Category: Animé

The 90’s! The decade of The X-Files and the infamous alien autopsy.

Lovely Rena, a member of the monster-fighting GUTS team, encounters a grey alien in an episode of Ultraman Tiga.

Like the 2005 return of Doctor Who after fifteen years, Ultraman returned to TV in 1996 after a 15-year absence. As with Who, each new Ultraman occupies a different body.

With a partial exception during Ultraman Ace, women had played secondary roles. They mostly handled communications at the command center, like Lieutenant Uhura.

Rena in Ultraman Tiga was a featured character. Her presence was obviously intended to attract teenage boys to the series.

This next scene leaves no doubt the studio knew the effect that Rena would have on their target demographic.

Rena was played by Takami Yoshimoto, who is now 51. Takami was literally born into the Ultra family, as her father, Susumu Kurobe, was the first Ultraman in the original 1966 series.

Takami’s popularity quickly extended beyond Ultraman. The LaserDisc store I frequented throughout the 90’s had Japanese “girl watching” videos for rent, similar to this one with Takami.

Click here to see the safest “boudoir” photo of Takami I can share. It is nonetheless NSFW unless you’re working from home.

Of the many anime series I have seen, going all the way back to Astro Boy in 1963, this superlative production is a standout. Note: I am watching it on Blu-ray, not Netflix.