Fans of Ultraman in Japan are in for a treat. Celebrating 60 years of the series in the grandest way possible, Tsuburaya Productions and Slow Hand have created an ultimate Ultraman documentary called The Origin of Ultraman.
Set for a theatrical release in Japan on July 3, the documentary [JP] explores how a 1966 tokusatsu television series became a cultural force, with peak viewership once reaching 42.8 percent. More importantly, it examines why Ultraman continues to resonate globally six decades later.
The film features interviews with an absurdly stacked lineup of creators, including Guillermo del Toro, Hirokazu Koreeda, Hideo Kojima, Hideaki Anno, Shinji Higuchi, and Nicolas Winding Refn. Through their perspectives, the documentary revisits the craftsmanship of Eiji Tsuburaya’s original production team, the emotional depth behind Ultraman’s kaiju, and the series’ influence on modern cinema, design, and pop culture.
Keep going for the official trailer.
