fifteenth season has the members of the family appear as well-known anime, manga and tokusatsu characters in Tokyo. Marge is Jun from Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, Lisa is Usagi Tsukino from Sailor Moon, Bart is Astro Boy, Maggie is Pikachu, and Homer appears as Ultraman himself. He is initially seen in the background as a giant, then flies and shrinks in front of the TV, performs a few attacks and finally uses his Spectrum Beam to turn on the TV.
X-Men: The Animated Series[]
In episode 14 of the fifth season of X-Men: The Animated Series, an alien that bears a strong similarity to Alien Flip appears in a sequence montage of aliens that live in the universe.
Another Alien Flip also appeared in the episode entitled 'Mojo Vision' as one of the many alien spectators.
Ben 10 franchise[]
The alien Way Big, the Omnitrix's DNA sample of a Tokustar, is designed after Ultraman in body form, color scheme, and height. Ultimate Way Big also seems to be based off Ultraman Taro in body form, but his color scheme is more closely related to Ultraman Cosmos. Coincidently, the transformation is used under a time limit much like the Color Timer.
Way Big[]
Ultimate Way Big[]
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012 series)[]
In the episode "T.C.R.I", Michelangelo is watching a show with a giant blue being similar in appearance to Ultraman firing a ray and destroying a giant monster.
In the episode "The Legend of Kuro Kabuto", a professional burglar named Anton Zeck (Bebop) had a power where he could use the crest on his helmet and throw it at enemies similar to Ultraseven's Eye Slugger.
Olive the Other Reindeer[]
In the holiday special, near the end as Olive, Santa Claus, and the other reindeer as they were passing by Japan a giant monster referencing Godzilla, and a giant superhero referencing Ultraman were seen singing the end song with each other.
Regular Show[]
In the 100th episode special "A Bunch of Full Grown Geese", during the final battle between the giant Baby Ducks and the giant Full-Grown Geese, the ducks used an attack similar to Ultraman's Spacium Beam, the only difference being that he fired it from his left side instead of his right like Ultraman.
Robot Chicken[]
- In episode 100, one of the segments called "Power Forest Rangers", though a parody of the series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger) while the Forest Rangers were fighting Yogi Bear, the yellow ranger fires a beam at Yogi similar to Ultraman's Spacium Beam except from his left side and with his cross hand backwards similar to Ultraman Hikari.
- In episode 120 in the segment called "Appeasing the Gods" a parody of the movie "Cabin in the Woods" while the teenagers are looking at all the collectibles in the basement a figure of Red King can be seen on the table and a figure of Alien Baltan can be seen on one of the shelves on the wall.
Sesame Street Mecha Builders[]
The three Muppet mecha leads (Elmo, Abby Cadabby and Cookie Monster) have a growing ability that typically is accompanied by a Ultraman-esque pose with a strict time limit defined by a Color Timer-esque "Cookie Clock" mounted on their chests.
South Park[]
In the episode "Mecha-Streisand", Leonard Maltin transform into a Ultraman-like being and fights Mecha-Streisand alongside Sidney Poitier who becomes a giant Gamera-like monster but, is eventually beaten by Mecha-Streisand.
The Powerpuff Girls[]
In the episode "Knock It Off", the robots are seen remorsefully looking at the scenery when the Powerpuff Girls Xtreme saved Japan resemble (from left to right) Mazinger Z, Ultraman, and Getter Robo.
Comic Books[]
Marvel[]
Fantastic Four[]
Miclas, unrelated to the one that appeared as a capsule monster, appeared in the Marvel Universe, Earth-616's Monster Isle, with creatures like Antlar, Skreeal, Giganto, Tricephalous, and Ugu. Miclas was one of the many monsters to terrorize the Skrull scouting party and their leader, Bag Le. He was subdued by Slave Darts and teleported around the globe to increase the mental stress level across the planet and cause mass confusion.
DC[]
Green Lantern[]
During the New Earth Green Lantern comics, a Sinestro corpsman resembling Alien Baltan appeared during the Sinestro Corps War.
Doom Patrol[]
In the 2016 series of Doom Patrol, daughter of super villain and Brotherhood of Dada leader Mr. Nobody, Terry None bares a very strong resemblance to Dada from Ultraman.
