The Asian Cut
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Donate
  • Reviews
  • Features
    • Essays
    • Interviews
    • Columns
      • Criterion Recollection
      • The Queer Dispatch
    • Series
  • Literary
  • Contact Us
    • Write For Us
No Result
View All Result
The Asian Cut
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Donate
  • Reviews
  • Features
    • Essays
    • Interviews
    • Columns
      • Criterion Recollection
      • The Queer Dispatch
    • Series
  • Literary
  • Contact Us
    • Write For Us
No Result
View All Result
The Asian Cut
No Result
View All Result

The Stars of ‘Ultraman: Rising’ Discuss the Iconic Asian Superhero

Rachel Ho by Rachel Ho
June 12, 2024
0
(L-R) Tamlyn Tomita, Christopher Sean and Gedde Watanabe attend a special screening of Ultraman: Rising at Netflix Tudum Theater on June 01, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.

Photo by Tommaso Boddi / Getty Images for Netflix

Ultraman: Rising stars Gedde Watanabe and Tamlyn Tomita occupy an auspicious space in Asian American cinema history having starred in ‘80s classic Sixteen Candles and the landmark film, The Joy Luck Club, respectively. It’s without hyperbole to say that Watanabe and Tomita laid down the groundwork for the active role Asians play in Hollywood today, and with their voice performances in Netflix’s Ultraman: Rising, they continue to break ground.

“We get to see an Asian/Asian American superhero,” Tomita, who currently stars in another Netflix adaptation, Avatar: The Next Airbender, tells The Asian Cut over Zoom. “He is sexy and strong, funny — humble and very caretaking. [He’s a] father figure, as well as child and son.”

The Ultraman franchise has deep roots in Japan and across Asia. A character whose impact can be likened to the cultural standing Superman has in the West, Ultraman first made his debut in 1966 on a Japanese television show (aptly titled, Ultraman) that ran for 39 episodes. Since then, nearly 50 iterations of the character in television, film, and Manga series have appeared as sequels, prequels, remakes, and reboots, creating one of the most celebrated and successful superhero franchise in Japan.

Growing up in the U.S. during the ‘60s and ‘70s gave Watanabe and Tomita little access to the phenomenon developing overseas, though. “You got these weird little channels that you could possibly see [Ultraman], and it was the first time that you saw an Asian American or Asian hero,” Watanabe explains. “I was not familiar, [but] we knew of him.”

“But we didn’t grow up with him,” Tomita adds.

A still of Ultraman raising a glowing fist in Netflix's Ultraman: Rising.
Photo Courtesy of Netflix

Conversely, for Christopher Sean, the latest actor to take up the Ultraman mantle, the superhero was a part of his childhood. “I knew Ultraman as a kid, I would buy his masks at the festivals in Japan, and I would see him on TV,” recalls the actor. “But after booking the role, I studied him and I learned that there is so much lore from Ultraman to Ultraseven to The Return of Ultraman, and so on.”

In Ultraman: Rising, Sean plays an unwilling Ultraman in the form of baseball superstar, Ken Sato. After moving to the U.S. from Japan as a young boy with his mother Emiko (Tomita), Ken grows up disconnected from his father, Professor Sato (Watanabe), who currently dons the Ultraman mask. But as Professor Sato grows old, Ken, who has returned to Japan to continue his professional baseball career, feels pressured to take up the role and protect Tokyo from the ever-present kaiju attacks.

A still of a dragon over a baseball field in Ultraman: Rising.
Photo Courtesy of Netflix

Ultraman: Rising will be the first exposure to the character for many in the West and around the world, and Sean hopes this will buoy the interest of the uninitiated and prompt them to understand the nuances of the character and the film. “I truly hope that [audiences] see what this movie is really about,” says Sean. “It’s about humanity. It’s about love. It’s about family. It’s about learning from your mistakes, and not living in the past. But looking at the same situation, using a positive perspective and looking towards making the future better.”

He continues, “This movie encompasses so many quips that we deal with: inter-generational relationships, your relationship with your parents, having the courage to battle through issues and as you get through the end of that issue, you find that you’re a better person in the end. These are the things that I hope that audiences will take from our movie.”

