Tsuburaya Productions’ massive slate of fan experiences this month is in full swing. The first weekend of Ultraman LIVE has concluded, with a new Kaiju Brooklyn-sponsored bonus show happening tomorrow (Nov 20th) and the final weekend performance happening November 22nd and 23rd. Alongside the live stage show at the American Dream, a special family event at Japan Society was held yesterday, celebrating the iconic franchise as it soon enters its sixth decade.
During the media hour event at Ultraman LIVE on November 15th, Kaiju United had the opportunity to chat with one of the men behind this massive expansion: David Kornblum, President and CEO of Tsuburaya Fields Media & Pictures Entertainment Inc., the official United States home of the Ultra franchise. David, also known as “DK,” gave us insight into expanding a legacy IP, how fan reception is taken into decision-making, and the question on everyone’s mind: Will we see more shows like Ultraman LIVE in the future?
Nick Crispino: Nick here with DK! He is the head of Tsuburaya USA. DK, what’s the biggest learning curve in expanding a Japanese IP to Western markets? Is it language, tone, or audience expectations?
David Kornblum: Well, the thing that’s particularly fascinating about Ultraman is that it was so popular in the 60s and early 70s here. People forget, but Ultraman was the number two export during the Showa era of Japan to North America after Godzilla, its creator Eiji Tsuburaya actually wrote the story for the original Godzilla and designed, all kinds of the kaiju that Ishiro Honda brought to life in his Toho movies.
He [Tsuburaya] separated, and Ultraman became a big hit in 1966. In the States, it was sandwiched in between a 90-minute programing block, Speed Racer on one side, Kimba the White Lion on the other, and then Ultraman in the middle. It was extremely popular. Two generations were then lost due to litigation, and now we find ourselves in a position where you have this nascent memory of a classic character, but generations of people not even knowing it.
Basically we’re starting from scratch again for something that was once really popular, which makes it really unique and challenging.
NC: We’re here at the American Dream Mall for Ultraman LIVE. Is there a method for choosing which Ultras and Terrible Monsters you guys bring over here?
DK: Well, the one that we’re going to focus majority of our attention on at the American Dream is Ultraman Omega. Why Ultraman Omega? He is the 60th Ultraman. He’s our newest series, and he’s available to stream in English on Plex, Pluto TV, Amazon Sumo, and Fossum starting November 28th through mid-December; the first 12 episodes. So for the first time, we have a new Ultraman available to consume and we have toys from Bandai available to be played with.
So we thought, let’s do something to celebrate this. And the American Dream was kind enough to let us use their space.
NC: So this is the first Ultraman stage show of its kind here in the States. Is it intended to be an entry point for new fans who are curious about checking out the franchise, the seasoned fans, or both? Is there a balance?
DK: It’s actually for both. But more importantly, I think for people who’ve never seen a tokusatsu exhibition, they’ll get a taste of the handcrafted artistry which makes Ultraman so different from anime. Anime, of course, is loved. I’m a huge anime fan. Everybody knows anime. You have Chainsaw Man now being released on 2000 screens. You have Demon Slayer doing over 100 million at the box office. I mean, it’s gone mainstream. What hasn’t yet gone mainstream is tokusatsu. But yeah, tokusatsu was around before anime, so it’s kind of like we’re going back. And when you come to the American Dream, you’ll actually see tokusatsu brought to life and in success. Hopefully, we can bring it throughout the ‘States because it’s really like WWE with Sci-Fi steroids injected into it.
These guys are jumping around, kicking ass, destroying stuff. It’s a lot of fun. So you don’t really understand how joyful it could be to watch until you after you’ve seen one. So I’m going to be standing in the back, hopefully seeing people get pumped up.
NC: Can we expect more events like this in the future? And what are some factors that will determine that?
DK: Today’s attendance, Sunday’s attendance and next weekend’s attendance are definitely going to drive decisions to bring this out and about throughout the country. It’s very expensive to do. You have all these guys who perform, you have the full cityscapes. You have to bring in statues, signage. It’s like a circus and you’re traveling, bringing all these guys in. So to do it, we hopefully need people to come in and talk about it and either they enjoy the tokusatsu exhibition and they then start watching it on AVOD [Advertising-Based Video on Demand].
So then we can pick up via social media that fans like it. We can then go pitch to other places similar to American Dream. Hey, have you heard of the tokusatsu exhibition? Have you heard of Ultraman? Many times they haven’t. But in success from this event, they’ll say, yeah, a friend of mine went to this and I’m curious, and that’ll be the key to hopefully open the door and do more of these things.
NC: So how does fan feedback influence what you guys focus on? Like which shows to promote; what merchandise you highlight internationally – stuff like that?
DK: What I’m finding, from all the Ultraman, which we’ve now managed to get on AVOD in the last six months, is fans, particularly the otaku fans, the original fans who loved the original Japanese versions of all the classic Ultraman… they really like Ultra Q. And I love Ultra Q. I think before X-Files was X-Files, you had Ultra Q, and for those who are uninitiated, you can watch it on a whole bunch of platforms.
Right now, it’s in black and white. It’s really designed to the nth degree, and these guys are like kaiju hunters, but with the Twilight Zone/X-Files spin, and they go out and they determine what’s real and what isn’t real. And that’s a classic that I’m seeing in the last six months, is starting to be elevated with a lot of conversation.
I’ve been doing my own little whispering campaign, corporate-wise, to be like, “Hey, let’s make an Ultra Q movie for a new generation.”
I think it’d be cool, wouldn’t you?
NC: Yeah, I’m down for it.
DK: Yeah, it’d be neat. So hopefully we get more people talking about it. And maybe that happens in a in a couple of years.
