Ultraman: Rising
I will be as unbiased as possible, but it should be fully known that I have a giant Ultraman tattoo on my calf. So yeah, I'm a little bit of a fan of the franchise.
That said, and I mean this as objectively as possible; “Ultraman: Rising” is to Ultraman as “Into The Spider-Verse” was to Spider-Man. The biggest crime committed with this film is that it didn't receive a theatrical release. As another casualty of the “direct to streaming” setup we're seeing more and more, this movie is hugely insulted by not getting the chance to shine on the big screen. The animation, the soundtrack, the voice acting...it's all top notch and deserved better than a quiet release to Netflix. In what will almost certainly result in reduced visibility for the film in North America, the giant sized hero deserved more than a small screen debut for his animated feature film.
Most of the North American audience doesn't know (or at least not much about) Ultraman. And in a way that works to your benefit here if you had any preconceptions about what to expect, because “Rising” is a drastic retooling to everything we've seen previously from the franchise. The core concept about the hero remains the same: Ultraman is a human who can become a giant monster sized superhero that can fly, shoot light based attacks and shields and is forced back to human size when his chest timer begins flashing red (in this version, when Ultraman becomes too unfocused. In the original it depends, but it's usually when 3 minutes has passed). But aside from those traits, this is a completely new take.
The film focuses much more on the personal development of Ultraman from being a bit of a spoiled brat into the hero people have come to expect from his father's tenure as the hero. It's a great direction from the character who almost always begins out as Ultraman and always does their best right from the get go. This Ultraman doesn't want the job and does a very half assed job of being a superhero while spending his time getting drunk and trying to be a celebrity baseball star. It's a great new take that I appreciate on a personal level, especially after having seen the fanaticism baseball has in Japan first hand while I was there visiting. There was an announcement on the TV while I was visiting Osaka telling fans not to jump into the river out of celebration if the Hanshin Tigers won. But I digress, the new character angle works great and adds some actual depth to the human side of Ultraman.
The series is usually a “monster-of-the-week” format where one shows up, has some loose motivation and gets destroyed or routed by Ultraman. “Rising” takes that away and puts the 2 hour focus on what might these monster babies be like, and what would happen if Ultraman had to raise one. It's a concept I might not have loved had it been pitched to me, personally, but after seeing the movie I can say wholeheartedly that not only does it work, it works in humanizing these giant beasts that have been smashing buildings on screen for 70+ years. I loved it.
The art style is very Spider-Verse like while maintaining it's own individuality, especially some scenes that highlight a beautifully rendered Tokyo, and some backgrounds that are direct winks to the history of Tsuburaya (like the “melting paint” swirl). There's just so much care put into the details that are direct nods to the long history of Ultraman.
In a year where Godzilla wins an Oscar and Godzilla x Kong dominated at the box office, I'm happy to say that Ultraman can stand tall among those releases by delivering an incredible animated film that will appeal to kids and adults of all ages. Ok, so maybe I am biased.
10/10 - Masterpiece
