The beloved Japanese superhero Ultraman is back on screens in Netflix’s latest animated film, Ultraman: Rising, although it is technically the son of the superhero who now steps into the role. The plot is centered around Ken Sato, a young baseball superstar who has to return to his home country of Japan from the United States in order to replace his aging father as the superhero destined to protect the world—Ultraman. It is the various struggles of living up to the expectations of the masses and also the difficulties involved with parenthood that become the subjects of the thoroughly enjoyable new Ultraman: Rising film.
Spoiler Alert
What is the film about?
Ultraman: Rising begins with a warm, homely scene in Odaiba, Japan, as young Ken plays around with his parents, Professor Sato and Emiko, one usual night. The personalized robot assistant, Mina, who is also part of the family, helps with the cooking, and they all enjoy each other’s company. Emiko is a dedicated fan of the Hanshin Tigers baseball team in the Japanese league, and she tensely watches a match against the Tigers’ biggest rival, the Yomiuri Giants. While Emiko herself is a supermom by her own standards, Professor Sato is the real superhero in the wider sense of the term, as he is often tasked with saving Japan and the world from dangerous kaiju creatures, for he is the current Ultraman. The parents naturally have certain expectations from their only son, even though he is still just a young child, and it is apparent that these expectations are quite different. Sato wants Kenji to be prepared to become the next Ultraman, following in his footsteps, while Emiko is more determined to make him a baseball player. The peaceful night is suddenly disturbed, though, when a kaiju alert has Professor Sato rush out to take on his gigantic Ultraman form, and Emiko and Kenji watch on with fear and worry for their loved one.
Twenty years later, Kenji Sato is a superstar baseball player who returns to Japan after spending most of his life in the United States. Shortly after the opening scene of the film, the boy and his mother had shifted to the USA, and it was here that he developed all his skills in the sport. After gaining immense popularity in the American MLB, the protagonist now suddenly takes the decision to return to Japan and join the Yomiuri Giants, in a move that is equally confusing and historic. But Ken’s return also has a second purpose, for his aging father has now retired, meaning that he has to step up into the role of the superhero destined to save the world from danger. Along with flopping massively on the baseball field at the beginning of the season, Ken also struggles to be a good Ultraman, as he is often egoistic, hot-headed, and without much consideration for the damage caused by his fights with different kaiju monsters. The people of Japan are accustomed to Ultraman fighting off villainous creatures with as little collateral damage as possible, but Ken does not have any idea how to do so. He is still more interested in focusing on his baseball career and feels that being an Ultraman is an unnecessary pressure that he wants to avoid. Amidst such a scenario, the protagonist has the adventure of a lifetime, which eventually transforms him from a confused individual to a celebrated hero.
Why does Ken protect the baby kaiju?
Early in his career as Ultraman, Ken has to face off against the Gigantron, which is a vicious kaiju that has been a threat to the city numerous times in the past. Professor Sato also had to fight the monster multiple times, driving it away from the city each time. However, the Gigantron’s attack this time is not because of any predatory motive, and it is instead seen trying to protect something. The world presented in Ultraman: Rising has introduced a new faction, named the Kaiju Defense Force, or KDF. Unlike the Ultraman superhero, who only defeats the kaiju and stops its attack on the city, the KDF’s stance is to completely annihilate the monsters and kill them in a ruthless manner. As part of some strange plan, the KDF drones are seen stealing something away from the hideout of the Gigantron somewhere deep in the sea, and the object is also kept safe inside a protective case. It is indeed to steal this case back that the kaiju now attacks the city, and Ken’s Ultraman has to respond, abandoning his baseball game.
During the fight, Ultraman is often intervened by the KDF fighter planes, which clearly want to kill Gigantron and also safely take back the case to their headquarters. But this does not go according to plan, and in the process, it is revealed that the case was protecting an egg of the kaiju, which also incidentally hatches at this very time. An extremely adorable baby kaiju crawls out of the hatched egg and is in immediate danger since the KDF is still actively looking for it. This brings out an instinctive reaction in Kenji, and he protects the baby kaiju, bringing it back to his base. The decision is solely in order to ensure that the creature is not killed or trapped by the villainous soldiers, but he does not think ahead about the consequences of the action. Very soon, Ken is stuck with having to raise the baby kaiju, as it starts to believe him to be its mother.
The various difficulties of having to raise a baby, even though it is a monster that he has to nurture, start to get in the way of Ken’s usual routine, which further takes him away from his baseball career. But through these experiences, he also learns about the joys of parenthood, which do eventually mend his strained relationship with his father. At quite a young age, Kenji’s parents had separated, with Emiko not being able to put up with the pressures of her superhero husband any longer. It was the couple’s decision to separate for the sake of their son, who never quite understood the reason for this separation. Somewhere in his young mind, Ken started to believe that his father had abandoned him and his mother for the sake of being a superhero, and this belief had imprinted on his adult mind as well. It is for this reason that he wants to abandon the prospects of being an Ultraman and instead focus on the career that his mother liked more for him.
