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More good news for anime fans. Japan’s Tsuburaya Productions, the creator of Ultraman, is collaborating with Netflix to make a brand new CG-animated movie of the beloved superhero character, set to be released on the streaming platform.
‘Ultraman’, which was created 55 years ago by Eiji Tsuburaya and Toru Narita, is a long-running franchise that helped define the kaiju (giant monster) genre and live-action superhero shows in Japan. The character Ultraman has been consistently popular with the youth in Japan and parts of Asia since its release in 1966. This new film, however, will be the first full-scale production where Tsuburaya Productions endeavours to reach out to a global audience.
The plot will centre on professional baseball player Ken Sato as he returns home to Japan to take on the role of superhero Ultraman. The star athlete ends up taking on more than he bargained for, however, when he is forced to become a father and raise a newborn kaiju. On top of the responsibilities Ken must juggle with his baseball team and new kaiju offspring, he must also find a way to overpower the conniving Kaiju Defense Force. So the question is, will he have what it takes?
Though a release date has yet to be announced, Netflix has revealed that the upcoming film will be directed by Shannon Tindle, who worked as a character designer in the 2009 animation 'Coraline', and co-directed by John Aoshima, whose credits include 'The Simpsons' and 'Futurama'.
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