| Ultraman: Rising | |||
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Official release poster
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| Kanji | ウルトラマン: ライジング | ||
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| Directed by | Shannon Tindle | ||
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| Based on | Ultraman by Tsuburaya Productions |
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| Cinematography | John Bermudes | ||
| Edited by | Bret Marnell | ||
| Music by | Scot Stafford | ||
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| Distributed by | Netflix | ||
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Release dates
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Running time
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117 minutes[1] | ||
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| Language | English | ||
Ultraman: Rising (Japanese: ウルトラマン: ライジング, Hepburn: Urutoraman: Raijingu) is a 2024 animated superhero film based on Tsuburaya Productions’ Ultraman franchise. A Japanese-American co-production between Netflix Animation and Tsuburaya Productions, with animation by Industrial Light & Magic, it is the 44th film in the franchise. Directed by Shannon Tindle (in his feature directorial debut), who co-wrote it with Marc Haimes, the film stars Christopher Sean as Ken Sato/Ultraman, alongside the voices of Gedde Watanabe, Tamlyn Tomita, Keone Young, and Julia Harriman.
Ultraman: Rising was released worldwide on Netflix on June 14, 2024. The film has received positive reviews from critics who praised the film’s animation, writing, and voice performances (particularly Sean’s).
Premise[edit]
Kenji Sato, a famous but egotistical baseball player living a secret life as the giant superhero Ultraman, is forced to balance his career and hero duties while reluctantly adopting a baby kaiju after defeating her mother.[2]
Voice cast[edit]
| Characters | English[3] | Japanese[4] |
|---|---|---|
| Kenji Sato/Ultraman | Christopher Sean | Yuki Yamada |
| Professor Sato/Ultradad | Gedde Watanabe | Fumiyo Kohinata |
| Mina/Emiko Sato | Tamlyn Tomita | Ayumi Tsunematsu |
| Dr. Onda | Keone Young | Fumihiko Tachiki |
| Ami Wakita | Julia Harriman | Akari Hayami |
| Ami’s mother | Karen Muruyama | Hiroko Sakurai |
| Captain Aoshima | Lee Shorten | Takaya Aoyagi |
| Coach Shimura | Artt Butler | Nan Dadian |
| Ito | Francois Chau | |
| Kubo | Robert Yasumura | |
| Chiho | Mila O’Malley | |
| Mrs. Onda | Brittany Ishibashi | |
| Akiko | Veronica Lapke | |
| Bunny (Ollie) | Jonathan Groff |
Frank Buckley, Artt Butler, Vic Chao, Francois Chau, Brittany Ishibashi, Paul Nakauchi, Bret Marnell, and Jon Ohye provide additional voices.
Production[edit]
The film, inspired by the character of the same name, originally began as an original idea developed by director Shannon Tindle.[5] He conceived it while working as a character designer on Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends in the mid-to-late 2000s.[6] Tindle further developed the film, writing a script and creating art at Sony Pictures Animation from 2016 to 2018; at the time, the plot would have followed “a billionaire forced to grow up when he takes on the orphaned children of his former foe.”[7][8] After leaving Sony, Tindle moved to Netflix Animation to produce the live-action/animation hybrid series Lost Ollie with fellow Sony Animation director Peter Ramsey, where he had the opportunity to repurpose the plot for his film to fit with the Ultraman IP.
The project was announced as a Netflix exclusive in May 2021, with Tindle to direct and co-write the film with Marc Haimes (Tindle and Haimes previously co-wrote Kubo and the Two Strings), Tom Knott to produce, Lisa Poole to co-produce, John Aoshima to co-direct, and Industrial Light & Magic to animate the film.[9] In July 2022, Netflix released an image teasing the film’s animation style and Ultraman design.[10]
Release[edit]
In October 2023, Tindle shared via Twitter a first-look image of Ultraman and the film’s official title, Ultraman: Rising, teasing an announcement for Geeked Week 2023.[11] In November 2023, the film’s voice cast and first trailer were unveiled during Geeked Week 2023, targeting a 2024 release on Netflix.[2][3] Ultraman: Rising premiered at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival on June 12, 2024.[12] It was followed by its worldwide release on Netflix on June 14, 2024.[13]
Reception[edit]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 81% of 31 critics’ reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7/10.[14] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 66 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating “generally favorable” reviews.[15]