Tsuburaya Productions has announced an Ultraman Trading Card Game (TCG), set to release in Japan and the United States in 2024. Let’s take a closer look into the announcement.
As part of their official announcement post on their website Tsuburaya have said:
ULTRAMAN CARD GAME is a trading card game that combines the worldbuilding of the Ultraman series with game play and collectability that can be enjoyed by both children and adults. The cards are designed with high quality artwork to express the appealing elements of Ultraman’s appearance, power-ups, special moves, and type system. Under the benefit of Tsuburaya Productions, ULTRAMAN CARD GAME is scheduled to be linked deeply with Ultraman related works, services and live events.
The group also shared the following sample images of two cards: Ultraman Zero and Gomora:
Additionally, Tsuburaya announced that they will be showing off the new Ultraman Trading Card game at Anime Festival Asia (AFA) in Suntec City Singapore from November 24th to 26th.
While this is very exciting, more than enough to spark plenty of excitement in the TTS freelancers Discord chat, I do whoever need to rein in that excitement somewhat for Ultraman fans in the United Kingdom and Europe. Tsubauraya, while having a better track record then Toei with bringing Tokusatsu outside of Japan, do not have a great track record bringing it to places other than the US. We all remember the experience of Shin Ultraman, right? For almost a year it was being shown around the US before only getting a limited screening in the UK. With only the US and Asia mentioned in the announcement so far, getting a hold of these cards through official channels might be easier said than done for us outside of those two areas. As with everything else exclusive to Japan, though, The Toku Source will import them for fans, as has been done with the Kamen Rider Gotchard Ride Chemy Cards.
Further to my concerns, the statement “linked deeply with Ultraman related works, services and live events” could also mean exclusive special cards to people that attend events Ultraman is at. To my knowledge, these have not happened outside of Asian territories and the United States. What I’m trying to say is, when they announce a ‘Global release’ of something, I’m worried their globe has only Asian territories and the US on it…
While it’s disheartening to see announcements for months, maybe years, with no reasonable way to join in and give them money, this wouldn’t be the first time us tokusatsu fans have had to deal without officially localised releases for things we wish to buy to support our favourite shows, right? Only time will tell how hard it’s going to be for me to become the King of Ultra Card Games, with the Ultraman Z themed deck you know I’m going to make if able. Could this also just lead to more awesome Ultraman art being in the world? That is, objectively, only a good thing.
But what do you think? Are you excited for the Ultraman Card Game? What decks do you think you might want to make? Let us know in the comments! I’ve been Ethan, writer, reviewer and future King of Ultra Card Games getting ready to duel with the best of them!
