Taroman Expo Explosion

Taroman Expo Explosion

2025 · 105 min · ★ 9.0 · Action, Science Fiction, Comedy

Osaka was the the site of Expo ’70, and among the most memorable elements of the event, standing to this day, is the "Tower of the Sun", a 70-metre-tall sculpture/building envisioned and designed by renowned artist Taro Okamoto, who some call “the Japanese Picasso”. This film is a theatrical adaptation of "TAROMAN", a tokusatsu series re-envisioning Okamoto's most famous pieces as surrealist superheroes and villains, with Ultraman-like TAROMAN, based on the Tower itself, at the forefront of it all.

Directed by Ryo Fujii · Written by Ryo Fujii

Your Rating

Where to Watch

Streaming

Rent or Buy

Cast

Ichiro Yamaguchi Self
Wataru Okamura Taroman / Elan Scaffold / Sun of the Underground / Baron Pitcher / Various Others
Yuusuke Tokuda Elan Scaffold (voice) / Dr. Uko (voice)
Tadanobu Morino Captain / Future CBG Commander
Satoshi Hamamoto Captain (voice) / Future CBG Commander (voice) (as Adrena Lin)
Eiji Kawabata Furaibo
Taiyo Murasumi Dr. Takatsu (as Bob Mursum)
Mika Ogasawara Squad Member Mami
Mazaemon Squad Member Mami (voice) / Boy Squad Member (voice) / Dance (voice)
Naohiro Kitamura Boy Squad Member
Beyan Middle Aged Squad Member
Hajime Shikase Taroman No. 2 (voice) / Middle Aged Squad Member (voice) / Subordinate (voice)

Make it a double feature

3h 41m together

Taroman Expo Explosion

Returner

A close match in mood and era.

More from Ryo FujiiSee all →

TAROMAN

TAROMAN · 2022

SeriesAction & AdventureSci-Fi & Fantasy

The protagonist TAROMAN engages in surreal and nonsensical interactions while battling strange creatures. The creatures confronting him are brought to life from the work of artist Taro Okamoto, such as "Sprinting Eye" and "Sulking Child". An action-packed tokusatsu tribute to one of Japan's most influential painters and sculptors!

Extra Olympia Kyklos

Extra Olympia Kyklos · 2020

Extra Olympia Kyklos

SeriesAnimationComedy

Demetrios was a young man in Ancient Greece who was a potter's apprentice, but also a rather timid otaku. Despite pursuing the arts, he was blessed with natural athletic talent. One day, he gets dragged into a village conflict. Demetrios contemplates how helpless he is, but then is struck by lightning! When he comes to, he is no longer in Greece, but a strange land where he can't understand the language and people look rather different. Yes, he somehow ended up 1964 Tokyo! Of course, Demetrios has no idea what Japan even is. What will become of him?!!

Taroman Historia

Taroman Historia · 2022

Taroman Historia

MovieComedyDocumentary

Actor and Taro Okamoto fan Arata Iura narrates this mockumentary surrounding the 1972 tokusatsu series "TAROMAN", its impact on contemporary 1970s Japan, the ties to popular art with its motifs influenced by artist Taro Okamoto, and the lasting impact the series had on creators decades down the line. Also, performed for the first time is the theme song for "TAROMAN", "Explosion! TAROMAN".

More Like This

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie · 1972

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie

In Luis Buñuel’s deliciously satiric masterpiece, an upper-class sextet sits down to dinner but never eats, their attempts continually thwarted by a vaudevillian mixture of events both actual and imagined.

Southland Tales

Southland Tales · 2007

Southland Tales

MovieScience FictionThriller

Set in the futuristic landscape of Los Angeles on July 4, 2008, as it stands on the brink of social, economic and environmental disaster. Boxer Santaros is an action star who's stricken with amnesia. His life intertwines with Krysta Now, an adult film star developing her own reality television project, and Ronald Taverner, a Hermosa Beach police officer who holds the key to a vast conspiracy.

Je T'Aime, Je T'Aime

Je T'Aime, Je T'Aime · 1968

Je T'Aime, Je T'Aime

MovieDramaScience Fiction

Recovering from an attempted suicide, a man is selected to participate in a time travel experiment that has only been tested on mice. A malfunction causes the man to experience moments from his past in a random order.

Trancers

Trancers · 1984

MovieScience FictionCrime

Angel City trooper Jack Deth is sent back in time from 2247 to 1985 L.A. to inhabit the body of his ancestor. Deth's assignment is to find his archenemy, Whistler, who turns people into zombies, before the fiend is able to kill all the ancestors of the future's governing council.

Returner

Returner · 2002

MovieActionAdventure

A young woman from the future forces a local gunman to help her stop an impending alien invasion which will wipe out the human race.

Destroy All Monsters

Destroy All Monsters · 1968

Destroy All Monsters

MovieScience FictionAction

At the turn of the century, all of the Earth's monsters have been rounded up and kept safely on Monsterland. Chaos erupts when a race of she-aliens known as the Kilaaks unleash the monsters across the world.

More on NetflixSee all →

Animals

Animals · 2026

MovieThrillerDrama

When the son of an L.A. mayoral candidate is kidnapped, he and his wife have a few hours to come up with the ransom payment. With most of their money spent on his political campaign, they have to get their hands dirty and expose a side of their lives they never intended to see the light of day.

Reporting Live

Reporting Live · 2026

MovieCrimeThriller

A young reporter and her reluctant cameraman chase a story, only to get entangled in an illegal sand-mining racket run by a ruthless syndicate.

