Ultraman Taro (ウルトラマンタロウ Urutoraman Tarō) aired on Tokyo Broadcasting System from April 6, 1973 to April 5, 1974, as the sixth entry in the long-running Ultra Series.
Synopsis
Kotaro Higashi trained to be a boxer, but after an incident with Astromons, he was killed. However, his body was brought to Nebula M78 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.
Characters
ZAT
- Yutaro Asahina
- Kotaro Higashi
- Shuuhei Aragaki
- Jirou Nishida
- Tadao Nanbara
- Tetsuya Kitajima
- Izumi Moriyama
Others
- Saori Shiratori
- Kenichi Shiratori
Ultras
Kaiju/Seijin
- Oil Drinker
- Astromons
- Cosmo Liquid
- Live King
- King Tortoise
- Queen Tortoise
- Mini Tortoise
- Jirenma
- Ganza
- Tagarl
- Tondaile
- Arindo
- Depparas
- Basara
- Volkeller
- Sheltar
- Enmargo
- Miegon
- Okariyan
- Kemjila
- Birdon
- Raidron
- King Zemira
- Pandora
- Chinpe
- Rodera
- Space Moths
- Mururoa
- Rabbidog
- Mukadender
- Mandarin Grass
- Alien Mefilas II
- Eleking II
- Yapool
- Reconstructed Bemstar
- Reconstructed Sabotendar
- Remodeled Verokron II
- Mushra
- Guron
- Alien Temperor
- Alien Katan
- Grost
- Hertz
- Alien Medusa
- Alien Miracle
- Alien Terrorist
- Mochiron
- Tyrant
- Gongoros
- Android Seiko
- Elegia
- Motokureron
- Alien Kisaragi
- Alien Dorzu
- Memole
- Piccolo
- Gorgosaurus III
- Gelan
- Alien File
- Veron
- Orphy
- Alien Khan
- Garaking
- Rindon
- Dorobon
- Alien Valky
- Samekujira
Cast
- Kotaro Higashi (東 光太郎 Higashi Kōtarō): Saburo Shinoda (篠田三郎 Shinoda Saburō)
- Yūtarō Asahina (朝日奈 勇太郎 Asahina Yūtarō): Akira Nagoya (名古屋 章 Nagoya Akira)
- Shūhei Aragaki (荒垣 修平 Aragaki Shūhei): Takahiko Tōno (東野 孝彦 Tōno Takahiko)
- Tadao Nanbara (南原 忠男 Nanbara Tadao): Toyoyuki Kimura (木村 豊幸 Kimura Toyoyuki)
- Jirō Nishida (西田 次郎 Nishida Jirō): Kiyotaka Mitsugi (三ツ木 清隆 Mitsugi Kiyotaka)
- Izumi Moriyama (森山 いずみ Moriyama Izumi): Kiyoko Matsuya (松谷 紀代子 Matsuya Kiyoko)
- Lady in Green (緑のおばさん Midori no Obasan)/Mother of Ultra (ウルトラの母 Urutora no Haha Voice): Peggy Hayama (ペギー 葉山 Pegī Hayama)
- Tetsuya Kitajima (北島 哲也 Kitajima Tetsuya): Hidesuke Tsumura (津村 秀祐 Tsumura Hidesuke)
- Takashi Ueno (上野 孝 Ueno Takashi): Akihiko Nishijima (西島 明彦 Nishijima Akihiko)
- Kazumi Nitani (二谷 一美 Nitani Kazumi): Noboru Mitani (三谷 昇 Mitani Noboru)
- Saori Shiratori (白鳥 さおり Shiratori Saori): Mayumi Asaka (あさか まゆみ Asaka Mayumi), Keiko Ono (小野 恵子 Ono Keiko)
- Kenichi Shiratori (白鳥 健一 Shiratori Ken'ichi): Shinya Saitō (斎藤 信也 Saitō Shin'ya)
- Narrator: Tetsurō Sagawa (瑳川 哲朗 Sagawa Tetsurō), Akira Nagoya
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.
Music
- Opening Theme
- "Ultraman Taro (ウルトラマンタロウ Urutoraman Tarō)"
- Lyrics: Aku Yu / composer-arranger: Kawaguchi / song: Takemura Taro, boys and girls choir lake. Uncredited synth arrangements by Higurashi Masanobu.
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 Star" (ウルトラマンスター Urutoraman Sutā) 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 (done to conserve the budget of the lightbulbs in the eyes), Jack sharing the same suit as Ultraman with more silver than red, and design on the bottom looks like a female, Ultraseven without ears on episode 40 which would happen again on the premiere of Ultraman Leo, and finally, Jack with red gloves and boots in episode 52.
- Ultraman Taro was filmed alongside Jumborg Ace and Fireman.
- At the time ratings were falling, and as Tsuburaya felt Ultraman 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 Ultra series.
- Due to production problems with the next series, Ultraman Leo, Tsuburaya extended Taro's run for several episodes.
- The series is the longest running Showa series.
Home Media
A English subtitled DVD set was also released by the Malaysian company VGB Network. A few grammatical errors were made during the subtitling.
A Blu-ray remaster was released in 2017 through Amazon Prime.
Ultraman Taro Complete DVD-Box Set
Blu-ray Box
Ultraman Taro VGB DVD
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