Video Games[]
Pokémon[]
Satoshi Tajiri, the creator of Pokémon, has said that it was Ultraseven's Capsule Kaiju that inspired him to have the collected Pokémon inside containers that could be carried in one's pocket. Also noted that the original concept of Poké Balls were small capsules that were indeed based on said Capsule Monsters. Many of the monsters in the franchise are also based on Ultra Kaiju.
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3[]
An adult Chi-Chi was made as one of the game's playable character. However, since she never used chi-based skills, she was given one, Power Slugger and Super Power Slugger, where she fired an energy blade projectile from her head, mirroring Ultraseven's Eye Slugger and her childhood's helmet.
Attack of the Friday Monsters: A Tokyo Tale[]
The game is essentially a love letter to the Ultraman Series. Several of the monsters on the Monster Cards are reminiscent of monsters from the Ultraman Series, there's a defense force, and towards the end of the game, the protagonist's father, who runs a laundromat, transforms into the Ultra-themed giant Cleaner Man to fight against a real monster
Kirby[]
One of Kirby's common copy abilities, Cutter is very similar to Ultraseven's weapon, the eyeslugger in shape and how they're used and they are both crest weapons. Sir Kibble is also similar to Ultraseven. Kirby and the Forgotten Land's upgraded Chakram Cutter ability continues the motif with dual cutters that give Kirby's hat a resemblance to Ultraman Zero's dual sluggers.
City Shrouded in Shadow[]
City Shrouded in Shadow is a survival horror video game that features Ultraman, Imit-Ultraman, Dada, Ultraseven, Pandon, Ultraman Taro, Ultraman Tiga, Kyrieloid II, Ultraman Zero and Ultraman Belial. Along with them are other tokusatsu kaiju like Godzilla and Gamera. Ultraman and Imit-Ultraman appear in Stage 1, Tiga and Kyrieloid II appear in Stage 7, Dada appears in Stage 11, Taro, Zero and Belial appear in Stage 14 and Seven and Pandon appear in Stage 17.
Monmusu Harem[]
In 9 August 2016, Ultra Kaiju Gijinka Keikaku's official website announce the collaboration event with Monmusu Harem smartphone game. Anthropomorphic versions of Agira, Miclas, Windom, Zetton, and Pigmon will appear in the game.
Ace Attorney[]
The character Steel Samurai from the first Ace Attorney seems to be a huge homage to Ultraman, both are red and blue Japanese warriors who fight evil, both aware targeted at kids but have adult fans too, and both have a female character (Mother of Ultra and Pink Princess) that had a different type of person play them, Mother of Ultra was originally played by a man, and Pink Princess was played contrary to her name by an old woman (Wendy Oldbag). Also, Steel Samurai appears to have what looks like a Color Timer. Both also have stageshows many people go to, and both always win in the end.
Yume Nikki[]
In the game, Seccom Masada-sensei may have been based on Dada. His full name, Sentimental Komuro Michael Sakamoto Dada-sensei also has Dada as part of it.
Yuki Yuna is a Hero[]
Multiple references to the Ultraman franchise have been made in the Yuki Yuna is a Hero franchise, notably in its spin-off games.
In the visual novel Yuki Yuna is a Hero S, a masked hero persona by the name of National Defense Mask Togo Mimori, who strives to protect the peace of the town in the name of national defense. However, her identity is soon revealed to Yuki Yuna in a scene that plays out like that of the final episode of Ultraseven, where Dan Moroboshi reveals to Anne Yuri that he is Ultraseven.
is adopted byIn the visual novel Yuki Yuna is a Hero A, Inubouzaki Itsuki makes a reference to Ultraman Orb's Fusion Up sequence, while the titular character Yuki Yuna makes references to Kamen Rider Build.
In another chapter of the same game, when the Hero Club discusses a play that was planned to be held for the nearby elementary school, Togo Mimori's role in the play is described as "a robot created by the enemies who rampages in the harbor and throws ships around". This is a clear reference to King Joe's appearance in Ultraseven.
To add on to the reference, Togo Mimori's voice actress, Suzuko Mimori, also voiced King Joe in the second season of the Kaiju Girls anime.