The Wild Robot

The Wild Robot · 2024

MovieFamilyAnimation

After a shipwreck, an intelligent robot called Roz is stranded on an uninhabited island. To survive the harsh environment, Roz bonds with the island's animals and cares for an orphaned baby goose.

Spider-Man: No Way Home

Spider-Man: No Way Home · 2021

Spider-Man: No Way Home

MovieActionAdventure

Peter Parker is unmasked and no longer able to separate his normal life from the high-stakes of being a super-hero. When he asks for help from Doctor Strange the stakes become even more dangerous, forcing him to discover what it truly means to be Spider-Man.

Spirited Away

Spirited Away · 2001

MovieAnimationFamily

A young girl, Chihiro, becomes trapped in a strange new world of spirits. When her parents undergo a mysterious transformation, she must call upon the courage she never knew she had to free her family.

The Godfather

The Godfather · 1972

MovieDramaCrime

Spanning the years 1945 to 1955, a chronicle of the fictional Italian-American Corleone crime family. When organized crime family patriarch, Vito Corleone barely survives an attempt on his life, his youngest son, Michael steps in to take care of the would-be killers, launching a campaign of bloody revenge.

Gladiator II

Gladiator II · 2024

MovieActionAdventure

Years after witnessing the death of the revered hero Maximus at the hands of his uncle, Lucius is forced to enter the Colosseum after his home is conquered by the tyrannical Emperors who now lead Rome with an iron fist. With rage in his heart and the future of the Empire at stake, Lucius must look to his past to find strength and honor to return the glory of Rome to its people.

Transformers One

Transformers One · 2024

Transformers One

MovieAnimationScience Fiction

The untold origin story of Optimus Prime and Megatron, better known as sworn enemies, but once were friends bonded like brothers who changed the fate of Cybertron forever.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle · 2025

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle

MovieAnimationAction

The Demon Slayer Corps are drawn into the Infinity Castle, where Tanjiro, Nezuko, and the Hashira face terrifying Upper Rank demons in a desperate fight as the final battle against Muzan Kibutsuji begins.

Facing El Chapo

Facing El Chapo · 2026

Facing El Chapo

MovieCrimeAction

Two Mexican officers must survive the final hours of their shift after crossing a ruthless cartel boss.

Ice Age: Continental Drift

Ice Age: Continental Drift · 2012

Ice Age: Continental Drift

MovieAnimationComedy

Manny, Diego, and Sid embark upon another adventure after their continent is set adrift. Using an iceberg as a ship, they encounter sea creatures and battle pirates as they explore a new world.

Howl's Moving Castle

Howl's Moving Castle · 2004

Howl's Moving Castle

MovieFantasyAnimation

Sophie, a young milliner, is turned into an elderly woman by a witch who enters her shop and curses her. She encounters a wizard named Howl and gets caught up in his resistance to fighting for the king.

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs · 2009

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

MovieAnimationComedy

Times are changing for Manny the moody mammoth, Sid the motor mouthed sloth and Diego the crafty saber-toothed tiger. Life heats up for our heroes when they meet some new and none-too-friendly neighbors – the mighty dinosaurs.

Shrek Forever After

Shrek Forever After · 2010

Shrek Forever After

MovieComedyAdventure

A midlife-crisis burdened Shrek, longing for the days of when he felt like a real ogre, makes a pact with magic deal-maker Rumpelstiltskin. But when he's duped and sent to a twisted version of Far Far Away—where Rumpelstiltskin is king, ogres are hunted, and he and Fiona have never met—he sets out to restore his world and reclaim his true love.

KPop Demon Hunters

KPop Demon Hunters · 2025

KPop Demon Hunters

MovieFantasyMusic

When K-pop superstars Rumi, Mira and Zoey aren't selling out stadiums, they're using their secret powers to protect their fans from supernatural threats.

White Chicks

White Chicks · 2004

MovieComedyCrime

Two FBI agent brothers, Marcus and Kevin Copeland, accidentally foil a drug bust. To avoid being fired they accept a mission escorting a pair of socialites to the Hamptons--but when the girls are disfigured in a car accident, they refuse to go. Left without options, Marcus and Kevin decide to pose as the sisters, transforming themselves from black men into rich white women.

War Machine

War Machine · 2026

MovieActionScience Fiction

On one last grueling mission during Army Ranger training, a combat engineer must lead his unit in a fight against a giant otherworldly killing machine.

Shrek the Third

Shrek the Third · 2007

Shrek the Third

MovieFantasyAdventure

After the King of Far Far Away dies, Shrek and Fiona are to succede. However, Shrek wants to return to his cozy swamp and live in peace and quiet, so when he finds out there is another heir to the throne, he and Donkey set off to bring him back to rule the kingdom.

28 Years Later

28 Years Later · 2025

MovieHorrorThriller

Twenty-eight years after the Rage virus outbreak, a heavily-defended island survives connected to the mainland by a single causeway. When one of the group leaves the island into the dark heart of the mainland, he discovers secrets, wonders, and horrors that have mutated not only the infected but other survivors as well.

No Strings Attached

No Strings Attached · 2011

No Strings Attached

MovieComedyRomance

Emma is a busy doctor who sets up a seemingly perfect arrangement when she offers her best friend Adam a relationship with one rule: No strings attached. But when a fling becomes a thing, can sex friends stay best friends?

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter