Ultraman

While we were kids in the 1970s, one of our favourite weekly shows  was the Ultraman series.  Without fail every Wednesday at 6.30 pm sharp, someone will shout “Ultraman!!!” at our housing estate and all the kids would rush home immediately. The lucky ones would have colour TVs while the rest have to make do with black and white TVs.

This was a made in Japan science fiction drama of a guy dressed in spandex fighting another actor in a monster suit. The plot seemed to be the same every week. The Science Patrol team protects Earth, a monster suddenly appears, team member turns into superhero and attacks monster. Monster has the upper hand and kicks Ultraman’s butt initially. Ultraman’s heart beam weakens, flies towards the sun to recharge his solar energy and then uses his super-duper ray (formed by crossing his hands) to obliterate said monster. Happy ending every week.

Boy, we really lapped it up as kids. My favourite was Ultraman 7 in his cool red suit. This was the highlight of the week when we had no internet and TV programming was at its absolute basic stage.  Saturday night was 3 hours of badminton at the court below our block till the lights automatically switch off at 10 pm, followed by a nice cold drink. We had to constantly find things to entertain ourselves. Life was so simple then.