In 1979, four years after the last live-action Ultraman series had left the airwaves, Tsuburaya Productions decided to take their giant hero franchise into a new arena with The☆Ultraman, the first animated entry into the beloved Ultra Series. Now, for the first time, US audiences will be able to catch the show on television, thanks to the fine folks at TOKU.

Continuing to kick giant monster ass, after airing such titles as Ultraman Leo and Gridman: The Hyper Agent in recent months, the TOKU channel has made itself a destination for fun, nostalgic film and television offerings in the imaginative tokusatsu subgenre. The☆Ultraman represents the next step on their apparent quest to get everything the kaiju kings at Tsuburaya have ever produced on American TV.

This news comes to us as we wait out the long year in anticipation for the modern Ultraman anime project, coming to us in early 2019. Based upon the current manga series, simply titled Ultraman, this new tale follows the son of the original hero years after the series that started the Ultra legacy that endures to this day.

Though The☆Ultraman was the eighth Ultra Series entry, it was the first to forego the traditional live-action special effects aesthetic the franchise is known for, in some ways building the platform for everything of its kind to follow. From then to now, we look forward to watching where the saga goes next, and seeing just what the new kid on the block can do.

The☆Ultraman premieres January 29, 2018 at 8PM ET on TOKU.

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