SHOOWATCHI!

February 12, 2003 12:36 PM

If you jonesed for a beta capsule as a kid, and crossed your hands to zap monsters with the specium ray while playing outside, then this site is for you. Shoowatchi!
posted by ursus_comiter (15 comments total)

The site has EVERYTHING. Monsters, of course. And song lyrics! And there's not just the one Ultraman. There's an entire extended family, although anyone who grew up as part of the American Ultraman generation will probably only know of the original.
posted by ursus_comiter at 12:38 PM on February 12, 2003

This makes my afternoon very happy. I couldn't be happier if you'd thrown Johnny Sokko and his Giant Robot in there, too.
Did the originals of these creep anyone else out (in a good way) as a kid?
posted by Shane at 1:12 PM on February 12, 2003

Can't hold a candle to... Spectreman!
posted by jpburns at 1:17 PM on February 12, 2003

jonesing for soma, here...

(hey, Jonesing for Soma might make a good name for a band)
posted by alumshubby at 1:18 PM on February 12, 2003

(Whoops! Hosed the link... must try again...)

Can't hold a candle to... Spectreman!
posted by jpburns at 1:19 PM on February 12, 2003

Ultraman could kick Spectreman's ass!!
At least, that's what I would have said to Scotty Marshall if he'd told me that back in 1973.
posted by Shane at 1:33 PM on February 12, 2003

Scotty always thought his plastic dinosaurs were better'n mine, too!
posted by Shane at 1:34 PM on February 12, 2003

Yeah Shane! Look at those shabby monsters Spectreman fights.

Silver & Red is much classier than dirt brown to boot.
posted by ursus_comiter at 1:38 PM on February 12, 2003

Dude. Space Giants.

Goldar could kick everyone's ass.
posted by Kafkaesque at 3:16 PM on February 12, 2003

$%&! I knew it! Kafkaesque was Scotty Marshall all along.
posted by Shane at 6:44 PM on February 12, 2003

Three takes on the original series theme, Song of Ultraman:
Japanese TV
English TV
and a Google search
posted by LinusMines at 10:04 PM on February 12, 2003

I loved this show as a kid (the reruns). I even got the SNES game a little later in life, which had a trumpet-rific theme song and utilized the vaunted Mode 7 effects to show Ultraman growing and flying. It sort of lost its luster when I figured out you could put away any given alien marauder pretty easy with one move (the flying dropkick to the head, over and over).

I can't believe someone hasn't made another Ultraman game for a modern console (I hear there are a couple for the Dreamcast, never released here), but I understand that new PS2 game War of the Monsters comes pretty close. I also can't believe Ultraman hasn't been ported to the US after all the silly cartoon series about collectible cards and fighting animals.
posted by britain at 11:08 PM on February 12, 2003

Oh, and I read a review a long time ago of some kind of Japan-only Ultraman hip-hop album called "Shuwatch." Apparently it featured guest rhymes from a number of the other "Ultra Brothers." I can't seem to find any mention of it anywhere else. Would Pulse lie?
posted by britain at 11:10 PM on February 12, 2003

I was in Japan in early January and I saw a really deck (har har) looking Ultraman fighter game that was on PS2 (I think). At least the intro movie was sweet. I was hypnotized. I would have snatched it up too, but I don't do console gaming and it'd be silly to buy one just for that.

I did get a few capsule figures of Ultraman monsters, which made me happy.

I would have bought some DVDs of the old Ultraman shows if I'd found any that weren't almost $900 (¥90000).
posted by ursus_comiter at 6:52 AM on February 13, 2003

britain: Ultraman Tiga, which originally aired in Japan in the mid-90s, is now airing on American television Saturday mornings on fox.
posted by wrench at 11:34 AM on February 16, 2003