As Sean discusses his thoughts about the film and the character, Tomita and Watanabe look on with an almost parental pride. There’s a poignancy to Tomita and Watanabe playing Sean’s parents in the film — a generational passing of the torch from two actors who have meant so much to Asian American cinema to an actor who’s just getting started. 

Tomita and Watanabe’s generation fought battles on sets and in meeting rooms, and made sacrifices just to wedge their feet in the door. We’re currently experiencing a shift in Western society where stories are being told for us and made by us. Ultraman: Rising may just appear to be another Netflix animated film, but it denotes another step forward — another territory gained.

Now Streaming On

JustWatch
Tags: AnimatedGedde WatanabeJapanNetflixTamlyn TomitaUltraman: RisingUSA
ShareTweetShare
Rachel Ho

Rachel Ho

Rachel Ho is a freelance film critic and a member of the Toronto Film Critics Association. Currently, she is the film editor at Exclaim! Magazine and has contributed to a variety of publications such as, The Globe and Mail, CBC Arts, POV Magazine, Slash Film, eliteGen Magazine and others. In 2021, Rachel received the TFCA's Emerging Critic Award and has been a voter for the Golden Globe Awards since 2022.

Related Posts

Han Gi-chan, Youn Yuh-jung, and Kelly Marie Tran in The Wedding Banquet.
Reviews

‘The Wedding Banquet’ is Less Like a Feast and More Like a Cosy Potluck

April 25, 2025
Dante Basco as Mickey de los Santos wearing a sombrero and fake mustache in Asian Persuasion
Reviews

‘Asian Persuasion’ Isn’t Persuasive Enough

March 18, 2025
Robert Pattinson as Mickey Barnes in a space suit, holding his helmet in a snowy landscape in Mickey 17.
Reviews

‘Mickey 17’ Has Bong Joon Ho Written All Over It 

March 7, 2025
Saagar Shaikh as Raj Dar and Asif Ali as Mir Dar standing on the street wearing green aprons that say ABC Deli looking shocked in the TV series Deli Boys.
Reviews

Television’s Old Guard: Beware of the ‘Deli Boys’

March 3, 2025
Sarita Choudhury as Mina and Denzel Washington as Demetrius lovingly embrace in Mississippi Masala
Essays

Going Home to ‘Mississippi Masala’

February 26, 2025
The backs of Tabu as Ashima, Sahira Nair as Sonia, Irrfan Khan as Ashoke, and Kal Penn as Gogol facing the Taj Mahal in The Namesake
Essays

‘The Namesake’: A Delicate Meditation on Diaspora, Identity, and the Stories We Carry

February 16, 2025
Next Post
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 01: (L-R) Shannon Tindle and John Aoshima speak onstage during a special screening of Ultraman: Rising at Netflix Tudum Theater on June 01, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.

‘Ultraman: Rising’ Directors Speak to the Family Values of Ultraman

RECENT POSTS

Han Gi-chan, Youn Yuh-jung, and Kelly Marie Tran in The Wedding Banquet.

‘The Wedding Banquet’ is Less Like a Feast and More Like a Cosy Potluck

by Rose Ho
April 25, 2025

Ally Chiu as Shaowu stands across from Jack Kao as Keiko at an airport with a full luggage trolly between them in The Gangster's Daughter.

‘The Gangster’s Daughter’ Avoids Tropes and a Committed Direction

by Wilson Kwong
April 9, 2025

Photo still from Monisme, directed by Riar Rizaldi.

Riar Rizaldi’s Cryptic Indonesian Docufiction ‘Monisme’ Is a Fascinating Avant-Garde Take on the Conceptual Film

by Olivia Popp
April 6, 2025

Choi Min-sik in Exhuma

‘Exhuma’ Unearths More Than Bones

by Lauren Hayataka
March 30, 2025

A black-and-white image of Jayden Cheung as the unnamed protagonist in Jun Li's Queerpanorama

‘Queerpanorama’ Asserts Beauty in Gay Hook-Up Culture

by Jericho Tadeo
March 26, 2025

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Literary
  • Contact Us

Copyright © The Asian Cut 2025. All rights reserved.
Privacy Policy | Terms of Use

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Donate
  • Reviews
  • Features
    • Essays
    • Interviews
    • Columns
      • Criterion Recollection
      • The Queer Dispatch
    • Series
  • Literary
  • Contact Us
    • Write For Us