In the mobage Yuki Yuna is a Hero: A Sparkling Bouquet, several characters comment on the in-universe Tokusatsu franchises, which are notably references to Ultraman and Super Sentai, alongside magical girl shows. In particular, the Ultramen Doi Tamako as her favorite hero. He is described as a "short-period fighter who could only fight while making cup noodles", whose finishing move is the Calcium Ray (implied to add calcium to cup noodles), and has a time limit of "one-two minutes"[1].
character, a clear homage to Ultraman, is mentioned byThough likely to be pure coincidence, a limited-time "Ultramen" (ウルトラメン) instant noodle was once produced by Nissin in 2012[2].
Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory[]
In an ending cinematic, Purple Heart merges with Neptune after saving her life. In another scene, Purple Heart uses the Purple Slash on Copypaste, which resembles Ultraman's Ultra-slash attack. Later on, she meets Yellow Heart in a giant red sphere, where Yellow Heart offers to bring Purple Heart back to her home dimension. Purple Heart refuses her offer, saying that her body is not just her own anymore. This whole scene is a reference to Ultraman's conversation with Zoffy in the final episode of Ultraman's titular series. In the final scene, Purple Heart splits from Neptune and flies away as a sphere of light.[3]
GigaBash[]
Gigaman from the 2022 multiplayer arena brawler game GigaBash is an homage to the original Ultraman, down to utilizing the same fighting pose. Other characters draw inspiration from various kaiju, with Gorogong resembling Miclas and EX Red King and Pipajuras being a composite of Alien Baltan, Alien Metron, and Alien Temperor. The actual Ultraman, Alien Baltan, along with Ultraman Tiga and Camearra, would later on be added as a DLC for the game, and the trailer would have Ultraman characters interact and ally with Gigaman and Pipijuras, respectively.
No More Heroes 3[]
In the third-person action-adventure game No More Heroes III, the chapter breaks reference the visuals of the original opening title sequence.[4] The Death Glove Chips also reference mutliple Ultras.
Tech Romancer[]
In the 1998 Capcom 3D fighting game Tech Romancer, the character Pulsion is a reference to Ultraman and EVA-1.
Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX[]
During the game's intro sequence, Hatsune Miku can be seen at one point doing Ultraman's iconic rise.
Tabletop Games[]
Mortasheen[]
One of the monsters in the independently released roleplaying game Mortasheen was heavily inspired by Bullton.
Movies[]
Love on Delivery[]
Master of Chinese martial arts Tat, portrayed by the late Ng Man-tat, places the cutted salted duck egg on his eyes and the paper board based on an Ultra's fin on his head and performs Spacium Beam (known as Killing Cross) used by Ultraman for killing many invading Kaijus from the universe and fascinating many young people in the 70s, until he claims Ang Ho-kam (played by Stephen Chow) that these martial art techniques including this are fake and they don't exist in real life.
Crayon Shin-chan: The Storm Called: The Adult Empire Strikes Back[]
In this movie, the Nohara family (plus Hiroshi) can be seen wearing the SSSP uniform. Later, a monster themed after Gomora appears with Hiroshi being an Ultraman, save for his normal human head.
BIONICLE 2: Legends of Metru Nui[]
Right near the film's falling action, while Turaga Lhikan was slowly dying from the impact after protecting Toa Vakama from Makuta Teridax' Shadow Hand, the Heartlight on his chest slowly blinks until it faded away when Lhikan died. This was likely a reference to the Ultra Troupe when an Ultra died, his Color Timer slowly blinked and completely faded. The whole Heartlight concept may be a reference to the Ultraman franchise.
Pretty Cure All Stars New Stage: Mirai no Tomodachi[]
A group of girls at Ayumi's school discuss themselves about the Pretty Cures' successful battle against Fusion. One of the fangirls performs a "Pretty Cure beam" by placing her hands in a + position, a reference to the Spacium Beam, the signature attack of Ultraman.
Big Hero 6[]
The 2014 Disney movie Big Hero 6, during one of the scenes in Hiro Hamada's bedroom, you can see a mask of Ultraman. Yet this was interesting since the boy lives in the City of Fransokyo (a combination of Tokyo, Japan and San Francisco, America).
Pee-Wee's Big Adventure[]
Figures of Ultraman and Red King can be seen in Pee-Wee's room.
Ant-Man[]
Peyton Reed has stated he designed Ant-Man's suit in the movie after Tokusatsu superheroes, specifically Ultraman and Inframan.
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs[]
When describing Buck the Weasel as "Ultra Weasel", Eddie performs an "L" formation similar to how Imitation Ultras perform their finishers.
