Ultraman: Rising

image for Ultraman: Rising

Short takes

Not suitable under 8; parental guidance to 13 (violence, scary scenes, themes)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for Ultraman: Rising
  • a review of Ultraman: Rising completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 17 September 2024.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 8 Not suitable due to frequent violence, themes and scary characters.
Children aged 8–12 Parental guidance recommended due to frequent violence, themes and scary characters.
Children aged 13 and over Ok for this age group.

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

Name of movie: Ultraman: Rising
Classification: PG
Consumer advice lines: Mild animated violence, themes, science fiction themes, and scary scenes
Length: 121 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

Professional baseball player Ken Sato, or Kenji (voice of Christopher Sean), returns home from the United States to reluctantly take over the Ultraman mantle from his old and injured father. Kenji struggles to balance his duties as Ultraman and as a pro baseball player. Sports reporter Ami Wakita (voice of Julia Harriman) presses him on his poor performance and his tumultuous relationship with his missing mother Emiko Sato (voice of Tamlyn Tomita) and father.

Besides Ultraman, Japan is protected from the kaiju (‘monsters’) by the Kaiju Defence Force (KDF), led by Dr Onda (voice of Keone Young). However, the KDF employs more violent defence measures than Ultraman. During Kenji’s debut baseball match in Japan, the kaiju Gigantron storms Tokyo, forcing Kenji to abandon the match to battle her. Ultraman/Kenji tries to persuade Gigantron to leave the city and unsuccessfully tries to protect her from the KDF, who shoot her down with missiles. After the presumed death of Gigantron at the hands of the KDF, Ultraman/Kenji becomes the parental figure to a baby kaiju and must shelter it from the KDF who wish to capture her.

Kenji struggles with the responsibility of raising the baby kaiju, performing badly both as a parent and as a baseball player. After a phone call with Ami, he gains a new perspective on parenthood and appreciation for the baby. Kenji and the baby begin to connect over baseball, and he learns to love the ‘child’ he previously saw as a burden.

When the baby escapes from home, Kenji must fight the KDF to protect his child. In the battle, the baby kaiju gets injured, forcing Kenji to contact his dad for help. As Kenji and his dad work together to protect and parent the baby kaiju, now named Emi, they begin to reconnect. Kenji, after struggling with baseball due to all his responsibilities, begins thriving both on and off the field. In the end, he realises the value of family and collaboration, becoming a better person, a better Ultraman and a better baseball player in the process.

Themesinfo

Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.

Death; Family Breakdown; Animal cruelty; Good Versus Evil; Finding yourself; Life and Death.

Use of violenceinfo

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

  • Multiple helicopters and military aircraft fall out of the sky in flames.
  • A fight against kaiju Neronga – violence in the fight includes chokes, throws, headbutts, jumps, punches, and head slams into the ground. There is destruction of street property and risk to the public.
  • The KDF kill Neronga.
  • The kaiju Gigantron battles Ultraman, blowing flames and destroying aircraft.
  • The KDF aircraft shoot laser bullets and missiles at Gigantron.
  • The KDF shoot missiles at Kenji, his dad and Emi.
  • A fight between Mecha Gigantron and Ultraman – violence includes missiles, lasers, and punching.
  • Ultraman prepares to saw the head off Mecha Gigantron.
  • Mecha Gigantron is instructed to kill Ultraman.
  • The KDF mecha fights the Ultraman and kaiju, with violence including a flail smashing into an Ultraman and a laser sword swung to kill another.
  • Dr Ondo turns a KDF robot into a self-destructing bomb, committing suicide and threatening to destroy the city.

Material that may scare or disturb children

Under fiveinfo

Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:

  • The large and monstrous appearance of the kaiju may be frightening.
  • The Ultraman may be scary due to its size and vigilante violence.
  • The KDF boss, Dr Onda, may scare children with his frightening facial features.
  • The KDF mecha may look scary due to its large size and threatening weapons.
  • Gigantron and Ultraman fall from the sky and crash into the ocean.
  • Baby kaiju Emi stomps around in its slimy alien poop.
  • Emi and Ultraman are climbing Tokyo Tower, risking a fall.

Aged five to eightinfo

Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:

  • Kenji’s mother has been missing for some time and is presumed to be dead.
  • Kenji’s rocky relationship with his father may trouble children with separated parents.
  • Multiple kaiju die or are badly injured at the hands of the KDF.
  • Mina the robot assistant dies after the Sato household is bombed by the KDF.
  • Kenji’s father, Professor Sato, is presumed to be dead following the bombing of the Sato household.
  • Suspense over possible death of Kenji after he jumps on the KDF bomb to reduce the blast radius.

Aged eight to thirteeninfo

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.

  • Nothing further noted.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

  • Suzuki cars
  • 7/11 stores
  • Star Seven Coffee (a reference to Starbucks Coffee).
  • Pac Man
  • Reference to ‘Siri’, the digital assistant of the Apple ecosystem.
  • Reference to Shohei Ohtani, a professional baseball player who competes in the MLB.
  • Non-specific cans of soft drink and coconut water are consumed by Kenji.
  • Mario Kart reference.

Sexual references

  • None noted.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

  • Kenji has his pants down whilst on the toilet, his private region is hidden by a newspaper, while his dad walks into the bathroom in his underwear.

Use of substances

  • None noted.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

  • Oh my god
  • Poopies
  • Heck
  • Threatening language, such as, “Kill them”.

In a nutshell

Ultraman: Rising is a movie that builds on the world originally created by Eiji Tsuburaya in a 1966 TV series in Japan. It is a vibrant, futuristic movie, set in a land of monsters and mecha beasts. Due to the frequent violence and death, the movie is best suited to teens and up, with parental guidance recommended for children aged 8 to 12.

The main messages from this movie are to stand up for what is right; and to cherish your friends and family. “Being Ultraman isn’t about fighting, it’s about heart”.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

  • Family
  • Friendship
  • Love
  • Courage
  • Perseverance
  • Integrity
  • Resilience
  • Humility.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

  • The ethics of taking land and killing native animals.
  • Ethics of animal experimentation.
  • The physical and mental toll of managing multiple large responsibilities.
  • How relying on friends and family can help you handle your stressors.