Ultraman Taro (character)


is the title character of the 1973 Ultra Series, Ultraman Taro. In the series, Ultraman Taro merged with Kotaro Higashi the latter loses his life during Astromons' rampage. After that, Kotaro joined the battle as a ZAT member and utilized Taro's power to fight against giant monsters while receiving assistance from either his fellow brothers-in-arms or his parents. In the final episode, Kotaro severed his connection to Taro and returned the Ultra Badge, as he wanted to continue living his life as a normal human. He is last seen traveling around the world.
Ultraman Taro is the third entry in the Ultra Series' second phase during the Showa Era. Alongside Fireman and Jumborg Ace, the three celebrated the 10th anniversary of Tsuburaya Productions despite airing on different television channels. The presence of his parents and the Ultra Brothers emphasizes the theme of family in the series as a whole. Despite Taro's current popularity, many long time fans in the Showa era did not acknowledge this work.
In the original series, Ultraman Taro is voiced by Saburō Shinoda, who is also Kotaro Higashi's actor. In subsequent media, Taro is frequently voiced by. Meanwhile, his original suit actor is.

Character conception

According to the second DVD volume of Ultraman Taro, the series' production had been conceived since autumn 1972, when Ultraman Ace was airing. The television network Tokyo Broadcasting System originally planned on ending the Ultra Series with Ace.

Design

Ultraman Taro was designed by. His figure is based on the body of Ultraseven, with the latter's Beam Lamp, red color, and large projections. The Ultra Horns are an inherited feature from the Father of Ultra. There were also plans to include ears on Taro's helmet as seen in the original design, but they were removed in the finalized version. The prototype of Taro's mask was molded by at the request of. Satake asked the producer, Kumagai, for a 170 cm tall suit actor for Taro due to the Ultra's head design.

Naming

Taro's name comes from either a stand-alone masculine Japanese given name/common name suffix, or one of the most typical name of a boy in otogi-banashi/Japanese fairy tales, the latter coinciding with the fairy tale motif in the Ultraman Taro series. However, in-universe, it is said that this was given by the Father of Ultra, as it meant, which is similarly translated in Earth's culture.
In original planning, Taro and his home series were meant to be named as, which was ultimately revised due to the aircraft hijacking incidents at the time. This name was given to the New Ultraman from Return of Ultraman.

History

Past

Taro's past and his exploits prior to arriving on Earth is explained in his academic journal from the 2003 magazine. Some of these settings were not acknowledged in recent media.
At the time of his birth as a big healthy baby, his cry shocked his parents. As children in the Land of Light grow faster, Taro's growth rate is known to be remarkable. He could walk in two weeks and talk in one month. At one point, he nervously cried when his father played a prank. During childhood, Taro played with his cousin Seven, who was 3,000 years old. Taro was rough and a bit rebellious, but became kinder when his father brought a harmless monster from space. He loved to play and was popular with the children at the park. When he was 8, he demonstrated the ability to lift a rock weighing 12 tons.
Taro entered school when he was 3,000 years old. As his parents helped him in his study, he excelled in gymnastics, helped his classmates in their studies, and won an Olympic Games for children. He excelled in robotics and space monster science. After his graduation, Taro visited various planets to fight evil monsters and hone his fighting skills. At one point, he fought against the 2 million ton monster in LP Nebula and escorted from the Andromeda nebula to the Monster Graveyard. When he entered the Plasma fusion device, he fought against the monster. Zoffy chose Taro as the sixth Ultra Brother after observing his exploits and was sent to Earth.

''Ultraman Taro''

