Ultraman - A childhood Hero

Prologue

I was at Crowne Plaza yesterday enroute to KLIA. Peter and I always have this ritual dinner at Pan Pacific KLIA for our last meeting before he leaves for home in Chicago and yesterday was no exception. While waiting at the executive lounge, I had the opportunity to browse through the previous day's paper (Thursday) and came across an article that caught my interest

The news had it that this Thai lost a court case - he was suing the Ultraman's inventor, claiming that he had a hand in the creative creating of this very popular Japanese superhero. Instead of him hitting the jackpot, he had to pay RM1 M to the Japanese inventor.

Ultraman is definitely not Thai!

Ultraman Hayata

Aaah, Ultraman. It sure brings a lot of fond memories of the years gone by.

Sesungguhnyer teman dah luper ler the full detail, tapi awal tahun 70an, Ultraman was perhaps on every kid's telly diet in Malaysia. Teman ingat sangat kat Aulong in 1973 tengok Ultraman kat rumah jiran. Yalar, kami dulu tak der TV pun - bapak kurang percaya tengok2 tv and nak anak2 dier concentrate blaja. Tapi tak ler sampai dier tak bagi kami tengok TV langsung. Kalau nak tengok citer PRamlee malam sabtu, kami kayuh ler basikal pegi rumah nenek; tuh pun kalau tak kena pegi masjid Hanafi dengar ceramah tabligh.

ULtraman ni selalu ditayangkan belah2 petang ler, habih sebelum magrib, just in time to kena jerit oleh Mak suruh kami mandi siap magrib! :-) Hahaha, besa lah tu..

As I have said earlier, I don't remember it that well anymore - the full story line and the actors. Teman ingat sangat nama Hayata. Hayata ni a member of the Science Patrol and Ultraman nih dok dalam badan Hayata ler. Masa tu alien and monster ni asyik dok kacau tamaddun dunia dan Hayata would transform himself into a superpower giant from outerspace - Ultraman.

Tapi tak ler ultraman asyik menang jer. Power dier limited jugak. From Wikipedia: "At the beginning of each transformation from Hayata-to-Ultraman, the warning light on the giant's chest begins as a steady blue color. Yet as Ultraman exerts himself, the ColorTimer changes to red, then blinks - slowly at first, then with increasing rapidity - as his energy reserves get closer to exhaustion. As the voice-over narration reminds the viewer - beginning with episode 2 and for each episode thereafter - if Ultraman ever reaches the point of total energy depletion, he "will never rise again"."

Tuler tak nak pakai bateri everready!

Masa tuh, memang saspen giler. The red light dok blinking, monster tak mati-mati lagi. Ultraman knew he has to be quick. We all knew that - we can't afford to have our superhero dead. Risau jugak next week dah tak der dah episod ultraman.

Tapi kan, bro, zaman2 tuh maner ler tau lampu merah ker lampu biru. TV hitam putih jer. Yang kami nampak, lampu tuh blinking slow ker blinking cepat. Tu lagi menambah ke-saspen-an.

Tapi bila "Ultraman crouches slightly forward and crosses his wrists together, with his right forearm vertical and left forearm horizontal in front of it, and the thumb edge of his hands facing his body, to shoot from the outer edge of his right hand a particle/light-ray that kills most opponents. The effect is either an explosion or a fatal burn."

Monster pun gone with the wind ler!

Mesti bebudak tiru punyalah zaman-zaman tuh.

Teman ingat sesangat antara episod terakhir. Not sure if Ultraman mati, or balik outer space. Tapi sampai ngalir airmater ler jawabnya masa tu. Sedih woo..

Memang sedih ler. We all have a soft spot for Ultraman and Hayata.

Tapi kalau tak silap teman, Ultraman ni ada tujuh beradik. Tapi teman tak ingat dah. Daun terup ultraman memang popular masa tu, memang jadi kegilaan bebudak.

Honestly from those innocent days, Ultraman was our superhero. We live and cry by it. Yalar teman masa tuh jah empat. Nak wat camner, dah zaman bebudak pun....

EPILOGUE

Ultraman File Facts: From Wikipedia

Ultraman's statistics
Height: 40 m (130 ft)
Weight: 35,000 tons
Age: 20,000 Earth years old
Flight Speed: Mach 5
Jump Ceiling: 800 m (2,600 ft)
Running Speed: 450 km/h (280 mph)
Swimming Speed: 200 knots (230 mph)
Physical Strength: can lift a 100,000-ton tanker (Skydon was twice as heavy)
Occupations: Teacher at Space University (Uchū Daigaku, Space University); Chief of Space Garrison Milky Way Office (宇宙警備隊銀河系局, Uchū Keibitai Gingakei Kyoku)
Family Structure:
Father: Director of Space Security Board (Uchū Hoan Chō, Space Security Board)
Mother: Teacher at Ultra School (Urutora Gakkō, Ultra School)
Human Form: Shin Hayata (host)
Transformation Item: Beta Capsule (Bētā Kapuseru, Beta Capsule)