Other Tokusatsu[]
Godzilla[]
Godzilla vs. Hedorah[]
Godzilla puts his arm in the Spacium Beam position when shot by Hedorah in Godzilla vs. Hedorah.
Godzilla vs. Gigan[]
In the office of the magazine editor, there's a poster for the Ultraman series, featuring kaiju like Red King and Gomora.
Terror of Mechagodzilla[]
In the film, one of Dr Mafune's anatomical drawings of dinosaurs is Telesdon.
Kamen Rider[]
Kamen Rider Drive[]
In episode 40, the Booster Tridoron in Type Wild used an attack that was similar to the Gun Loader's Bringer Fan when it's in Maneuver Mode.
Kamen Rider OOO Net Videos[]
In one of the Kamen Rider OOO net videos, Date compares Os' Shauta form to Ultraman. The copyrighted name is censored.
Kamen Rider × Super Sentai × Space Sheriff: Super Hero Taisen Otsu: Heroo! Answers[]
A blurred image and silhouette of Alien Baltan appeared in the Super Hero Worries 1 ~Kamen Rider Accel's Story~ of the Kamen Rider × Super Sentai × Space Sheriff: Super Hero Taisen Otsu: Heroo! Answers. Alien Baltan appeared as an ex-boyfriend of Electro-Wave Human Tackle.
Super Sentai[]
Gekisou Sentai Carranger[]
Braking has a weapon which he detaches from his head similar to Ultraseven's Eye Slugger. Its name is the King Slugger.
Radiacar Robo does a rise similar to Ultraman's when growing bigger and was under a one minute time limit.
Bakaryuu Sentai Abaranger[]
Giganoid 2: Eroica was created in the image of the popular television show, Ygrec the Galaxtion, who battled against Giganoid 1: Fate to impress the city. Although he didn't have a light on his chest, he did have a light on his forehead that lit up after he had fallen to the ground.
Tensou Sentai Goseiger[]
One of Atlata's transformations mimics the rising scene of Ultraman Taro.
Ressha Sentai ToQger[]
In episode 43 of Ressha Sentai ToQger, Right briefly made the Spacium Beam gesture after his attack was blocked.
Shuriken Sentai Ninninger[]
Takaharu; the AkaNinger, in his Chozetsu form does an Ultra rise scene upon growing to giant size to fight alongside his OtomoNin in episode 26. With the background being similar to Leo's.
Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger[]
The Elder of the Ryusoul Tribe is played by the late Jiro Dan, who played Hideki Go in Return of Ultraman. During his appearance in episode 34, he wore a headband with the word "Return" on it. An Ultra Lance prop was also used in the episode, along with several other references to Ultraman Jack and Return of Ultraman.
Kikai Sentai Zenkaiger[]
The Great Retro World performs a beam attack similar to Ultraseven's Wide Shot in episode 15.
Kure Kure Takora[]
In the full version of the intro, Takora can be seen with Alien Baltan, Eleking, Godzilla, Peguila, Alien Mefilas, Kanegon, Gyaos, Garamon, and Booska. The verse roughly translates to "He is famous among kaiju".
Armor Hero[]
In the Chinese tokusatsu series Armor Hero, the message boards member "model freak" has Ultraman action figures in his room. When made an admin of said message boards, one of the characters makes the Spacium Beam gesture.
HE-LOW[]
In the 2018 Indie Tokusatsu movie directed by Hassei Takano (who played Hiroya Fujimiya), a character played by Takeshi Yoshioka tries to transform into Ultraman Gaia (Which also makes an allusion of Gamu Takeyama's transformation, with his censored Esplender in-hand), only to be stopped by Akagiri & Co..
Pacific Rim[]
In the 2013 Mexican-American science fiction monster film directed by Mexican film director Guillermo del Toro, Pacific Rim, their logo for Kaiju is a stylized Alien Baltan and their monster Raiju is a direct homage to Gabora.
What to Do with the Dead Kaiju?[]
In the 2022 comedic kaiju film produced by "DAIKAIJU" Film Partners, What to Do with the Dead Kaiju? features the main character named Arata Obinata, who transforms (by saying "Deles Ex Machina", translated as 'god from the machine'.) into an Ultraman-like giant in the movie's final scene to carry the kaiju corpse (ironically named "Hope (希望)") away. The giant's appearance is shown as a silhouette and a foot. It was also noted that his merging with the giant is similar to most Ultras, as he vanished before he could get killed.
