Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Ultraman Rising’ on Netflix, The Most Wholesome Take on the Classic Hero Yet

Ultraman is one of the most revered superhero franchises in Japan. It’s had several iterations over the years, but when it comes to its modern versions, none have stuck the way you’d think they might have. Ever since its debut in 1966, one of the most exciting incarnations of the character is Hideaki Anno’s live-action Shin Ultraman, but there haven’t been many great attempts at bringing it to the animated world.

There’s such a wide gap now between those who recognize the hero from growing up and new fans that there are tons of chances to start over, and it seems that’s exactly what has been done with Ultraman Rising. And it’s a good idea to go into this movie with reinvention on your mind, because that’s exactly what it does. It brings the character into the modern world with a brand new take, for better or for worse.

ULTRAMAN RISING: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: Baseball star Ken Sato (Christopher Sean) grew up wanting to become a sports star while harboring a deep love for Ultraman. Having now taken up the mantle of the Ultraman name after his father before him (Gedde Watanabe), he’s playing for the Giants in Tokyo while continuing his baseball career. With his mother’s (Tamlyn Tomita) recent disappearance and his father having put everything he had into being the hero of Japan, Ken has complicated feelings now that he’s an adult and in the thick of saving people on the daily.

Ken and his father must come together and work in tandem to continue protecting Tokyo from evil despite their strained relationship during Ken’s childhood. Things get even more complicated when Ken happens upon a baby kaiju after a particularly grueling battle. He’ll have to look into his heart and make the decision about what makes a hero, how to grapple with making big choices about the world and the hero business, and how to move forward in his relationship with his father, all while fighting as Ultraman.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: There isn’t another animated project that looks or feels quite like Ultraman Rising, but of course, you might be reminded of the other, more recent 2019 Ultraman anime series that follows high schooler Shinjiro Hayata and his own “special powers.” The two are very different in tone, of course, but the fact that they’re both Netflix creations brings them together. I’d go so far as to say this, however, is the first project that slightly resembles something that Pixar or Disney might put out, which is highly interesting.

Performance Worth Watching: Professor Sato (Gedde Watanabe) is a kind and doting dad who’s clearly not happy with his life choice to have to protect Tokyo while his son was young. Watanabe brings a warmth to his voice with vulnerability when needed. He isn’t an all-knowing man who has all the answers, and it’s clear from his voice actor that this is the case.

Memorable Dialogue: “Kenji, if you could be anyone, what would you choose?” Professor Sato asks his son before chaos breaks out in Tokyo. He holds up a baseball and an Ultraman figure. While Kenji’s mom brushes this off as too big of a question for their son, the answer is prophetic as he ends up becoming both.

Sex and Skin: None at all. This is about as pure as the world of Ultraman (if it were ever raunchy at all) gets.

Our Take: This may be one of the most paint-by-numbers takes on Ultraman that we’ve seen, but that doesn’t make it a bad one. In fact, it may be the best way to get younger viewers into the franchise since it takes plenty of cues from modern animated movies and superhero flicks. The animation may be a bit off-putting at times, as it’s also the most stylized we’ve seen for this character, but that only seems to work in its favor, giving human characters a unique look and Ultraman his ethereal glow that sets him apart from so many of the other kaiju-fighting heroes in the world.

If you go in with an open mind and aren’t married to the source material so much so that you have to balk at every liberty taken and every updated and rewritten trope, you’ll find a family-centric adventure that has a good message at heart. And we snark here, of course, we’re critics. But sometimes there really is nothing wrong with that, especially if it brings a classic character back into the fold in a good way.

Our Call: STREAM IT. This family-friendly take on Ultraman is a fun and lighthearted adventure that anyone can enjoy, familiarity with the character or not. It just might end up making new Ultraman fans out of you and your brood, especially if you catch them young. The world needs more of them, after all.

Brittany Vincent (@MolotovCupcake) has been covering video games and tech for over a decade for publications like G4, Popular Science, Playboy, Variety, IGN, GamesRadar, Polygon, Kotaku, Maxim, GameSpot, and more. When she’s not writing or gaming, she’s collecting retro consoles and tech.