In the original series, Taro was meant to be the Ultraman form of Kotaro Higashi, who was revived with the energy of Ultra Brothers by Ultra's Mother after his death from Astromons, which explained his absence in Ultraman Leo when the rest of the Ultra Brothers appear.
After his first battle, Taro faces monster and alien attacks with the help of ZAT members and the Ultra Brothers' occasional appearances. In one of his battles, Taro is gravely injured and dies from his fight against Birdon. Zoffy carries his body to the Land of Light to recuperate while he fights Birdron; he is ultimately defeated. Taro returns and uses his new weapon, the King Bracelet, to lure the monster back to Okumayama. He seals the volcano's entrance and destroys its eggs.
During Mururoa's assault on Earth, Taro calls for the Ultra Brothers' help to bring the Ultra Bell from their home world to clear the monster's smoke and return sunlight to Earth. He also confronted opponents that his predecessors fought before, such as Alien Mefilas II, Eleking II, Yapool, Bemstar, Verokron and Sabotendar. In a two-parter episode, Taro and the five brothers are hunted by Temperor on Earth, who intended to invade the Land of Light. By hiding in several toy capsules, they ambush the alien. The Temperor was defeated by Taro's Neo Strium Ray while his leader is eliminated by the combined attacks from the Ultra Brothers.
During Tyrant's assassination attempt on the Ultra Brothers, Taro and ZAT members are warned beforehand of its arrival. Taro fights the combined monster and wins the battle by using his opponent's own weapon against itself. In the final episode Taro fights with Samekujira and the invader Alien Valky. When the monster is defeated, Kotaro decides to remain as a human by returning the Ultra Badge back to Mother of Ultra and prove himself by killing Valky with his own wits.

''[Ultraman Story]''

While Zoffy, Ultraman, and Seven were fighting elsewhere, a young Taro trained himself in order to join the Ultra Brothers. After fighting a Dokkun, Mother of Ultra comes and has them reconcile while Father of Ultra lectures him of the existence of friendly monsters.
As Taro grew into a young adult, his overconfidence gets the best of him until he is lectured by his father. He matures by learning and watching the Ultra Brothers' battles. At one point, he is sent to deal with both Alien Mefilas and his Eleking on Earth after the two escaped from Ultraman and Seven. After receiving a precognitive dream of an incoming threat, Taro endured the final phase of his training: using his Ultra Horns to Father of Ultra's energies to fight against Juda, an old foe whom his father fought 50,000 years ago. With Father of Ultra injured in fighting Alien Hipporit, Taro deals with another of Juda's accomplice, Enmargo, on Earth while the rest of Ultra Brothers confront Grand King. Taro joins the Brothers on Planet Feralt and fuses with them to defeat Grand King. They return to the Land of Light as Father and Mother of Ultra await.
The movie is the first time Taro is voiced by Hiroya Ishimaru. His younger self is voiced by.

Subsequent history in the Showa era

Ultraman Taro's statistics below were never mentioned in the original series, but were brought up in magazines and official websites. There are also certain succeeding series that deviate from Ultraman's original statistics:
As the official website of Tsuburaya Productions stated: "The mature biological son of Mother and Father of Ultra comes from Nebula M78 of the Land of Light to Earth. On Earth, he assumes the form of Kotaro Higashi, a member of the defense team ZAT. Taro is a member of the Ultra Brothers, lead instructor of the Space Garrison and even a mentor to Ultraman Mebius. His finishing move is Strium Ray, among others."

Transformation

Kotaro transforms by using the, which was stored on the left shoulder of his ZAT uniform when not in use. Kotaro pulls the Badge and spreads his arms before drawing the item in the same position as his face and lifts it towards the sky, shouting "Taro!". This is followed by Taro emerging from a black background as he rises towards the screen with silver rings accompanying him.

Features and weapons

Ultraman Taro is said to be the strongest Ultra Brothers at the time of his debut on Earth, evidenced by the fact that his Color Timer usually only blinks at the end of the battles and he is capable of surviving even after being stabbed by Depparas' tusk in the gut. He is also known as the hero with 11 skills. In contrast to his brothers, he shouts most of his attacks' names. Taro's main finisher is, which is done by charging his body with energy as his hands raised above and lowered to his waist as they took the "T" formation and fired an energy beam. This firing ray is said to have twice the power as Ultraman Ace's Metallium Ray and even outclassed those of Ultra Brothers. A stronger version also existed, named by placing his hands in an "X" position. Back in his childhood, the young Taro prefers using a finisher named as.
His strongest attack is the suicidal, as he charges his body with fire and runs towards the opponent. It is once used against Alien Katan as his body reconstituted due to his As a result of its dangerous nature, Taro sealed it until he is forced to use it again in Ultraman Mebius during a failed attempt to destroy Inpelaizer. In this scene, the explosion effect was added to appear as if parts of Taro's body were scattered as a result.
In Ultraman Story, Taro merged with the rest of his five brothers with, and became a.

