40 Years of Ultraman

jonerik writes "The Japan Times has four articles covering the events surrounding this year's 40th anniversary celebration of the Japanese superhero Ultraman — along with Astro Boy probably the most iconic Japanese hero of the post-war era. The Ultraman...Forever article follows the history and development of the series over the last 40 years, and its appeal not only to the original generation of fans, but to the current generation, who are now the children or even grandchildren of the series' original audience. The Ultrabonding article explores this in further depth, crediting the series for strengthening the bonds between fathers and sons, both of whom grew up — or are growing up — watching the series. The Ultracollecting article looks at the toy collector side of things, and Ultrasuccess in Print interviews Tatsuya Miyanishi, the author of a series of Ultraman books — including 1996's 'Daddy is Ultraman' — which have proven popular with both young and old fans alike."

Re:Does anyone in the US care about Ultraman?

[1310nm]

When I lived on a military base as a kid, the one DoD channel that we got in English had Ultraman every Saturday morning, between Voltron and Captain Power [captainpower.com].

I liked Voltron a lot better, because after putting up with the lame story line acted out by the annoying Voltron team, you would finally get to see Voltron FORM BLAZING SWORD and cut villianbots into a flash of white light. I'm guessing blinding flashes of light are cheaper than cutting objects in half, from a production standpoint.