Raising the Gigantron baby soon has Kenji contact his father, Professor Sato, for help, although he has been intentionally keeping him away for so long. Not only does he learn about the importance of protecting kaiju species and their ecological benefits, but he also realizes the fine balance that one needs to maintain while being a superhero and a parent at the same time. Professor Sato obviously never wanted to leave a family night to turn into Ultraman and fight monsters, but he was also burdened by the very personal urge to protect his wife and son at all costs, which included defeating kaiju. It is only after Kenji comes to these realizations that he is able to balance his color timer, which is basically a timer that, when run out, turns him back into his human self. This symbolizes an inner understanding and peace, all of which are a result of the therapeutic effects of raising the Gigantron baby.
Why does Dr. Onda want the Gigantron baby?
The leader of the Kaiju Defense Force, Dr. Onda, is always seen as very determined to kill all the kaiju creatures, but he is exceptionally driven towards capturing the Gigantron baby. It was his plan to steal the egg from the Gigantron, all while defeating it, for there was a very special intention behind this action. When the soldiers are finally able to track the infant once again, as it breaks out of Kenji’s safehouse and roams into the city, causing havoc, Dr. Onda personally leads the mission to capture it. This is solely because the man has a terrible revenge mission planned in the long run, for which the Gigantron is extremely crucial. In fact, when the kaiju egg and the baby slip out of his hands, Onda ensures that the Gigantron mother, who originally attacked the city, is captured in an extremely injured state. He then fits electronic armor on the kaiju to make it obey his commands mechanically, turning it into a superweapon of his own.
Ultraman: Rising is different from some conventional superhero films in the way that all its characters are ultimately driven by an extreme love for their family instead of any inherent desire to be or do evil. Dr. Onda’s backstory is quite tragic, too, as he lost his beloved wife and daughter one night when a kaiju attacked the city. This is the very reason behind his extreme hatred towards all kaiju, which makes him want to kill every last one of the creatures. Similarly, this tragic loss is also the reason for his lack of cooperation with Ultraman, for Dr. Onda sees the superhero as an utmost failure. Just like everyone else in the city and the world, he, too, had put his faith in Ultraman to protect his family, but the latter could not do it in time. Therefore, out of grief and vengeance, Dr. Onda had started his own army of soldiers with the sole intention of wiping out every kaiju and exacting revenge for his loss, all while fighting and defeating Ultraman as well.
Although other characters have also experienced loss, if not to a similar degree, it is Dr. Onda’s inability to move on from his experience that makes him a heartless villain. He cannot be considered a complete villain either, as he orders all his soldiers to abandon the mission and save their own lives at the end of the film. His sole fight is with the kaiju, and for this, he wants to locate the kaiju island, a safe haven where all the monsters live amongst themselves. Since the location of this island is unknown to humans, the only way to find out about it is through a kaiju itself. Tracking an adult kaiju is almost impossible, and so Dr. Onda wants the Gigantron baby, intending to purposefully detach it from its mother. The Gigantrons have an inherent ability to echolocate, which means that the baby will also try to use the power to reach kaiju Island. Dr. Onda’s plan is to follow the baby throughout the process, reach the kaiju island, and then completely destroy it, killing all the creatures in the process.
What happens to Ultraman and the kaiju creatures?
In Ultraman: Rising‘s ending, the protagonist has to face off against Dr. Onda and the KDF, who still want to capture the Gigantron baby. They now employ the robotic Gigantron mother that had been created in their lab in an attempt to reach out to the baby and convince it to switch sides. By this time, Kenji’s house had been destroyed by the KDF, and it seemed like his father, Professor Sato, had been killed in the incident. However, the old man turns out to be alive as he comes to his son’s rescue in the form of Ultradad, and the theme of parenthood triumphing over evil is complete when the Gigantron mother also manages to get rid of the KDF’s control over it. Thus, an epic battle ensues between the two sides when Dr. Onda transforms his aircraft into a gigantic robot and fights against the heroes.
In the end, Dr. Onda realizes that he will not be able to come out victorious in this fight, and still driven by his desire to kill as many kaiju as he can, the man self-detonates his robotic aircraft. Kenji now throws himself in danger in order to save everyone else, and he is ultimately able to transform into a complete hero. Although he is severely injured because of the incident, Kenji develops a knack for helping his teammates on the baseball field greatly with advice and gets all the credit for getting the Giants to win their first title in many years. Having completely healed his relationship with Professor Sato, Kenji also keeps in touch with the Gigantron and its baby, who have now become friends. In a very unusual manner, the kaiju creatures now take Kenji and Sato to their home on the kaiju island, although we are only given a glimpse of the place from far away.
Is Emiko alive?
One of the primary reasons for Kenji to have returned to Japan at the beginning of Ultraman: Rising was the disappearance of his mother, Emiko. The woman had suddenly gone missing in the United States one day, never to be seen again in a very long time. Everyone had given up hope as Emiko was believed to have somehow died, and Kenji also settled with this very acceptance. However, Ultraman: Rising also has a mid-credits scene in which Kenji suddenly receives a message on his watch. Although the voice message has crackling audio, it is clearly from Emiko, who informs her son that she is alive and in danger and then asks for his help in getting her back home. The location of the sender of the message is also mentioned as Nebula M78, which is the very location of outer space where the Ultraman civilization first originated. This tease clearly indicates that more films in the Ultraman franchise are to come, and they might even feature Kenji returning to his real home planet as well.
