This article is about the film, for the character see Ultraman Saga (character)

Ultraman Saga (Flim)
Directed by:	Hideki Oka
Produced by:	Tsuburaya Productions
Written by:	Keiichi Hasegawa
Starring:	DAIGO Takeshi Tsuruno Taiyo Sugiura
Music by:	Fumio Hara
Cinematography:	Sou Takahashi
Editing by:	Akira Matsuki
Distributed by:	Shochiku
Release Date(s)	March 24, 2012
Running time	90 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japaneses

Ultraman Saga (ウルトラマンサーガ Urutoraman Sāga?) is a Japanese tokusatsu film in the Ultra Series to celebrate the franchise's 45th anniversary. It serves as a sequel to Ultraman Zero: The Revenge of Belial. The catchphrase for the movie is "We Still Have Glittering Hope!!" (僕らにはまだ、輝く希望がある!! Bokura ni wa Mada, Kagayaku Kibō ga Aru!!?). The film features Ultraman Zero, Ultraman Dyna, and Ultraman Cosmos as well as the five Ultra Brothers facing a new ultimate threat, Hyper Zetton (ハイパーゼットン Haipā Zetton?) and the monster army created by the evil Alien Bat (バット星人 Batto Seijin?). The film will also feature a new Ultraman known as Ultraman Saga (ウルトラマンサーガ Urutoraman Sāga?). The movie is set in the world of Ultraman Dyna, taking place 18 years after the series and features much of the supporting cast returning. A selection of members from the idol group AKB48 has been chosen to portray the characters of Team-U, a special monster attack team part of the fictional Earth Defense Force.

In its first week in theaters, Ultraman Saga opened at the #4 spot in the Japanese box offices, about 166,006 people in 369 screens with a budget of ¥143,747,300.

PlotEdit

Ultraman Saga opens with a powerful apocalyptic vision of Tokyo, buildings destroyed and the city seemingly devoid of life. We are soon introduced to the Earth Defense Force (EDF), Team U (played by members of the female idol group AKB48). They and a group of young children and the last survivors on planet Earth after the world was invaded by the evil Alien Bat, the rest of the human population having been abducted.

In the alternate universe in which he defeated Ultraman Belial in the previous film, Ultraman Zero receives a distress call and proceeds into the multiverse and finds another universe. And from yet another universe, that from which Ultraman Dyna disappeared through black hole 15 years ago, a young defense team pilot named Taiga is trapped in the ship of an invading alien force, who quickly disappear to another dimension.

Taiga soon finds himself in another world, in the apocalyptic version of Tokyo, as Ultraman Zero battles a huge fleet of alien spaceships. As Taiga notices a crashing ship heading straight towards a young boy, he pilots his ship directly into its path in an act of self-sacrifice. Witnessing his brave actions, Ultraman Zero rescues Taiga and joins with him.

Taiga soon encounters Ultraman Cosmos and his human host Musashi, along with Team U and the children. He and Musashi learn that Ultraman Dyna and his human host Asuka had once stayed with the team and protected them, but that was lost in battle with the alien Zetton. It is now up to Taiga and Musashi to protect the survivors. However, Taiga is not so happy to be joined with Ultraman Zero, and has no intention of fighting…

