Tamlyn Tomita, Gedde Watanabe, Christopher Sean, and filmmakers Shannon Tindle and John Aoshima join us to discuss Ultraman: Rising.

Parenting is one of the toughest challenges any human being could face; now imagine the infant is bigger than a house and can shoot lasers out of their eyes. This chaos is only a portion of what the characters in Ultraman: Rising face and Tokyo will never be the same. Here to talk about the hardships of Kaiju parenting are the directors of Ultraman: Rising, Shannon Tindle and John Aoshima, and featured members of the cast, Tamlyn Tomita (The Karate Kid Part II, Tekken, The Day After Tomorrow), Gedde Watanabe (UHF, Sixteen Candles, Gremlins 2: The New Batch), and Christopher Sean (Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Days of Our Lives, Star Wars: Resistance).

During our time with the cast and creators of Ultraman: Rising, we delved deep into everyone’s Ultraman history to determine if they felt pressure to honor the beloved superhero’s legacy. We also discuss the wonders of parenting and how you don’t need to have kids to act like a guardian to someone or something. The actors also share valuable lessons they learned while making Ultraman: Rising and how anyone could apply them to everyday life.

While speaking with Shannon Tindle and John Aoshima, we discussed their co-directing approach and how sharing the director’s chair is both a challenge and a gift. We also find out if they’d be interested in helming an Ultraman x Godzilla crossover film and what their epic approach to the material would be. Do filmmakers dream about their characters? We find out in this exclusive interview.

Here’s the official synopsis for Ultraman: Rising courtesy of Netflix:

With Tokyo under siege from rising monster attacks, baseball star Ken Sato reluctantly returns home to take on the mantle of Ultraman. But the titanic superhero meets his match when he is forced to adopt a 35-foot-tall, fire-breathing baby kaiju. Sato must rise above his ego to balance work and parenthood while protecting the baby from forces bent on exploiting her for their own dark plans.

Ultraman: Rising is available to watch right now on Netflix. How would you react to becoming a surrogate parent for an infant Kaiju? Let us know in the comments section below.

About the Author

Born and raised in New York, then immigrated to Canada, Steve Seigh has been a JoBlo.com editor, columnist, and critic since 2012. He started with Ink & Pixel, a column celebrating the magic and evolution of animation, before launching the companion YouTube series Animation Movies Revisited. He’s also the host of the Talking Comics Podcast, a personality-driven audio show focusing on comic books, film, music, and more. You’ll rarely catch him without headphones on his head and pancakes on his breath.