Ultraman: Rising ~ Ultradad’s Finest Hour [Review]

Ultraman: Rising is perhaps the best recent addition to the Ultraman franchise from Tsuburaya Productions. Mostly due to the addition of the titular Ultraman having to care for an adorable baby kaiju. That and much, much more is what turns Ken Sato into an Ultradad at his finest hour.

Ultraman: Rising ~ Details

Ultraman: Rising is a Japanese-American animated superhero (and kaiju) film. As you can tell by the title, this film is based on the Ultraman franchise from Tsuburaya Productions, and is actually the 44th film in that franchise. In fact, Tsuburaya is one of the production companies for this film alongside Netflix Animation and Industrial Light & Magic. Netflix, of course, is the company that will stream this film.

Shannon Tindle and John Aoshima both co-directed Ultraman: Rising. Tindle is also the writer for the film alongside Marc Haimes. Tom Knott and Lisa M. Poole both co-produced this film. Scot Stafford is the composer behind the music you hear in the film.

Speaking of which: Ultraman: Rising features an ULTRAMAN original song by Diplo and Oliver Tree, with another original song by Alicia Creti.

Voice Cast

Ultraman: Rising features the voices of Christopher Sean (Yuki Yamada in Japanese dub) as Ken Sato/Ultraman, Gedde Watanabe (Fumiyo Kohinata in Japanese dub) as Professor Sato, Tamlyn Tomita (Ayumi Tsunematsu in Japanese dub) as Emiko, Keone Young (Fumihiko Tachiki in Japanese dub) as Dr. Onda, and Julia Harriman (Akari Hayami in Japanese dub) as Ami Wakita. The other notable voice in this film is Lee Shorten (Takaya Aoyagi in Japanese dub) as Captain Aoshima.

When and Where to Watch

Ultraman: Rising will make its streaming debut on June 14, 2024. You can watch this film only on Netflix due to it being an exclusive there.

Ultraman: Rising ~ Synopsis

Alas, I cannot give a spoiler-filled plot summary. Mostly because Ultraman: Rising hasn’t even made its Netflix debut yet. Thus, you will all get the official synopsis of this film from Netflix instead. You can check out that synopsis below:

With Tokyo under siege from rising monster attacks, baseball star Ken Sato returns home to take on the mantle of Ultraman. But the titanic superhero meets his match when he reluctantly adopts a 35-foot-tall, fire-breathing baby kaiju. Sato must rise above his ego to balance work and parenthood while protecting the baby from forces bent on exploiting her for their own dark plans. In partnership with Netflix, Tsuburaya Productions, and Industrial Light & Magic, Ultraman: Rising is written by Shannon Tindle and Marc Haimes, directed by Shannon Tindle, and co-directed by John Aoshima.

Ultraman: Rising ~ The Good

Okay, where to even start with what’s good about Ultraman: Rising? There’s just too many to list. Ah well, I’ll have to start with the driving force behind the greatness of this film: the story. That story is just an emotional roller coaster ride of a journey from start to finish. This film will make you laugh, it will make you cry, and it will make you cheer. Both for the titular superhero himself and even for the kaiju.

A big part of the reason for that roller coaster ride is the characters. Ken Sato/Ultraman himself deserves a special mention. Out of the entire cast, he gets the most character development. He basically starts out as an unlikeable, self-entitled douche and then over the course of the film, develops into the hero we want to cheer for. A big part of that is due to the baby kaiju you can see in the trailer and screenshots. The baby kaiju is not only incredibly adorable, but her very helplessness is what drives the main character’s development. Caring for the baby kaiju basically teaches Ken Sato compassion and patience in spades.

Enhancing that story experience is the animation. Tsuburaya Productions, Industrial Light & Magic, and Netflix Animation all did a wonderful job with that animation. It reminds me of Arcane in many ways due to the cel-shading, but it has a touch of Viewtiful Joe-style comic book aesthetic to it. All this makes this film one of the great Ultraman entries.

Ultraman: Rising ~ The Bad

Funnily enough, if you’re an action junkie who just likes action and nothing but, then Ultraman: Rising might not be the film for you. Yes, this film has some amazing action sequences with some of the best animation I’ve seen in any animated film. However, they are fairly few and far between. The vast majority of this film is comedy, drama, and baby kaiju antics. If you are looking for an anime to satisfy that action junkie cravings, then might I suggest Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Solo Leveling, or Kaiju No. 8? The last one in particular might be of interest to all you kaiju fans reading this.

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