Ultraman Taro

Ultraman Taro (ウルトラマンT(タロウ)) is the sixth show in the Ultra Series. Produced by Tsuburaya Productions, the series aired on Tokyo Broadcasting System from April 6, 1973, to April 5, 1974, with a total of 53 episodes.

Plot
Kotaro Higashi is a wanderer who joined ZAT during his return to Japan, but his aircraft crashed and he died from severe burns while fighting Astromons. The Five Ultra Brothers brought Kotaro's body to their home world of Nebula M-78 as Mother of Ultra warped him with the Brothers' own light, turning Kōtarō into Ultraman Taro, who would now form the Six Ultra Brothers. Kotaro was taken back to Earth and defeated the aforementioned monster as his first opponent. Many foes were found that would threaten the Earth, but Taro and ZAT defeated them time and time again with occasional help from the other five Ultra Brothers and from the weaklings of monsters only Taro could defeat. During Taro's era, Birdon killed him and Zoffy but Taro was revived and killed the bird monster. After Samkujira's death, Kotaro declared his intention to continue as a human and returned the Ultra Badge back to the Mother of Ultra. Valky would return to hunt the now-human Kotaro but the latter used his own skills and quick thinking to kill the alien by luring him to an oil refinery. The series ended with ZAT bidding farewell to Kotaro as he left for parts unknown.

In the original series, Ultraman Taro was meant to be Kotaro's transformed form (while the Ultra Brothers and Mother and Father of Ultra were regarded as his non-blood family members), which explained his absence in Ultraman Leo. The Ultraman Story movie in 1984 would retcon this into providing a story of Taro being raised on the Land of Light, with Mother and Father of Ultra being his biological parents and his training was shown before he left for Earth.

Cast

 * Kotaro Higashi (東 光太郎): Saburō Shinoda (篠田 三郎)
 * Yūtarō Asahina (朝日奈 勇太郎): Akira Nagoya (名古屋 章)
 * Shūhei Aragaki (荒垣 修平): Takahiko Tōno (東野 孝彦)
 * Tadao Nanbara (南原 忠男): Toyoyuki Kimura (木村 豊幸)
 * Jirō Nishida (西田 次郎): Kiyotaka Mitsugi (三ツ木 清隆)
 * Izumi Moriyama (森山 いずみ): Kiyoko Matsuya (松谷 紀代子)
 * Lady in Green (緑のおばさん)/Mother of Ultra (ウルトラの母): Peggy Hayama (ペギー 葉山)
 * Tetsuya Kitajima (北島 哲也): Hidesuke Tsumura (津村 秀祐)
 * Takashi Ueno (上野 孝): Akihiko Nishijima (西島 明彦)
 * Kazumi Nitani (二谷 一美): Noboru Mitani (三谷 昇)
 * Saori Shiratori (白鳥 さおり): Mayumi Asaka (あさか まゆみ), Keiko Ono (小野 恵子)
 * Kenichi Shiratori (白鳥 健一): Shinya Saitō (斎藤 信也)
 * Narrator: Tetsurō Sagawa (瑳川 哲朗), Akira Nagoya (51-53)

Songs

 * Opening theme
 * "Ultraman Taro" (ウルトラマンタロウ)
 * Lyrics: Yū Aku (阿久 悠)
 * Composition and arrangement: Makoto Kawaguchi (川口 真)
 * Artist: Tarō Takemura (武村 太郎), Mizuumi Boys & Girls Chorus (少年少女合唱団みずうみ)


 * Insert themes
 * "Ultra Roku Kyōdai" (ウルトラ六兄弟)
 * Lyrics: Yū Aku
 * Composition & Arrangement: Makoto Kawaguchi
 * Artist: Tarō Takemura, Mizuumi Boys and Girls Choir
 * Episodes 18, 25, 33 and 34
 * "Ultra no Haha no Ballad" (ウルトラの母のバラード)
 * Lyrics: Shigemitsu Taguchi (田口 成光)
 * Composition & Arrangement: Tōru Fuyuki (冬木 透)
 * Artist: Toshiko Fujita (藤田 淑子)
 * Episodes: 38 and 53

Home media
In July 2019, Mill Creek Entertainment announced that it had acquired most of the Ultraman library from Tsuburaya Productions through Indigo Entertainment, including 1,100 TV episodes and 20 films. The series was released on Blu-ray and digital on January 12, 2021, in standard and steelbook sets.

In July 2020, Shout! Factory announced to have struck a multi-year deal with Alliance Entertainment and Mill Creek, with the blessings of Tsuburaya and Indigo, that granted them the exclusive SVOD and AVOD digital rights to the Ultra series and films (1,100 TV episodes and 20 films) acquired by Mill Creek the previous year. Ultraman Taro, amongst other titles, will stream in the United States and Canada through Shout! Factory TV and Tokushoutsu.