CastEdit

• Nozomu Taiga (タイガ・ノゾム Taiga Nozomu^?): DAIGO
• Shin Asuka (アスカ・シンAsuka Shin^?): Takeshi Tsuruno (つるの 剛士Tsuruno Takeshi^?)
• Musashi Haruno (春野 ムサシHaruno Musashi^?): Taiyo Sugiura (杉浦 太陽Sugiura Taiyō^?)
• Team U: AKB48
  • Anna (アンナ^?): Sayaka Akimoto (秋元 才加 Akimoto Sayaka^?)
  • Misato (ミサト^?): Ayaka Umeda (梅田 彩佳Umeda Ayaka^?)
  • Sawa (サワ^?): Sae Miyazawa (宮澤 佐江Miyazawa Sae^?)
  • Nonko (ノンコ^?): Yuka Masuda (増田 有華Masuda Yuka^?)
  • Lisa (リーサRīsa^?): Sumire Sato (佐藤 すみれSatō Sumire^?)
  • Maomi (マオミ^?): Kana Kobayashi (小林 香菜Kobayashi Kana^?)
  • Hina (ヒナ^?): Haruka Shimada (島田 晴香Shimada Haruka^?)
• Takeru (タケル^?): Ryoma Takamura (高村 竜馬Takamura Ryōma^?)
• Saaya (サーヤSāya^?): Sayaka Ikeda (池田 沙弥花Ikeda Sayaka^?)
• Ritsu (リツ^?): Ritsu Ohashi (大橋 律Ōhashi Ritsu^?)
• Miko (ミコ^?): Sorami Watanabe (渡邉 空美Watanabe Sorami^?)
• Ren (レン^?): Karen Ueno (上野 楓恋Ueno Karen^?)
• Ken (ケン^?): Kengo Ando (安藤 健悟Andō Kengo^?)
• Hiro (ヒロ^?): Hiromu Satomura (里村 洋Satomura Hiromu^?)
• Kuu (クーKū^?): Kurea Mori (森 くれあMori Kurea^?)
• Kanata (カナタ^?): Kanau Tanaka (田中 奏生Tanaka Kanau^?)
• Takeru's Mother (タケルの母Takeru no Haha^?): Shion Nakamaru (中丸 シオンNakamaru Shion^?)
• Young Nozomu Taiga (小学生のタイガ・ノゾム Shōgakusei no Taiga Nozomu^?): Mitsumasa Sato (佐藤 光将Satō Mitsumasa^?)
• Toshiyuki Kouda (コウダ・トシユキKōda Toshiyuki^?): Toshikazu Fukawa (布川 敏和Fukawa Toshikazu^?)
• Ryo Yumimura (ユミムラ・リョウYumimura Ryō^?): Risa Saito (斉藤 りさSaitō Risa^?)
• Kouhei Kariya (カリヤ・コウヘイKariya Kōhei^?): Takao Kase (加瀬 尊朗Kase Takao^?)
• Tsutomu Nakajima (ナカジマ・ツトム Nakajima Tsutomu^?): Joe Onodera (小野寺 丈Onodera Jō^?)
• Gousuke Hibiki (ヒビキ・ゴウスケHibiki Gōsuke^?): Ryo Kinomoto (木之元 亮Kinomoto Ryō^?)
• Ayano Haruno (春野 綾乃Haruno Ayano^?): Mayuka Suzuki (鈴木 繭菓Suzuki Mayuka^?)
• Sora Haruno (春野 ソラHaruno Sora^?): Ryu Hashizume (橋爪 龍Hashizume Ryū^?)
• Shin Hayata (ハヤタ・シンHayata Shin^?): Susumu Kurobe (黒部 進Kurobe Susumu^?)
• Dan Moroboshi (モロボシ・ダンMoroboshi Dan^?): Kohji Moritsugu (森次 晃嗣Moritsugu Kōji^?)
• Hideki Go (郷 秀樹Gō Hideki^?): Jiro Dan (団 時郎Dan Jirō^?)
• Seiji Hokuto (北斗 星司Hokuto Seiji^?): Keiji Takamine (高峰 圭二Takamine Keiji^?)
• Gen Otori (おおとり ゲンŌtori Gen^?): Ryu Manatsu (真夏 竜Manatsu Ryū^?)
• Ultraman Zero (ウルトラマンゼロUrutoraman Zero^?, Voice): Mamoru Miyano (宮野 真守Miyano Mamoru^?)
• Ultraman Cosmos (ウルトラマンコスモスUrutoraman Kosumosu^?, Voice): Yūki Satō (佐藤 ゆうきSatō Yūki^?)
• Alien Bat (バット星人Batto Seijin^?, Voice): Hideo Higashikokubaru (東国原 英夫Higashikokubaru Hideo^?)

StaffEdit

• Director: Hideki Oka
• Writer: K. Hasegawa
• Music: Fumio Hara
• Executive Producers: Hidetoshi Yamamoto
• Chief Producer Supervisor: Shiinichi Oka
• Planning: Hiroshi Shibuya, Hasushi Okazaki
• Distributor: Shochiku

Ultraman Zero GaidenEdit

To promote the film, two special DVDs have been released to lead up to the storyline of the film titled Ultraman Zero Gaiden: Killer the Beatstar (ウルトラマンゼロ外伝 キラー ザ ビートスター Urutoraman Zero Gaiden: Kirā za Bītosutā?). Shota Minami, Hiroyuki Konishi, Mitsutoshi Shundo, and Tao Tsuchiya reprise their roles from Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle, Never Ending Odyssey, Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy, and Ultraman Zero: The Revenge of Belial in these DVDs. The film also features Jean Killer (ジャンキラー Jan Kirā?, voiced by Miyu Irino), who turns to good and becomes renamed Jean-nine (ジャンナイン Jan Nain?), created based on Jean-bot by the evil Beatstar (ビートスター Bītosutā?, voiced by Unshō Ishizuka), the primary antagonist.

GalleryEdit

Cover art

Hyper Zetton crushing the Ultras, and a new Ultraman is shown on the right.

Hyper Zetton

Ultraman Zero's 2nd human host, and Ultraman Saga.

Add a photo to this galleryAdd a photo to this gallery

ReceptionEdit

The film topped at #4 in the box Office, though recived mixed reviews from Fans, possibly some negative reviews are the acting of DAIGO as Taiga Nozomu, & AKB48 as Team-U. Jim M. Ballard from SciFi Japan says:"The greatest disappointment for me is that I know the staff are capable of producing something so much better – as they have time and again – and this film just feels like a wasted opportunity.". The film currently holds 3 out of 5 stars in the Japanese Movie rating site goo.ne.jp.

Blu Ray VersionEdit

The Blu Ray disc was released on 21-9-2012.

TriviaEdit

• A scene of Ultraman Saga & the other 5 Ultra Brothers (Ultraman, Seven, Jack, Ace & Leo), fighting with the Monster Weapons created by Alien Bat, not featured in the movie. But the fight scene was later aired in Ultraman Retsuden.

External linksEdit

• Official Site