Live-Action Shows[]
Takeshi's Castle[]
Takeshi's Castle had an episode called the "Monster Special" where they crossed over with the Tsuburaya Productions group. Most of the people on the program were dressed up as folklore figures or even dressed as animals, and items. In the program, the Monsters, lead by the General, raided Takeshi's castle with an army of people dressed as various things in order to win, only to be stopped by the Ultra Brothers and Takeshi himself.
- Alien Baltan
- Zetton
- Black King
- Veron
- Gomora
- Alien Icarus
- Seabozu
- Eleking
- Kanegon
- Pigmon
- Gora
- Red King
In the American version of Takeshi's Castle, MXC, mostly some of the monsters have names, and short backstories.
Alien Baltan is named "Redeye", Zetton is called "Queerwig" and crawls into teen's ears making them gay, Black King is called "Tupacashaft" and is the star of Mons-Ploitasion films, Veron is called the "Flemlazor", And comes from the planet Emphisimia, Gomora is called the "Monster under the Bed", Alien Icarus doesn't have much, Except he is slightly called "Blue-Flamor at the beginning.
Seabozu is named the "Closet Monster", Eleking is called "Alazilla Babaganoush" and is said to be a mutated eggplant with his sidekick, Shiskebabatron, Kanegon does not do much but simply named "Clamula the Giant Hairless Clam. Pigmon is named "Inoperable Tumera", Gora is called "Drunk-Step Dad", and Red King does not have a name nor backstory.
There are also some additions on the suits of a few monsters:
- Veron has smaller horns than normal.
- Gomora's suit has stripes on the back of it.
- Seabozu has a longer tail and shorter face.
- Pigmon appeared with two suits: One with an mouth open and lighter red, while the other has a smaller mouth and darker colors.
- Gora has a more ape-like face instead of a feline face.
Real-Life Influences[]
These are list of peoples and real life-related things whose inspiration towards Ultraman had influence their life.
Emoticons[]
While the Ultraman Series franchise had gotten more popular, two of the franchise's most popular characters, the original Ultraman and Alien Baltan had their own emoticons.
- Ultraman: (o|o)
- Alien Baltan: (V)o¥o(V)
Line App Global[]
Line stickers of the Ultraman Series' characters, ranging from Ultra Heroes to Ultra Kaiju had been sold under the price of USD $1.99.
Akira Toriyama[]
Akira Toriyama
Geek Crash Course[]
Geek Crash Course is a weekly webseries created and hosted by Michael Nixon and Diana Dekajlo. The show airs every Wednesday on Blip, Youtube, and their Facebook page.
The show's purpose is to educate newcomers to their friend's geeky things they don't quite understand in a simple condensed format that gives the viewer the basics of what its about. Occasionally, Michael and Diana give the viewers homework assignments in the form of recommendations and sometimes what to avoid in terms of long-running franchises as well as trivia on the subject.
Michael Nixon is a big tokusatsu fan, so on February 2012, the month of his birthday, he declared that he would do a month of Toksusatsu videos on GCC including a video on Ultraman on July 31, 2012.
The show also features special GCC episodes designed to prep moviegoers for films based on pop-culture properties or centered in the Sci-Fi or Fantasy genre.
On December 18, 2013, the two announced in a vlog that Michael had moved to Los Angeles and thus the show's format would change in 2014. The first and last week of each month would be a Geek Crash Course "Classic" episode, where the two would tackle a subject together like before while the other weeks would feature a Geek Crash Course East or Geek Crash Course West episode where Diana or Michael would tackle a subject individually.
External Links[]
Steven Moffat[]
Doctor Who writer Steven Moffat is shown in DWM issue 480 with a Hugo Award - and a silver Ultraman.
BrickCon 2010[]
The LEGO BrickCon of 2010's main theme was "Big in Japan" and featured a model of Ultraman vs. Baltan, along with other toku characters, such as Gundams, MechaGodzilla and Guyver IV. The Ultraman diorama was made by Lino Martins, and appeared in Beckett Build magazine.
2015 Google Doodle[]
In July 7, 2015, Google celebrated Eiji Tsuburaya's 114th birthday by creating a mini game Google Doodle, where players would help him in his studio in filming a scene for the Ultraman-like hero fighting against several Kaiju.