Posted in: TV | Tagged: ultraman

Ultraman Series 60th Anniversary Project Begins 2-Year Celebration

Tsuburaya Productions announced The Ultraman Series 60th Anniversary Project, which kicked off this summer and will run into 2026.

Tsuburaya Productions, producers of perennial Japanese superhero series Ultraman, has launched a two-year campaign to celebrate the series' sixty-year anniversary starting this year and into 2026. "On July 10, 1966, Ultraman first appeared on television. Since then, the Ultra series has been alongside us, touching our hearts and delivering messages of "Courage", "Hope", and "Kindness". In 2026, the Ultra series will celebrate its 60th anniversary since its initial broadcast."

"The Ultraman Series 60th Anniversary Project is a grand celebration of the legacy of the Ultraman franchise, running from July 2025 to early 2028. This project aims to honor the impact and enduring legacy of the Ultra Series, which first appeared on television on July 10, 1966. The initiative is designed to make Ultraman's values and stories more accessible and impactful than ever, transcending cultures and generations. The project includes a new TV series, live shows, digital content, and global campaigns, all aimed at creating a space where everyone can feel connected to Ultraman. The official 60th anniversary logo features three stars symbolizing Courage, Hope, and Compassion, while the iconic silhouette of Ultraman rising from the number "60" expresses a leap toward a hopeful future."

Ultraman and Green Lantern were inspired by the same 1940s Science Fiction pulp stories, The Lensman by E.E. "Doc" Smith,  a space opera and multigenerational saga of galactic guardians from the same family. DC Comics editor Julius Schwartz took the idea of galactic cops for Green Lantern, and special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya, who co-created Godzilla for director Ishiro Honda, created Ultraman from the notion of a family of benevolent superpowered aliens who protect space and Earth from dai kaiju and a kind of flip side of Godzilla. Every TV series, averaging a new one every year, follows the same trope: a young man dies during a kaiju attack and is merged with alien light to become Ultraman, who defends Earth against dai kaijus every week. Interestingly, Ultraman and the Silver Age Green Lantern both premiered in the 1960s.

Japan has a decades-long superhero trinity in the form of Ultraman, Kamen Rider, and Super Sentai, the latter a superteam series adapted in the 1990s by Saban Productions into The Mighty Morphing Power Rangers. Every kid in Japan knows Ultraman and Kamen Rider. Where Kamen Rider is often darker, Ultraman has a campy, sometimes goofy humour that makes the character and series more overtly kid-friendly – he's a friend and protector of children, which makes him similar to Doctor Who, except The Doctor doesn't kill a kaiju at the end of every episode by making them explode.

Ultraman now has at least one official YouTube channel, and the classic series is now available for streaming on multiple platforms, including Shout TV and Tubi, from nostalgic masterpieces that once made our hearts race, to the latest works that define the present. Celebrating the Ultra series' 60th anniversary, a selection of beloved episodes that trace the Ultraman legacy across generations will be sequentially available on the Ultraman Official YouTube Channel. Each episode will be available for a limited time of two weeks from the start of its distribution.

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