Human hosts

Kotaro Higashi

is the protagonist of Ultraman Taro and Taro's initial human host. Due to the original setting of the series of the time, Kotaro's case was an inversion of the original trope as he was supposed to become an Ultraman instead of fusing with them.
Kotaro is originally a traveler who returned to Japan by hitching a ride in the tanker ship. After saving the ship's crew from Oil Drinker, Kotaro plants the seed which grows into Tigris Flower which becomes the space monster Astromons. To fix his mistake, he tries to fight Astromons on his own, only to fall several feet from the sky. After his injuries heal the following next day, Kotaro joins the ranks of ZAT but loses his life when his aircraft is shot down. His body is brought to the Land of Light and bestowed with the spirit of Ultra to become Ultraman Taro, taking down Astromons moments after the fight. Under orders from his captain, Kotaro lives at the Shiratori residence, whose patriarch–Kiyoshi Shiratori–is the captain of Hibimaru.
As an aspiring boxer, at one point Kotaro goes on a strict diet which affects his job. He also befriends several children he meets after the Astromons incident. In the final episode, Kiyoshi Shiratori loses his life by Samekujira, a space monster commanded by the invader Alien Valky. Ultraman Taro manages to defeat the monster and Kotaro severs his bonds to preserve his humanity, throwing the Ultra Badge to the sky. Alien Valky tries to assassinate Kotaro but he manages to kill it by luring the alien to an oil refinery. In the end, Kotaro bids farewell to ZAT and his friends as he travels abroad.
Kotaro Higashi is portrayed by. After auditioning for the role, he was first given a guest role in episode 20 of Ultraman Ace by producer, who after seeing Saburo's suitability as a main character, decided to get a first impression on the actor at the filming site.

Other hosts

In certain circumstances, Taro bonded with other people as substitute human hosts.

Anime and manga

During the audition for Kotaro Higashi, Shinoda recalled that the role was also auditioned for by a fellow actor named Ken Matsudaira. While visiting the set of Ultraman Ace, he was impressed with Keiji Takamine's character wearing a scarf and decided to do the same during his filming as well. Shinoda usually commutes to the filming studio by train and one time he woke up and found himself surrounded by children who were fans of Taro. One of the few people he met during the filming was Takashi Tsumura, the actor of Tetsuya Kitajima in same series, whose father, Hideo Tsumura was a famous movie critic. While reading the script for his character, Shinoda portrayed Kotaro as a child when facing against monster attacks believing that the childhood nature is suitable for Taro. When asked which monster is his favorite, he responded with Depparas from episode 10 of Taro. He believes that Kotaro's decision to remain as a human being is a mistake. In Tsuburaya's charity funding organization Ultraman Foundation, Shinoda was among the actors that gave their encouragement messages.
Shinoda maintained a good relationship with the late Peggy Hayama, who voiced the Mother of Ultra and her human form, Lady in Green. Befitting her role in the show, he even viewed her as a motherly figure and was surprised to see her working even in her old age. Following her death in 2017, Shinoda mentioned that they have been met each other 40 times since the end of the show. They even met each other at a restaurant, went to Tokyo Station and went home together in a bullet train.
Today, several actors of recent Ultra Series were known to be fans of Ultraman Taro, including Mamoru Miyano and Hideo Ishiguro. Taiyo Sugiura, the actor of Musashi Haruno in Ultraman Cosmos mentioned that as a kindergarten student, he wrote his wish on a tanzaku that he "wanted to be Ultraman Taro". Additionally, Taiyo Sugiura and Saburō Shinoda starred in a late night drama named, where co-star Yūichi Nakamura expressed his delight to act alongside major Ultra Series actors. Yuya Hirata of Ultraman R/B said that "Once I got the role of Ultraman, I looked back at the book and remembered how special Ultraman Taro was for me and realized that Ultraman was one of my starting points."

Popularity

In 2006, a character popularity poll was launched in response to the 40th anniversary of Ultra Series. Based on Oricon's list, Ultraman Taro ranked the third place in all three categories: total, men and women alike. Five years later in the Ultra Series' 45th anniversary, Ultraman placed ninth in the popularity poll and ranked tenth in 2013. As a supporting character in Ultraman Ginga, Taro is one of the few Ultras to join the title hero and Hikaru's actor, Takuya Negishi, in an award ceremony when the Ultra Series was nominated by Guinness World Records as the series with most spin-offs and sequels.
In 2010, Taro and his parents are one of the main topics of "Parent and Child Interview" from the December 23, 2010, print of Mainichi Shimbun newspaper. The article is related to the annual Oyako Day in Japan, including its founder Bruce Osborn.