Urutoraman Taro (Ultraman Taro) ran April 6, 1973 through April 5, 1974 (53 episodes)
| Character |
|
Actor/Actress |
| Higashi, Kotaro |
|
Sinoda, Saburo |
| Ultraman Taro |
|
Nagasawa, Hiroshi |
| Deputy Captain Aragaki, Shuhhei (episodes 1-51) |
|
Higashino , Takahiko |
Shiratori, Kenichi |
|
Saito, Sinya |
| Shiratori, Saori (episodes
1-16) |
|
Mayumi Asuka |
| Shiratori, Saori (episodes
20-53) | U
|
Ono, Keiko |
| Kitajima, Tetsuya |
|
Tsumura, Shusuke |
| Nanbara, Tadao |
|
Kimura, Toyoyuki |
| Nisida, Jiro (episodes 1-8, 13) |
|
Mitsugi, Kiyotaka |
| Ueno, Takashi (episodes 9-53) |
|
Nishijima Akihiko |
| Moriyama, Izumi |
|
Matutani, Kiyoko |
| Deputy Captain Kazumii, Nitani (episodes 51-53) |
|
Noboru, Mitani |
| Narrator |
|
Sagawa, Tetsuro |
Opening Theme
Earth is one again threatened by hostile alien monsters and once again the Ultras of Nebula M-78 decide to come to Earth's aid. Disguised as a human female the Mother of Ultra (first introduced in this series) visits Earth and gives a"good luck charm" (the Ultra Badge) to boxer Higashi, Kotaro. Soon
after joining the Earth defense group ZAT, Higashi, Kotaro is killed by
the giant monster Astromons. K�tar� is transported to Land of Light in
Nebula M-78 where he is revived and merged with the newly born Ultraman Taro, (son of Father of Ultra and Mother of Ultra). Back on Earth, Higashi, Kotaro wears the Ultra Badge on his shoulder. Strangely,
no one seems to notice the unathorized addition to his ZAT uniform. In the Early episodes the Ultra Badge signals Higashi, Kotaro when he should use it. In later episode it doesn't have to.
Besides the members of ZAT the other support characters are Higashi, Kotaros land lady/house keeper, college student Shiratori, Saori (age 19) and her brother (the required child character) Shiratori, Kenichi (age 11). Saroi is actually played by two different actress but its supposed to be the same character. Saori and Kenichi are the children of the captain K�tar� served under when he served as memeber of a ship's crew.
Ultraman Taro introduced Mother of Ultra - leader of the Silver Cross (1,2,3 24 40,53), and had quest appearances by Zoffy (1,18,19,25.33,34,40), Ultraman (1,25,33,34,40),
Ultra Seven (1,5,25,33-34,40), Ultraman Jack (1,25,33-34,40, 52), Ultraman Ace (1,25,33-34,40) and Father of Ultra (39 & 51).
At home on Land of Light in Nebula M-78. Ultraman Taro have a noncombatent pet, Rappidog (episodes 24 & 25). Taro is the first Ultraman to be shown to have pet, the second being Ultraman Leo. Ultraman Taro doesn't have much time to spend with his pet as he's home to have an emergency meeting with the Ultra Brothers to discuse how to save Earth from an unnatural darkness that threatens to end life of Earth.
In episodes 33 & 34: Ultraman, Ultra Seven, Ultraman Jack and Ultraman Ace arrive on Earth to visit Ultraman Taro. They take on their human forms: Hayata, Shin; Moroboshi, Dan; Go, Hideki and Hokuto, Seiji. .The shirts they are wearing have "Ultra Symbols" which spell out their names in the language of their people. Their family reuniion is interupted by an alien invasion of course. Zoffy will eventually join them. And to hide their presence from the hostile alien they will temporarily possess on humans. Zoffy a scientist. The others ZAT officers: Ultraman borrows the body of Deputy Captain Aragaki, Shuuhei. Ultra Seven borrows the body of Kitajima, Tetsuya, Ultraman Jack borrows the body of Nanbara, Tadao. Ultraman Ace borrows the body of Ueno, Takashi. In episode 40 each tries to stop the monster Tyrant from reaching Earth and fails. Ace is able to send Taro a warning and Taro defeats the monster alone. Was it worn out from fighting the other Ultra Brothers or is Taro just stronger than his elders? After the Tyrant is dead Mother of Ultra makes a cameo appearance, making sure her son is allright. In the finale episode the Mother of Ultra only appears in her human disguise (which apparently resesmbles K�tar�'s human mother) though of course K�tar� now knows who she really is,.
Father of Ultra's first appearance on Earth is to just talk, and then to carry a giant monster back into space. HIs second appearance its to defeat a monster his son, Taro cannot. He also brings a dead human woman back to life.
The Episodes
In episode 53 after Ultraman Taro has defeated one more monster, Higashi, Kotaro wanting to be human again chooses to be seperated from Ultraman Taro and gives the Ultra Badge back to the same woman he met in episode one whom he now knows is the Mother of Ultra in disguise. Higashi, Kotaro's timing was off however, the alien that sent the monster Ultraman Taro killed wants revenge and doesn't know Ultraman Taro is no longer on Earth and Higashi, Kotaro has to figure out how to defeat it as a human. After which he resigns from ZAT to try to live out his dream of becoming a champion boxer.. In future appearances Ultraman Taro will not have a human form, unlike the other Ultras who continue to use copies of their human forms even. The current whereabouts of Higashi, Kotaro are unknown. (Sinoda, Saburo was asked to appear in Ultraman Mebius but was unable to make it due to having to attend a funeral. He was the only Ultraman host actor not to make an appearance).
On January 12, 2021 Ultraman Taro was released on released on Blu-ray in Japanese with English subtites, by Mill Creek Entertainment
Ultraman Taro was proceeded by Ultraman Ace and was followed by Ultraman Leo (which Ultraman Taro does not appear in although the other Ultra Brothers do).
Urutoraman Taro © 1973 Tsuburaya Productions
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